Chapter Text
“I’m looking for books on cardiovascular physiology— ah, I mean books on the heart. Mind pointing me in the right direction?” Jeonghan is interrupted from shelving books by a soft voice, but turns to see that it belongs to someone who is anything but. He finds himself face to face with a boy around his height, but dressed head to toe in black, complete with a leather jacket, piercings lining his ears, and black combat boots.
Jeonghan pauses for a moment before finally finding the words he wants to say, “I don’t have the time or interest for your flirting right now.”
“Flirting?” the other asks with a raised eyebrow. “You think I’m flirting with you? But I’m a med student. I actually do need those books.” He reaches into his pocket for his wallet, pulling out a familiar card with their university’s colours emblazoned across the front, before holding it in front of Jeonghan’s face. Jeonghan feels his cheeks heat up as he reads the words on the card – Hong Jisoo, First Year Medical Student .
“O-oh, um, two shelves over to your right.” Jeonghan points over to Jisoo’s right side while avoiding all eye contact. He then bows slightly and speed walks off (no running in the library, of course). He can finish shelving those books later, after Jisoo leaves. Jeonghan is too embarrassed to even think about facing the other again.
There are so many students in their university after all, so he hopes that there is no way he'll ever run into Hong Jisoo again.
--
However, what Jeonghan doesn’t count on is the fact that Hong Jisoo would come looking for him a second time. The situation is all too familiar – Jeonghan is once again shelving books, but this time in a quiet corner of the library. (Looking back, it must have taken Jisoo some time and effort to actually locate Jeonghan.)
“Let me preface this by saying that I am not flirting with you,” comes the sudden soft voice once again, “but mind pointing me in the direction of books on neurophysiology, darling?”
Jeonghan turns and is faced once again with Hong Jisoo, decked out in his usual all black attire, complete with the smug smirk on his face.
“You say you’re not flirting with me, but then why did I hear you call me darling?” Jeonghan crosses his arms with an eyebrow raised. He refuses to be caught off guard by Hong Jisoo a second time.
Jisoo shrugs, “I don’t know your name, what else am I supposed to call you?” He leans in closer with a grin, “Do you prefer that I call you ‘cutie’ instead?”
Jeonghan is a bit miffed (and flustered, not that he’d admit it) at this point, but as student council president he has a responsibility to help all students. Even if they are smug, annoying menaces. Smug, annoying, attractive , menaces, his brain unhelpfully supplies.
“Neurophysiology books are over here,” Jeonghan walks over to another section of the library without looking back, clearly expecting Jisoo to follow behind him. He stops at a particular shelf near where he had pointed last time.
“You know that next time you can just look up which shelf they’re at on the computers, right?” Jeonghan sighs.
“Oh, but darling, I’d much rather I ask you,” Jisoo replies with the same smirk that is really starting to get on Jeonghan’s nerves.
“J-just use the computers!” Jeonghan counters, flustered. He moves to walk away, but not before turning back to add, “And my name is Jeonghan. Yoon Jeonghan.”
Jisoo tilts his head in consideration for a moment before replying, “Oh, but I think I prefer ‘darling’ instead.”
“You--” Jeonghan starts before he gives up, stalking away to go back to shelving his books. Now he really hopes there is no way he’ll ever run into Hong Jisoo again.
The universe (or rather, one Hong Jisoo), however, has other plans.
--
“Hey Cheol.”
His best friend seems to be too engrossed in studying to reply, so Jeonghan throws a highlighter at his head, which earns him an indignant yell. Across from him, their friend Mingyu stifles a laugh behind his books, while Jihoon pointedly ignores their antics as he focuses on his laptop.
“What was that for?”
“We’ve been studying non-stop for hours anyway, it’s time for a break,” Jeonghan reasons. It was true, he had asked the others to come over to study that evening as midterms were coming up soon. Jeonghan lives alone, and since it could get lonely sometimes, he likes to ask his friends to hang out at his place often. After he admitted this to Seungcheol once, his best friend now likes to invade his house every so often too.
“You sounded like you wanted ask me something though?” Seungcheol stretches his arms over his head, books and notes now completely forgotten on the coffee table.
“Yeah, have you ever heard of a Hong Jisoo? He studies medicine like you.”
Before Seungcheol can answer however, Mingyu cuts in, “Bro, I don’t study med and even I’ve heard of Hong Jisoo.”
“I wasn’t aware he was that well-known...” Jeonghan trails off contemplatively.
“Why are you asking about Hong Jisoo?” Seungcheol asks, narrowing his eyes in question.
“Oh, it’s just that he’s come up to me a few times at the library so I was curious if you knew him, that’s all,” Jeonghan says to Seungcheol nonchalantly, as if his (attractive) face hasn’t been on his mind ever since that second time he came up to him in the library.
