Chapter Text
Your headphones were fully blasting in your ears as you gently brushed your pen across the panel, the final frame on your character finally alive. You were so overwhelmed with joy that you could cry- that was until you felt your headphones get ripped off your head.
“Hey!”
“Dude, you have class in ten minutes,” Ireh chastised, holding your headphones in her hand. You looked at the corner of your tablet and widened your eyes.
“Shit, you’re right!” you shouted, leaping up from the corner of the living room you were working in to grab your backpack.
“You’d think you’d remember to set an alarm,” Swan added sarcastically from the kitchen.
“Why would I do that when Ireh is clearly better than an alarm?” you feigned innocence, shooting a smile as you ran back to the front door.
“You just got lucky I noticed before we headed to work ourselves,” Ireh sighed. She was waiting for you to spastically put on your shoes before she held out your headphones to you.
“Yep, call me lucky for having the best roommates. Bye guys!” you called, taking the headphones from Ireh’s hands as you ran out of the townhome. Thankfully, the three of you managed to scrounge together enough cash to live only two blocks away from your University so you all could comfortably take your Masters classes.
Running to the Journalism building, you groaned as you picked up the ringing phone in your pocket. “Hello?”
“Are you done yet? I’m bored at work and want to start on shading,” your cousin- and the person who assisted on your comic with you- asked.
“Oh boo hoo Hendery I’m so sorry your cushy engineering job is boring,” you teased, slowing down as you started to reach where your afternoon class was.
“Hey- Kun is annoying you about submitting your final chapters,” Hendery countered. It was true- this morning your editor was grilling you about submitting your work on time- and how imperative it was that this final chapter was done with enough time for the comic site to market it. “I’m simply doing you a favor.”
“I know, I know. I’ll send them over to you once I finish class today. Bye!” You hang up just before entering your Evidence and Inference class. “Sorry I’m late, Professor.”
Your Professor looked up from the grapefruit he was eating to gesture to the rest of the class. Everyone was set up into different pairs, working on a hand out.
“Since you’re late you can just work on it on your ow-,” the professor got cut off as you were lightly shoved from the door, one of your classmates seeming to also have run to class today huffing next to you. “Nevermind, here, you two can work on the hand out together.”
Moving forward, you thanked your Professor as you grabbed the handout from him and moved to the nearest available two seats.
Jaemin too was late to class today because of his job. He worked as Junior Copywriter for GreekLabs.com, and he ended up staying an additional 20 minutes to endure a lecture from his boss about how his work was not “attention-grabbing” enough.
“Your article on ‘pretty scenery’ in an unknown romance webcomic will not get us the clicks and engagement we need,” Johnny huffed, having tossed Jaemin’s two weeks of hard work onto his lopsided desk.
“So I should write about something popular,” it wasn’t a question, more of a statement. Jaemin didn’t really want to be a copywriter, but he needed some experience in the journalism field, and GeekLabs.com was the only company willing to give him a position.
“Yes- and make it… Pop! It needs to sizzle! I want it on my desk by the close of business tomorrow!” Johnny called. Jaemin held back his shouts of frustration, and now sat in a daze with you in your evidence and inference class.
“I’m Jaemin,” he introduced, leaning over to glance at the worksheet that sat between the two of you.
“Cool, I’m y/n,” you replied, forcing a smile. You hated how much this class had you interacting with your peers. You didn’t mind occasional projects and even in class worksheets- part of journalism was working in a team- but nearly every class you had been to for this professor had you working in different pairs.
“Okay so, do you know the answer to question one?” you asked, reading it over a few times.
“Nope,” he replied, staring blankly at the sheet. You looked back at him, expecting him to take out the textbook and help you figure it out. He instead just kept staring forward at the sheet.
“Uh… okay,” you muttered, taking out your tablet. Jaemin glanced over and saw your tablet had been left open to a popular online website, particularly on a comic named ‘flight of the wolves,’ before you quickly exited and opened your virtual textbook.
“You read comics?” Jaemin asked absentmindedly. You had really hoped he wouldn’t see it, let alone mention it.
“Oh me? No… my roommate just borrows my tablet sometimes to read stuff,” you lied, quickly changing the subject back to the class handout. Jaemin didn’t help much with the handout, seeming to just let you do all the work as he seemed to not have any notes for the class or much of a grasp on any of the concepts.
