Chose the pic because he's wearing a sweatshirt and, yeah.... hehehe, you'll see why

There's no warning for this chapter except the fact that this one is pretty short (I think) and not as exciting as the others, this is literally just a filler chapter where nothing happens excEPT THAT JUNCHAN FINALLY INTERACT AND THEY'RE SO WEIRD AND KIND OF AWKWARD AND I LOVE THEM HOLY , MY BABIES!!

So yeah! This is the chapter where they finally interact and it's not the most smooth conversation (I blame my not so smooth writing today) but they talk and all and...hmm, yeah. 

Enjoy! <3

It’s a Saturday and they’re all gone, all except Junhwe who’s locked himself up in his room without a word, and so Chanwoo’s all alone in the living room with a new book in hand, The Hobbit. He finished The Great Gatsby in just a few nights and as soon as he was done he went to Donghyuk for a new one, and Donghyuk was happy to lend him another one, one of his favorites he said. He said that it was like being on an adventure by just reading it, and there was death but there was also happiness and Chanwoo had grabbed the book before he was even done explaining it.

The living room is quiet and a little cold, Chanwoo guesses that the temperature is exactly the same as it has been every other day but this time he’s alone and there’s nothing around him to make it any warmer. Maybe Junhwe would be able to at least make it a little warmer, if he would just get out of his room for a while.

When Hanbin had said that they would be leaving early on Saturday morning and that Junhwe would be staying behind Junhwe had immediately turned to him and glared like he just said he was the ugliest of them all, Hanbin told him that they needed someone to stay behind with Chanwoo and that this time it was his turn. That had not sat well with Junhwe and it left them where they are right now, in two separate rooms not speaking to each other.

When Chanwoo hears the sound of a door knob turning he immediately sits up straight and waits for Junhwe to make an appearance, and when he does he’s thankfully wearing a shirt on so that Chanwoo doesn’t blush like crazy like he’s done every other time. He walks to the kitchen without greeting the boy on the couch, in fact, he doesn’t even acknowledge him, not noticeably at least, but he does glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

He looks kind of cute.

He almost chockes on his own spit and has to sneakily hide his coughing in his arm because what the did he just think? It’s official, he’s lost his mind in the few hours that he’s been locked up in the loft. The boy does certainly not look cute, he’s ugly, ugly because there’s still a bruise adorning his cheek and a cut on his lip and Junhwe does not like green-yellow-ish skin and cut up lips. Although he can’t deny that there’s nothing wrong with the boy’s eyes, his eyes that are the same color as everyone else in the whole country but seem to shine even more and twinkle like a kid on Christmas, and they actually look like they’re the door to his soul or something because Junhwe can read him from just a quick look.

He’s standing in the kitchen in a t-shirt that belongs to Jiwon and sweatpants that hang way too low on his hips and he’s contemplating all of his life choices in that moment becuase he just called the boy cute and that is a sin itself. But while he feels like dying on the spot he’s also kind of hungry and Jinhwan threatened to dye his hair pink if he didn’t feed Chanwoo, and so for the first time in a long while he doesn’t feel as confident as he always does, it’s weird and unpleasant.

“Yah” he says loud enough for Chanwoo to hear but not loud enough for it to sound like he actually cares, “you hungry?” and Chanwoo is confused for a second because he’s the only one there so who is...oh, Junhwe’s talking to him! He’s not ignoring him anymore, and even though he’s sure that he’s only talking to him because the others told him that he had to he still feels happy.

He nods his head clearly enough for Junhwe to see but doesn’t say anything, “we have nothing to eat except cup ramen so if you don’t like that then tough luck” Junhwe says as he strolls over to the boxes containing all the junk food they have (which is a lot) and pulls out two ramen cups. When he looks back at Chanwoo for a second he sees that the boy’s already looking at him, “what?” he asks as he straightens up and reaches for the boiler so he can get started on the hot water. “Nothing, just...are you making it for me?”

Junhwe frowns because is the boy stupid? What does it look like he’s doing? Wrapping up presents like an elf working for Santa? “yeah” he settles for because Donghyuk told him that the boy’s sensitive and that him being rude isn’t gonna help him open up to them. He holds up the two ramen cups to show him and rolls his eyes at the same time, Chanwoo doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t look away and Junhwe feels kind of good because at least that means that he hasn’t totally scared the boy away.

“Thank you,” he says quietly and Junhwe almost doesn’t hear it, he’s happy that Chanwoo’s talking to him though, actually, one of the reasons that he even locked himself up in his (and Chanwoo’s room) is because he didn’t want to scare the boy even further. Donghyuk told him that Chanwoo felt a little intimidated by him because he is always so angry. He’s not angry, it’s just his personality. Donghyuk also told him to put a shirt on.

But there’s something missing, he realizes. The boy, Chanwoo, doesn’t call him by his name, or ‘hyung’, and he is not jealous but he’s heard Chanwoo call everyone else that and he wants to hear it directed at him for once. “That’s all?” he says and he can see the panic in Chanwoo’s eyes for a second and he realizes that maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say.

