Work Text:
If you asked Jongdae what a blender looked like, he could answer so quick it seemed impossible. If you asked him to describe what one sounded like, now, that’s a problem. Jongdae was born with holes in his eardrums causing severe hearing loss as time passed, using hearing aids as a child.
For Jongdae now, as a 25 year old man, he barely depends on his hearing aids. It’s not the fact that he forgets to put on the devices he uses to hear, it’s that he chooses to not wear them from time to time. Mostly when Jongdae is in a bad mood and doesn’t want to listen to annoying people complain about their lives. Walking into the coffee shop on the way to work is just like an irritating fly that won’t stop buzzing around your head, in Jongdae’s case, the sound was overwhelming when trying to focus on just the cashiers voice as he placed his order.
There was one person before Jongdae in the line and three more behind him, some talking on their phones with annoyance laced in their voice as they were waiting. Jongdae’s hands twitched as the voices of people around him along with the music playing throughout the building. The man in front of Jongdae finished his order and walked away from the counter meaning he was next.
“Hello, welcome to Love Shop Cafe, what can I get you today?” The cashier asked, a smile on her face.
“Um, uh..” Jongdae started, “Can I- Can I get,” His eyes began to bounce back and forth from the cashier and the menu behind her, “Um,”
“Hey! Hurry up! Some of us have places to be!” A voice yelled somewhere behind Jongdae.
A few other people had chimed in with the yelling and frustrations with the line going nowhere as time passed, Jongdae cupping his hands over his ears to hopefully escape from the noises swarming around him. The cashier looked at him, worried and scared to speak to the man as he held his ears tight. A hand softly landed on Jongdae’s back causing him to look up, tears welling in his eyes, making it a little hard for him to watch his mouth move as the man spoke to him.
“Are you okay?” The man asked, eyes wide behind black frames.
“I’m,” Jongdae tumbled out, “Too loud.. It’s too loud”
The people in line continued to argue and call out to Jongdae in anger, some even leaving the store. Jongdae flinched as he tried to uncover his ears only to press harder, the hard casing behind his ear pressing into his head making it more uncomfortable than usual.
“Everyone shut up!” The man beside Jongdae turned and yelled towards the crowd behind them. Everyone fell silent, some giving the man and Jongdae dirty looks before storming out of the shop.
Jongdae slowly pulled his hands away from his ears, looking up at the man, slowly unfolding his shoulders and standing to his full height rather than hunching over. The man was still rubbing his back while the concern was fading from his eyes.
“Thank you,” Jongdae whispered, a small smile on his face. Before the man could speak, Jongdae glanced at the time on the mans watch, “I’m late for work! I-I’m sorry!” He sprinted out of the shop and down the street. The man watched him disappear, eyes wandering down to the floor as he stepped out of line for the disgruntled customers to order.
“Hm, he forgot something.” He spoke to himself as he saw a cute little backpack laying on the floor. He picked it up and turned it around in his hands, the object heavy as things shifted around. The backpack was black with little white stars and dots scattered around, a blue loop handle on the top, the zipper on the front pocket blue as well while the zipper on top was black like the rest of the bag. The back of it had a single strap, nearly mimicking a backpack perfectly.
By opening the little backpack, the man discovered it was a lunch bag. His eyes caught a label on the inside with the name of the owner, “Kim Jongdae. His name is Jongdae.”
Jongdae walked into his office with a frown on his face, gently slamming the glass door behind him.
“Woah, Dae. Be careful.” Minseok, one of Jongdae’s coworkers spoke up. His voice startled Jongdae, looking over at the man sitting on the couch in his office.
“What are you doing in here? Shouldn’t you be working on some of the bugs?” Jongdae and Minseok worked in video game development, one in testing and the other in programming-slash-design.
“I got Seju and Baekhyun working on some right now.” Minseok smiled, knowing Jongdae wasn’t very fond of him pushing his work onto other employees that probably have their own problems to finish. Jongdae rolled his eyes as he sat down at his desk, spinning towards one of his many monitors, “Besides, I have something else to do today.”
“What’s more important than working on the game?”
“Oh,” Minseok stopped, looking down at his phone, “Baekhyun texted saying he found something else, gotta go Dae. I’ll see you later!”
Jongdae waved his friend off as he was already getting ready for the days work. For him, it was always stressful with coming up with new designs for characters and weapons in so little time. His CEO always nagging him to program him new things to make the game better, it was stressful and maybe a little annoying for Jongdae. Today had already started off bad from the moment he woke up to a dead phone, missing badge for work-he found it two seconds before walking out the door-and the catastrophe at the coffee shop. Not to mention he lost his favorite lunch bag too.
