Chapter Text
Jaehyun is a matchmaker, or so he says.
He comes from a long line of tapestry-woven love counselors from back in the days of the emperors. His maternal ancestors were the ones who created great harmonies and prevented wars and spouse-stealing, and that was some Pretty Metal Shit, as Jaehyun proclaimed, though Hun is starting to wish his ancestors were world-famous yoga teachers or divinely-blessed lute players because his arms are getting tired.
"The waitress is there.... I think they're getting dessert! This is great, Hun!"
Hun makes a sound that should never come out of a human, and Jaehyun looks at him in concern wondering if he's broken (which would be a reasonable assumption considering he's the lesser-known brother of Snap, Crackle, Pop: 'ow, my back, jesus fucking christ'), but seeing as he hasn't collapsed into a pile of pain, turns back to refocus his binoculars.
It's tough at this level of magnification.
And while looking over a fence.
And while using one's housemate as a personal stepping stool.
It doesn't make much sense to him, why eavesdropping on two practical strangers would be a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday afternoon, but Jaehyun is a bull turned loose in the china shop of love and Hun is the sorry sod who's been handed a lasso and told 'good luck'. This has to be at least the fifth friend of a friend of a friend that Jaehyun has taken a shine to and now feels the unstoppable urge to find the perfect match for.
Which he did when they went out for breakfast at that cute little pastel soda shop that, thankfully, serves diabetes-inducing french toast capable of curing Jaehyun’s hangover from last night.
Er, that morning.
The hangover was a last-minute gift from Kwon Kwangjin's 'Holy shit, I'm getting married' party; a match Jaehyun had also made and felt extremely proud of. Come to think of it, most of the couples Jaehyun has put together have, in some way, connected back to Kwangjin, including this fellow who Hun can see in between the slots of the fence when he's facing the right angle.
"What did they order?" He grunts, transferring both his and Jaehyun's weight onto his other leg while regaining his grip on the knees dangerously close to his glasses. Jaehyun's leg reflexively kicks out and it makes a loud thwack sound against the fence. Hun briefly wonders if anyone has heard it, and if an angry home or business owner appears threatening to murder them with a skillet, how he'll possibly explain this.
"Not sure yet.... wait a minute...." Jaehyun leans forward and almost sends them both careening into the fence, but he pushes them back off with the same ease one would have when opening the front door or locking the car behind them. "Oh my god! I think they're gonna share!"
That doesn't answer the question, but Hun is trying to do that dissociation backseat driving thing so he can stand there for longer. His shoulders are getting tired and he's going to be sore when he goes to the gym tomorrow morning, which means his back is going to explode the second he sits at his desk. But if the kiddos are getting dessert now, that means they'll be done in 15, maybe 20 minutes tops. Apparently this restaurant closes in 30, if the loud announcement from a waitress in a white shirt and black apron is anything to go by, which means that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it is a long tunnel. Words describing how cute the not-couple is rush out of Jaehyun's mouth like a broken fire hydrant in summer, and Hun feels himself reaching the euphoria stage of pain. It's there that he stays until Jaehyun leans over and throws them off balance. forcing Hun to move like the cone in a game of human ice cream catch.
“Mission complete!”
"Is it over? How did it go?"
Jaehyun grabs onto the fence and pulls himself up off of Hun's shoulders, then extends until he's only a few feet off the ground, dropping the rest.
"They hugged! I think it's gonna work out!" he picks the binoculars up and brushes them off like an artifact. "Another successful mission. Jaehyun and Hun do it again!"
Hun doesn't know why Jaehyun says it's their success when Jaehyun's the one invested and Hun is the one who's been dragged along as damage control, but it's a job well done, and it's time to go home.
++
Hun likes routine. There's something reassuring about waking up at the same time, going to the same gym, driving to the same building, sitting at the same desk. Not much changes in the world of accounting, which isn't a bad thing even if Jaehyun has it bolded and underlined on his list of creative forms of torture alongside 'bills' and 'going to the DMV'. But it's the reason that Hun can live the way that he does.
The only thing that would make his life more perfect is having a partner. He has the house and the picket fence- if he could skip over the turmoil of dating and go right to the domestic bliss portion, it would be a dream come true. Jaehyun says it's ludicrous how someone as smart and domestic and good at making stir fry as Hun doesn't have a match yet, but he has faith that one day he'll find Hun's Person, even if finding that person has taken four years and counting. It's a matter of do or die, he says, and Hun is quite certain this is hyperbole, but he lets Jaehyun get it out of his system while they get dinner.
It's in the middle of his second plate of tandoori that Jaehyun gives him The Look, and Hun immediately regrets being born.
"So you remember how that one time we stopped by the fancy bakery? When that couple who really wanted an oceanside wedding asked me to find someone to make their cake and we had to go check up on it and like everything was fine but that's not the point- one of my buddies says he found a guy, sweet as can be, and he came to me for advice."
Oh no. That was a mistake. A wonderfully horrible mistake. Jaehyun is going to make sure this ship sails no matter what, and that would be fine if it didn't mean Hun didn't have to get involved by proxy. Hun is the human equivalent of a 'Warning! Danger!' sign. One that can't stop Jaehyun because he's Jared, 19, can't read.
"So obviously I said ‘yes’ because Donghun is my son and a precious bean and the tit to my tat," Jaehyun says, and Hun furrows his brow as he calculates how many years older Donghun is, "so here's my plan."
And Jaehyun proceeds to lay out all of the steps to his dastardly plan of second-hand wooing this mystery man of Donghun's and Hun eats the rest of his chicken in mild panic and concern, after which Jaehyun asks if he'll help, and Hun must have been possessed because he hears himself say 'yes'.
Jaehyun fist pumps and does a quiet 'woohoo!' in post-victory celebration. Hun sighs as he pays the bill.
++
"This is a terrible idea. I don't know why I let you talk me into these things."
'These things' refer to Jaehyun wrangling him into helping with his obsessive need to set up dates between friends in his orbit that he just knows will hit it off while 'terrible idea' refers to his current plan of sending Donghun over to Guns n' Roses- a poorly-chosen name for an exceptional flower shop- and then right over to woo the man into accepting marriage on the spot.
"It's basically a bakery au! What could go wrong?"
Everything , Hun thinks, but instead he shakes his head and asks for the 4,000,000th time if Jaehyun is absolutely sure about this, hoping that he'll realize that stories are stories and real life is real life, which he doesn’t as he barrels right past with the utmost enthusiasm. Jaehyun closes the passenger side door to the van and buckles himself in. They're on the way to the city to pick up some more inserts for Jaehyun's rapidly-filling appointment book and to check out Pantone's new color palettes for the upcoming season, and maybe they'll stop by that one art supply depot and buy a few extra canvasses for Hun to keep in the closet in the spare bedroom. Maybe.
Jaehyun still has no idea what this mystery man's name is, and that's ok because it doesn't matter in the game of love, and Jaehyun is a world-class player. He's frantically texting as they merge onto the highway and he gives Donghun an impassioned peptalk right before he goes into the cafe where his dream boy works, one which lasts long enough for Hun to parallel park the car just a few blocks from Rooftop Papers and Threads. Jaehyun gives one last 'good luck!' and hangs up the phone, taking in a big breath to replenish the oxygen he'd expended during his stream of motivation and letting it out in one stress-relieving breath.
"What's the verdict?" Hun asks, turning off the engine.
"Can’t be certain. I’ve never met the guy… What if it doesn't go well?"
"Then it wasn't meant to be, and you try again." he shrugs, "but I'm sure it'll be fine. It's out of your hands now."
Jaehyun's gaze unfocuses from the dust particles on the dashboard. When he comes back, it's with a nod and a smile.
"We'll just have to wait and see!"
++
Jaehyun is a wedding planner, which is a highly appropriate profession for someone as passionate and certain about love as he is. Jaehyun talks about love like it's a childhood friend he hasn't seen in years. One whom he built pillow forts with so they had the perfect place to watch movies late into the night. One who took him on adventures and showed him an old treehouse. Jaehyun loves treehouses.
