Chapter Text
“Hwang Hyunjin is here, boss.”
That's what Jeongin heard from his earpiece over twenty minutes ago. And yet, he hadn't seen one single trace of his boyfriend anywhere from the end of the bar that he worked.
For years now– ever since he and Hyunjin started dating– it was a common occurrence for Hyunjin to make his way into SD2; one of the most popular night clubs in all of South Korea, while Jeongin was bartending. Jeongin loved his company and seeing his face in contrast to the countless drunks that would make themselves at home in the seats in front of him. In a way, just seeing Hyunjin’s face was enough of a break to get him through the rest of his shift.
Today, though, Jeongin was on the tail end of his shift at the point where the club actually stopped allowing anyone inside just because it was too close to closing time. It was hard enough trying to kick everyone out once 6am hit. But considering the fact that Minho owned this club and Hyunjin was one of his VIP guests, Hyunjin was granted the free reign to walk straight on through.
So where was he at?
A light huff escaped Jeongin without him meaning to. He was working on gathering up as many abandoned glasses from the bar area as he could to get through his closing duties as quick as possible. If Hyunjin really were here, he wouldn't want to make him wait around forever.
“Just where is he, anyway?” Jeongin muttered under his breath to no one but himself and maybe his favorite ghost that inhabited the club.
He took a moment to look up from where he was washing everything to scan the area before him. The people who were still conscious of time and their surroundings were beginning to file out of here since they were starting to close. This left the usually dense sea of people on the floor to be more spread out and easier for Jeongin to pick people out from it. Still, there were no signs of Hyunjin anywhere. Nor did he see even his boss out on the floor.
“Just what did hyung do, keep him locked up in his office? Usually it doesn't take him this long to come over to me.”
By the way Hyunjin was seemingly taking his sweet, precious time to make it over to him, Jeongin could only imagine that he had done something to tick Minho off. He wouldn't be surprised if he did, anyway. Hyunjin had a big mouth and Minho liked to shut it. Knowing that his boss couldn't keep his boyfriend from him forever, Jeongin shrugged it off and continued on with his work.
More and more people found their way out of SD2 as time ticked by. And if they didn't find their way out themselves, there was plenty of security to show them the way. Sometimes the drunks needed a little extra assistance in leaving the place when it was time to do so.
Regardless of Hyunjin’s lack of presence in front of him, Jeongin didn't slow down in ticking his closing tasks off one by one. The faster it was done, the faster he could leave once Hyunjin showed his face. And it wasn’t as though Jeongin was hurting for hours and needed to stretch his time out. Between having a full work schedule and Hyunjin personally buying whatever the hell he wanted himself, Jeongin was more than set with money.
More accurately speaking, being Hyunjin’s boyfriend was his full time job with bartending at Minho’s club being his hobby. Though, he started bartending long before he ever became an item with Hyunjin. He just never wanted to quit his job for the fact that he liked it so much. And having his own money never hurt, either.
Somewhere along his line of cleaning up, Jeongin felt someone watching him. This sense of feeling was something he had honed over time because of his job. He needed to see everything at once and make sure no one was being ignored. And also, maybe there was a bit of paranoia that fueled this skill.
When he turned around, he saw him. Hwang Hyunjin in the flesh. He was sitting at the far end of his bar in one of his expensive button-up shirts and even pricier silver necklaces that could easily pay for a month of his apartment’s rent. But he expected no less from Hyunjin. His boyfriend was a supermodel after all, and it was his job to always look exquisite. Most of the things he wore were given to him as gifts, anyhow.
“Where have you been hiding?” were the first words to come out of Jeongin’s mouth after having laid eyes on his gorgeous boyfriend.
Being so incredibly beautiful, one might think that Jeongin might choose to say something that would cause butterflies to flutter around in Hyunjin’s stomach instead. That he might always be on good behavior to get his way with Hyunjin. But this was Jeongin and that was Hyunjin. And everything Jeongin said made Hyunjin feel like a school girl kicking her feet at the slightest attention given to her by her crush.
At the end of every single day, Hyunjin was a hopeless romantic for Jeongin.
“I was talking to Minho,” Hyunjin answered with a warm smile that lit up Jeongin’s entire world with incredible ease. Yet, the words that came out of it seemed doubtful.
“For over twenty minutes?”
