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It’s weird how things change sometimes, Dongju thinks.
For example, how one moment Lee Giuk is nothing more to him than Dongmyeong’s awkward friend who greets him with a shy “hi” before he follows Dongmyeong into his room. The next moment he’s tearing up the little stage at the bar Dongju works at.
Dongju has always been aware of the fact that Giuk is talented. The moment he recruited Dongmyeong for his band at 14 or 15, Dongju knew they would make it somehow. Now, at 22, Giuk is still a bit awkward, at least off-stage, but he certainly has more to say to Dongju.
“How’d you like the show?” Giuk asks as he slides into a barstool.
Dongju throws his rag over his shoulder and turns to pour Giuk his usual: a whiskey – which he doesn’t actually finish because thinks it looks cool but tastes like ass.
“You were great up there,” he answers, sliding the glass over the counter. “Don’t know why you guys keep playing in this dingy little bar. You could be going places.”
“Well, I do it to impress the bartender,” Giuk tells him with a smirk as he raises his glass to take a sip. His face immediately scrunches up in disgust, making Dongju laugh.
“Well, consider me impressed,” he retorts, nodding at Giuk’s whiskey glass with a cheeky grin.
They’ve been through this way too often for Giuk to be embarrassed at his little slip-up. “What are you doing after this?”
Dongju smiles secretively, leaning onto the bar on his elbows. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Giuk leans onto the bar as well. “I got the apartment to myself tonight. What about some dinner, a movie, and whatever else we might come up with along the way?”
“Sounds perfect. I’m done here in an hour,” Dongju says with a small smile, giddy at the prospect of getting to spend his evening with Giuk. “Think you’ll be able to wait that long?”
Giuk chuckles and gets up to close the distance between them, pressing their lips together. “You make it pretty difficult, but sure.” Dongju nudges him playfully and promptly kisses him again.
“Ew, get a room,” Dongmyeong’s faux-scandalized voice suddenly interrupts them.
Dongju and Giuk pull apart to find the rest of the band approaching. Dongju rolls his eyes at his brother. He reaches into the cooler beneath the bar and pulls out three bottles of beer, holding them between his fingers. He pops open their caps and hands them over to Harin, Yonghoon and Dongmyeong. He then looks at Hyungu who is the only one who a) doesn’t drink alcohol and b) doesn’t have a usual order.
“Do you have iced tea?” Hyungu asks. Dongju nods and quickly pours Hyungu his desired drink. “Thanks!”
“So, did you book that spot in the recording studio?” Dongju asks his brother.
“Yeah, but we only got a slot three months from now. They don’t like to hand out appointments to unknown artists,” Dongmyeong explains, taking a frustrated sip from his beer.
“They’ll know about you soon enough,” Dongju assures him as he goes back to wiping down the counter.
In the corner of his eye, he spots two guys a little further down the bar, seemingly squabbling. He rolls his eyes. He’s by no means a stranger to this phenomenon, but the last thing he needs so shortly before the end of his shift is a bar fight.
“Hey, take it outside!”
The two guys grumble, but luckily decide to listen to Dongju. He may not look very threatening, but word must have traveled about his handling bar fights with his trusty baseball bat.
“You know,” Yonghoon says contemplatively, “we could actually use someone with your kind of authoritative aura as our manager.”
Dongju laughs heartily, once again throwing his rag over his shoulder. He provides two young women with beers before he faces the band again. They look like they're actually serious which more than surprises him.
“I’d have to break poor Giukie’s heart because I don’t date people I work with,” Dongju responds, grazing his boyfriend’s shoulder in passing. “Sweet of you to consider me, though.”
Giuk pouts. “You’d dump me just like that?”
Dongju boops Giuk’s nose, causing him to scrunch it up cutely. “’Couse not. That’s why I won’t do it. Aside from the fact that I’ve got zero managing experience.”
Hyungu pouts at his words. They must really want him.
“I told you he wouldn’t do it,” Dongmyeong says.
“I could find you someone, though,” Dongju retorts. “If you so desperately need a manager, I’ll be sure to find you a good one.”
They seem to cheer up at that at least. Dongju would never have expected for them to value him so much as a potential manager.