You were relieved to have finished the worksheet as your Professor began speaking, signaling the ending of the class that day.
“Reminder everyone to use the pairs you pick in class to help guide who would like to work with on the final project for the semester! Turn your worksheets in here and I’ll be seeing you all next week,” he called.
“Bye Jaemin,” you said dryly, quickly handing your professor the worksheet and rushing out of the classroom. You had to email Hendery the last chapters so that he could start shading before family dinner Friday, and you didn’t want to have to speak anymore to Jaemin. Considering his lack of help on the classroom worksheet, he was definitely not someone you wanted to work with.
---
Jaemin felt bad that he didn’t contribute more to the class work. He knew he could have helped more, but he was overwhelmed with the possible comics he could look into that were on that site you were on. In particular, ‘flight of the wolves.’
Sungchan and Yangyang spoke loudly in the kitchen, trying to get Jaemin’s attention for the night as he furiously read through the comic. Yangyang decided to get up and snatch Jaemin’s phone from him.
“Hey give that back, I’m doing work!”
“Oh this is that popular furry comic,” Yangyang spoke casually, passing Jaemin’s phone to Sungchan who started chuckling.
“It is not a furry comic,” Jaemin protested, moving to the kitchen to try and get his phone back.
“Hm I see two wolves and a bunny in human clothes talking on this panel, definitely seems like a furry comic,” Sungchan countered, scanning the chapter. Clicking on the page, he noted that Jaemin was on chapter 75 out of 77. “Geez, you’ve been tearing through this thing.”
“I told you- it’s for work. The comic’s popular online and Johnny wants something that will get ‘clicks’,” Jaemin used air quotes on the last word, still irritated.
“So you’re going to write a mean review, right?” Yangyang felt that this was a no brainer. Jaemin widened his eyes, shaking his head furiously.
“Why would I do that? It’s really good.”
“Johnny said you needed an article that gets attention, nothing gets attention like hating something that’s popular,” Sungchan agreed before collecting the copy of Wuthering Heights he left on the counter. “I have to finish this for class tomorrow, but Yangyang’s right.”
“But that’s mean, and like I said- it’s really good,” Jaemin pouted. On the one hand, he knew they were right, but on the other hand he felt it would be a really selfish thing to do. “I know the author is anonymous, but it feels wrong.”
“Oh- their identity isn’t even known? And you’re worried? You won’t hurt them,” Yangyang encouraged. All Jaemin could respond with was that he would think about it, and he slunk into his room for the night to figure out what on earth he should do.
---
Meanwhile, you were flipping through the TV as Ireh and Swan chatted over the last volume of ‘Magical Girl Moonie,’ much to your dismay.
“Yes, I get it, my Mom is a genius,” you groaned.
“Your Mom and your Dad- ‘Finder x Locator is legendary,” Swan countered, earning a nod from Ireh.
“Oh that reminds me, y/n have you been able to make the sketches? I have my appointment soon,” Ireh reminded you, snapping you out of your daze.
“Oh yeah I finished the sketches earlier!” You got up and grabbed the drawing pages from your room, excitedly bringing them over to show Ireh. “I really like these two, but if you want me to re-do anything-.”
“Dude, these are awesome. Thanks! I can’t wait to get this one as a tattoo,” she cheered, pointing to the odd cat fairy you made for her. Your love for drawing and writing stemmed from your parents, and it had entered every facet of your life in some way- to the point that your best friends would ask you to make sketches of their tattoos for them to use. While people knew you loved to make art, no one besides your cousin, your best friends, and editor knew that you were the brain behind Flight of the Wolves.
Not only was your parents' work incredibly successful, spawning animated shows and huge fan bases, you knew that using your real name in your work would cause you to be compared to both of them. If your work was “too girly” it would be constantly compared to your mother’s work. If it was deemed “too masculine” you would be seen as someone trying and failing to imitate their father. So, you decided then to work under a pseudonym for WizMedia, producing a fairly successful online comic that you not only loved but was yours.
Throughout the rest of the week, you spent the time working on small sketches and freelance work all with your schoolwork in between. Every other Friday at your parents place was family dinner, or, at least that’s what you would call it. Usually, your parents would invite their closest friends- which meant that more often than not, the directors of WizMedia and their kids too would drop by these gatherings.
