Chapter 2
Chenderella “So you’re telling me,” Jongdae started, just about ready to yank all his hair out, “that you’re an age-old dragon spirit, with all sorts of magical powers, sent here by your boyfriend, who happens to be an age-old time spirit, as well as apparently a ‘guardian’ of the human world, to come make my life better as my fairy godmother?”
“Kinda shortened it a bit there, but I suppose that’s the gist of it, yeah,” the man—Kris, Jongdae soon came to learn—said, leaning back in the cushioned one-seater he had plopped himself down on earlier when they came to the living room.
“…I haven’t had enough caffeine for this,” Jongdae muttered, taking a few more sips of his freshly brewed coffee as he contemplated over everything that had just been told to him. To be honest, he kinda believed Kris—it was hard for him not to, after witnessing the man’s freaky powers and all—but he still couldn’t really wrap his mind around the whole thing.
“But wait,” he started, as the questions came to his tongue quicker than he could process them. “How does that even make sense? I mean, you’re obviously not some sort of firey demon beast right now—you look completely human. And my life isn’t that bad; shouldn’t you be helping people who really need it? And—”
“Hush,” Kris interrupted. “Dragons are extremely skilled at magic, and I can transform between my human and my beast state. Though I really don’t think you’d want me to turn into a dragon in the middle of your living room. As for why I’m helping you…” He paused, and Jongdae wondered if he should be offended by how long it was taking the other to answer this question. “Well, I usually deal with the more serious cases and all, but the sector Tao runs has to primarily do with individual human relations and interactions. He asked me to take this job as a favor, and I didn’t have much to do, so I figured I’d kill some time with this.”
“If you usually deal with the bigger, more serious stuff, then shouldn’t you be off dealing with that stuff though? Like, there was just a major earthquake in Japan; why can’t you be there?” At that, Kris grinned, albeit sheepishly.
“Ah, I’m not allowed to go on any natural-disaster-related missions.”
“Why not?” Jongdae furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he asked his question.
“Mother Nature and I dated at one point, and let’s just say we didn’t have the best break-up…” Kris sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. “She hates my guts, so I try to make sure I keep my distance from her.”
“Oh,” Jongdae said dumbly, not sure what else to say as he looked down at his coffee mug and racked his brain for more questions. His eyebrows shot up as he remembered something, snapping his head back up to intently stare at Kris, who looked surprised by the sudden action. “Wait, how can you be my fairy godmother? You’re a dragon, not a fairy! You don’t even have the fairy wings and the wand! And shouldn’t you be all old and stuff?” He paused. “And you’re a dude!”
“Glad to know that was the last thing you noticed,” Kris muttered, and Jongdae flushed at the words, looking away in slight embarrassment. “But anyway, fairy godmother is just a stand-in term; it’s not literal, .” Jongdae stuck his tongue out at the man. “And for your information, I’m thousands of years old; spirits just don’t age physically.”
“Whatever,” Jongdae scoffed, his fingers fiddling with his mug handle as he thought. “So… what now? How are you supposed to ‘make my life better,’ or whatever?”
“Simple,” Kris said. “We find you your Prince Charming.”
Jongdae was so glad he wasn’t drinking any coffee at that time, because he was sure if he did, he would’ve just spit it all over Kris’s face. “What?!”
Kris grinned.
----
“So tell me again,” Jongdae started, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he forced the words through clenched teeth, “why you thought blind dating would be a good idea?”
Kris shrugged, and said, “What? It’s a good way to meet people.”
“I’m a high school student!” Jongdae protested. “Blind dating isn’t something you’re supposed to do until you’re lame and like 25 and feeling lonely during your existential crises!”
“Hey! Tao and I met through blind dating, and we’ve been happily together for millenniums now! I mean, it wasn’t really a blind date between us so much as it was me finding him during his betrothal to some religious spirit and then us making out when the guy was in the temple… but that’s irrelevant!” Kris retorted, and Jongdae just wanted to slam his face into a wall. “B’sides, you’re pathetic at finding dates for yourself.”
