Chapter Text
You, Swan, and Hendery sat awkwardly in the small tattoo parlor, looking encouragingly Ireh’s way as the artist applied the stencil to her upper back.
“God it was so awkward when he came over yesterday,” you forced a smile as you spoke to Hendery and Swan, not wanting Ireh to see your frown and further panic about her permanent ink.
“I can’t believe he think it’s me,” Hendery’s teeth looked more gritted than a forced smile.
“Hendery you better smile with your eyes,” Swan’s smile seemed incredibly forced, but when Ireh glanced your way for encouragement, everyone shot a thumbs up. “Honestly, with how much you guys have been speaking I would think he’d catch on that it’s you.”
“We haven’t spoken that much,” you denied, staring down at your shoes.
“What school project requires him to be at our place everyday for nearly a month?” Swan pointed, her eyebrows furrowing. Hendery nodded in agreement, affirming Swan’s point.
“You know how I am about school projects,” you muttered.
“Yeah, if you could do everything on your own and not talk to someone, you would,” Hendery scoffed, this time earning an affirming nod from Swan.
“I think you’re hurt,” Swan then smiled, causing you and your cousin to smile back at Ireh who was turning to you in a panicked state as the artist began the work on her tattoo.
“Why would I be hurt? He’s just doing his job,” you grumbled, crossing your arms.
“I think you want him to see you,” Swan’s voice rose in pitch, as if hoping you would understand what she was saying.
“He sees me almost everyday- that’s what you just complained about,” your response earned a groan from Hendery and Swan.
“Eeeep is something wrong?” Ireh cried, her eyes widening.
“Everything is great! Your tattoo looks great!” You rushed, shooting her a double thumbs up to help calm her down. She nodded and turned her head, the three of you sighing in relief.
“You want him to see you,” Hendery repeated Swan’s words, shooting you a knowing glance. You rolled your eyes, and listened to Hendery and Swan bicker over the lighting choice in the tattoo parlor as you all waited on Ireh’s tattoo artist to finish up.
“Does it look good?” Ireh asked as the three of you gawked at how incredible your drawing came out on her back, and an immense sense of pride overwhelmed you.
“It looks awesome,” Swan was taking a photo of it, the three of you now watching as the artist covered the tattoo in a clear bandage. It was one thing to know that people loved reading your work, it was a different feeling to see one of your closest friends get something specially made that you’ve done, forever on her flesh.
“This reminds me of that comic,” the tattoo artist snapped his fingers, trying to think.
“Flight of the Wolves?” Hendery asked, earning a quick nod from the artist.
“Yep! At least the art style, it’s awesome,” he affirmed. After Ireh paid and you all said goodbye to the artist, you stepped out from the parlor and into the somewhat busy city center on a Saturday evening.
---
“You said you were going to invite people,” Jaemin sighed, carrying two boxes of pizza. Yangyang and Sungchan dragged Jaemin with them to pick up dinner for tonight, having previously said that they’d be having friends over.
“Yangyang, you know you can always just ask to hang out with us like normal people,” Sungchan chastised, shaking the sodas in his hands.
“Renjun and Chenle really said they couldn’t make it!” Yangyang countered, helping push back the throngs of people to clear the way for his two roommates until he suddenly stopped on the edge of the street.
“Are you okay?” Sungchan asked him, shifting uncomfortably with the clunky sodas in his hand.
“Is that… Swan!” Yangyang called to the other side of the street. Jaemin followed Yangyang’s gaze and froze, seeing the small group standing outside of a tattoo parlor.
“Shit,” Jaemin muttered, nerves clinging to the pit of his stomach. When he had seen you yesterday to work on the project, he was met with mostly silence. You had truly only spoken to him regarding the work for the class, unlike the past few times when you would engage in conversations about anything and everything. Of course, he hadn’t told this to Yangyang and Sungchan because he was so embarrassed about it.
“Swan!” On the other side, you all heard your roommate's name get called out, and turned to the other side of the street to see a guy waving furiously at Swan with Sungchan and Jaemin flanking him.
“Oh, Yangyang!” Swan waved back, beckoning for them to cross the street. “How does he know Jaemin?” she turned to you expectantly. You shrugged.
You really hoped to take this weekend to decompress and think about anything that was not your schoolmate. He had taken up enough of your mental energy you felt, and now running into him on the street after your weird conversation with Swan and Hendery felt like completely the wrong time to see him again.
“I haven’t seen you since summer camp!” Yangyang greeted, hugging Swan before waving to you all. You and Jaemin made awkward eye contact before you waved at him and Sungchan, forcing a smile.
“Yangyang was a camp counselor with me the summer before undergrad!” Swan explained.
