turn that frown upside down
Apartment Block 17
(aka. extracurricular pt.4)
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[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]
“Cheol, you have to be joking,” Jihoon groaned as Seungcheol handed him a receipt; the receipt for the repair of their tap, which Soonyoung had broken forcefully for Seungcheol’s birthday plan to succeed. Jihoon cringed at the total printed at the bottom.
“I paid for it all,” Seungcheol said. “You don’t really have to pay it back. It’s not that much, anyway.”
“No, we will,” Jihoon insisted, “It doesn’t feel right to let you pay for something you didn’t ask for.”
Seungcheol grinned. He knew that Jihoon would’ve been too stubborn to let him pay the bulk of the cost, as much as Jihoon hated dishing out his hard-earned money. But Seungcheol didn’t actually mind paying for it at all.
“Was your birthday worth it?” Jihoon asked dryly.
“Yeah, everything was really great,” Seungcheol said sincerely. “I gained like, 5000 new followers because Hansol posted a video about my birthday. Not to mention the amazing presents. I can’t wait to go on that seven-day spa trip.”
“Oh, that’s great. How was cleaning up?”
“. Hansol and Seungkwan helped a little. There was cake thrown into my houseplants; I don’t even want to know why,” Seungcheol sighed.
“We didn’t even sing you happy birthday, now that I think about it,” Jihoon said thoughtfully.
“It was Soonyoung’s fault for running out like that,” Seungcheol chuckled. “Thanks for taking part in the action, though.”
“Whatever makes you happy. I like living in this apartment, after all,” Jihoon said with a low laugh.
“Jihoon, you know I’d never kick you guys out,” Seungcheol grinned mischievously.
“I’m not liking the look on your face,” Jihoon pointed out.
“It’s just my face,” Seungcheol shot back.
“And I don’t like it.”
“Watch it, Lee.”
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Seungcheol left, probably to go back to sleep in his apartment. Jihoon inspected the newly fitted tap that Seungcheol had paid for. It was much fancier than their old one; it had a cool filter thing fitted into it and much more precise hot-cold control. But of course, good things come with a cost.
Money had always been a problem for Jihoon; his parents were humble market sellers who didn’t have much in the area of funding for their son’s education. Jihoon had saved up a substantial amount from a horrible grocery store job he had undergone during his high school years; but that money was slowly running dry with all his university and rent expenses. Not wanting to beg his parents for money, he sighed and accepted the fact that he would have to find a job. Especially after Seungcheol had paid the hefty price for their tap repair, which Jihoon refused to let go.
Today 12:34 PM
me
> hey
> u were telling mingyu that ur boss was looking for new workers?
hoshi.
> yeapp!! xD
> also btw, im at the store
> do u want dark or milk chocolate
me
> its not chocolate if its not dark
> anyway i was wondering
> could i come during your shift today?
hoshi.
> to work??
> u wanna work at no fun ?!
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHA JIHOONIE ARE U SRS
me
> i need money ok
hoshi.
> u sure u wanna try no fun tho?
> one of the staff policies is to always serve customers with a smile :)
Jihoon had to think seriously about how much he needed that money.
me
> is it good pay?
hoshi.
> yes its pretty good!!!
> how do u think i’ve been paying rent the whole time? :D
me
> ok
> so can i come or not
hoshi.
> this day is going to go down in history
> meet me there at 1 :D
Jihoon felt guilty that Soonyoung was the one who always worked so hard; as irresponsible and unpredictable as Soonyoung could be, he always put 110% into everything he did, including his job. Jihoon figured it was his turn to actually put some effort into something that wasn’t music.
Having entered the Shining Diamond Mall at exactly 12:55 PM, he pushed open the doors of NO F.U.N with his newfound determination. Unfortunately, his resolve didn’t last long as a young child ran into him the moment he stepped into the establishment; jamming a chocolate ice cream right into his shirt in the process.
The child’s mother took to apologising profusely, producing a packet of baby wipes and scrubbing at Jihoon’s shirt. Hearing the commotion, Soonyoung left his station behind the counter and rushed to his roommate’s aid.
Soonyoung laughed at first, seeing Jihoon’s expression at the mishap. He assured the mother that it was alright, and led Jihoon into the bathroom to clean up. He even offered the child another free ice cream, which the greedy thing grabbed without so much of a thanks (to which his mother sighed and apologised yet again).
