Work Text:
“I never forget a face,” The statement could be heard echoing around the garage far louder and shriller than the work going on. The owner of the voice was just as loud, thundering steps following his words. “Especially a face almost as,” The footsteps stopped but the volume didn’t decrease, even as the owner skidded to a halt. “Handsome as my own.” There was no shame in the voice or on the handsome owner’s face as he stared into dark brown eyes from only inches away.
Jinwoo blinked, looking up at the voice’s owner eyes locking, then looked around to see who this man was screaming about. He was the only one there, his crewmates were on the other side of the garage. He had seen them pausing long enough to watch whatever drama this was unfold. Jinwoo blinked again staring back into the overly wide brown eyes. “Do I know you?” He knew his response was three heart beats too slow from the howling laughter that resounded around them. It didn’t seem to affect the man before him though as he continued smiling widely, nodding. Jinwoo tried really hard to remember where he might know the brunette's handsome face from.
“You should.” The man’s smile didn’t even flinch as Jinwoo blinked at him again. There was a small frown forming between his eyebrows as he still tried to recall the face. "How could you forget someone so handsome?" The voice was thankfully lower and the owner leaned back, as if disappointed. The voice went on though without pause. "Kim Myungjun, up and coming reporter!" The voice chirped, bubbly personality dripping from every word.
"Are you sure we've met before?" Jinwoo looked down at his hands, away from the smile threatening to blind him. He could vaguely recall something having to do with a reporter. Wiping the oil off his hands from the parts he had been handling he stood up. He was only slightly dismayed to find the man was taller than him even if only by a few centimeters. The smile was starting to fade around the edges now as he looked over the man skeptically continuing. "I can't say that I know you."
The laughter suppliers paused again, waiting with bated breath for the reply. Whoever this guy was had been awfully confident when he had strode in. And had caught the attention of the whole work floor. The lingering snickers he knew were Sanha. The kid found everything funny.
"Well we did meet..." The guy, Kim Myungjun shifted on his feet confidence waning. "Maybe it wasn't as memorable for you." The near pout on his plump lips paired with his handsome features was enough to make girls swoon, Jinwoo was sure. However he wasn't a girl and he really just wanted answers.
"When?" Jinwoo frowned to himself, his arms hung loosely at his sides as he resisted the urge to cross them. He didn't want to think about the rumors that would start from the brunette showing up at the garage. Tiny as the shop is gossip has always made a very popular time passer. Whoever this Kim Myungjun was he was already disturbing his work in more ways than one. Though the more he looked at the brunette the more familiar he looked.
The memory was slowly surfacing though it was fuzzy around the edges. Like most of his memories of customer faces until he saw them again. Tilting his head to the side he allowed himself to study the face a little more. Taking in the features. Kim Myungjun hadn't been wrong to call himself handsome with his jawline, small face, and wide eyes. The nose was smaller than his and wasn't too sharp, it was almost cute. Even as he examined the man he kept his hands busy, from years of practice.
"It was a week ago." Kim Myungjun's shoulders sagged a little, obviously feeling a little defeated by the time passed. "Still though how could you forget someone as handsome as myself?" He was pouting again as he spoke. "And you were so heroic at the time." The voice had dropped lower, almost a whisper in the quiet as brown eyes scanned over the mechanic. "I can't believe you don't remember. Didn't you get hurt at the time?"
Jinwoo blinked at the sudden change in tone but didn't pause in his actions of meticulously putting the parts back as he thought. He knew what the man was looking at. He had a body to be proud of and his current attire didn't spare any punches in showing it off. His coveralls were currently open with the sleeves tied around his waist, the rest of the gray jumper smeared with grease and oil. His exposed black tank was mostly clean and practically skin tight showing off his definition. Though he knew he was lean muscle he was also aware his arms were nothing to scoff at. And as he thought about what the other was seeing he remembered his most recent injury and the memory hit him with full force.
"Hurt...Wai-wait you're not..." Jinwoo forced himself not to cringe at the memory playing out in his mind. That had not been a particularly good day for him. His side job of overall good guy had almost been exposed by the man standing in front of him. "Never mind let's not talk about this here." He looked over his shoulder at Minhyuk, putting the last part away with a nod. The brunette nodded towards the office with a smirk of understanding. "Follow me." He knew his voice was gruffer than usual but all things considered he could forgive himself. After all a reporter, who had witnessed his superhuman feat had just walked into his day job.
