Nemo-- had a job. Kinda sorta! Here it was, finally, after so many months of absolutely nothing. Sure, it was technically a temporary position that lasted only through the middle of September and then he'd be right back where he started but that was kind of most dance jobs-- they revolved around projects, like shows and videos and tours! Barely anything lasted forever.
So..........
This was good!
"I-- I dunno!" Nemo blurted. He was still ogling his phone. "I mean, yeah I, I guess it is! But also I-- I didn't think I'd end up in Denmark!" Nemo exclaimed.
Even if he liked it-- it was one thing to visit a place and another thing to relocate there for months.
Mu-yeol resisted, still, to ask 'are you doing to take it?' Of course Nemo didn't know yet. He'd only just found out he'd gotten it.
"It's...a lot closer than Korea." He knew he'd sent some audition tapes that direction. Thank goodness Denmark called first.
"Do you want to talk though what you can do with the offer? Or do you want to sit with it a little and finish eating? I can talk about something else so you can eat."
One of the perks of being married to Swynlake's caffeine dealer was never having to pay for your tea or coffee again. On his third cup of tea, the first two consumed during his monthly Vietnamese-only talk with Andre Tran, Mu-yeol was studying the notes Andre gave him about his speaking in his Vietnamese notebook.
Buiness had picked up around him, and he didn't notice until he spotted a man looking for a place to sit.
"I'm almost done, you can sit here," he said, gesturing to the seat across from him.
He could go upstairs and let the other man enjoy his time alone in a minute.
Hatter blinked as soon as the motion filtered into his line of sight, making his eyes turn to look at Mu-yeol and take in the confusion. Or maybe it was concern.
In truth, Hatter had been staring at the spot a spark of a reagent that had flashed into existence from the woman. It had been like the dots left behind from looking at a bright light directly. A brief but strong shot of admiration. It had been the result of hearing Mu-yeol refer to him under his new moniker.
And Mu-yeol had said it so easily and casually, like he hadn’t even had to think about it. It was just…a default.
“Yes,” he said. It was mostly true and it wasn’t as if it was anything bad. The opposite really. He stood there for another second, his brain trying to get back on track.
What were they doing?
…
Furniture.
Right.
He turned, starting back down the walkway toward the truck, taking down the door to the bed.
Nemo stared at the notification, even after it disappeared. Dread had formed in his stomach, making him grimace like he was struggling with a cramp.
Was he in for another rejection? Ugh, he wished it hadn't shown up right this minute. He would have rather gotten it later, in private, so he could get rejected and then cry on his pillow by himself. He didn't want Appa to see the disappointment wash over him.
But he couldn't NOT look at it. Appa would pester him.
So he unlocked his screen and clicked his email.
He froze again.
"Omo..." Nemo uttered. He glanced up at Appa, looking frightened. "They-- they're offering it to me."
"Yeah, I-- I guess. It was my only one so... I dunno. Things could be different depending on... well, everything," said Nemo, shrugging.
He imagined a callback for a stage show versus something for a tour or even a music video had to be kinda different, right? But until he got the opportunity for those things, then that's all it was-- his imagination, making things up.
He sighed a little, then his eyes darted toward his phone when the screen lit up.
A tinge of anxiety shot through Mu-yeol at that. And it shouldn't have, not this badly anyway.
A dance career was what Nemo wanted, he should want that for him too. He was married now, he should want time alone with his husband and be glad his son might move out soon to chase his dreams.
But he'd never been apart from Nam-min, not properly, not like he would be if his son moved to Copenhagen. Or even London. Of course. Copenhagen was a temporary gig. He'd probably come back to Swynlake for a bit unless he found a new gig right away...and Mu-yeol should hope that he does, not for the other way around.
So he put on a smile, because deep down he was hopeful for him, and nodded to Nam-min's phone.
"Uh, sure, but-- not like this. Like I've sent tapes out and there's an audition coming up next week for some touring productions I'll take the train to Brighton for," said Nemo. "But I mean, that's not...like I'm still in stage one with those."
And he doubted he'd get to stage two.
He knew this was just the industry. Still, the same thoughts always cropped up: Well, if Jeremy can do it, why can't I? If Ashlee can do it, why can't I?
Maybe it was because he was a fairy, and he couldn't hide it. But Nemo didn't want to think that's what it was. He hated playing victim.
"Right, right," Mu-yeol said. "Maybe you'll hear something from somewhere else. But even Copenhagen isn't too far."
It was a quick plane ride away, he could go see him at least once this summer if he got the gig. Big if. Nam-min was doubly disadvantaged-- the arts were very white, very human-dominated, and Nam-min was neither of those things. Triple disadvantaged if you consider he doesn't have money or influence.