“I am not!”
“You are; your ex-boyfriend was some dude you got with because he had a copy of the textbook you needed for your Biology class.”
“It was brand new! And hard-back!” Jongdae huffed, and Kris just rolled his eyes and told him to shut up.
“Anyway, he’s a pretty nice guy, into lots of music and drama, and he’s around the same age as you too, so don’t it up.”
“How’d you even set up a blind date anyway?” Jongdae inquired. It had only been a few hours since he’d first met the man-dragon-spirit-thing, after all.
“I got a friend who lives down here in the guise as a normal human, and I’ve made a name for myself through him.” Kris replied vaguely. “Got to know his circle of friends, made a social network through there, and whatnot.” They stopped in front of the café where Jongdae was supposed to have his date, and Kris peered in through the window, while Jongdae stood next to him awkwardly, glad that there weren’t that many people on the street to question him on why he was just standing there alone (because of course, to make Jongdae’s life just so much easier, Kris couldn’t be seen by humans unless he wanted to be seen).
“Alright,” Kris said, and Jongdae looked over to see the man looking straight at him. “He’s over there, buying a drink for himself right now. Go in, and don’t do any stupid.”
And with those ever-helpful words of encouragement, Kris was gone, poofing out of existence as he does. That . Exasperated, Jongdae took a couple of deep breaths, rolling his shoulders back to try and will away the tension in them, before stepping into the building.
The café itself was quite nice. Quiet, a bit out of the way, but still quite cozy. The lighting was a bit dark, probably to get that whole “classily depressing” ambience that seemed to appeal to hipster poets and wannabe punks so much. Really, if he was being honest, the entire setting just felt like something out of a bad fanfiction—not like Jongdae would know anything about that obviously wait what uhm well uh look over there’s it’s a sign for free chicken!
He brushed off the thoughts and stepped in line, pondering what to get as he tried to see if he could find his little match. Even though Kris had pointed out the man earlier, Jongdae hadn’t really gotten the chance to look over and see who exactly he was. He didn’t have much description to go by either: average height, blank expression, accented Korean, cute dimples. Sighing, he stepped forward to make his order, only to blink in surprise as a vaguely familiar face greeted him.
“Minseok hyung?” he questioned lightly as he looked over at the slightly shorter male. The older man was surprised to see him as well, but that initial shock quickly morphed into a small, warm smile.
“Jongdae, it’s good to see you!” he said amicably, grinning at the younger. Minseok and him had hung out a few times at the parties their mutual friends had forced them to and such, but there mostly just acquaintances, really. Still, Jongdae never minded hanging out with the older male, finding him to be quite pleasant. “How have you been?”
“Good, a bit exhausted with everything going on in choir,” he responded lightly. “And you? I didn’t know you worked here.”
“I’m alright, and yeah, I just started recently. Wanted to make some pocket money on my own, and well, I love coffee, so what better a job then part-time at a coffee shop?” Jongdae nodded in understanding at the man’s words.
“You really suit the whole ‘barista’ looking, hyung,” he commented, to which Minseok gave a bashful smile in response.
“If you say so,” he replied half-heartedly, before clearing his throat a little and continuing. “So, what can I get you?”
Not wanting to bother the rest of the line behind him with any more waiting, Jongdae quickly made his order-- a salted caramel hot chocolate, because as much as he loved coffee, he didn’t really want to have two cups within a few hours. Bidding goodbye to Minseok lightly, he paid and stepped off to the side to retrieve his hot chocolate. Luckily, this place was pretty quick with their orders, so within a few minutes, he was off, drink in hand as he sat himself down at a nearby table for two and awkwardly sipped at his drink while deciding which iPhone game to kill time with.
Just as he found himself unable to decide between Flappy Bird and Temple Run, a voice brought his attention up.
“Jongdae?” a man spoke, and Jongdae looked up to see an actual god staring down at him.
