Chapter Text
Seongje couldn't believe at he had been asked to meet, got gifted his favourite soda and all for whatever the hell this was.
"Dude, I really need this!" Suho leaned into Seongje's personal space across a table which they were seated outside of a convenience store while, Suho also attempted at batting his eyelashes at him. This all was too stupid.
"What the fuck do you mean you need this? It's a fortune teller that probably just scams people," Seongje barked back at him. He couldn't believe that this was he was called over for.
"I don't want to go alone," Suho explained as if it a valid argument (it wasn't).
Why was Suho asking him of all people possible on this planet? Seongje suggested a clearly better idea to the other, "Then ask one of the Eunjang idiots."
"I can't!" Suho exclaimed without missing a beat.
That was a little weird.
"Why not?" The question this time was kind of genuine, Seongje had thought that one of the Eunjang's would be more willing to indulge his desires. But for whatever reason Suho couldn't take them?
"They can't know about this!" Suho wailed his arms around to emphasise his reason.
"What makes you think I wouldn't tell Juntae about this?" And Seongje was serious about that. Suho was aware that Juntae and him hung out pretty often.
Suho instantly narrowed his eyes at Seongje and with a stretched out arm he patted one of Seongje's shoulders, he locked eyes with Seongje and said, "Dude, I for sure know that I can trust you to keep this a secret, you're a bros bro, I know that."
If Seongje didn't tolerate Suho, the other would already be on the ground with a few injuries. Who seriously said those sappy phrases? Did he learn this from Baku?
"Ew," Seongje reasonably reacted.
"You love me, don't you? I'm sure you do, I'm like one of your only friends," Suho tried to convince Seongje, not caring how insulting that sounded.
"No."
Suho groaned as he face palmed himself with both his hands.
"I'll play League with you any time you want for the next week."
"…"
"Month?"
"…"
"I can buy you cigarettes for a week?"
"Alright, fine, you better keep all of this, you understand?"
"Yes! You're the best, seriously!"
"Whatever, what day are we going?"
"Right now actually," Suho said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And without wasting any more time, he stood up.
"What?" was all Seongje could respond in that moment.
And before Seongje knew it, he had been dragged to some shabby closed vendor tent with multiple cheap posters put beside it, advertising the possible services and how it could help someone improve their life. Yet what surprised Seongje more was that for some odd reason there was a line of people right at entrance of the tent, a lot of group of young girls gushing to each other guessing what their fortune could be, a few guys their age teasing others, there were also some parents and seniors, in short, more people that there should have been.
"Maybe it's legit, I mean, look how many people are here!" Seongje pointed at the people standing in front of them and back. As if that was any indication of a fortune teller's legitimacy.
The reason to Suho's observation was actually quite simple. "People are just stupid."
"You're people too."
"Who's to say," Seongje shrugged.
Right in that moment, a small group of people, who had been standing before them some time ago, exited the tent and soon after them followed an older sounding feminine voice calling out, "The next may come in."
"Ah, that's us!" exclaimed Suho as he made his way towards the entrance.
That made Seongje sigh and he just followed Suho inside in his own pace, "You mean, I still don't understand why I needed to be here."
"I already explained though," Suho elbowed him to the side slightly like it would jog his memory. But instead of achieving Suho's goal, Seongje rolled his eyes.
When inside, Seongje first noticed how full of all sort of items the place was filled, wooden shelves spanning across the thin cloth that covered the vendor's stands. In the centre of the place was a round table and some stools along with it. One stool was already occupied by an older looking lady.
The woman spoke, same voice as the one who called them in, "Greetings, my children." It looked she was alone in the vendor, no assistants inside or outside, so how did the woman get all this here?
"H-Hello," Suho replied, his whole demeanour changed as soon as he was addressed by the older lady. It was honestly quite rare so see him be this awkward and stiff in a social interactions.
"Did you come together?"
"Yeah, but it's just for me, he's just a friend I brought along for emotional support."
"Hm, I see," the lady still looked over the both of them, her gaze lingering for a moment at Seongje. After seemingly having had her fill, she looked back at Suho and smiled kindly, gesturing her hand for him to sit opposite of her. Once Suho had done so, the lady had began to mix some cards with whatever drawings and symbols they had and she gently asked, "Did you come here because you have questions regarding love?"
Suho's eyes widened slightly and in response he blurted out, "Yes! How did you know?!"
Love and Suho? Seongje supposed it wasn't impossible, but it was still a funny thought regardless. However, he couldn't drill him for answers at the moment.