“Did he bother you or something?” Jihoon asks, looking up from his laptop screen. Great, now even Jihoon’s interested.
“No, of course not!” Jeonghan replies probably a little too defensively, if the reactions of his three friends are anything to go by. Jihoon has an eyebrow raised, Mingyu is looking at him in concern, and Seungcheol, his best friend who knows him oh so well, is looking at him with suspicion.
“Well, I’d just be careful around him” Seungcheol says with a bit more of a serious tone. “He doesn’t have the best reputation around school, and even in class he doesn’t give off the impression of being the most approachable. Sometimes he comes to class looking all beat up too, so I bet he’s going off getting into fights.”
“He sounds like bad news, hyung. Do you think he’s in a gang?” Mingyu interjects with wide eyes.
Jeonghan thinks back to his previous two interactions with Hong Jisoo. The other had made him feel annoyed, yes, but definitely not intimidated. Sure, Jisoo might dress the part of a stereotypical bad boy, with his all-black ensemble complete with leather jacket, piercings lining each ear, and combat boots. But his soft voice definitely did not fit the bill, and what kind of so-called gang member getting into fights everyday would study medicine and spend time getting books they need from the library?
“You can’t just assume someone’s in a gang just because they come to class with a bruised face every so often,” Jeonghan scolds Mingyu, who gives him a kicked puppy look.
“You seem awfully defensive of someone you hardly know,” Jihoon’s eyebrow is now raised further, if that was even possible, and Jeonghan now regrets asking about Hong Jisoo in the first place.
“I’m not being defensive, I’m just saying we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and whatnot,” Jeonghan grumbles. He grabs his highlighter and turns back to his books, ignoring the curious glances the three of them are shooting his way.
“Let’s just get back to studying.” Maybe he can cram in enough law knowledge to push all the thoughts of Hong Jisoo out of his head.
--
Jeonghan stretches his arms over his head, reaching over to grab his phone at the edge of his desk to check the time.
12:23 AM.
It’s late, but all this studying makes him crave some chips. Jeonghan knows that he's out of his favourite brand of chips (Seungcheol had eaten them all yesterday when he came over, what a great best friend). It isn't too late though that he can't just run over to the convenience store down the road to grab some. It’s a 5-minute walk at most, 3 minutes if he speed walks.
Making a decision, Jeonghan grabs his wallet and jacket by the door, slipping on his sneakers before making his way out. Perhaps he’ll grab a drink too, his favourite pear drink sounds pretty good right about now to keep himself awake while studying.
He’s only able to make it halfway to the convenience store though, before he hears a scuffle in one of the dark alleyways. Jeonghan usually knows better than to interfere in somebody else’s (dangerous) business, but he stops in his tracks when he recognizes the leather jacket, black combat boots, and piercings glinting in the dim streetlight – Hong Jisoo is engaging in a fight in the dark alleyway in the middle of the night. It does look like Jisoo is pretty good at throwing punches, as well as dodging here and there, but Jeonghan realizes he can only do so much when he’s one against three.
Now Jeonghan was no fighter, but he does pride himself in being above average in intelligence, so he does the next best thing he can think of – he searches for a video of police sirens on YouTube, turning up the volume on his phone. Jeonghan sees the guys Jisoo’s fighting curse and flee down the alleyway, and he immediately lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes his plan had worked.
When the coast is clear, he runs up to Jisoo, “Are you okay?”
What he is not expecting, however, is to be ignored by the other. Jisoo pushes past him, albeit gently, towards a dark corner where someone who Jeonghan previously did not notice was hiding in the shadows.
“Are you alright, Chan?” Jisoo’s voice was laced with genuine concern.
Jeonghan moves closer to see a young boy, probably a high schooler, looking at Jisoo with a scared but thankful look. Luckily, he looks largely unharmed.
“Yeah, I am. Thanks for coming, Jisoo-hyung,” the boy, Chan, replies with a quiet voice.
“Don’t worry about it, kid.” Jisoo ruffles Chan’s hair. “Now go on home, okay? Stop going out so late.”
“You’re not my mom,” Chan grumbles, but he picks up his backpack from the ground nonetheless and puts it on. He bows to Jeonghan too, “Thank you, too,” he says, before running off. It’s silent between the two of them as they watch Chan disappear around the corner. Jeonghan is about to turn to leave, eager to just grab his chips and drink so that he can get back to studying but is interrupted by the other.
“Now you,” Jisoo turns to Jeonghan with his arms crossed and a hard look, “need to also stop going out so late and learn to mind your own business.”
“What--” Jeonghan is at a loss for words, “I just saved you!”
