Work Text:
There’s only so many bizarre things that can happen without a very valid, supernatural cause behind them, at least that’s what Jaehyun thinks as he peels pieces of pizza off from inside the microwave. This time he’d been more careful and read the instructions on the frozen pizza box properly so he’s understandably miffed. Well, there goes his dinner.
He’s partly to blame, if Jaehyun is being honest with himself. He’d heard stories about the old apartment building at the top of the hill before he moved in, particularly the seventh floor where all the weirdest shit happens — it also happens to be the only floor with available units— but the rent had been too good to pass up and Yeongdungpo isn’t really as bad as most people make it out to be.
Jaehyun arrives in Seoul a complete skeptic, with little care for anything remotely supernatural, he remembers bragging to his friends about not batting an eye at the local haunted house back in Busan. It’s a different thing experiencing it first hand on a day to day basis however. It starts off with a few, inconsequential incidents that Jaehyun doesn’t care to keep track off: missing keys, misplaced sock or two, and then it moves on to something a little more unsettling: flickering lights, doors swinging open at night, the TV switching channels on random. Needless to say, he’s a converted man after only a week in.
Jaehyun drags a friend from the army to apartment 707 with a bundle of sage in hand, hoping Jungwoo’s less critical approach to the supernatural would help him see the strange happenings in a new light. Whatever it is haunting his place doesn’t seem pleased with the saging because on the same night, Jaehyun finds his last tube of toothpaste emptied into the sink, the sharp smell of mint filling the tiny bathroom. The day after, he finds his missing, unwashed sock on top of the butter in the fridge.
Exploding pizzas really aren’t the worst of it, Jaehyun tells himself as he finishes wiping down the most useful appliance in his kitchen. Grabbing his keys and wallet, he heads out the door in just his sweatpants and t-shirt and hides his messy hair under a beanie. Luckily, there’s a convenience store just a block away and it’s late enough that their package meals should already be on half-price sale.
Jaehyun presses the button for the ground floor but holds the doors open when he sees his neighbour heading towards the elevator, “hey.” Jaehyun greets awkwardly, to which the other replies with an unsure smile. His neighbour from apartment 700 looks to be around Jaehyun’s age, and he’s the only other tenant on this floor, the other three units remain empty much of the time, the few tenants lured by the cheap price are driven out within a few days of moving in. The poor guy must also really need the money, because he heard his neighbour has been the longest enduring tenant in this place.
“You have a something on your shirt.” The slightly shorter man says, pointing at the hem of Jaehyun’s t-shirt where indeed a pizza sauce stain is stark against the white fabric. He rubs furiously at it, if only to make it look less like the microwave just threw up on him. His neighbour pulls a packet of tissue from his pocket, handing it to him.
“Here, take it.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
It’s always like this with them since he moved in; a few short conversations here and there, nothing too significant or noteworthy.
The elevator doors open to the ground floor where his neighbour practically skips to the vending machine in the lobby by the entrance. Jaehyun sees him impatiently jab at the button for the iced coffee, tucking his long, dyed hair behind his ear. His brilliant ginger head stands out even in the dimly lit lobby and Jaehyun tears his gaze away to sigh against the evening chill. He better hurry before they run out of food at the store.
-
Jaehyun sees his neighbour again in front of the same vending machine a few days later, when he comes home from work at eleven in the evening, stomach rumbling and mind spinning from fatigue. His head is bowed in concentration, Jaehyun assumes he’s counting his change but he doesn’t hear the telltale sound of coins being fed to the machine.
Jaehyun’s in the middle of chopping yellow, pickled radish for a quick roll of kimbab when he remembers that he didn’t hear coins jingling in his neighbour’s pocket either when he handed him the tissue the last time they rode the elevator together. Jaehyun shrugs; it’s not the strangest thing he’s encountered in this place so far.
-
“Why don’t you just move out?” His boyfriend tells him over the phone when he calls in panic after his toilet starts spitting out orbeez. He’s now starting to think that the other tenants are moving out from something apart from fear of the paranormal — rather, the inconvenience of having to call a plumber at an ungodly hour (and the surcharges are enough to make Jaehyun want to faint).
“Just until I save up enough, then I’ll leave.” He promises, more to himself than to anyone.
“Haven’t you saved enough? You’ve been living there for months.” two months actually, if they’re to be more specific. To Jaehyun it feels like he’s only been in this place for a week, every single day is so eventful that he tends to lose track of time.
“I need some more time if I want to get an apartment somewhere close to work.” After all, he needs two months upfront deposit and even if Jaehyun has indeed saved enough, the extra money from the cheap rent goes a long way paying for his bills. There’s a little part of him that hopes his boyfriend will ask him to move in together, if only to save him the trouble, after all, they’ve been dating for over four months since they met in Haeundae last spring, two months of which were spent cities apart. Except his boyfriend doesn’t say anything, and hangs up after Jaehyun runs out of things to complain about. It’s nothing unusual between them, this is how the older man has always treated him and Jaehyun doesn’t think he’s invested enough to be bothered.