You hated having to dress up in presentable clothing for people you’ve known a majority of your life, especially when lately they’ve taken to discussing you. Well, not you, but rather Patches- the identity you’ve used to work under for the past two years. Everytime they did, Hendery would shoot you an all knowing look, and your mother would tut in disappointment at the idea that anyone would want to work under a pseudonym.
This particular evening, Ireh and Swan had asked you to drop them off at work on your way to your family’s home since it was on the way.
“Be careful! Let me know when you guys finish so I can pick you up,” you called to them. They worked at a sports bar as bartenders, and working Friday nights meant that they would be seriously lining their wallets.
“Thanks, have fun at your parents!” Swan called, earning a groan from you.
“Oh please, just enjoy the free food!” Ireh smiled before the pair climbed out of your car. You waited until you saw them enter, and drove five more minutes before reaching your family home.
You sat in the driveway after parking. You kept groaning to yourself and took to counting the cars, trying to gauge how many people would be at your childhood home. You parked behind Hendery’s car- and mentally noted that he usually went separately from his parents and sisters. You counted three other cars, and deduced that some of the WizMedia directors kids would be there tonight.
The knock on your car window made you jump, and with a panicked expression you saw your cousins laughing face.
“You’re the worst,” you opened the car door, glaring at Hendery who was holding his belly as he laughed loudly.
“You looked so angry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay!” he choked out as his laughter died down. He was holding a large dish in his hand and you raised an eyebrow.
“Oh God, was I supposed to bring something?”
“Oh no, my Mom asked me to go out and get it from her car. She got bored and made some quinoa salad to bring tonight.”
“Oh good, that really scared me.”
“Also, Sungchan is here tonight so we can play board games afterwards,” Hendery noted. You nodded, thankful for your cousin's humor and ability to break down the information you’d need to get by on evenings like these.
Opening the door, you let your cousin go in ahead of you before following closely after, the door shutting behind you. The front door opened to the living room which was currently abuzz with life and several parents chatting over different cocktails your father decided to make for the night.
“Oh there’s our darling daughter!” your Mom called, rushing to where you were placing your shoes to wrap you in a bear hug.
“Hi Mom,” you sputtered out as she squeezed you tightly despite you having visited exactly two weeks ago. After greeting everyone in the living room, you moved to the kitchen where Hendery and Sungchan had perched themselves by the center island. They were staring at the food, likely waiting for everyone in the living room to get hungry and allow you all to eat.
“Look who decided to grace us with his presence,” you teased, lightly punching Sungchan’s arm.
“This Literature Masters has been kicking my ass, cut me some slack,” Sungchan whined.
“That’s what you guys get for not just going to work right after undergrad,” Hendery gloated, leaning back on the stool as you stood across from him.
“Some of us are trying to build connections by building student debt so then we can work,” Sungchan countered dryly, earning a saddened laugh from you.
“If you guys hadn’t dated already I would comment on how cute you two are,” Hendery taunted. You rolled your eyes, both you and Sungchan groaning at his comment.
“It was one date in high school, please get over it,” you cried, rubbing your temples.
“Our parents were talking about it again,” Sungchan pointed.
“I need to be drunk for this shit.”
“Here,” Sungchan dipped onto his knees, opening the cabinet under the sink to reveal your parents Vodka.
“I can’t believe you know where the alcohol is,” you sighed. You moved to collect three glasses from the cabinet and quickly made the three of you Screwdrivers.
“This is pretty good,” Hendery noted.
“It’s just orange juice and vodka. You should see what my roommates can do.”
“I wish my roommates were bartenders. Ones in Sports Medicine and the others in Journalism,” Sungchan grumbled. You knew Sungchan’s roommate was in Journalism as well, but you figured they likely were in a different cohort from you.
“Yeah, I don’t miss having roommates.”
“Okay we get it Hendery you’re successful,” Sungchan sighed, taking a heavy sip of his drink. Shortly thereafter you were all seated at the dining room table, the three of you sitting in the middle in a single row, quiet for the most part unless someone invited you all into the conversation.
“How have the Literature classes been going?” your father asked Sungchan as you picked at the food left on your plate.
“They’re going well! How has the production of the final season of Finder x Locator been?” he asked casually.
“It’s been wonderful! How have the new comics been?” Your Dad turned his attention to Sungchan’s father, one of the heads of WizMedia.
“I want to say great, however…” his voice trailed off as he glanced at Sungchan to finish what he was thinking. How strange you thought.