Jaehyun also loves touching every single goddamn piece of soft-looking fabric in the entire goddamn craft store, which means that this trip which Hun predicted would take no more than two hours is looking more like it's going to take fifteen years, and that means he's going to miss several episodes and probably the finale and ten year reunion of the show he wanted to watch that afternoon. A tragedy.
"Hun! Come and touch this!"
Hun touches something that feels like the equivalent of a cloud; like he might sink into it and end up in another dimension if he were to press too hard.
"It's soft." He states, because it is, and Jaehyun rolls his eyes and goes 'oooh!' and wanders to the other side of the aisle like a wool sherpa-seeking missile. He calls Hun over to what must be the millionth piece of fabric he's touched today, and Hun desperately hopes that none of the elderly ladies who have commented on what precious young men they are have any fabric-communicable diseases.
It takes Hun a five-minute debate to convince Jaehyun that they do not need another throw blanket and for Jaehyun to agree. He already has one neatly folded in the room he's converted into his office that he hasn't used as a cape yet, and suddenly Jaehyun is proclaiming that he must, at all costs, blanket-cape himself the second he gets home.
"Yeah, yeah..." Hun mumbles, "whatever you say, Superman."
And the teenager ringing up the small mountain of pens, binder inserts, stickers, and markers laughs; and the old ladies who commented on what precious young men they are laugh, and the random store attendant who greeted them on the way in and then did absolutely fuck all in the means of guiding them through the stationery labyrinth laughs, and Hun isn't so sure what's so funny but Jaehyun is smiling so he assumes it's just another one of those bits of humor he doesn't quite get and gives a small wave as they exit.
++
The short version is that Hun paints his best when he's upset. His 'art' is hanging in the mansions of a few people even odder than Jaehyun. It's how he was able to afford the two-story yellow house on the cul de sac and the cat and the lawn and the van at the ripe age of 26.
Jaehyun eyes him carefully as they approach and then walk right past the art supply depot. He doesn't say anything, just keeps filling the silence between words with talk of what venues he wants to visit and how some of the catering places changed their options so he's going to have to schedule his visits before he can schedule the open house.
"Go on Wednesday." Hun answers. A flip through the mental calendar reveals little colored squares representing all of the things Jaehyun has told him about and he’s quietly stored. "They have the fewest number of customers that day, and you only have the one consultation in the morning."
"That's a good idea. You're so smart!" Jaehyun's hands flutter between smooth gesticulation and touching Hun's shoulder to tell him that no cars are coming as they travel further and further away from the place where all of the giant canvases that he has no use for are and towards a circular hub in the street where the flagship skincare store is.
Hun lets himself be used as a foundation-matching guinea pig, and he finds he likes that much more than thinking about all the painting he isn't doing.
++
Jaehyun gets the victory call in the middle of dinner, which is also where Donghun just came from after taking Jaehyun's advice to ask his human question mark out, to which Chan agreed. Hun quietly eats his stew as Jaehyun goes through four stages of shock: 'oh no', 'OH NO', 'OH FUCK', and 'I'M FUCKED' while the voice on the other end makes some excited noises that sound like 'second date' and 'likes me too', and Jaehyun gives him a ‘hahah that’s great’ laugh while his face looks like a kid who's just seen what's on those tapes their parents told them to never touch.
"Isn't Chan that guy-" Hun muses.
"The one who shared the dessert with Junhee, yeah."
“But doesn’t he-”
“Junhee owns Guns n’ Roses, yes he does.”
Hun whistles, stabbing a potato and popping it in his mouth. "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know yet. I'll... uh.... I'll figure something out."
Jaehyun's brow stays furrowed throughout the rest of their quiet dinner and as he disappears into his office while Hun watches a recording on the big screen. Maybe now Jaehyun will realize that love isn't something to be meddled with. That it should happen by chance, not by force. Of course this argument never works because Jaehyun insists that all he's doing is creating opportunities and the survival of the relationship is dependent on the open communication and mutual trust of the parties involved, but it doesn't hurt to hope.
But of course he's wrong, because Jaehyun is a Chaos Cupid, and Hun is the demigod running after him to see if that shriek is because someone is trying to burgle the house or because Jaehyun, for better or for worse, has come up with a ‘foolproof’ plan. Hun collides with four pieces of furniture before he reaches the office where Jaehyun is scribbling in a notebook like a mad scientist on the verge of a breakthrough.
"I've got it!" he beams, a wide grin reflecting the light of the moon.
"Got what ?"
"We'll just put the three of them together!"
++
"It’s definitely going to work.” He says, and Hun knows better than to doubt him when it comes to romance. Jaehyun is highly invested in the happiness of the people he matches and the ones he helps after they've found their matches. 'Even if it isn't forever, I want them to have today.' he said, and Hun had commented that that was a very noble thing to do. Jaehyun had chuckled at that possibly because he had manners or maybe because he found Hun so peculiar.
"You can't tinker in other people's lives!"
"I'm not gonna decide for them, it's just... a tiny push in the right direction."
"It's a mid-sized shove down the stairs." Hun stresses. It's been like this for the past two hours, ever since Jaehyun showed up outside his office in his candy pink punch buggy and announced that they were going out to dinner. He always does this whenever there's something wildly chaotic about to happen, and Hun always looks out the window and thanks the gods that Seunghyub runs hot and thus keeps the thermostat set to 'Cryogenics Lab', which is Too Goddamn Cold for Jaehyun. Anyone who's worked in that complex is vaguely aware of who he is, and they all find him so amusing that they smile with obvious fondness at the eccentric young man waving with both arms as the accountant exits the revolving door.
"Technicalities! What's the harm in putting them in a room together and seeing what happens? All we need to do is get Donghun and Junhee to fall in love with one another and then introduce the idea of polyamory and then whabam !" Jaehyun does a whiplash motion with his fork. They're still in a very public restaurant right next to one of those doors that slides open when the weather is like today's. The couple next to them is going to have a lot to talk about when they get back into their car. "True love! Aaaaaaaand maybe they'll sleep together, who knows."
Jaehyun rushes out the last words as though it would prevent Hun from hearing them. The woman next to them chokes on her salmon.
Hun facepalms.
++
They pick up discussion the next afternoon and into the evening over dinner, aka Hun makes dinner and Jaehyun talks while being of absolutely no help, and then Hun picks out the pitfalls in his logic between bites. There are a lot of those, but luckily Jaehyun's got time, and Hun doesn't have to work until Monday. They go through several possibilities and Hun reminds him that kidnapping is illegal, seven minutes in heaven is immoral, and becoming a real-life Cupid is impossible.
"Have some imagination!"
"Do you actually want these kids to be together or do you just enjoy speculation?"
Jaehyun throws up his hands, hoping the gods of happiness and rainbows and sunshine will show him the path to success. “We have to do something !”
"Formulating functional Cupid's arrows would require unreal amounts of chemistry. It would take trial and error and error and error and stabbing people . If you really want to match them, I'd suggest you pick something with a higher probability of success. Arrows are out. No, scrap that- arrows were never in in the first place. Try something like alcohol to make them admit their own feelings before you try throwing these varsity topics at them."
Instantly, Jaehyun lights up like Hun has just just replaced a faulty resistor in his facial circuit.
"That's a great idea! I knew I could trust you!”
Jaehyun loads the dishwasher while he's on the phone asking if Junhee wants to come out for drinks like, now, and tells him to be ready and to look cute in 20 minutes, which Junhee argues is not enough time to look cute and Jaehyun yells 'OK I'LL SEE YOU SOON I LOVE YOU BYE!!!' and hangs up. Several loud thud s come from the other side of the wall as Jaehyun knocks things over and apologizes to them like they were people. Five minutes and he's out the door.
"Keys? Wallet? Phone?" Hun asks from the seat he hasn't budged from. Jaehyun slaps his pockets to make sure he has everything and does a double thumbs up.