“You guys look like you’re having a fun night,” Ireh noted, pointing at the pizza box in Jaemin’s hands.
“We thought so too until we realized Yangyang lied about inviting people over,” Sungchan chastised.
“Well, are you guys busy tonight?” Yangyang turned to you all, earning a mixed set of reactions. The four of you simply planned to go back to your place and watch a superhero movie, but it was something you all always did.
“No, we aren’t!” It was Hendery who spoke up, smiling as he looked between you and Jaemin. You shot him a death glare, fully irritated by your cousin's need to shove his nose into things that don’t pertain to him.
“Yeah, sounds like fun!” Swan chimed in, sharing a knowing look with Hendery. Oh I could kill them you thought to yourself.
Jaemin’s apartment seemed ill-equipped to handle the four additional people. The couch could take four people squeezing tightly onto it, sure, but that left two people to uncomfortably sit on stools, and the office chair Jaemin wheeled out from his room. Along with this chair, he rolled out a small stack of board games that he started to unload on the side of the coffee table since the pizza took up the small center space.
“I refuse to play Monopoly,” Hendery crossed his arm, his elbows hitting Swan and Yangyang. You were standing at the kitchen island with pizza in hand as Sungchan handed you the soda you had been waiting on.
“Thanks,” you muttered, taking a sip.
“You weren’t at the family dinner last week,” he noted, leaning his elbows on the island.
“Jaemin and I were finishing some stuff for the project,” you drank more from your soda to help cover the lie you told. Yes, Jaemin was there for the project, but while he was there he mentioned how he had never seen Howl’s moving castle, so after class you had invited him over to watch the movie.
“Sure, sure,” Sungchan smirked, making his way towards the living room. You hated how awkward it was between you and Jaemin. Walking to his apartment, you two would keep stealing glances, the other being either too nervous (Jaemin) or too prideful (you) to speak to the other.
You went to take the awkward stool by the coffee table when Jaemin extended his hand to stop you.
“I’ll take that, just sit here,” he gestured to his office chair that was supremely more comfortable than the stool. You went to protest, but he quickly leapt onto the stool, leaving only the chair to be available to you.
“Thanks,” you sat down on the chair, listening to the intense discussion over what game to play.
“I hate trivia pursuit,” Yangyang groaned, earning a sigh from Ireh who eyed the game longingly.
“What about a good old fashioned game of never have I ever,” Hendery suggested, earning him a raised eyebrow from everyone else.
“Do we look like we’re in high school?” you groaned, earning a snicker from everyone else.
“She’s right, Hendery. If this was high school her and Sungchan would be dating,” Yangyang spoke, earning a deep laugh from everyone on the couch, a groan from you and Sungchan, and pure silence from Jaemin.
“It was one date,” you repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.
“Yeah, sure,” Ireh scoffed, and you quickly threw a napkin at her face.
“Let’s play never have I ever,” you lifted your hands, fully irritated. “Never have I ever gotten a tattoo.” Ireh stuck her tongue out at you as she put a finger down. The game was fairly standard until it reached Jaemin, an odd hush falling over the room as he seemed to ponder what to say.
“Never have I ever… been good at drawing,” he tamely spoke. You, Yangyang, Hendery, and Swan shrugged, dropping a finger at this one.
You smiled, “never have I ever been good at photography.”
“Aw come on,” Hendery sighed, dropping a finger while Jaemin quietly did so, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Come on Swan, do something juicy,” Hendery egged on.
“I don’t think anyone here has anything crazy to share,” Ireh giggled, thinking it over. “Never have I ever… I don’t know- kissed anyone in this room?” There was a pause. “See? Nothing juicy.”
Watching as Ireh shook her head at Hendery, you and Sungchan quietly tucked your fingers, hoping no one else would notice. But, Jaemin did.
“See? Nothing, I guess I’ll-.”
“Two people put their fingers down,” Jaemin yawned, cutting off Swan. You turned your head to Jaemin, and he shot a mischievous grin as if he enjoyed watching you bicker with people.
“Ha! I told you they’ve hooked up!” Yangyang lunged up from the couch, pointing to Jaemin furiously.
“We are adults, we were kids when that happened,” you argued. It was your first date ever, and despite how awkward and weird the evening was, you and Sungchan decided to get another task out of the way- your first kiss. It was weird, but despite that you both agreed that being friends was decidedly much better than forcing a romance that simply did not exist between the two of you.
“Don’t tell your parents that- they’ll cry,” Hendery chuckled.
“They’re crazy,” you affirmed, finishing the pizza slice you realized you had not finished yet.
“They seemed normal to me,” Jaemin chimed in.
