Chapter Text
“Okay, you got this Taeyong.”
“You are capable. Talented. And cute.”
“Yes, look at that new haircut. You are so cute.”
“You are going to kill it at the meeting today. You will walk in and demand the payment you deserve because bad bitches like you deserve it.”
“--Taeyongie, what are you doing?”
At the sound of Doyoung’s voice, Taeyong tore his eyes away from his reflection to smile brightly. “Hyping myself up, of course.”
Doyoung chuckled, shaking his head, “you’re going to be late for your meeting at this rate.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Taeyong turned back to his full-length mirror to move the strands of his neatly styled hair. It took a few more readjustments before he was satisfied. Today was going to be a big day.
“It looks fine,” Doyoung insisted, watching Taeyong in the mirror’s reflection.
“You can never be too sure,” Taeyong murmured, eyes still cast on his reflection as he backed away.
“How are you feeling?” Doyoung asked once they left Taeyong’s room to go to the kitchen. For Taeyong’s big day, since Doyoung was a good roommate, he had prepared him coffee and something light to eat.
“Good,” Taeyong nodded but inside his stomach was twisting and he was almost positive the Japanese curry he ate last night was about to resurface sometime soon. Hopefully not when he was meeting with very important people.
Today Taeyong was not following his usual routine of going to work with Doyoung. Instead, he was meeting a marketing team who had selected his design for a chocolate company’s latest products.
Since Taeyong loved drawing in his free time, he had decided to enter a very popular chocolate company’s design competition. It was for the repacking of their spring chocolate line up. The company wanted a refreshed and revamped look for their box to highlight the new flavors: earl gray, tangerine, melon, peach, and cherry blossom.
Taeyong didn’t think too much of it when he drew his little bunny character, Bun Bun at first. All he knew was he wanted to draw a chunky bunny happily munching chocolates with beautiful spring scenery.
But Taeyong always had a knack for drawing. Which was what inspired him to become an art teacher at an elementary school. He loved his students and getting to teach them about different art styles.
Regardless, it was still his surprise to get an email stating his drawing had been selected and if the company could purchase the rights to use it.
“You can do this, Taeyong,” he murmured to himself as he accepted the coffee that Doyoung had packed in a thermos for him. “Thanks, Doyoungie. Tell my students I’ll miss them today.”
Doyoung just chuckled, already clearing the counter. “I’m sure they’ll miss their Teacher Taeyong today too. But you go do your thing, okay? It’s a big day.”
“Thank you. I’ll be near the big department store,” Taeyong said as he packed his items into his shoulder bag. “Do you need me to pick up the stuff on our grocery list?”
“If you can,” Doyoung walked over to their refrigerator, ripping out the first page on the magnetic notepad that housed their short grocery list. Since their refrigerator was relatively small to accommodate their apartment, grocery trips were more frequent. Doyoung handed Taeyong the list, “I’ll make stew tonight to celebrate the deal.”
“We don’t need to do that,” Taeyong shook his head then smiled mischievously, “but I’ll appreciate it regardless. You know I love a good stew. And if they give me a good amount of money, I’ll take you and Hot Yuta out this weekend.”
“Yuta?” Doyoung’s cheeks turned notably pinker as he tried to focus on putting the dishes in the sink to wash, “now, why would we do that ridiculous thing?”
“Ridiculous?” Taeyong all but scoffed as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “You’re the one who practically begged him to come over that one time because the sink was clogged.”
Imagine Taeyong’s surprise when he got home from work to see Nakamoto Yuta, their next door neighbor who was very hot, laying shirtless under the kitchen sink trying to fix their drainage. All the while Doyoung was standing by his feet, offering whatever assistance he could provide with cheeks as red as a tomato.
“The sink was clogged!” Doyoung retaliated as he washed the suds off his hands. “Can you leave already? You’re going to be late.”
Taeyong just laughed, shaking his head. He truly hoped Doyoung would get the Hot Yuta dick soon. His roommate deserved some good loving. “I’ll be going now then. Have a good day and let’s hope you run ino Hot Yuta soon.”
Since Taeyong and Doyoung’s workplace was a short walk and just one subway ride away, he never really had to be stuck in the morning commuter traffic. But since his meeting place was in a very busy corporate area, he had to brave the pressed-suits-heavy-cologne morning crowd for once.
When he squeezed himself out through the doors at his stop, he readjusted his suit and hair. Taeyong’s workplace required him to be more business casual so suit jackets weren’t really necessary in his wardrobe. The clothing felt foreign on his body as opposed to the bright and unique pieces of clothing he usually preferred.
“I think this is it,” Taeyong muttered to himself as he pulled out his phone to check the address one more time. He stopped at the entrance of a tall building with five revolving doors and neatly trimmed bushes leading up to the entrance way. His phone indicated that he was in the correct location.