"Don't miss me too much while I'm gone!" He grins, and Hun quietly finishes his plate, trying to remember what life was like before he met Jaehyun all those years ago.
++
Hun is a good friend, Jaehyun says, even if he does dog-ear his books and eats` yellow starbursts.
The next two hours are spent hunched over a toilet, drinking Gatorade, and coming up with date ideas, not necessarily in that order and with some repeats. The only thing keeping Jaehyun going at this point is the scheme to have everyone kiss kiss fall in love and the fact that he already said 'yes' to being Kwangjin's best man at the wedding, which means he has to survive until at least October. Hun tells him it’s a bad idea to matchmake while hungover and Hun is right, so Jaehyun presses ‘send’ and waits for Junhee to ask what time he wants to meet for post-night out brunch.
Hun drives him to the cafe and orders Jaehyun a monstrosity called ‘Dentist’s Nightmare’. Jaehyun likes things that are sweet. One time, Hun got him a whole tub of orange icing and he loved it so much he made himself sick. He’s still standing at the counter when the bell rings to announce Junhee’s arrival.
And like fortune’s favor, Donghun exits the kitchen and enters the scene.
++
Jaehyun has friends, Friends, and Hun.
He doesn't trust strangers to come over, but he trusts his Friends and they have what Hun assumes to be a splendid time engaging in an activity he doesn't feel strongly about either way.
Hun doesn't have anywhere else to go so he leaves a window open for Romang and takes Jaehyun’s dog, Barf (short for 'Barfolomew', because Jaehyun has a special place in his heart for Mel Brooks movies and no one at the shelter had the heart to stop him) out for a long walk. If he isn't done by then, Hun will tiptoe to the coffee table and grab a book off the stack.
But sometimes Barf starts barking in an act of defiance and Romang, being the little queen she is, finds this to be the best time to knock all of the fixtures off Hun's desk and Hun accidentally runs into every piece of furniture he owns trying to get them to be quiet and the noise in the other room stops and Hun kind of wants to jump into a hole and cringe for the rest of forever.
But today isn't one of those days. Today he's patiently waiting on the porch with a book in hand, having a grand old time with Neil Gaiman and a mug of apple cider.
"Hun, ready to go?!" Jaehyun yells, because subtly is a glass, and Jaehyun is an opera singer trying to make a point.
A very confused Friend pokes their head out just enough to see him and Hun waves because it is polite. Jaehyun says the appropriate number of sentences to construct a Friendly formality before he sees them out.
"Where are we going?"
"I dunno. Ramen?"
That's how they end up at their usual place with bowls of miso and tonkatsu, discussing the matches Jaehyun sees on his chaotic horizon. Hun asks about DongJunChan, as it'd been abbreviated. They're still waiting to hear the final verdict, but Jaehyun's phone hasn't stopped buzzing for the last 20 minutes, so either all the boats are afloat or everything is on fire. Jaehyun scans the popups and flips it back over.
"It's looking good!" He says.
They grab bubble tea before heading back to the house, which is where Jaehyun finds one of his Friend’s- a different Friend’s- shirts. He shrugs and sends a text and that’s the end of it. Hun hasn't told anyone about their weird thing where Jaehyun entertains company and then comes right back to Hun without fail, but he has enough wits about him to suspect their relationship isn't the most normal, so instead he keeps his mouth shut and enjoys the company of his friendly neighborhood matchmaker.
++
Today, 2:45pm
Jae: Literally they r so dramatic
Hun: Really? That's a lot, coming from you
Jae: Im not even kidding, jst burn my eyes
The typing bubbles appear for ten seconds straight, meaning an entire recounting of how this couple came together, the details of the wedding, and the creative adjectives used to describe his immense boredom are coming.
Jae: I swear!!!
Jae: The grooms mom keeps looking at me all weird like I don't know what I did to make her so angry like lady all I did was find ur son the love of his life??????
The next few blocks are emojis sprinkles with text shoved between. Hun used emojis only when he couldn't find the correct word to express how disappointed he was. Jaehyun used them like he was trying to win a game of Pictionary. Hun is very, very bad at this game.
Jaehyun sends him a voice recording whispering how once this is done, he's out. Gone. Toodles. Fuck this. He's got plans to set up one of the guys from Weishen V Fine Foods-that tall puppy, Lucas- with one of his friends who he met through a few other friends and absorbed into his own friend group before that relationship took a one-way trip to Nope Town. Hun can hear Jaehyun's perfectly manicured fingernails tapping against the screen as he writes a note in his phone to summon one of the catering boys so they can keep an eye on the date he's got brewing. The plan so far involves them going out to a musical and maybe sneaking him and Hun in to observe but that's tentative.
It's then that Hun becomes aware of just how long he was staring at his phone, and that there's a figure standing off to the side watching him.
"Who’s that?" Hwesung asks. Hun pulls on his mask of professionalism in 0.05 seconds flat.
"Just Jaehyun." he states, and Hwesung smiles like he's just been clued in to the answer to a cosmic joke, one that no one's relayed to Hun yet. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing..." Hwesung doesn’t mean nothing, he just means it’s nothing he cares to share. Hun’s eyes narrow in suspicion, but quickly focuses on the manilla folders Hwesung is casually sliding onto his desk as though that would prevent Hun from seeing them. It doesn’t. And Hun already has enough work to do, thank you very much.
But Hwesung is already waving down their boss, Seunghyub, and Hun just sighs and calculates the hours until he can go home and ask Jaehyun if he had to engage in a deadly joust with the groom's mother.
++
Jaehyun once used his left leg to beat a man over the head. There's a lot more to the story, but the sentence begets a unified head turn reminiscent of cats watching a ping pong match, and that makes it worth the trek to Kwangjin's annual halloween party.
Hun is horribly socially inept, and when people come up to him without his social liferaft to guide him, he panics. The costumes are a way to sort of camouflage without putting in too much effort while having a go-to smalltalk topic to talk about. The explanation of his costume inevitably circles back to Jaehyun, who is a wealth of conversation in and of himself. Last year they went as Gabriel and Castiel and the year before that, Jaehyun painted skull makeup on him so they could be Harley and Diablo. Four days ago, Hun (short-sightedly) allowed Jaehyun to bleach his hair, dye it white, and curl it a little so they could be Crowley and Aziraphale. Sometimes he'll see a pair of snake eyes peering over the frames of sunglasses accompanied by a character-consistent smirk, and Hun will reflexively straighten his jacket like a bird ruffling its feathers, and it'll put a smile on the halloween demon's face.
He ends up in a remote corner talking to a girl who looks like she just got out of work. Her name tag says 'Pam' but that's not her name, it's just part of her costume, and Hun is taken on a long explanation of the plot of The Office, a show he decides he probably will not see because that genre is one he's ambivalent towards. They talk about some other shows too and at the end of the night, the girl whose name isn't Pam gives him her phone number and says something about maybe hanging out some time, to which Hun nods and says ok. The party is wrapping up and Jaehyun is doing his annual send-Kwangjin-to-an-early-grave hug which means he's going to come and get Hun within the next forty seconds. Hun downs the last of his cranberry juice and lets himself be dragged over to the small group of stragglers.
"You never got a chance to meet Hun! He's like my soulmate, my knight in shining armor, literally the best. Hun, this is Rowoon!"
Rowoon is tall and friendly-looking. This may be because he's dressed as Clifford the Big Red Dog.
"Nice to meet you, Hun! Are you and Jae...?" He trails. Jaehyun jumps forward as though trying to physically pick up the words and shove them back into Rowoon’s mouth similar to the way the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz tried to hide behind the curtain after being spotted. Hun makes a note in his head that he has to put in a slip for 'The Wiz' in their 'What are we watching tonight' fishbowl.
"Oh my god, no- he's my housemate, remember? The one I told you about?"