Okay, well not really. But it sure as felt like it, Jongdae thought as he realized that Kris just happened to leave out of his description the fact that this man was very, very attractive. Light, clear skin, cleanly cut but messily-styled brown hair. upturned eyes, and the ing cutest dimpled smile the world has ever seen. Not to mention, Jongdae couldn’t help but gulp as he noticed the faint outlines of well-set muscles through the man’s flannel shirt.
“Y-yeah?” he stuttered out, trying his hardest to maintain eye contact with the man, whose smile grew at his choppy response.
“Oh, good, it is you,” he chimed, and even if his Korean was definitely accented, there was something entirely sweet about his words that brought a smile to his lips. “I’m Yixing, Yifan’s friend.” Jongdae blanked for a moment, before realizing that Yifan was one of the other names Kris went by.
“Of course, sit down!” he urged as soon as he realized this. Yixing nodded, taking his seat and setting his drink down on the table. “So…”
“So…?” Yixing repeated, an eyebrow raised teasingly, and Jongdae blushed.
“Sorry, I’m not the best with dating, let alone this whole ‘blind dating’ thing and all,” he said, rubbing his neck as he shot a sheepish smile to the man, who returned it with his own little grin.
“It’s alright, this is a first for me to,” Yixing reassured. “I always figured this was for lonely college students with loans to pay and no full-time job.”
“Exactly!” Jongdae exclaimed in agreement, and everything went uphill from there.
Conversation came much smoother, as they fell into a natural rhythm of talking and listening as they both got to know the other more and more. Jongdae learned all sorts of things about Yixing, like when he moved to Korea from China, how he enjoys dancing quite a bit, how he’s just a year older than Jongdae, and more. In return, Jongdae gave information about himself, telling the man how much he enjoyed singing, which school he went to, how annoying his two younger stepbrothers could be sometimes, and more. They shared laughs and stories with each other, as their drink cups slowly began emptying and the shop began closing down, they found themselves out in the streets wondering what to do.
“Would you like to come back to my place?” Yixing asked, and Jongdae hesitantly nodded. He wasn’t really sure how long first dates were supposed to last, but he enjoyed the company of the other man, so he figured a few more hours wouldn’t be a problem.
Apparently, the apartment wasn’t too far from the café; just about a 10 minute walk. Jongdae quickly learned that Yixing was living by himself, having moved to Korea alone with his parents’ blessings and some of their money as a kickstarter, as he pursued a career in the performing arts—as a dancer, of course. He was currently working in a relatively small entertainment agency downtown, training to become a professional performer. The whole idea of it made Jongdae feel a little inferior, considering how they were around the same age, and the other man was already making a name for himself around the entertainment industry, something with Jongdae himself had only planned to try doing after high school. Yixing reassured him though, saying that there were plenty of people where he worked who were older than them.
“You should sing for me some time, I could play background for you,” Yixing commented with a smile as they reached the door to his apartment. Oh yeah, and the Chinese boy also played piano and guitar. If he wasn’t perfection bundled together and tightly wrapped up in one, human packaging, Jongdae didn’t know what was.
“Alright,” Jongdae agreed, taking off his shoes as they walked past the threshold of the front door. “And in return, you gotta dance for me; it’s only fair, really.” Yixing grinned at the little jab, shutting the door behind him and leading him to the small living room, where they seated themselves on the couch to talk.
“If you say so, though I warn you: you’ll probably fall for my charisma immediately,” Yixing teased, throwing a little hair flip into the mix, and Jongdae couldn’t control his laughter.
“Well, Mr. Charisma, are you going to offer me something to drink, or what?” he shot back, and Yixing rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, okay: what would you like? Water, tea, coffee, or juice?”
“Juice is fine.” The Chinese boy nodded his head, standing up and heading over to where Jongdae assumed would be the kitchen.
“Well, you make yourself at home, then; I’ll be back in a second.” The Korean boy nodded, leaning back into the cushions beneath him as he had a look around.
