- Moon Jaeyeon ;

Writing blog for NoxWrites Featured muse: Jaeyeon FC: Lee Hongbin

[jxeyeon]

mpleforest:

He seemed awkward, and Minhee wondered if it was because of her. Well, yeah, it definitely was. She was making herself look like an absolute fool–the kind of person she would hate to be, and though she wouldn’t admit it, the kind of person she’d stick her nose up to. She was horribly embarrassed, but alas, the conversation continued. 

Minhee was thankful for the fact that she watched children jump around and hurt themselves for a living. She wouldn’t have been so prepared if she did not. 

“Hold your hand out, and I’ll spray it for you,” she nodded, taking the clear cylindrical top off of the spray. As she waited for his next motion, she looked up at his face. She had never seen him around here before, which made his statement all the more odd. Due to her intense route she had to take to work, she would always end up at that particular bus stop. It was commonplace for her to meet other people who took the same bus quite often, but she never met him before, or even saw him. At least, she didn’t think so. She would remember his face.

“Do you come here often? I suppose I’m always at this stop,” she explained, moving her gaze down to her feet. They were hurting as her black shoes were too tight for her, but she neither had the time nor motivation to go out and look for new ones. 

As she started to get less nervous, her tone and demeanor seemed to calm down. Her sentences shortened and she wasn’t as jumpy. She cursed herself for being that way–nervous and obnoxious when meeting new people–but it was hard to change, especially when making a fool of yourself. And dropping her water bottle and then inquiring too quickly about people was definitely making a fool of herself.

“Okay.” It felt strange, standing there, taking such blatant orders. Though he wasn’t exactly top of the food chain in his, for lack of a better word, profession, the orders he was used to following were much more vague than direct. Up for interpretation. Yet his answer was still the same. Yes.

As he held out his hand for her, even his readiness proved not to be enough to suppress the flinch he instinctually gave as the spray hit his knuckles. It wasn’t supposed to feel good. And he had been prepared - but that was never enough.

Even after her question, he remained silent for a few moments as he tried to cover he wounds with the bandages that she had provided. “Suppose we must be here at different times, then,” he said, deflecting her comment with as much ease as he could muster. He was already on edge, and the last thing he wanted was to somehow start talking about why each of them was there.

“I don’t think I ever introduced myself,” he stated, pushing his hands back into his pockets. “I’m Jaeyeon.” She seemed much less nervous now, which was definitely something that was helping his own nerves.

[jxeyeon]

mpleforest:

Her eyes momentarily flitted to the bruised hand, worry crossing her brown eyes. But a blush quickly swept her cheeks and so when she had stood up, she stayed silent for a few beats. She usually considered herself cool, collected, nonchalant, but why did she feel so nervous? It could be that she was tired, maybe, but maybe, deep down, she knew she was just as much of a dork as everyone else. She was confused, worn out, and lost (in the metaphorical sense, of course), so maybe it was all coming out in a vomit of clumsiness.

His kind words soothed her and she smiled softly. Her reply was an attempt to stay calm, not shaky, as she was unhappy with embarrassing herself in front of a stranger, “I considered another bag, but I find having all my things in one easier. Being a teacher, it’s better when everything is just in one place.” She turned to face the man as she spoke. 

However, something was tugging at her mind–his hand. Was he okay? Did he need some first aid, or anything of the sort? Without much thought, she opened her bag and began digging through it. Soon, she pulled out a box of colorful band-aids. Originally, she bought them for her students, as they preferred flashy characters on their band-aids as compared with the skin colored type. They would have to do in this situation. She held out the box.

“I saw, uh, that your hand looked injured. Do you need a band-aid? I have plenty. I think I also–” she paused to look into her bag again. “I also have some anti-infection spray.” Another nervous smile.

If there was one thing that Jaeyeon was not, it was a talker. He preferred to listen, to take in information, rather than spew it out. However, he hadn’t been expecting the information the woman standing beside him was suddenly throwing at him, and so it took little thought to make the decision for him to remain silent and stoic.

A swift glance paired with a surprised quirk of his brow was thrown her way when she mentioned her occupation. It lasted only a moment, but was difficult to miss. He wasn’t sure why such a comment felt so out of place to him, but there was no denying that he had been left standing and wondering why she had bothered to tell him such. Maybe he was just so used to being secretive that he wasn’t accustomed to people sharing their occupations with strangers. “To each their own, I suppose.”

When she mentioned his hands, his first instinct was to deny any kind of help, to wait until he finally arrived back home to treat them. But before he could refuse she was already offering band-aids - and he was in no mood to try to argue with a stranger at the bus stop. Besides, they would cover what needed to be until he was able to properly wrap it up. Even if they were in ridiculous colors. Just from the bandages, he could assume she must have been a teacher to younger children.

He reached for the box, taking it from her with a grip gentle enough to juxtapose the force inferred by his bruised and bloody knuckles. His hand stung slightly as the skin around the wounds tugged and pulled at their edges. Taking a bandage out of the box, he began to peel the paper backing off the adhesive, his hands trembling ever so slightly, but paused when she mentioned a spray. “Thank you,” he said in a soft voice, “It’s very rarely I run into any kind people here.”