Since he’s already awake, Jaehyun figures he might as well just get some fresh air so he throws on his favourite hoodie and heads downstairs in his pyjama bottoms and a bulky umbrella he grabs after checking the weather forecast on his phone. He makes a beeline to the twenty four hour convenience store for a pack of cigarettes and that’s where he finds his neighbour, clad in some massive, wool sweater that has to be too warm for the weather, his bright hair hidden under a bucket hat. He’s in the snack isle, appraising a bag of cheese puffs.
“You should get the extra cheese one.” Jaehyun doesn’t know why he approaches the other, the cigarettes are on the other side of the store and he really doesn’t have any business being in the snack section. For the sake of not coming off weird, he grabs a bag for himself too. His neighbour perks up at the sight of him.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Not after my toilet overflowed with orbeez.” he says in exasperation and his neighbour snorts out loud. He seems pleased with something and Jaehyun hopes not at his misfortune.
“That does sound like a handful.”
“So aren’t you going to get one?” Jaehyun points to the cheese puffs still on the shelves and notices the cursory glance the other shoots over at the cashier before he shrugs.
“No, I’m okay.” His neighbour nods at him before making his exit, just like that. Jaehyun wonders if he’d inadvertently creeped the shorter man out but simply shrugs and pays for both his cigarette and extra cheesy cheese puffs at the counter. The light drizzle earlier has made way to a heavy downpour in the few short minutes he’s in the store so he slides his shopping bag to his other arm and opens his umbrella with a few controlled jerks. He’s about to step out into the rain when at the corner of his eyes he spots his neighbour quietly huddled next to the door, taking shelter under the meagre awning. He looks genuinely distressed and it’s a little curious considering their building is only a few minutes’ walk away, not even a minute if you make a run for it.
“Do you wanna share an umbrella?” He offers anyway when their eyes meet. The shorter man looks a little taken aback but he nods enthusiastically not even a heartbeat later. Jaehyun can at least rest easy knowing he didn’t actually come off as a weirdo if his neighbour eagerly invading his space is anything to go by.
“Thank you.” The man says, strangely out of breath, when they’re back in their building’s lobby. Jaehyun opens his mouth to say something but the other makes a run for the staircase and Jaehyun is left with the sound of heavy footsteps fading into an echo. Maybe he did scare his neighbour after all.
-
Jaehyun struggles to catch his breath as he climbs two steps at a time; it’s one of the many disadvantages of living up the hill and being an occasional smoker. He’s coming home late again, like many long nights before, except this time it doesn’t have anything to do with work.
Wooyoung, his boyfriend, is a busy man, he’s known that since they first started going out, has first hand experience of it when he would take days to reply to one of Jaehyun’s messages back when they were two hundred miles apart and the same is still true even now that they live in the same city. Wooyoung works for a consulting firm as a senior employee, is three years older than Jaehyun, and has a fairly big social circle. Jaehyun knows he doesn’t really fit into the same crowd but he tries anyway, even when Wooyoung introduces him to the others as a friend from the army, a dongsaeng he’s taken under his wing. Jaehyun tries to understand but it gets a little rough sometimes, especially at the moment as he makes his way home alone after Wooyoung canceled on him yet again.
Getting a little drunk, in hindsight, is probably not the best way to deal with that when he sways a little on his feet and comes dangerously close to face planting on concrete a few times. He might also be hearing things because there’s a quiet pattering behind him but it disappears before he has time to acknowledge it. The sound of a body hitting the ground almost immediately sobers him up. Jaehyun turns around to find a man in a black hoodie and a matching black face mask scampering away like he’d just seen a ghost. He doesn’t miss the glint of a blade in his hands as he disappears into the shadows in between the streetlights.
“You should pay more attention to your surroundings.” A voice says beside him and Jaehyun nearly jumps a foot in the air. He puts a hand over his chest in an effort to calm his erratically beating heart.
“What the fuck.” He says eloquently, to which his neighbour responds with a shrug. “Where did you come from?” Jaehyun presses because he may be a little tipsy but he isn’t blind and he’s sure as hell no one had been around him a split second ago,
“You were just about to be mugged and that’s what you’re concerned about?” Jaehyun runs his bleary eyes over his neighbour’s appearance — his small face, slight figure and smaller stature — then turns to the direction his would’ve-been-mugger ran off to. Huh. Either his neighbour is hiding some sort of hatchet on his person or that guy is simply a bad judge of character.
“What are you doing out here so late?” He counters with another question and the shorter man brings his hand into view, his usual canned coffee clutched it in. At least it’s not a hatchet, Jaehyun thinks as he steers them both to the direction of their building. “You shouldn’t be drinking coffee this late.” he says just to fill the silence.
“It’s okay, I still sleep plenty even after I drink four of these.”
“Yeah, I heard some people are immune to caffeine or something like that.”
Jaehyun notices the plastic bag in his neighbour’s other hand with the logo of a convenience store he doesn’t remember having in the neighbourhood, “Do you work there?” He blurts out without thinking.
The other appraises him for a few second before he nods, “Yeah, night shift.” That somehow explains so much.