"I can see your soul and eyes blooming with it, young love is quite wonderful," the lady smiled and finally tucked the deck of the mixed cards right beside herself.
But all Seongje could do was roll his eyes and mutter to himself, "Probably just a lucky guess."
Seeing that the lady's expression hadn't changed, Seongje assumed that she had heard him. It wasn't like he deliberately tried to hide his clear stance on these type of businesses, but he also supposed that he also wouldn't have minded if she had heard.
Finally, the lady started to pull some cards from the pile and placing them on the table right in the middle. Suho looked intrigued by it, while Seongje didn't bother to get a clear look on the thing. After a short moment, of probable 'examination' of the card, the lady commented, "I see that you're close with this person."
"Yes!" Suho replied with too much excitement.
God, this was practically the start of a scamming 101 guidebook. "Who wouldn't be if they're in love with them…" Seongje muttered to himself, starting to look around the place in hopes of finding something more interesting even if fake.
There were multiple shelves filled with all kinds of stuff, ranging from books with no titles to (fake) crystal in glass spheres or in expensive jewellery and much more. Seongje wouldn't be surprised if afterwards the lady would try to sell any of these items to them for too much money. Once he got bored examining every piece there was, he decided he was done looking at the stuff, so Seongje returned to listening in slightly to the other two people conversation.
"-I can see a shadow of doubt moving through your mind." The lady had already spread out five cards on the table, both people present at it looked very intensely at them. "You must have been through a lot," she said, while Suho subconsciously nodded along to whatever she was saying, "but in the end you still persevered because of your heart, so continue to trust it as it is the one that can find the true answer you're searching for."
The way she had finished her sentence felt like an ending to a book - very clear yet still thought provoking (though Seongje would very much disagree on both of the adjectives).
But it seemed to have worked on Suho as he looked more determined than be had before they entered the place.
Suho's eyes were almost shining, "Thank you, that was really insightful, how much do I owe you?"
"That'll be 27,500 won," the old lady smiled a kind smile, which had been probably practiced until perfection, and elegantly reached out her arm.
"Suho, you're not actually gonna pay for that?" Seongje scoffed at the absurdity at the price being any more than 7,000 won. That time Seongje didn't even try to adjust the volume of his voice, making sure that that the lady would hear for sure. He also wouldn't have been surprised if people outside might have heard him.
That question instantly made the lady turn her head towards Seongje, brows furrowing for a moment but soon easing again. "Young man, are you doubting me?" the lady asked Seongje like a kindergarten teacher asking a kid if they actually wanted to use the green crayon for the sky in their drawing.
"Yeah, if it wasn't clear already, you're obviously just a scammer, I mean, the things you said were too vague, anyone could just apply it to themselves no matter their actual circumstances," Seongje rolled his eyes.
The lady looked over him, once she seemed done, she concluded, "Hmm, seems like you're having some similar troubles yourself as your friend…"
Had she just ignore what he said? And 'similar problems as his friend'?
Remembering what the lady had 'seen' from Suho, Seongje scoffed at her, "Yeah, yeah, I'm having soooo much pain about my lover, I'd be more shocked if there was someone without problems going on in their life."
The lady frowned at his mockery and said in a stern voice, which didn't sound all that intimidating, "You're very rude, you know that?"
"Oh really? I don't care, Suho, let's leave before she tries to sells us some weird stones and juices,"
The lady spoke again, "Is that what really think of me? That I'm a sham? Well, I wouldn't mind giving you something for your honesty at least, young man."
Man, now this was just starting to get annoying he didn't have time for this. Seongje spat out, "Fuck off, lady."
She stood up from her stool and walked towards Seongje, she had a small smile on her face. Anyone rarely dared to approach him when he was clearly annoyed, including adults, so he was caught a little off guard by her, but he remained as he was. There was no way that he'd ever be intimidated by someone like her.
When she reached him, she looked him up and down again.
Assuming that she was done, Seongje was about to turn to leave, until suddenly he heard the old lady speak again, "Is a wolf perhaps your favourite animal?"
Huh?
"Wow! How did you know?" Suho asked, suddenly appearing beside him, responding in Seongje's stead, even he had already decided to not do so in the first place.
She didn't reply to Suho, well, maybe a smile could have been seen as a reply.
Seongje needed a smoke. Bad.
But instead, he scowled in response, "What of it?"
"They're quite lovely creatures, aren't they?"
"Whatever."
