Work of Art [J.JH] - seventy-five | some things are universal
In about a half hour, you and Jaehyun were both outfitted in traditional Korean clothing and all the negotiation for the clothes themselves and the rental thereof was your doing.
“God, I feel tired already.” You looked at Jaehyun in shock, remembering you had to speak in Korean the whole time.
“I won’t count it. You just did a lot of talking.”
You breathed a sigh of relief. “<Well? How do I look?>” You asked and lifted up your arms, doing a little spin. The woman at the clothing rental had found a pink and deep purple combo that had gold embroidery on it. You modeled for him for a moment as he watched you.
“Really beautiful.”
You laughed. “<Shouldn’t you say it Korean?>”
He laughed. “<Where would you like to go first?>”
“<Umm… food.>”
“<Alright, pick a place.>”
“<I might need your help with... the menu...>”
He nodded.
You leaned in and whispered, “Also, if you’re really paying, get ready for me to make a dent in your wallet. I love to eat.”
He chuckled. “<Oh no.>”
“As Jungwoo says, <’Food is my life.>”
Jaehyun laughed. “<Hungry after eating?>”
“<Always,>” you laughed.
He smiled.
You two navigated the food stalls and picked up so much food. True to his word; you ordered everything and Jaehyun paid for it.
“<What a good boyfriend!>” The lady at one of the stalls said as Jaehyun forked over the money for the food you were holding.
“<Oh, he’s not-- >” you stuttered, but she turned away from you.
Some things - like nosy middle-aged ladies - were universal, you guessed.
You turned to Jaehyun and he smiled. You couldn’t tell if he heard her or not. <“Let’s sit over there,”> you gestured to a table and beelined to it. Something about the woman’s comment combined with Jaehyun’s dimples made you want to run away screaming, you didn’t know why.
No, you knew why. You really hoped he hadn’t heard her.
You ate your food together, quietly, and you took your phone out to check it.
You sighed with a smile.
“<Something wrong?>”
“<I hate my best friend.>”
Jaehyun laughed. “<Why do you know how to say that?>”
You smiled. “I looked it up so I could troll Anna with it.”
He shook his head. He picked up the garbage and threw it away, and sat back down across from you.
“She wants us to take pictures, by the way.”
He nodded. “Is there anything else you want to do first?”
“Maybe look around at the flowers a bit more? I think I’m full after that last food stall.”
He nodded. “Okay. I also want to get you something.”
“What?”
“Some kind of souvenir. For passing your test and for doing so well today.”
“You mean because you’ve barely had to help me?”
“Yeah. You seemed so nervous when I told you my plan, I thought it meant that you would need to ask me for help the entire time.”
“I guess everyone feels way less confident with a new language than their… actual level of comprehension.”
He nodded.
“So… what are you getting me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I’m sure something will strike me by the time we’re ready to leave.”
You nodded. “Should we go by the flowers and take pictures?”
He nodded, stood, and offered his hand to you.
“Such a gentleman, Mr. Jeong.” You took his hand and stood.
You took pictures by the trees, taking turns taking pictures of each other. Both of you posed like you were models, and then did dumber poses that made you laugh. He looked at one of the pictures you took of him and then looked around and asked a passerby to take a picture of the both of you.
“Shouldn’t I have done that?” You asked, wondering if his rules still applied.
He shrugged and stood next to you for the picture. You both smiled.
“<Can you get a little closer? You’re half out of the frame.>” The guy asked.
You took Jaehyun’s arm and put it around you so you two could get closer. You smiled for the picture and the guy handed Jaehyun his phone. Jaehyun thanked him and he left.
“Can I see it?”
Jaehyun fumbled with his phone for a bit and showed it to you. The two of you looked cute, his arm around you, holding you close.
You nodded casually. “Can you send them to me?”
“Oh-- yeah.” He sent them to you quickly and waited to see if you got them.
You held your phone and waited, and when the notification popped up, you saved them and smiled. “I guess we’re done. We wore hanbok and ate food and looked at flowers. Mission accomplished”
He nodded. “Are you ready to go?”
You nodded.
On the way back to the hanbok rental he looked at a few stalls.
“What are you looking for?”
“Nothing.”
You figured it was your gift but didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
Back in your normal clothes, you waited for him outside the hanbok rental. Upon coming out of the dressing room, the worker from earlier told you that Jaehyun left to get something and asked that you wait by the door. As you waited, you sent a few pictures to Anna - not the one of the two of you together, because first her head would blow up and then your phone - and you took some pictures of the surrounding architecture as you waited for him.
You saw him walking towards you and put your phone away.
