Chapter Text
“This wall is too bare.” Jinyoung stares at the white wall in their living room, crossing his arms. “I feel like I’m looking at some doctor’s office. Except they actually have stuff up on their walls. So I’m just looking at nothing.” He looks at Jaebum, frustrated.
They had just recently moved into a posh new apartment, a big upgrade from the dingy mold-infested studio they had previously resided in. With Jinyoung’s new job and Jaebum’s recently received generous savings account, courtesy of generational wealth, they decided it was time to leave that asbestos-laden hellhole and see how the people of a higher tax bracket liked to live.
Boy, was it amazing. Their new bedroom had a floor-to-ceiling glass door that opened up to a balcony overlooking the bustling, living streets of Manhattan. Their living room could probably fit 20 people standing side by side with their arms stretched out. The kitchen sat in a little corner, bathed in warm lights, proudly showcasing gorgeous marble countertops (real ones too, not the pathetic wallpaper ones they had used on their old place). This would have been a perfect kitchen had any of them known how to cook. There was a second room, set to become a little home library for Jinyoung. Oh yes, the apartment was perfect for them.
Except for the bare wall.
Jaebum chuckles. “It’s not that bad. It’s like. . .” Jaebum scrunches up his face in mock concentration. “It’s a statement,” he finishes, walking towards Jinyoung to put his arms around him. They stand like this for a beat, both staring at the bare wall. Jingyoung grumbles and Jaebum releases him with a sigh.
“It’s so boring!” He exclaims, pacing around the room. The bare wall was behind a beautiful, expensive suede sofa that they drunkenly bought one night and kind of regret in the light of day. The bare wall definitely accentuated the weird, kind of mucky green of the sofa. “We got to hang something up, this looks ridiculous.” Jinyoung puts his hands up in exasperation before placing them both on his hips. Jaebum smiles warmly at this dramatic boy he loved so dearly.
“What about a tapestry?” Jaebum asks him, plopping down on the muddy abomination of a sofa, propping his head on an arm to look up at Jinyoung.
Jinyoung shakes his head, allowing his perfectly styled hair to hang across his forehead. He tucks it behind his face with a flick of his finger while grimacing in disgust. “A tapestry? What are we, bong ripping hippies?”
Jaebum laughs, a deep melodic sound that Jinyoung could never get enough of. “Fine dear, what did you have in mind?”
Jinyoung smiles. He’d been waiting for Jaebum to ask because he already had something in mind. “Well. There’s this painting. . .”
The streets of Manhattan are quiet in this snowy winter afternoon. There are a few stragglers here or there walking around but generally it felels like the two of them owned the sidewalk. Jinyoung wants to show Jaebum the painting he has in mind. He had seen it one afternoon while walking on the way to the grocery mart. It had been displayed in a nondescript store by the sidewalk. It was a painting of a lush farm landscape depicting rolling hills in front of a beautiful deep blue sky, peppered with clouds that look like cotton candy. It--- well, it was a gorgeous painting, and truly no description could do it justice.
Regardless, Jinyoung fell in love immediately. He needed that expensive looking painting for his expensive new home. He walked home quickly, excited to tell Jaebum about the painting but he wanted purchasing it to feel like a mutual decision. He resolved to complain about the bare wall in the living room, the one he was sure Jaebum didn’t even care about, because that was Jaebum and he wasn’t the type to care about décor.
“This wall is too bare,” he started, knowing Jaebum would ride along.
On Monday, Jaebum goes to the art store Jinyoung had been raving about. He wants to see this painting for himself and surprise Jinyoung by buying the piece. The art store is owned by an indie curator, someone who literally just goes on Instagram and buys prints and paintings from broke and broke-cosplaying artists online.
The owner greets Jaebum immediately, smiling warmly. His beanie covers his forehead and most of his eyebrows, so he looks at Jaebum with half-lidded eyes. “What’s up?” He asks, as if casually having a beer with Jaebum instead of entertaining a customer. “Anything caught your eye? I’d be glad to help you out otherwise. I have a lot more at the back. I even have some smaller prints and stickers, I have pretty much anything” he continues jovially. “My name’s Hao.” This lanky boy continues to grin at Jaebum, who was a little overwhelmed.
Jaebum points behind him to the painting by the window. He isn’t one for conversations with strangers. “That one,” he says. “How much do you want for that one?” He asks without matching the energy of the room.
The owner’s, Hao, smile faltered a bit. Jaebum immediately feels guilty so he tries to be nicer. “I—My boyfriend saw it the other day and he really loves it,” he mentions sheepishly, rubbing his palm at the back of his neck.
Hao grins even wider. “Oh, I love that! That’s pretty sweet, I’d love to give you this painting,” he says.
Jaebum reaches into his pockets, groping for his wallet. “Great, so do you accept card or-?” He is interrupted by Hao clearing his throat.
“I’d love to let you buy the painting,” he starts, staring Jaebum in the eyes. “But I have this fun policy of holding bigger pieces for a week to let other people place bids.” He smiles a dopey customer service smile.
“A.. what?”