"Well, I suppose that all I can say is, next time make sure to be polite, alright young man? Being rude might cause you unexpected problems in the future. Karma, as they call it."
What the hell was this lady on about?
Seongje didn't even want to acknowledge her anymore, so he just turned to Suho and looked at him with a bored face, "Suho, I'm leaving, you can waste as much money as you want on stupid shit for all I care, I need a smoke."
"Dude, stop acting like that!" Suho attempted to scold him.
But Seongje just waved him a lazy goodbye and exited the tent. His hand began searching his pockets for a cigarette box and a lighter. From inside the tent, Seongje could hear Suho attempt to apologise for Seongje's (very reasonable) behaviour.
When he finally found his desired things, he soon placed a cigarette in-between his lips. As he held a lit lighter close to the end of it, he looked up and noticed that the people standing in line and close by had started staring at him with wide eyes and even whispering amongst themselves, that was very likely caused by what had been said inside. Maybe Seongje wasn't going to make those people breath in the fumes of his cigarette, but it didn't mean that he couldn't glare at them, even if it was for a little bit. Once he did so, everybody present instantly switched their gaze to something else, like they had been only accidentally looking at Seongje before.
Behind him, Seongje heard Suho say his final farewell to the scammer inside and finally walk out. His face soured slightly when he saw Seongje but he soon dropped it and sighed. "Come on, we can leave now."
After they had gone some length away from the place without a single word between them, Suho spoke up, "Dude, that was crazy though, she can't have been a scammer, right?"
"Every fortune teller is a scammer, no doubt about it, I really hope that you didn't spend more money than necessary after I left," Seongje shrugged in response.
"I won't bring you along other times I find something."
"It was you who dragged me there, I didn't volunteer."
"Those are minor details." They really weren't. "But you have to admit that she guessed your favourite animal without even talking to you before!"
"Wolves aren't even my favourite," grumbled Seongje.
"Whatever you say, wolfy boy," Suho grinned, he looked very pleased with his brand new nickname for Seongje. Meanwhile Seongje wasn't too keen on it.
"Fuck off, now you better keep your promise."
"Ah, I had hoped that you would have forgotten about it already…" Suho had no reason to groan since he did bring that upon himself. But Seongje didn't care as long as he got what he was owed.
However, that wasn't the most interesting thing he had heard today so far. Now it was time for Seongje to get some fun too. "Hah, anyway, love advice? Is that why you couldn't take any of the Eunjang idiots?" Seongje grin, malice hidden in plain sight.
For the few times Suho didn't have a comeback, he usually resorted to a measly: "Shut up."
Touched a nerve, perfect, Seongje just needed to push more. "No, you knew what you were doing bringing me with you, which of them is it?" He didn't know what he'd do with the information yet but he knew he had to get it.
"None of your business," Suho frowned. Despite not appreciating getting teased, Suho turned and gave Seongje a sincere look as he said to him, "All I can say it's you don't have to worry!"
Seongje couldn't help but snort. It sounded like Suho was trying to change the topic but he supposed that there wouldn't much harm with indulging the other a little. "I don't have to worry?"
"Yeah, because it isn't Juntae, he's all yours, even if some would like to disagree, I support!" Suho gave him a wide smile and a quick pat on his back.
After he did, Seongje stopped walking and raised an eyebrow in honest confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Well, if Seongje was being honest, he supposed that he wouldn't have been pleased if it was Juntae since Suho certainly didn't deserve him even if he got a challengers rank in league of legends or anything else for that matter. However, what did that have to do with Seongje and him not worrying about it at that?
At first, Suho didn't stop as he had but when he noticed no one next to him he turned around to finally see Seongje's questioning face. For a few seconds Suho just stared at him back with a look that almost felt like he was waiting for some kind of punchline which never came.
Standing for a few more moments, Suho's own expression began to morph into an almost shock. His mouth opened a few times but no sound came. However, Seongje just continued to look back at him, waiting for an answer. He didn't even understand why he was starting to feel bothered.
In the end Suho finally said something, without much thought most likely, "Aren't you two-? Huh, maybe I misunderstood…?" Seongje didn't like it, but Suho just smiled and turned to resume his walking like nothing had happened while also slightly picking up his pace, "Anyway, let's get you some cigarettes, alright wolfy?"
What?
"Hey! No, you can't just not explain it!" Seongje finally began walking too, trying to catch up to Suho.
"Seems like I wasn't the only one who needed to see a fortune teller!" Suho screamed with laughter as he started running away from Seongje and from the previous topic.
