Jongup struck confident poses in front of the camera as the cameraman shot him compliments from behind the camera. The flash went off repeatedly as he shot the camera an intense look, biting on his lip to top the shot off. He leaned in towards the scantily clad women surrounding him and pressed his body against theirs according to the cameraman’s instruction.

“Good job everyone! Take ten before going for your outfit changes!” The director hollered from across the room. Jongup bowed to the other models, complimenting them on their hard work. He sleepily walked towards his dressing room. He’d been modeling non-stop for the past week. His manager had emailed his pictures to potential clients and all of them seemed impressed. He was being offered all sorts of positions, from clothing ads to . He was also being offered a spot on the cover on one of the most influential magazines in Korea. 

He sighed and dropped onto the couch in the empty room. He buried his head in his arms and attempted to get some shuteye. He groaned when he heard his phone beep next to him. He wanted to ignore whoever it was who wanted to talk to him but there was a high chance it was Himchan and he didn’t think Himchan would be very happy if he got ignored. Especially after not seeing his boyfriend for a two whole weeks. 

21/11/13 5:50pm

From: Himchan

Hey uppie ^^~ You free after 8? I got tickets to some musical and I thought you’d like to go because it’s about dancing. We could have dinner before it starts, I know a place you’d like :)) xoxo

Jongup pondered as he typed out his reply. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go out with Himchan, he’d spend all his life with the man if he could, but he was just so tired after being holed up in some room that he didn’t think he could survive the night.

21/11/13 5:54pm

To: Himchan

I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. Manager hyung has got me a gym appointment after this gig. Sorry, we can go out soon? 

He felt a little guilty for lying to Himchan about the gym appointment. He was just afraid that Himchan would think that he didn’t want to hang out with him if he said he was tired. He laid his head in his arms and waited for the screen to flash with another notification but soon, he was being carted away by his stylists to change into his next outfit. He sat in silence as his stylist pulled a tight mesh t-shirt over his wifebeater while the hairstylist ruffled his hair to give him bed hair which was apparently ‘y’ to a lot of people. Jongup wasn’t too sure what she was going on about.

He spun his phone in his hand and sulked when the screen just stayed black. Twenty minutes had passed, what was Himchan so busy doing? He pushed the thought to the back of his head as the director called the models back onto the set. 

✖

Jongup thanked everyone on set as he walked off the set to change. His manager had left early to attend to some other people under his label. Apparently two of his seniors were causing trouble at a bar or something. He chuckled at the thought as he lazily pulled off the mesh t-shirt and changed into his wifebeater and jeans. He groaned as he removed the makeup from his face. It was his most hated part about modeling. He didn’t understand why they had to cake his face with all their icky things.

He threw the clothes back onto the rack and swung his bag over his back. He thanked the staff one last time before trudging out of the building. He plugged in his earphones and blurred out all the noises around him, even the one voice that was calling out his name. He jumped when someone grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him back. He pulled back his arm and got ready to punch the guy in the face and stepped back when he saw Himchan staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Oh Himchan, It’s only you. I thought someone was trying to rob me. What are you doing here anyways?” Jongup asked. He stared at Himchan’s face in confusion as the older man narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you read my text?”

“The one about the musical? Yeah I did.”

“Not that one. The one after that. I said that I’d meet you here and we could head to the gym together. I was thinking that we could have dinner afterwards.”

“Oh. I didn’t realise you’d texted me again. The shoot was dragging on.” Jongup mumbled and tried a smile to cheer Himchan up. He was regretting lying to Himchan about the gym appointment. Now he didn’t have a way out. “It’s fine. Let’s head to the gym then!” Himchan chirped, plastering on a smile. Jongup started panicking on the inside. What was he supposed to tell Himchan now?

He nervously walked next to Himchan as they made their way to his gym which was sure to be closed by now. He breathed heavily as they got closer to the gym. He cursed whoever decided to build the gym so close to the building he was at. He cursed at himself too. He didn’t understand how he could be stupid.

“Oh, the gym’s closed Uppie.” Himchan mumbled confusedly. He walked closer to the doors and stared at the sign written on the door. “It says that it closes 7. Your manager probably made a mistake when making your appointment.” Himchan chuckled and tugged Jongup away from the door. Jongup laughed along awkwardly and pulled his hand out of Himchan’s grip. He felt bad for even holding his hand.

“Everything okay Gup?”

“Umm y-yeah.”

