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Khonjin sat on his couch, letting out a loud sigh as he looked at his TV, he was exhausted, he had to walk all the way to his house now that he didn't have powers, and he had started getting the effects of mortality once again. He was scared, confused, angry, he felt too many emotions at once, it felt like his entire world was crashing down. What was gonna happen now? Sure, he believed Gino's idea of making their Boss's life a living hell in order to end the show early, but he didn't know how long that would take. For all he knew, he could be without his powers for weeks, months, YEARS even, and he didn't know if he liked the idea of that.
He had gotten so used to living with a tool that would make his day to day easier, he didn't know what to do with himself now. He was a horrible cook too, he was convinced he was going to die before he could make anything good for himself. He spent so long sulking in his misery, he didn't even realize how fast time had passed until his stomach started screaming for food. Feeling that pit in his stomach almost made him panic, so he took his phone and started looking for recipes to make, trying to go for something that wasn't too difficult to make, but while looking for recipes he gave up and started looking for things in the kitchen cabinets and fridge, looking for anything that could help satisfy his hunger, but since his fridge was almost empty, as well as every other cabinet, he let out a loud sigh and reached for the bag of toast he had and butter, placing these on the counter and taking two pieces of toast of the bag, placing them on the toaster and cranking the time to ten minutes.
Gino on the other hand, was trying to get his thoughts together while laying down on his bed, still in his work clothes, he was wondering what was gonna happen now. He had mixed feelings. On one side, he was the star of his own show! Finally taking the role of THE main character instead of just being “the other guy”, he would no longer be in the shadow of Khonjin, it would only be HIM. But also, he didn't want this to happen. He wanted to be left alone, to do whatever he wanted, not to be STUCK with a spin-off of the show that brought him nothing but misery. Either way, he needed to calm down, being stuck in the same position and making himself freak out would help no one, and certainly not himself.
He got up from the bed, realizing he had been sitting in the dark for longer than he anticipated, and walked towards the bathroom to take a shower, wanting to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling in his body. After that, he put on some sweatpants and a loose tank top, drying his hair and putting on a sleeping robe. He walked to the kitchen with the intent of making himself some dinner, when suddenly, and as he walked out of his room, there was a knock on the door. He let put a heavy sigh, wondering who would be bothering him at that hour, and walked towards the door, opening it and being greeted by a rather unexpected surprise.
Khonjin stood in front of him, some strands on his hair with tiny bits of fire on it, with bits of ash all over his body, some pieces of his clothing were torn, he clearly looked like he was straight out of a fire. Next to him, there were two suitcases, barely closing and with clothes almost spilling out of them.
“Hey there Gino! I accidentally burnt my house to the ground, can I live with you now?” He said, with an almost broken tone but still trying to seem as cheerful as ever.
Gino closed the door on his face, but Khonjin's foot stopped it from closing completely.
“Please! I have nowhere else to go! Spag lives too far away, my dad wouldn't want me living in his office, and now I can't even break into Fratelli's to stay for the night!!” Khonjin said, his voice breaking and some tears forming on the corners of his eyes.
Gino looked at him in silence, an angry expression on his face until he saw the wounds on Khonjin's face and hands from close. He let out a sigh, opening the door to him and stepping to the side.
“Alright, come in, but we have business to talk about.” The older man said in an annoyed tone.
Khonjin picked up his stuff, making a small noise of pain and stepping inside, as he walked in, Gino saw some bits of his hair burning and gave him a gentle pat to turn it off, Khonjin said a small “Thanks” leaving his things on the side and then dropped on the couch. For a second Gino was going to tell him to get the hell out of the couch but instead he let out a sigh and walked towards his bathroom, coming back with a first aid kit.
“Show me your hands.” Gino said as he walked towards Khonjin and sat on the floor in front of him.
Khonjin moved to his side and took off his gloves, showing his burns to Gino, and looking at the older man with tired eyes.
Gino took some things out of the kit, cleaning the other's hands and then wrapping them in bandages, at least his burns didn't look as bad as he would've thought, but he had to say he had never seen Khonjin's hands without the usual white gloves. Right now he didn't look in good shape, and now was wondering if his clothes were actually in good shape or covered in dust or burnt.