“I mean, aren’t you gonna call me hyung or something, like you do with the others?” he tries to say it so nonchalantly as possible but he’s pretty sure that he sounds a little deperate, which is a clear sign that he’s losing his mind becuase he’s a forger, which basically means that he’s an actor, he acts allt he time so if a little insignificant boy is gonna make him fail at the only thing he knows it means that he’s going crazy.

Chanwoo stares at him with those big doe eyes and his hands wring in his lap out of nervousness, “do you want me to?” he asks quietly and bites lightly at his lip, it makes Junhwe cringe when he does because his teeth are so close to the cut on his lip and he really doesn’t want the boy to open the wound again. “Don’t bite your lip, and yes” he says and he almost sounds a bit like Hanbin, Chanwoo notices, in the way that he orders him. But it’s a little more pleasant to listen to because it’s an order out of concern and also, it’s Junhwe.

“Okay, hyung” he says and Junhwe actually smiles at him, it’s not very noticeable, only a small lift of his lip on one side but it’s enough for Chanwoo and he has to pull up his long-forgotten book to hide the small grin that makes it onto his face. It’s not a full-fledged conversation but he’s saying things and Chanwoo’s responding so Junhwe deems it a success in bonding, as Donghyuk called it.

He hands Chanwoo the cup of ramen and sits down on one of the chairs right across from where Chanwoo’s sitting with his own, he has nothing to say anymore and neither does Chanwoo it seems because he starts eating with his eyes glued to the cup in his hands. Junhwe starts eating to but his eyes are plastered on the boy in front of him, when Chanwoo takes a large bite he notices a small dimple on one of his cheeks and he almost wants to reach out and touch it. It’s so small and ‘not’ cute, not like that guy Yixang or whatever his name is in EXO that he met a year ago when the mighty Seoul boys came all the way down to Busan to negotiate money or something, Junhwe doesn’t even remember because they were all so boring that he just sat with his phone in one hand and a gun in the other, for safety of course, he wasn’t planning on shooting them, although he might have wanted to.

“Hyung” Chanwoo says suddenly and Junhwe realizes that he has no way to pretend that he wasn’t looking at Chanwoo because he is still, in fact, staring at him. “Yeah” he answers and realizes that he almost sounds a little breathless, like he’s so surprised that Chanwoo’s talking to him without him being the one to say something first, which is the truth.

“What do you do? In iKon I mean?” he asks as he takes another bite of the ramen with the little plastic fork that came with it, the sleeves on his shirt are a little too long and cover most of his hands but it looks very not cute on him and it takes Junhwe a while to realize that the shirt he’s wearing is in fact his. He’s caught off guard for a second, and not because he’s angry and wants his shirt back, but because it looks better on Chanwoo than it does on him and he looks better than everyone so what the hell is going on.

While Junhwe’s having his internal battle, Chanwoo’s still waiting for an answer, but when he gets no answer he starts to think that maybe he shouldn’t have asked, “I’m sorr-” he doesn’t get to finish because Junhwe has sorted his mind out and is ready to answer. “I’m a forger” he says proudly now that his mind isn’t going to anymore and he’s regained his attitude and his sanity.

“A...forger?” Chanwoo knows what it means but still doesn’t really know what it means, “yeah, a forger. My thing is that I’m good at pretending, so, whenever there’s an in town they send me to lure him into a zone of comfort and then bang! Bobby or Hanbin offs him and gets rid of him in the ocean or something, I usually don’t stay long enough to see what they do to him.”

What a lovely story, Chanwoo thinks as he sits frozen with his cup of ramen and takes all the information in. He’s not scared, really, he’s kind of in awe. He’s not impressed by the fact that iKon kill people but he’s impressed by all the planning that goes into it, and now that he thinks about it, Junhwe’s only two years older than him but already has the experience of someone much older. “Are you afraid of me now?” Junhwe says and his voice his lower than usual, it sends chills up Chanwoo’s arms and he shudders slightly, but it’s not unpleasant.

“No” he answers honestly and Junhwe sends him a quirk of his lips, “good, so you won’t ask Hanbin to sleep in Yunhyeong’s room as soon as they get back?” he’s joking and somehwere deep inside Chanwoo’s mind he knows that but he still sits up straighter and defends himself, “no! No I won’t, I don’t mind sleeping in your room” and he would have reacted at how wrong it sounded (like Junhwe) if he was a little more aware but instead he’s waiting for Junhwe to say something.

“You don’t mind? I make you sleep on the floor with a pillow and a blanket and nothing else, and you don’t mind?” he’s frowning like he’s trying to see if Chanwoo’s lying but Chanwoo just smiles at him and he’s confused because why the is this kid just letting him walk all over him, “I’ve slept far worse” he says and it doesn’t sound as self-deprecating as Junhwe had expected it too, but he still hates the words.

“I’m getting you a mattress.”

__

“Chanwoo, you still alive?” Is the first thing Jiwon shouts when they enter the loft again, they’re carrying bags of food (“Yunhyeong we’re not stopping at the supermarket” “but they’re having a sale!”) that contain everything from normal food to millions of different soaps because “it was take ten pay for one” or whatever excuse Yunhyeong (and Jinhwan) used.