[jxeyeon]

mpleforest:

@noxwrites : minhee & jaeyeon.

Minhee seemed to always find herself at the bus stop. Whether it be day or night, she was waiting for the bus to take her out of her way to go to school, to go home, to get some cheap, convenience store food–anything really. Her usual bus stop wasn’t too crowded, especially by the time she was standing there. It would be late and she would be off of work, so she’d be left alone in her thoughts.

That night, the familiar schedule changed. It had been only about a few seconds after she herself walked into the enclosed bus stop, when he arrived. She didn’t take much notice of him at first but it was hard not to notice the only person beside her. She sat down her bag full of her teaching supplies, rummaging through it looking for her water bottle.

But alas, the said water bottle rolled out from under her and right to his feet. Embarrassed, but too tired to actually care, she reached forward and snatched it up. A rather seemingly forced smile appeared.

“Sorry about that,” and suddenly she was straight as a stick again. Embarrassing indeed, once she started worrying about it.

Jaeyeon wasn’t the biggest fan of taking public transportation. But sometimes it proved to be more convenient than taking his own car. Not necessarily in the traditional sense of the word, but in the fact that it was less conspicuous. There was no car to be recognized, no plate to snap a picture of. That didn’t mean that he was completely in the clear, however, but after being in the game for so long, he knew how to be discreet.

But of course, one of the downsides of taking the bus was that he had to go by their schedule. His entire body felt like it was aching, and there was nothing he wanted more than to be back at his apartment. Alone. But he had to wait. 

Truth be told, he was so consumed in his own thoughts that he barely even noticed the woman’s presence. That was, until her bottle was tapping against his foot. A hand with bruised, bloody knuckles instinctively reached down to grab it - but she got there first. And so it was just as instinctually that it returned to his pocket as his gaze finally fixated on her, looking her over.

“It’s fine,” he said as he eyed the bag she had with her, his voice lacking any sort of emotion, “But maybe you should think about getting an extra bag. Harder for things to run away that way.”

[jxeyeon]

heartattck:

There was really no doubt why Mallory’s company had hired extra security for her group, specifically for her. After several different instances of fans getting a little too close to the dorms for anyone’s comfort, they’d been given a second manager and she’d been given her own bodyguard. She felt bad for the rest of her members; they’d been put in a bad position because of her, but she really didn’t know what she was doing to bring all of this on.

When she heard her name being called, she glanced up from her phone before popping out of her seat. “Hi!” She reached out her hand for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you! Did you just get here? Have you met my managers yet? Or any of the other girls?”

Ah, so this was the girl he had heard so much about. Even just from his first impression, Jaeyeon could see exactly why they had sought out someone like himself to watch her. She seemed.. nearly as if she were too naive for her own good. Maybe she would prove him wrong. But he doubted it.

There was a few icy seconds that passed between her holding out her hand for him and his giving it a firm shake with his own. She seemed just barely tolerable. But he would have to deal with it, because this was his job now. “Yes, I’ve met everyone. So you’re stuck with me now.” His lips pursed, and his brows raised slightly. “Let’s try not to get into too much trouble, hmm?” He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible.

[jxeyeon]

Why he allowed himself to think that maybe he wouldn’t get the short end of the stick on this one was beyond him. Maybe he thought he’d get an easy deal, be assigned to someone who preferred to just keep to themselves when they didn’t have any schedules, thus making his life a hell of a lot easier. But no. Of course he got stuck with the brat who couldn’t keep herself out of trouble. Just his luck.

“Mallory.” His tone didn’t ask for her attention, it commanded it. His lips pursed slightly as he looked down at the girl he was being paid to guard. At least it was a paycheck, he reminded himself in the back of his mind. “I’m Jaeyeon. Your new bodyguard.”

@heartattck

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

The suggestion of dinner had a smile tugging at Grant’s lips as he nodded his head. He spent a moment considering how lucky he was to stumble across the other man- to move in right across the hall from him for that matter. “Dinner sounds amazing. We can hash out the details later.” He reasoned, reaching out to give Jaeyeon’s hand a gentle but fond squeeze before he was ducking out of the doorway.

It was nearly a week later that the two men had figured out the details of their suggested dinner. Now, Grant found himself seated across a table from his neighbor dressed nice but casually in a pair of dark jeans and one of the only button-up shirts he owned. His usual nanny had arrived at his apartment about 15 minutes before he had left, so the man was free for the evening and ready to take advantage of the time.

Leaning forward, Grant rested his elbow against the table in a way that would be considered rude if the movement didn’t reveal just how interested the man was in what his companion for the evening was saying. Green eyes flashed with intrigue as he devoted his attention to the other’s words, hanging on them in a way that betrayed him as the listener that he was.

Grant loved stories- he loved to get a glimpse into other people’s lives and adventures. “Wine?” A voice asked from next to the table, causing the young man to glance over and spot a waiter looking at the pair expectantly.

