Part 1 - Chapter 8

I Wanna Love
Please log in to read the full chapter

8

For four days Niel felt lighter and happier; it was ok that Jilly had gone and it was ok that he might possibly for a moment think he was biual. It also helped that any time he wasn’t working he was gaming until the early hours of the morning.

Due to his new schedule of gaming he was passed out, face-down on his bed, a small string of saliva escaping his mouth. With ruthless efficiency, his phone began to trill and cry shrilly until he woke. With bleary eyes and clumsy movements Niel found the phone and answered the call.

“’Lo?” He mumbled into the receiver.

“Nielie! Were you sleeping?” Chanhee chirped.

“Mmm. I was. What’s up, hyung?” Niel rolled over, trying to pull himself the rest of the way into consciousness.

“Come and have a coffee with meeee.” Chanhee replied, still loud in Niel’s ear.

“Mmm. Now?”

“Yeah! Byung is working, let’s go see him together!”

“Why?” Niel complained.

“Because I will buy you coffee. Come on Nielie! I’ve cleaned the whole house, I’m bored!” Chanhee whined in reply.

“Ok, ok. Let me shower and I’ll meet you there” Niel sat up, running a hand through his hair.

“Orrrrrr… you could let me in.” A knock sounded at Niel’s front door.

“You’re here?” Niel looked through the open bedroom door towards the door of the apartment.

“Yeah.”

“You have a key.” Niel pointed out.

The door swung open and Chanhee sauntered in.

“Yeah. I know.” He said, still using his phone.

Niel hung up on him.

“Yah! That was rude!” Chanhee yelled from the lounge, “You hung up on me!”

--------------------

Changhyun’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he worked. Mr Worthington was expected back from his meeting any moment and Changhyun wanted to get this pile of paperwork finished before he returned with more. Between moments of productivity Changhyun’s mind wandered to Jonghyun.

They had spent until Sunday afternoon together when Jong had returned home for new clothes. Changhyun had been surprisingly disappointed when he left. They had been texting non-stop since then and even made time to see one another on the Tuesday night. Now, the following day, Changhyun was beaming every time he wasn’t concentrating on his work.

As if by telepathy a text message chimed in. Changhyun glanced at it: Jonghyun. He ignored it with great willpower. He needed to get this stuff finished first.

With a sheepish grin, he checked the phone anyway.

Jonghyun: Hey, I know you’re at work. But I just wanted to tell you I was thinking of you.

Changhyun’s heart melted. Jonghyun came off so stern and strong. A quiet pillar of good looks and hidden thoughts. Changhyun loved that he was allowed to see the marshmallow that lived beneath the surface.

------------------------

The morning rush had finally died off and Byunghun had time to lean against the counter with Feng and chat. She was busy restocking the beans and takeaway cups as Byunghun ran water through the machine to clean it after the busy period had died away.

“So, then she said ‘I’m just not ready for anything serious right now’, and I was like ‘Well, you very much.’ I mean, I didn’t say that but I was thinking it. I mean, Jesus, I spent like 100 dollars on that third date. Ugh, chicks man.” Feng said in disgust.

Byunghun chuckled, wiping his cloth around the underside of the group head. He was only half-listening, absently wiping his cloth over the clean bench. His mind was on Chanhee, his mind was always on Chanhee.

The easy way Chanhee had been the last few days. Smiling and being sweet to Byunghun, not pushing or asking what was wrong but simply being happy and affectionate as he always had been. Byunghun wondered what he had ever done to deserve an angel like his boyfriend.

He listened to Feng’s complaints about dating, and Lola’s casual ribbing with a smile. He knew deep down that he would rather be confused and scared with Chanhee than alone and struggling without him.

------------------------------

Jonghyun sat on the pavement beside Minsu, his phone in his hands and a frown creasing his brow. He was trying so hard to find a job, but so far had come up with nothing. Guilt and rejection were beginning to gnaw at him. He knew Minsu wanted to get his apartment back, Jonghyun, himself, wanted to get out and find his own space.

“Cheer up. It’ll happen.” Minsu said, exhaling his cigarette smoke out away from Jonghyun.

“When? When!” Jonghyun’s scowl deepened.

His phone vibrated in his hand and he glanced at it.

Changhyun: Hey! Thinking of you too. How is the job hunt?

Jonghyun growled and hung his head.

With harsh taps, he sent a reply.

Jonghyun: Terrible. I can’t find anything unless I want to spend all day and night throwing fish.

He sighed heavily. Minsu patted his shoulder awkwardly and offered Jonghyun a smoke.

“Nah, I really shouldn’t.” He declined with a slight wave. He sighed again. His phone vibrated once more.