“I didn’t know his article was going to get that popular,” Sungchan sighed, turning his head back down to his plate as if he was embarrassed.
“What article?” you asked, a sudden curiosity swelling in you.
“Oh, this scathing review of that wolf comic came out and went viral. It’s gotten a ton of engagement online,” your Mom explained, surprised that you didn’t know. You glanced at Hendery, your body frozen.
“The one by Patches?” Hendery asked for you, sensing that your brain was already doing damage control.
“That’s the one. Although, this buzz might bode well when those final chapters get done,” Sungchan tried to sound positive, likely to cover for his roommate.
“I don’t know, it was pretty intense,” your Dad chuckled, and a horrible feeling settled in your stomach as you shot up from your chair.
“I’m going to use the restroom!” you announced, walking quickly to the bathroom furthest from the dining room.
Perched on your bathtub, it took about a minute of snooping to find an article published early in the afternoon that day with the title, ‘Ten reasons why Flight of the Wolves is bad, actually.’ Squinting you scrolled down to see hundreds of comments all agreeing with the article, stating that they were annoyed with how overhyped and basic your work was. You shook your head, scrolling back up to the top to check the name of the author.
“That fucker,” you muttered, staring at the name Na Jaemin that sat in black and white on your phone. Jaemin, the one who couldn’t even help with the classwork, was not only Sungchan’s roommate, but randomly decided to shit on your hard work.
Whatever, this happens, you reminded yourself. At the very least he didn’t know who your parents were- it would likely make this far worse.
You decided to go against your better judgment, and pop onto the Patches twitter. Your eyes widened at the obscene amount of mentions the account was getting, and the color drained from your face the more you looked at what people were saying.
Patches is such an overhyped, annoying author. I’m glad people are finally seeing this!
I hate them and that stupid furry comic book, I hope they fucking d!3. I’m so serious rn.
Flight of the Wolves had horrendous art style with an egocentric comic book author that won’t even say who they actually are. If I could find him, I’d k!ll him myself!
---
While you spent the weekend sulking and dreading speaking with your editor, Jaemin spent the weekend in a pretty good place. He had written an article that he wasn’t exactly proud of, but it seemed to be doing well enough for him to be excited to go into the office on Monday.
“Jaemin, that was a great job there! That’s exactly what I knew you could do!” Johnny encouraged once Jaemin got into the office. Jaemin forced a smile and quietly thanked Johnny. With the article being shared on the Geek Labs social media accounts, it spread rapidly and attracted some comments agreeing with Jaemin, much to his dismay.
He really did like ‘flight of the wolves,’ but he needed the positive reception from his job. Johnny had been grilling Jaemin for a while regarding how to write, and Jaemin really needed this job for the time being.
“So, Taeyong recently got a promotion,” Johnny spoke casually now, leaning in closer to Jaemin.
“Oh, that’s great for him,” Jaemin smiled, confused as to why Johnny was telling him this. Taeyong was a Senior Editor like Johnny, so it was strange from Johnny to bring this up to Jaemin.
“Yep, so that means a Senior Copywriter position will be opening up soon. If a certain someone,” he raised his eyebrows then, “can help GameLabs be the first ones to figure out the Patches identity before they post the last chapter of their comic, I would recommend this person for the position.”
Jaemin let out a small oh then, realizing what Johnny meant now. Jaemin did not wish to stay at GameLabs long term, however, having a Senior Copywriter position would help him land the job he was aiming for- a photographer for ‘Sports Artistry.’ They wanted ‘well rounded’ photographers, so with Jaemin’s bachelor’s in photography and a Senior Copywriting position at such a young age, this might be exactly the break he needed.
“Consider that someone to be on the case.”
---
You, on the other hand, were in a meeting with Kun, having to listen to him go on a rant about how obnoxious the article had been.
“The Patches social media is in complete disarray,” Kun repeated for the third time in a thirty minute span.
“Hendery’s working on the shading, he should be done in about two to three weeks,” you were trying to go through your own agenda for this chat. You had a few different things to do today, and the last thing you wanted to focus on was one article.
“Perfect. Are you still planning to reveal yourself at the WizMedia Con at the end of the year?” Kun asked, likely looking down at his own notes. You purse your lips. While a big reason you didn’t want people to know your identity was indeed because of your parents, it wasn’t the only reason. The way people treated women comic artists was already unkind- but it was leagues worse when it was known they wrote action stories like your own.
