Work Text:
Jaehyun watches distractedly as the six gyoza sizzle and dance on the pan. The dumplings are for the customer with thick, black plastic frames and goatee who’s dining alone at the counter, just a few feet away from Jaehyun. His brain is on autopilot as he takes the pan off the fire and tips the crisp, golden gyoza onto a teal ceramic plate.
“Enjoy your meal,” he smiles as he places the dish in front of the customer. Once the man starts eating, Jaehyun turns to look at the indigo linen shop curtains. No one.
It’s 8.30pm and there’s still no sign of his roommate. Jaehyun checks his cellphone for what has got to be the hundredth time that night and nope, still nothing from Johnny. No text, no missed call. In fact, KakaoTalk tells him Johnny hasn’t even been online for three hours. Johnny always texts or calls if he knows he’s going to be late so what the hell is up?
Not that Jaehyun is worried or anything. He’s just used to having Johnny chat with him as he cooks up all kinds of food for the customers at the cozy little izakaya he set up together with his business partner Nakamoto Yuta after they’d finished college. Yuta bartends and waits tables while Jaehyun takes care of everything food related.
Yuta is a whole vibe with his black tees and faded jeans, messy blond ponytail, chain arm tattoo and multiple steel piercings. Yuta is everything that’s cool and a great friend on top of all that—but they tend to talk only about work when they’re at work. Yuta isn’t the kind to provide a steady stream of easy chatter while Jaehyun prepares dish after dish for their customers and that’s what he’s missed a lot tonight.
Yuta is a good friend and he’s good company but he’s just not Johnny. Listening to Johnny talk about his day and having Johnny ask about his day has become such a big part of Jaehyun’s routine that he feels kind of lost now that Johnny isn’t sitting in front of him.
It really has been a little too quiet tonight without Johnny’s chill conversation, and if Jaehyun’s being honest with himself, it’s been just a little bit lonely. Honestly, the man is three hours late and he’s never late. But this shouldn’t even be a big deal; like why does he care that his roommate is late?
Where are you, hyung, Jaehyun wonders as he wipes down the counter top with a little more force than necessary.
A few minutes later, a woman in a pale gray suit walks in with a man in a dark gray suit and they order chicken yakitori, aspara nikumaki and agedashi tofu before sitting at a nearby table. Jaehyun is grateful for the distraction as he starts working on their order. God knows it beats stressing about whether anything bad has happened to Johnny.
:::
Jaehyun’s arranging deep fried tofu cubes in a shallow pool of dashi broth when Yuta’s deep voice cuts through the din.
“Niiice.”
That’s all Yuta says but there’s approval in his voice and Jaehyun’s curiosity is piqued. He looks up, his gaze sweeping across the smoky air of the bar before landing on a familiar, tall figure standing in front of the indigo noren .
The tall man is wearing jeans and a slightly wrinkled, button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Huh. Just his standard work wear. Nothing out of the ordinary that would explain being late and out of touch for hours. Then Jaehyun finally looks up at Johnny’s face and forgets to exhale.
It’s Johnny . Of course, it’s Johnny.
Except…it’s not the same Johnny who’d sat across from him fourteen hours ago while they ate jeon and radish kimchi in the sunny kitchen of their two-bedroom apartment.
The Johnny from this morning had chestnut brown hair that hung down to just above his shoulders. But the Johnny in front of him right now? This Johnny has short black hair with a fringe that half covers his eyes and mysterious, midnight blue streaks. Jaehyun can’t tear his eyes away and he can’t decide which Johnny he likes better: the younger-looking, softer one or this more grown-up (and hotter) version he can’t seem to stop staring at. And to be honest, maybe he likes them both the same.
“Bro, that yakitori is about to go up in flames?” Yuta comments, deadpan, as he walks past with a tray of whiskey highballs.
“Oh shit,” Jaehyun hisses and just manages to rescue the chicken skewers about half a second before they cross the line from perfect to charred. Still good, thank God. It would’ve been way too embarrassing if he’d had to grill another set while Johnny watched. Damn it. He’s usually more together than this.
Damn Johnny and damn his lethal new haircut. And damn the blue highlights. The blue highlights don’t help at all.
“Sorry I’m late but I’ve been on zero batt since 5.30 and this took a fucking ridiculous amount of time,” he gestures vaguely at his hair. “Can you charge this up? It’s so dead,” Johnny pleads as he holds his phone up.
“Sure, hyung. You must be hungry. What do you feel like today?” Jaehyun asks and passes the plate of yakitori to Yuta before he starts rolling asparagus spears in papery slices of beef.
“Surprise me,” Johnny says with a lazy smile. The tiny dimple on his left cheek appears and Jaehyun’s chest tightens. He’s seen that dimple a million times so why does seeing it tonight feel so different?
“I…ok,” Jaehyun nods and watches, half-dazed, as Johnny takes a big gulp of the shochu highball Yuta had placed in front of him earlier. His usual drink. Jaehyun has watched him drink highballs a million times but why can’t he stop staring at that mole on his neck all of a sudden (or the way his Adam’s apple moves when he’s swallowing stuff)? Have his forearms always looked so…alluring? Unbidden, Jaehyun wonders how that smooth, pale golden skin of Johnny's arms would feel beneath his fingertips.
Johnny might have been the one who had asked Jaehyun to surprise him but it’s beginning to dawn on him that it’s Johnny who’s been surprising him since he walked in.
