Chapter Text
Thwack.
The heavy metal door crashed against its frame in the wind, as a figure exited out into the night. Choi Youngjae pulled the collar of his jacket closed and braced himself against the wind and the cold sleet that was falling over Seoul. Clutched tightly in his hand was a small, discrete paper bag.
"Three drops daily, until there's no more left," Youngjae muttered to himself, repeating the instructions he had received from the creepiest old lady he had ever laid eyes on. He still remembered her wild hair, and the piercing stare she gave from behind her coke bottle thick lenses as she told him how to use the love potion.
"You'll first have to mix in something of the person you want them to fall in love with, like a strand of hair. Shake the bottle thoroughly, and then slip three drops into their drink daily, until there's no more left. With each dose the feelings they have will get stronger and last longer, once you've drained the last drop you should have sealed the deal," the lady had advised, smiling eerily. "If you're not careful, and they drink the bottle all at once, well... you might get a bit overwhelmed with all the love, so just make sure that doesn't happen. And don't let the wrong person injest any of the potion, you don't want a million suitors, do you?"
Youngjae nodded uncomfortably, paid cash, and then got the heck out of there as fast as he possibly could. Now he made his way down the stairs and into the subway. The light of the station was a harsh, cold white, and far too bright against his eyes compared to the darkness outside but at least it was dry and somewhat warm.
Youngjae felt prickles up his icy fingers as he reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet, touching it to the turnstile and slipping onto the subway platform. In a turn of luck, the announcement overhead said that his train was arriving, and he hoped on without having to wait.
The subway car is emptier than usual, probably because not many people want to be out in one of the nastiest winter storms Seoul has seen in a while, and Youngjae slumps into a seat. He pulls the bottle out of the paper bag, and turns it over in his hand. The bottle was round, made of a thick and heavy glass unlike any bottle Youngjae had ever held before. It had no label. Youngjae tipped the bottle gently, examining the contents closer. The liquid inside was a purplish pink in colour, and completely transparent.
I wonder if this stuff tastes like anything?
Youngjae thought of opening the potion up to smell it and at least try and ascertain how hard this task was going to be, but he wasn't sure if the stopper would go back in sealed and he had already spent too much on this stupid attempt to make a boy fall in love with him, he wasn't about to let that leak through his fingers. So he carefully returned the bottle to the bag, and tilted his head back.
* * * * *
The soothing sounds of the train lulled the young man into a semi-sleep for the nine remaining stops before his station, and when he heard the station name crack over the PA above, he shoved the paper bag into his pocket, rezipped his jacket and alighted onto a deserted platform. Though the wind had calmed down, thick, wet snow was still falling. Youngjae hurried from the station towards his apartment, unlocking the door and quickly shutting it behind him.
Before he could take off his shoes he heard a fit of wild laughter and the sounds of the television coming from the living room, indicating that his roommate Jackson must indeed be home.
"Oh, hyung did you eat yet?" Youngjae called over his shoulder.
No response. Youngjae sighed, Jackson probably couldn't hear him over the noise. Youngjae turned to hang up his coat and noticed a red sports coat hanging in his usual spot. A coat he'd seen before, he thought about it's owner as he ran a hand over the soft material.
"Youngjae, you're back!" Jackson yelled, jumping on top of his roommate. This was their usual routine - Jackson would climb on top of Youngjae and the younger boy would struggle to carry Jackson back inside. But he never tired of it.
"Hyung, I need to put my jacket away and you are killing me...." Youngjae squeaked out. Jackson hopped off and Youngjae began shoving his oversized peat coat into the closet - not fast enough as Jackson grabbed at the brown paper sticking out of the pocket.
"What's this?" Jackson asked playfully holding up the bag.
"N-nothing," Youngjae snatches the bag and quickly makes for his room.
"MAAAAAARK," Jackson's voice rings out across the house.
Fuck.
Youngjae hears the room go quiet as the television pauses, and a head of dark brown, shaggy hair appears in the hallway.
"Youngjae has something and he's hiding it from me," Jackson says, pouting and pointing to his roommate.
