Title of Gift: A Mismatched Meeting

Pairing(s): Neo

Number of words: 1,998

Genre: fluff, romance (?)

Warnings: nothing bad

Note to my Giftee: Sorry if this , it was a bit rushed and lacked plot. I tried to be funny but failed tremendously. Don’t worry, he still got the boy. ;) Also, Merry Christmas!

A Mismatched Meeting

Taekwoon sighed, letting his head rest against the picnic table as he began to pout.

His classmates huffed, stretching their backs from the hunched over position they’d been in for over thirty minutes. Thirty minutes, and they still had no idea what to do for their History group project.

“Let’s think the topic over, and keep all of our ideas in mind,” Wonshik said, packing his notebooks into his book bag. “Don’t stress it, we’ll come up with something.”

The others appeared skeptical, but decided to call it a day, as they scurried off to their next appointment. Wonshik exhaled a long breath of air, wiping away a little sweat that dripped from his blonde locks. It was a bit warm today - but more humid than anything.

“This is annoying,” Taekwoon stated. “Why is the professor making us do all these weird historical skits? It’s not like this is drama class…”

Wonshik hummed in understanding. “I know, but we have to come up with something or else we’ll all fail. Think about it some more, you’re the only one who didn’t announce an idea.”

“Because it’s stupid,” Taekwoon reminded, puffing his cheeks.

Wonshik snorted and shook his head. “Taekwoon, I told it’s important to do this…”

The raven haired man kept silent while his best friend went on and on about the responsibilities in keeping their grades up. Taekwoon has already heard it before, so he drowned the other out. Instead, his eyes followed the bustling crowds going from place to place on the campus grounds. It was busy as always – everyone seemed to have a certain thing to do and people to see.

Another soft sigh left Taekwoon. His gaze paused at the sight of someone tripping, and falling onto the pavement. It was a man who looked around his early twenties – thin around the waist, but tall in height. He had brown hair, a few tints darker than his sun-kissed skin.

Taekwoon watched as the young man cursed, and began timidly dusting himself off before picking up the books that had slipped from his hands when he fell. The people around him paid no mind, as they merely walked around him.

The brown haired man didn’t seem to care as he then tied his loose shoe laces tightly, before grabbing his belongings and walking off towards the cafeteria.

That was the first time Jung Taekwoon had laid eyes on Cha Hakyeon.

*

“I don’t want to go to Jaehwan’s party,” Taekwoon told his roommate, “it’ll be too noisy.”

Wonshik shrugged as he fixed his clothes in the mirror. “Suit yourself,” he said. “If you want to waste your Saturday night in the dorm all by your lonesome, it doesn’t bother me.”

Taekwoon pursed his lips as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. “You’re so mean…why don’t you ever stay home on the weekends?”

“I work my off every week trying to keep my scholarship. What’s so wrong about going to the club or a party once a week to blow off some steam?”

“Blow off steam? Are you referring to getting drunk or hooking up with some girl?”

Wonshik smirked. “Both. Well – getting drunk first, but it wouldn’t hurt to find someone to spend the night with. You could find someone too as long as you apply yourself, my friend.”

Taekwoon scoffed. “Forget about it,” he said. “I don’t just want a one night stand.”

“I respect that, but it doesn’t mean that you’re going to find the love of your life just sitting at home either.”

Taekwoon knew the other was right, but the thought of being surrounded by a bunch of drunken and wild pent up college kids gave him a certain anxiety. Then again, being alone on a Saturday night also left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Alright,” he sighed. “I’ll go.”

“Really?” Wonshik asked, surprised. He smiled and threw one of his clean black shirts at the raven haired man. “Then hurry and get dressed, the party’s at ten.”

This was probably a bad idea, Taekwoon figured as he followed behind Wonshik through Jaehwan’s living room. They slid through the boisterous crowd - the smell of sweat, liquor, and perfume flowing through the air. The music was on max, shaking everything and everyone with rhythm and power, fueling the dancer’s moves – a seductive and tempting kind of swaying.

The scents of something burnt and smoking hit Taekwoon’s sensitive nostrils when he entered the kitchen. There, he found the host of the party, sitting on a bar stool at the island – sipping comfortably on something Taekwoon could already tell was rum and coke.

At the sight of the other two, Jaehwan smiled wide. He welcomed them by handing the duo a solo cup. Wonshik sipped on the mixed drink while Taekwoon hid a grimace.

“Wow! I’m shocked to see you here, Taekwoon,” Jaehwan greeted. “Got bored sitting at home doing nothing?”

Taekwoon chuckled dryly. “I came to see what all the hype was about. Look like a normal house party to me – nothing too special.”

Jaehwan scoffed. “You haven’t even been here five minutes and you’re already criticizing me. You’re such a queen,” he joked.

“Yeah, lighten up, Taekwoon,” Wonshik grinned. “Take a drink.”

“Ooh! Let’s take shots!” Jaehwan exclaimed. Taekwoon cursed under his breath as he watched a line of shots being set up. This was not going to end well, he thought as he pinched the tips of nose and downed the fiery liquid. It went down smoothly, but burned a nice flame in his chest.

The latter stumbled a bit after that. He was never a heavy drinker. A few minutes later, he was finding the bathroom – throwing up what was downed earlier. He ignored Jaehwan’s big laughter as he rinsed out his mouth with refreshing tap water from the sink.