Sure, he kind of used to follow them around as a teen, fascinated by the fact that his brother has the courage to stand up on stage and showcase his talent. Dongju could never. Instead, he used to look for opportunities for the band to play; birthdays, street festivals, even weddings, and – once they were old enough – bars. It was Dongju who made it possible for them to play here after he got this job.
But managing them for real? He had never even considered that...
They head out after finishing their drinks. Giuk tells him he’ll wait for him so they can drive back to his place together. He’s a bit quiet, Dongju notices, which isn’t that unusual, but he sends Dongju contemplative looks when he thinks he isn’t looking. Dongju isn’t quite sure what to make of them, but he decides not to call him out on it.
“Alright, I’m done,” Dongju says once the clock strikes midnight. He sees Seoho come out from the back, ready to take over for him. He sends Dongju a smile and greets Giuk before wishing both of them a good night.
“You okay?” Dongju finally asks Giuk after a fairly quiet 15-minute-drive.
Giuk shuts the apartment’s front door behind him and shrugs off his purposefully ripped-up denim jacket before he moves to take off his shoes. “Am I really the reason you won’t manage the band?”
Dongju gapes at him. “That’s what this is about?”
“Well, yeah...” Giuk says. “If it’s because of me, I’d like to know.”
“And do what? Step back from the band? Or break up with me?” Dongju questions warily. He would hate either of those outcomes.
Giuk’s eyes widen momentarily. “No!”
“Look, Giukie... I’m just not the person for the job. I have a job actually,” Dongju says. “I was kidding earlier when I said I’d have to break your heart.”
Giuk pouts again like he did before. “Not funny.”
“I realize that now. I’m sorry,” Dongju says, taking Giuk’s hands into his own.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not like I wouldn’t enjoy managing you guys. It’s just that... I mean, it’d be such a big responsibility. And what if it doesn’t work out? What if something happens between us? I just think I’m too attached to you all.”
Giuk looks down. “What if that’s a good thing, though? You know us. And I mean, we’re fine, aren’t we?”
Dongju can’t and won’t argue with that.
They have been dating for a little over two years now after going from awkward acquaintances to friends to more. Dongju doesn’t even know what life without Giuk even looks like anymore, nor does he want to.
“It was just very sudden,” Dongju says. “I mean, I’m a bartender. What do I know about managing a band?”
Giuk chuckles and pulls him closer. “Well, luckily we’re not that famous yet, so if you were to do it, there’d be plenty of time to learn.”
“You’re really serious, huh?” Dongju asks, snaking his arms around Giuk’s neck. “Are you guys really that willing to trust me with the future of your band?”
“I can’t think of anybody better suited for the job,” Giuk tells him, and it’s so honest, so sincere, that Dongju is taken aback for a moment. He still doesn’t think he can do this, but with Giuk giving him that look, he feels like he ought to try.
“Let me sleep on it, okay? I still think you guys are out of your minds,” Dongju compromises. It seems good enough for Giuk who wraps his arms around Dongju’s waist and pulls him into an excited hug.
“I love you!”
Dongju chuckles and brings his hand up to run his fingers through Giuk’s hair. “You’d better. I love you, too.”
Giuk pulls away just enough to kiss Dongju, clearly already overjoyed at the mere notion of him thinking about this.
“I was promised some dinner,” Dongju murmurs when they part, a small smile stretching on his lips. He, too, now gets out of his shoes and jacket and they finally move to Giuk’s tiny living room.
“Right,” Giuk says, “takeout? Your favorite place?”
Dongju smiles brightly. “Sounds amazing, I’m starving. You pick the movie, though, I don’t have the brain to choose something after that long-ass shift.”
Giuk orders food for them while pulling up his Netflix account.
“You were amazing on stage today, by the way,” Dongju says a little while later. They’ve changed into more comfortable clothes, cuddling on the couch as the ending credits of their movie rolled. “You deserve to be seen by the world.”
Giuk flushes. It’s cute, how he can still get so shy around Dongju, even after all these years.
“I hope we make it. But if we don’t, I’m glad we get to play for you.”
Dongju smiles at that. “I’ll continue to cheer you on.”
Giuk tilts Dongju’s chin up a bit and kisses him. Dongju lets himself melt into it, loving the tranquility of the little apartment. He finds himself savoring every moment of it for he knows Giuk is meant for greatness. Once people see that, moments of tranquility will become a rarity.
Still, Dongju already knows he’ll do everything in his power to make this band’s dreams come true.