“It would probably be best if you changed clothes, I imagine wearing that suit right now must feel bad.” Gino said as he closed the kit and stood up, looking down at the younger who seemed to be stuck looking at him. He cleared his throat. “I have a spare room, you can stay there until you find somewhere else to stay or whatever the fuck you plan on doing.” He added, walking back to the bathroom and leaving the kit in the place it was before.
Khonjin sat up, and took off his jacket and tie, leaving them to the side as he stood and looked around the house. Now that he thought of it, he had never been inside of Gino's house, he had only seen the outside of it and his car, and it was definitely a bit bigger than his. It was to be expected, after all, their payment wasn't really as bad as one would initially think. Gino came back to see him and helped him with his luggage, taking it to the spare room as the younger followed with his jacket and tie on his arms.
Gino turned on the light to a room with a blue bed, a few boxes on one of the corners, a bedside table with a purple lamp on it, and a small TV on a table at the end of the bed. It almost seemed like the room itself was stuck in time, but he couldn't be complaining after being offered something like this.
“Alright, this is the room. It's right next to mine, so you better not start screaming out of nowhere in the middle of the night or I'll come in here and beat the shit out of you. The walls are thin. Anyways, I'll go make some food, change out of those clothes, you're stinking the place up.” Gino said with an annoyed tone and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Khonjin took off the rest of his clothes and opened one of his suitcases, taking out his pajama clothes and putting them on. All of his things seemed to have that smell of fire, but at least it wasn't as bad as his suit. He felt bad he would have to buy a new one after that old one was with him for years, but he guessed it was time for change once and for all. He walked out of his room, and towards the bathroom, he desperately needed a shower, the smell of smoke was following him, and it wasn't the cigar smell that he was used to. He took off the clothes he just dressed himself with and carefully removed his bandages, whining slightly at the pain.
As Gino cooked dinner, he grabbed his phone and let out a deep, tired, sigh, marking a number on his phone and leaning on the counter as he waited for the noodles he was cooking to be ready.
“Hey Gilmore? Yeah I know it's late. I wanted to let you know that Khonjin is going to be staying at my place for a while.” He said as he looked at his nails and almost jumped once he heard Gilmore screaming from the other side. “Calm the fuck down Jesus CHRIST. Listen, there was… Uh, an accident, and won't be able to go back to his house for a while. He got here not too long ago, I wasn't sure if he had told you something, but I'll take that as a no.” Gino let out a sigh, supporting the phone with his shoulder as he mixed the spaghetti.
Gilmore walked around his office nervously, his phone tightly pressed against his ear, the whole news almost felt like a nightmare to him.
“How could this possibly happen? I leave him alone for two years and THIS is what he does? Is this because of the new show?” Gilmore said in a worried tone.
“Oh, OH! So you KNEW about it HUH?” Gino said with an angry tone and a smile on his face, letting go of the wooden spoon he was mixing the spaghetti with and holding the phone with his hand. “Why didn't you say a thing about it? You could've at least, oh I don't know, TOLD ME ABOUT IT?” He continued, raising his tone and then letting out a deep sigh, he knew it wasn't worth it to fight over that anymore.
“Anyways, I'm guessing the stress was too much for him to bear and this is what happened, but it'll be fine, I'm guessing you're gonna be sending someone to fix his place right?”
“Of course! But we need to assess the damages, and if it's as bad as you say, it might take a while.” Gilmore said from the other end. “Well, take good care of my boy until then Gino! You don't want to get thrown into the stratosphere again do you?” He added in a joyous tone.
Gino stood in silence for a second, almost remembering how cold it was to be up there for almost a week, then let out a sigh. “Yeah yeah, I know, don't even worry about it.” He said and then hung up, turning the heat off the noodles once he realized we're ready.
He put his phone aside and started making the Alfredo sauce, taking some of the time he had to strain the pasta and then go back to cooking. He never really had the chance to cook anything at the pizzeria since he was stuck on the counter. One would believe he was a terrible cook because of this but it was quite the opposite. He found joy in cooking, it was a way to distract himself from the awful reality he was stuck in, with no one to bother him, the kitchen was the one place he escaped to. But of course, today was different.
