Four Eyes

Four Eyes

Jinki felt like he had been running all over Seoul for hours when in reality he’d made one trip to the bank.  In his defense - the line at the bank took forever.

One of his last errand before returning home to his comfy pajamas and warm bed was to pick up his new glasses.  The store was only a few bus stops from his apartment so he went there last, swinging by to pick them up before returning home.  

He was greeted by a warm smile when he entered the building, a man only a few years younger than himself but much taller with legs that looked impossibly long in skinny-cut dress pants.

“What can I do for you?” the employee asked, his smile still in place.

“My name is Lee Jinki, I’m here to pick up my glasses.”

“Just a moment,” the tall man said, slipping into the back room.  It seemed like only moments before he was back in front of Jinki with a glasses case.  “Let’s see how they fit,” He said, opening up the case and holding out the glasses for Jinki to try on.  Jinki slipped off his old frames, putting on the new pair and pushing them up the bridge of his nose.

“How do they look?” He asked, looking at himself mirror on the counter, tilting his head from side to side to see how the glasses looked from every angle.  They looked pretty good if he said so himself, the shape suited his face perfectly and the muted brown color of the frames accented his skin tone. He glanced up at the employee, waiting for a reaction.  The man’s eyes had gone wide, very blatantly staring. Jinki raised an eyebrow which only resulted in the man’s adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed back what seemed to be nerves.

“They look… really good,” He finally answered, his demeanor emphasizing his own words.    

“Thanks?” Jinki frowned.  That wasn’t exactly the reaction he had been expecting.  Wasn’t the employee supposed to fawn all over him? This man was just staring at him like he’d never seen another human before.  It was almost creepy. He had seemed to normal when Jinki had first walked in… he was at a loss for what was causing such a strange reaction.

“Sorry I… how do they fit?” The employee finally asked.

“They are okay except for here,” He took off the glasses and pointed before passing them over to the employee to let him make a few adjustments.  When he put the glasses back on, he heard the man let out a gasp - as if he’d been holding his breath.

“Wow,” the man breathed, “You look amazing.”  Jinki frowned again, it was less about the words themselves and more about how he said it that made Jinki feel slightly uncomfortable.  Like he wasn’t talking about Jinki’s new glasses anymore. He was unsure how to respond to such a comment from someone who had been the epitome of professionalism only a few minutes prior.  “I uh… I get of work in about an hour….” the man continued before trailing off, his eyes wide and hopeful.

Jinki’s eyes widened in surprise.  How was he supposed to respond to that?  Usually it was Jonghyun was was getting hit on my strangers in public, not him!  He wasn’t equipped to deal with such things. Jinki panicked a bit, finally blurting out, “Thanks for all your help!  Do I owe anything?”

The man’s face fell in disappointment but he retained some shred of professionalism as he ran Jinki’s card through the scanner.  The awkward air and the man’s obvious disappointment practically poisoned the air around them until Jinki felt suffocated, all but running out of the store.  

Jinki shook his head, baffled by the turn of events as he made his way towards the bus stop.  It had turned out to be a very weird day and he really just wanted to be in bed. Jonghyun was going to get such a kick out of this though; Jinki couldn’t help the smile the flitted across his face at the thought.  

“Excuse me.”

Jinki turned, startled by the voice behind him.  A man a few years older, and more than a few pay grades above him based on the designer suit he was dressed in, was standing behind him with a pleasant, polite smile on his face.  

“Yes?” Jinki asked, instinctively feeling his pockets to check if he dropped something, his mind couldn’t think of any other reason why a stranger would be talking to him.

“I know this is a bit forward but… you’re very attractive.  I’d be very interested in taking you out sometime. May I ask your name?”  The man kept a comfortable distance between them but his whole person was open and inviting.  Jinki couldn’t detect any emotion or motive behind the man’s words other than sincerity.

Jinki gaped like a fish for a moment, baffled by how to respond because this had literally never happened to him before so why on earth was this happening now?  Why was a walking Armani advertisement talking to him?

“I-- no?  Thank you?” Jinki responded stupidly.  

The man just smiled, not seeming to be offended in the slightest.  Jinki continued to stare as the man walked on, his stride confident despite just being rejected.  Jinki almost felt bad for his blunt snub but… in the moment he wasn’t sure how to respond. Did people really do that?  Just… walk up to strangers and ask them out? He thought that only happened in movies.