“Stop laughing,” Jihoon grumbled.
“Your face was so cute!” Soonyoung protested, mimicking the Jihoon’s expression which was somewhat of a mix between surprise, humour and disgust.
Jihoon grabbed the paper towels from Soonyoung and scrubbed at his shirt roughly. Chocolate ice cream wasn’t easy to get out. It didn’t leave the most appealing stain either.
“Here, you can wear this in the meantime,” Soonyoung slipped his own thin hoodie over Jihoon. It was slightly large on him, and Soonyoung laughed as he realised just how small his roommate looked in his hoodie. Jihoon nodded in thanks and started to leave.
As he exited the bathroom, Jihoon spotted Mingyu, his tree-like height making him stand out from the crowd. He was already wearing NO F.U.N’s uniform; a ridiculously bright coloured apron and matching hat. Jihoon groaned when Soonyoung brought him his uniform and forcefully jammed the hat onto his head with a smile.
“Oh hello, Jihoon!” Mingyu greeted politely.
“Hopefully this job works out better for you,” Jihoon said teasingly, adjusting the large apron to somehow fit around his small frame. He swore Soonyoung brought him the largest sized apron on purpose.
“I hope so, too!” Mingyu laughed, unfazed.
The manager, a rather young, bubbly woman, quickly put the two boys to work as waiters, perfectly fine that Jihoon had literally just turned up and asked for a job position.
Jihoon groaned internally at his job allocation as a waiter; he had hoped they’d put him on dishwashing duty or something similar. Anything that didn’t require him to have to deal with people.
“Welcome to NO F.U.N, how may I help you?” Jihoon said monotonously, plastering on his best smile - which turned out to be more of a mutter of words through gritted teeth with lips upturned in an upside-down crescent that looked far more creepy than happy.
Soonyoung put his hand on Jihoon’s shoulder from behind and swivelled him around to look at his face. He started laughing, saying, “You call that a smile?” in between his giggles.
Just breathe. Do it for the money. The money.
Grinning wider in an attempt to look somewhat friendly, he turned back to his customers; a humble family of four, two adults and two young children. The youngest girl flinched at Jihoon’s expression and buried herself into her mother’s arms.
The family ordered somewhat stiffly and Jihoon left promptly afterwards, dropping the fake smile from his face in relief. Forced smiling was really tiring.
Soonyoung did feel somewhat bad for Jihoon; it wasn’t that his roommate was always grumpy and never smiled. In fact, Jihoon smiled quite a lot. But when he did, it was always because it was 100% genuine. Forcing Jihoon into a position to act nice to people he didn’t care about was obviously taking a toll on his wellbeing.
“Are you sure you really want to work here?” Soonyoung asked Jihoon gently, who was standing at the condiments stand wiping the counter absentmindedly. His roommate had served a grand total of three tables so far and it appeared that he was a paper’s width away from resigning and going back home to sleep.
“I’ll do it for the money,” Jihoon gritted his teeth and left to serve Table #13, where a young boy was waving his hand persistently for someone to notice him.
Leaving Jihoon alone to cope with his inner turmoil, Soonyoung decided to check up on Mingyu. He didn’t have to look too far, immediately recognising the tall boy standing nearby at Table #17.
Mingyu stooped down to be eye level with the young girl sitting at the table and began making ridiculous faces, to which the girl squealed with pleased laughter. Mingyu high-fived the girl, smiled at her parents and left to serve another table. Seems like he’s doing alright.
On his way to other tables, Mingyu did manage to knock into several chairs and accidentally tip a salt shaker in his clumsiness, but it somehow fit into the mood of NO F.U.N. The place was constantly bustling with spills and mishaps; the entire restaurant was an accident waiting to happen. Soonyoung was glad that Mingyu fit in so well, right from the get go.
Soonyoung himself wasn’t the clumsiest person, but he admittedly had broken quite a few glasses and plates over his time working there. He believed he made up for it by being exceptionally good at customer service.
Jihoon on the other hand, was almost guaranteed a no-broken-plate work experience; he was far too careful and meticulous. Soonyoung hoped that would somehow balance his unwillingness to interact with customers. Nevertheless, Soonyoung hated seeing Jihoon suffer so much.