Hyunjin just shrugged. “We had a lot to say to each other.”
Jeongin deadpanned at him for a moment before getting back to work. Now that Hyunjin was finally in front of him, he really needed to speed it up.
“Don’t go aggravating my boss. I like to work comfortably, you know.”
Hyunjin propped an elbow up on the counter to rest his cheek against it. He rolled his eyes at the notion. “If anything, he's the one that aggravates me. But we were civil today.”
“For once,” Jeongin corrected.
Hyunjin shrugged once more, seemingly calm with whatever mysterious events had just taken place behind the closed door to Minho’s office. “It feels easier to mess with him now that he’s engaged to Jisung. By association, he’s practically my brother in law.”
Not to misunderstand, Hyunjin and Minho got along swimmingly. They were friends even before Hyunjin and Jeongin got together. At least now that they were dating, Jeongin served as a sort of shield for Hyunjin against Minho. Jeongin was extremely protective of Hyunjin and Minho liked Jeongin too much to honestly do anything ill to Hyunjin. But it was still fun to quarrel and threaten Hyunjin, anyway. Life would be too boring without it.
Sometimes, too, Jeongin would completely ignore Minho’s vendetta against Hyunjin. Sometimes he thought Hyunjin deserved what was coming to him. He was in love with the man, yes, but he wasn't a huge supporter in Hyunjin’s dumb decision making.
Not much more time had passed until Jeongin was finally done with his work and he was free to leave. For the sole purpose of being able to leave on a dime, Jeongin kept all of his belongings in a small space behind the bar. All that was left for him to do after he got his bag was stick his radio and earpiece in the charging port and leave.
A hallway in the back served as the location for storing the club radios. It wasn't too out of the way from the door and Hyunjin happily trailed along beside Jeongin the entire way. No staff ever dared to tell Hyunjin he was restricted from some areas. Hell, he could walk behind the counter of the bar and make himself a drink and no one would bat an eye at him. Well, perhaps Jeongin would. He didn't need customers thinking his boyfriend worked there and start bothering him. It was just a good thing that Hyunjin was always under the watchful eye of the club’s security team as per Minho’s orders.
Not only did Minho find it important that his friends were well protected in his club, but he knew Jeongin’s feelings far too well. If Jeongin caught sight of someone harassing his boyfriend, the security team would have to worry not for Hyunjin’s safety, but for whoever was bold enough to mess with him. To say the least, Jeongin did not play nicely with those who got too close to Hyunjin.
“You came late today,” Jeongin noted to Hyunjin as they both walked side by side down the sidewalk together.
Thankfully for Jeongin, he didn't live too far from SD2. Of course taking a subway would be much faster in getting to his apartment, he preferred the walk to it instead just so he could avoid the morning rush crowd. It wasn't far. His slowest time yet had been 20 minutes and that was purely because he was doting around. Twelve to fifteen minutes were far more accurate of how long it took him to get from his work to the front of his apartment building.
From Jeongin’s side, Hyunjin reached out and looped their pinkies together as they walked. With a tilted head he gazed down in infatuation at his partner. “I specifically wanted to walk you home.”
Familiar heat gradually rose to Jeongin’s cheeks as those words passed through his ears. He had heard that phrase before and he had walked home in Hyunjin’s company countless times. But when Hyunjin smiled at him like he was the only thing of importance in the entire world and vocalized his desire for wanting to spend mundane time like this with him, Jeongin found it impossible to not fall under his spell. Long ago he convinced himself that Hyunjin was actually a Siren and he hadn't lived down that theory yet.
“You could have at least come in time to have a drink,” Jeongin murmured, doing his best to find some sort of flaw in Hyunjin’s thinking.
But Hyunjin was swift in his rebuttal, saving himself instantly. “It’s not like I’m going home after dropping you off, Innie. If you want me to have a drink with you at your place, I will.”
At this point he could feel his cheeks stinging. Not to worry, though. Jeongin was a professional when it came to concealing his facial expressions. It came straight from his job of having to deal with all sorts of different customers. While in public, he wouldn't let himself fall victim to Hyunjin’s smooth words. Holding pinkies with him publicly was about as much attention as he wanted to draw to himself. Hyunjin was a popular model/dancer and Jeongin was nothing but a bartender.