They pause in front of the elevator. Jaehyun is still a little tipsy and his vision is starting to get a bit hazy from the need for sleep and his neighbour’s bright orange hair is starting to look like a beacon of light.
“Jung Jaehyun by the way. I don’t think we ever got properly introduced.”
A smirk tugs on his neighbour’s lips and Jaehyun’s thinks he imagined it because it’s gone a split second later, “Yuta.” The other says, lifting the canned coffee to his lips.
-
Since they’ve already progressed into first name basis (only because Yuta never told him his last name), Jaehyun assumes it’s safe to talk about the obvious. Like how their apartment building, their floor in particular, is haunted by some spirit that seems to know the best ways to set Jaehyun off.
Yuta laughs at him when he brings it up, quite loudly too, “You’re so funny Jaehyun.” he says in case his amusement isn’t clear enough.
The taller man bites his lip, waiting for the telltale ding when their elevator reaches their floor, “You mean to say…you don’t experience all those…you know, weird stuff happening?”
“Not really.” Yuta says, with all the confidence of a man who’s never been haunted by some rouge ghost. Jaehyun is five seconds away from asking him if he could make space for another person in his apartment, they’ll save money and it will save Jaehyun from impending insanity, but his phone rings and he misses the moment. Wooyoung’s name flashes across the screen and he sees Yuta casually taking a peek from beside him.
“Your friend?” He asks.
“Boyfriend.”
“Ah.” When Jaehyun thinks about it, Wooyoung has never been to his apartment so Yuta has never seen him. He doesn’t blame his boyfriend though, with all the stories he told him when he just moved in, he wouldn’t want to visit too if he were in Wooyoung’s shoes. Except he knows the real reason why the older man hardly graces him with his presence, he’s just become too complacent with the truth.
He takes a look at Yuta’s face just to see if this new detail about Jaehyun puts him off in any way but his expression remains the same, and if anything, he looks mildly curious. So Jaehyun asks instead,
“Would you like to see his picture?”
-
The next time Jaehyun finds Yuta in front of the vending machine is on a Saturday morning. He’s supposed to be on his way to the supermarket but his attention quickly moves onto the shorter man who’s currently staring at the machine longingly. It’s the most expressive he’s seen Yuta be so far and Jaehyun couldn’t help but want to know what’s so heartbreaking about the old vending machine.
“What’s up?”
“It ran out of the canned coffee.” The smaller man says pitifully and Jaehyun sees the anguish in his eyes. He knows Yuta loves that coffee but he’s only now finding out the extent of his obsession. Jaehyun shuffles on his feet, not quite sure how to comfort the other. Their building is old and pretty much falling apart so he suspects restocking the machine isn’t exactly the building owner’s priority.
“Why don’t you come with me,” Jaehyun finds himself offering, “I’ll buy you coffee from a cafe near the supermarket.”
He doesn’t really expect the way Yuta’s eyes light up, his dangly earrings jiggling in time with his excited nod, “Yes. Yes. You sure you’re paying?”
Jaehyun chuckles at the straightforward question before he beckons for Yuta to follow him out, “Yeah, for sure. Have you ever tried New York style cheesecake?”
-
One cafe date soon turns into another and the next weekend finds both Jaehyun and Yuta comfortably settled on the plush seats from the same cafe when Yuta brings up the important question, “How come I’ve never seen your boyfriend around?”
Jaehyun is ready to come up with some half-ass excuse, used to doing the that every time the topic is brought up, and yet he finds himself dropping his guard in front of Yuta’s guiltless eyes. He ends up telling Yuta the truth about his lacklustre and sad excuse of a relationship and the nagging urge to end it.
“Why don’t you then?” Yuta asks and Jaehyun realises he doesn’t have anything better than a pathetic, “I’ve gotten used to being with him.”
-
When Wooyoung comes over for the first time, Jaehyun orders salad for them. The older man is very conscious with what goes in his body and has always refused to try Jaehyun’s cooking for that reason. And Jaehyun would really rather not risk anything going wrong if he wants the older man to come back at all. He pays the delivery guy at his door, noting he looks a little spooked by the general silence in the hall.
They finish their food in silence and much later, Wooyoung leaves his side in favour of putting some music on, turning it up to the highest volume. Jaehyun recognises the action as the usual precursor to sex so he fetches the lube and condom from his room out of obligation before joining his boyfriend in the couch, silently noting that the thought doesn’t quite excite him the way it used to. Wooyoung has his hand down Jaehyun’s pants when he suddenly asks,
“You never told me you have a neighbour. Thought this entire floor was empty.” Jaehyun isn’t bothered by the distraction, not when he’s not a hundred percent into it anyway.
“That’s because I didn’t start talking to him until a few weeks ago.”
“He’s real pretty too.” The words make Jaehyun pause and he takes a moment to take in the older man’s words. He probably met Yuta in the elevator going up but the fact that Wooyoung had taken his time to study Yuta’s face (even if he was guilty of doing that too sometimes) doesn’t sit well with him for two reasons. The first one being the obvious and the second, Jaehyun doesn’t quite want to acknowledge yet.