In the end they both had gone to a PC cafe for Suho to start paying off his debt, that way Suho had successfully distracted Seongje from continuing their small dispute and Seongje decided to let him. Either way, there would be chances to get more information from the other.
Realising that he never got to smoke his cigarette, he pulled out the same one he wanted and lit it. The smoke made him feel peace and familiarity while walking home through the streets which were illuminated by the streetlamps.
Despite it still no being cold, Seongje felt a shiver run down his spine. That couldn't be anything, right? Probably
Right in that moment, he felt his phone ping inside of his pocket. When he fished it out and turned it on, Seongje couldn't help but let a small smile appear on his face at the present notification.
Little lamb
>See you tomorrow and goodnight, hyung!
You
>Goodnight, lamb
Little lamb
>(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)/
Right. Tomorrow would be better.
The morning started like any other - with heavy eyes and a very loud groan. Sometimes Seongje might allow himself to roll around in the bed for moment or even few hours, but today wasn't be one of those days and he didn't complain about it. Seongje only rolled in the direction of the edge, with practiced movements grabbed his phone and glasses to check the time and his last chat.
He had planned to meet with Juntae, going out to eat, nothing more, well, maybe they could go to a pc cafe afterwards or go to Seongje's place to watch something, Seongje wasn't picky when it came to Juntae. But unfortunately, that wouldn't be until later in the day.
So for the time being Seongje just got up and walked towards the kitchen. Seongje wasn't usually hungry in the mornings, but it seemed like the thoughts of food made him feel slight hunger. Perhaps a little snack wouldn't hurt before going out. Looking through his fridge and pantry, the best he find was some sports bar. While he was munching on it, he made some coffee.
For some reason, today's coffee smelled and tasted stronger than it usually did, which made his nose scrunch slightly. Maybe he put too much by accident? Guess he was still half asleep.
Having drank his coffee, he walked to the bathroom. He walked up the faucet, removed his glasses and rinsed his face. Once looked up at the mirror, he didn't register it at first, thinking it was probably some crazy bed hair or his lighting was weird, only on second look did he finally notice a slight twitch on top of his head.
His hair usually didn't more on it's own, only for it to return back to it's place. Nor did it tend to suddenly change colour at some parts.
What?
This time Seongje made sure to blink a couple more times, then he tried rubbing his eyes, and finally he put on his glasses. Yet no matter how much and what he did, the scene in the mirror didn't change.
On the top of his head, there were triangular shaped, mottled dark grey and furry(?) 'things'. At first glance, Seongje assumed that they were a wolf ear headband, because those obviously looked like that.
Was it some prank done by Suho? Maybe Suho somehow had sneaked into his apartment with a pair of wolf ear headband, which looked very realistic, and put it on Seongje's head while he was asleep? And did they have some kind of spring in them to make it look like they almost moved?
With not shaky hands Seongje reached to feel them and, of course, with a goal of taking them off, no doubt about it. Then he'd call Suho to berate him or do something similar in return in the future, but only once he took them off.
As soon as he touched them, he felt it. He felt his fingertips touch the fur, it felt very soft and fluffy, on it's own it could have almost been seen as 'pleasant to the touch'. Yet he also felt something being touched, more specifically, the feeling came right from the top of his head. It felt like the feeling came exactly like when he touched those ears.
That made him quickly pull his hands back to himself while the ears flattened to his head in defence. That felt way too real and weird to say the least, he wasn't planning to do it again any time soon.
As if on cue, he felt something fluffy caress the back of his leg. Seongje's neck almost made a cracking sound from how fast it turned to look behind himself. The sight wasn't worth a nearly broken neck.
There was a tail.
Same colour as his ears, right in that moment it was still as a rock like it was caught doing a petty crime.
There was no way this was real, right? Maybe he was still dreaming? But for a dream, this felt too real. Seongje knew that there was a way to test the legitimacy of whatever he was seeing but he never thought that he'd try it himself, it always seemed and sounded so stupid.
However, Seongje guessed that at the moment that was all he could do now. He moved one of his hands to the other and pinched as hard as he could, leaving a tiny red bruise on his arm. Yep, he felt it.
But for good measure he also reached and bit his arm as hard as he could. Another thing he felt, guess he couldn't deny whatever he was seeing before him anymore. Also now the bruise had a teeth mark around it, so he'd probably need to where some hoodie when going out to-
Oh.
Oh no.