“I had the situation under control, darling, thank you very much.” Jisoo brushes past him and saunters out of the alleyway out into the street.
Jeonghan chases after him, grabbing his arm, but lets go when he notices Jisoo slightly wincing. He remembers Jisoo blocking a particularly hard kick with his left arm in the fight just now. Instead, Jeonghan laces their fingers together, pulling Jisoo in the direction of the convenience store.
“Where are you dragging me?” Jisoo questions, but nonetheless lets Jeonghan do as he pleases even though he’s pretty sure Jisoo is strong enough to pull his hand out of his grip.
“You’re going to accompany me to the convenience store since I ‘shouldn’t be going out so late’.” Jeonghan replies with determination, as the two make their way down the street. Jeonghan doesn’t see the fond smile on Jisoo’s face.
--
Jeonghan drops his favourite brand of chips into the basket that he made Jisoo hold as soon as they stepped foot into the convenience store, along with the pear drink he always likes drinking. The two are still holding hands (Jeonghan tells himself it’s because he doesn’t want to risk the other running way). After getting all the snacks he needs, Jeonghan makes his way to the essentials aisle, grabbing antiseptic, cotton balls, and band-aids. As a last stop, he stops by the freezer and grabs a chocolate popsicle, dropping everything into the basket Jisoo was holding.
Jeonghan unfortunately has to let go of Jisoo’s hand when they go pay, but he keeps an eye on the other just to make sure that he doesn’t run away. Jisoo silently stands beside him as Jeonghan rummages through his pockets for his wallet, and even obediently follows him outside the store afterwards.
“Sit down,” Jeonghan says as he places the plastic bag filled with his purchases carefully on one of the tables just outside the store, taking a seat himself. He doesn’t even wait to see if Jisoo listens, already rummaging through the bag for the chocolate popsicle. He’s pleased to see that the other has taken a seat next to him when he’s found the frozen treat though.
“Here,” Jeonghan holds the popsicle out to Jisoo.
“I don’t like chocolate popsicles,” is the response he gets, and Jeonghan just rolls his eyes.
“No, you idiot, it’s for you to ice your arm. And before you try to deny it, I saw you wince when I grabbed it so don’t even try to argue.”
For a second, Jeonghan really thinks the other would continue with his tough guy act, but Jisoo just takes the popsicle with a small word of thanks, holding it up to his left forearm. With a content smile on his face, Jeonghan turns back to the plastic bag and brings out the antiseptic and cotton balls, moving efficiently to soak them in the solution.
“This is going to sting, but it’ll be over soon, okay?”
“I’m not a kid, I can take it,” Jisoo scoffs, at which Jeonghan just chuckles quietly, already used to Jisoo’s snark. He shifts forward in his seat with the cotton ball in his hand, dabbing at Jisoo’s split lip as gently as he can. Jisoo hardly winces, and Jeonghan tries to ignore the ache in his heart at the thought of how often this happens for Jisoo to have gotten used to this sort of pain. He moves onto cleaning the blood coming from a wound on the other’s forehead next, oblivious to Jisoo staring. When he’s satisfied that the wound is clean, he places a band-aid softly over after, giggling softly over the Pororo design (he totally chose that design on purpose). Those giggles stop abruptly however, when Jeonghan notices how close his face has gotten to Jisoo’s. Up close, the other’s features are even more handsome, and he finds his gaze trailing over the other’s eyes, nose, and finally his lips. Jeonghan snaps out of it when he sees those said lips form a smirk, and he quickly puts some much needed distance between the two of them.
“T-there, all done,” Jeonghan quickly cleans up, standing up to throw away all the garbage. He grabs the bag with the remaining chips and drink, hovering over where Jisoo’s still seated. “I’ll be heading home now. Stay out of trouble, I guess.”
“Let me walk you home as thanks,” Jisoo says as he stands up, still with that infuriating smirk on his face.
“I’ll be fine, my place is literally a 5-minute walk away,” Jeonghan says as he starts walking quickly in the direction of his apartment, hoping that the other doesn’t follow him.
“A lot can happen in 5 minutes, darling,” Jisoo unfortunately catches up to him and is walking backwards while facing him, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Jeonghan chooses to ignore the hidden meaning behind the other’s words and keeps walking, “Do what you want.” Jisoo grins and falls into step next to him. He also opens up the (probably half-melted) chocolate popsicle still in his hands, taking a large bite.
“I thought you didn’t like chocolate popsicles?”
“Oops, I lied.”
What a menace.
--
A whole night and morning passes, and Jeonghan can’t get Jisoo’s infuriating smirk out of his head. He’s already caught himself shelving the wrong book two times, and he’s currently staring at the third wrongly shelved book in his hand with an annoyed look on his face.