He pries his boyfriend off of him and is about to chase him out the door but he doesn’t get the chance because whatever is haunting his apartment beats him to it when his speakers go up in flames just seconds later.
-
“You’re in a bad mood.” Yuta tells him over his usual cup of coffee at the usual cafe, perched on the seat with his legs folded under him. Jaehyun doesn’t know when they started to be hyperaware of each other but he’s no longer taken aback by Yuta’s observation.
“I broke up with my boyfriend.” Jaehyun sighs and sinks into the gap between his chair and the wall next to it.
“I’d say I’m sorry but your boyfriend is an ass, so…” He cocks an eyebrow at the statement and then remembers Wooyoung’s words from that night.
“Did he, by any chance, make a pass at you?”
“Probably.”
“I’m sorry Yuta.” The other looks genuinely surprised, tilting his head to the side.
“You’re not upset with me?”
“Why would I be? It’s not your fault.” Yuta’s looks at him with something akin to fascination before he turns away to take a sip of his coffee and promptly burns his tongue.
-
It doesn’t take long for Jaehyun to get back on his feet and stop moping over the fact that he’s ended the only relationship he’s ever had after college. It’s for the good anyway, Yuta reassures him many times, it’s not like Wooyoung is a good person and it’s not like he cares if the ensuing radio silence is anything to go by.
So Jaehyun focuses his attention on work and on his other, more worthy relationships. He goes to meet Jungwoo more than a few times a month and joins his coworkers for beers after work. Most importantly, he grows closer to Yuta, learning many interesting things about the latter as he warms up to him. If Jaehyun once thought Yuta as a web of mysteries waiting to be unravelled, he now thinks he’s just a quirky young man with a pretty smile and a love for free things.
He learns that Yuta only ever eats packaged meals from the store because he has employee discount and he doesn’t cook — it suddenly makes sense why he’s so skinny — and how he only does his laundry once every three weeks. “don’t you like, run out of clothes to wear?” Jaehyun asks incredulously to which Yuta replies with a nonchalant, “I just don’t wear one when it happens.”
Yuta only works part time at the convenience store and Jaehyun can’t help but wonder how he survives on a part timer’s pay but then he remembers the dirt cheap rent and his unhealthy eating habits. He’s starting to think Yuta’s preference for vending machine coffee has more to do with need rather than a personal choice. He doesn’t want his new friend to think he’s making him into a charity case but he also can’t stand Yuta’s look of utter devastation every time he comes down to the lobby to find that the machine is once again out of his favourite canned coffee, so Jaehyun subtly asks him out to get coffee more often than he probably should.
While he loves spending time with Yuta and watching the other slowly open up, Jaehyun also recognises that he can’t really afford frequenting the local cafe as much as he does, especially if he’s paying for two people, and Yuta is far from forthcoming in terms of volunteering to pay (it’s not like Jaehyun can blame him). So he comes up with the brilliant idea of getting a discounted coffee machine that’s probably going to give out after fifty uses. It’s not Starbucks but it’s definitely better than the canned coffee Yuta hasn’t seen since the last time the machine was restocked.
He ends up inviting Yuta for breakfast every morning and quickly applauds himself for his decision when the shorter man’s eyes twinkle in delight as soon as the scent of freshly brewed coffee hits him.
“I didn’t know you can cook.” Yuta tells him around a mouthful of poached egg and muffin, his cup of coffee still warm by his plate.
“It’s just eggs.” Jaehyun says to justify the fact that he got up at six in the morning to prepare them breakfast before he has to leave for work. Something he hasn’t done since he left his family home in Busan.
“Well I can’t cook eggs.” Jaehyun wants to think Yuta’s joking but knowing him, that possibility is very real.
“Anyway, yeah, I love cooking. I just don’t get the chance to since I live alone now and there’s really no point cooking for one person.” That and his ex-boyfriend had been persistent about only eating greens. Yuta stares at him like he’s spellbound, as if he’s never met anyone who can actually cook before.
“That’s amazing.” The taller feels his face burn at the unexpected compliment and at the sincerity in his Yuta’s voice.
He’ll later blame it on the lack of sleep when he says the following, “I can make something more elaborate for you to try one of these days.”
“I’d like that.” And Yuta smiles, really smiles with his eyes crinkling and it nearly blinds Jaehyun. He’s never really paid close enough attention on Yuta’s features before but now he sees his straight nose and round eyes and full lips that’s always stained with coffee and Jaehyun promptly thinks he’s maybe, just maybe, a little bit fucked.
-
“I can’t believe you fried your speakers.” Jungwoo mumbles out loud as he inspects the charred cords attached to his favourite, now roasted speakers. The incidents have quieted down in the weeks preceding his break up with Wooyoung and it’s remained quiet too since his speakers spontaneously combusted. Jaehyun is starting to think the ghost in his apartment just doesn’t like visitors, except it doesn’t do anything noteworthy when Yuta’s around. Maybe Yuta is some sort of paranormal repellant.
