* & the symbol of the short story
*: If you want my characters opinion on yours
Kinda a weird guy, in his ideals and insecurities, but super nice. That’s the gist of Jaejoong’s thoughts on Yunho. He knows that the thought processes they have wouldn’t match up even on a day of miracles, knows that while it wouldn’t anyways with most people, with this guy there’s a fundamental sort of difference in viewing the world. Add that along with how he knows their upbringings to be different too and he gets it, that they would have a hard time seeing eye to eye on things or reaching the same conclusions. But he also knows, that Yunho is nice, like the stupidly benevolent kind of nice.
It irks him sometimes, when he’s having an off day, off moment, the polite behavior, makes him dance off to other people who are comfortable with impoliteness and brashness with friends. Still, he wouldn’t discount Yunho from being a friend ever, not when the guy had given over hugs freely or just smiled when Jaejoong hadn’t realized he’d needed one. Yeah. A nice guy everyone should probably want in their friendship arsenal.
♛: If you want a short story about my characters past
Trying out for the talent agency doesn’t go the way he’d hoped it would.
The impassive faces of the people scouting, judging, there’s not even a flicker of recognition in their eyes for how hard Jaejoong’s trying to win them over. They don’t even tell him why he’s no good, but he thinks the way they’d refrained from making eye contact with him while he’d sung had been answer enough. His friend doesn’t get any further auditions either, so at least there’s some camaraderie in the disappointment, but even with that, Jaejoong can’t help but to feel a fumbling melancholy for the next few days.
His noona and her husband take him out to dinner, the same noona that encouraged him to audition, and its much fancier a place than anyone his age ought to be permitted into. He marvels over the high class meal and restaurant’s presentation, only knowing later how much that ‘spoiling’ helped in him getting over the lost little dream.
Two weeks later he’s going out on a date with a classmate, his first proper girlfriend, and everybody around him is just so enthusiastic about the relationship - his parents, his friends, his peers - that Jajeoong just soaks in the attention. Its probably not exactly the same as being idol famous, but when you’re dating someone a lot of people like, well, maybe its just a smidgen like the reverence that a celebrity would receive. He knows that’s not the point of having a girlfriend, it hadn’t been his intention certainly. He knows that he likes spending time with her, because she’s funny and smart and decisive, but if he keeps it to himself that he likes the praise he’s getting from all around too, well, it shouldn’t hurt anything, right?