âitâs not that bad,â he mumbles through pouted lips, pulling the drink back toward himself defensively and taking a large gulp, as if in sheer defiance of jungwooâs less than fond opinion of the drink. in reality, he knows it isnât the best beverage in the world: all of the sugar and strawberry flavoring canât cut through the thick, murky texture of such a high protein content, âanyway, some of us have to work to be visuals; not all of us were born with it.â somehow it is a deliberate accusation and an accidental compliment wrapped into one. he carries on as if he doesnât notice, which, chances are, he doesnât.
jungwoo poked him back and he bites back his own small squeak in response, just briefly forgetting his qualms of his abdomen being touched in the moment he takes to curl away from the otherwise harmless attack.
âyah,â he is more animated now, more playful in his annoyed petulance, in the way he reaches over to jab another finger into jungwooâs side, âthat would make them ghosts, stupid!â
âit wonât matter even if you do,â there it is again, yuchanâs characteristic talent at making even the most light-hearted of banter still somehow double-edged, even when he doesnât mean to, âyouâre too good-looking, youâll get all the roles where you donât even have to ugly cry, because theyâll put in the tears for you.â
jungwoo pouts, so yuchan pouts back, determined to win this battle because it is one of the few battles between them he is convinced he can actually win, âwhat? see? i can make that face too.âÂ
after everything, even after awkward confessions and forgotten chocolates and a line between them that will forever be too dangerous to toe, there is still, somehow, an air of competition that hangs between them, one that yuchan actively promotes, as if itâll keep some semblance of unaltered reality in place while the impossible still lingers between them like the single red fruit in one proverbial garden.
âi wasnât a ghost!â he returns quickly, determinedly, turning to face jungwoo fully in order to squash his ridiculous theory once and for all, his cheeks tinting toward pink as he gets more and more flustered by the inaccurate interpretation of the music video (and, most likely, something else), âitâs not a horror video!â
he hears it both, the accusation and the compliment. and if jungwoo hadnât been used to these sorts of comments from yuchan, he might have to stop and think about exactly how to reply. but heâs heard this and worse, back when the compliments were much more backhanded and the accusations much more direct. he can brush it off easily now, scrunching his nose up at yuchan anyways and whining too exaggeratedly for it to be serious. âhey, i do have to work to be a visual! itâs so hard to get beauty sleep anymore, you should see my skincare routine... itâs basically a whole workout!â itâs not, but thatâs besides the point.
yuchan yelps, and then pokes him again, and suddenly jungwoo is looking around for anything to defend himself with. he grabs a cushion off of another seat and holds it between himself and the other carefully, like a makeshift shield. just try that again, his posture reads, see what happens. they both know that absolutely nothing will happen.
âno,â he pretends to mull it over, like he has to think long and hard about the true meaning of a bright and fun music video that definitely wasnât supposed to be read so far into. âiâm pretty sure youâre the ghost. you should trust me on this, iâm pretty clever you know.â
thereâs a brief moment where he considers forcing himself to cry, just to prove to yuchan that heâs good looking even when he is ugly crying, but jungwoo thinks better of the effort that would take. âiâm going to tell everyone you made me cry,â he play-threatens instead, âyouâre so mean, yuchannie. why do you bully me?â
the pout fixes itself all the more firmly in place, now locked into competition with the expression mirrored back at him. he leans forward just slightly, lets his eyes go just a little wider, enough to be cute and not crazed-looking. itâs true, yuchan can make this expression to, and he wears it quite well. a testament to well-served years of being the nova maknae before himself and haknyeon came along, jungwoo can only guess. jungwoo ends up giving in, leaning back into his seat with a soft humph! you win this round, kang yuchan. but thereâs always next time.
âghosts can be friendly!â heâs quick on his words to make up for the fact that he just lost the pouting contest, as if thereâs a reason to make up for that. âhey, yuchan, i think your stage name shouldâve been casper.â