Once Jongdae got his station set up, he pulled out his spare phone charger and plugged the device in. His phone turned back on, a few message popping up on the screen.
While youre at the coffee place wanna pick me up an americano?
Oh and baek wants a coffee or whatever too..
The whole damn department is about to give me their orders if you arent quick over here.
KIM JONGDAE
Jongdae laughs at the collection of texts from Minseok, a little bummed that he couldn’t get himself or his favorite game tester their morning coffee. Not long after swiping away the texts and pulling up a series of programs, Jongdae put his big clunky headphones on and began working.
It was nearing two in the afternoon and Jongdae hadn’t moved from his spot once, too focused to bother getting up. His fingers were flying across the keyboard while his eyes darted around each screen, switching from monitor to monitor as he’d kick his chair over to one other keyboard to pull up a design to tinker with. Once he finished one, he’d start up another and the sequence continued until Baekhyun stormed into the office space.
“Kim Jongdae!” Baekhyun yelled, the programmer never looking away from his monitors. The brunette stalked over to Jongdae to pull his headphones off, startling Jongdae.
“Oh my god!” His hand flew up to his chest, as he turned his chair to face Baekhyun, “Don’t do that, you ass!”
“Well, don’t listen to your music so loud and you’d be able to hear me come in!”
“I wouldn’t be able to hear you even if I wasn’t listening to music!” Jongdae huffed, knowing he has a habit of shutting his hearing aids off so he wouldn’t get annoyed with the constant tapping of his keyboard, “What do you want anyway besides interrupting me.”
“Lunch time, you big baby. Grab your lunch and we’ll go join the other testers and programmers.” Baekhyun slapped at his arm a few times before pulling him out of his seat.
“I lost my lunch bag.” Jongdae pouted as they left his office, Baekhyun holding onto his sweatshirt sleeve as if he was a child. The elder didn’t pay attention to Jongdae’s words nor noticing the fact that he didn’t have his beloved lunch bag.
The cafeteria seemed more packed than usual to Jongdae, even if he rarely ate here. It was quieter in his office unless Minseok or one other programmer joined him so they could discuss the next advances needed to be done in the game.
“Baek,” Jongdae whined as loud voices echoed through the room. He was ready to just shut his hearing aids off so he wouldn’t have to listen anymore.
“Over there!” Baekhyun pointed to where a few other testers sat, waving them over to their table. The brunette man pulled Jongdae toward the table while trying to weave between other tables and chairs, saying hi and waving to a few people occupying the seats.
They finally sat down with everyone, Jongdae right next to the tall window with Baekhyun across from him and a tester he couldn’t remember the name of to his left. It wasn’t long until Baekhyun left him to go get food, leaving Jongdae alone with these people he didn’t want to talk to. He should, but he doesn’t want to.
Jongdae began fiddling with his phone, antsy to go back to his office to continue working when he got a text.
Hey Dae Dae. I have to stay late at work so can you pick Nini up from school?
Of course Junymeon was staying late at work, he always had some meeting to go to or something happening for him to stay. He always asked Jongdae to get his son, Jongin, from school and Jongin always ends up staying at Jongdae’s for the night.
Sure. Jongdae sent the message back, checking the time and pocketing his phone. He had two hours before needing to leave to get his nephew.
Baekhyun returned with a tray of food, tossing a wrapped sandwich at Jongdae. He just barely caught the sandwich before it tumbled to the floor, rolling his eyes at Baekhyun, but accepting the food otherwise.
“Uh, hey Baek, I gotta get back to work. I forgot I have a meeting with Minseok over bug fixes.” Jongdae stood, chair squeaking under him as he quickly rushed out of the room and back to the silence of his office.
Everybody knew Minseok had gone home an hour ago, but Jongdae needed an excuse to leave the noisy, stuffy area they were sitting in. The temptation to turn his hearing aids off were back, yet Jongdae needed to leave them on to hear the alarm set for him to leave to Jongin’s school. With his phone resting near his main keyboard and the program he left off on before Baekhyun stormed in, pulled up on a monitor, Jongdae got to work.
The school parking lot was nearly full when Jongdae arrived. Once he got situated and parked, Jongdae walked towards the school to stand and wait for the students to be finished for the day. He stood by a few other parents who were waiting, some talking on their phones or tapping at the screen, and others were caught in a hushed conversation with another parent. Jongdae, however, was stuck in a never ended texting argument with Baekhyun over leaving early and not taking him with Jongdae.