In all honesty, Jaeyeon was at first a bit concerned with the fact that it had been taking so long to be able to work something out with Grant. Mainly because he didn’t want him to get the impression that he was trying to dodge him, which certainly wasn’t the case. But the time was also a blessing in disguise - it had given him the time to put together a feasible story about what it was that he did for a living - leaving out all the illicit details, of course.

He was dressed in his usual manner, neatly, in dark colors that mirrored that of the eyes that were squinted softly from a gentle smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. He couldn’t help but find the other’s seemingly genuine interest enduring - even if it was interest in something that wasn’t exactly the truth. But as he heard a voice his eyes flickered up to the waiter, his smile twisting into a soft smirk as he glanced at Grant. “I think some wine would be wonderful, thank you..”

He wasn’t sure how long the night had lasted. Jaeyeon wasn’t exactly the best at keeping track of time as it was, much less on occasions such as this. All he knew was that it was well into the evening when the bill had finally been settled and the two were making their way out of the restaurant together. “I guess there’s not much point in not walking you home, yeah?” he asked with a crooked smile.

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

“It’s all an act.” Grant joked, thankful for the bit of mood shift that Jaeyeon had allowed for. The young man had loved what he did, but ever since he had left that life and devoted himself to a more domestic existence, it was hard to think about. “It was worthwhile work at least.” He added with a small shrug, before sitting back in his chair as his companion pulled out his cellphone.

That too was a newer occurrence in Grant’s life. He wasn’t used to the cellphone that rested heavily in the pocket of his jeans- no, he was used to having to use one of the large satellite phones in his camp to talk to his parents or brother once a week or so. Picking up his coffee, Grant took a heavy drink from the caffeinated beverage as he watched Jaeyeon read the screen of his phone and tried to not act any sort of disappointed when he confirmed what Grant had already assumed- their morning coffee expedition had come to a close.

“That’s fine of course. Things come up.” Grant said with an easy smile offered to the other man before he moved to rise from his feet, glancing at the clock on the wall of the cafe before shaking his head a bit at the other’s offer. “Actually, I was going to catch a cab anyways. Got somewhere I need to be soon.” He explained, picking up his coffee from the tabletop and looking over to the other. “I enjoyed this- we’ll need to do this again sometime if you’re interested.” He began, not wanting to overstep or assume, but though short, their time together had been something that Grant enjoyed. “Time for me to hear a bit about you anyways.” He added with a small chuckle.

“Ah, I figured as much,” Jaeyeon said in a light tone, one side of his lips twisting up into a lopsided smile. He couldn’t help but marvel at how different they were as a pair.. more or less, Grant was the man that everyone would want to run towards, whereas he was the man that everyone would want to keep away from. But.. Grant didn’t have to know that. And even though he knew that they were from two very different worlds and lifestyles, it didn’t stop the attraction he felt towards him.

Jaeyeon’s eyes followed Grant as he stood, following suit not long after. “Ah, that works, too,” he said with a small smile. He actually wasn’t thrilled to have to go do what he had to and was hoping spending even just a couple more minutes with Grant couple postpone it. But the sooner he got it done, the sooner it was over, he supposed. “I would be interested, actually. Maybe.. over dinner?” he suggested, not being very subtle as to his intentions. “But if you want to hear about me we should plan it far out, I need to make up and get my story together.” The words came out as a joke, but they were far from it.

It wasn’t long after Jaeyeon was making his way into the heart of the city. Most of the time he could do what he had to relatively unfazed - not overly happy to do it but not bothered by it, either - but that day, he was definitely.. not himself. Perhaps it had something to do with Grant? But either way, he made quick work of his orders, reprimands, and punishments - not wanting himself to be punished as well - and made his way back to his apartment, trying not to be sick.

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

The touch to his shoulder had Grant glancing over at the other man with a small, but amused, smile as he resisted the urge to shake his head at his actions. Jaeyeon was turning out to be a bit of character, never mind the fairly stoic personality that he first seemed to present. The man had picked up that there was more to him than met the eye and he was now seeing that he had been right.

Once the order was rang up, Grant had to stifle a laugh that the man’s plan of flirting his way into a discount had failed him and instead focused on picking up his cup from the counter. As they moved to find a table, a glance at the other man revealed the pout that was on his lips and finally a chuckle escaped him. “Sorry, man- I’m sure that it will.” Grant told him with a smile. “Try that pout next time. It’s heartbreaking- enough to bring a bloke to his knees.” He added, the innuendo being unintentional but not something that he bothered to correct.

Grant carefully took his seat, falling into it in a way that was as haphazard as it was oddly intentional and it was only after a beat or two of silence that he realized he was being scrutinized by his companion. Raising a brow in question, Grant listened to the man for a moment before pressing his lips lightly together, trying to consider how exactly to answer his question. “Yeah, you had it right.” He confirmed the question about his locations of work. “Uh, well I did a few things. First and foremost, I was part of a ragtag group of people from all over the world. We had men and a couple of women from the UK, US, Korea, Central America, Canada, etcetera.” He began to explain. “We kind of just did whatever was the most needed in the areas we were in. We traveled to poverty-ridden and war torn areas and provided everything from standard education to refugee efforts. We transported medicine through countries that were in the middle of a clash between their government and rebel groups that were both preventing basic supplies from getting to villages. It started off as just building homes, providing sustainable light sources, and education… but everything grew and there was a demand for people willing to get their hands a bit more dirty, I guess.” Grant revealed, green eyes staying mostly trained on the coffee cup held between his hands as he spoke. 