“Yeah, much like I can’t believe you didn’t bother asking me why I broke up with Wooyoung.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting forever for you to dump his ass, the guy’s a jerk and you can do better.”
“Funny how Yuta said the same thing.”
“Yuta?”
“My neighbour across the hall.” Jaehyun cocks a brow at the reminder that he hardly talks about Yuta to any of his other friends. He thinks it’s the sense of exclusivity he feels every time he’s around Yuta, like the moments between them are something that should be kept only between them.
“Oh.” Jungwoo snorts and gets back to work on the speakers. He sighs for the umpteenth time before leaning back on his hunches. The younger man’s pretty good with his hands, at least that’s what he likes to tell everyone, so Jaehyun doesn’t waste a chance in accosting him to try and salvage what he can with the speakers.
“This isn’t gonna work, it’s completely done for. You’re better off getting a new one.” Jaehyun frowns when Jungwoo bundles up the speakers and throws it into a recycle bag. He supposes he can just save up for a new one but that’s not happening any time soon.
“So I brought you here for nothing?”
“Hey! Not cool man, I tried my best! I don’t get it though, either there’s something seriously wrong with your building’s electrical system or you need to stop buying appliances from thrift stores.”
“Try my apartment’s haunted and whatever’s haunting it is out to get me.”
“Now that you mention it, this place really is very eerie. That Yuta guy too, he’s weird.”
“He’s not, he’s just a little shy.” Jaehyun quickly comes to Yuta’s defence for which Jungwoo gives him a side eye.
“He was literally standing in front of your door just staring when I arrived.”
“He was?” Then Jaehyun remembers it’s a Saturday and remembers the promise he made to Yuta about lunch. He takes a quick glance at his wristwatch, heart sinking, “oh shit.”
-
Jaehyun rushes to Yuta’s after Jungwoo leaves, standing in front of apartment 700 like he’s just committed a grave crime. He might as well have, he tells himself as he pictures Yuta’s disappointed face when he realises Jaehyun has completely forgotten about their lunch date that’s absolutely not a date.
Clearing his throat for no good reason, he pelts a series of subdued knocks on Yuta’s door. When he doesn’t get a response, he does it again, and again until his knuckles have become a little sore. Maybe Yuta doesn’t want to hear from him because he’s upset, maybe he went to get food because Jaehyun isn’t a man of his words; both scenarios leave Jaehyun feeling empty inside. He’s about to give up and head back to his apartment when he decides, without much thought, to give the door handle a twist.
That’s how he ends up walking right into Yuta’s apartment for the first time. He’d been expecting a mess, piles of unwashed clothes or empty takeaway containers, but there are none of that. In fact, there’s not much of anything inside. Aside from a few kitchen appliances and two massive bean bags in the middle of the living room, the apartment is mostly unfurnished. The emptiness feels unnerving, like it hasn’t been lived in for months except the evidence proving otherwise is curled on top of one of the bean bags, under a thick fleece blanket with only a bright orange head poking out.
Jaehyun kneels in front of the sleeping figure and silently observes Yuta’s peaceful face under his wispy ginger bangs, serene under the rays of afternoon sun through the windows. Yuta’s blinds are pulled up all the way, bathing his apartment in sunlight. Jaehyun notes how much warmer it is compared to his own place and wonders why Yuta’s sleeping with a blanket, let alone a fleece one.
He sighs and turns away to take in his surroundings a second time. While brightly lit, there’s something especially unsettling about the place but Jaehyun can’t pinpoint exactly what. Perhaps that’s his guilt rearing for standing Yuta up and for subsequently invading his privacy. Jaehyun’s about to get up to retreat to his own apartment when he sneaks one last glance at Yuta — and finds the other wide awake, big dark eyes staring straight into Jaehyun’s soul like a character straight out of a B-grade horror movie.
Swiftly, he lets out a shrill shriek that has Yuta unable to hold back a chuckle, “Are you breaking into people’s apartments now Jaehyun?”
“You were awake!”
“I am now. You were breathing too loud.” Jaehyun’s face burns at the accusation because that might’ve been true.
“I’m sorry, I invited myself over, your door was open and you weren’t answering and—“
“S’okay…No need to get worked up over it…” Yuta trails off, hiding a big yawn behind the blanket he pulls up to his face, “sorry there’s nothing interesting here.” he continues, stretching his limbs out like a cat right after a nap. Jaehyun follows the movements with his eyes and pretends he’s not flustered by the stretch of skin when his bare legs extend towards the other beanbag. Yuta’s sleeping in just his boxers.
“I should be the one apologising. I completely forgot about lunch.” As if on cue, Yuta’s stomach growls, staining his cheeks red, “Does that mean you’re still up for it? I’ll make something quick.”
Yuta smiles at his promise and lets himself be lured out of his makeshift cocoon. He runs to his bedroom to throw a hoodie on, to Jaehyun’s relief, before he follows the latter to his apartment, still in his boxers. Jaehyun notes that Yuta doesn’t lock up after himself and chalks it up to the fact that they’re the only two people living on that floor anyway.