Changhyun: Ok, I really do know somewhere you can get a job. Wanna meet up this afternoon?

Jonghyun: I want to see you.

Jonghyun folded his legs and leant his head on a hand.

“I have to get back to work, ok? Just hang in there.” Minsu pulled himself to his feet and ground his cigarette out before tossing it in the bin.

“Thanks.” Jonghyun nodded.

Changhyun: Ok, I’ll text you where to meet me.

----------------------------------------

Chanhee barrelled into Niel’s room and threw himself onto the younger man. Niel, completely blindsided and still half asleep, struggled to escape from the bed before being crushed beneath Chanhee’s soft form.

“Hyyyuuuuuunnnnng!!” Niel groaned, face flattened onto the mattress from the weight of Chanhee. Chanhee’s face popped into Niel’s vision, a toothy grin and bright eyes.

“Get up Nielie! Let’s go see Byung!” Chanhee pulled himself onto his knees and began to pummel Niel with light punches.

Niel sat up and glared half-heartedly at his hyung.

“You love me.” Chanhee said in a decisive tone and a smile still on his face.

Without waiting for an answer, he stepped down from the bed and stood near the door.

“I’ll be in the lounge when you’re ready.” Chanhee declared before leaving the bedroom. Niel watched him go, speechless.

Chanhee strode over to the couch and picked up his blazer. He brushed imaginary dust from the folded lapel before opening it to pull it on. Scanning the small space a frown creased Chanhee’s brow. This place was a dump. The loss of a feminine touch was painfully obvious. With a resigned sigh Chanhee set his blazer back down and chose to start in the kitchen first.

He sorted through Niel’s piles of dirty dishes; making a stack of bowls, a stack of plates, a line of cutlery and utensils. Followed by the one pot and frypan Niel seemed to own. The mugs, all varying states of disgusting, went straight into the sink to soak off whatever was growing on them. With that done he wiped down the benches and gave a tentative sniff of the raggy tea towel. With a small noise of disgusted shock, Chanhee tossed the thing away from himself.

Shaking his head Chanhee continued to tidy. Folding blankets, fetching cushions, piling mail and papers on the corner of the small table in the lounge. He even collected Niel’s obvious drifts of dirty washing and heaped it against the wall by the door where he could take it to the laundromat.

He was just pulling his coat on once more when Niel finally emerged. The younger’s head swivelled around as he took in his now tidy (not yet clean) kitchen and living area. Niel smiled.

“Thanks, hyung. Let’s go.” He motioned for the door and followed Chanhee into the hall.

-------------------------------------

Minsu waved to Jonghyun before weaving his way back into the throng of the market place. A cacophony of sound hit him as he stepped beneath the open-walled sheds. It always felt almost like a physical blow to his sensitive ears. The screeching yells of bargaining and deals being made, orders being taken. The consistent hum of fish tanks and the inconsistent whoosh of flames from gas cookers. Minsu made his way through it all, lifting his apron back up to be tied around his neck. With skilled hands, he wrapped his long, heavy black braids into a knot and tied it off. Lastly, he pulled the rubber gloves onto his hands and stepped over the lines of buckets at his stall.

“I’m back Sinfungh!” Minsu called to the elderly Cantonese man scooping crabs from a tub with practiced movements.

“Ok ok.” The old man called back.

Minsu turned and began the routine calls of deals and prices from their stall. He haggled and dealt with customers, picking and packing fish and seafood as they chose it. With speed and possibly a little flair he wrapped the purchases and handed them over, taking money before staring the whole process again.

When he wasn’t completely absorbed by bargaining and arguing over prices Minsu watched the crowds. He had taken to hoping that perhaps fate was on his side and the object of his obsession would walk past his stall in the market. So far, fate was being uncooperative.

-----------------------------------------------

Niel and Chanhee pushed through the café door, smiling and joking with one another easily. They had missed the busy morning period but were still early enough to beat the lunch rush too. They lazily approached the counter and looked for Byunghun. Lola stood at the register, ready to take their order.

“Hey Lola.” Chanhee smiled, unintentionally turning on the charm. Niel shook his head, he was sure that Chanhee had no idea he did that.

“Hey there Chanhee.” Lola smiled in reply, fighting down the giggle that was the automatic response to the shine in Chanhee’s eyes. “What can I get for you guys?”

“Coffee. A really big, hot coffee.” Niel replied, still feeling like there were weights in his pockets.

Lola grinned and pulled down a cereal bowl from the shelf behind her, “Like this?” She asked.

Niel nodded, blinking longer than necessary.