Soonyoung’s shift ended at 5 PM, and Jihoon gladly took up his offer to leave at the same time. NO F.U.N’s manager didn’t seem to mind Jihoon’s lack of customer interaction, and instead told Soonyoung that she’d probably just set him up in the back kitchen. It sounded fine, and Jihoon agreed, but Soonyoung could tell his roommate wasn’t happy working there.
Mingyu was given the waiter job officially, which he was incredibly happy about and moved on to apologise for all the drinks he’d spilled over the course of a few hours. The manager laughed, reached up to pat him on the head and told him that it was perfectly fine. Several regular customers had taken an immediate liking to the puppy-like boy and wouldn’t accept it if Mingyu wasn’t allowed to work there. He left at the same time as Soonyoung and Jihoon, but needed to go on an impromptu visit to the grocery store to get some strawberries and pick up Wonwoo’s new glasses from the optometrist.
“So,” Soonyoung asked hesitantly as he walked out with Jihoon, “How’d you find working at NO F.U.N?”
Jihoon gave him a sarcastic smile and replied, “Wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. When do we get paid?”
“Depends on when your shifts are. Mine’s usually on Saturday, when my work week ends,” Soonyoung said, laughing at Jihoon’s downcast expression after realising he wouldn’t be paid until he finished at least another week of work.
Soonyoung decided right then and there that he wouldn’t stop until he found a better job for his roommate. Giving Jihoon the excuse of ‘I think I left something behind, go ahead without me’, he turned and ran back into the mall to search for more job openings. Jihoon continued walking back home with a shrug; Soonyoung forgot things quite often.
Spotting a ‘now hiring’ poster stuck to the window of a nearby store, Soonyoung rushed in to ask for the specifics. There was already a customer at the counter; a certain tall, puppy-like boy whom Soonyoung had just said goodbye to.
“Mingyu!” Soonyoung called, breathing heavily from his short jog.
“Oh, hey Soonyoung!” Mingyu smiled. He was holding a fancy glasses case and a long receipt in his hands; probably Wonwoo’s new glasses.
Looking up at the actual name of the store and glancing around at the racks of glasses surrounding him, Soonyoung realised he had entered Can’t See The End, the local optometrist and glasses store.
“May I help you?” a girl with a friendly smile asked from behind the register.
“I was just wondering about that hiring sign you have out the front,” Soonyoung said.
“Oh, are you wanting a job here? Do you have any previous experience in optometry?”
“Oh. Nevermind,” Soonyoung said. Stupid prerequisites.
Saying a rushed goodbye to a confused Mingyu, Soonyoung entered several other random stores in search of a job for Jihoon. They all told him they were already full and not looking for new workers.
“Maybe I should just ask Cheol for help,” Soonyoung muttered to himself as he entered a small corner store; Ah Yeah Videos. He hadn’t been to a video rental in years; why need to when you could just watch them on the internet?
[a/n; don’t illegally stream movies on the internet, kids ( ≖ิ‿≖ิ )]
“Soonyoung!” a familiar voice called from the counter’s direction. A slim teenage boy with dark purple hair waved with a smile.
“Minghao!” Soonyoung responded, greeting his new dance student and friend he had met the previous night. “You work here?”
“Not the best job, but I have to pay the bills somehow,” Minghao admitted.
“People still rent videos?” Soonyoung raised an eyebrow.
“Some law-abiding people, yes,” Minghao said reproachfully.
“Touché,” Soonyoung laughed.
“So, I take it you’re not here to rent a video?” Minghao questioned.
“You caught me,” Soonyoung said, putting his hands up in surrender. “I was wondering if you had any job openings.”
“Nah, sorry. Lots of people want to work here because it’s a pretty chill job,” Minghao said apologetically.
“Oh, alright then,” Soonyoung sighed. “How’d you get the job?”
“You underestimate me,” Minghao grinned. In all honesty, he had simply played the ‘poor foreign boy who needed money’ card. “Why are you asking, anyway? Do you need a job?”
“Nah, I’m finding one for my roommate,” Soonyoung explained.
“Why didn’t he come ask himself?” Minghao questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“He doesn’t know I’m doing this,” Soonyoung admitted.
“Oh, I see. I’ll keep your secret,” Minghao said.
“It’s not really a secret, but okay. Appreciated,” Soonyoung smiled.
Silence. “Wanna rent a video, maybe?” Minghao hinted.
Soonyoung laughed. “Maybe some other time.”
Minghao shook his head disapprovingly. “Then get out.”