The man would never regret the work he had done so far in his life and he would go back to doing it in a heartbeat if he didn’t have Amira to take care of. Even then he knew that if the people he had worked with called and needed him, he would leave the girl with his parents until he could return from helping. The drive to do more than just exist in the world was strong within the man. “I, uh- I guess I’ve never really talked about what I’ve done before.” He said, a slightly forced chuckle falling from his lips as he looked at the man across from him. “Haven’t been around people who weren’t doing the same things I was in a while.” He added in explaination, actually smiling as he found himself back in the coffee shop rather than caught up in memories.

The innuendo resulting from the wording that Grant had chosen had not escaped Jaeyeon, as was evident by the smirk that tugged at his lips not long after Grant had finished speaking. “Well, rest assured that I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, then,” he mused, the smirk still present on his features as he looked at Grant. It was patiently that Jaeyeon waited for him to answer his question, and when he finally did, he watched him with a careful gaze, noting his posture, the way he was sitting, and the fact that he wasn’t looking at him at all - but instead staring down at his coffee.

“Well,” Jaeyeon started as Grant finished, forcing a little smile onto his face - a practice he was so well versed in that it looked natural - and glancing between Grant and the coffee that he had been staring so intently at, “You could have fooled me - it almost sounded like you had it rehearsed.” The smirk reappeared, though in a more playful manner. “Sounds like you’ve done some good work with some good people,” he pointed out not long afterwards. Certainly not any kind of work he would be found doing, and not the type of crowd that he frequented. But he could respect Grant for that.

It was just at that moment that he felt his phone go off, and as if instinctively it was in his hand before even the second vibration. And whatever smile that was on his face slowly disappeared as he read the message presented to him on the screen. “I think I might have to cut this little get together short,” Jaeyeon stated as he slid the phone back into his pocket without even bothering to reply to the message, “There’s a little problem at work, but I’ll have time to walk back home with you if you’d like.”

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

“Consumerist societies built on the basis of monetary compensation in order to provide for your most basic of needs are great, huh?” Grant joked as they stepped into the elevator, knowing that taking a business call first thing in the morning couldn’t have been pleasant to deal with. “Do you? For work or?” He asked when Jaeyeon revealed that he flew more than most.

Grant followed along next to the other man without concern, trusting him to lead them wherever it was that he had set his mind to going that morning. “I’m definitely no stranger to walking far to get somewhere, so I think I’ll survive.” He reassured with companion with a small laugh, more than happy to walk and experience a bit of the city he just became a part of.

Green eyes took in the people that passed and the buildings that lined the sidewalks as they went until Jaeyeon had them entering one shop in particular. “It smells like a dream in here.” He noted with a smile, looking over to the other man and nodding. Grant watched with amusement as Jaeyeon moved away from him and towards the counter, his flirtatious actions actually making the brunet chuckle before he turned to look over the shop’s offered options.

Choosing something rather simple and committing it to his memory, Grant moved to join his new neighbor at the front, leaning against the countertop and offering the barista a kind smile before turning his attention to Jaeyeon and raising a brow playfully at him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” That was all the comment Jaeyeon gave on Grant’s first statement, not having the patience to try and figure out exactly what had been said to him. “But no, no, it’s not for work. All of my family is still out there,” he explained to him with an easy rhythm. 

Jaeyeon continued his light flirtation at the counter until he saw Grant approach the counter out of the corner of his eye. As he turned to face him and noticed his raised brow, he pursed his lips into a smirk before turning back to the barista and giving his order - just in case. “And I’ll be paying for his as well,” he stated, placing a firm hand on Grant’s shoulder as he stood straight again.

But it turned out, his little fun hadn’t paid off that time. The faintest shadow of a pout tugged at Jaeyeon’s lips as they walked away from the counter with their drinks a moment later. “It’ll work next time,” he stated in confidence nonetheless, as if assuming that Grant had been able to hear his thoughts as he brought his straw up to his lips and took a long sip of his iced coffee. 

He led Grant over to a small table and took a seat at it, doing nothing for a moment other than staring intently at the other. His mind, on the other hand, was whirring at a hundred miles an hour. “Grant, I’m curious,” he suddenly said, leaning in towards him, “I know you said you were mainly in the Middle East, South America, and .. Central Africa, was it? But what was it that you exactly did there?”

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

It only took a few moments after Jaeyeon left for Grant to tidy up their mugs and the rest of the kitchen before sending the sitter for Amira a quick text, making sure that it was truly okay for him to pick up the next day instead of that night. Luckily for him, Grant paid the woman a good chunk of change for her time and she had immediately agreed that he could pick her up just after lunchtime the next day. With that settled, it didn’t take the man long to find his bed- currently just a mattress on the floor in the master bedroom- and pass out.