-
“I saw a friend of yours earlier.” Yuta says after he’s done shovelling Jaehyun’s home made kimchi fried rice to his mouth.
“Ah Jungwoo, he was here to fix my speakers. Unfortunately, it’s beyond repair. It’s a shame, I like listening to music when I cook.” Jaehyun sighs ruefully, missing the look of guilt on Yuta’s face.
-
Yuta, surprisingly, has a territorial streak that manifests in the way he claims Jaehyun’s couch as his personal spot. Whenever he’s not out working the night shift at the convenience store, he’s lounging on Jaehyun’s couch with his favourite fleece blanket, waiting for food. Jaehyun has become so used to his presence that it stopped bothering him even when Yuta would show up shirtless because he ran out of clean clothes again.
On such days Jaehyun would find himself chucking his own clothes at Yuta’s face because the man is clueless to the effect he has on Jaehyun and he really deserves a smack in the face for that, albeit by a neatly pressed cotton t-shirt.
“Thank you.” Yuta says softly when Jaehyun calls him for dinner, serving a homemade plate of japchae to the other. His brown eyes look a bit pale under the lighting and Jaehyun is barely able to stifle the sudden compulsion to hold his hand.
-
It’s one of those lazy Sunday evenings with the rain pouring heavily outside when Yuta comes over with a DVD of some 1990s movie Jaehyun has never heard of only to be disappointed that Jaehyun doesn’t in fact own a DVD player. Jaehyun feels bad so he grabs his work laptop and logs into Jungwoo’s Netflix account, letting Yuta choose a movie while he retreats to the bathroom.
He’s just about done with his business when he hears a series of rapid knocks on his front door from the bathroom. Jaehyun tries to recall if he’s expecting anyone but comes to a blank. That’s when the knocks stop altogether and a muted thud follows it. It sounds, to Jaehyun, like a body just hit the floor and it makes his blood run cold. It’s so jarring that Jaehyun doesn’t waste time between washing his hands and flying out the door, panic coursing through his veins. He’s never wished so hard for this to be just another incident with the resident ghost but he knows it’s not judging from the voices that comes through as soon as he reaches the living room.
Yuta is flat on his back on the floor, expression unreadable as a noticeably drunk Wooyoung pins him by the throat. Wooyoung is screaming something indiscernible but Jaehyun doesn’t hear him over the worry that Yuta’s unable to breath, or the fact that Wooyoung is so much bigger than the other and can easily crush him, inebriated or not.
“Hyung!” He screams, if only to take the older’s attention off Yuta. That does help because he lets up at the sight of Jaehyun, leaving a fairly unresponsive Yuta on the floor. Jaehyun’s heart drums against his chest at the sight and hopes Wooyoung hadn’t accidentally knocked the smaller man out but he doesn’t get the chance to check because Wooyoung is now cornering him against the wall.
“You gave me so much shit for checking him out when you’ve been fucking him all along!” The mean grits and Jaehyun recoils at the stench of alcohol.
“You know very well that’s not the only reason I left you.” Jaehyun responds as calmly as he can manage while sneaking glances over the taller man’s shoulder. His breath stops when he realises he can’t see Yuta on the floor anymore, “and I never cheated on you.” He finishes but doesn’t deny the fact that he does find Yuta attractive because he’s hoping that’s where they’re going anyway with the constant hanging out and breakfast dates, unless this incident permanently drives Yuta away.
“You lying piece of—“ and then Wooyoung promptly drops to the floor in a heap, unconscious. Jaehyun gapes and hopes his ex isn’t dead because the last thing he wants right now is jail time over a dead, shitty ex boyfriend. He doesn’t have time to mull over his new predicament however because Yuta is standing in front of him now, red marks on his neck from Wooyoung’s unprompted attack and a look of absolute disgust on his face.
“I told you he’s an ass.” His voice is hoarse and he has his palm pressed against his temple. He looks unsteady on his feet, like he’s about to pass out himself.
“Yuta...what...” Jaehyun surveys the ginger haired man in front of him and notes he’s not carrying anything he could’ve used on Wooyoung, and he also hadn’t heard anything that could suggest Wooyoung had been hit.
Then Wooyoung stirs awake, which startles Jaehyun so much he would’ve jumped back if not for the wall behind him. The older man picks himself up from the floor, dazed like he’s been drugged. He takes a brief look at Jaehyun and then at Yuta — this time Jaehyun doesn’t miss Yuta’s hardened gaze — before he drags himself back to the still open door. These are the times Jaehyun’s extremely thankful that Yuta’s his only neighbour because he could’ve gotten in much worse trouble with all that noise and banging.
“Excuse me.” The older man says flatly and Jaehyun watches him close the door behind him like he hadn’t just stormed his apartment and tried to kill his neighbour.
Jaehyun is understandably confused. As soon as the door clicks shut, he tears his eyes from it and turns to Yuta with questions at the tip of his tongue, but then Yuta looks up at him with vertical slit pupils enveloped in golden orbs. Well, Jaehyun thinks, those are some unnatural looking eyes. When did Yuta get the chance to put on contacts anyway?