“Ok, one bucket for you, and Chanhee…?”

“Just a cup of coffee for me too. Is Byung out the back?” He pulled the cash from his wallet to pay. Lola scribbled the order onto a fluoro-pink post-it.

“Yup. He’ll be out to make these though.” Lola replied, focusing on the register. When the machine had spat out a receipt Lola turned and pushed the kitchen door open. With a furtive glance back over the customers, she yelled loudly into the kitchen.

“Byunghun! Cofffeeee orrdeerrrrr!! Nooooowwwww!”

One or two customers jumped in shock but the rest (all regulars) just went on scrolling their phones or reading their papers.

A moment later Byunghun popped through the swinging doors.

“Jesus Lola, I think the Korean couple 4 floors up know I have a coffee order to make too. I was only just behind the door.” He complained, as he approached the machine.

Lola shrugged and didn’t bother to reply.

---------------------------------------------

Changhyun’s desk was piled with papers his boss had brought back from the meeting. One hand on the papers and the other holding the phone to Changhyun’s ear, he spoke softly and swiftly in Korean.

“Hey, it’s me. I have this friend that needs a job really badly. Do you think you could help him out?” Changhyun said, eyes scanning the first document in the pile.

“Hey! Uh, this is kinda random Changhyun.” His brother replied easily.

“I know. Please, he’s desperate.” Changhyun sorted the top few sheets of paper to one side as he talked.

“Ok. But tell me a little more about him?”

“He’s Korean too, just moved over. His English isn’t bad. He’s waited tables before. He’s enthusiastic and a hard worker.” Changhyun blushed and chose not to go into just how he knew that.

“Mmm.” There was a long silence and in the background Changhyun heard Lola’s voice calling for the barista to attend the coffee machine. “Ok. Francesca is going back to Italy in a few weeks so I need a new waiter. But if your friend is useless I will fire them. I’m running a business here Changie, not adopting strays.” His brother attempted to sound stern.

“Of course, hyung.” Changhyun smiled knowingly. He tucked the phone against his shoulder to keep it at his ear, his hands now busily sorting the pile.

“Ok. When is this person coming in?” Youngjin huffed.

“This afternoon? Around 2:30?”

“You already organised it, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. Anyway, I gotta go. Jonghyun and I will be there for the start of the close shift. You can get him started on training tonight.” Changhyun said swiftly, his brother was sputtering through the phone, “I gotta go, I have heaps to do here before 2:30. Bye hyung.” Changhyun set the phone back in its cradle, his brothers protests audible until the line cut off.

With a smug smile, he pulled the paperwork closer and gave it his full attention.

--------------------------

Byunghun shook his head at Lola and turned the grinder on. As he clacked grind into his portafilter he scanned the café for the newcomers, he saw no one new. Puzzled he levelled off the coffee and secured it into the machine, pulling down a cup he half filled it with hot water and poured the shot. As it was running he looked around again for the recipients of the coffee. A wave of ash-blond hair rose over the horizon of cups on the machine, followed by a forehead, crinkled with a raised eyebrow. Finally, two, mischief-filled dark eyes emerged, staring directly into Byunghun’s own as he stood on tiptoe to peer over the machine.

With a startled smile, Byunghun rocked back onto his heels and shook his head, eyes on the floor. Chanhee laughed and straightened properly to look over the machine at Byunghun.

Byunghun’s heart was suddenly racing, he was smiling at the matted floor like an idiot. He might possibly even be blushing.

“Hey,” Chanhee said quietly, a certain sweetness in his voice he reserved for Byunghun.

“Hey yourself,” Byunghun replied, still not able to look up at Chanhee.

“Hey,” Chanhee repeated casually.

“Hey!” A new voice chimed in.

Byunghun snatched a glance at Niel standing beside Chanhee.

“Hiya.” Byunghun replied, desperate to be casual.

He heard Niel snort and blushed harder.

Well, he thought to himself as he finished off Chanhee’s coffee, I’d say I’

