Three | Bittersweet

Pastel Heart: The Third Chapter

 

Jongdae just stared at Suin, trying to process whatever the woman was trying to say when he felt a hard slap on his shoulder.

“I left you for a few minutes, and you’re already wandering around,” Kyungsoo scolded, his right hand holding tight onto a plastic bag that Jongdae guessed containing porridge. It took Kyungsoo only a few seconds to notice that another person was listening. “Oh,” Kyungsoo managed to say, “Park Suin.”

Suin hunched her shoulders before she left the both of Kyungsoo and Jongdae, not even bothering to bid them farewell. Her short hair was swinging to left and right as she went farther from both of the men. After a few steps, she managed to find a trash can and then she threw her empty coffee can into it.

Jongdae couldn’t take his eyes off from the confusing woman, and his eyes were glued at the woman’s back until she disappeared from his sight. “Park Suin,” he murmured, and he was about to go deeper into his thoughts when he felt a tiny hand slapping his back.

“I told you to stay out of trouble,” Kyungsoo said. “That woman,” Kyungsoo looked at the place where Suin threw her empty can, “has a very reputable status. I hope that you didn’t mess with her,” Kyungsoo lifted an eyebrow, as if he was demanding for Jongdae’s statement.

Jongdae shook his head before he picked the coffee he wanted to drink, “I’m not really sure,” he said, and he peeked at Kyungsoo to see how the latter’s face was starting to redden, “but she didn’t explode or anything, so it’s cool.”  

Kyungsoo didn’t look satisfied as he inquired, “Did you do anything bad?”

“Like pissed her off?”

“Something along those lines.”

“Well,” Jongdae hesitated.

Kyungsoo gripped tighter on the plastic bag, “What did you do?”

Jongdae chanted ‘red code red code’ in his mind before he wore his serious facade, “Technically, I didn’t do anything,” he began speaking, “and she wasn’t angry or anything like that.”

“What do you mean by ‘technically’?”

Jongdae shrugged, “You know,” he paused to take his coffee can, “something like unintentionally blurting something out.”  

Kyungsoo inhaled before he exhaled deeply, “Tell me, Kim Jongdae,” he demanded, “what did you say to her?”

“I only said two words to her for god’s sake, Kyungsoo. Stop being so worried.”

“How am I not worrying about you when you’re injured and fooling around with somebody like Park Suin? You’re under my care, Jongdae. I know that I’m younger than you, but I’m already given the right to be your legal guardian so you can’t say anything against me,” Kyungsoo said hastily, the worries in his voice and on his face were obvious. “I don’t want you to face unpleasant things.”

Jongdae opened his can, “I’m already facing unpleasant things,” he said before he gulped down his coffee, “and I’m saying this not because I’m feeling down or anything.” He glanced at Kyungsoo’s bothered expression, “It’s the truth. We might as well try to accept and embrace it.”

“We’re not having this conversation here,” Kyungsoo said as he lingered his eyes around. “Let’s go upstairs.”  

They walked towards the elevator in silence. Jongdae kept himself busy with drinking his coffee, while Kyungsoo on the other hand was trying to refrain himself from holding too tightly on the plastic bag. Unfortunately for the both of them, the silence continued even when they were inside the elevator. Jongdae kept hoping that at least a person would accompany them in the elevator to reduce the awkward and unpleasant silence.

For those who always were always bickering and nitpicking each other, Jongdae and Kyungsoo were obviously not in a comfortable position. The elevator seemed like a soccer field since the space between the both of them was unpleasantly great. Jongdae, although he seemed busy with his coffee, was actually contemplating to say something. He thought of saying his apology, and he apparently was close on making his move when there was a voice telling him that there’s nothing to be sorry about. He was speaking the truth, and it was getting really exhausting for him to keep denying the reality.

Kyungsoo had given him hopes for too many times already, and although Jongdae sincerely appreciated them, he thought that it was finally a moment for them to be wide awake.

Actually, it wasn’t like Kyungsoo was having a hard time on accepting the reality. It’s quite the opposite actually: Kyungsoo was the one who always dealt with everything first. The backlashes from everyone always reached Kyungsoo first. Jongdae might be oblivious to see the way Kyungsoo handling all of them, but Jongdae knew that he was in no position to be treated like a golden boy.

Looking carefully into the picture, it was actually Jongdae who found it to be hard to accept that his career was flopping. All of his previous three albums were deemed as failures, and honestly if it wasn’t for Kyungsoo’s motivation, Jongdae would have found it necessary to leave his current career and work in a restaurant or somewhere else.

Jongdae held his can a bit stronger; causing it to emit a cracking sound and Kyungsoo quickly glanced at the singer.

“What are-“

The elevator’s door was suddenly opened, and a young boy with a dishevelled hair came into the scene. His patient robe surprisingly looked good on his tall, lanky figure and Jongdae was about to shoot a conversation when the young boy suddenly spoke.

“You’re Chen,” the boy said, and it came out sounding like a statement instead of a question. The young boy ducked his head a bit to match the level of Jongdae’s face and he meticulously analyzed Jongdae’s features, causing the singer to be intimidated. Who wouldn’t? Jongdae could even smell the young boy’s breath- not that it’s bad- and felt how warm his breath was.

Jongdae retreated a few steps, “Yes, I am.”

Kyungsoo, who was sadly the outcast, lifted his body up using his toes to get a bit input about the current situation. The possibility that the young boy was probably a stalker started to bother him. He d his own body to find if there were any items to be used as a weapon.

Sehun smiled, “I’m your fan.” He lifted the sleeve of his patient robe to reveal the tattoo on his arm that he had gotten to mark himself as Jongdae’s fan.