He was supposed to meet with Juntae today. Fortunately for Seongje, he had a couple more hours until then. But what could he even do to better whatever that was? As Seongje started to think of something, a thought came into his mind.
This must had to do something with Suho, he was with him yesterday and he probably wanted to prank him or something after what the fortune teller had said and after he gave Seongje that new nickname.
With newfound frustration, he exited the bathroom to find his phone and messaged Suho.
You
>Get your ass to my place you fuck
>Don't you dare ignore me
>You have got some explaining to do
Seongje glared at the screen, his index finger starting to tap the phone case as he waited for the other's reply yet none came. It looked like he wasn't going to get a response any time soon, so for the moment he turned it off and went again to examine himself in the mirror.
When he got to it, a slightly different scene was in front of him. The ears on top of his head seemed to have pulled back at some point. But as soon as he noticed it, they returned back to it's previous position if only a little higher up.
So they actually move like proper animal ears? Fan-fucking-tastic.
Right then, he felt his phone vibrate, so Seongje quickly reached for his phone and, for the first time, hoped that a message would be from Suho and not from certain other person.
Tolerable at best
>Good morning to you too
>What's up
>Already need a cigarette?
>It's not even 10 yet
You
>No
>But get some
>Get over to here quickly, I don't have time to waste on this shit
Tolerable at best
>Aight👍
While Seongje waited for Suho to arrive, he had started to pace around his room. And when the door bell rang, Seongje didn't waste a moment as he opened the door and saw Suho standing there.
"Hi, here's your-" Suho didn't have the chance to finish whatever he was going to say because Seongje pulled him with all his might inside into his apartment. Quickly he locked the door and turned his head to glare at Suho.
"Whoa, dude, what's going on…" Suho turned to question Seongje yet he trailed off as soon as he saw the whole of Seongje, making him drop a plastic bag that probably had the cigarettes in. The sight made Suho glance up and down few times, one moment he even looked around the place, like he was searching for a hidden camera which obviously didn't exist. After a quick skim through of everything, Suho laughed a little nervously and said looking at Seongje, "Um, look, I'm not one to shame another's preferences, but why are you-"
"Don't act like this isn't your doing," Seongje interrupted Suho because he didn't want to waste time for the fake funnies and pretending that Suho was innocent.
At the sudden accusation Suho's mouth went agape. He blinked a few times, eyes not decided whether they should look Seongje in the face or whatever he had done to him again. Suho was probably trying to think of a way out of the situation since he was caught, so in a desperate attempt pointed at himself and asked in a flabbergasted tone, "My doing?"
Seongje already mentioned that he had no time for this pretending.
"Yes, to prank me about yesterday, you were the one who kept calling me 'wolfy boy' all evening." What was there not to understand? Suho was just acting dumb to annoy Seongje more than he already was.
"Yesterday?" Suho narrowed his eyes as he tried to recall the very real thing he did
Suho put up his hands up, "You have to believe me, I know nothing about this,"
"Then how can you explain this?" Seongje crossed his arms, a scowl already formed on his face.
"I have to explain this? I don't know, what about that bite mark on your arm? Maybe you got bitten by something radioactive?"
Seongje didn't want to admit that he had done that himself, "This isn't a spider-man origin story."
"It would have been cool though."
"…"
"Wolfy-man."
"…"
Seeing that Seongje was fond of what he had said, he returned to brainstorming internally. That time Suho looked like he was actually trying to think of something, but what he had landed on didn't exactly make Seongje think it was a better idea, "Alright, maybe the fortune teller cursed you? She was the one who brought up wolves yesterday."
"Very funny," Seongje responded in a bored voice.
"I know I am, but do you have any better ideas yourself?"
"…" Okay, thinking now, maybe Seongje might have jumped the gun little bit… Because clearly whatever was happening to him was natural or something that have been easily explained with a science book. "Fine, let's assume that it was the old lady, how can you fix it? I only went there because of you."
"Maybe we can try to go find that lady again? I could free up today-"
"Can't, seeing Juntae today," Seongje replied with a serious tone.
When Suho heard that, he pressed his hands to his hips and his tongue poked his cheek. With the pose, Suho asked, "Really now?"
"Yeah, and you know that I can't cancel that, so you go by yourself."
"You can't cancel it-?" for an unknown reason, Suho dropped his pose and seemed appalled, he also scoffed in disbelief. He turned away from Seongje and massaged his temples and let out a heavy sigh in defeat, "Fine, whatever, I suppose I am indebted to you… but this has to minimise some of the previous requirements, right?"