You raised your eyebrow, “you were also drunk out of your mind.”
“At least he’s a funny drunk,” Sungchan punched his friend's arm, earning a smile from Jaemin, something in your chest warming up when you saw his smile.
“You say that because he wasn’t gawking at your parents,” you scoffed, earning a forced shocked face from Jaemin.
“I was not gawking at them,” he smiled then, that bright smile you had been hoping to see again, now finally directed at you.
You all took to playing a game of life, somewhat making your own rules on the board game as you all progressed and spoke the whole way through. It was odd how well everyone seemed to get along- seeming to joke and banter well while somehow managing to make it to the end of the game. Towards the end and while everyone else was distracted, Jaemin leaned over to you, the stool giving him an awkward height over you.
“I won’t keep working on this article if you don’t want me to,” it took you by surprise, and you looked over at him as if trying to assess his sincerity. Swan and Hendery’s words kept swimming in your head then. It clicked- you wanted him to see you- every part of you, including being able to piece together the identity you’ve been hiding from most people. You didn’t want him to be like most people- you wanted him to be different.
You gently squeezed the solo cup that held your soda before softly speaking, “you have to do what’s best for yourself sometimes.”
Jaemin wasn’t satisfied with this response, although he knew that he should be. He mulled over it the rest of the game and even while he drove the rest of you back to your place, mostly silent albeit for the bickering between Ireh, Swan, and Hendery in the backseat.
“Thanks Jaemin,” you went to exit the car when his hand reached over to gently stop you from leaving the car as your roommates already had. “Everything okay?” you asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I don’t know,” he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for, but one thing was for certain- he really liked being around you. Like, he really liked it. It made his head feel fuzzy and his cheeks hurt from smiling in the best way possible. “Do you like hanging out with me?”
You mulled over the question before nodding. “You’re kind of cool,” you joked, softly punching his arm. “Do you like hanging out with me?”
“Hm, I guess you’re cool,” Jaemin was smirking his mischievous smirk and you playfully scoffed.
“I’ll see you Monday, Jaemin,” you smiled, heading out of his car and waving before you entered your townhome to see your roommates and Hendery eagerly waiting for you in the living room.
“Please tell me you guys kissed,” Ireh had her hands holding her head, staring at you with wide eyes.
“You guys are so annoying- we’re just… friends?” it came out as a question, because even saying the word friend for Jaemin felt wrong.
“Yeah, sure,” Swan and Hendery chuckled.
---
Throughout all this a few things were clear to you- people were comparing your work to your parents, without your name even attached. The other thing was that Jaemin hated his job, and having a Senior position would allow him to move to a position he actually cared about. The last thing was that you deeply cared for Jaemin- this was the part that was still strange to you.
A week had passed, and Jaemin was organizing the final parts of your project as he waited to get a text back from you. You had told him you were having a later meeting than usual and would need an extra hour before you could meet and finalize the elements of your project.
The day prior, after you and Jaemin watched Pride and Prejudice (he swore it was good), you emailed him the political cartoon you made. He opened up the attachment, and went blank as he stared at it.
When you drew the cartoon, you absentmindedly drew characters you were comfortable with to help convey your message on the environment- specifically, the lead wolf character from Flight of the Wolves. This wasn’t what caught Jaemin off guard, though, it was your signature in the corner.
It seems you were so used to intertwining the characters with Patches, that you instinctually signed it off as such, not even realizing it when you sent it to Jaemin.
Jaemin leapt up from his office chair, snatching the Patches signature he had on his corkboard and bringing it up to his computer screen. He compared it to the scanned drawing of yours, the signatures naturally matching. No way. Jaemin felt crazy. He rushed out of his room, running over and barging into Sungchan’s room.
Sungchan was surprised by his roommates' boldness, shutting the book he was taking notes on and waiting for Jaemin to speak.
“Y/N, when she was younger, did she write a lot? Draw a lot?” his voice was panicked, and he rushed through his words.
“Oh yeah, duh. All the time.”
“Did she draw animals a lot by any chance?”
“Hmm,” Sungchan thought it over before he got up from his bed, digging around in his desk to take out a notebook from high school. Flipping through a few pages, he found the doodles you had left there for him before passing it to Jaemin who stared at the works in awe. “Hers and Hendery’s nickname for me was a baby deer,” he pointed at the numerous tiny deers before pointing at the anthromorphic wolf in the upper corner, “but this was her favorite thing to draw.”
“Holy shit,” Jaemin spoke under his breath. That was your main character- albeit, slightly more rudimentary than what he was now, but it was obvious. “Y/N is Patches.”