In response, Jeongin tightened his pinky around Hyunjin’s and dipped his head ever so slightly. He couldn't come up with a verbal reply, so he let his answer be known through hand gestures instead.
Jeongin was not one to display his emotions on his sleeve unless no one was looking. Hyunjin knew this fact very well and had grown to find the hints he would give instead. It was all fine with him. At the end of every single day he knew what Jeongin’s feelings were to him and that's all that mattered.
Once they made their way into Jeongin’s apartment, Jeongin made a beeline for his kitchen. Being the bartender that he was, Jeongin always had a stock of liquors and beers in his apartment. Though, the only people he ever had to provide for were usually Hyunjin or Felix. Seungmin came over to his apartment to hang out quite often, but he had a strong stance on never drinking. But that was fine. Jeongin was an expert at making mocktails, too.
“I’m going to take a quick shower, so I’ll leave you with this to keep yourself busy,” Jeongin explained as he sat down a bottle of soju but two shot glasses on the table. “Save some for me, okay?”
Hyunjin made himself more than at home at the table as he went ahead with cracking the bottle open. “You know I will.”
This time Jeongin offered him a small smile. One that said he knew he would and he was happy that he would get to come out of the shower to drink with him. So, without ever voicing it, Jeongin headed into his room to get a change of comfortable clothes before making his way into the bathroom.
Tossing his clothes onto the counter, Jeongin moved to turn the water on. He absolutely hated going in while it was cold so he always used that time to undress and remove his jewelry.
As per his routine, the very last thing he takes off is the fox shaped ring that Hyunjin got for him years ago and puts it safely into its box. It had been bought as a joke. Hyunjin saw the silver ring that was of a fox with its head stretching along the band to meet its tail and was instantly reminded of his beloved. He had bought it simply because it was cute like Jeongin, but Jeongin wore it religiously on the only finger it fit on: his left ring finger.
Jeongin had lost the thing once and thought his entire world had ended. He loved that ring. Out of everything he had ever received from Hyunjin, it was his favorite. It was his most prized possession.
Directly underneath and hidden by the silver fox ring on his left ring finger was a tiny tattoo of a fox that circled the entirety of his finger. One night during a party at Changbin’s house, Jeongin had passed out drunk on Hyunjin. And being the incredibly caring boyfriend that he was, Hyunjin watched over him and spent his time doodling a sleeve of foxes all over one of Jeongin’s arms. Jeongin had woken up the next day and asked Hyunjin to trace them over on paper for him so he could keep the drawings in a way.
Then, for Hyunjin’s next birthday, Jeongin took the traced-over version to the tattoo parlor and got one of them tattooed to his ring finger in such a way that it would be hidden under his ring. He didn't want people’s attention drawn to it, but he really liked the drawings and he thought it would be a lovely idea as a present for Hyunjin. Hyunjin just about cried from how touched he was when he saw it.
It was one of the only things that held him over during the time he had lost his ring. Whereas he couldn't find the silver fox anywhere, he still had the tattooed one. Every day he rubbed at it sadly, missing the weight of his beloved ring against his finger. He nearly snapped Jisung’s spine in two from how hard he hugged him when his friend came waltzing into SD2 with it. Jisung just so happened to find it in his shared apartment with Felix and Jeongin felt like an idiot for not checking with them sooner. Especially with the way he cried so hard and tore apart his own apartment looking for the damn thing.
His friends all said how he and Hyunjin were practically married. Though, they were the only couple that weren't living together. Felix moved in with Changbin at the same time that Jisung moved in with Minho. Seungmin was strictly aromantic and Chan remained single, so out of all couples, Jeongin and Hyunjin were the only ones still living separately. But it never did feel that way.
Between both of their homes, Jeongin and Hyunjin could more than likely be found together. Just as Hyunjin would occasionally go to SD2 to see Jeongin and leave with him, Jeongin would constantly input himself into Hyunjin’s home. He even had his own key to get in. Besides the times Hyunjin would be away for filming or a photo shoot, it was uncommon for them to not be at one of their homes together at least a few times a week.
Jeongin doesn't waste much time showering and cleaning all the makeup off his face. Whenever Hyunjin was here he was always record-fast with his showers and getting back out to him. He didn't even bother with fully drying his hair. Simply, he rubbed the towel against it to get as much moisture out as possible, brushed it out, and went on his merry way.