Rowoon seems to not remember being told about this as he alternates between looking at Hun like he's a ghost and looking at Jaehyun like he didn't know it was possible for two men to live together and be friends. It is somewhere in the middle of these question marks that Kwangjin insists that they should have another get-together before things get too cold, to which they all agree. It takes 12 more promises and 25 declarations of love for them to be out the door, out in the driveway, and traipsing through the heavily-decorated front yard to their vehicle.
"I made a friend." Hun says, pulling out the scrap of paper with 'call me!' written next to a big smiley face. His van bumbles along the grass until it clamors onto the road.
"Oh my God, Hun!" Jaehyun laughs, "She likes you! She wants to go on a date with you!"
"Likes? Me ? What a terrible mistake." He deadpans, and the laughter gets louder and louder as they recount the night until eventually the remaining alcohol in Jaehyun's system puts him to sleep, and Hun puts on music to hold the space.
++
Jaehyun is kind, and kindness is not a weakness. It's a generosity undeserving of assholes who want to take advantage of it, and Hun doesn't remember the exact words exchanged but he comes to in the middle of verbally annihilating four men with such ruthless efficiency that a teenager pulls out their phone and records him. He breaks down what's wrong with the situation, what should have happened, and what's going to happen until they get to their stop. He gives instructions a two-year-old could understand to the most pig-headed of the knuckle-draggers and wishes the quartet the most uncomfortable of silences for the rest of their long journey.
He does all of this without cursing.
Jaehyun is clinging to his arm, fingers pressed into the tattoos of marigolds and violets under his jacket. He doesn't let go until they hand their tickets to the concierge at the desk and take their seats in the orchestra. He lets out a sigh which is cut short when a woman and her two children excuse themselves so they can shuffle to the seats on the other side of them. Jaehyun takes a deep breath, still running on the fumes of the train ride, mind still stuck in that damned car with those imbeciles who don't deserve a moment of his time. He has to do something anything-
Hun taps Jaehyun’s shoulder. “I think I see them.”
Jaehyun sits up in his seat and grabs Hun’s arm so he can follow his pointed finger down into the block of seats to their right where the tall frame of Lucas and the smaller frame of Jungwoo are leaned in close, giggling to each other.
“Oh my god! They’re so cute!”
Jaehyun practically crawls into Hun’s lap to get a grand total of no feet closer, and Hun can tell what he’s thinking. He’s thinking that there is goodness even if there’s pain. There’s beauty scattered around the barren edges.
He believes in love.
That’s the most important thing for a matchmaker like him.
++
This is the fifth time Jaehyun has seen The Lion King on stage and the fifth time he's cried during ‘Endless Night’. He claims that it's because it's so full of hope and it really just hits differently. Hun has to stop him because he looks like he's going to cry again. They're absolutely beat when they get back to the yellow two-story house on the cul de sac, so Hun tells Jaehyun to take it easy right before he grabs Barf’s leash for his nighttime walk. He comes back in to find Romang having betrayed him by falling asleep on Jaehyun, also asleep on the couch. Hun gives the golden retriever a treat and a pat on the head, carries Jaehyun to his room, and makes sure that he has a blanket so he doesn't get cold.
++
It was about his legs, Hun finally remembers at 3am.
The knuckle-dragger made a snide comment about the spiral-patterned pieces of Nylon X Jaehyun stands on. The ones Dongsung made for him disguised as his senior design 3D-printable prosthetics project that landed him a patent and well-paying job in the same business park as Hun's firm. The ones Jaehyun used to try forcing into shoes so people didn't see.
If he could take others’ pain away and cover it in beautiful things, he would. Especially Jaehyun’s. A man as cheery and dedicated doesn’t deserve to have their happiness stepped on by someone who has no care to control themselves. Hun takes the anger he feels and the larger sense of betrayal and puts it on canvas, guarding the bright yellow flowers at the center in jagged sharp edges.
Jaehyun doesn’t know what to make of it, which is good, but he says that looking at it makes him feel deeply unsettled, which means it's effective art and gets two thumbs up. He asks if Hun wants him to call up Taehyung from the art gallery. Taehyung has always been one of his champions, even going as far to say that Hun should consider taking up art full-time.
But he doesn’t, because Hun isn’t a painter, he’s just a guy who paints sometimes, and only when inspiration comes for him like an unavoidable lightning strike. He tells Jaehyun that he doesn’t want this in anyone’s house because even odd rich folks don’t deserve to have the manifestation of his wallowing in their houses, and Jaehyun accepts the answer at face-value.
And he doesn’t have to know that the main reason is because it feels wrong giving this piece of himself, and subsequently this piece of Jaehyun, away to anyone else.
++
Jaehyun is the yearly monsoon of love, and Hun is the rice farmer who's been cultivating the same paddy for 50 years and should know by now that he's coming yet is still sorely underprepared, and he wonders if he's made a grave mistake by suggesting Sanha bring his troubles over to the matchmaker.
"So tell me a bit about your hyungs."
The guy is in that limbo phase where Hun isn't sure whether to refer to him as a boy or a man. He can't call him a young man because it makes him think of the YMCA song and he can't afford to be attacked by an unrelenting chorus from the Village People.
"Should I... um... wait?" Sanha looks over Hun's shoulder to where Jaehyun, in a grand display of time misjudgement, is anxiously babysitting his chocolate chip cookies while the timer on the microwave counts down from 3:11, 3:10, 3:09-
"I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE FROM HERE!" Jaehyun yells in a way that tries to convince Sanha he doesn't have to speak up to be heard but does the exact opposite. The kid looks at Hun, who nods in reassurance, and that's enough to start the saga from the beginning.
"Ok, so… I think it started when Dongmin was a sophomore, before I even got there. There was an event out in the quad where all of the clubs got to show off to the freshman. Bin was a freshman and he signed up right away. Anyway, later that year, Dongmin was his TA and they ended up getting really close. Bin swore it was just so he could get the best grade possible, but he had this big plan in his head to dare Dongmin to come hang out one-on-one if he got an A." There are more words, but Hun is still in Old Man Recovery Mode from his late-night painting session and needs to get more sleep. He fades back in when Sanha is at the part where they went out for a silent disco and vehemently denied it was a date.
"HOW DID YOU KNOW BIN WAS INTERESTED?" Jaehyun half-shouts from the kitchen. “LIKE ROMANTICALLY ???”
"I don't think he noticed it, but he always mentioned 'Dongmin this' and 'Dongmin that' and 'Dongmin told me' and 'wait I have to tell Dongmin'. He had a lot of their pictures saved on his phone, and he would always message him, even outside our big group text."
The cookie timer goes off, Jaehyun beseeching the microwave to be quieter.
"Hit 'cancel'." Hun instructs without looking away. The microwave stops beeping. "Continue."
Sanha shrugs. "That's all I've got, really."
Hun's hands are open in an honest, non-threatening position as he leans forward. "How can you be so sure they share these feelings?"
"You could tell if you met them. They're close with one another, even for roommates."
There's a crash and a thunk and the loud metallic bang of cookware.
"My God!" Jaehyun gasps, pushing Hun's shoulder like a sportsman doing the stiffarm to make space as he climbs over the back of the couch, "They were roommates!!!"
Sanha nods and throws in the financially sound decision for the two of them to share an apartment as a finale. Jaehyun asks if there was one bed, which there wasn't, and he eats a cookie in mild disappointment. There are two beds, and the place is very neat and tidy for two 20-somethings still trying to find enough time to eat and sleep between the onslaught of classes, research, and club. Bin is usually making food since he's the one intent on eating a bodybuilder's diet and Dongmin is being pulled from meeting to meeting and needs the biological benefits the nutritionally-balanced meals provide. Jaehyun is totally into this. Like crack-addict into it. He eats up every word and asks Sanha for more juicy tidbits like that.
And after approximately ten minutes of Sanha going through the events of the past two and a half years, he finally takes a deep breath and looks at them with big, globe-like eyes.
"So... can you help me?"
Hun would bet his house Jaehyun has never said 'yes' so fast in his life.
