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Chan has a terrible habit of letting his anger get the best of him. He's aware of it, and it's the reason he persistently ends up in situations like this. There has to be something truly, genuinely, deeply wrong with him, probably psychologically.
He fucked up. If he were a better person, he wouldn't be in this situation; he'd be at home in his too-small apartment, cuddled up with his ugly dog, drinking the last of his ex's expensive wine and watching whatever drama Seungkwan recommended this week.
Instead, he sits in the police station, waiting with a clearly overworked rookie officer for an interpreter to show up.
It'd been a shit show, genuinely. Chan had thrown a bag of dog shit at his ex's car, and then when it didn't make a big enough mess, he used the bag to smear it around. It was unfortunate, really, that the officer happened to be walking by just as he was about to leave.
He was sure the cop was scolding him. There's no way that this is illegal. It's morally wrong, sure, but illegal?
I am deaf, he signed. When the cop stared at him blankly, Chan exaggeratedly pointed at his ears. He watched the cop's expression cycle through the same ones he sees every time he meets someone new: eyes widening in understanding, mouth slightly agape, and then it quickly fell into that weird expression that's somewhere between a grimace and confusion as they try to figure out how to communicate with a deaf person.
Apparently, putting dog shit on someone's car is illegal.
Chan had almost fallen asleep by the time the interpreter finally arrived, his eyelids heavy and his head tilted back against the wall. His jaw practically drops open when he takes in the sight of the man before him. Oh no, he's hot. His dark hair was messy like he was in a rush to get here, and the prettiest brown eyes were contradictorily intense yet gentle as they met his gaze behind thick-rimmed glasses. The interpreter gives Chan a warm smile, and he feels himself melting into a puddle. He wants him.
"Jeon Wonwoo," he introduces himself and bows his head in greeting.
"Lee Chan," Chan replies, finger spelling his name followed by his sign name. "Nice to meet you." He gives him his best smile and hopes he's as embarrassingly down-bad as him.
He almost forgets where they are and the cop sitting two feet away from him. Chan's heart sinks a little when he remembers the circumstances. As far as meet-cutes go, maybe this isn't the type of story people tell their grandkids, but hopefully, he can still talk his way into a first date.
The cop takes some documents into his hand and speaks, and then Wonwoo relays the information. "You have been charged with vandalism and disorderly conduct. You are being fined 600,000 won for the damages,"
Chan turns to the cop and glares, signing fast and angrily, "My scum of an ex-boyfriend isn't here; how can I be fined if he's not here to press charges?" He argues.
The police officer keeps his eyes on Wonwoo, practically ignoring Chan, which only causes his anger to bubble up more, "I'm not sure what your ex has to do with this. I am the one pressing charges."
Chan tilts his head in confusion. His mouth drops into an oh as he lifts his pointer finger and shakes his hand back and forth, signing, "What?"
He swears his heart stops beating when Wonwoo relays the officer's words, "It was my car."
Well, that at least explains why the officer just happened to be walking by at this time of night.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Chan signs over and over again, hoping to get his point across truly, "You have the same car as my shitty ex-boyfriend who cheated on me with his sister, and I guess I was just too angry and wasn't really paying attention. I've also been drinking and—"
He watches as Wonwoo physically chokes as he relays the message to the officer, not even waiting for him to finish his explanation. He effectively cuts off his rambling hands and stares at Chan bewildered, asking for clarification: "His sister?"
Chan aggressively nods his head, "Well, I don't know if they're actually related. I really hope not after what I walked in on, but he introduced her to me as his sister." And then, as an afterthought, he adds, "He also wasn't very good at sign."
"So, your boyfriend cheated on you, and what, you decide to put dog poop on his car?"
"It's his dog that he left with me," The annoyance is visible on his face, and even the cop looks at him sympathetically, "Because he apparently can't do the responsibility of taking care of a dog right now."
"Look, I'm sorry, kid," The cop does look apologetic, "That's a tough situation, but you still smeared dog poop on my car."
Chan can't help the pout on his lips, Fuck. He really fucked up this time. He knew he should've just stayed at home. His eyes flickered over to the interpreter, who was giving him a sympathetic expression; he looked like he was seconds away from offering to fix every single problem that he'd ever faced if it would stop him from being sad.
"Look, here's your fine." The officer hands over a slip of paper. "You have 30 days to pay it. Maybe next time, you should pay attention to whose car you're really defiling." As soon as the officer is done speaking, he gets up and walks away, leaving Chan and the interpreter alone.
Chan stares at the ticket dejectedly, the 600,000 won staring back at him. He's doubly fucked. "What should I do?" He asks the interpreter, "How do I fix this? I don't just have this kind of money lying around."
Wonwoo looks surprised, as if he didn't think Chan would continue speaking to him when there was no longer a need. He points to himself questioningly, and Chan nods to affirm that, yes, he is talking to him.
"Could you maybe ask one of your friends for help?" He suggests with an awkward smile.
Chan shakes his head vehemently in response, "Absolutely not; I'll never hear the end of it for fucking up this bad. They'll be laughing about this until I'm 70. I have to take this to the grave."
Wonwoo lets out a laugh, and Chan loses his breath at how pretty he is, "My friends are like that, too." He signs back, "I figured you'd probably get off easier with a face like that."
Chan blinks, then twice; he's flirting. He can feel the rush of heat to his face and fights the urge to raise his hands and hide behind them. "What do you mean? You're unreasonably, no, unrealistically attractive."
And now Wonwoo's blushing as well, the tips of his ears turning a shade of pink and a shy smile coming across his face. "How about I pay it for you, and you pay me back by going to dinner with me sometime?"
Well, at least one good thing came out of this night.