As he was finishing up, Khonjin walked out of the bathroom, his hair half dry and wearing the same pajamas as before. He had tried his best to get rid of the smell, but they were still somewhat imprinted in his clothes. As he adjusted the bandages on his hands, he followed the smell towards the kitchen, eyes widening once he saw Gino.
“You know how to cook?” He asked.
Gino almost jumped, he had gotten so invested in his cooking he completely forgot Khonjin was under his roof.
“Yeah, just because you've never seen me doing it, doesn't mean I don't know how.” He replied, finishing plating the dish and then taking them to the dining table, being followed by Khonjin.
As Gino set the table, Khonjin stood still looking at him, not saying a word, just waiting for him to be done. He seemed tired enough that no words wanted to come out of his mouth, which was rare for him given how he was famously known for not knowing how to shut the hell up. It was scary to Gino how much the silence coming from the red head was making him scared, but he was never going to admit that.
“I bet you're hungry, c'mon, just sit down.” Gino said, looking in the other man's direction as he finished setting the table, sitting on his usual spot as the other followed.
They ate in silence, Khonjin faster than Gino. It was clear that he hadn't eaten anything since they got out of the studio, which was HOURS ago, Gino was almost surprised at how fast he ate, if anything almost perturbed at how he was able to eat without a mouth since it kind of just disappeared into a void, but he would rather not think too much about it. As they finished their food, Khonjin let out a sigh, slightly scratching the back of his neck as he looked at the empty plate. He would've said he was still hungry, but he felt like he had bothered Gink enough that day.
“That was really good, thank you for this, Gino.” Khonjin said, almost in embarrassment, looking at Gino, who for a second looked at him surprised and then chuckled.
“Perfect, now you know not to judge my cooking abilities.” He said as he stood up and took both of their plates to take them to the kitchen and leave them in the sink.
Khonjin fidgeted with his fingers, still sitting on the table as he thought to himself. Keeping his thoughts straight had been hard, and he had been crying more than he was willing to admit, displays of weakness were his worst enemy, even if he trusted Gino enough to show that side of him, the feeling of guilt and embarrassment still sulked in his chest. After a few minutes passed, he stood up and took the rest of the things that were on the table to the kitchen.
Once Khonjin figured where to put each thing, he stood quietly leaning against the counter, as Gino finished what he was doing, he looked over at the other, seeing him lost in thought. He looked like a statue. Motionless, not blinking, just leaning there, staring into the distance. Gino chuckled and walked closer to him, waving a hand in front of his face, making Khonjin almost jump; he had almost forgotten where he was standing.
“Hey, you still reek of smoke, and not even the pleasant kind.” Gino said, leaning on the counter right next to him as he looked over at the younger.
“Oh, I’m sorry, do you want me to start walking around naked or something?” Khonjin said, raising his voice and looking at Gino as he crossed his arms.
“I’m SAYING that we need to get you new clothes. I can clean the ones you brought, but they’re still damaged. So, how ‘bout we go to the mall eh? Early in the morning, because I hate being in a sea of people. And also I don't want anyone WE know seeing us together.” Gino replied scratching his cheek In nervousness as he looked at Khonjin's expression light up.
“Are you… You're not lying to me to make fun of me are you? Are you actually asking me out?” He asked, his expression shifting despite the lack of some of his features, he looked excited, like his old self had almost immediately come back to that.
“Don't make me regret it Khonjin. Let's go, it's better if we go to bed now.” Gino said as he walked outside of the kitchen, being followed by the other.
“Woah Gino, you just asked me out and now you want us to sleep together? Slow down tiger!” Khonjin joked.
The comment made Gino stop in his tracks and blush, quickly turning around to face the other man. Not realizing how close behind him he was, he was now face to face with him, their noses almost touching each other.
“DON'T PUT IT LIKE THAT!! Now just go to bed before I kick your FUCKING ass.” He said, quickly turning around still blushing and walking towards his room to shut the door behind him.
Khonjin stood still in his place, looking at the direction Gino had walked to, and touched his cheek, letting out a small “heh” and then walking to the room he was staying at to head to bed.