++
Jaehyun is the Genius of Love feat. The Tom Tom Club, and Hun is his David Byrne who walked offstage for a well-deserved break and has thus left Jaehyun completely unsupervised. The game plan was to stick together and watch them from afar but that plan has gone out the window because Hun is now in the Ancient Peoples exhibit and Jaehyun is most definitely Not. Aish, should he stick to the mission? Jaehyun can take care of himself, right? Ok, maybe not...
Hun bites his lip.
Dongmin and Bin can wait.
Backtrack to the hallway. Two options. He decides to go with the flow of traffic and heads into the hall of birds, which Jaehyun isn't in either. Loop around to the mammals. Peek down the hall of reptiles. They were on a mission and missions mean no distractions, which is what cellphones are. No dice checking behind him either. Back down the stairs to where they were earlier. He has to be around here somewhere-
"Hun! There you are!" he says as though Hun were the one who wandered off and Jaehyun was the one who spent the past 5 minutes frantically scanning each wing. "Come and meet Byulyi and Yongsun!"
Hun meets Byulyi and Yongsun and their daughter, Naeun, who are here because Naeun has just discovered what dinosaurs are and is in love. Jaehyun has this sparkle in his eye when he asks her what her favorite dinosaur is and she says the name of something neither of them will have any hope of spelling without Google autocomplete to assist them. Yongsun seems particularly thrilled at the two of them, and Byulyi gives them a fraction of a smile when she sees the way Jaehyun leans on him when he's trying to be extra dramatic. They wish each other a pleasant rest of their visits and part ways. Hun turns his head to whisper into a nest of soft brown locks.
"I was trying to find you." he grumbles. Jaehyun turns and uses his hand to cup around Hun's ear.
"Got a little carried away." His smile is that of an Old Knowing Thing and he somehow finds Dongmin and Bin one staircase and half an exhibit later. They're in the gift shop playing with the stuffed animals, three of which they buy. Hun ends up buying Jaehyun a plush narwhal as a souvenir from their successful trip, indicated by the happy smiles seen holding hands as they exited the museum.
Maybe Hun will spend his whole life finding Jaehyun.
And maybe that doesn't sound so bad.
++
Taehyung asks Hun to be his Friend.
Hun is vaguely aware that he’s attractive. Jaehyun said he was nerdy-cute when he had his round Harry Potter glasses on but became devastatingly gorgeous post-morning shower when his hair was still damp and his tattoos were showing. And also if he was wearing a black t-shirt. That was the time Jaehyun gave him a smokey eye and then wrestled matte mauve lipstick onto him. It was a disaster. There are still stains on the wall.
“I’m asexual.”
Taehyung looks shocked, then confused.
“Does Jaehyun know that?”
Hun furrows his brow.
He should . No one has ever forgotten the conversation, not when it comes with so many questions. The only people who don’t ‘remember’ he’s asexual are the ones who deny the grey-ace spectrum exists. Which it does. And Hun will verbally javelin anyone who says otherwise.
But Jaehyun isn’t one of those people. He was one of the first ones Hun told. Even now, Hun goes to him during times of crisis and Jaehyun reassures him that the label he picks is not defined by others and that what he feels is what he feels.
“He knows.”
And of course that's when Jaehyun comes in and stares between the two of them.
"What's.... uh... what's going on?" Hun can see the matchmaking gears turning, the comparison of traits, the mismatches that must be apparent because Jaehyun has never mentioned Taehyung as a prospective date for him.
"Nothing, I was just leaving. Let me know if you have any other pieces for the gallery! I have a couple people asking.":
The door makes a resounding slam as it shuts behind him. Jaehyun gingerly pits his things down, still staring at the void where their friend stood.
"What was that about?"
"Taehyung wanted to be my friend. Like more-than-a-friend type of friend." Hun out the last part. They still are friends, even if Hun has turned him down. Jaehyun furrows his brow.
"But you're asexual."
"That's what I told him."
A proud burst shines in his chest. Of course Jaehyun knows. Jaehyun knows him better than anyone.
++
Jaehyun is the cherry-red convertible parked on the sunny beachside of love, and Hun is the parking ticket stuck to his windshield. It's another successful match made in heaven. Or it's a 'long-lost childhood friend au', which is basically the same thing.
“You did good out there.” Hun exits the parallel parking space like he's going for gold at the Olympics. “You ready to go home?”
They’re still feeling out the adrenaline from jumping from hiding spot to hiding spot like a bad rendition of a Bond movie. Hun is going to have sand underneath his fingernails for the next week, but it’s a small price to pay.
“Jae?”
Jaehyun has that look to him; the sheepish one that always comes before he apologizes for not finding Hun's perfect match ever though it's been four years, which is a lot of years, despite Hun never outright asking or expecting him to. And besides, it's not like Jaehyun's cosmic duty is to force people together and make it work- it's to put the right people in the right circumstances to make magic happen. If the second half of the magic act hasn't arrived, there's no show, and that's hardly Jaehyun's fault.
"I mean we don't have to go back now." Hun scrambles, "We can eat pizza and talk about boys like we're 20-something college kids."
“Talk about boys?”
“Or girls, I don’t know.” he mumbles.
Jaehyun barks out a laugh. “What kind of toppings do you want?”
++
Sicheng and Yuta come over to the two-story yellow house on the cul de sac because they don't believe that that's where Jaehyun and Hun live. They are pleasantly surprised. Barf greets them at the door with aggressive tail-wagging and Jaehyun talks to him like he's his firstborn child. They sit down outside for drinks on the porch which Hun has since decorated with flowers. Yuta makes a comment on how he could camouflage given all the tattoos.
They'll have them over again for sure.
At the end of the night, Jaehyun pulls Yuta aside to give him what Hun assumes is a quick pep talk since this is all still very new and the last time he spent this much time with Sicheng, they were 10. Hun stands on the stoop adjacent to Sicheng, the two of them watching Barf do his business and Romang do her adventure cat thing.
"What's it like being with Jaehyun? He's so... energetic . He's always got plans going on, places to go, people to meet. It must be fun."
Hun furrows his brow. Yes, it is a constant bombardment of activities and cosmic missions and trips to local eateries to discuss nefarious plans, but Sicheng sounds like he's implying that they're together -together. Not just friends -togther.
Sicheng gives him a look. "Are you.... you're just friends?"
"Last time I checked, yeah." He turns back. "Why? Did something happen?"
"No, I just.... You guys get along well, so I assumed. Sorry about that." Jaehyun and Yuta have the splendid timing to come back at that moment to rescue Hun from his own brain pouring water onto his drowning logic. They see Sicheng and Yuta out with a last farewell and head back inside to clean up.
"I like them! They were nice!" he says, and Hun can see why Dongsung refers to them as his Acquired Parental Units. It's just so easy , so natural the way they move together, like two gears with the same pitch. Like they should be together.
Nah, no way. That's crazy talk! No way they would ever be a couple.
This is Jaehyun they're talking about. It would never work- they just aren't compatible. Hun is a homebody while Jaehyun can't sit at home for more than a few hours at a time unless he's asleep. Hun likes stories made to give people nightmares while Jaehyun consumes romance the way he does coffee. Hun is asexual, and Jaehyun is Very Sexual, and they've been around each other for so long that they're just sort of always together. The kiddies call them an old married couple despite not actually being a couple, and it twists his gut when he thinks about how satisfied that makes him feel. Shit, are they perfect for one another? It can't be.
Him and Jaehyun...
Nope. No way. It would never work.
++
It's impossible to reserve the entire Castle Court unless it's the dead of winter or the world is ending, but Kwangjin has become friends with most if not all of Jaehyun's wedding industry friends, and they have no problem going out on a limb for him and achieving the impossible. The 15-acre property sits in the center of a dense forest shut off from the rest of society; a place where regal elegance and fantastical timelessness meet. Hun thinks the place is overrated- he'd rather get married in said dense forest- but if it makes them happy, who's he to argue?