Jongdae widened his eyes in horror when he saw his stage name, Chen, carved on the young boy’s skin. Jongdae could only be a bit grateful that the young boy at least didn’t cut himself, but he admitted that this was rather unusual and a bit terrifying. “Wow,” that was all that could come out from Jongdae’s mouth.  

“My name is Oh Sehun,” the young boy said. “Oh Sehun,” this time, the boy emphasized every syllable of his name.

“Okay, Oh Sehun,” Jongdae muttered slowly, and he felt something in him stirring when he saw the abrupt smile appeared on Sehun’s face.

“I’m sorry, Mister Oh,” Kyungsoo managed to squeeze himself between the two men. “I’m Chen’s manager,” Kyungsoo feigned a wide smile while making sure that it would be impossible for Sehun to even touch a strand of Jongdae’s hair. “It’s really pleasant to meet a fan of Chen, especially in this very special place.”

Jongdae didn’t know if it was appropriate for him to use that against Kyungsoo later, but nonetheless, he was grateful that Kyungsoo was there to save the situation. The Sehun guy was really starting to scare him. He wondered for a while if that was a normal way of a fan to react. Jongdae frowned, trying to call the last time he had an encounter with his fan. It was about a few hours ago; he heard his songs being played by someone.

The bulb suddenly lighted up, and Jongdae pushed Kyungsoo, who was blocking him from facing Sehun. “I remember you,” Jongdae began speaking, and he knew that Kyungsoo was probably recalling the significant event as well. “I saw you before.”

Sehun’s smile got wider, “It’s indeed true,” he said, “but I’m not sure if you actually managed to catch a glimpse of me since the elevator’s door was already closing.”

Jongdae furrowed his brows, “Pardon me?”

Jongdae caught a sign of devastation on Sehun’s face, but the young boy continued to talk anyway, “I was about to join you in the elevator before the elevator door was shut.”

An image of a slightly panting male popped in Jongdae’s mind, and that’s when he started to feel a bit guilty. “Oh, I’m so sorry about that.”

Sehun shook his head, “At least I got to meet you. Maybe it wasn’t so bad at all to be in this hospital,” he said, and Kyungsoo, although still having his suspicions, was actually a bit delighted to see how giddy the young boy was. “Can you perhaps wait for me for a minute because we’re already on my floor,” Sehun gestured at the opened elevator door, “and I’m hoping that you will sign on the albums of yours that I’ve purchased.”

Jongdae glanced at Kyungsoo, and when the latter nodded, Jongdae gave his agreement as well. The three of them stepped out from the elevator and Sehun kept glancing at the both of them to make sure that his favourite singer wasn’t running away. It was as if Sehun was afraid that Jongdae would magically vanish.

“Just wait for a minute, okay?” Sehun said before he sprinted to his room.

Jongdae and Kyungsoo stood silently before they burst into laughter.

“Well,” Jongdae averted his eyes at Kyungsoo, who was grinning, “that was a bit awkward and foreign.”

Kyungsoo nodded, “You see, this is why we still have hopes.”

“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae murmured, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t snap at you.”

“Stop being cheesy,” Kyungsoo replied playfully before he raised his right hand higher, “and here’s your porridge to treat your over-cheesiness.”

“With carrot?”

“Of course,” Kyungsoo answered, and Jongdae’s face fell. “By the way, has the result of your medical analysis come out yet? CEO Byun wanted to proceed with further actions.”

Jongdae bit his lips, “The real question is, have you even signed the agreement?”

Kyungsoo looked surprised, “They want me to sign an agreement?” He frowned, “It’s not even a big injury; it’s just a needled pressed into your flesh.”

“Maybe there’s something more,” Jongdae said nonchalantly, “who knows, right? I don’t, because I skipped school.”

Kyungsoo was about to reply when he heard two voices nearing. One of the voices was clearly Sehun’s.

“Just come with me,” Sehun whimpered. “I’ve been telling you about him for years; you at least need to meet him in person.”

“It’s pointless,” the other voice replied, “I never listened to his songs.”

“That’s because you’re too busy locking yourself up in your bedroom,” Sehun retorted, voice almost close to explode. “I think that you’re really losing it.”

The other voice didn’t reply immediately, and there was silence filling the floor that even Kyungsoo and Jongdae was feeling the effect. It was suddenly too tensed, and Jongdae was wondering why he wasn’t actually affected by the other person’s comment when the person was clearly holding no favouritism towards him.

Sound of abrupt and rapid footsteps approached Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and two figures immediately popped out in front of them. Sehun was behind the other person, and he was embracing three albums in his arms. The other person was somebody that Jongdae had secretly expected: Park Suin. She looked upset, and it was kinda obvious by the expression of her face that she was doing this to stop whatever thing that Sehun tried to pull on her.

“It’s you,” Suin said, clearly referring to Jongdae, and then her eyes went down to Jongdae’s right hand, “and you actually bought the coffee I recommended.”

Kyungsoo was slightly taken aback, since he wasn’t expecting that Jongdae and Suin actually had a conversation. His mind started to think of any possible things that Jongdae had started to offend Suin, but his mind froze in panic when he saw Jongdae’s lips moving to reply to Suin.

“It tasted quite nice, actually,” Jongdae answered, and he totally forgot to pay his attention at his panicking manager. “Just a bit bitter.”

Suin’s expression turned blank, and Kyungsoo thought that something nasty’s probably coming, but the thin smile on Suin’s face broke his estimation. “It’s nice to know that people still could appreciate the taste of it,” she stated, and there was a long pause before she continued, “some people are just allergic to bitterness.”

 

Author’s Note

I know that it’s kinda ridiculous and laughable to have my A/N’s being written when I’m posting these chapters in one go lol. So um, I’m really sorry for the many amount of chensoo here and there. I hope that you guys still have hope for this story? Orz

Words count: 2.113 K

             Written on 5^th November 2014