“You’re looking at that book like it murdered your whole family.” Jeonghan startles in place at the sudden voice and turns to see the same infuriating smirk that has been plaguing his mind since the night before, except this time it’s there in real life. He notices that Jisoo has left the Pororo band-aid on his forehead and is tempted to ask him why he didn’t change it into a more normal looking one as soon as he got home. Before he can though, Jisoo holds up a familiar looking drink to his face.
“You’re looking a bit out of it, fancy a cold refreshing drink?” It takes a few moments for Jeonghan’s eyes to focus on the pear drink which Jisoo’s holding so close to his face, but once he does, he recognizes the drink that he had bought the night before at the convenience store. A small part of him feels warm at the thought that Jisoo remembers what he bought. Another more rational part reminds him that it could just be a coincidence, and Jeonghan tries not to feel disappointed.
“You’re not allowed to drink in the library,” is what his brain tells him to say before he can stop himself, and Jeonghan wonders if he’s imagining the brief flash of disappointment in Jisoo’s eyes, but it’s gone before he can process it. Jisoo moves to take the drink away, but Jeonghan is faster and grabs it from his grasp.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t want it though,” he says in a quiet voice. “Thank you. I’ll just drink it after my shift.”
A wide grin spreads across Jisoo’s face, “When is your shift over?”
“What?”
“Let’s grab a coffee together,” Jisoo says like he’s not giving Jeonghan room to say no. Jeonghan finds that he doesn’t really care. “My treat, as a thank you for yesterday.”
“O-oh, um, I finish at 2 today,” Jeonghan replies.
“Great, meet you at the front doors at 2 then!” Jisoo says as he turns to leave, but as he does, he turns back and gives Jeonghan another one of his infuriating (breathtaking) smirks. “See you, darling!”
--
Two hours and another three wrongly shelved books later, Jeonghan makes his way towards the front doors of the library. He sees Jisoo waiting for him, and Jeonghan finds himself unconsciously smiling at the Pororo band-aid on the other’s forehead which stands out against the other’s all black outfit.
“Darling, how was work?” Jisoo says in a mockingly sweet tone, and Jeonghan embarrassingly speed walks past him outside the doors in hopes that none of his coworkers at the library notice their interaction. Jisoo simply follows him out with a laugh.
“How’s Heaven’s Cloud Café?” Jisoo asks once they’re outside, slinging an arm around Jeonghan’s shoulders, making him stumble slightly under the sudden weight.
“Sounds good, I like their coffee and cakes,” Jeonghan replies with a small smile. “You don’t have to treat me though, it’s not like I was looking for anything in return when I helped you yesterday.”
Jisoo is about to retort but is interrupted by a loud shout of Jeonghan’s name. The both of them turn to the source of the shout to find Mingyu running towards them with a frantic look on his face.
“Jeonghan-hyung!” He’s panting by the time he reaches the two of them, bent over with his hands on his knees. It’s weird, because Mingyu is pretty athletic, but Jeonghan brushes it off as his worry takes precedence.
“Mingyu, are you okay? What happened?”
“I need your help! You have to come with me!” Mingyu says as he grabs Jeonghan’s arm and pulls him out of Jisoo’s hold. Jeonghan practically stumbles into the taller man’s arms and misses the way Jisoo’s eyebrows furrow. “It’s urgent!”
Jeonghan stares at Mingyu, hesitating for a moment, before he turns back to Jisoo with an apologetic look on his face, “Jisoo, I’m sorry--”
“It’s fine, I understand,” Jisoo says, the usual smirk replaced with an impassive look. “I’ll get going now then.” He leaves with a nod and nothing more, and Jeonghan frowns. He tries not to think about the uncomfortable feeling in his chest he gets when he realizes that Jisoo had left without a “see you around”, and without calling him “darling” like he usually does.
“How was my acting, hyung?”
“...What?” Jeonghan turns to Mingyu, who has somehow miraculously recovered from being out of breath.
“You’re welcome for saving you from Hong Jisoo!” the other says with a proud look on his face. Jeonghan’s stomach drops, and suddenly Jisoo’s reaction makes a lot more sense.
“Who said I needed saving?” Jeonghan asks exasperatedly, which makes Mingyu’s proud look morph into a confused one. “I can’t believe--” He must look pretty angry because Mingyu now has a kicked puppy look on his face, but Jeonghan decides now is not the time. He instead turns to look frantically in the direction Jisoo had gone off in, but he can’t catch a glimpse of the other anymore. How in the world did Jisoo walk so fast?
Jeonghan resignedly looks down at the pear drink he’s been holding tightly in his hands. He doesn’t feel like drinking it anymore.