The night passed quickly due to the young man’s exhaustion brought on by spending the last few days moving and Grant rose around 7am to go through his morning routine of making himself a tea then getting ready for the day. As he waited for Jaeyeon to come knocking to let him know that he was awake, Grant set about unpacking the rest of his things. He spent most of the time in Amira’s room putting together her dresser, bookshelf, and small bed before he moved on to stocking her shelves and hanging up her clothes.

He had just finished with the girl’s room when he heard a knock on his door and quickly moved to grab himself a coat to pull over his light grey t-shirt that had an assortment of painted flowers decorating the front of it, crossing diagonally over his chest. Grant pulled open the door with a bright smile that only seemed to become that much more intense when he laid eyes on the other man. “Morning!” He chirped, stepping into the hall and pulling the door closed behind him to hide the mess he had made that morning while unpacking. “I did actually. Passed out rather quickly after you left.” He admitted, locking his door behind him before he looked back over at his neighbor. “More than ready! I could kill for some caffeine.” He joked, before nodding his head towards the elevator and heading down the hall towards it. 

“Did you get some sleep?” Grant asked, his green eyes scanning quickly over the man’s face and noting what he thought was a bit of tiredness that seemed enhanced only by his mussed hair. “I’ve got to say though- for having just flown in yesterday you are faring really well.”

Jaeyeon couldn’t help his amusement at how chipper Grant seemed to be, even - at the very least, to himself - first thing. His eyes were immediately drawn to the jacket that he had on. It wasn’t something that he would wear himself, but it didn’t look terrible on Grant. “Good, good, that’s good to hear.” Though he couldn’t stop the amused smirk that tugged on his lips as he heard the statement that Grant could “kill” for some coffee as he followed him to the elevator. “I got some. Ended up getting a business call this morning so I spent some time dealing with that before coming over.” Once they were in the elevator, he pressed the button to send them down to the lobby. “Thank you, I’m used to it by now. I fly in and out a lot.”

It wasn’t long after that Jaeyeon was leading Grant out of the lobby and down the street. “It’s not far from here, and I’ll hope you’re not as lazy as most people around here when it comes to walking,” he stated, “I said I’d pay for what you want there, not a cab.” And true to his word, it was no more than five minutes later that they were walking through the door into the shop.

“Get whatever you want, it’s on me. It’s disgusting how often I come in here so I bet you anything they’re already making my drink.” He snorted and placed a hand steadily on Grant’s shoulder. “While you look over the menu I’m gonna try to get us a discount.” He gave a shit eating grin before sauntering over and flirting shamelessly with the barista. It was immature, sure. But it worked every once in a while, and he wasn’t exactly known for being the most mature guy all the time.

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

“There’s so much you can learn from anyone, but especially from entire cultures that operate in such a different way from your own.” Grant agreed with a small smile, taking the tea bag that the other man had selected from his hand and pulling down a large coffee mug to make the tea for him.

As they chatted and sipped on their individual mugs of tea, Grant could see the exhaustion seeping into the man across from him. He smiled softly at Jaeyeon, about to say something to excuse the man to his own him but he beat him to it. “You’re find of course. It is getting late.” He reassured his neighbor, moving towards the exit of the kitchen already until Jaeyeon speaking once more had him pausing, turning to look back at him. 

“Morning coffee?” Grant echoed, his smile growing a bit at the offer. “That sounds great actually. I’d love to.” He affirmed, pushing a hand to muss his already haphazard brunet locks. “I warn that I am a bit of an early riser, so whenever you’re up you can just give the door a knock. I wouldn’t want to wake you before you usually get up.” Grant said before gesturing from the kitchen to the front door, officially giving the other man an out to go and get some sleep.

“I really liked talking to you- thanks for… being friendly. Moving here had me a bit wary- it’s been a while since I’ve been in a city like this since I was a teen, but…” Grant trailed off then, shaking his head a bit at himself. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

A softer expression than any other that evening overcame Jaeyeon’s features as Grant agreed to the arrangement to meet up again the following day, a smile big enough to touch his eyes tugging at his lips as he gave a little nod. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. I might be late since my body will be all fucked up from time zones - I’m sure you of all people understand that.” He paused before continuing, “But don’t worry about it. Just let me know whenever you need anything. Or if anyone gives you any trouble. I’ll help you out.”

The rest of his night passed relatively quickly - it wasn’t long before most of his important items were once again unpacked and he was flopping onto his bed, accidentally falling asleep for a while before getting up once more for a few minutes to change into more comfortable clothes. And after that, it wasn’t until an unexpected knock at his door woke him that he rolled out of bed again to greet his unannounced visitor. And once an agreement was made and business was done and he was herding the less than welcomed man out of his apartment, all he wanted to do was go back to sleep - but he couldn’t. It was eleven, so even though his body was trying to tell him it was one in the morning, he pushed himself to tidy himself up and put on some more presentable clothes for his plans with Grant.