They're about 90% through the ceremony before Kwangjin starts bawling like a baby. Then the official announces that he can kiss the groom and it's like the dam has broken. There's cheering and a volume of noise Hun hasn't heard since he went to that concert when he was 20, but he's doing his part to add to it. In the couple of years he's known Kwangjin, he's never seen him this happy.
Good .
He deserves it.
The party is loud enough to be heard from the nearest road. It seems like anybody who’s ever met the family is there. Kwangjin's mom has been friends with Jaehyun's mom ever since the two were children and Mrs. Kwon put a letter in Kwangjin's bag to give to Jaehyun to give to Mrs. Kim, and she greets the matchmakers with full-body hugs.
The off-key ballad of Saint Sunshine was a tipsy lullaby sung under amber lamplight in the arms of good company, and it was one that no one knew the words to or could remember in the morning. Jaehyun sings it loud and proud, but then he’s yelling about 'a betrayal most devious’ as Hun's whisked in one direction and Jaehyun is forcefully carried in another.
He’s pulled through bodies and possibly into another plane of existence before he finds himself in front of the one and only Mrs. Kim. "How are you doing, dear?"
The first time Mrs. Kim met Hun, it was the week Jaehyun had stolen all of his belts. He’d thrifted a pair of pants that were a little too big and a shirt a little too small, and after pulling up his hants for the 484th time had muttered to himself about how he needed a belt and had promptly stolen one. And then another. And then another. Hun was stealing back his belts to the tune of Jaehyun's counterargument when Mrs. Kim rang the doorbell and Barfolomew started barking and Jaehyun yelled ‘oh my god, that's my mom, COMING MOM!’.
When he thinks about it, that scene is indicative of his relationship with Jaehyun.
"Alright. Things are the same as usual. Work is work. Jaehyun is still determined to find me my perfect match. I've told him that he doesn't have to do that, but if there's anything he's passionate about, it's love."
Mrs. Kim looks puzzled at first, then relaxes into an easy realization like she's heard a joke; one that Hun doesn't understand at best and is the butt of at worst. "So you asked him to remove you from the rotation?"
"I haven't said anything, I just..." he thinks for a moment about what he'd do when the day finally (possibly?) came. Hun finds that he can't imagine it. Not for the life of him. "I'm happy with how I'm living now, y'know? I like the way things are now. And if it happens then great, but if it doesn't, that's ok too."
"That's a wise way to look at it."
"I try my best."
The conversation meanders from life lessons back to Jaehyun's apparent disregard for all lessons and his sheer determination to make things work. They talk about Mrs. Kim's own matchmaking clients- who do know what they're getting into- who exist on the higher end of the pay scale. She and Jaehyun's grandmother still advise any royals willing to bend a knee and lend their minutes to old women. She has many clients at all times, and her list of successful couples is sandwiched between the pages of the scrapbooks she uses for safe keeping. Hun can see where Jaehyun got his talent though. This puts a smile on her face.
"I feel better knowing Jaehyun has someone like you. I have a request to make of you, though.”
Hun sits up straighter, nodding.
“Just... keep an eye on my son, would you? He gets a little...." They look over to where Jaehyun is singing 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' into a magically-sourced bouquet of flowers with no regard for pitch. "...you know."
And Hun does know. He knows that Jaehyun tends to gamble his happiness on uncertainties and that he can go a little overboard, but it's part of the reason why he's so loveable, along with his passion for making other people happy. He plans weddings with hope in his eyes and a belief in starlight. Hope is a fragile thing. People like Jaehyun need people like Hun to keep an eye out for them.
"I can do that."
++
If anyone asks, it was Jaehyun's idea. The cost-benefit analysis of giving up their seats on the plane and then taking a car home would net them $1,600, and it would help out two random people who needed to get home more than they did.
Hun had felt like a king until they'd gotten to the rental station and the heavyset man behind the plexiglass grunted out something remiscent of 'what do you mean, 'modifications'?' and both Hun and Jaehyun realized Jaehyun wouldn't be able to drive.
So now Hun is cruising-controlling down the highway in a two-door half-electric Honda Prius so he can be back at the house before he has to be at his desk. The gearshift is in the middle of the car and not next to the steering wheel so he ends up flailing around for a minute and not finding the stick until he looks down. Jaehyun keeps apologizing, wishing he could help drive, but rental cars aren't outfitted for people with plastic legs. The only reason his buggy has the adjusted controls is because he formally requested them, and that was only after many long hours of asking Hun to help him with the paperwork.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Hun says, "It's not your fault the accessibility laws haven't reached here yet."
"I know, but it's a lot on you. If you need a break, let me know. I'll buy you coffee."
Hun nods without any intention of letting Jaehyun buy him coffee.
Jaehyun falls asleep a valiant three hours into their roadtrip. He was tracing the outlines of the flowers tattooed across Hun's arm and the tracing got lighter and lighter until it stopped all together. They're still a long way from home, but Hun is used to driving for hours on end. He used to trade gas at $2.00 per gallon for a clear head on the open road. He'd drive around for hours and hours on a nonexistent sleep schedule searching for something resembling peace.
The sky looks different approaching 2:45. Nothing exists besides the deep blue morning and the long road ahead, and sometimes that small universe is shared in the overlap of headlights, momentarily, until they pass by and continue along in their own universe. But it's dark, otherwise. And he's comfortable in this universe with Jaehyun.
That’s enough for him.
++
Seunghyub laughs at the obscenely dark raccoon eyes Hun is sporting when he walks through the door at 8:25; almost an hour after Hun stumbled in with his oversized thermos of coffee and proceeded to work on a claim while simultaneously trying not to fall over on the spot.
"Long night?" he asks, waggling his eyebrows in a way that makes Hun sigh like an exasperated kpop group manager.
"I haven't slept yet." he admits, hoping it'll provide some context as to why he isn't so keen on tolerating smalltalk, but Seunghyub just whistles and steers Hwesung over the moment he crosses the threshold at 8:30.
"Hun had some fun!" Seunghyub crows. Hwesung has the decency to look confused and a tad apologetic. He observes the sorry sight fighting off his third near-passout, still sporting the remnants of glitter that will haunt him for the next two months, and Hwesung's mental lightbulb goes off with such force that it shatters and jolts him upright.
"You went to that wedding, didn't you? At Castle Court! How was it?"
Hun feels himself on the verge of astral projecting.
" Long ."
Hwesung cackles and calls him a riot, marching over to the Keurig to make what he calls a 'superior cup of coffee', Seunghyub towed behind him with the frown and confusion still frozen on his face. Hun is finally, finally left in peace to continue his noble, solitary fight for consciousness at his standing desk for the next 8 hours.
It's around 2pm when Hun reaches the runner's high point where he doesn't feel like he's tripping through 16 dimensions when he realizes what Seunghyub was implying.
Hun sighs again.
++
Hun doesn't remember the ride home. He doesn't remember getting changed and crawling into bed. He doesn't remember Romang taking her place atop the other pillow.
But he wakes up sometime in the glow of a red evening to music playing from the kitchen and the smell of something delicious with spices and citrus wafting through the kitchen. It's enough to get him wandering out of the cave he calls his bedroom and down the stairs.
"Jaehyun?"
Jaehyun twists in his stool.
"Hey! Look who's awake!" Barfolomew barks in what he assumes is agreement. "You looked really tired when you came in and went right to your room, so I thought it might be nice to get some take out. I'm just heating some other stuff. Sit down! It should be ready in..."
He looks at the clock on the stove, then his phone, then at Barf with the 'oh well' look.
"It should have been done five minutes ago but that's ok! It'll be done soon."
Hun looks at the boxes and controlled chaos overtaking the kitchen. At Jaehyun looking into the oven at the tray still warming. At the Bluetooth speaker singing I won't let you go. Maybe it's the exhaustion but Jaehyun did this for him and he feels his insides heating up with fondness and the overwhelming urge to march over and cuddle him or maybe kiss him, though he knows he isn't that bold, which is why he doesn't know what to do with himself or where to put these feelings.
"Oh- oh no! Why are you crying?" Jaehyun laughs. It's a pitiful, small laugh. A 'please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so' sort of laugh. And Hun laughs too.