“So the way this works is, I’ll reserve the painting for a week, and I’ll put up a ‘SOLD?’ sign – yes with the question mark – and I’ll let other people bid. Highest bidder by the end of the week gets it.” He claps his hand for emphasis.
Jaebum is quiet for a moment, glaring at this weirdo. “What the hell kind of policy is that? Look, name your price and you got it,” he bites out, gritting his teeth.
Hao chuckles. “Ah, that’s not how it works. The reason I do this is an interest check, it’s fair for everyone because if you really want it, you can bid for it. Also it makes me more money and more buzz, which makes people want to check out the shop which makes me more money!” Hao is still smiling like a psycopath, making Jaebum feel uneasy.
“Fine. Fine,” Jaebum grumbles. “I’ll place a bid.”
“Great!” Hao claps excitedly. “If you could just give me your credit card information, I’d be glad to just increase the bid for you automatically,” he continues, practically rubbing his hands together. “It’s just a neat service I provide for your convenience.”
Jaebum is shaking a little bit at this point, thinly veiled anger at the forefront. “I think I’ll just do cash for this one.”
Hao looks disappointed, but bounces back quickly. “Wonderful! I’ll see you next week! Hope you get it, buddy!”
Jaebum could not get out of there fast enough. What’s important is that he can definitely outbid anyone who had the unfortunate luck of bidding against him. He decides not to tell Jinyoung about this, hoping that the “SOLD?” sign turns him off, which will make the surprise of him gifting the painting even sweeter.
On Wednesday, Jinyoung decides to buy the painting. Jaebum seemed supportive but overall noncommittal about it and at this point, Jinyoung was getting impatient.
He walks to the store and when he sees the window, his heart falls to the floor. “SOLD?” He asks out loud. “What the hell does that mean?”
He pushes the heavy glass doors and is immediately greeted by the owner. “Hello!” the owner greets cheerfully. “I’m Hao, welcome! See anything you like? I’d be glad to help you out otherwise. I have some mo—”
“The painting by the window!” He practically yells at the owner, who physically recoils from Jinyoung’s intensity. This calms him down a bit and he composes himself. “The painting by the window,” he repeats. “It’s sold?”
Hao shakes his head. “Not quite.” He explains the spiel to Jinyoung, who has a confused look the whole time.
“So let me get this right,” he says when Hao finished explaining. “I can still bid to get this piece? I have until next Monday?”
“Yes!” Hao says excitedly. “Would you like to bid? We accept card, you know. In fact, if you could just give me your credit card information, I’d be glad to just increase the bid for you automatically!”
Jinyoung squints his eyes at Hao suspiciously. Then, he brightens. “That’s such a convenient service! Sure, that’d be neat!” Hao smiles like a kid who just got into a candy store unrestricted.
And so begins the most tortuous week of Jinyoung’s life. He hopes and prays that the other bidder had less money than him, because he wasn’t sure how much he could bid. He decides not to tell Jaebum about this because he’s sure Jaebum will not understand.
On Friday, Jaebum decides to visit the little shop to check the status of his painting. He opens the door, greeting Hao with a nod. The owner is now beanie-less, exposing a mop of black hair with red – very red – highlights. He has on so many layers of clothing that it makes him seem much heavier that he is.
“Hello!” Hao greets him cheerfully. “Come to make another bid?” He gestures to the painting.
Jaebum cocks his head. “Another bid?” He peers at Hao with confusion. “I made a bid a few days ago.”
Hao nods slowly. “Yeah, hence I said another,” he explains like Jaebum’s stupid. “Some dude bid on it, like, two days ago I think?”
Jaebum lets out a “humph.” He paces the room nervously, running a hand through his hair. “How much?” His voice takes on an impatient tone. He is not about to lose this painting, he needs to give Jinyoung this painting. Jinyoung has taken to sighing loudly every time his eyes land on that stupid white wall. “When does this bid even end?”
“Oh, a fine gentleman like you can definitely outbid this one,” Hao replies cheekily. “Between the two of us, this guy looked like he probably couldn’t afford to bid that much.” Hao winks at him. “Kinda cute, though,” he adds mostly to himself.
With a grumble, Jaebum grabs a scrap piece of paper from Hao’s counter and hastily writes out a number. “This good enough?” He asks with a frown.
Hao’s eyes widen like excited saucers. “Oh, for sure. There’s no way you can be outbid now,” he adds.
Jaebum thanks him and leaves the store, hands in pockets. He definitely thinks he’s overpaying for this painting. Frankly, he doesn’t really care for it that much. But Jinyoung really wants this piece, and Jaebum really wants to make Jinyoung happy. He just hopes the amount he bid was good enough.
On Saturday, Jinyoung sees the new bid and doubles it, heart heavy but bank account lighter.
On Sunday, Jaebum sees the new bid and resolves to wait for this mysterious bidder. Who could possibly be this desperate for this painting? He sank in a ton of money on this bid and before him, it seemed nobody was really all that interested in it.
“Hao.” At this point, Jaebum and Hao are on a first name basis. “You got the number of this other bidder?”
“Heh,” Hao chuckles. “That I do. And I plan on making use of it once this is over,” Hao smirks.