* * *
The next morning, after they both had gotten up and ate breakfast, they got ready to head to the mall, the earlier the better after all. Khonjin looked out the window of the car, resting his head on his hand as he looked at the buildings pass by, feeling sleepy, and knowing they still had some time before they could get there, he decided to take a little nap, letting out small snores. Gino kept himself focused on the road, thinking to himself about the events of the past 24 hours. Too much had happened, he felt like one more inconvenience would make him snap, the fact that he would now have to carefully craft a plan to make the most awful show anyone has ever seen was getting on his nerves. Sure, it wasn't hard to make a complete dogshit show that no one would ever watch and would forever talk about as the worst thing to ever exist, but he didn't know what to think.
Would doing something so controversial that would make the whole world go against you be the play? Or was making no effort at all in the project be what would sell it? Too many ideas filled his brain that he had almost missed the entry to the Mall’s parking lot. Once he found a spot, he parked, Khonjin waking up and yawning once he felt the car coming to a stop.
“Are we finally here?” Khonjin asked, rubbing one of his eyes and stretching.
“It wasn't even that long of a drive. C'mon, let's go before people start flooding in.” Gino said as he took off the keys of the car and stepped out, being followed by Khonjin, closing the door and then walking towards the building.
Gino followed once he made sure the car was locked, putting the keys in his pants pocket. As they walked, it was hard for Khonjin to not get distracted by something, however as he was being kept focused by Gino, he had managed to find clothes he liked, however as he was about to pay, Gino stopped him, insisting he would be the one to pay it for him, making Khonjin confused to the point of falling completely silent. Gino could've sworn that for a second the world around him started to shake, but he decided to not pay much attention to it and just get it over with. That day, and for that day only, Gino decided to be nice towards his coworker. He bought for him the clothes he needed, most of them at least, until Khonjin almost fought him into letting him pay for at least SOME of the things he wanted, and Gino, not wanting to fight in a place like that, let him do whatever he wanted with his money.
And as the morning went on, and it was already time for them to eat lunch, Khonjin decided to make good use of his money and invited Gino to eat. “My treat!” He said. Gino looked at him with a raised eyebrow and scoffed. “Sure.” Gino replied, believing he would see another of his displays of asking for free food.
But instead, he saw something completely different. Khonjin had gone out of his way to take them to the one nice restaurant that there was in that commercial center, he paid for every little thing, anything that Gino wanted, and not only that, the owner knew of him too, but he didn't seem annoyed at his presence at all. It almost made Gino feel a weird sinking feeling in his stomach, he would think of a joke or anything to make fun of him while they ate, but he remained quiet, enjoying his meal and trying not to overthink too much. Once they were done, Khonjin paid for everything and they left, walking out to go towards the car in complete silence, Gino was just speechless, and Khonjin decided not to say anything.
They left the bags in the bunk and then went inside the car, still not saying anything. Gino had not even started the car, Khonjin was growing nervous, he looked over at the man who was just staring in front of him in complete shock. It's true that they had spent quality time together before, but that was mostly filled with Khonjin being annoying and pulling the same things as always. They would play games together, talk, but it was never something like this, Khonjin had never insisted on paying for something, for the both of them, let alone pay for something for HIMSELF.
“Uh, Gino?” Khonjin asked, looking at Gino's expression.
“This whole time. You could've paid for your shit and stop bothering me, THIS WHOLE TIME.” Gino said, raising his voice and gripping onto the wheel.
Khonjin let out a small laugh, that just made Gino get even angrier.
“No, I'm PISSED. You've been bothering me for god knows how long, to get free shit, and you've had the money to pay for it, THIS WHOLE TIME. So tell me you stupid shit, WHY. Why do you keep bothering me this way? Why do you keep coming to my pizzeria to get something you don't even like. Does it bring you satisfaction to see my suffering? Do you enjoy hearing me scream about your stupid shit? Do you understand how much MONEY you've cost me!? So tell me. WHY.” Gino burst, his face turning red with anger as he faced Khonjin, who sat still on his seat, the same unbothered expression as always.
“Because it's fun.” He said.