And with that, he was outside of Grant’s door, the back of thin fingers rapping gently against the wood. He was dressed in a casual but neat fashion, the only thing out of place being his messy hair that never seemed to stay in place. “Good morning,” he offered with a tilt of his head as Grant opened the door, “I hope you rested well? Are you ready to go?”

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

The question wasn’t one that surprised him as any time he mentioned traveling, people always seemed to want to know the extent of his journeys. The answer that he gave was usually not the one people expected from him though. Most people were waiting to hear the names of places like France or Greece falling from his lips, but that wasn’t the case. He had been to those places, sure- they were not that far of a trip from his birth city, London- but they weren’t the places that he spent a lot of time in.

“Mainly I float between three regions- the Middle East, Central Africa, and a few places in South America.” Grant revealed, busying himself with looking through the fridge before smiling as the other man said he thought it was nice he had decided on there of all places. He turned around then, looking over at the other before nodding. “I have to agree.” He said, chuckling lightly. “You’ve definitely caught my interest.”

At the man’s admittance of having no idea what Grant was talking about, the man realized that he had not used a term common outside of the UK. “Oh, uh- fizzy drinks are like Pepsi or Ribena- well they’re really any drink with carbonation, but I was referring to those kind of drinks.” He explained.

“Tea it is though.” Grant said happily, moving to a smaller box that was sat on the counter of the kitchen and stripping the tape from it to pull out an electric tea kettle which he filled up before plugging it in and letting it heat up. The man slide the box across the counter towards his companion then, nodding towards it. “Pick whatever you like- there’s quite a few choices to be had.” He directed.

“Hmm..” Jaeyeon let out a thoughtful hum as Grant mentioned the countries that he had lived in in the past. “That’s.. quite the assortment, I’m sure you’ve learned a thing or two in places like that,” he commented with a small smirk as he looked through the box of teas, pulling out his choice and placing the box back on the counter. “You’ll have to .. excuse me for not knowing,” he continued as the fizzy drinks were explained, “There are a few things that I still don’t know.”

After another short while of casual conversation, Jaeyeon figured it was time to excuse himself. He was tired as it was - with the added effect of the tea it was as if he could physically feel the bags underneath his eyes. He placed his empty cup in the sink as he spoke. “I think I should get going now, thank you for the tea.” As he turned back to Grant, his lips pursed into a smile. “I’m sorry if this is sudden but I don’t think it’ll be long from now that I’ll be falling asleep where I am and, I figure you’d like to .. take some time to relax in your new home. I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a lot of each other as it is.” He nodded, smiling just enough to let his dimples show.

In his head he had been contemplating something for the past few minutes. And it wasn’t until he was on his way out that he finally decided to ask. “Maybe you’d like to join me for coffee in the morning? It’ll be my treat. As a welcome to the neighborhood.” It wasn’t normal for him to offer something like this, but Jaeyeon could be impulsive. And that was exactly what his impulse was telling him to do.

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

“I’m sure I can handle them.” Grant said with a small smile, shaking his head. He knew that the man was joking- at least partially- about the explosions but he couldn’t find it in him to agree even playfully. He had spent most of his young adulthood in war torn countries and seeing the aftermath of the bombings that took place was enough to have him unable to relate in the slightest. Too many times had he woken up to the building beginning to crumble around him, families screaming in the streets.

Instead of replying, Grant made quick work of gathering the boxes and moving past his neighbor with a small “thank you” as he entered in his new apartment. The place looked rather plain aside from the bright orange couch in the living room since most of his things laid packed away in the boxes that sat all over the place. Jaeyeon’s question had the man looking over at him with a small smile as he moved to clear a path for them to the kitchen. “A new job opportunity and the need to settle down somewhere if only for a year or two.” Grant explained. “I haven’t really ever had a place to call home or whatever- I’ve been traveling most of my life.”

Finally making it to the kitchen, Grant pulled open his fridge at the man’s next question. “Anything your heart desires, mate- well, outside of fizzy drinks.” He told him. “Pressed juice, tea, water… or I have some wine if you’re interested.” The man offered up, pulling the bottle of imported red from the door of the fridge and turning to his new neighbor with a playful smile.

As he made his way into the apartment, his eyes fixated on the one thing that seemed to stand out in the (as of yet) still rather plain apartment. A bright orange couch was.. an interesting choice. Personally? Not one that he would make. But if that was Grant’s taste, then that was Grant’s taste. Still, the peculiarity of the object drew him to it, and he found himself brushing a hand over the top of the furniture to get a feel for the texture of it. He could be a curious man sometimes, in the strangest of ways.

“Lots of traveling?” he repeated after he had listened to the man’s answer to his questions, turning to look at him. “Traveling to where?” he followed him into the kitchen, leaning against the counter and folding his arms as he did so. He wasn’t exactly one to realize - or at least point out an apologize - when certain questions might have been too prodding. He wanted to know, so he was going to see if he could find out. “But I guess it’s nice that you decided to settle down here, hmm? You seem like a decent enough guy - I think you and me will even each other out nicely,” he added with an amused chuckle.