A group of employees passed by him in a hurry like every minute counted. And maybe for them, it did. Every minute had some dollar amount correlated with it.
“Are you heading inside?” a female voice asked behind him.
Taeyong turned to see a very prim and proper woman dressed in a pencil skirt with a heavy coat over her shoulders. Her hair was perfectly styled, not one single bang out of place. Her makeup was light but whatever she did to her eyes made them demand attention.
“Um, yes,” Taeyong nodded, moving aside to let her pass through. He was certain she was a prominent figure in this building.
“Where are you headed to?” She asked as she moved past Taeyong to enter the revolving door. He followed after as he repeated the name of the office he needed to enter.
Her eyes widened at that, “really? I work there as a creative director. I’m Ms. Park Yuna.”
“Ms. Yang,” Taeyong’s eyes widened, realizing that this was the woman who had been corresponding with him through email. He shuffled on his feet to present a messy bow, “It’s so nice to meet you.”
She smiled then, teeth perfect, “please just call me Ms. Yuna.”
“Oh,” Taeyong’s previous nervousness from earlier was resurfacing. He was meeting one of the important people he needed to be proper and competent with.
“I love the design you made,” she continued as she led them up an elevator, using her employee ID card to let them in. “Bun Bun is so cute. I think the design will go great for the targeted demographics”
“Thank you,” Taeyong felt his face warming up. He genuinely thought Bun Bun was adorable and it made him ecstatic to know that other people thought so too. He honestly didn’t think his design would have passed since most of the selection team seemed to be old business people who looked like they wouldn’t be persuaded by large doe eyes and a fluff bunny butt.
“We actually have a new team working on this closely with the chocolate company,” Ms. Yuna said brightly as their elevator doors slid open. “You’re doing your negotiations today, right? Did you bring a lawyer?”
“A lawyer?” Taeyong repeated. He only brought himself.
Ms. Yuna smiled, “It’s fine. I’m sure you’ll get a good deal. The company is very generous.”
Taeyong hoped so.
He followed Ms. Yuna down a corridor until they ended up at a receiving area before double wooden doors. She turned on her heel then said, “the secretary will let you know when they’re ready. I’ll see you in there.”
Taeyong just nodded, taking a seat. He could already feel the nerves settling in as he tried to focus on the art displays hung on the wall. They were all very minimal and modern.
“Lee Taeyong?” The doors to the office opened to an elderly woman with a warm smile. “They’re ready for you.”
Taeyong stood up, taking a deep breath.
He was ready for them.
“And I’ll have that with whipped cream please,” Taeyong smiled at the barista as he tapped his credit card to complete his purchase. Usually he’d skip out on all the sugar but he was riding high off an amazing meeting. The marketing team he was working with was just as excited about his designs as he was. They even offered a generous amount. Looking back, maybe he could have negotiated more, but Taeyong was already satisfied with the number of digits on the contract.
When Taeyong stood to the side, he couldn’t help but notice a couple at the corner by the window. Shy smiles over their coffee cups. One of them laughed harder than necessary at something the other said. Their eyes would lock then avert whenever they were staring too long.
Taeyong sighed.
It had been such a long time since he had gone on a cute cafe date with a cute boy who made him feel giddy.
Doyoung was religiously trying to get him set up on dating apps. Which Taeyong thought was rude because for one, he could find someone who wanted to date him in person, thank you very much. And two, Doyoung and Hot Yuta had been dancing around each other ever since Taeyong and Doyoung moved into the building over a year ago. Doyoung was the last person to give Taeyong love advice.
“For Taeyong?” a barista called, leaving his order on the counter.
Taeyong received it with a kind smile.
He took a sip of his drink then left to enjoy the quiet of the morning. It wasn’t everyday he was out and about on a random Tuesday. He enjoyed the cold late January winter. For once, the morning wasn’t completely unbearable.
He took another sip of his coffee, checking the directions on his phone that he was nearing the large supermarket that Doyoung and Taeyong both liked to geek out over. It had three levels and all different kinds of cabbages!
There were also very few of its kind close to their apartment, so anytime the opportunity arose to shop there, they would.
When Taeyong walked through the automatic doors, he threw his drink into a nearby trash can then got a cart to ensure that nothing was to be forgotten on Doyoung’s grocery list.
He went through the aisles, placing the necessary items in his cart. And maybe slipping in some extra stuff that he thought looked interesting or he knew was tasty.
As Taeyong went down the sweets aisle, he couldn’t help but be amazed at all the colorful boxes. Everything looked good. Everything looked tempting. He threw a few items into his cart.
The end of the aisle had different chocolates neatly stacked on display. The contract said the chocolate company’s products would launch in four months. In four months Taeyong might get to see Bun Bun live on the shelves. With a pleased feeling warming his insides, he made his way to the cashier.