It felt like something inside Gino snapped, his entire body screaming to jump at Khonjin and beat the shit out of him, but inside he knew that it wouldn't get them nowhere if they were to do that, and there was the risk of accidentally killing him, which would ruin their plan of getting his show canceled. But he also had to admit, his life would be boring without him around. He let out a sigh, dropping his head on the steering wheel, the car making a small honk.
“You always find new ways to annoy me.” The older said as he sat straight and turned on the car.
“I'll take that as a compliment!” Khonjin said cheerfully.
Gino huffed and as he gripped the steering wheel, he started driving towards his house. Khonjin looked out the window, watching the buildings go by, he definitely felt better than yesterday, that was for sure. New clothes, temporarily living with Gino, it seemed like his day couldn't get any better, but he would still have to worry about moving out in the future, or as soon as his house was rebuilt. Gino still found annoyance in Khonjin, as always, that was pretty much something he couldn't completely get rid of, but interacting with the little shit wasn't always a horrible chore, they had more in common than he was willing to admit, and even if sometimes their disagreements would bring hell on earth, they found ways to make amends, which disturbed him.
Once they got home, Gino parked outside and helped Khonjin with the shopping bags, leaving everything in the room the younger was staying at, feeling a weight on his chest after realizing how much money he spent on him. Now that he thought of it, he never spent so much money on someone else, sure this time it was different, if he didn’t take care of Khonjin his boss would kill him, but buying him new clothes wasn't a requirement, so why?
“Oh you left them all here! There's actually things for you in some of them as well!” Khonjin said, walking in the room with the rest of the bags and leaving them on the bed.
Gino snapped out of his thoughts.
“You… What? I could've sworn all of it was for you?” He said, confused.
“Not at all, some are for me, yes, BUT, while you were distracted, I bought some things for you as well! Saw you eyeing some things, so I thought it would be a good token of my appreciation to get them for you!” Khonjin said, picking up two bags that were almost filled to the top, and handing them over to Gino. “For you!”
He almost couldn't believe his eyes, for a second his brain was trying to convince him that he had gotten in a car accident and was now in a coma dreaming about the entire interaction. But no, it was real, Khonjin for once had surprised him by doing something nice, with no catches, no jokes, no surprises, it was legit. Gino felt like he was going to tear up, he didn't like to cry in front of people, so he just took the bags and sniffed, trying to compose himself, with his voice slightly shaky.
“I Uh… This is…” Gino paused, coughing as he tried to get his voice out. “Thank…S– Thank you.” He let out. “I don't know WHY you would do this but, thank you.”
“You're welcome! After all, you've done so much for me, I thought it was only fair for me to get you something.” Khonjin replied, looking at the other bags that had the rest of his things.
Gino walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Khonjin to his things to then walk to his room and do the same. He left the bags on his bed and looked at them for a few seconds before deciding to check the contents. It was pretty much everything he had seen while Khonjin was looking for his own clothing, not even that, it was more than that, he hated to admit that Khonjin understood him, it was almost like he knew everything about him, it scared him. His fashion choices, the things he liked, a chill ran down his spine, trying not to dwell so much in the thought. As he finished checking the second bag, he noticed something at the bottom of it, two black boxes.
He looked at the door behind him and then back to the bag. He took them out, opening one of the boxes and seeing a brand new wristwatch in it, silver with details of wood. He put it on, letting out a small laugh. He had been thinking of getting one, but always thought it would be too expensive when he was already on a budget. First the clothes, and now this? Gino just couldn't believe his eyes. He opened the second box, being just as big as the other one, but this one was different. It was a purple tie, clearly not a cheap one, but as he took it out, a small note fell out of the box, Gino's eyes noticed this, and immediately reached for it.
“ I saw this and thought you would like it! You know, so you can change from the usual gray to something that fits you better. :)”
Gino had started to wonder when the hell did Khonjin find so much time to get him so many things AND write him a note, but he would rather not think too much about it and just enjoy that moment. For a second he had started thinking about making Khonjin a pizza as a “thank you” but at that point, any force of the universe would force him to make anything BUT a pizza, maybe giving him a roof was enough.