But his brows furrowed together at Grant’s statement about fizzy drinks - an expression that lasted through all his drink options. “I guess it’s our lucky day then, because even if I wanted one, I have no idea what the hell a fizzy drink is.” Though Jaeyeon was blunt, he hadn’t meant to sound rude. Situations like this were common for him - he didn’t always know different terms for things. “But I think I’ll stay away from alcohol for tonight, thank you for the offer, though.” A crooked smile tugged at his lips. “I’ll just take some tea, thank you. I can’t afford to wake up hungover.”

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

“Can’t see that happening.” Grant told the other man, leaning back against the wall next to his apartment door as he did so. Grant liked people- he was a people person through and through and that was why he went into the line of work that he had. He wanted to help people as much as possible and found something interesting and unique in every single one.

“Oh- well that’s a bit of relief then.” Grant said once Jaeyeon reassured him that it was only an issue for him, something that he wasn’t sure was a joke or not either. “I’ve dealt with people all around, but I have yet to try my hand at dealing with people in this city.” He explained with a small chuckle, pushing a hand through his tousled locks. “I hope you’re lucky then, but all the same I’ll add some luck to your adventure- good luck.” He called over once the taller man excused himself and went to venture into his own apartment.

Grant waited in the hallway next to his small pile of boxes, wondering what he was doing chatting with the attractive neighbor when he needed to get done moving in so he could pick up Amira from the sitter before nine, yet he couldn’t seem to convince himself to continue on with the task and end his conversation with the other man.

Footsteps alerted him to Jaeyeon’s exit from his apartment before he looked up from his shoes and spotted him, smiling once he had though. “Glad to hear it- that would be a hell of a mess to clean up.” Grant reasoned, before pausing at the other’s offer. He wasn’t expecting it and he could sense that the man may not have truly been interested in helping him move. “How about you get the door for me instead- it should still be unlocked- and in thanks I’ll even offer a beverage.” He suggested with a smile, moving to pick up a majority of the boxes. “This is the last little bit anyways.” He reasoned, letting out a small grunt as he heaved the boxes back up and into his arms.

“Oh, you’re going to have a ball with people in this city,” Jaeyeon quipped with a cynical tone as he made his way back into the hallway. “The fact I half expected there to be a bomb in my apartment should give you a nice little insight to what they’re like.” He tilted his head. “Speaking of which, I’m actually a little bummed. Explosions are always interesting. And not to mention, they’re kind of fun when you don’t have to worry about cleaning up the aftermath.”

He took note of the way Grant had paused as he offered, knowing that he probably picked up on the fact that he really didn’t want to help. It didn’t perturb Jaeyeon in the slightest - in fact, he was more or less a person who liked for people to know exactly how he felt, whether that be good or bad. But as such, he wasn’t exactly disappointed with the deal that he had ended up with. “I think I can live with that,” he commented with a coy smile, making his way easily up to the door and opening it for the other man.

As the remainder of the boxes were moved inside, Jaeyeon followed Grant into the entryway of the apartment. “So what brings you to the area in the first place?” he found himself asking. Perhaps it was more of a small talk question that he would have liked - but he figured it wouldn’t be bad to know. Motives could lead to much more valuable information.. How long someone would be around, how much money they made, how happy they were with their situation. And all those things could potentially be very fascinating to him. “And what kind of beverages would you happen to have to offer?”

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

Green eyes scanned the face of the man in front of him, trying to catch any hint that would let Grant know what he was thinking but he got nothing. It seemed that his new neighbor was either an emotionless cyborg or he had an incredible skill at pretending to be such. Nonetheless, Grant wasn’t preturbed- instead he continued to smile at the other, laughing once Jaeyeon offered a small quip back to his joke.

Relieved that the ice breaker didn’t completely fall flat, Grant offered an understanding nod at his excuse for his lack of charisma. “You’re fine- if this is you exhausted then I’m sure we’ll have great conversations in the future.” The man reassured him before nodding as Jaeyeon excused himself, pausing as he was unsure if that meant as a joke or not.

“Is… that sort of thing common for this building?” Grant asked, not wanting to be awkward if it was a joke, but he couldn’t help but ask. He had been reassured that the apartment complex was one of the safest in the city for some reason or another, but Grant couldn’t risk it- not with the precious cargo he had living with him these days.

A single corner of his mouth lifted upwards into an amused smirk at the other’s insistence that they would have grander conversations in the future. “I would hope so. Hopefully you won’t get too sick of them.” It seemed to be a trend. People would be amused by his sharp tongue at first, but soon become tired of it. It was almost as if he could see their eyes rolling whenever he opened his mouth.

“Hmm? Oh, no.” Finally a chortle caused a break in his otherwise dulled expressions, tugging a smile true enough to cause dimples to etch against his cheeks. “I just happen to know some assholes who I might have recently told to go fuck themselves, so I guess I’m on my way to see if they left any presents waiting for me. Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll have left a bomb in there and I’ll die quickly, but I don’t think they’d be that kind to me.” If there was one thing to know about Jaeyeon, it was that his sense of humor could sometimes be a bit.. strange. In reality, he knew he had nothing to fear of being on the other side of the door - even if there were people fully capable of leaving something there. They would know better. “I’ll be right back.” With that he opened the door and did nothing short of hobble inside, one bag of luggage held in front of him and the other behind, only to place them safely inside before emerging once again.