"Hah?"
"Guy, you want to me to spend my day looking for and interrogating a fortune teller? I have better things to do and I didn't make you be rude to her."
As much as Seongje would have liked to disagree, he supposed that the other had a point. So with a sigh, Seongje said, "Okay, deal."
Even if he had agreed to it, it still made Seongje frown very hard and glare at the other. And suddenly Suho's whole expression changed, eyes widening once again and almost dropping his jaw to the floor.
"Oh shit, they move too?" Suho questioned as he pointed up. The question made Seongje scowl even more than before, since they had already moved, who would care if they moved more? While Suho was still looking at the ears, he asked another ridiculous question, "Can I touch them?"
"Absolutely not," Seongje felt a small growl escape his throat when he replied.
"Ugh, you're no fun," Suho complained. But it didn't last long as he got another idea, "Oh, in that case, can you do tricks? Like speak and give your hand when asked?"
"I'm not a dog, if anything, you're probably most likely the dog out of the two of us, I'm obviously a wolf."
"You're so emo, are you gonna start howling whenever there is a full moon?" Suho asked, clearly unimpressed by Seongje even if he was telling the truth. "Anyway, since you're meeting up with Juntae, how will you-"
"Juntae can't know about this," Seongje's mood suddenly changed and he answered so fast that it almost felt pathetic.
"Huh? Why? Do you think he's team Edward or something?"
"No, I just don't want him to know, alright?" Seongje blurted out in a tone that he hadn't initially wanted to say it in.
At that Suho didn't say anything for a while, just looked at him with an unreadable expression. But then he sighed while rubbing the back of his neck and without any ulterior motive hidden under his tone and face spoke, "Okay, I understand." But Suho soon after pointed at Seongje's head, Then maybe wear a hat? To cover your, you know. Maybe a long coat too!"
And Seongje with the help of Suho got to work of finding the clothing pieces. As they continued finding the items Seongje wondered when did he even get these pieces of clothing in his closet in the first place, he was pretty sure he hadn't bought them himself. Afterwards, when he had put on the stuff, Seongje looked into his mirror, and…
"Damn," Suho behind him said muffled because he had covered his mouth to not let a laugh escape, but his eyes couldn't hide his true feelings. If their roles in this were reversed, Seongje would also be laughing, but they weren't. After taking a few deep breaths and clearing his throat, Suho attempted saying in his most forced neutral voice yet, "Those clothes make you look less intimidating for sure, but I guess it's better than having the ears out."
Once they left the apartment and entered the elevator together, a moment of silence fell between them. Seongje used that time to look at his phone with no particular goal in mind while Suho appeared deep in thought. After a short wile, the silence was interrupted by Suho, "Seongje, I have something serious to ask."
"Hm?" Seongje hummed without looking up from his phone.
"Paw."
"…" Slowly Seongje lifted his head to look at Suho, who had stretched out his palm slightly. Suho couldn't be for real. "Fuck off,"
Suho loudly huffed out as he dropped his hand, "Man, you're moodier than usual, I'm actually starting to get concerned… Just don't be that way when you see Juntae, alright?"
"I won't, he's not you." The elevator's door slid open and Seongje walked out, not even sparing Suho a glance.
"Ouch."
Along the way Seongje and Suho parted ways to get to their respective locations. When Seongje got to his destination, he looked around and didn't the familiar face he was searching for, so he decided to check the time on his phone. Looked like he got there earlier than Juntae, most of the time Juntae would be the one who arrived first or right on time, he was never late.
Knowing that he still had some time to spare, Seongje took out a fresh pack of cigarettes that Suho had brought him this morning. He lit it
But once he took the first drag, he started coughing very hard. He hadn't coughed this hard when he stole his first pack and tried it for the first time when he was alone. Quickly he took it out his mouth and squished it with his shoe. The smell from it was awful and he could almost feel how the smoke had invaded his lungs.
For some odd reason his usual brand of cigarettes tasted awful today. Maybe he should switch to another one after. But for the moment he settled with just letting a new one sit between his lips without lighting it as he leaned against the nearest wall, at least he could pretend to have some sanity left until Juntae arrived. And he didn't wait too long for that to happen.
From a not far distance, Seongje heard someone calling out: "Hyung!"
Seongje instinctively turned his whole body in the sound's direction and saw a figure wave at him as it get closer and closer. When Juntae finally approached him, he had a big smile on his face, the clothes on were his usual cute ones (as Seongje described them) accompanied with his typical light brown puffy jacket. Although Juntae looked and appeared as he usually did, something felt a little different.