Soonyoung’s mouth dropped into an ‘o’ as he backed out of the store. He chuckled and waved bye to Minghao, who returned the favour with a cheeky grin.
After asking a few more places without luck, including Very Nice Electronics, Chuck Games and even Jam Jam Café (whose manager didn’t want to accept any other job applications following the ‘incompetence’ of Kim Mingyu), Soonyoung proceeded to the second floor in hopes of success. He spotted a humble bookstore next to the escalator, and wondered why he didn’t think of it sooner; Jihoon would probably like working in a quiet environment like that of a bookstore.
“Welcome to 20 Books, what genre are you feeling?” a friendly voice greeted from the counter.
“Uh, a part time job?” was Soonyoung’s hesitant reply. He wasn’t the biggest fan of reading; he hadn’t entered a bookstore like this in years.
“Oh, that’s great! We’re actually looking for new people since school’s starting soon,” the cashier said.
Sooonyoung jumped slightly. “Really?” A few customers glared in his direction following his loud outburst. He smiled sheepishly and reminded himself to lower his voice. Sheesh, it’s not like this is a library.
“Just hand us a résumé and frankly speaking, you’ll probably get the job. As long as you don’t have a criminal track record or something.”
Soonyoung was fairly certain that Jihoon didn’t have anything of that sort. But he wasn’t sure if Jihoon had already made up a résumé.
“Can I just give you like, contact details and availability?” Soonyoung enquired, thinking back to how he got his job at NO F.U.N.
“Yeah, sure,” the cashier said, handing Soonyoung a notepad and pen.
“It’s not for me, by the way,” Soonyoung explained as he wrote down Jihoon’s contact details and availability (which was everyday, since Jihoon hardly did anything). “My roommate needs the job.”
“Anything’s fine,” the cashier said. Soonyoung appreciated how chill she was about everything.
“Thanks, Mina,” Soonyoung said, squinting to read the name-tag of the cashier. She smiled and waved goodbye as Soonyoung left.
“Man, Jihoon’s gonna love me for this,” Soonyoung mumbled proudly, jogging across the road back to Apartment Block 17.
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[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]
“Took you an awful long time to find what you lost,” Jihoon commented as Soonyoung returned back to the apartment.
“Couldn’t find it at first,” Soonyoung laughed nervously. “Oh, but awesome news!” he declared as he plonked down onto the couch next to Jihoon. Jihoon nodded at him to continue.
“I found you another job!” Soonyoung said proudly, throwing out his arms to emphasise the huge favour he had just done for his roommate.
Jihoon looked at him suspiciously. “Is it legal?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Soonyoung said dismissively, as if he expected this question from his roommate. “It’s at that bookstore on the second floor.”
Just as Soonyoung finished speaking, Jihoon’s phone rang. “Hello?” came Jihoon’s hesitant answer upon picking up the phone.
“Oh. Ok, thanks so much. Sorry about him. Yes, I’ll go in tomorrow. Right. Bye.”
“Was that the store?” Soonyoung pestered.
“Yes. Looks like I got the job... that I never applied for.”
“Of course you did!” Soonyoung grinned. “Now you won’t have to deal with seven-year-olds shoving ice cream into your shirt!”
“Thank you?” Jihoon said in bewilderment. He couldn’t believe that Soonyoung went to that much trouble to find him a job. Does he not want to work with me that badly?
Whether Jihoon liked it or not, he found himself dragged along to 20 Books the following day by an overenthusiastic Soonyoung. Jihoon definitely liked the idea of working in a bookstore, but still didn’t see it as the most exciting job in the world. He liked books, but it wasn’t like he was completely obsessed with them. If anything, he was more obsessed with his music scores than books.
“You must be Jihoon!” a girl around his age greeted brightly, shaking his hand politely. “I’m Mina, and I’m one of the part-timers here. My boss trusts me with handling the store, so I’ll pretty much be in charge of you while you work here.”
“Oh, well I look forward to working with you,” Jihoon bowed politely.
Soonyoung wondered around the store for a good while, and concluding that there was nothing of interest to him, he left the store with a cheeky wave and grin at his roommate, who was stuck with the fabulous job of restocking and tidying the shelves. It didn’t help that Jihoon wasn’t the tallest person around.
“Thanks for shopping at 20 Books,” Jihoon called out sarcastically as Soonyoung left the store. The air was soon filled with Soonyoung’s fading laughter as he left the vicinity.