:::
The summer night air is a touch too warm and Jaehyun is grateful for the mild breeze tickling his skin as they stroll along Lonsdale Street. Just like he always has, Johnny had helped Jaehyun and Yuta clean and close up the izakaya. Yuta had sped off on his motorbike right after that while Johnny and Jaehyun had started the fifteen-minute walk back to the apartment.
“So why the sudden change, hyung? Your hair?” Jaehyun’s been wanting to ask Johnny since he walked into the izakaya. But for reasons he himself can’t fathom, he had wanted Johnny to share the answer only with him. Selfishly (and inexplicably), he hadn’t wanted Yuta to hear it.
“It was time.”
“Time for what?” Jaehyun frowns as he stares at Johnny’s profile.
“Time to stop waiting, I guess.” Johnny turns to look at him.
“Time to stop waiting for what?”
“Time to stop waiting for you to notice me.”
Johnny sighs, running a hand through his hair. It’s mesmerizing—the way the soft hair falls back into place and the way Johnny’s smile looks just a little bit wistful.
“Well, maybe it worked,” Jaehyun mumbles before gazing awkwardly at the ground. He continues to place one foot in front of the other. Just keep walking, Jaehyun , he tells himself, propelling himself forward until Johnny’s large hand grabs his right arm. Sensations spread like wildfire across his skin at the contact.
“Stop. Just stop for a while, Jaehyunnie.” Johnny’s voice is deep and dark beside his right ear and Jaehyun finally stops moving. “Look at me,” Johnny says in a husky voice.
It’s late and there aren’t many people around so Jaehyun takes a chance and turns to face him. He’s never seen Johnny like that, never seen Johnny stare at him so intensely, like he can’t see anyone but him. Abruptly, Johnny pulls him off of the sidewalk and leads him to a spot behind a tree where no one can see.
Both of Johnny's hands are on his shoulders now and his heart races even more than it’s already been doing the past few minutes. They’ve stood close to each other a million times over the years but Jaehyun swears it’s never felt anything like this.
“What do you mean it worked?” Johnny asks, his hair poking at his eyelashes. Before he knows it, Jaehyun is pushing the dark strands away from Johnny's eyes and his fingertips gently, and not so accidentally trail across the smooth skin of Johnny’s left cheek. Johnny closes his eyes and lets out a shaky breath.
“What do you mean it worked?” Johnny asks again.
“I noticed you.”
“Was it the hair?”
“Sure,” Jaehyun chuckles, looking a little embarrassed.
“Just the hair?”
“Nah. I was on edge all night because you weren’t around.”
“It’s not the first time I haven’t been around,” Johnny says.
“I know. But it was different this time, okay? I almost burnt some gyoza and almost burnt some yakitori and I actually burnt an entire mackerel about an hour before you got in. You were two hours late by then. You’re bad for business, you asshole.” Jaehyun sounds almost bitter. All that wasted food. Jesus .
“Okay, I know it’s serious when you start burning food.” Johnny laughs but his hands are still on Jaehyun’s shoulders and he’s still so close to him.
“Shut up, hyung,” he complains as he shoves Johnny’s hard chest. But Johnny’s always been stronger than him and doesn’t budge at all.
Oh God, he’s way too close .
Jaehyun panics and takes a step backwards, grunting when his back makes painful contact with the coarse tree bark.
“You ok?”
“I’m fine,” Jaehyun grumbles. “You know you could have called to tell me you were gonna be late, right? You could have borrowed someone’s phone, you jerk.”
“I honestly didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I didn’t think you’d care if I didn’t show up. Damn, if I’d known disappearing for a few hours would finally make you notice me, I would have done it years ago. I’m crazy about you, Jaehyun, but you can be so damned oblivious.”
“I don’t not notice you, hyung. We’ve lived together for years. How could I not notice you?”
“But you don’t notice me the way I want. I’m just a friend, roomie, hyung. Nothing special. No one special.” Johnny’s sad smile is back and Jaehyun doesn’t like it. And he especially doesn’t like that he’s the one who put it there.
“That’s not true,” he says as he grabs Johnny’s arm urgently. “When something makes me happy or sad or angry, the first person I want to tell is you. It’s always you. I don’t know when that started but it’s been a while now. You’re the one I share my stories with. All my stories. And you’re the only one whose stories I really want to hear. When I had no idea where you were just now, I was so fucking worried. Like how hard was it to just text or call me? What if you were hurt or lying on a street somewhere? Also I can’t believe I burnt an entire premium mackerel because of you!”
“I’ll pay you for that fish, I swear,” Johnny says and he’s smiling now. A real smile—not the sad one.
“Who cares about that damned fish! I’m just happy you’re safe and you’re here,” Jaehyun admits, sounding more than a little disgruntled.
“So does this mean I can be more than a friend, roomie, hyung to you? Does this mean I can maybe be a boyfriend one day?” Johnny asks tentatively as he strokes his thumb over Jaehyun’s bottom lip.
“Yes,” Jaehyun says just before he leans forward and presses his nose against Johnny’s neck, inhaling the scent of his skin.
Grinning, Johnny pulls him in close and hugs him tightly and it feels good. Johnny has always given good hugs but this hug is the best one Johnny has ever given. And it’s the most natural thing in the world when Jaehyun reaches up and kisses him and Johnny kisses him back.
A small part of Jaehyun’s brain tells him that kissing your best friend should feel weird. But it doesn’t. It doesn’t feel weird at all. It just feels like coming home.