“Is that a good idea with this current article?” maybe you could use Kun’s irritation to buy extra time and avoid the idea of revealing your identity.
“Hopefully by the time the con comes around, that article should be irrelevant. So?” Kun’s voice hung over the video call and you cringed.
“I still have to think about it,” you admitted, earning a groan from Kun.
“You’re killing me here!”
“Hey! I’ve gotten WizMedia thousands of sales in the past two years and am still under contract to produce at least one more series,” you countered, rubbing your temples to soothe the headache that wanted to form so early in the morning.
“Do you know how much more in sales Wiz could make if the public knew who your parents were?” Kun mused.
“Soon, okay? I have work to do, we’ll talk later,” and with that you ended the work call, groaning loudly.
“So work isn’t going well huh?” Swan stood under your doorframe, sincerity in her tone. You shook your head in response, exhausted.
“This’ll all blow over soon. You should fight that Jaemin guy though,” Ireh popped up from behind her, earning a laugh from you and Swan.
“He’s allowed to post his opinions, but geez some of these people are just so mean,” you huffed.
“Yeah, the amount of people I’ve reported for you due to harassment is insane,” Swan affirmed.
“Well I’ve gotta get to class, but I promise you’ll be just fine,” Ireh soothed.
“Thanks guys,” you smiled, grateful to your friends. You had been rooming with Swan and Ireh since your undergraduate years, but you had been friends with them since high school when you were all in your school’s yearbook club. They were the ones that had been there with you and seen you conceptualize your first published comic series with WizMedia. Before that, you were just doing one shot stories and a ton of free lance stuff to get by.
To them, your work on ‘flight of the wolves’ was indistinguishable from who you were, so Swan and Ireh took it to heart more than you did.
For the next few weeks, you noticed a few things- Jaemin, the quiet kid who didn’t help you with the classwork and also the person who stirred the internet into harassing you online, seemed to also share all the same classes as you. He sat silently in the back for each of them. A week after the article was published, you two had made eye contact. He instinctively shot you a smile, and you in turn sent him a glare before turning away.
---
Jaemin was given the okay from Johnny to work from home for the time being, thus allowing Jaemin to create a Patches corkboard. It was a corkboard he set up in the corner of his bedroom with small details Patches had said in interviews or author’s notes, allowing him the chance to try and get a bigger picture.
“How’s work been?” Yangyang asked Jaemin one night when they were both in the living room watching an episode of Finder x Locator.
Jaemin mulled over the question for a moment. “Hmm, I guess it’s been fine. How have the classes been going?”
“Honestly they’ve been great!” Yangyang responded. The two settled into staring at the TV. Jaemin noted how similar the art style looked to Flight of the Wolves, but didn’t sit on it too much considering the impact Finder x Locator has had on artistry in general.
“Jaemin!” Sugchan called from the front door as he got home from his classes.
“Yeah?”
“Can I get my shoes back? They’re my favorite and I want to wear them tonight,” Sungchan asked.
Absentmindedly, Jaemin told Sungchan it was fine, until he saw Sungchan enter his room and remembered the ridiculous conspiracy board he had up in his room. Panicking, Jaemin ran up from the couch.
“I can explain!” Jaemin shouted, running into his room to see Sungchan staring at the board with a slack jaw.
“Dude what’s going- oh no way,” Yangyang followed behind him, laughing loudly as he saw the absurdity that was the filled up corkboard.
“Please tell me you’re not trying to figure out who Patches is?” Sungchan pleaded, moving closer to the corkboard. Jaemin yanked his hood up in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.
“A Senior Copywriter position opened up,” was all Jaemin could respond with. Yangyang slapped Jaemin’s shoulder, wiping a tear that had come as a result of his laughter.
“Wow, Jaemin went from not even wanting that article to directly going against the wishes of your Mom’s company,” Yangyang chuckled. Sungchan shot him a glare before sighing, as if trying to let go of any negative thoughts he was harboring.
“Dude, come with me to my family dinner tonight,” Sungchan offered. Jaemin’s eyes lit up, and as if Sungchan could read his mind, “the only one who knows Patches identity is one of the Senior Editors. But my god- you need to get out of here. I mean- has your room ever been this disorganized?”