It was true, the place was a bit small, but for just one person living there, it was absolutely perfect. The entire area was cozy, not too confined, but not too open. The complex itself was in a pretty nice part of town, and everything was completely clean and functional, from what Jongdae could see. Not really the type of apartment you’d expect to see from a high-school-age kid trying to become a musician full time, but hey, don’t just a book by its cover, right?
He looked over to the table off to the side, and noticed that there were quite a few picture frames laid on top of it. How domestic. He stood up and looked around at them. They were just the kind of things he’d expect: baby pictures, pictures with what he assumed to be his family, and then some other, sillier, more random ones. Jongdae found himself giggling especially at the one with Yixing and two boys, who were probably his friends, with their clothes and skin splattered in a multitude of bright color.
“We went paintballing that day,” a voice said from behind him, and Jongdae jumped at the suddenness. He spun around to glare at Yixing, who was just grinning and hand a glass of juice off to him (which he took begrudgingly). “It was me, and a couple of my best friends back home in Changsha. It was my 12th birthday, I think…?”
“You look demented, smiling like that,” Jongdae said with a scoff. In the picture, while the other two boys were frowning or crossing their arms or otherwise just looking upset, Yixing was outright beaming at the camera, raising his hand in what looked like a wave, even though he was probably sore from the paint bullets hitting him and uncomfortable from how much of the paint was sticking to his skin.
“What can I say? I’m a happy person,” Yixing replied back with a grin, and Jongdae rolled his eyes, running his fingers along the frame of the picture as a question came to his mind.
“How long have you been here, exactly?” he asked, his voice suddenly much quieter. Yixing furrowed his eyebrows, both from confusion at the suddenness of the question, and from just thinking about the answer.
“Well, I was about 13 when I left, so… 4 years now, I guess?” he replied wistfully.
“Do you… do you ever miss being back home?” Jongdae’s voice was barely audibly now, and the Chinese male sighed, ruffling his hair as he moved away and plopped himself back down on the couch, with the younger boy following him curiously.
“I guess—I mean, yeah, of course I do,” he started, unable to meet Jongdae’s gaze. “It’s just… it’s always hard, moving away from people who care for you so much, especially when you’re at such a vulnerable age. There were plenty of times where I just wanted to stop, to drop everything and leave, to go back to the comfortable life at home.” Jongdae rubbed his back comfortingly, and the other looked up and flashed him a smile. “But well, I gotta say, it was more than worth it. I’m living a dream, and I even got to meet cuties like along the way.” Jongdae rolled his eyes at the tease, blushing a little as he shoved the man’s shoulder.
“Keep it up, and this cutie will be gone,” he shot back, but joined in when Yixing started laughing loudly.
They kept up like that, both of them careful not to tread the ‘family’ path again. Jongdae certainly didn’t want to bring the mood down again with talk of the other man’s home, and even if he hadn’t been given all of the details, Yixing seemed be able to sense that family was a bit of a sensitive topic of Jongdae as well. Instead, they continued on other conversations, whether it was sharing stories, or telling bits and pieces more about each other. For Jongdae, it didn’t feel like a first date. And by that, it wasn’t like he felt like just a regular old hang-out between pals, but it was too… comfortable for just a first date. Everything just flowed, and it felt so natural.
“Whoops,” Yixing said suddenly, picking up his ringing cell phone while Jongdae was in the middle of telling him about that time Jongin came back from a school trip from Jeju and accidentally brought a native lizard back to Seoul without realizing. “It’s from the company, so I gotta take it; I’ll only be a few minutes.” Jongdae nodded and smiled at the reassurance, finding it cute how persistent the man was on making sure he wouldn’t get bored.
Once the Chinese man stepped out, Jongdae leaned back, letting a happy sigh leave his lips. He liked Yixing, a lot. He was quite the fun person, who was always honest and upright with how he felt about things, but never acted like a stickler about them. He was open-minded, and just generally enjoyable to be around. It felt like they could converse for hours, and still have just so much to say.
