#kpopfanfic
feed me pomegranates and keep me forever [VIXX, Leo]
Hades!Taekwoon Au
Characters : VIXX’s Leo / OC - mentions of Zeus!Jaehwan, Dionysius!Wonshik and Hermes!Sanghyuk
Rating : PG (they do be making out)
Plot summary - Taekwoon holds a regency themed party to welcome his wife back from the mortal realm. But do they make it to the party?
Shorter Plot summary - Hades and Persephone are simps for each other.
In a dimly lit room somewhere in the cold underworld, Taekwoon fiddled with the cuff of his costume nervously as his attendant fixed his stiff brown coat.
“Will this suffice, your majesty?”
Taekwoon absentmindedly nodded, eyeing the empty vase that sat by the mirror. It had laid vacant for months, waiting to be filled with flowers. The flowers in his palace had wilted and been cast away, much like the souls of those who resided in his realm.
He laughed away the deep yearning he felt, making the attendant start before he turned towards the wisp of a man.
“Guide her to my chambers the moment she returns. You’re dismissed.”
The attendant bowed to his master and glided out of the room.
Running his pale fingers over the rim of the porcelain, he inhaled deeply. Jung Taekwoon may be the ruler of the underworld, but there was only one person who had complete power over him.
Giving the ruffles on his sleeve one last tug, Taekwoon glancing at the mirror again. The brown coat, cravat, and ruffles reminded him of some of the souls that came into his world in the 1800s. His clothing decisions were made after consulting his meticulous notes while passing judgements and careful chronicling of the entrants of his realm. While these journals helped maintain order in Hades, they also helped him pick the appropriate costumes for his themed events celebrating the return of his queen.
While the king of the underworld took pride in his extensive note taking abilities, his queen would laugh at them and call it his chicken scrawl. Every time she glanced over his documents, it almost seemed like she was making it a point to distract him endlessly with her sunkissed fingers gliding over the papers dotted and scratched with ink. Every movement of hers smelled of spring, ever changing, floral, fruity, ripe enough to take a juicy bite. The anticipation of her arrival make Taekwoon feel like a pining young fool and not Kronos and Rhea’s eldest
Taekwoon wondered if he should have fed her more pomegranate seeds all those centuries ago.
The door behind him creaked open and warmth flooded into the room. Taekwoon had to bite back a groan. Even after centuries of the same cycle of events, he could still feel the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Eight months always felt far too long. It was this longing that gnawed at him as he scribbled his notes, passed his judgements, and rolled his eyes at his promiscuous brothers. The loneliness he had felt for the past eight months flew away as Minah’s silken skin came in contact with his. The goddess of spring wrapped her arms around her husband, burying her face into his broad back.
Human’s often described love as fireworks or thunderbolts, but Taekwoon believed that thunderbolts were more of Jaehwan’s domain. Love with Minah was smooth ambrosia, spring rains, and the calm of elysium.
“Hello darling,” she mumbled into his back, inhaling deeply and Taekwoon closed his eyes, delighting in the sound of her voice. “Cerby knocked me over at the gates, demanding that I give him some love, would you forgive me for being late?” Minah added lacing her fingers with her husband’s.
Taekwoon turned in her arms and looked down at her from his imposing height. His wife, dressed in an evening gown of flowers embroidered on light orange organza with a dipping neckline and a high empire waist, gazed at him with adoration. The king of the underworld was convinced that spring had arrived in the depths of the earth.
“You look so handsome,” she said with a smile, standing on the tips of her toes to kiss his chin. Taekwoon fought the urge to smile in absolute delight but Minah didn’t miss the slight upward curve of his lip as his arms pulled her closer. Pressing another kiss to his chin, she continued “And I love this year’s theme! How did you think of a regency era theme?”
Sanghyuk had mentioned in passing that Minah was going through her “reading human books to pass the time,” phase. He had specifically dropped the name “Jane Austen” resulting in Taekwoon searching for the author’s soul to do his research for this very moment. Not that he’d ever let Minah know.
“Just came to mind,” he replied, giving her a squeeze “I’m glad it did,” he added, looking her up and down, pretending he didn’t see the flush creeping up her neck. Tucking a curling strand of hair behind her ear, he pressed his lips against her forehead. Was it possible to hold her closer? Gripping her by the waist, he sank down onto the plush velvet maroon couch she had brought for him from the human realm a decade ago. She squealed in delight as he settled her on his lap, burying her head into his neck, filling his senses with that oh-so-familiar scent that drove him up the walls.
“Taekwoon, we’re going to be late!” she complained, trying to ignore his fingers drawing loving patterns on her arms. The organza gown slightly crushed with her position on his lap, but she supposed it could be forgiven. They’d be forgiven if they were a little delayed. Just a few more seconds of being with this young and loving Taekwoon before he wore his older, much more serious mask at the banquet. Fiddling with his cravat, she breathed him in. Old books and ink pots, a slightly metallic earthy smell that encompassed her with warmth and a heat that reached her very core.
I could ruin his cravat and no one would say a thing she thought playfully as her fingers worked on the fabric around his neck. His own hands slid up and down her sides as he pressed a trail of kisses from her ear to her chin.
A raucous roar and the booming of drums resounded in the palace causing the Queen of the Underworld to frown. The King of the Gods did not require any permission to start any events in his own brother’s realm. As much as she would have liked her return to the underworld to be a celebration between herself and her husband, the other gods insisted on blowing all of these out of proportion. Wonshik, the god of wine making more often than not benefited from such events, not that the gods really needed excuses for ritual inebriation and ecstasy.
Minah’s idea of ecstasy involved being in her husband’s arms. In his chambers. For the next four months. Thank you very much.