“Hey, if you’ve got problems, you know you can always tell me right? There’s not point hiding things when you’re in a relationship.” Himchan murmured and pulled Jongup towards him. He stared at Jongup’s guilty expression and pouted. “Your manager didn’t actually make an appointment now did he?” Himchan asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I’m so sorry for not telling you Himchan! I just didn’t want you to think that I didn’t want to go on a date with you. I’m just really tired but I felt bad about turning you down just because of that!” Jongup blurted out, making Himchan giggle. “Hey, you’re not mad? I lied to you though.”

“I’m an adult Jongup. I don’t get mad about such petty things.” Himchan grinned and linked arms with Jongup, pulling him away from the spot he stayed stuck on. “Come on. You can rest at home while I cook you dinner.”

✖

Jongup swung his legs like a child as he watched Himchan bustle about the kitchen from the countertop. He was enjoying the view of Himchan expertly chopping chilies and bell peppers for the pasta. He’d never told anyone but he actually had a thing for people who cooked and he was pleasantly surprised when he found out that Himchan was really good at it. He grinned when Himchan began humming as he stirred the contents of the pot. 

He broke his gaze when Himchan twirled around and grinned at him. “Is it that hard to take your eyes off of me?” Himchan teased and poked his thigh with a fork. “I was just d-daydreaming.” Jongup stuttered and buried his face in his hoodie to hide his blushing face. He whined when Himchan tugged his hoodie down and pinched his cheeks. “You’re so adorable.”

“I’m not adorable! I’m manly and tough.” Jongup mumbled and pushed Himchan’s shoulder playfully. “You’re the one who’s cute and pretty.” Jongup cooed and pinched Himchan’s cheeks in return. He pecked Himchan’s lips and chuckled when he saw a blush dusting Himchan’s cheeks. “I-i’m not pretty. I’m handsome.” Himchan murmured and slapped Jongup’s arm. 

“No you’re seriously pretty Chan, I’m not even joking.” Jongup chirped. He wrapped his arms around Himchan’s shoulders and locked his ankles around Himchan’s legs, trapping him in his embrace. “You’re really pretty. I don’t think I’ve seen any girl as pretty as you.” Jongup muttered. He began placing butterfly kisses over Himchan’s face. He muffled his chuckle at the sight of Himchan’s red ears and the feel of his burning cheeks under his palms. 

“The p-pasta’s going to burn.” Himchan mumbled and pushed himself away to check on the food. Jongup pouted at the loss of Himchan’s warmth. “Come back here.” Jongup whined and reached out his arms like a child asking for his mom to carry him. “We can cuddle after we eat.” Himchan said with a giggle. He dished out the pasta into bowls and carried the them into the living room, kicking Jongup’s calf to make him follow.

Himchan had picked a cheesy drama out of all the other shows on the tv. Jongup insisted on watching cartoons but Himchan had claimed that the drama was ‘interesting’ and that it was going to be ‘fun’. Jongup snorted at the unbelievably cheesy scenes. He couldn’t understand how Himchan actually found this romantic. Himchan snorted disgracefully, earning Jongup’s full attention. He’d been controlling his laughter since the start of the drama but he couldn’t hold it in anymore after a particularly ridiculous scene.

“Hey I thought you said that this was going to be interesting!” Jongup mocked. He rolled onto his side after putting his bowl somewhere safe and slid his hands underneath Himchan’s t-shirt. He dug his fingers into Himchan’s sides and tickled the elder male. He laughed at the sight of Himchan squirming. Himchan burst into laughter and begged Jongup to stop. 

Jongup rolled away from Himchan and giggled. He watched as a laugh escaped Himchan’s lips as the man tried to catch his breath. “You’re cute when you laugh.” He cooed and pressed a gentle kiss onto the man’s cheek. Himchan’s face heated up for nth time that night. He buried his face into Jongup’s shoulder. “Stop making me blush.” Himchan whined and pinched Jongup’s arm. Jongup yelped and tried to pull away from Himchan. He grinned when Himchan unlatched from his arm and wrapped his arms around Jongup’s waist. 

“Do you feel better now?” Himchan mumbled into Jongup’s t-shirt. His eyes looked up at Jongup’s face and beamed when he saw the smile on his boyfriend’s face. “Much better thanks to you.” Jongup murmured and pressed a kiss onto Himchan’s forehead.

word count: 1,781

a/n: retyped and I feel much better about this chapter. Thanks for the comments ^_^