The shrill ringing of the bell made Jongdae flinch and rub at his ears, careful not to bump the plastic piece resting behind. Students began rushing out of their classroom and into their parents arms or to the buses lined up out in front of the elementary school. It wasn’t long until Jongin was running over to Jongdae with a wide smile on his face.
“Uncle Dae!” Jongin squealed as Jongdae hugged the 9 year old, “Where’s dad?”
“He got caught up in a long meeting, Nini.”
“Oh,” Jongin frowned a little, “Okay.”
“Was there-”
“Excuse me, are you Mr. Kim?” A deep, yet familiar voice suddenly asked Jongdae.
“I am Mr. Kim, but not the Kim you are looking for.” Jongdae looked up at the familiar sound only to be shocked that it was the same man who had helped him hours ago in the coffee shop, “Was there a problem that I need to inform my brother of?” When did Jongdae sound this formal?
“No, no problem at all I just wanted to let Mr. Kim know that parent-teacher conferences are this week and that I hope to see him.” The man smiled, his lips turning into a beautiful heart shape that Jongdae couldn’t help but stare.
“I’ll make sure to tell him. Thank you..”
“Mr. Do,” The now named mystery man, Mr. Do, smile widened as he spoke.
“Thank you, Mr. Do. We will be on our way now. Say goodbye to your teacher, Jonginnie.”
“Bye, Mr. Do!” Jongin waved to his teacher with one hand as he gripped Jongdae’s hand with the other while they began walking out of the school. Jongdae led them towards his car, letting Jongin say goodbye to his friends as they either boarded the buses or got in cars with their parents.
When they reached the car, Jongin climbed in the backseat, and buckled himself into his booster seat. The 9 year old was bouncing in his seat as he watched other cars pass and told Jongdae about what they did in class today.
“And and, Teacher Do has a lunch box that looks just like yours Uncle Dae! It even has the same cat keychain that Uncle Baekhyun gave you!” Jongdae exclaimed loudly, even louder than Jongdae was used to.
“Volume, Nini. I can still hear you,” Jongdae laughed before continuing, “You said that Mr. Do has a lunch bag just like mine?”
“Yeah! It’s pretty cool. I didn’t notice it until today.” Jongin shrugged, hugging his bear backpack close to his chest as he stared out the window.
Jongdae vaguely recognized the teacher as the man that helped him earlier in the day, forcing people to be quiet for him yet Jongdae had ran out of the building seconds after due to being late to work. Not only did he run away, his lunch bag had fallen to the floor during his state of panic and irritation towards the sound around him. The lunch bag that Jongin claimed his teacher had the exact same.
“Uncle Dae?” Jongin spoke up from the back after a few minutes, “Can we have spaghetti for dinner?”
“Anything for my Ni Bear.” Jongdae grinned at his nephew as he wiggled in excitement in his booster seat. Tonight might not be as bad as Jongdae thought it would.
He was wrong. Oh so very wrong. Jongin had insisted that he helped make dinner once he finished the little homework he was given. He helped, but not in the kind of help Jongdae wanted. Jongin made a mess with everything his was handed and now the kitchen was stained red.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Dae.” Jongin pouted when Jongdae had set him on the opposite counter than the stove, the child covered in spaghetti sauce along with the floor. Jongdae could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes as Jongin sat still on the counter with his arms held out in front of him to keep from dirtying the counter.
“It’s okay, Nini. I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at my Ni Bear.” Jongdae had turned to rub at Jongin’s cheek, the one not covered in spaghetti sauce, and ruffle his hair some. Jongin’s eyes were still watery after, still not moving from his spot or making any kind of movement.
“But but, I ruined dinner. I didn’t mean to drop the sauce on the floor.” Jongin’s lip wobbled as he stared at the mess. To say he dropped the sauce container was an understatement. Jongdae had opened the container for him, handing it over to the little 9 year old that stood on a step stool and once Jongin got the container to pour it into the pot, he missed the pot and poured it all down his front and on the floor.
“You didn’t ruin anything. It’s okay, Jongin. Everything is okay.” Jongin was still crying, “Did you get hurt, Nini? Did you drop the glass container on the floor?”
Jongin shook his head.
“Then everything is okay. Nothing is ruined. This is just a small mess that can get cleaned.” Jongdae smiled, hoping he could get the child to stop crying and smile, “How about we forget about making the spaghetti and just have chicken nuggets and noodles?”