Insane that something people have done forever, made art, was only for rich kids to do anymore.
"If any case, it was a good first experience. Now you know what to expect at a callback."
Just an excuse for me to make like a fourth Hatfish playlist actually, click here
I really couldn't think of any songs that would make Mu-yeol go "hell yeah, I'm pan as hell" so here's just a bunch of gross Hatfish songs LMAO
@davidhatter
TW: cringe <3 as always <3
FTSG - Emma Andersen
You call me 'baby'
Fuck, that's so gross
I'm out here tripping over words
Wearing your shirt
It's the worst
It's crazy
How disgusting I'm in love
You're all I never wanted
Now I've got it
I'm not giving you up
It's very Hatter I feel like lmao
and then there’s me - Abby Powledge
'Cause then there's you, the break of daylight
The way you move, the perfect playwright
And then there's you, forbidden maybe
You hum your tune, secure and steady
And then there's me, the way my hands shake
The way I speak, it never translates
How suddenly, my stubborn walls break
We're different leagues, 'cause then there's me
Then there's me
I know my place I'm not near enough
To be considered and then inducted
In the genre of the girls you've loved
Still I don't move on
It's giving Hatfish in their crush and pining era, but also they're both fully married like "wow what does he see in me" bitch, everything
Late To The Party - Kacey Musgraves
And who needs a crowd
When you're happy at a party for two?
The world can wait
'Cause I'm never late to the party
If I'm late to the party with you
Let's promise when we get in
That we'll try to get right out
Fake a couple conversations
Make the necessary rounds
Of course a Kacey Musgraves song as going to show up, it's a Hatfish playlist! Anyway, it's giving Hatter the extreme introvert and Mu-yeol the introverted extrovert having to socialize with people other than each other <3
I Am Yours, You Are Mine - Joshua Slone
'Cause your love's like a heater, and I'm a thousand degrees with a fever
I'll only fall deeper and deeper, if you don't mind
I searched across the canyon, and I never found a river
I've been thirsty for a companion, now I think I've found the quencher
She's a little more than water, she's like sweet ole cherry wine
I am yours, and you are mine
This song is so beautiful what the fuck?? Hatfish didn't do a first dance at their wedding bc that's cringe and too much attention on them, they'd both rather be stabbed, but 10/10 would've been a contender for the song and Mu-yeol is cringed out by me just typing that
breaking news - flowerovlove
It's such a headache how you got me in knots
How you're up in my thoughts, sound like, "Blah, blah, blah, blah"
Truly giving "I'm in love but annoyed about it because I'm 40-something/50-something and should be too grown for this shit" and also "awwww cute love song <3" at different parts, very Hatfish
Soft Spot - Keshi
I don't go out, but I'll do it for you
You never liked it when I drink too much
I hate to dance, but I'd dance with you
'Cause I'd do anything to feel your touch
Don't like anybody, tell me why it's different with you
Don't believe in love, but no one makes me feel like you do
I don't say it much 'cause I just always thought
That you knew, oh
It's what you do to me
I'm wrapped around your finger and I can't stop
You know I got a soft spot for you
Very Hatter <3 his social calendar is more full because of Mu-yeol than it's been in over 30 years and it's only because Mu-yeol asks him to come with him to the dinner parties with his immigrant friend group, asks him along to the Moons for Chuseok, invites Ting-Ting over for dinner with them from time to time, asks Hatter to go with him to a concert for this underground singer-songwriter he really likes that's coming to London or Bristol and "pleeeease I don't want to go alone". Mu-yeol's got Hatter going to Korea, and next year going on a "not-calling-it-a-honeymoon" to Thailand and Vietnam just because he asked him too. He was perfectly content on his own until some fairy with PTSD and insane lore showed up and now he's all about him, we love to see it
Oxygen - Beach Bunny
But they don't wanna view you the way I do
And life looks better when it's with you
Suddenly, everything is easy
I've never felt something so deeply
'Cause with you, with you, I breathe again
Baby, you're my oxygen
You ever think about how much Hatfish love each other and go "gross" because I do
Head Over Feet - Alanis Morisette
You've already won me over
In spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall
Head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you
For all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
How tf have I not put this on a Hatfish playlist yet?