More than half of the soju bottle had been saved for Jeongin’s company when the younger made it out. Hyunjin had already gone ahead and done the pleasure of pouring his boyfriend a shot and waited patiently for his return.
A fond smile came up to Hyunjin’s face at first sight of Jeongin walking out towards him. Despite no longer dressed for the club, Hyunjin thought Jeongin’s casualware was extremely endearing. No one could pull off a simple t-shirt and soft shorts like his boyfriend could. All he wanted to do was reach out and squish him into a hug. But he refrained simply because he knew Jeongin was in no way, shape, or form a physical person and he liked to let him initiate those sorts of things.
Jeongin moved to sit in the seat directly beside Hyunjin and take a hold of his shot glass. He held it out between the two of them and waited for Hyunjin to pick up his own.
Not needing any sort of cheers, Hyunjin went ahead and took a hold of his shot glass to clank it lightly against Jeongin’s. They both smiled at each other just before throwing the shots back and setting them on the table in unison.
Jeongin was the first to speak up as Hyunjin refilled their shots. “Did you work long today? Or did you get off way before you came to SD2? You look refreshed.”
“It’s because I got to see you that I look like this~” Hyunjin grinned in a cheesy manner, prompting Jeongin to lightly smack his knee and endearingly call him a dummy.
With a short laugh, Hyunjin set the soju bottle down and lightly nudged Jeongin’s shot closer to him with a point of his finger. “I took a nap before I came to see you,” he admitted honestly. “I really wanted to be awake with you right now.”
“I’m a bit surprised,” Jeongin says, taking his long fingers to hold the rim of the shot glass. But he doesn't pick it up. His eyes are stuck on Hyunjin and he doesn't bother with entertaining their shared drink for the moment. “Usually when you come so late, you want to take a nap here with me. Or at your house. Either way, you like waiting until I'm around to sleep if it's already this late.”
Hyunjin’s mouth contorted into a funny little smile at that. Jeongin knew him like an open book with highlighted markings on each page. And he loved that. He loved that Jeongin took extreme notes on him and his habits and knew him so well. It proved to be a challenge to keep anything from him.
“You caught me,” Hyunjin chuckled and it sent Jeongin’s heart doing a black flip in his chest. He loved that sound dearly. “I did specifically sleep before I went to see you. I wanted to talk to you as soon as we got here.”
Falling away from any obvious clues, Jeongin blinked steadily at him. So far Hyunjin had let him shower without saying anything. Was it something that could wait like that?
He tilted his head to a degree and asked, “what about?”
Leaning over now, Hyunjin reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a folded card. Without opening it or saying a word, he hands it over.
Jeongin flicked his eyes down to the card and back up at Hyunjin. The card was white and as pristine as it could be after being stuffed into Hyunjin’s back pocket and sat on. On one side had Hyunjin’s name handwritten in beautiful English letters. Jeongin could at least read that much.
“What is that?”
But Hyunjin just makes a point at placing it in Jeongin’s hand that wasn't touching his shot glass. Jeongin would have been nervous about the contents of it had Hyunjin not been looking so happy about whatever it was.
He goes ahead and opens up the card by sliding his thumb in between the space of the front and back. For someone who lives in Korea and speaks Korean, these people sure did love to write to him in English. Without feeling like he was having a stroke, Jeongin did the bare minimum in figuring out it was an event Hyunjin was being invited to. But what or where it was was completely unknown to him.
“It's an invitation to see the new Versace collaboration collection in France,” Hyunjin finally translated for him. “A lot of famous people will be there.”
Realization hit Jeongin all at once in the form of an electric shock that shot down his spine.
“Oh! Hyun, that's amazing!” Slapping the card down on the table top, Jeongin leaned forward until he could wrap his arms around Hyunjin’s neck in a hug.
Hyunjin’s own arms found themselves coiling around Jeongin’s slender waist and hugging him tighter. With Jeongin in this close proximity Hyunjin could smell the scent of cotton shampoo and body wash that lingered on Jeongin. He inhaled it all in slowly and deeply like a sigh. God, he loved that smell. Anything that smelt like his Jeongin he loved.
When Jeongin leaned back, he kept his hands at Hyunjin’s shoulders while the other kept his at his waist. Jeongin was hardly even in his own seat at the moment.