“Okay!” Jongin’s tears were gone and his bright smile was back at the mention of chicken nuggets. Jongdae helped the child off the counter for him to change into spare clothes that were always stored in his guest bedroom since Jongin often stayed the night when Junmyeon was out of town or stuck at work.
Jongdae got to work on the mess on the floor, sighing as he grabbed the almost empty paper towel roll and began cleaning.
Not long after cleaning and making chicken nuggets, Jongdae and Jongin were falling asleep in the couch while watching some random cartoon Jongin loved. The child was curled up in Jongdae’s side, eyes beginning to droop, Jongdae’s doing the same as he leaned against the arm of the couch. His phone sat abandoned on the coffee table with a message from Junymeon, the awaited, I need Jongin to stay with you for the night , text that Jongdae already knew was coming.
“Nini, I think we should go to bed.” Jongdae yawned once it went to commercial. The little 9 year old didn’t respond, drool rolling down his chin as he had fallen asleep on Jongdae. He laughed quietly before scooping his nephew into his arms to take him to the guest room.
Once Jongin was in bed, Jongdae went to his room with a different alarm set and the thought of his missing lunch bag on his mind.
Jongdae’s morning was less hectic than he assumed. It was always a surprise when Jongin stayed at his apartment, mainly because he rarely stayed on a weekday. Usually it was on friday where Jongin would have the whole weekend to spend with his uncle, but today was only wednesday.
Jongin was awake and ready before Jongdae’s alarm woke him up. Jongdae had hurried around the apartment to get ready for work and getting Jongin to school that when he arrived at the coffee shop, Jongdae realized he left his hearing aids in the bathroom.
No wonder I could barely hear Jongin when I dropped him off.
Jongdae shrugged the thought off, he could use the muffled silence for the day since his deadline was nearing for the new weapon designs. As he entered the coffee shop, Jongdae saw the line was shorter than days prior meaning he would be in and out quick. He instantly got in line and thought over his order.
When he got to the cashier, Jongdae smiled and gave his order to the employee with no problem, aside from being able to hear the total.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you, can you say that again but slower?” Jongdae asked politely, knowing from some experience that people were annoying when they asked for you to repeat yourself multiple times. The lady nodded and told him the total again, slow enough for Jongdae to hear when he leaned in close to her without being creepy.
After paying, Jongdae stood by the counter for his drink. There were a few other orders called before his, he didn’t mind waiting since he did order for himself, Minseok, and Baekhyun since they complained about their lack of coffee the day before.
It wasn’t long before someone else was standing by Jongdae, waiting for their order as well. Jongdae was scrolling through his emails when someone had tapped his shoulder.
“I think this is yours.” Jongdae barely heard when he turned, only to be met with the heart shaped smile of Mr. Do and his lunch bag.
“Oh!” Jongdae shouted, maybe a little bit too loud, “Thank you Mr. Do!”
“You’re welcome. I picked it up after you ran out yesterday.” Jongdae could feel his face heat up in embarrassment as he stared at Mr. Do’s lips moving. He was silent for a minute, forgetting to speak but eyes lingering on the mans face.
“Do I have something on my face?” Mr. Do raised a hand to his face to wipe at it, Jongdae’s face heating up more knowing he was caught staring.
“No, uh, I was just reading your lips,” Jongdae shyly spoke, “I forgot to put my hearing aids in this morning. Too busy getting ready for work and take Jongin to school that I didn’t put them in after my shower.”
“Ah,” Mr. Do nodded. Before he could continue, Jongdae’s order was called making the programmer to turn towards the counter for his drinks.
“Sorry, Mr. Do, but I have to get to work before my coworkers get mad that I didn’t bring them coffee.” Jongdae laughed, drink carrier in one hand and his lunch bag in the other as he turned back to Mr. Do.
“Not a problem, Jongdae. I’ll see you around, yeah?” Jongdae nodded before running off to work, two buildings down.
Jongdae was settled at his desk, coffee in hand and lunch bag placed in front of him. The lunch he packed yesterday was probably all gross and spoiled. Jongdae frowned at the thought, leaning forward to grab the bag and open it. Rather than getting hit with the smell of day old food, Jongdae was met with something completely different in his lunch bag and a not resting on top of it.
I made you a lunch since you didn’t get to have yours yesterday. Tell me how it was and maybe I’ll make you more in the future ~ Do Kyungsoo xxx-xxx-xxxx .