Then the man in question blinks and his eyes are dark brown again and he starts swaying on his feet. Jaehyun quickly comes to his rescue, holding onto his waist to steady him but he soon turns into a deadweight and Jaehyun very nearly topples in result. He manages to drag them both to the couch that’s still warm from Yuta lying on it, carefully depositing the smaller man on it. It’s just Jaehyun’s luck that two people get knocked unconscious in his apartment all within a span of ten minutes, but then again it shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore, he has been living with some kind of poltergeist for six months after all. He honestly hopes the said poltergeist isn’t capable of possession.
It’s only after he’s sure that Yuta’s still breathing and he’s not unreasonably hurt that Jaehyun really allows himself to think about what happened. He’s already convinced himself that he imagined the golden eyes when he feels something twitch against the hand he has on Yuta’s lower back. His t-shirt is big enough to conceal it but there’s a noticeable lump that isn’t there before. Jaehyun curses his luck a second time because he knows, as he lifts the shirt out of the way, that he’s not going to like whatever he’ll see under there.
Sure enough, a single, fluffy, white tipped, red tail swings out unprompted.
—
“So ummm...what did you actually do to Wooyoung?” Jaehyun asks after Yuta stirs awake from his impromptu nap, still looking out of it.
“I wiped his memory of tonight and suggested that he get over you.” Yuta says in one breath, head pillowed on his elbow. He looks so weak that Jaehyun has to bite back the urge to gather him close, “are you angry at me?” His voice wavers at the end and his expression so vulnerable that it grips Jaehyun’s heart with sorrow.
“No! Of course not!” Jaehyun nearly screams, aghast at the suggestion, “I can’t be angry with you, ever!” He finds he means every word.
“Even if I tell you I’m the one who’s been haunting your apartment?”
“Not even if you tell me- wait, what?”
“I’m the one who’s been moving your stuff around, making things go haywire.” Yuta admits pitifully, remorse clear in his eyes. They’re bright yellow again but his pupils look normal.
“You, you- it was you all along?”
“I’m sorry...” Yuta buries his face in the crook of his elbow in shame.
“Is that why it’s been quiet since I started taking you out on coffee dates?”
“Those are dates?” The smaller man swiftly unburies his face, eyes hopeful.
“Well yeah, I wouldn’t be spending that much money and time on someone I didn’t like like that.”
“And now?” Jaehyun tilts his head in confusion before Yuta clarifies, “do you still want to take me out on a date now?”
“Well other than how much toothpaste you’d wasted in my sink, I see no reason why my feelings would change.” The taller sees the ghost of smile on Yuta’s face. He still looks unsure, like he thinks Jaehyun’s going to turn around and take his words back so he forcefully takes Yuta’s hand away from where it’s clenched around the hem of his shirt, prying his fingers loose. He holds his hand for a good minute before he breathes out softly,
“I think I would still like you in any form. That’s if, you’d let me see through your disguise.”
And Yuta does just that, letting his magic ebb away in rivulets.
-
Nothing changes between them following the groundbreaking discovery that Jaehyun’s apartment is not in fact haunted, and that everything that’s happened up to now had been the work of a fledgling kitsune hellbent on driving the rent down.
“So this was all about money?” Jaehyun asks incredulously.
“Well of course it is. Do you think I get paid enough at the store? I don’t wanna go homeless you know.”
“But you have so much money to spend on your canned coffee.”
“What do you mean? I’ve rigged the machine, that’s why I only ever get my coffee from there.”
A particular memory comes up and Jaehyun asks before he can help himself, “Then when I saw you staring at some snacks at the store?”
“I was going to compel the cashier to give it for free but then you walked in.” Now Jaehyun feels bad about having approached him then, only now realising he’d been the only thing standing between Yuta and a bag of cheese puffs that night.
“You should’ve compelled me then too.”
“But that’s the thing, I can’t.”
-
Yuta’s real form doesn’t look all that different from his usual disguise. He’s still ginger (but now Jaehyun knows it’s natural) but his hair is slightly longer, and he remains the same height. The only thing that’s really different are the eyes, his three swishy tails and his pointy little canines. He now knows Yuta’s magic doesn’t work on him for some reason so he knows the pull he feels towards the other doesn’t have anything to do with fox enchantment.
In his company, he encourages Yuta to let his guard down, now knowing the toll his magic takes on his body, which explains his extended naps. It’s worse for when he tries to manipulate people, Yuta explains, because anything that has to do with bending wills take more work than throwing a shoe across the room with telekinesis. Jaehyun finds he doesn’t mind the inhumane qualities so much, not when Yuta’s more open with him, even going as far as willingly reaching out for Jaehyun on stormy nights because he apparently hates rain with passion.
Jaehyun knows they’re heading in the right direction when he opens his door to Yuta cradling two medium sized speakers in his arms. They look and smell new and Yuta confirms it when Jaehyun plugs them into the socket and plays the first song he’s played after his old speakers combusted. He’s taking in the crisp, high quality sound from the clearly expensive speakers when it hits him.