Looking around, Jaemin grimaced in embarrassment. He hadn’t made his bed in over two weeks, and the insides of his closet were vomited all over his room as he hadn’t bothered to put any clothes away.
“It’s either you come with me or you go to the batting cages with Yangyang and Ten tonight.”
“Fine I’ll go with you,” Jaemin replied quickly, earning some protest from Yangyang.
“What’s wrong with me and Ten?”
“I got a bruise the size of a country on my shoulder last time,” Jaemin pouted.
“Stop whining, I have to leave in fifteen minutes since I’m picking up a family friend on the way tonight too.”
Jaemin and Sungchan sat in the car for a few minutes. Sungchan was talking about how annoying one of his professors was when Jaemin saw you come out of your townhouse.
“Oh crap,” Jaemin muttered, cowering in his seat.
---
You knew Sungchan lived around the corner from you, and both agreed you wanted to leave early that night from family dinner anyways. So, you thought it would be best to just loan Ireh and Swan your car and get a ride with Sungchan- better for the planet and all of that stuff, you thought. You handed your car keys off to Ireh- the objectively better driver of the pair.
“I’m gonna get going, let me know when you guys get to the bar,” you were slipping on your sneakers, leaning on the door frame as you jammed them on.
“Don’t be out too late! I don’t trust you with Sungchan,” Swan teased. You rolled your eyes, waving goodbye to the pair before you stepped out of the townhome and over to Sungchan’s car. He already told you a friend of his was tagging along, so you climbed into the backseat without checking who was in the front.
“Hi! Thanks again for letting me catch a ride,” you mused.
“Yeah no problem, and this is my roommate, Jaemin,” Sungchan said as he started driving. You narrowed your eyes, watching as the figure in the passenger seat seemed to slink deeper into their chair.
“Wait, Jaemin as in the one who wrote that article?” you asked without thinking. Sungchan chuckled awkwardly, trying to cover for the cat that seemed to have gotten Jaemin’s tongue. Sungchan shoved Jaemin’s arm, forcing him to speak to you.
“Yeah, and the one in your Master’s classes,” Jaemin muttered, his voice so low you had to lean forward to hear.
“How fun,” you folded your arms, taking the ride to mindlessly just stare out the window. The awkward tension was cut through only by the music playing on the radio, and you prayed Sungchan would drive as fast as possible so you could get out of the car. After twenty minutes of a painful car ride, Sungchan parked in front of your parents house.
You practically leapt out of the car, thanking your lucky stars to be free from the tension for a moment. The three of you entered your house, your mom again running gleefully to embrace you.
“You’re choking me,” you huffed, and she let go of you before turning to Jaemin.
“My, what a handsome boy you are- you must be Sungchan’s roommate,” she smiled. You rolled your eyes, brushing past to quickly greet everyone in the living room and move towards the kitchen. Hendery was sitting on top of the island with a large bottle of rum to his right and four glasses in front of him.
“Where’s Sungchan and his roommate?” Hendery asked, not looking up from whatever drink he was mixing.
“My Mom’s probably parading him around,” you chuckled, just as you heard the loud cheers from the living room, affirming your point. Your family and Sungchan’s family had all grown up together. While you loved that they maintained a sweet tradition of family dinners and wanted all of their kids too to be best friends, besides you and Hendery, it never really held much water. Of all the kids, you, Hendery, and Sungchan were the only ones who made any effort to pass by anymore despite the rest of everyone still living close by.
“I hope he’s talkative, it’s annoying having to always carry conversations,” Hendery laughed, evenly pouring rum into each glass.
“Oh, you don’t know which roommate he brought,” it was your turn to laugh now. Hendery raised an eyebrow before realization hit him.
“He did not bring him,” Hendery widened his eyes as you nodded your head. He scoffed, and then proceeded to add more rum into two glasses, grumbling to himself.
“Hendery, this is my roommate Jaemin,” Sungchan announced, walking into the kitchen with Jaemin following closely behind him.
“Hi,” Jaemin waved, tucking his arms awkwardly behind his back.
“Yo. Do you want a rum and coke?” Hendery offered, not looking up as he started adding the coca cola to the drinks.
“Oh, yes he does,” Sungchan answered for him, despite Jaemin shooting him a ‘please don’t’ look. Once you all had started drinking, Hendery noted how light his drink seemed, whereas Jaemin’s cheeks grew pink almost as soon as he took his first sip.