Taekwoon slumped back downstairs, balancing himself against a nearby wall to support his tingling body. Everything appeared blurry, and the lights were hurting his eyes. He needed to lie down, he thought. So, he did, on Jaehwan’s chocolate colored sofa – unbeknownst that the hard material he was resting his head on was not a lumpy pillow, but the lap of a person.

“Um…excuse me?” came the timid voice, so low under the loud music that it didn’t reach Taekwoon’s ears. The latter groaned, burying his face into what he thought was a pillow.

The other blushed.

“Hey, Hakyeon! I see you’ve made a friend.”

“Not funny, Hongbin.”

The dimpled man chuckled and began taking out a phone from his back pocket.

“Hongbin, I swear God if you take a picture-“

“Too late!” exclaimed the other as the flash to his camera went off.

Hakyeon cursed his ‘friend’ and looked down at the sleeping figure in his lap. He had seen the man before around campus. He often hung out with the popular crew, and was known to be friendly. “Jung Taekwoon,” Hakyeon muttered. The man was also known to not show up at parties like this. So, why was here now?

And lying in my lap drunk, Hakyeon thought, his blush deepening.

That was the first time Cha Hakyeon ‘met’ Jung Taekwoon.

*

“I’m dying,” Taekwoon expressed into his mattress.

Wonshik shook his head. “Stop being overdramatic,” he commented, scrolling through his phone. “Have some hangover soup.”

Taekwoon groaned and got out of bed. He sat down at the small round table across from the other, and stared at the soup his friend bought for him. With pursed lips, he picked up his spoon and began eating.

Suddenly, Wonshik’s eyes widened and his lips quirked. “Holy !”

“What?” Taekwoon’s brows furrowed as he stuffed his face.

The other shoved a phone in his face. “Is that you?!” he shouted, prompting Taekwoon to spit out his food. Wonshik grimaced in disgust as the raven haired man eyed the photo on the screen. It was of him at the party last night, resting his head on the lap of some stranger.

“Oh my God,” he muttered, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment.

Wonshik burst out into laughter. “I can’t believe you did that, I never noticed!”

Taekwoon let out another vocal groan as his forehead met the cold table. Wonshik continued to laugh as he made the picture his new wallpaper.

*

A few days later, Taekwoon finally found the courage to find that person from the photo. He remembered the man, but didn’t have a clue what his name was.

Later on, he did find out that the one who took that photo knew the man. Lee Hongbin, a Junior in the drama department.

“Hey,” Taekwoon called out to the younger when he spotted him at lunch.

The other looked up with a grin – instantly knowing who Taekwoon was before the latter had even introduced himself.

“Hey!” he greeted. “Jung Taekwoon, a.k.a. drunken hamster!”

“I-I’m sorry, what?”

Honginb chuckled. “Oh sorry, that’s just what Hakyeon called you that night. It kinda stuck since then.”

“Hakyeon?”

“The guy you passed out on.”

“O-Oh, I see, and is he also a drama major?”

“Yeah, although he’s better at dancing. He should be at practice now!” Hongbin exclaimed. “Here, give me your number and I’ll text him your address.”

Although skeptical, Taekwoon did so. After that, he found himself going straight to the address – just across the street from the university. It was a little dance studio, he noticed as he entered the building.

He walked down the hall, finding nobody in sight until he found one room at the end. Classical music could be heard playing softly, soothing Taekwoon’s ears as he peered into the room, curiously. There, he found Cha Hakyeon, as Hongbin had said, practicing. Taekwoon was surprised to find the man practicing ballet.

He watched in awe how Hakyeon swayed with ease, turning and leaping with pride, as if it was nothing. His long legs moved with grace, toes as pointed as they could be.

The final keys of the slow piano music dimmed, until the song was over and Hakyeon had finished, his breathing loud as he tried to catch it.

The man looked up to find a hand towel to wipe away the sweat his body was letting go, but instead found a pair of sharp feline eyes staring wide and blown at him through the mirror. He faced the other with a gasp.

Taekwoon stammered. “O-Oh, sorry to scare you! I j-just um…”

Hakyeon raised a brow as he regained his cool, and picked up a towel. Taekwoon cleared his throat, an abrupt blush starting to form.

“I’m sorry about that night,” he said, getting straight to the point. “I asked your friend and he told me where you were. I wanted to apologize about what I did at the party, so…sorry.”

A few suffocating silent moments go by. Hakyeon then chuckled, to Taekwoon’s surprise.

The brown haired man shrugged after taking a sip from his water bottle. “Ah, don’t worry about it, I didn’t mind it.”

“You…didn’t?”

“No, it was actually kind of cute,” Hakyeon grinned.

Cute, Taekwoon thought, feeling his face heat up more. He probably looked like a tomato right now. “Like a hamster?”

This caused Hakyeon to choke on air. Taekwoon found the reaction amusing and it was now Hakyeon’s turn to flush a pretty shade of rose bud red.

“W-What? How do y-you…”

Taekwoon bit his lip, holding back a snicker. “It’s okay,” he said, “I don’t mind.”

Hakyeon cleared his throat as he averted his eyes to the ground. “No?”

“No, I like it actually,” he stated, honestly. “I like pet names.”

“You’re really…”

“Cute?”

“Something like that,” Hakyeon replied.

Taekwoon chuckled. “Are you hungry? Want to get some food?”

“Food? Why, are you going to buy?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon smirked. “If you’ll let me.”

Hakyeon grinned. The other didn’t know, but there was a lot he’d let the raven haired man do. “Sure.”

And that was how Jung Taekwoon scored a date with Cha Hakyeon.