He threw himself down on the bus bench, hunching his shoulders and pulling out his phone to play a game and hopefully give a clear single to any strangers that he was not open to conversation.  

However, as he waited for his bus to arrive, he couldn’t focus on his game because he was consumed with confusion and anxiety over what had occurred.  He felt like he had forgotten to put on pants or something. What possible reason could there be for all these strangers to suddenly take such an interest in him?  While Jinki didn’t feel bad about himself or think he was unattractive, he also didn’t consider himself anything special or noteworthy; his face blended in with every other stranger on the street.  So he couldn’t understand why today of all days he was such a point of interest. He hadn’t even styled his hair that morning!

When the bus arrived, he tapped his card and squished his way towards an empty bit of space.  The bus was overflowing with people, leaving him to stand towards the back, packed in with other strangers.  He couldn’t tell if it was his own anxiety, but he felt eyes on him the whole way. Every time he glanced up, he caught someone’s eyes… maybe it was a coincidence but… I didn’t feel like it.  It felt like he had caught yet another stranger ogling him in public. He stared at his feet and tried to tell himself it was all in his head. Regardless… it was a very long trip home.

 

Jinki let out a long sigh of relief when he his bus pulled up to his stop.  Since the moment he had stepped outside that morning, he’d felt like he’d been in some alternate reality or the love interest in some stupid drama.  Is this what celebrities felt like? To be stared at all day long by strangers? Jinki wasn’t cut out for that life… he was just ready to be home and safe under his covers.  

His lone last stop before that became his reality was the grocery store.  He debated just going home… how desperately did they really need milk anyway?  Surely it could wait until tomorrow. He could even text Jonghyun and get him to stop before coming home.  Even in his current stressed out state, it was hard to justify pawning the task off onto Jonghyun when he literally had to walk past the store to get home.  

He bit the bullet, ducked inside and letting out a relieved sigh at the blissfully empty aisles.  Despite the lack of people, he still made a beeline for the refrigerated section, he didn’t want to spend a moment more than absolutely necessary in this store.  Slowly, Jinki’s tense shoulders began to relax a bit as he made his way to the checkout counter. No one was staring at him, no strangers had approached him… he was practically home free at this point.  He smiled brightly at the cashier, a kid that barely looked out of high school, as he passed his lone carton of milk to him.

“Did you find everything okay?” The cashier asked him, smiling back and flicking his sandy blond hair out of his eyes.

“Yes, thank you,” Jinki responded as he handed over a few bills to pay for his purchase.

“We’re running a special today,” The cashier announced.  “Buy one carton of milk, get dinner and a movie with your cashier.  What do ya say? Tomorrow night?” He cute smile turned into a leering smirked as his eyes made an appreciative pass up and down the length of Jinki’s body.

Jinki stared at him in confusion, the y smirk looking so very wrong on such a baby face.  He somehow felt even more blindsided by this comment than any of the ones previously that day.  A highschool student was coming onto him. How was this even his life?

“Is this some sort of a joke?” Jinki finally responded.

“No?” The cashier responded, his head cocking to the side like a puppy.  “You’re hot,” he said as if that explained everything.

Jinki just stared at him for a moment longer before grabbing his milk and heading out the door without responding.

“You forgot your change!” the cashier called after him but Jinki just kept walking.  Spare change wasn’t worth his sanity.

Jinki practically ran home, opting for the stairs in fear of being locking in an elevator with a stranger.  He was huffing and puffing by the time he reached their floor but he kept running until he finally slipped into the apartment, locking and deadbolting the door behind him.

“Babe?” He heard Jonghyun call from the other room.

“I’ve just had the weirdest day of my life and I want to go to bed,” Jinki announced as he slid off his shoes and went to the kitchen to put the milk away.  When he turned around Jonghyun was standing in the doorway, confusion and concern painted on his face. Jinki sighed, ruffling his hair in frustration.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jonghyun asked.

“I don’t know,” Jinki mumbled, feeling kind of stupid about it all now.  So a few strangers tried to hit on him, that was hardly something to get upset about.  Most people would be flattered. He just felt so… off-kilter. He hadn’t been mentally prepared for such attention and he didn’t know how to process it.   