You all had finally started eating dinner soon thereafter, and as luck would have it, Jaemin sat right across from you.
“So how is school going for you all?” your father asked.
“Great,” you replied dryly.
“It’s going well! I just submitted a huge paper,” Sungchan announced cheerfully.
“Why are you so familiar?” Jaemin suddenly interrupted, staring at your Dad, earning him a few chuckles. You looked up at Jaemin and widened your eyes when you saw the pink blush that had crept onto his cheeks, a boyish smile replacing the confused and shy face he usually had on.
“Sungchan, what an adorable roommate you have,” your mother noted, and you crossed your arms at her response.
Jaemin pointed at your mother, “you too!” he turned to you then, shooting his bright white smile at you. “Why are your parents sooo familiar?”
“Take a guess,” you taunted, looking behind him to gesture to the two large posters of Finder x Locator and Magical Girl Moonie, trying to ignore the weird way butterflies formed in your stomach when he smiled at you. “As someone who critiques comics, you should know,” you muttered, earning a shove from Hendery.
“No way,” Jaemin cheered, earning another round of laughs from the rest of the table. “You guys are like… a huge comic power couple!”
“I don’t know if I’d put it that way,” your Dad interjected, smiling as he saw Jaemin’s eyes light up.
“Your works are so influential… I can see both of the styles in stuff like-,” Jaemin stopped himself then, looking down at his plate of food in embarrassment. You furrowed your brow, about to speak when you felt your ankle get kicked. You bit your tongue, glaring at Hendery who glared back, knowing what you were going to say. Jaemin was going to compare your parents' work to Flight of the Wolves- to you! Even without your acrual identity on your work it would always be compared to your parents.
After dinner, Sungchan took to playing a few rounds of smash with Hendery while everyone else went to hang outside. Seeing that everyone was fully distracted, you climbed the steps to the second story of your family home, opening the door to the room you grew up in. Ignoring your childhood knickknacks and posters, you opened the window above your bed that led to the part of the first floor roof. The roof extended outward enough for you to climb out from your window and sit on top.
It was typically where you’d escape when you were younger to just think, but now it’s where you’d find yourself when you wanted to avoid family dinner- even if only for a short period of time. You looked over the suburbs of the city where you lived and let out an empty sigh.
“It’s a nice night,” a voice spoke, and you looked panicked to your right to see it was Jaemin. He was on your bed, poking his head out of the window to take in the night air, his cheeks still with their light pink tinge. He did look rather handsome. You shook the thought from your head and turned back to looking out at the sky and the houses as Jaemin moved to sit next to you.
“Are you going to be mean to me just because I didn’t help in that one classwork?” Jaemin asked suddenly, surprising you.
“That’s not-,” you stopped yourself then, and tucked your knees closely to your chest.
“You know, I like Flight of the Wolves, I don’t care if it’s furry stuff,” Jaemin admitted, looking down at his hands. “That’s another reason you’re mad, right? Because you’re a fan?”
Something tugged at your chest, but you couldn’t place it. His eyes were downcast, and the charm the alcohol had given him earlier seemed to be replaced with something more sullen.
“Yeah,” you responded, hoping to not elaborate.
“I didn’t even wanna write that article- but my boss said it would help us get clicks or whatever,” he huffed, pouting. “I don’t even want to be a writer.”
“Then why are you working as a copywriter if you don’t even like what you write?” you prompted.
“I wanna be a photographer, but this is the only journalism job I could find- and hey, it helps build the resume,” he shrugged his shoulders. He looked back at you, and a soft smile crossed his lips. It was tough for Jaemin to speak to new people, and you were certainly no exception. However, thanks to liquid courage and your genuine listening abilities, Jaemin felt oddly comfortable with you.
“I get that,” you sighed. You wished he just had bad intentions- it would make your feelings towards him much more clear. But knowing that he was simply doing what he had to for his job that he didn’t even like made it significantly more difficult for you to grapple with. “What subjects do you like to focus your photography on?”
“Hmm… I love landscapes, but I love a good artistic portrait,” he hummed, his eyes looking up from that downcast set he had before. “I’ll show you sometime, if you ever decide to give me the time of day again.”
You let out a soft laugh, seeing the full smile return to Jaemin’s face. “I think I would like that, as long as we don’t have to work together again.”