“How did you get this?”
“I…borrowed it. From the store.”
“Yuta, you…you stole it…”
“I didn’t leave a trace though, I even got rid of the box.” Yuta’s hand flail, defensive, and Jaehyun quickly takes one in his before it accidentally hits him in the face.
“Don’t do that Yuta, not for me. In fact, don’t do that at all. If you need anything, tell me. Thieving is not good.”
Yuta’s face turns sour, “I’m literally a demon fox, it’s my nature to steal.”
“No it’s not. It’s your nature to love warmth and company and be adorable.” The kitsune’s expression mellows at once and he squeezes Jaehyun’s hand in response.
“I’m sorry for your old speakers. I didn’t mean to do that but I just couldn’t stand your ex.” Jaehyun smirks at the confirmation of Yuta’s territorial nature. He wants nothing more than to be as close as possible to the other so he finally asks what he’s been dying to ask since he first noticed Yuta’s star-filled eyes and dazzling smile.
“Can I kiss you?” The Kitsuke doesn’t answer, instead he surges forward, lips fitting into Jaehyun’s in a clumsy kiss. Jaehyun’s heart flutters at the first touch between their tongues and the little moan Yuta lets out when he deepens the kiss.
“Can we keep doing this?” Yuta asks, breathless, and Jaehyun thinks he’s going to dislocate something from how fast he pulls the smaller man back into his arms,
“Yes, yes please.”
-
“Aren’t kitsune supposed to take on…female forms?” Jaehyun asks out of the blue, sitting casually on the sole bench in the laundry room while watching Yuta load his dirty clothes into the machine. If not for his badgering, he’s sure Yuta’s going to end up with no clean clothes for an entire week again. There’s no one else in the room so Jaehyun doesn’t have to be cautious with his words.
“That’s a very Korean stereotype, Jaehyun.” Yuta actually glares at him for the comment and continues glaring at him until Jaehyun apologises for the apparent offence. When Yuta’s calm again and he’s no longer fighting with the clothes that became tangled together in the washer, he adds in a less clipped tone,
“I actually took on a female form once, before I met the family that took me in.” He sighs softly like he’s recalling fond memories, “The Nakamotos…they always wanted a son but had only two girls.”
Jaehyun suddenly feels like he’s stepping into a landmine so he presses his lips together while Yuta continues in a somber voice, “Before I met them, I used to sleep wherever. that’s why I hate the rain, because trees don’t offer much shelter.” Jaehyun knows this story is from at least a hundred years ago, because Yuta has mentioned his age to him once or twice and he knows Yuta came to Korea on his own twenty years ago. His heart aches at the thought of a young, clueless Yuta drenched to his bones and forced to fend for himself with no place to call home.
“Do you still talk to them?” He wraps an arm around Yuta’s waist, forcing the other onto his lap. He knows Yuta loves the gesture, it makes him feel safe and it’s a reminder that he’s no longer alone.
“Yeah of course. Haruna’s and Momoka’s great grandchildren are really cool people. They buy me all kinds of gifts when I visit, and one of them looks amazingly like Sayuri.”
Jaehyun’s arms tighten around his boyfriend, “So…Nakamoto Yuta, huh?”
-
They experience the last rainfall of the season in mid-September and Jaehyun drags a half-asleep, scantily dressed Yuta to the lobby where the roar of the downpour masks the sound of traffic. Yuta is glaring at him but Jaehyun can’t take him seriously when his neck is littered with hickeys, still angry red from their recent activities.
“Jae…” He says in warning but Jaehyun can’t hear him over the sound of rainwater gurgling down the storm drains. He runs under the downpour, and is drenched in a second, hair plastered to his forehead and teeth chattering from the cold.
“Come back here! You’re gonna catch a cold!” Yuta calls out a little louder, extending his hand barely past the building entrance.
“You come here!” Jaehyun screams right back, arms outstretched towards Yuta. He sees the hesitation slowly morph into courage and then Yuta’s taking his first step into the rain. Immediately he’s pelted by the almond sized droplets and Jaehyun sees him flinch from the cold and the unfamiliar sensations. Then he jumps into Jaehyun’s arms, shivering but with laughter on his lips.
“You’re crazy!” He says against Jaehyun’s neck, his breath fogging up. Jaehyun spins him around, drawing more melodious laughter out of him.
“Only for you.” Jaehyun whispers back, placing a well meaning kiss under Yuta’s ear. The rainwater weighs down his clothes but he’s never felt lighter, more carefree than he did at that moment, with Yuta’s a comfortable presence in his arms, “always for you.”
-
On Jaehyun’s second year in Seoul, he and Yuta move in together to a better, less decrepit looking apartment complex in the heart of Daehakno. It isn’t exactly the picture perfect neighbourhood Jaehyun’s been hoping for but there’s hardly any room for complaints when he has Yuta in the same bed, wearing his clothes and sharing the same shampoo as him. Not when Jaehyun wakes up to the smell of coffee brewing and the sight of bright, ginger hair every morning since.