Kim Myungjun's smile returned full force, wider and more predatory. A smile befitting his career. Jinwoo knew he needn't look to see the man slinking behind him like a cat who had caught the canary. The handsome man may look, sound, and somewhat act like an over sized puppy but Jinwoo wasn't fooled. That puppy was a blood hound.
Carefully making his way to the office his mind raced over what he could say. There were only so many excuses he could make. As he thought though he asked the important question finally opening the office door. "How did you even find me?" It seemed harmless but the answer was important. He closed the door behind them to allow them to talk. The large window overlooking the work floor denying them any illusions of true privacy. "Who allowed you on the work floor to begin with?"
"Your boss, Moon Bin. A nice man." Kim Myungjun's voice was distant and a glance saw that he was examining the various certifications on the wall. Eyeing the various piles of paperwork piled around the desk haphazardly as well as the cute kitten and puppy pictures flickering across the computer screen. When he looked up the smile was back, this time unreadable as he looked out the window. "As to finding you..." There was a slight dusting of red on otherwise flawless cheeks. "I did happen to chase you for three blocks begging for an interview."
"I unfortunately recall." Jinwoo answered this time not bothering to stop himself from crossing his arms. "Is that why you're here now?" He really hoped that wasn't the case as he'd already made sure to destroy any footage that might have been captured of him lifting that van to save a kitten. He really should have known better but it had been raining, the van had been stopping anyway, and the visibility had been poor. It was just his luck that the van he had stopped had been a reporter's van. And the reporter had already been jumping out film rolling for whatever story they had actually been after that night. And Valentino, the tuxedo kitten he that he had saved had Moon Bin over the moon in love. Jinwoo had gifted him the sweet kitten after the death of Moon Bin's beloved family cat. "But that doesn't explain how you found me."
"Uh...Fate?" Kim Myungjun's smile faltered just a little and he chuckled scratching the back of his head looking away from the accusing glare Jinwoo knew he must have been sending. "Okay look, I did look for you at first, I mean what reporter wouldn't? But I just needed to get my brakes fixed," He pointed to the small car that was currently being worked on by Eunwoo. "And I saw you through the window...and I may or may not," The dusting on his cheeks was getting darker as he spoke. "have promised a very nice advertising piece to your boss for an interview of a work related nature in order to talk to you."
"..." Jinwoo really wasn't sure how to respond to that. So he blinked again thoughts turning sluggish as he processed that information. If he wasn't here for an interview about that night why was he wanting to talk to him.
"I understand that you might be a little deterred considering the whole kitten incident but..." The loudness that had been mostly present in Kim Myungjun's voice was absent again. "Would you meet me for an interview about Astro, the stars of cars?" The smile was wide and blinding again.
"..." Jinwoo blinked again, looked at the handsome face and then the rest of Kim Myungjun. If he didn't know any better than he would have thought this sounded more like a, "Date?" He wanted to die he hadn't meant to say that last part out loud. He could already feel the heat on his cheeks.
"I di-didn't say..." Kim Myungjun's face probably couldn't get any redder as he stuttered. "It's an interview." He composed himself quickly shaking his head, the color suddenly gone from his cheeks. Sucked back into whatever professionalism had taught him. "I promised Moon Bin an article about the shop. And I've got a few questions for you...off the record." He conceded that faint flush worming it's way back onto flawless cheeks.
"...Ok." Jinwoo wasn't sure what had him agreeing, maybe it was the sincere look in those wide brown eyes or maybe it was for Moon Bin. They had all worked hard to open this shop and blend in. Jinwoo was not about to ruin it for them, they weren't the X-men fighting crime after all they were just everyday mutants trying to make a living. Even if on the side they sometimes did a little kitten rescuing. "I'll take the interview." The smile he got in return for that answer was more blinding than any so far.
"Then let me get your number..." The reporter scanned his body again, eyes landing on the name sewn into his tank above his heart. "Jinwoo..." Kim Myungjun dug out a phone that was bigger than either of their hands and handed it to him along with a card. "I'll call you to set up the interview."
x.x.x
Jinwoo wasn't sure how he felt about this. Somehow he agreed to this but the interview so far had been pretty dry, so dry he wasn't sure it was going to get Astro any business. It had only been a day since the reporter had shown up at the shop. An unusually short amount of time for a reporter to get back about a puff piece. But here they were.