“Need some help?” an intelligent looking teenager with greyish-blond hair stood behind Jihoon, watching him struggle with placing books on the uppermost shelf.
Jihoon halted his attempts and turned to the young man. His name-tag, indicating he was also a worker, read ‘Namjoon’.
“Thanks, Namjoon.”
“You must be that new worker, Jihoon. It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely as he placed the books on the shelf with ease. Jihoon clicked his tongue; Namjoon wasn’t even that much taller than he was.
“Yep, that’s me.”
Aside from several boring rearranging jobs and difficulty in carrying heavy boxes to and fro - that took up way to much effort, in Jihoon’s opinion - Jihoon found that working at 20 Books was far more manageable and relaxing than NO F.U.N. He didn’t want to admit that Soonyoung had actually managed to do something right for him, but it proved to be true as Jihoon actually didn’t feel like punching the wall while working in the bookstore.
Though Namjoon seemed rather intellectual at first glance with his round glasses and cashmere sweater, Jihoon soon found out that his personality was the complete opposite. He was loud, especially for a bookstore worker, he laughed weirdly, cracked jokes far too often and conversed easily with anyone who was willing to accept recommendations from him. He helped Jihoon out whenever he could and though he was a very humorous and energetic person (but not to the degree of Kwon Soonyoung), he did have good leadership qualities. Jihoon grew to enjoy working with him over the first few hours of his shift.
Mina seemed impressed at Jihoon’s quick adaptation to his assigned jobs. The door opened to a new customer as Jihoon finished labelling the last of the on-sale books.
“Yo, Jihoon,” Jisoo greeted, waving, “Soonyoung told me he got you a job here.”
“He must’ve been so proud of his achievement,” Jihoon said dryly.
“You seem like you’re having fun,” Jisoo grinned. “Anyway, I’m not here just to make your life miserable. I need some books.” Jihoon raised an eyebrow.
“I was expecting more friendly customer service, but I think that’s the best I’ll ever get out of you,” Jisoo teased, leaning over Jihoon to browse through the on-sale books. “Ah, third year maths. Calculus. Differentiation. Fun, fun, fun,” he said as he picked up an old curriculum maths book. Jihoon had just labelled it at 90% off (honestly, who wants to buy old maths books?).
“Do I want to know why you’re buying a high school maths guide?” Jihoon took the book from Jisoo and proceeded to hand it to Mina at the counter.
“I’ve started helping Hansol and another boy with their maths work,” Jisoo explained, taking out his wallet to pay. “But I realised when I met them that I’d forgotten most of my high school maths.”
“Oh, right, I think Seungkwan mentioned something like that last time he was over,” Jihoon said thoughtfully. Jihoon had started working with Seungkwan to produce some original music for Seungkwan and Hansol’s music channel. So far, nothing noteworthy had been produced, but progress had somewhat been made. “What’s tutoring them like?”
“Hansol and I get along really well,” Jisoo said, “And the other boy, Chan, is really diligent and hardworking. I love teaching them both, honestly.”
“Jeonghan?” Jihoon questioned briefly.
“Oh,” Jisoo sighed, “I’m surprised Hansol and Chan haven’t been scared off by him.”
Jihoon chuckled.
“That’ll be $5,” Mina said as she bagged the maths book. Jisoo paid and thanked the both of them, bidding Jihoon a brief goodbye as he exited the shop.
“Well done Jihoon,” Mina marvelled, “Soonyoung did tell me that you would probably take time to get used to the whole customer service thing. I’m surprised; you seem completely fine.”
“Don’t believe anything Soonyoung tells you. I’m a ball of sunshine.”
Mina laughed and sent Jihoon to the back room to check up on stock levels. He finished doing a brief stocktake, so Mina allowed him to loiter around the store and help out any customers he saw.
Most were just window shopping, or simply reading the book right in the bookstore. Jihoon knew he was also guilty of doing this; but now, working as an employee and actually wanting people to buy things so his pay would potentially rise made window shoppers extremely frustrating. Placing misplaced books back into the right spot was also far too tiring for Jihoon to bother, so he hid the book behind another one like any radical, lazy employee would do. It somewhat went against his meticulous tendencies, but after a long hour of intensive working, he was too exhausted to care.