Please log in to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
JooHunnit
#1
Chapter 27: This...this was one of the best things i have ever read
Really amazing writing, superb plot- placement and everything was perfect. I loved every character and....it was really spectacular.
IHaveRuinedMyLife
#2
Chapter 27: WOW! Just wow! It's been so long since I read a great, chaptered Teen Top fic, that I almost forgot that this is what I'm living for ㅋㅋ it's just that people don't seem to write them anymore... which is too sad ㅠㅠ
But it also means that I'm incredibly thankful you wrote this story!! I loved it so so so so much!! I'd even go so far, saying it is the best Teen Top fic I've read in... probably two years. I loved your way of describing the characters and the dynamics of each couple. ChangRick was SO ADORABLE in here~~ and ChunJoe were so bittersweet at first and perfect towards the end ♡ as for N.A.P.... it actually drove me crazy ㅋㅋ the moment Minsoo stood Niel up I was literally screaming at my phone ㅋㅋ but it also turned out to be so cute and fluffy and just the right amount of sap xD
so yeah... thumbs up for this!!! thank you so much for sharing~~ (and please continue writing Teen Top fics!! I sometimes feel like I'm the only person with an ongoing Teen Top fic that nobody even reads... it's sad... we need more Teen Top again~~)
chunjixbyungie
#3
Chapter 27: Do i have one ? Rofl . Byunghun can be hilarious sometimes ! I really liked the staring part and the whole what are you staring at.. Why ..because i like them .
Byunghun blushing and playing with the carpet too . very natural ~ he actually confessed first ! How surprising ! It was funny when chanhee said bec you are my best friend lol i bet Byunghun felt his stomach drop . That aside though , I get why he got angry the first time . i mean .. I may too with chanhee laughing in such situation . but the second time i was like .. does he have split personality ?
What angered him in " you better get used to it "?
The part where chanhee thought the doubts would come back but he'd be there to chase them off was so sweet and perfect as a closure ! Really liked it .
And of course we can't forget niel's part . so enjoyable and so funny * thumbs up *
chunjixbyungie
#4
Chapter 26: your brain is fantastically bad at sticking to one project and mine is that way with procrastination , which explains why I just got to read this NOW . I have no word to describe how fluffy and adorable ( Chanhee calling Byung a marshmallow is seriously the best thing ever ) this was ( realistic too ) Byunghun's thoughts about niel having everything he himself lacks and still being scared , unsure of himself .
it's ironic how someone may seem to lead a happy life when they are in fact being bullied .
I'll see you in about four months when i stop being lazy and finally read the next ch .
Dotoriji
#5
Chapter 27: My hearttttt is melting!!! This confession honestly explains so much more why Byunghun was the way that he was throughout the story... his doubts and insecurities. I love how Byunghun was the first to confess and say “I love you” but chanhee was the one to reassure him and really be there to chase Byunghun’s doubts away. Ahhh they’re just perfect for each other <3
Dotoriji
#6
Chapter 26: This is so sweet!!! Ahhhh I love this friendship T^T
Papoufruits
#7
Chapter 25: It felt a little sad that it's completed, though I'm really GLAD it is in a way too, haha. Unfinished fanfics are the worst sometimes... anyway, I love the theme of this story and how you wanted to include everyone's point of view. It kept the interest going.

As a suggestion, I'd love to read more about Byunghun and Chanhee's story when they were younger and how their relationship developed (maybe that's what you meant with "Byunghun's confession story"?). Thank you for this lovely story and can't wait to read more from you! <3
chunjixbyungie
#8
Chapter 25: Waah... Such a sweet ,satisfying ending ~
I enjoyed every moment of it !
Happiness was practically radiating from everyone . Minsoo's thoughts were so heartwarming along with Niel's of course whereas Jonghyun and Changhyun were so cute ~
Byunghun and chanhee ... Well the part when bh thought 11 years hadn't changed anything and not an even eternity will . * squeals *
It's awesome how you managed in just 25 chapters to write a story that's not rushed and not slow-paced either . It was perfect .
Thank you for sharing it with us !
<3
Dotoriji
#9
Chapter 25: I am so emotional omg I can't believe it's finished ㅜㅜ
The ending is perfect they're all together and happy...
I don't even know where to begin how to describe how much I enjoyed reading this story and just looking forward to the updates every week ahh I'm going to miss it
Thank you for making the ending so wonderful ㅜㅜ
Chanhee & byunghuns long strong relationship... it's like I can feel the love through the screen;; it's just so precious;; I definitely would love to read about byunghun's confession! (oh and if you're taking requests maybe about their first time?? askfkskdk)
Okay and Changhyun and Jonghyun can they be anymore cute?!? Throughout the whole story they were just so into each other and ugh the best. Now they both have rings to propose to each other! I wonder how that'll turn out lol
Niel being so happy for his best friends and minsu being happy for his new younger brothers made me so emotional ㅜㅜ those two are the perfect match and just so attached to each other seeing them so in love is so heartwarming like they finally found the one they've been looking for their whole lives~

Thank you again for writing this wonderful story!
I enjoyed it so much and I'll definitely be coming back to re-read it~!! <3
lazyfaceu #10
Chapter 25: i'm crying oh my god i screamed when i saw the "completed" status on this book