“Call him.” Jaebum snips. “Get him here. I want to outbid this guy to his face. I want to make this guy give up.” He crosses his arms. “It’s a boring painting anyway,” he grumbles under his breath.
Hao looks at him, unsure. “Uh, look bro, I don’t want trouble in this store,” he tells Jaebum, holding up his palms in mock surrender.
“What?” Jaebum frowns, shakes his head. “No, I’m not about to punch a dude. I just want to talk, civilly, like good adults.”
Hao pauses, assesses the situation. Then, he shrugs. “You know what, sure. Maybe you can bid each other to ruin.” Hao pretends to be annoyed but secretly, this is the most action he’s seen for a painting since ever.
He goes behind the counter to grab a dated looking phone and punches in a number. “Hello! Hao calling about the painting you bid on?” Hao nods, listening to the other guy on the phone. “Mmhmm, yes well the other bidder really wants to talk to you.” Hao is quiet again. He looks at. Jaebum head to toe. Frowns. Then shakes his head. “Nah, he doesn’t look violent. Kinda cute, though.” He listens to the other guy’s response again. “Okay, we’ll be waiting for you!” He hangs up and looks at Jaebum, who’s looking at him expectantly. “Okay, he’ll be here soon.”
After about half an hour, the door opens. Jaebum turns, seemingly in slow motion. In walks a black boot, followed by black pants, a fitted black turtle neck, and a billowy black trench coat. His rival huffs, an exhale of cold wind exits his mouth. Slowly turns his head to glare at the man who demanded his presence. “What do you—” he stops mid-question as he meets the eye of his darling boyfriend, equally dumbfounded.
“It was you??” Jaebum asks, incredulous.
“You’re the mysterious rich bidder??” Jinyoung asks at the same time.
They stare at each other for a beat, then Jaebum bursts out laughing. He stands up and gives Jinyoung a strong hug, kissing the side of his head. Hao watches the whole exchange, bemused.
“Does anyone care to explain what the hell is going on here?”
Jinyoung leans his head on Jaebum, chuckling. “We live together,” he explains. “I wanted the painting so bad, I guess he decided to try and buy it for me.”
Jaebum nods. “And I’m guessing he saw that it was about to be sold so he freaked out and decided to bid.” He rolls his eyes. “And a really high one at that,” he chided.
Hao looks at the two of them with a frown. “And this whole time,” he says flatly. “Not once did you discuss this?”
They shrug simultaneously. “I was going to surprise him,” Jaebum says.
“I just didn’t want him to judge how much I was about to spend,” Jinyoung replies.
“O—kay,” Hao starts, nodding. “So. Shall I go with the current high bid or will you be outbidding him?” He asks Jaebum.
At this, Jaebum throws his head back with mock laughter before snapping his head back up, gazing at Hao intensely. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Well, someone’s gotta buy it, and you already made your bids,” Hao replies defensively.
Jinyoung shakes his head. “You know, I think we’re going to pass.” Jaebum looks at his with disbelief.
“No, it’s fine, we can just go with another bid,” Jaebum tells him, but Jinyoung’s mind seems made up.
“This is so funny, we got so blinded by this thing that we let ourselves be scammed by some dropout hippie,” Jinyoung replies. “Like, who does this weird bidding thing anyway. Who made the painting? Did you get their permission to pull this crap?” He takes a threatening step towards Hao, who seems to shrink further into the layers of clothing.
“Uh. Well.”
“Uh. Well” Jinyoung repeats mockingly. Jaebum just lets the whole thing unfold, grateful it’s someone else bearing the brunt on Jinyoung’s temper.
Hao sighs. Looks at Jinyoung apologetically. “It’s a reprint, I reprinted it.” He tells him, shrugging his shoulders as if to say whoopsie my bad.
None of them speak for a whole minute. Then Jinyoung backs up. “Yeah…” he says slowly. “I’m gonna need my credit card information back.” He continues to back up toward the door, dragging Jaebum with him. The door slams shut behind them, leaving a sad Hao.
He shakes his head dejectedly. “Damn, they were both so hot too.”
Outside, the snow falls, covering the ground with a soft white carpet. Jaebum turns to Jinyoung. “Did you really give him your credit card information?” He asks quietly.
Jinyoung pulls away from Jaebum, throwing his head back to let the snowflakes fall on his cheeks. “Mmm you’ll handle freezing my accounts, right?” He asks without looking at Jaebum. It’s rhetorical, of course.
Jaebum catches up to Jinyoung and places a soft kiss on his freezing cheek. “We still have nothing to place on your boring wall.”
“I have an idea,” he tells Jaebum excitedly.
On Monday, Jinyoung takes a sick day while Jaebum hurriedly calls the credit card company to freeze their credit card. The company confrms that yes, it seems there were some questionable purchases by a Mr. Park Jinyoung to a ‘Prints R Us’. The R was backwards, the company confirms.
They settle on their moss green sofa, windows open to let the soft morning light in. Behind them, Jinyoung has decided to paint the bare white wall a deep chestnut brown, making the room a little less boring.