Mark just laughs, and Youngjae can feel a blush rising in his face. "It's nothing, guys. It's just some new... cologne that I bought it's not a big deal."
The two foreign boys exchange glances, and Youngjae takes that second to duck into his room and lock the door behind him.
"Youngjae-ah, Youngjae-ahhhhhhh," Jackson yells playfully while pounding on the door. He can only imagine the scene playing out outside, with his overdramatic roommate throwing himself against the door, probably faking tears.
"Leave him alone, Jackson," Mark says through bouts of laughter, "He's allowed to have secrets."
This turns Jackson onto Mark, "What secrets? Who's keeping secrets? Are you keeping secrets from me, Mark?"
The voices retreat back towards the living room, and Youngjae finds a place to stash his purchase where it won't be found. Not by Jackson at least.
When Youngjae returns from his room, he finds Mark and Jackson cuddled up on the couch watching some American movie that must be hilarious because Jackson has laughed himself to tears and is wiping his eyes on the corner of Mark's t-shirt.
"There's chicken in the fridge," Mark says when he sees Youngjae appear, "You want me to heat it for you?"
"I'll get it, thanks,"
Youngjae eats the chicken in the kitchen in silence. He mentally starts to debate if buying a love potion was the right thing to do.
I mean, who does that? Buy a love potion? Isn't that... manipulative. Should I really be poisoning him into loving me?
On the other hand, the burning feeling taking over his heart every time he sees Mark looking at Jackson, or Yugyeom, or even Jinyoung is enough to make him sick. And recently he's been lashing out at his friends in jealousy. So really, he's not just doing this for himself, he's doing this to feed the little green monster and keep everyone together. He couldn't see it ending well any other way.
Youngjae looks up as a piece of chicken is taken from his plate.
Mark settles into the chair across from him, and tears into the flesh of a BBQ chicken wing.
"Why are you sitting here, eating alone?"
Youngjae shrugs and shifts awkwardly in his seat.
"Tired?"
"A little," Youngjae says, taking another bite.
"Jackson fell asleep on the couch," Mark says, nodding towards the living room.
"Well, that explains the silence," Youngjae chirps, getting a chuckle of approval from the older man.
"Maybe I should head home soon,"
"Hyung, it's awful out. Worst storm in years they said!"
"Hmm... Well if Jackson's asleep on the couch I guess that means I get his bed!"
Youngjae eyes a peeling tile on the floor. He thinks of Mark asleep in his roommates bed, knowing that his roommate will eventually wake up and make his way back there himself. The green monster is growing.
"Youngjae?" Mark is snapping his lean fingers in front of Youngjae's face, "Spacing out?"
"I'm fine," he says, trying to choke down the feeling.
"Why don't you go get ready for bed, I'll wash up," Mark suggests, adding, "Don't worry, I know where everything goes," when Youngjae starts to protest. He shoos the younger one off towards the bedrooms and begins clearing the plates.
* * * * *
The next morning Youngjae woke early, pulling on a pair of loose old sweatpants over his boxers he makes his way to the kitchen. He had originally planned to find Mark later that day, but the storm had helped him put his plan into motion a lot faster. He pours the water and flips on the coffee maker, the most integral part of his plan. The tile is cold against Youngjae's bare feet as he searches for eggs, peppers, and butter inside the fridge. He heats a pan, and then sets to cutting the peppers and beating the eggs. The omelette mixture sizzles as he pours it into the pan, and he makes a delighted hum as he works, turning the eggs until he's made three perfect omelettes.
As he hears the coffee maker percolate he runs off to his room and shuffles through the boxes on the top shelf of his closet until he reveals a round glass bottle. Hurrying back to the kitchen Youngjae pulls down three cups - confusing the cups won't be a problem in Youngjae's apartment because as typical 20-something bachelors every mug in their house was some sort of freebie from a university fair, or Jackson's yearly fencing conference. Youngjae grabs one from an autobody shop - no clue how they got that - one from Seoul University, and one big, bright yellow one that he knew was Jackson's favourite. He pours the piping hot coffee into the mugs, and then adds 3 drops of the purplish pink liquid into the autobody shop mug.