"And you said you helped start the business?" Kim Myungjun was talking again, pen in hand on top of the small table top at the cafe they had met up at. It wasn't anything nearly as fancy as he thought it would be. But it wasn't bad. Jinwoo was admittedly having a good time, except for the part this was actually an interview and not a date which is what it felt like. What with all the straying topics and only dry interview questions forced in between.
"Yeah we all started it together, we've been running for a few years now. The five of us." It was hard to keep the smile from his face as he thought about his crew mates. They had started from scratch using all their money to build a safe place for themselves. And just after a few years they were living their dream. Working on cars together and not in hiding. Able to actually use the mutations that allowed them to excel in their field of choice. "You've asked that question six times now though. Why don't you just ask what you really want to know." Jinwoo wasn't normally this pushy with strangers, doing his best to always be polite, civil, and normal. Something about this Kim Myungjun had him out of whack, but not in a unpleasant way. And he had to admit he was curious.
Deep brown eyes looked up from the notebook, dazed and distracted. They had been doing that the whole interview, darting from the notebook to his face every couple of seconds. It was more than a little unnerving. Of course Jinwoo knew he was handsome, easily on par with the reporter but it wasn't often that anyone else thought so. At least not when he was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, in his uniform that was a different kink entirely. Yet he couldn't bring himself to admit he'd rather the eyes just stayed on him.
"I am asking what I need to know..." The voice was lowered, for the third time in the hour or so they had been there. "I just don't know much about cars..." He trailed off eyes still dazed as he looked out the window again then fidgeted in his seat. "Jinwoo do you mind if we switch tracks then and go off the record?" Wide eyes were alert and focused on him all of a sudden. The once casual motion of grabbing his coffee cup was suddenly a distracting measure from the weight of the question.
Jinwoo nodded unsure if he was going to like these questions, but just as equally curious. "Go ahead Kim Myungjun..." He felt how awkward the name felt on his tongue but it was easier to distance himself from people if he never dropped the formality. A true survival instinct that he had yet to find a reason to shed himself of. An instinct he hoped one day to be rid of.
"Just Myungjun," Kim Myungjun reiterated for the umpth time with a sigh. "Eventually you will get used to it." The brunette shook his head with a sly smile before glancing out the window again. "I really don't know what I saw that night, and I don't want to ask..." The reporter paused looking back over at him with sincerity. "I mean it this is off the record. I'll never mention it again but I want to know...is the kitten okay?" The frown on his face was only just shy of a pout.
Jinwoo blinked. He had been expecting many questions, like how he had lifted the van, why he hadn't been severely injured, how he'd run for three blocks afterwards, anything like that. He had not expected this, even paired with the guiltiest expression he had ever seen. "Yes, his name is Valentino. I gave him to Moon Bin."
"Oh thank god." The loud and relieved sigh was off putting as something about the other male let down. "I'd been worrying for a week that I killed it. I've never hit anything before." The relieved smile had Jinwoo blinking again. "There you go blinking again... Am I that hard to understand?" The pout was just below the surface as Myungjun's brown eyes studied his face.
Jinwoo shook his head with a soft smile. "No...just it takes me a moment sometimes to catch up to your thought process. You ask some strange things." He smiled wider sipping his coffee once more, a warm feeling settling in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with the drink.
"I just want to know more about you..." The red was quick to rise to Myungjun's cheeks as he spoke. "I've wanted to know more since that night. Are you not interested in me too?" There was a small look of panic, as if he hadn't meant to utter that last thought, but a resolve settled over it as once spoken it couldn't be taken back.
Jinwoo paused feeling the heat raise to his cheeks unsure of his own answer. There had been a lot of teasing after Myungjun had left the other day, teasing that had been met with flushed cheeks and averted eyes. Even today he had done his hair, thoroughly cleaned away all the stains on his hands, and worn his cleanest clothing. Maybe it hadn't been that he was trying to catch up with Myungjun but to catch up with his own feelings that had started to run away with him. "No I am..." He smiled widely for once never more sure of his words. "You're cute, I think you try to be cool but you're cute."
"Have you been watching my old clips?" Myungjun raised an eyebrow his hand landing close to Jinwoo's on the table as he propped his chin up with the other one, smile playing in his eyes.
"No but I might or might not have read a few of your more recent articles." Jinwoo set down his coffee, fingertips brushing against those on the table. He wasn't sure when they parted ways, plans already in place for another date. He knew there was still a long road ahead of them and several secrets in between. But as Myungjun had already stated he never forgot a handsome face. And Jinwoo already knew he was the most handsome one around.