"You're already here! I hope that I didn't make you wait too long," Juntae expressed
Even if Juntae had come multiple hours later, Seongje still would have waited no matter what. Seongje shook his head as he put his cigarette back into the box and smiled at him, "It's fine, I just got here myself." Then he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and and also got closer to Juntae. Right in that moment Seongje finally (kind of) understood what felt so different about Juntae. Seongje asked leaning a little closer to Juntae, "Have you started using perfume? You smell nice."
That observation made Juntae a little surprised as he slightly tilted his head. "Huh? I do? But I haven't put anything on…" Juntae brought his collar to his nose to sniff it, after a few inhales, he looked back with confused eyes, "I don't think I smell any differently, at least I don't think I do."
Hm? There's no way that Juntae would start to lie to him, right? Maybe there was a possibility that Juntae somehow walked by some perfume stand and the smell stuck a little bit, even if Seongje was the only one who smelt of the two of them.
"Maybe I imagined it, forget it," Seongje sighed and gestured for him to not mind it. His response were curious doe eyes looking up at him and a quietly mumbled 'alright'.
"Anyway, trying out a new style?" Juntae swiftly said.
"Hm?"
"The beanie and long coat I mean," Juntae pointed at Seongje's attire from up and down.
Right, Seongje had blocked out that knowledge out of his head until now. But he still gave Juntae his most confident grin and asked, "Yeah, how do I look?"
"Unusual," Juntae commented with neutral expression but he looked a little interested. But then it appeared that a bright idea come to him and he smiled gingerly, "You just need a scarf and you'll look like those people who just released their first 'best-seeling' novel!" Juntae held in his laughter successfully, but his eyes still conveyed mischief.
Remembering what Seongje himself saw in the mirror, he supposed he could see it. But wanting to be dramatic, Seongje sighed loudly and looked at Juntae with an unamused expression, "Lamb, you wound me with your words."
"I just thought you'd appreciate honesty," Juntae hummed, obviously feeling very pleased with himself.
"Since when did you get this rude?"
"Hm, I wonder," Juntae tried to show a thoughtful expression, but that time he couldn't hold in even a single giggle to save his life. And for that reason alone Seongje could never stay mad at him for too long. "Anyway, ready to go?"
"Yeah, want to grab something to eat? I'm starting to get hungry a little,"
"For sure! To be honest, I didn't get to eat anything proper, so how about a cafe? I heard that a new one recently opened up and I've been meaning to try it!"
"I thought you wanted to eat something proper rather than a pastry,"
"Bread can be nutritious!" Juntae reasoned like he hadn't actually thought something more familiar to a potential source of diabetes.
"How about we actually go eat something and then go to that cafe, for dessert,"
"I guess that works, I think I might know a place, Baku has told me about it!" Juntae quickly pulled out his phone to probably search for the location of the place. The way he was looking at his phone seemed a little intense and Seongje thought that he'd rather have Juntae look at him like that and not some phone. But he shook the thought away because it was just unreasonable.
Soon they started walking in the direction of the diner, Juntae started talking about whatever he had done and seen since they last hung out, his stories varied from how he saw a squirrel on a walk to how one of the Eunjang idiots had their hand stuck in a vending machine (and it wasn't Baku). However, during their walk Seongje started feeling like someone was looking at them, maybe staring would be a better word to describe it.
Seongje continued listening to Juntae but he also started to examine their surroundings and draped his arm around Juntae and pulled him closer to his side, like he tried to shield him from the people around him.
When he did it, Juntae paused his story about how he made some DIY craft, flinching a little from the unexpected hold. Juntae glanced up at him from the corner of his eyes with a slightly shy and surprised look,"Hyung?"
"Yes, lamb?" asked Seongje with a grin, not changing his position to Juntae.
They held eye contact for a bit but Juntae was the first one to break it as he looked back on the path ahead of them and mumbled a quiet, "N-Nothing…" And Juntae just leaned his head closer to Seongje, which instantly made Seongje feel better and more secure. The smell he felt previously from Juntae again hit him and he embraced it like it was natural.
They spent the rest of the walk like that until they reached their destination, Seongje being the nice person that he was (to Juntae) he held the door open to him and let him go inside first. Looking around the place, it felt quite cosy. A waiter approached them and led to a free table where Seongje took his seat, while Juntae pulled off his brown jacket. When he did so, the jacket pulled his sweater a little up, revealing some of the stomach and Seongje just stared it. Even after it was once again hidden, Seongje still had a picture of it in his mind.