He's just about to hide the bottle in his closet again when he hears stirring from the other room, and slips it under a pair of socks in his dresser in a panic instead. He'll move it later, just in case Jackson remembers and starts poking around.
"Morning hyungs~" Youngjae says, cutting the two groggy men off at the entrance to the kitchen.
"You seem well rested today," Mark smiles, rubbing sleep from his eyes. His voice is still thick and heavy, and Youngjae wishes he could hear this sound for the rest of his life.
"Awesome, dude look at this spread," Jackson says pushing past them. Youngjae sighs a small sigh of relief when he sees Jackson making himself at home in his usual seat at the table, with his yellow mug.
"I felt kinda hungry this morning so... I made some for everyone," Youngjae explained, taking his usual seat where he'd neatly set the Seoul University mug. With Jackson and Youngjae taking their seats across from each other at the small, square IKEA table, Mark settled into the remaining chair between the two.
The three dug into their omelettes, and Youngjae eating small bites, his eyes flashing worriedly between Mark and his untouched mug of coffee. Mark, none the wiser, hummed contentedly with every forkful of egg.
"This is so good, Youngjae, it reminds me of back home in LA... You know, my mom used to make us omelettes on Sundays, I forgot about that,"
A blush crossed Youngjae's cheeks, but a second later his eyes opened in sheer panic. Sitting in his roommates hands was not his own yellow mug- but Mark's mug of coffee.
"Jackson wait that's-"
Too late. Youngjae watched in horror as Jackson's adam's apple bobbed with each gulp of the liquid. He finished the cup and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand with a satisified sigh.
"What?" Jackson asked when he realized his roommate was staring at him.
"That was... for Mark-hyung..." he choked out.
"It's okay, man. I'll get another one," said Mark, rising to fill the mug.
Youngjae thought back to the creepy old lady, "You don't want a million suitors do you?"
Youngjae, you are screwed. You are so, so, so screwed.
* * * * *
Youngjae wasn't sure how long the potion took to take effect. He also had no clue how strong the three drops would be. Jackson still seemed to be his normal self when Mark got up from the table and announced that as the oldest he was entitled to showering first, and that he would be using all of the hot water.
"Good luck, suckers!" Mark laughed as he headed for the bathroom.
"Guess it's our turn to wash dishes," Jackson groaned, collecting the plates and coffee cups and placing them into the sink. "You wash, I'll dry?"
Youngjae was always happy to wash rather than dry, he loved the feeling of warm water on his hands and the frothy bubbles made by the dish soap. These things brought him peace and made him feel calmer, so he jumped to the task, and started handing Jackson freshly washed plates.
"Ack," Youngjae lifted his hand out of the soapy water to find a small red droplet forming on his index finger.
"What happened, let me see," Jackson said, panicked.
"Guess I pricked myself on the knife... It's fine though,"
A pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind, and Jackson held the cut under cold water until the bleeding slowed.
"Let me fix it," Jackson said, sprinting for the band-aids, which they kept in a junk drawer next to the fridge. Youngjae held his finger out in front of him while Jackson gently applied an iron man bandage.
"Thanks, Jackson, it's better now,"
"Not yet," he said, and gave Youngjae's finger a little kiss.
Youngjae laughed before he realized what was going on. The potion.
"Don't get hurt any more, Youngjae, but if you do... I'll always be there to save you," Jackson said planting a surprise kiss on Youngjae's forehead.
"Hey guys who's nex-" Mark's voice rang out from over Youngjae's shoulder, but he stopped himself short when he saw the domestic seen unfolding in front of him.
Youngjae's mouth gaped. He turned to see his oldest hyung, who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, toweling his hair with a small, yellow towel.
How much did he see?
"Guess it's me, unless you wanted to come with," Jackson said, giving Youngjae a wink before heading off down the hall.
Finally remembering to close his mouth, Youngjae stared wordlessly at the brown-haired boy.
Mark just smiled, "Guess you're last. I'm gonna get dressed and head out, thanks for breakfast though!"
Screwed. I am absolutely, positively, screwed.