The checkout line was relatively fast to get through considering no one was really getting groceries on a random Tuesday. In a few minutes, Taeyong’s groceries were bagged and paid for. He carried them out, making his way to the nearest subway exit. The commute home would be more bearable.
This proved to be true as Taeyong was welcomed to a nearly empty subway ride. He placed his bags by his feet as he took his preferred seat. There were only a few elderly people and a young university-aged couple across from him.
The couple were whispering quietly to each other as they read something on one of their phone’s. Taeyong immediately noticed the matching shoes they wore then stared down at the boring loafers on his feet. It had been quite a while since he was part of an overly disgusting couple.
Momentarily, he wondered if maybe Doyoung was right about trying out dating apps. He was so touch deprived that he was getting emotional over shoes.
It had been awhile.
When the subway slowed to the next stop, the left doors slid open to welcome a crowd of people dressed in suits. Taeyong checked the time on his watch. It was nearing lunch hour so his ride might not be as empty and peaceful as he originally thought.
Taeyong held onto the handles of his shopping bags as the seats around him were slowly occupied. His stop would be next.
As the subway signaled its approach, Taeyong stood with his bags. Since they were rather big and bulky, he was apologizing as he knocked into the people around him. Once they were at their full stop, the doors slid open to a group of waiting passengers.
Taeyong held his bags in front of him, careful not to hit anyone on his way out. Although that was a challenge as his shoulder bag got tangled in with someone’s bag.
“Sorry,” a deep voice said quickly.
Taeyong was so taken aback by someone apologizing to him on public transport. Everyone knew the commuters of the city had no time for politeness. So the sound of the voice didn’t register in his head until he looked up to meet the eyes of the person.
And when Taeyong did, he felt the wind knocked out of him as his heart accelerated.
“Taeyong?” The person looked as taken aback as he felt.
Thankfully, the doors of the subway were closing as Taeyong took a step back on the platform. And in the next seconds, the subway was already carrying them away.
He let out a breath as he watched the subway travel south.
Taeyong felt his heart accelerating as he sped walked home. Even with his heavy grocery bags, Taeyong had his phone in one hand while the handles of his bags were digging into the flesh of his other arm.
He needed to call Doyoung. Right now.
“Shit,” Taeyong muttered as he made his way onto his apartment building’s elevator. Doyoung had yet to answer. Which was understandable since Doyoung was at work for another three hours.
When he made it through his front door, his heart was still beating wildly in his chest. He placed his bags and phone on the counter, attempting to regain his breath.
Jaehyun.
Jeong Jaehyun.
Shit.
After three hours, Doyoung was finally walking through the front door. Taeyong jumped from his place on the couch like an excited puppy waiting to greet its owner.
“Okay, what’s this emergency?” Doyoung asked as he took off his tweed jacket and scarf.
Since becoming roommates, Doyoung and Taeyong had established a set of roommate rules. Rules they both came up with and agreed upon to ensure that their time living in a shared space would be pleasant for both of them. Splitting the costs of groceries and chores was a basic rule they honored. But they also decided to honor declared ‘emergencies’ that ensured the other person had to drop what they were doing to check on the other. This would be useful in case of apartment fires, pipe leaks, and apparently, when the past comes back to haunt you.
“I,” Taeyong took a deep breath, “saw.” Another deep breath. “Someone on the subway.”
Doyoung raised an eyebrow as he studied Taeyong’s body language then asked patiently, “if this is that idol you were talking about last week. The one with the tattoos and nice smile, Lee Taeyong, I swear to–”
“It was Jaehyun,” Taeyong blurted out.
Doyoung’s eyes widened, immediately stopping whatever scolding was going to come out of his mouth. “Jaehyun?”
Taeyong nodded grimly, holding onto his stomach. All of this excitement was giving him indigestion. Curse the extra whipped cream he wanted on his drink. He paced back and forth until he settled on the couch.
“Are you sure it was him?” Doyoung asked, taking a seat next to him.
“It was.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Just my name.”
“And?”
“And what?” Taeyong looked over at him.
Doyoung looked like he was choosing his words carefully, eyes darting around Taeyong’s head until he crafted a better sentence. “And… what are you thinking?”
Taeyong looked at Doyoung then, trying to curate his own careful sentences. He let out a sigh then a shrug, “I was surprised to see him.”
And it was true. Never in a million years did Taeyong think he’d ever see Jaehyun again. Especially not in Seoul. Especially not in a busy subway. On a random Tuesday afternoon.
So it wasn’t a lie when Taeyong said he was surprised to see him. Yes, that’s what he was thinking when he saw him. But he won’t tell Doyoung the other thing he was thinking.
Jeong Jaehyun was back and he looked good. Real good. Shit.