But the moment lasted very briefly, when he heard Juntae laugh a little as he addressed him, "Aren't you hot? Wearing a hat and a long coat inside is certainly a choice."
To be honest, it did feel a little hot with the clothes on, but it wasn't like he could take them off. So instead he tried to convince both Juntae and himself, "I feel fine."
"If you say so…" Juntae trailed off as he smiled.
Soon the same waiter that had showed them in gave them the menus. But when Seongje opened his, he knew that he could read the text written on it but his mind didn't want to register it. Instead his mind was busy thinking of a single thought.
Seongje didn't even notice when the waiter returned to ask what they wanted. Juntae was the first one to order and so, to play it safe, Seongje asked for the same, even if he didn't know what it was.
"Really? Never imagined that you'd actually order that,"
"I trust that you ordered something good," Seongje pressed his arms against the table and smiled, making the other giggle.
"Hm, you can't blame afterwards if you don't like it though!" Juntae told with a grin.
It didn't take long for the food to arrive, both of them thanking the waiter. And soon Juntae became eating. Seongje was gonna do the same, but he felt like he'd rather look at Juntae. The way his hair reflected the warm light of the ceiling lamp, the way his hands looked soft to the touch, the way his Adam's apple bobbed every time he swallowed, the way his mouth and lips moved as he ate-
"Are you okay?" Juntae asked, masking his sweet concern with a small awkward laugh, making Seongje return to reality.
"Yeah, just thinking about some stuff."
Juntae stared at him for a bit and muttered quietly, "If you say so." It looked like Juntae wasn't fully convinced but still decided to trust Seongje and he slowly returned to talking about something.
And Seongje really was listening, it was just that his thoughts sometimes were louder. Some kind of need tried to push itself out of Seongje but he didn't let it even if by each moment became more and more uncomfortable, yet still controllable.
"I though that you were hungry?" suddenly Juntae asked.
Seongje answered in an almost monotone voice, "I am."
Juntae tilted his head to the side a little, "But you've just been staring at me and poking your food around…" Juntae mumbled as his cheeks got a little red as he told him his observation. It was a nice colour.
"Right," Seongje blinked in what felt like in a very long time and glanced down at his food. The food before him really looked appetizing even if it wasn't what he'd usually order. Carefully, he finally took his first bite, it felt like it had already cooled down a bit, but it still tasted good, yet it didn't feel like that was what he needed.
"Hyung? Are you-" Juntae asked, his voice a little more shaky than usually was, "are you actually okay?"
Seongje looked at him again. Juntae's mouth had formed a thin line, his hand rested against the table's edge, his eyes were slightly pleading.
But, no, he wasn't okay. And the worst part of it was that didn't understand why everything was happening as it did. At some point the clothes started feeling like he was being suffocated in them and nothing he ate seemed to quench his hunger fully. He didn't like when other people looked their way, even if it was just a small glance that didn't last any longer than a second. The smells around felt too strong and the noise too loud. The one thing keeping him sane at that moment was the sweet smell and person sitting across from him. But Juntae was starting to worry, which didn't please Seongje. If only Seongje could just take him away from here and go somewhere with just the two of them where he could just-
"Yeah, I am, what's up?" Seongje replied.
"You seem a little out of it…"
God, he really didn't want to be away from Juntae. But if this, whatever the hell this was, went on, he was actually starting to get afraid on what could happen. Seongje had to find a way out fast. Anything. Just so that whatever his mind had gone to wouldn't happen.
"Actually, I just remembered that I promised Suho that we'd play some League today, sorry, got to go," Seongje nearly stuttered as he lied, but he had to sound believable.
Confusion and worry coloured Juntae's eyes, "Huh? But you haven't even eaten-"
"Yeah, my fault, see you, lamb," Seongje fished out his wallet, without even counting his cash, he dropped a sum that probably exceeded the actual price of the meal and quickly stood up, his chair made a loud unpleasant screeching sound as he did. The noise also make some other customers glance their way. Those looks fuelled Seongje's incoherent desires even more. He had to leave.
"Hyung-!" Juntae called out but Seongje had already ran out the door and made his way to his place. He didn't even allow himself to look back, in case he saw Juntae standing outside.
If he did, he wouldn't be able to make himself leave. Right in that moment that was for the best.