“You really get to go to France for a fashion show? When do you leave? I can watch Kkami for you, obviously.”
Rather than answering any questions immediately, Hyunjin spent a few wordless moments doing nothing other than gaze into the sparkling eyes of Jeongin. Glee filled his heart at the sight of Jeongin looking at him with such excitement and pride. He could always count on his number one fan to show their support in these cases.
Not wanting to miss a single second of Jeongin’s expression, Hyunjin kept his eyes locked onto him as he spoke his next words.
“I leave in two weeks, but… I don't want you to watch Kkami.”
Jeongin faltered. Slowly he reeled his hands back into himself and moved backwards in his seat to get out of Hyunjin’s space. His mouth was open to speak, but he couldn't even fathom the words he wanted to get out.
Whenever Hyunjin would be out of town, Jeongin was always the one to watch Kkami. Sometimes Jeongin brought the dog to his own apartment just so he could still be as close to work as possible. Other times he would blow off work completely just because of how much Hyunjin would pay him to watch the little dog.
And Jeongin did a great job at taking care of the little Chihuahua. Kkami was practically Hyunjin’s child, so of course Jeongin would do every single thing he could for them. So, what changed Hyunjin’s mind this time?
“Are… are you taking him with you?” Jeongin eventually got out into words. That could be the only reason as to why Hyunjin didn't want him to watch him. If Kkami went to France with Hyunjin, Hyunjin could watch him himself.
But Hyunjin was turning down that possibility with a shake of his head. “No, I’m not taking Kkami with me.”
In all fairness, that broke Jeongin’s heart to a degree. Hyunjin wasn’t taking Kkami and he didn't want him to watch the dog? That was harsh. Jeongin liked having at least a little reminder about Hyunjin while he was gone. Now what was he supposed to do?
Gradually and gently, Hyunjin reached over and took up Jeongin’s hands in his own. His fingers on his right hand worked at rotating Jeongin’s fox ring until it was twisted forward just enough to see the tattoo beneath it. With a complete look of adoration, Hyunjin rubbed at the ink in such a manner that he was afraid it would come off if he was too harsh.
“I want you to come with me instead.”
Hyunjin felt Jeongin freeze in time in his grasp. He swore that Jeongin’s usually quick-beating heart had come to an abrupt halt. But then, Hyunjin felt the pulse resume through the tiny little veins in his hands.
“Wha… me…?” Jeongin hardly got the word out above a whisper so he tried again. “Me? You want me to go with you to a high class fashion show?”
“To France,” Hyunjin corrected him gently. “I can't get you into the show– even though I would love to have you be there– but I can take you to France. You can stay with me and we can explore together. Before and after the show.”
Not knowing what to do, Jeongin sat there in wide-eyed bewilderment. His mouth hung open in slight agape as he tried to think of what to say.
Hyunjin continued for him. “The reason I was talking with Minho for so long was because I was begging him to take you off the schedule for the days I would be there. He said as long as you wanted to go, he would clear it for you.”
“You–” Jeongin coughed once, quietly. “You actually already went through hyung to take me off the schedule? You did? Usually it's me asking because he likes me better.”
To say Jeongin was surprised was an understatement. He swore that Minho found great pleasure in telling Hyunjin ‘no’ no matter what the subject matter was. For Hyunjin to feel so confident in himself that he would go around Jeongin to ask Minho anything told Jeongin just how hopeful he was. Still, Hyunjin goes forward in vocalizing just that.
Nodding, Hyunjin smiled sweetly to him. “I really really want you to come with me, so I asked him first if it was okay. But I won't force you to go if you don't want to.”
Jeongin couldn't help but to look away and scoff. He couldn't believe that. “Hyun.” He looked back at him seriously this time. “Did you really think I would say no? When have I ever said no to you when asking me to go someplace with you?”
A wide grin cracked across Hyunjin’s face this time. The answer was never. Never had Jeongin ever turned him down on accompanying him somewhere. No matter the place or time, Jeongin would agree without a thought about it.
Pleased now, Hyunjin pulls Jeongin’s hands up and places a kiss down on the backs of both of them. There, he holds them comfortably in his lap and shines a beautiful smile to Jeongin.
“Well, I guess you better pack your bags.”