With that thought passing his mind, Jongdae took out his phone, wanting to check the time, but when he opened his lock screen, he was faced with a barrage of notifications, all from the same people: Jongin, Sehun, and Anri. Sighing and vaguely remembering that he had kept his phone on silent the whole time, he sipped at his juice, ignored the missed calls, and started scrolling through some of the messages.
From: Kkamjong
Sent at: 5:21 p.m.
Hyuuuuuuuuung we’re coming home soon
From: Kkamjong
Sent at: 5:22 p.m.
What’s for dinner? *O*
From: Kkamjong
Sent at: 5:38 p.m.
Why aren’t you respondinggggggggggg?
From: Kkamjong
Sent at: 5:41 p.m.
Hyuuuuuung
From: Kkamjong
Sent at: 5:42 p.m.
Are you deadddddddd?
Jongdae rolled his eyes, looking over at Sehun’s messages.
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:47 p.m.
hyung jongin keeps saying youre dead and he wont let me sleep respond to him pls
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:48 p.m.
hyung pls
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:51 p.m.
hyung do you hate me
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:53 p.m.
i think you do
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:55 p.m.
ok we just got home and youre not here
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:57 p.m.
wtf hyung
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 5:59 p.m.
ok moms pissed now and jongins trying to call the police
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 6:00 p.m.
are you actually dead
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 6:01 p.m.
pls say no im hungry and mom cant cook for
From: Thehunnie
Sent at: 6:04 p.m.
hyung
Choosing not to respond to the boy, he flipped over to see his stepmother’s single message.
From: Anri
Sent at: 5:55 p.m.
Where are you? Get your home immediately young man.
He rolled his eyes; such wonderful love he felt from his step-family, really. Though, he supposed he was a bit unreasonable, he decided, as he realized that it was nearly 8 pm. He’d been out with Yixing for hours now, without even a note of where he would be and how long he’d be gone. Sighing, he stood up, checking himself once over real quick just to make sure he had everything (not like he had really brought a lot, besides his wallet, phone, and house key). Just as he stood up, however, Yixing returned, looking upset and a bit panicked.
“Hey,” he started, walking over to Jongdae. “I’m really sorry about this, but it looks like I need to go; a guy from one of the performance groups got injured, so they need me to help fill in for him for an evaluation this weekend. They want me over at the company now so we can get working on it and—”
“Sh,” Jongdae hushed. “It’s alright, I understand. I was just gonna ask if I could go, anyway; the stepmom’s getting pissed.” He grinned, and Yixing returned it with a relieved smile.
“You sure it’s alright?” he checked again, and Jongdae rolled his eyes, leaning over to peck his cheek as he nodded.
“Yes, I’m sure. Now get your over to practice, you.” Yixing chuckled, but nodded, leading Jongdae out the door in silence. It was only once they were on the streets, about to part and go in the opposite directions, did they speak up again.
“I had fun today,” Yixing said, a light blush on his face.
“So did I,” Jongdae agreed, redness making its way to his cheeks as well. “I’ll… text you later, then?” The Chinese boy agreed easily, and as they parted with smiles and hugs, Jongdae couldn’t help but feel giddy.
So giddy, in fact, that he didn’t let his mood drop even slightly for the next few hours. He didn’t stop smiling all the way home. He didn’t get annoyed when he had to face an angry Anri, a paranoid/clingy Jongin, and a hungry Sehun back home. He didn’t complain when his stepmother made him clean up the mess in the kitchen that she made while trying to make a decent dinner. Hell, he didn’t even shoot a single sarcastic or snarky comment when he walked into his room, just to see Kris sitting on his desk chair and smirking at him with a knowing look.
“So, how was Yixing?” the spirit asked lightly, as though he didn’t know already. Jongdae answered regardless.
“Perfect.”
god i hate AFF's editor
like seriously is it possible to shoot and editing software in the (inter)face
bc thats what i want to do to this editor
ugh
like seriously is it possible to shoot and editing software in the (inter)face
bc thats what i want to do to this editor
ugh
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