"I don't know. I wasn't planning on crying today."
"But it's not sad-crying, right?"
His tears are heavy enough to run down his cheeks on their own, navigating past the fingers that try to wipe them up before Jaehyun, who's the type to cry when others cry, can see.
"No, it's not sad-crying. It's happy-crying. I'm so tired that this was the first reaction my brain could think of."
Jaehyun is a bit puzzled by that. He's always felt his emotions freely and known what to do with them. Hun's been envious of that trait ever since they started living together. Hun's more of like a bottle rocket, shaken until the point of... this.
"Well... well then that's a good thing!" The hope is back in his voice as Jaehyun dons his mitts and sets the trays on the table, expertly avoiding the utensils and plates Minesweeper-style. He sits in his own chair, golden retriever at his side, and surveys the feast before them.
"Dig in!"
++
Stuffed-to-the-brim Jaehyun insists on cuddling every time without fail. It's almost impossible to get him to the couch so they can watch the latest episode of that anime they both like, and Hun spends several minutes failing to convince Jaehyun that sleeping on a bed is better that sleeping on a couch, after which Jaehyun whines that if Hun's so determined, why not carry him there himself. And Hun, with the structural integrity of a wafer cone, says yes out of spite.
Spite is a good thing. It gives him +3 strength.
"Maybe we could go to your bed. It's bigger anyway." Jaehyun says. This is the common debate after a night out, but wanting to cuddle wasn't a trait exclusive to drunk!Jae. "Or we could squeeze in and snuggle in my bed!"
Hun's left hand goes under Jaehyun's knees and his right hand goes around his back. It's like that one time they tried doing couple's yoga because the PT said it was a good idea, but it's much nicer. There's no laughing to the point of suffocation and no near-drops resulting in lives flashing before eyes. Hun carries him right up the stairs and drops him in the Queen-sized mattress he splurged on after his first piece was bought. He goes back downstairs to bring up Jaehyun's toothbrush, hairbrush, and face wash (begrudgingly on that last item) so he's all set for bed. Jaehyun bellyflops in and barrel rolls to make space. He steals all the blankets, but this is normal. Hun will just steal them back later.
"So is the reason you chose going upstairs instead of staying downstairs because you don't want to cuddle?" Jaehyun is wearing his most comical, over-the-top puppy dog eye expression. He looks absurd, but just this once-
Twice-
Oh, who is he kidding. Jaehyun could get away with anything with him. Especially with him. Hun rolls his eyes with a fond shake of his head and climbs in after him, pulling Jaehyun close enough to make him the little spoon, and Jaehyun makes a happy, content noise that makes Hun think that as much as he prefers the silence of his bedroom, he doesn't mind this one bit.
"Goodnight, Hunnie."
"Goodnight, Jae."
++
Two guys come into Jaehyun's orbit pretending to be a couple during open house day, and that was their first mistake.
Jaehyun can see right through their facade like a matchmaking superhero and takes it as a message from whatever gods he and his funky matchmaking family pray to that he needs to put Kihyun and Changkyun together for real, and that they must complete this mission even if it's the last thing they do, which it might be since Jaehyun has just left him a voice message saying he's on the way to Hun's office, and Hun may or may not commit murder in the most foul degree.
It's a pity, really. Hun isn't a huge fan of street food. They're missing tacos for this.
Hun loves tacos.
It started as a 'let's go check out the new place' expedition that quickly evolved into a weekly pilgrimage into town. They have prickly pear margaritas which Jaehyun sips on with wide eyes while Hun relays the next installment of the Saga featuring the boss from the auditing department, Qian Kun, and Ten, who came downstairs from Marketing and Advertising once to return an envelope that'd gotten misplaced in the mail and decided he preferred an office with the thermostat set to Antarctica. Jaehyun has offered multiple times (every weeks, actually, like clockwork sometime after the waitstaff put down their drinks and before his two shrimp and one veggie tacos arrive) to put them through the matchmaking machine, but that would require Jaehyun to either scale 11 flights of stairs in the event the elevator broke yet again and then suffer the subzero plunge into the frozen wasteland of Suite 116. Also Hun doesn't know Kun like that, and it would be ill-mannered to offer him Jaehyun's... services with their work relationship being virtually non-existent.
<<I mean- I'll have to ask Changkyun about it, but... uh... sure, I'm sure it'll be fine.>> Kihyun stammers on the other end of the line, and Jaehyun does a silent victory shake-Hun-like-a-strang-of-broken-Christmas-lights as he believes himself to be bamboozling Kihyun when he's really just sending the poor guy into the advanced stages of regret and gay panic.
Because Hun could see it too, the way Changkyun made Kihyun nervous, and how he'd blushed whenever he broke eye contact because he had to for the sake of maintaining a decent, coherent speech pattern. If even Hun, who has not a matchmaking bone in his body, could see it, that meant it was painfully obvious.
So Jaehyun is probably right.
And Kihyun is probably panicking.
And Changkyun is probably sitting at home, totally unaware of what he's about to be roped into.
And Hun is bemoaning the loss of tacos.
++
They end up sharing street food.
Changkyun actually ends up stealing Kihyun's food and then Kihyun retaliates by using his deadly finger flick but then asks if Changkyun wants more, and Hun knows that Jaehyun is going to be gushing about this for the whole car ride home.
Hun is instantly sated when Jaehyun spots and orders tacos from a little food truck in the row on the street. The shells are much messier for people who can't unhinge their jaws and fit entire fists down their throats like Jaehyun, but he feels less cranky with his carnitas and his little to-go cup of green Cholula. The night is warm but not sweltering, the breeze coming off of the ocean carries with it the sound of waves, and the little amber lights strung between posts is dim enough where Kihyun's incessant blush is hidden, which means he feels more comfortable talking. His arm is bent at an angle so Changkyun can pull him or drag him at his leisure, and from the point of view of the possible hundred of people also enjoying a night on the boardwalk, they look like any other couple on a double date.
But this is not a date, and Jaehyun's grasp on his arm is surely for stability purposes only and not because he's trying to look the part, because the age-old misconception about the relationship between two young men with zero-feet between them has been applied before without going to these lengths. He hides his face in the crook of Hun's neck when he laughs, and the smell of Jaehyun's conditioner creates a plume of sweet honey each time he turns, and Hun will never admit it, but he's this close to stealing it next time he takes a shower.
Or maybe he won't. Jaehyun will never let him hear the end of it if he finds out that Hun likes the way he smells, or that Hun likes it when Jaehyun is this close to him.
Because this is not a date, and Hun needs to take some ibuprofen and buy a carton of orange juice so the butterflies in his stomach don't get any stronger.
++
The sun has long done to sleep and the bustle of the food truck festival has simmered down to a low rumble when the four decide to call it a night. Jaehyun and Hun see them back to their car and wish them a safe trip in between polite hugs as pats on the back. Hun is talking to Kihyun when he sees Changkyun whisper something to Jaehyun that makes his face twist, as though a great secret has been revealed and his third eye has been opened. Kihyun doesn't see it, and neither does Changkyun since his chin is tilted up to clear Jaehyun's shoulder as they end their little embrace. Hun collapses into the driver's seat with a long huff. His body isn't used to being active for that long. He needs to get back into cardio. At this side, Jaehyun is slumped with his knees against the dash, legs off.
"Do you think we did it?" Hun asks. The queue to get out is taking forever to inch forward. Long enough for Hun to gather up the spare change he needs to pay for parking. Jaehyun turns so his knees are bunched up against the door, his exhaustion reflecting off the window. He sees something… unnamable. It looks like melancholy, but Hun can’t be sure; it’s a first.
"Not yet. But it's a step in the right direction."
++
Hun is the gorgon of love, and Jaehyun pointedly avoids making eye contact with him the next few days. This is concerning because the last time it happened, Hun had to drive to a bar full of scantily-clad men who called him 'honey' and 'dear' despite him being neither of those things. He was summoned specifically to unhandcuff Jaehyun from a lawn chair and to tow him back to the house at Schrodinger's Dawn-o'clock.