“It took you that long to figure it out?” Sungchan took the notebook back from Jaemin’s shaky hands, tucking it back away into his desk.
“Wait, you knew?”
“Oh yeah. It was obvious, but I’ve just never said anything. I figured if she was going by a pseudonym, it was for a reason,” Sungchan shrugged as he laid back in his bed to keep reading.
“I… I told her I thought it was Hendery,” Jaemin gulped. He was ashamed that he didn’t know, but didn’t know why he felt this way.
“Yikes, she was upset huh?” Sungchan returned to reading his book, only glancing up at his friend to give him a ‘you fucked up’ look.
“I have to go talk to her,” Jaemin sloppily put on the first pair of shoes by the front door, grabbing his phone as he rushed down the stairs and into the streets headed to your place. He chastised himself as he ran through the rain, knowing he would catch a cold even if your place was only a few blocks away from his.
---
“I plan to reveal to the writer from GameLabs, and make my first in person appearance at the WizMedia conference,” you told Kun at the end of your meeting, earning a sharp look from him.
“I thought you were going to reveal at the conference,” Kun whined, flipping through his notes to verify your original discussion. While this was your original plan, you knew that for Jaemin, getting your identity was one thing, but if he managed to also get an interview from you confirming this, it would do wonders to have under his belt.
It was a stupid thing, but, so was falling for Jaemin.
“I changed my mind. I’ll have him run the interview by you beforehand, Kun,” you paused then, “and thank you for everything. I can’t wait to start on this next series.”
Kun was taken aback by your sudden note of appreciation, momentarily forgetting the corrections he was going to have to make. “It’s been great working with you so far, and I can’t wait to keep making more great works with you.”
After hanging up, you sat on your living room couch, listening to the rain pounding outside. Your roommates had left to work earlier, so all that was left was seeing Jaemin before class. There was a loud knock at your door, drawing your attention from your own thoughts as you got up to open it.
Your eyes widened to see Jaemin out of breath and drenched in the rain, clutching his chest.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry!” he shouted over the rain, catching you off guard.
“Jaemin oh my god come inside!” you ignored his apology, rushing him inside and shutting the door. “I’m grabbing you a towel.”
When you came back with a towel, Jaemin took to sitting on your kitchen floor, holding his knees to his chest as the rain dripping off of him pooled around his hunched figure. “Now why would you run in the rain when you have a car?” You were doing your best to dry his hair, passing the towel over in a frantic mess. He grabbed your wrists gently, and you looked down at his hooded eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, his voice low. You huffed, passing the towel over his face to dry off the rain that sat on his cheeks, trying desperately to ignore how handsome he looked despite the mess.
“What do you have to be sorry for?” you decided to ask, since he seemingly wasn’t going to let go of whatever it was.
“I’m sorry I didn’t see you until now,” his eyes were pleading, his hand moving up to make you let go of the towl and hold on to his hand. “I accused you of being a fangirl and didn’t even… consider… that it was you. You’re Patches,” he choked out, squeezing your hand tightly as if you’d let go. You blinked quickly, surprised that he figured it out before you told him.
“H-How?” you sputtered out.
“You signed your assignment as Patches, and everything else just… fell into place.”
You let go of your other hand to smack your forehead, realizing that you indeed impulsively signed it as your pseudonym. “I’m an idiot,” you groaned. “I wanted to tell you myself.”
“Why would you want to do that?” it was his turn to be surprised, dropping both of your hands onto his lap.
“I want you to get that job promotion. You hate it there, but a couple months in a senior position would help you easily get a job in Sports Artistry. I wanted you to do an interview with Patches,” your voice when soft, the two of you staring diligently at the other in an attempt to search for any other meaning behind the others’ eyes.
“I don’t want a job that requires me to potentially hurt someone I care about for a promotion,” Jaemin sighed, moving the towel with his free hand off his head. Maybe it was the way his hair fell on his face when it was half wet, maybe it was the pleading way he was looking at you, or maybe it was the feeling you got when he said that he cared about you, but whatever it was it set a feeling off inside you that you couldn’t control.
Jaemin surprisingly leaned forward first, and your lips met him halfway in a crash. You had been wondering how soft his lips would feel against yours, and they were better than you could have imagined. His hand held yours still, tighter than before. It was as if he was scared that you were going to slip away from him.
“It was probably a dumb decision to run here in the rain, huh?” Jaemin chuckled, your foreheads leaning against each other. He moved his hand to caress your cheek, and stare into your eyes, watching as they seemed to gleam looking back at him.
“It was a great, stupid decision,” you affirmed, kissing the tip of his nose before going to meet his lips again. A wonderfully dumb decision, and the first of many you two would make for each other.