It’s Junhwe that answers them instead as he walks up to them looking the same as he did before (meaning not covered in someone’s blood), “he’s asleep” he says and Jiwon’s eyes narrow, “are you sure you didn’t accidentally kill him?” he says while passing two of the bags he’s carrying to a reluctant Junhwe, “yeah I’m sure,” he scoffs, “he fell asleep after we watched The Heirs” and as soon as the words are out they’re all groaning and shouting different complains left and right.

“You made him watch that awful show?”

“Hey, it’s not awful and he actually agreed that I’m better looking than Minho so I’m happy” he defends as they make it into the kitchen with all the groceries, Donghyuk passes over his bags to a groaning Yunhyeong and makes his way to the living room where Chanwoo’s is supposedly sleeping. But when he gets there the couch is empty.

“Hey Junhwe! Where is he then?” he asks in confusion and Junhwe responds, “in his room” he says like it’s the most normal thing, which it should be. “Yeah but you said he fell asleep after watching The Heirs, I assumed you meant on the couch.”

“He did.”

Donghyuk’s frustrated because he is not understanding the situation at the moment, Junhwe keeps saying things that contradict what he’s seeing and he just wants him to be frank about it, “I carried him, obviously.”

Junhwe will regret admitting that for the rest of his life because next thing he knows Donghyuk is cooing at him and it’s the most disgusting thing he’s ever seen, it makes him want to throw up right then and there only he doesn’t do so because Junhwe has more grace than that, he’s not an animal or Jiwon. “That is the cutest thing ever!” there’s no stopping Donghyuk as he squeals like a ing five-year-old and he just wishes someone will shoot him and bury him six feet under.

“It makes me think of in Pride and Prejudice when…” Junhwe leaves, he backs out as soon as possible because as soon as Donghyuk has something to say he will not stop talking about it until you know how it happened, when it happened, why it happened, and what happened, and Donghyuk likes to extend stories far more than necessary too. He’s out of the room before Donghyuk can even get started and it gives him an enormous amount of satisfaction when he thinks about how the others will suffer at the hands of Donghyuk’s stories.

When he enters his room he grabs his phone from the nightstand, but not without taking a quick look at his bed where the boy, Chanwoo, is lying. Junhwe doesn’t like people, for the most part, and even though there’s seven trillion nerves in the body some people manage to get on every single one. But Chanwoo is different, that statement doesn’t mean that he suddenly loves the boy, he doesn’t even like him that much, but he just can’t seem to get angry at him, or be mean to him, he’s afraid he’ll break if he does. And he supposes that in some way that is the truth.

The sound of someone clearing their throat makes Junhwe turn in alarm only to relax when it’s Hanbin in the doorway, “how did it go today?” he asks in a quiet tone so that he doesn’t awake the youngest, and Junhwe shrugs his shoulders in earnest. He doesn’t know how to explain the day, they talked for a while and sat in silence and watched The Heirs so that’s gotta count for something, “okay” he says after a while because even though in his mind a shrug is enough he knows his leader, Hanbin, wants things voiced.

“Good” is all that he gets but Junhwe’s content with it, he’s not very good at emotions that don’t include being snarky or rude, and so whenever he’s meeting with new people and they’re being all lovey dovey it makes  him want to puke. Hanbin is good at understanding him, though, knows when he can deal with things and when he can’t. Sometimes he thinks that he knows him better than he knows himself. And weirdly enough, it doesn’t scare him, because Hanbin is his leader, but also his brother, and he would not be here if it wasn't for him.

“You did good” Hanbin says and all the tension that Junhwe has built up inside of him during the day seem to seep out with those words, his shoulders visibly relax and he lets out a long sigh.

He did good.

 I'M GONNA CONTINUE TO WRITE JUNHWE AS AN EMOTIONLESS BABY BUT WITH INSECURITIES THAT HANBIN HELP HIM WITH BECAUSE IT'S THE BEST THING EVER OKAY! Just imagine Hanbin being all brotherly and taking care of him, omg. This is my new aesthetic I kid you not.

Anyways...JUNCHAN INTERACTED, but Junhwe sadly wore a shirt this time *sigh*, oh well. I have no idea what I'm gonna do for the next chapter, but I want something dramatic to happen, I don't know how or when or where but I want drama (because I'm a drama queen) and these character are literally so easy to work with because you can just make Jiwon and Hanbin so ing mad and Junhwe so y that you can't even deal and...yeah Donghyuk is still an angel but Yunhyeong and Jinhwan will get mad too but maybe not shoot the first person they see (like others, *cough* doubleB *cough*).

Anyways, tell me in the comments what you thought of this filler chapter, and please do this poll https://www.asianfanfics.com/poll/aff_view/112006(if you haven't already) because I really need to know what color Junhwe's hair should be, uhh *clears throat*, for...Science (not because I'm planning for someone to run their fingers through it, noooo)- I'm too sarcastic for my own good omg

Hope you enjoyed!! <3 <3 , have a good morning/day/afternoon/night!! :)

(Btw, DoubleB and leave Jinhwan forever alone or Kim3 or 3Kim or just OT3 BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE, ????!)