“At least I get paid to do this,” Jihoon muttered to himself as he picked up a fallen book. A chuckle sounded from the other side of the bookshelf. Looking upwards, Jihoon found himself eye to eye with a teenager with dark brown hair and even darker, piercing eyes.
“Oh, it’s you. Wonwoo,” Jihoon said, recognising the boy he had met recently at Jam Jam Café. He walked around the shelf that was separating them to properly face the boy. “You’ll be glad to know that Mingyu is doing a fabulous job at NO F.U.N,” Jihoon said in a joking tone, though he meant what he said.
“I know. He wouldn’t stop telling me yesterday,” Wonwoo sighed. “He said you were working there as well, so I’m slightly confused seeing you work here too...”
“I was just trying it out, but... it’s not my kind of place,” Jihoon said dryly, “So I came here instead. Today’s my first shift.”
“Ah, ok. I know how you feel. I can’t stand the noisiness of that place. But the pizza’s amazing,” Wonwoo chuckled softly. “I would work here myself, since I love reading, but Jam Jam pays better,” Wonwoo admitted with a hushed tone.
“Fair enough. I’m just glad I have a decent job as of today,” Jihoon said. “Anyway, what brings you here? I take it you come here quite often.”
“I have an hour to kill before I have to go to work,” Wonwoo said. “Mingyu’s first official shift started today,” he added, though Jihoon didn’t particularly need to know that. “Since he dragged me along, I figured I might as well come here to browse before I head to work.”
“Ah, ok. Anything you like to read in particular?”
“Not in the mood for anything too heavy. But actually, I do need some new books for school. I lost my old ones,” Wonwoo explained briefly. Jihoon detected a bitter tone to his words, but decided not to question it further.
Jihoon directed Wonwoo to the titles he required for his literature course at Pledis University. Since the bookstore was quite small, Jihoon had quickly learnt the placement of books over the course of the last hour or so.
“Is this enough?” Jihoon asked sarcastically, helping Wonwoo carry the heavy stack of books to the counter.
“Actually, I was wondering if you had a guide. Specifically a gay guy’s guide to living with a male roommate,” Wonwoo asked dryly.
“Hm, quite specific,” Jihoon humoured him, “If something that helpful existed, I’ll be sure to let you know. Though right now, society hasn’t advanced that far yet, unfortunately.”
“Ah, that’s a shame. Really did need that title.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Oh, you have no idea. I could go on about it for hours.”
“You don’t look like the sort of person who’d rant on about a guy. Humour me.”
“So, it’s about Kim Mingyu.”
“The tree.”
Wonwoo let out a small laugh. “I suppose. He moved in with me recently.”
“Oh yeah, I met him when he was with Seungcheol. Probably on his first day here,” Jihoon reminisced to the day Soonyoung had made that piggyback bet with him. Jihoon’s back still hurt occasionally because of it.
“Oh, small world, huh.”
“Nah, just a small apartment block.”
Mina walked to the counter from the back room and smirked upon seeing Jihoon converse easily with a tall customer with sharp, handsome features. She had to admit that his intense aura was attractive. Not wanting to disturb their conversation, she busied herself with tidying up a nearby bookshelf. Though she wasn’t purposely trying to overhear, she became curious in their conversation; it seemed that the customer was telling Jihoon about his annoying roommate.
“The worst part is that I think I’m actually starting to like it,” the customer said with a tone of disgust. “Like when he begs me to follow him to the grocery store, I actually don’t mind anymore.”
“You seriously remind me of myself,” Jihoon said sympathetically. “My roommate’s the same.”
“Soonyoung, right? He does remind me a little of Mingyu.”
“Soonyoung is... loud. And weird. But like you said, I kind of got used to it and to be honest... I really like it,” Jihoon said, pursing his lips. “But don’t you dare tell him I said that. Or I’ll beat you with my guitar.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” the customer smirked.
Mina spotted more students entering the store and decided that their conversation had to cease as they were blocking the front entrance and the counter. She signalled Jihoon to move off, and he complied, presumably taking Wonwoo to another part of the store to continue their deep conversation. She couldn’t help but dwell on the snippets of their conversation she had overheard. Damn, so that Mingyu guy I saw at NO F.U.N yesterday is the customer’s roommate? He is such boyfriend material!! Poor customer-guy. Must having a roommate who steals all the girls from you~
“Anyway,” Jihoon continued as Wonwoo followed him to the science fiction section, “I say you embrace this new joy of a roommate.”