“Want to go make out?” Jonghyun offered.  “You’re looking mighty fine in those new glasses… very y teacher vibe.  It’s giving me all kinds of ideas,” Jonghyun’s tone was playfully, obviously trying to make him laugh but it was like a lightbulb went off in Jinki’s brain at his words.  The glasses. This all started because of the glasses.

“Oh my god!” Jinki gasped, pulling off his new glasses and throwing them down on the counter as if they had burned him.  “I’m returning them immediately.”

“What?” Jonghyun frowned.  “Why? They look awesome.”

“Exactly!”  Jinki cried.  

“Oooooooookay,” Jonghyun was looking at him like he was absolutely insane and Jinki realized he sounded absolutely insane but how could he even begin to explain the day he had just had?  

“You don’t understand I… I apparently look too hot?”  

“I’m glad to see your confidence is improving,” Jonghyun responded with a quirk of his lips.

“Jonghyun,” He groaned.  “You still don’t get it. I was… accosted!  Multiple times today! And it was all because of these goddamn glasses!  The kid at the grocery store tried to pick me up!”

“The high school kid with the bowl cut?” Jonghyun’s eyebrow shot higher.

“Yes!  And he wasn’t the only one!  I’m pretty sure a stranger asked to be my sugar daddy today!” He exclaimed like that would explain everything.

“Well?  Did you say yes?” Jonghyun asked, obviously trying to keep a smile off his face.

“What?  No, of course not!” He was slightly offended about how unflustered Jonghyun was by this whole conversation. Shouldn’t his boyfriend care that he keeps getting hit on in public?  

“Well damn… I’d be willing to share you if it meant we could afford a Lamborghini.”

“Will you please be serious?” Jinki groaned.

“Babe do you hear yourself right now?  Your glasses make you irresistible to men?  You were hit on too many times today? You’re blinding good looks are a problem?”  Jonghyun’s tone was playfully sarcastic, trying to make Jinki see how silly his was being.  The problem was he knew how silly it all sounded but that didn’t change how he felt about the encounters.   

“I know it sounds stupid but…”

“Did you ever think that maybe the glasses weren’t to blame?” Jonghyun asked.  “They look good on you; don’t get me wrong. But they accentuate your features, they don’t magically make you look like Won Bin.  You are hot. You’ve always been hot. People hit on your constantly, you usually just misinterpret it as polite conversation. So no, it wasn’t the glasses.  It was you in those glasses and that muscle tee and those jeans that make your look perfect.” Jonghyun explained, his tone exasperated but he still had that soft smile on his face.

Jinki pouted, he really didn’t know how to respond to that.  Did people normally hit on him without him noticing? Was he just dense? Jonghyun was so good at reading people, it wasn’t like him to say something like that without a reason.  Jinki felt like he needed to reexamine all his previous interactions in a different light, beginning with how the grocery store cashier always seemed to be on a lollipop whenever Jinki came through his line... Jinki just assumed the kid liked candy.  Now he was beginning to think that had less to do with it.

“It made me uncomfortable,” he grumbled softly, his tone relenting… maybe Jonghyun had a point but Jinki was still unhappy about it.    

Jonghyun smiled softly at him, “I know, babe.  I’m sorry so many people tried to get into your pants today.  Your life is so difficult.”

“Oh shut up,” Jinki grumbled but a peak of a smile pulled at his lips.  

“Now would you please put the glasses back on and come make out with me?  I’ve got a new-found y teacher fantasy we should explore,” Jonghyun asked, grabbing Jinki’s hand to lead him towards their bedroom.  

Jinki sighed like it was the hardest thing in the world but he grabbed the offensive glasses off the counter and allowed himself to be dragged.  Maybe a quick make out session would help settle the last of his nerves and drain the anxiety that still tensed in his shoulders… it was worth a shot anyway.

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
EdwardHisTopazEyes
#1
Chapter 1: I love how Jinki reacted to getting hit on. Would love a chapter on Jinki thinking back to his past encounters with people who are hitting on him but he was oblivious to it till now.
Im_____ljk
#2
Chapter 1: Jinki is so distracted, that makes him very cute.
Dmat17 #3
Chapter 1: Loved it! So cute! And I think it’s true that Jinki just does not know how hot he is!! Boy is crazy!!
Priya071651
#4
Jinki with glasses. Wow
I won't blame Jjongie for being over him, hehe.
Thank you for writing Jongyu ❤
SHIN33ee
#5
Chapter 1: Very cute... and yes, Jinki is a total babe XD