“Sorry, that was further away than I thought.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He held out the small brown bag for you to take. You sighed at him with a smile and took it, walking away from the store in case the shop lady was as nosy as the woman at the food cart.
You walked back in the direction of the bus stop and opened it on the way. It was a small wooden charm of a cherry blossom flower meant for a phone.
“It’s made of cherry blossom wood,” he offered.
“It’s cute. Too bad my phone doesn’t have a spot for charms,” you frowned.
“Oh…”
“Oh! I can put it on my pencil case.” You smiled at him.
He smiled back. “I also got you a birthday present.” He pulled his arm away, and you realized that he hadn’t just closed his jacket because of the cool air, he had been hiding something else.
“What did I say about the sneaky beaky stuff?”
He laughed softly. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
You narrowed your eyes at him in jest. “Did you just buy it?”
“Mhm. Open it.”
He handed you the wrapped object, and you could tell it was some kind of cup. Thinking it was a mug or something, you pulled out the paper that had been stuffed into the mouth and gasped.
“Oh my god.”
“It’s a brush holder based on one from the Joseon Dynasty.”
Your eyes widened as you looked at it and you looked up at him. You flipped the cup over to look at the bottom.
“They took the price off at the store.”
You looked up again.
“And if they hadn’t, I would have done it myself. My parents raised me well.”
You laughed. “I-- can I ask how expensive it was?”
He shook his head.
“Ah.”
“Do you like it?”
“I do... it’s beautiful.” You wrapped it up and put it into your bag carefully, along with the charm. You shifted your bag a moment, making sure it wouldn’t get knocked around and - god absolutely fucking forbid - broken. Satisfied it wouldn’t, you turned back to him and hit him playfully. “But how dare you spend so much money on me!”
He laughed as he held up his hands to block you.
You sighed. You couldn’t tell if you were actually mad or just flattered and unable to deal with the emotion.
“The price doesn’t matter, it’s the thought that counts. And I wanted to get you something you could use. So... do you like it?”
You relented and nodded. “It’s very nice, and very pretty-- and I’m terrified of getting paint on it.
He laughed his dad laugh.
“Thank you. I love it.”
Your previous anguish at the thought of getting even an atom of paint on the cup and ruining it faded from your mind as you looked down and saw his hand. You wanted to take it in yours and hold it; an action that would feel so natural after you spent the whole day together and his giving you the presents...
But you couldn’t. You knew what he had told Anna and trying to force anything you felt on him - even if it was something as simple as holding his hand - would be wrong. You looked away for a moment, and watched some cherry blossom petals as they swirled around from the wind. You inhaled deeply as you watched them and exhaled long, letting the smouldering feeling in your chest go cold before you could bring yourself to turn back to him.
You smiled. You weren’t sure what you were trying to convey, thankfulness for the gifts, maybe. He smiled back, you weren’t sure what it meant. Part of you wanted to ask, but part of you... didn’t want to ruin whatever this was.
Smiling at each other like idiots, you two almost missed the bus as it pulled up.
On the ride back - and at Anna’s earlier request - the two of you traded some of the pictures you had taken of your day out: cherry blossoms, food stalls, children dressed in hanbok and chasing each other, artists and musicians working in the courtyards so visitors could enjoy their creations, each other.
YAYYY new update, i'm SO happy that shane is still calling him 'eli', even when not super drunk haha
on that note though, how is the nickname pronounced? "ellie" (with more emphasis on the L), or "e-lie" (emphasis on the E)?
The drunkenness and worry made him slip up but I think he loves calling him Eli :) I try not to overdo it in my writing and using it only when it just rolls of the tongue, and also at moments Shane feels particularly affectionate towards Elliott! To me, it's his way to tell him "We're friends now. You're one of my important people." without actually spelling it out cause it would be too vulnerable of him to do so
And it's pronounced Elli for me (just like you would pronounce Elliott without the end) but you're free to choose what you prefer!
Hi I forgot Spirits Eve was a thing and when you mentioned the Labyrinth last week and then today I was like "wtf is that? A gay club? I don't think Shane is ready"
Wow I'm dense
BAHAHAHHAHA
"I don't think Shane is ready" had me on A ROLL 😂
That's so funny cause originally I wanted to do a wide shot of the festival like this as the first panel to avoid this problem:
(unrelated but look at cute storyboard shane. just. look. hehe.)
But I finished making the part at like 4AM Friday (cause my brain love to go on little adventures and procrastinate stuff lol) and thought "EH I'm not gonna put an extra 2 hours on this. Nuh uh. I deserve peace. Plus I was so clear their reunion will be at Spirit's Eve!! I said it twice! It's fine!! It's all good!!" 😂😂😂