“I do, I guess. But I’m just confused,” Wonwoo sighed.
“Do you like him?” Jihoon asked bluntly.
“Um, no,” Wonwoo cringed, “No, definitely not. I hate Mingyu.”
Jihoon raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, hate is a strong word,” Wonwoo admitted, “I like that he’s not... horrible and messy. Yeah, he’s pretty great as a roommate. But I hate that I don’t hate him. Does that make sense?” he babbled.
“No. But I’ve been there, so I understand,” Jihoon smiled. “I hated Soonyoung so much when I first got to know him. I still have no clue what made me agree to his suggestion to move in together after high school...”
“But yet, you’re here today?”
“Exactly. I still hate him, don’t get me wrong. But I really like him too.”
“I doubt your kind of like matches my kind of like though,” Wonwoo murmured.
“So, you’re finding it hard to keep your gay guy feels in control because your roommate is too much and you’re basically just a hot mess?”
“Why do you think I need a gay guy’s guide to living with a male roommate?”
“Fair enough.”
Wonwoo felt good after talking with Jihoon, though his ever-growing feelings toward Mingyu still frustrated him. He knew denying any emotions wasn’t going to get him anywhere, but it was all he could do to keep himself somewhat sane. Wonwoo had never felt this strongly toward anyone before; whether it be hate or love, Mingyu was an entirely different case to anyone Wonwoo had met before. Every guy Wonwoo had ever crushed on didn’t hold a candle to Mingyu.
Jihoon, though acting much more confident and well-versed in the subject compared to Wonwoo, was in a similar boat. As much as he wanted to deny it, ever since he met Soonyoung, his life had made a complete 180. For the better.
“Soonyoung really likes you, you know,” Wonwoo decided to turn the conversation over to Jihoon.
“Um, thanks?” Jihoon said uncertainly. Soonyoung was a very friendly and easygoing person; Jihoon knew that. He didn’t see Soonyoung’s friendliness toward him to be any different to how he acted with other people. Jihoon didn’t want to be falsely led on into believing that Soonyoung held any feelings stronger than friendship for him. But of course, Jihoon definitely didn’t like him like that.
“I’ve only talked to him like, once, before Friday. I met him in the elevator with Mingyu, and he was talking about how you guys met or something.”
“And why was he telling you that?”
“He was explaining why you call him ‘Hoshi’. Anyway, the way he talked about you was so sincere and cute.”
“Oh, well, that’s nice to hear.”
An awkward silence settled between them. Wonwoo coughed. “Um, anyway, it was nice talking to you, Jihoon. Thanks for listening.”
“You too. We’re pretty similar,” Jihoon agreed. “You wanna swap numbers maybe? I could use someone to talk to sometimes.”
“Sure,” Wonwoo said, getting out his phone.
“Good luck with Mingyu,” Jihoon smirked as he typed his number into Wonwoo’s phone. “I’ll be rooting for you guys.”
“Shut up. I’m sure this thing will die off as I live with him longer,” Wonwoo insisted, though more for his own benefit than Jihoon’s. It was as if Wonwoo believed that the more he told himself that he didn’t like Mingyu, the more he would actually begin to actually feel like he didn’t. Jihoon knew that wouldn’t work; he himself had been doing that for years, but his own deep feelings for Soonyoung still remained latched onto his heart. It wasn’t that Jihoon was deep in love with his roommate, but it was more of a nagging butterfly in his stomach that would spaz out whenever Soonyoung did anything. Frankly, Jihoon found it quite annoying. Especially when he was around Soonyoung almost 24/7.
“You go to Pledis, don’t you? I’ll see you around,” Jihoon said.
“Ah, right. School. Won’t that be fun?” Wonwoo said sarcastically, bending down to pick up his stack of newly bought books. “Good luck with Soonyoung.”
Wonwoo left shortly after to dump the books in his apartment before having to go to work. Jihoon was left to the mercy of several schoolgirls who had come in to find some published fanfiction, which was actually sold there, much to Jihoon’s surprise and dismay. He groaned internally as their grating voices cooed over the titles displayed.
“When can I go home?” he muttered to himself. He’d certainly take Soonyoung over this any day of the week.
a/n;
thank you for reading! ^^
as much as i want job money, no one will hire me ;-; but i’ll end up being like jihoon in most cases lol
next time; they finally go back to school :’)
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