Sober - Little Big Town
'Cause I love bein' in love
It's the best kind of drug
Drunk on the high, leanin' on your shoulder
Sweeter like a wine as it gets older
When I die, I don't wanna go sober
Back on my country music propaganda.
lasso the moon - Liv Romano
When I'm with you, I feel like I'm floating
Like a kite in the sky held up high by the rope that you're holding
Hold me closer, don't loosen your grip
Strawberry wine is dripping all down your lips
I'd lasso the moon if you asked me to
"Ooooohhh!" the woman beamed, turning her smile back and forth between the pair of them. "That's lovely of you to come help! I'd say I'm flattered that you're doing all this for a stranger, but, well I can guess who you're really here to help. I'll be out in a minute to help, too, just let me clear the path for us! It'll all just be going to the living room."
She disappeared back inside, though paused to prop the door open.
Hatter, meanwhile, remained standing there staring at the place the woman had been with his brows furrowed and appearing as though he was thinking very deeply about something.
"She seems nice," Mu-yeol thought aloud, before he looked over at his husband and noticed the look on his face-- and he could tell he was not listening to anything around him.
"I know, I know--" Nemo frowned, also pushing his food around his plate.
Like father, like son.
"I didn't mean it like that, I guess--I just don't want to get too excited. I'm trying to prepare myself for more failure," Nemo joked...though it didn't feel like a joke.
That made sense. Still, he should be more confident in his abilities!
"Are you waiting to hear back from anywhere else right now?" Mu-yeol asked.
Hopefully somewhere closer than Copenhagen...though Copenhagen really wasn't that far. He remembered Nemo floating Korea once and that terrified him, it was so far.
...though the Won was a pretty weak currency, he could totally send Nemo rent money if he moved to Korea. Well if he lived outside of Seoul and commuted in. Rent in Seoul itself was ungodly expensive. Then again in Seoul there was his brother, Won-shik...still, Korea was so far away.
He almost preferred Nemo end up in Copenhagen or Sarajevo or Budpest because at least it was Europe, even if Nemo spoke Korean and not Danish, Bosnian, or Hungarian.
It's VERY canon that Mu-yeol is active on r/spotifyplaylists and he has actually amassed tons of saves for his oddly specific or unhinged playlists, and I made four of them
click here for "songs to keep far away from me after a breakup"
click here for "you can hear the accent"
click here for "Actually Gay Club K-pop"
click here for "you'd never guess my husband actually makes me happy based on my music taste"
He didn't want this lunch to turn into a conversation about Appa supporting his dreams again. Well-- like, Nemo was grateful for that! But the thought of Appa getting yet another job to make Nemo's dreams come true made Nemo not want to go at all.
Though he hadn't even gotten the job yet, lol.
"Can you-- chill, please? I'm not asking you to do all that yet," said Nemo. "I mean, first I have to get a job. And then who knows, maybe I can get a cheap place with roommates! You don't need to talk about a second job or all that."
"I just don't want money to be the thing that makes you turn something down, or makes you think you can't do something. If money's the barrier, we will figure it out. That's all." He said, shrugging before moving some food around on his plate.
Uh, duh, Appa. That had been part of Nemo's initial freak-out when he'd gotten the callback in the first place!
"Yeah, but I mean-- only for the summer," said Nemo, tilting his head one way, then the other. "Which kinda sucks--because it's a really cool show, and the pay is pretty good! But, yeah, I dunno. It still would be kind of hard to afford living there if I get it..."
But would he? Nemo wasn't sure. At this point, he was so used to rejections that he just expected them, like waiting for the sun to come up in the morning.
"Don't worry about that, I can send you money." Mu-yeol said. "I can't do that everywhere you go, but I'm willing to do it if that's the only barrier for your first paid dance job."
He wasn't stupid. He knew Nemo needed paid work on his resume and he was capable of helping him out with expenses to get said work.
"I don't have many of my own bills anyway, and every time I suggest paying half the utilities David looks at me like I said something crazy. We can find something you and I can afford to pay for. I'll get a second job again if I have to. It'd only be for the summer, I can quit it before I start university classes."
Which he was only doing on a part-time basis to start with so like...if he had to, he could juggle two jobs, plus the hollow clinic, plus that.
"Oh, so many people knew English!" Nemo exclaimed happily.
He'd discovered that in many places in Europe, since various spring break trips had let Nemo do a little exploring. He heard that wasn't always the case outside big cities, though. And it had been confusing to navigate at first because there weren't any English translations on any signs or anything like that. So he'd had to pick up some really basic words that would help him move around the city, and of course, he had come in with a few phrases because Appa told him not to be an ignorant English Speaker who expected everyone around him to speak English!
"I mean, obviously I tried to uh, speak some Danish kind of but-- at the audition, there were a lot of international dancers too," said Nemo. "It was kind of cool to learn where everyone came from. I had fun just standing in line, waiting for my turn, you know? And we even helped each other, practicing the routine they taught us together."
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