"Are you ok?" He asks, hoping it will remind Jaehyun that there are other people who are going to either bear witness to or get wrapped up in whatever he's planning, but instead, he jumps. He must not have heard Hun pad in behind him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he smiles, cheeks reddening, "Why?"
Hun narrows his eyes, checks Jaehyun's hands for his tell-tale finger-cracking giveaway and sees it. He shifts and ‘nevermind’s and goes back to his room. He'll have to keep an eye out for him.
++
It takes two whole weeks of Jaehyun not showing up in his candy pink punch buggy for Hun to wonder if he should call up every doctor friend he has and try to figure out if Jaehyun has been replaced by an alien. It’s been like a ghost town in their house, and for once, Hun is the one filing the space with conversation. Barf stays firmly planted by Jaehyun’s side, and they pass each other in the kitchen like two ships in the night. He could swear that the one time they came close, Jaehyun actually jumped , and Hun felt something in him chip away at the thought of having done something so outrageous that Jaehyun is scared of him. He swears to find out what it is and to fix it even if it takes years.
"Thinking about your guy?" Seunghyub says while leaning on his partition. "Haven't seen him in a while. Weird, right? Did you two have a fight?"
Hun shakes his head. ‘Destination wedding’ he lies.
"Oh! Sounds like fun. I bet you miss him."
Hun makes a noise that's less of an agreement and more of a forceful exhalation through his nose. Seunghyub isn't wrong.
Even though he's right there, Hun feels like he's losing him.
++
Hun takes one long look at him and knows that he hasn't gotten much sleep, if any.
"You need this more than I do."
Jaehyun takes the cup, smiling out of both thanks and from the amount of sheer irony that they share the same tastes in coffee. It's the smile that says he'd rather not be smiling at all, and it hurts Hun more than any amount of hours it would take to help him. The overwhelming urge to take Jaehyun in his arms and kiss him and tell him everything is ok threatens to spill out of him, slick and shiny like an oil spill. He’s thought the second thing often; the first, with more and more frequency.
His thoughts are getting out of hand. So much so that they threaten to swell and burst every time they’re near each other. It’s getting harder to push down the feelings when every look from Jaehyun feels like it should be more. Yet it feels like he’s losing him. He’s not sure what he did before Jaehyun was around. He’s not sure if he could go back.
"Jaehyun?"
His head snaps up. "Sorry, just... lost in thought."
"That's been happening a lot recently. Do you wanna talk about it?"
"Listen, I... I like you, Hun. We've been friends for a long time and I appreciate the way you listen and give honest feedback, no holds barred. You're weird and you have Old Man habits, but it's endearing." Hun is still listening, but it's easy to see the confusion on his face. Jaehyun takes a deep breath. "I'm telling you this because I found you a match."
++
His name is Hyunjin, though his college friends all call him Jim.
“Like The Office?” Hun asks with a feline tilt of his head. Hyunjin’s face lights up to 300 lumens.
“ Exactly like The Office!”
That’s how the night begins.
++
Jaehyun is asleep on the couch with a dog-eared copy of Peter Pan on his lap, golden retriever snoozing on his lap. Hun tries his best to get the door open without-
-ccccrreeeeeeeeeaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKK-
“I’m awake! I’m totally awake!”
-a sound. Oh well, so much for that one. Jaehyun is still in the blindness stage of waking up and is sufficiently disoriented by the darkness that it takes several seconds for him to realize Hun is standing in the doorway.
“You’re back! How was it?”
He puts his jacket on the banister. “It went well.”
“Plans for a second date?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh? That’s a shame. Well… I’ll keep an eye out. Hopefully it won’t take another four years to find you someone.”
“ I don’t want another match .” Hun says.
“What?” Jaehyun asks, as though not wanting love was inconceivable. “Why?”
With the weight of his truth and Jaehyun’s eyes on him, the world slows to listen to the things Cha Hun realized as he drove home after meeting his match.
Because the only thing he could think of was how guilty he felt sitting there, taking up this man’s time when all he could think about was how unnatural it felt; how it should be him and Jaehyun. How it should be them going out for dinners and walking along the sidewalk on the eve of summer. How it should be Jaehyun talking 10,000 miles per hour with lights in his eyes large enough to rival stars and Hun rolling his eyes and kissing him on the cheek, then maybe on the lips, and then hugging him and not letting go for a long time.
Maybe his body knew all along that it should have been Jaehyun from the start because the more he thinks about it, the more the overflowing golden fountain beneath his ribcage screams Yes! Yes! That’s it! as though it were something on his mental laundry list that he’d been trying to remember and finally did. Being with Jaehyun is like being at home.
The matchmaking genes weren’t wrong- Hyunjin was a great guy. He was a charming gentleman who was easy to talk to and easy to like. His style would have been boring to others but his energy matched Hun’s perfectly. But even if Hyunjin has the same raw humor and quiet observations and taste in activities and living style, he isn’t Jaehyun.
And because of that, Hun gave him the gentlest of let downs and raced home.
“Because I want you .” A quiet gasp escapes Jaehyun, whose eyes are wide as saucers as Hun continues, “Listen, I--- I’m not good at these things. And… and maybe I don’t know what love is. That’s usually your domain, but all I know is that I see you and the sun shines brighter, and that it feels like I’m singing in a thunderstorm with the rain pouring down over me, and everything feels right. It feels like this could be forever and I know , I know forever doesn’t mean much when we last less than a blink in the eyes of the universe, but it feels like it could be. Like this is it. And it’s you.”
Maybe it’s love. Maybe it’s something akin. And Hun has only been certain of a few things, but he’s certain of Jaehyun.
And Jaehyun, much to his horror and confusion, starts crying.
++
It’s ironic, he’ll admit, that Jaehyun is now the one crying while Hun holds him. After desperate pleas to tell him what’s wrong and being told ‘nothing’, Jaehyun had mumbled that they were happy tears. Relieved tears. Disbelief tears. Hun holds him through it and runs his fingers through his hair while his heart sings that this is right even when his brain tells him to put a pin in that until things have calmed down.
Hun has him cradled in his arms. He's not sure when he started rocking him, but he stops to ask if he's ok. Another wipe of the eyes. Another trumpet blow into a tissue. “I’m ok. I’m more than ok. I just… I’m in shock. I never thought that things work out this way. That it was even possible to have you.”
“You…?” He asks. He almost doesn’t want to say it, as thought it’ll burst the bubble and this magic will disappear forever.
But Jaehyun is confident, nodding, and oh god this is happening , Hun has no idea what to do with himself. “For a while now, actually. I used to go through my roster all the time because I wanted you to have the best person possible, because you deserve it, Hun. I don’t think you realize how much you deserve it. And when I went through, I didn’t think anyone was good enough for you.
“But then when I was talking to Yuta, he asked if I really hadn’t found anyone or if I was just saving you for myself, which is a thing matchmakers aren’t supposed to do, and I got worried that maybe I was sabotaging you, so I started going through my roster again. And I think… I think that’s when I figured out that I had fallen for your. Your laugh and the way you thrift for books and your philosophy on happiness.... A million little traits that had me enamored. And then… we put Changkyun and Kihyun together.
“Changkyun thanked me on the boardwalk, and he said that he knew a guy who could use a match. Hyunjin. I went through my roster, mismatch after mismatch, until I got to you. And realized you’d be perfect. And realized how much that hurt. That’s when I knew for sure.”
Hun furrows his brow.
“But you sent me anyway.”
“Because I wanted you to be happy.” Jaehyun says, and it’s so…. Him to want others to be happy even when it hurts.
“ You make me happy .”
And if Hun could take that pain away, he would. Maybe he can. He’ll pull all the things that Jaehyun has set aside for others into their own little microverse inside the little yellow two story house on the cul de sac. And maybe it won’t be perfect- things rarely are- but it’ll be theirs, and that’s what’s important.