“No bombs, lucky day,” he commented in a dry tone as he closed his door carefully behind him, barely believing what he was about to offer. “Can I.. help you, with-” he gestured to the boxes still lying in the hallway. He was so shocked with himself that he couldn’t even manage to properly ask Grant if he wanted assistance. Did he really want to help? No, not really. But he did find himself wanting to continue a conversation with him, hence the rather unenthusiastic offer.

[jxeyeon]

justjaderp:

Upon moving into the city- and into the country for that matter, Grant had been on the hunt for an apartment for a while. He was tired of living out of suitcases in a hotel room for the past week or so, so once an apartment that wasn’t in the worst part of the city came available and had more than one room- the young man didn’t hesitate on rushing to sign the lease.

Now came the horrendous process that was moving. All day long he had been hauling boxes into the elevator and into his apartment before returning to his car, thankful for having been able to find a sitter for that day so Amira didn’t have to suffer through the moving process with him.

Stepping out of the elevator with one of the last boxes in his hands, Grant had not been expecting anyone else to be in the hall as ever since he had started his move, the apartment across from him had been quiet and dark. Peering over the box he was carrying, he took a moment to size up the other before offering him a bright smile, deciding that though he wasn’t jumping to greet him- he was being polite and that counted for something.

“I’m Grant.” He told the other, setting down the box so that he wouldn’t have to crane his neck to see his neighbor then. “I’m sorry to have surprised you though- promise I only practice with my metal band twice a week and the dog’s howling is usually pretty on key.” He joked, not being able to resist at least trying to break the slightly awkward tension that came with first meeting someone, especially someone as seemingly reserved as his new neighbor.

Upon his new neighbor’s introduction, Jaeyeon’s lips parted ever so slightly as he listened to what he was being told, that being the only sign of the faint curiosity overcoming him. He had long since learned the peculiar art of maintaining a steady poker face. As far as he could tell, his man was something - different than what he was accustomed to, to put it lightly. So seemingly peppy and cheery even while going through the menial task of moving into a new apartment. And to Jaeyeon, that was interesting. Because most of the people he knew, himself included, would be grumbling and unpleasant during such a task.

“Yes, right..” A hesitant answer was at first all he could give to Grant’s jesting, his eyes narrowing in quiet scrutiny as he looked over the man who was mere inches shorter than himself, an unsettling crooked smile being the closest thing to a real one as he could muster as he replied, “As long as it’s on key, we shouldn’t have a problem.” Most of the time, he wouldn’t have cared what someone thought about him. But there was something that made him want Grant not to know.. quite how unpleasant he could be naturally. “I’ve just had a long flight back, please excuse if I seem a bit, ahm... unenthused.” Once more he turned to insert his key into his door, quietly unlocking it. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’ll have to go inside and make sure no.. unrulies decided to sneak in and make a mess of my apartment,” he claimed with an amused huff that lasted no more than just a second as he turned to Grant. It was meant to be a joke, but there was a shred of truth to his words. He knew people who would have been able to make their way into his apartment and leave it locked.

[jxeyeon]

Jaeyeon had been out of town for a couple weeks - and while there were several things he had possibly been expecting when he returned back to his small, simple apartment, someone moving in just across the hall from his was nearing the end of the list. Ever since he had lived there, and as far as he knew, for a while beforehand, the apartment had been vacant, for reasons unknown to him. It hadn’t been his first choice, and as such, he hadn’t been curious enough to invest any of his precious time into researching it.

But as he fished for his keys, his dark, cold eyes still darted sideways towards the small pile of boxes that remained out in the hallways - assumedly being prepared to be brought into the apartment - ready to ignore it, ready to get on with his night, ready not to be subjected to any more socializing that day. And that was just his luck, wasn’t it? Because it was just as he was turning his gaze away from the boxes that a figure emerged from the door across from him. It took exerting nearly all of his self control to keep from sighing irritably as he turned to the man now sharing the hallway with him, being sure to tug the corners of his lips upwards slightly so as not to seem quite as.. bored. There could probably be worse neutral expressions to have, but it certainly wasn’t the friendliest. And sure, he might not be the friendliest guy all the time, but he could at least pretend to be, couldn’t he?

“Hello, I’m Jaeyeon. I live across the hall.” He greeted the man with a soft accent, his eyes darting again to the boxes as he did so, so quickly that if one were to blink they would question whether it had actually happened. In his mind the cogs were turning in an effort try to conceive some way he could get out of helping the man carry the remaining boxes inside. “I’ve just gotten back in town and I.. was not informed I would be returning to a new neighbor.” It was difficult to tell whether his words were malicious or playful - but he just continued on. “But it’s nice to meet you, I’ll.. try not to be too much trouble to you.”

@justjaderp