“It appears that Wonshik has gotten Jaehwan sufficiently inebriated.” Taekwoon broke the silence. Minah nodded; her husband was right. If the King of the Skies was drunk, most of the participants would also be intoxicated.
“Which means that we can make our way to the banquet halls at leisure. No one would even know we are missing,” there was a dangerous twinkle in his eyes that made Minah swoon while his hands which had been on her waist now slid dangerously lower.
“I missed you,” she mumbled into his neck, pressing her lips against his shoulder as warmth bloomed in his heart. Taekwoon shifted gently to grasp at the flesh of her derriere. He found it adorable as to how she jolted in surprise curled up against him like a cat as her fingers curled up into his hair, drawing him closer till their noses touched. Taekwoon didn’t remember the last time he had felt so warm. Their breaths mingled and their gazes locked.
Taekwoon exhaled her name, hand sliding under the crumpled fabric of her gown, grazing her calf and the sensitive skin behind her knee. Every touch seemed to unravel a new heady scent of spring from her. Closing his eyes, he followed the trail of her scent, the tip of his sharp nose tickled her skin.
Was it peaches?
“Taekwoon!” she exclaimed when he nipped at the skin behind her ear feeling him smirk against her. She gasped as her husband nipped his way down her neck, grateful that the low cut of her gown allowed him access to her warm brown skin. He grunted when her fingers tightened in his hair, mentally vowing that he was going to cancel all banquets in the future and simply spend the meagre four months with his wife in his chambers. All these centuries in the cold underworld could not put a cool on his passions for his wife.
Minah could feel her husband leaving a trail of fire on her neck, pressing bruising kisses lower and lower on her skin as his hands wandered and caressed every inch of flesh under her gown. A particularly rough bite at the junction of her neck and shoulder had her shuddering in his arms. Pulling her king upright, she gasped against his lips, feverishly pressing them against each other. She felt him smile against her lips before trailing his teeth over her lower lip, until his tongue tangled with hers sending a shiver down her spine as she whimpered into his mouth. Her hands dropped from his hair to grab at the brown coat he wore.
How she had yearned for him over six months. Minah tugged at the coat, trying to feel his warmth through the thin fabric of the shirt underneath. Taekwoon’s hands went slack when she delicately sucked on his lower lip.
“Let’s stay in the chambers Minah,” he groaned, arms going under her rear to haul her closer to him, dragging his lips over hers as their hips glided over each other. She tasted like plum wine with the potency of ambrosia and Taekwoon was a man whose thirst seemed to have no end. Swallowing her cries, he drank her in.
A second, more loud boom echoed through a palace startling his wife as she unceremoniously fell on her bottom. Taekwoon stared at her dishevelled form, springing to his feet to help her up. Minah giggled as he swept her into his arms worriedly.
“Where is the ruler of Hades?” Jaehwan’s voice boomed authoritatively, making the goddess of fertility click her tongue as she gripped her husband’s hand. For being the youngest son of Kronos, Jaehwan could be an absolute pain. Taekwoon pressed his lips to Minah’s knuckles, eyeing her crumpled gown and swollen lips.
“I suppose we need to go,” she grumbled, trying to fix her appearance to the best of her ability. To Taekwoon, his wife was glowing. Interlacing their fingers he sighed.
“I suppose we do need to go and play host.” He said, tugging her reluctant form towards the door before leaning closer to her ear and giving it a nip that made her squeal “but darling, we’ll be back.”
Kaleidoscope of Our Summer ||6||
If there was such a thing as coincidence, then Taekwoon was willing to believe that his meetings with Minah were possibly outside that realm. Taekwoon often likened it to fate of sorts, which made Hakyeon cringe, not that his friend would admit it. Conversations with her were easy, peppered with dry humour, compassion, and a certain brand of kindness that made him feel a little drunk and giddy. He found himself looking forward to these ‘coincidences’ - acting as the chauffeur to group events finding her browsing through the ramen aisle at the convenience store, catching her outside her some of the schools she visited while he went job hunting, more often than not, she invited him over for coffee where they spent the evenings watching the sun set.
It was on one such evening that the sliding door of the balcony creaked over its groove and Jieun’s head popped into the balcony. The warm evening air crept into the common area of the boarding house reminding her that summer was here to stay. She smiled at the two occupants of the balcony (a little slyly at Minah, which she would never admit) and waved.
“Hello, I just got back from work, thought I’d say hi!” She turned her gaze to her friend who was comfortably lounging in her seat, an empty mug of coffee sitting by a plate of cookies “I picked up the stuff you needed,” she added, having received a tall order of food items from Minah to be bought by her on the way back from her work.
“Welcome back! Thank you! How was work?” Minah queried as the taller man silently slid the plate of cookies towards Jieun with a smile.
Picking up a chocolate chip cookie, Jieun munched on it. “It was the usual. Jiyeon tried to steal some of my ideas and pass it off as hers. But Taeyong fucked her over!” She quickly added, noting the murderous look on Minah’s face. Clearing her throat, she put on her best impression of her manager “He said, ‘while your names may sound similar, they may even be close with regards to spelling, currently your skill levels are not at par. Get it together Jiyeon!’” Jieun added with a huff sending her friend into a fit of laughter.
“Wow, Taeyong sounds brutal!”
“It was much deserved though,” Taekwoon added softly, his voice throwing Jieun off, just like it did everytime.
“Oh he is pretty nice to people who get work done,” Jieun shrugged suddenly remembering something “oh yeah, Sanghyuk said there was a surprise coming up. What was that all about?”
Jieun’s friendship with Sanghyuk had developed over several text messages and no meetings. While the initial topics of their conversations were the developments in their new ship. It grew slowly to sharing memes and snippets of their lives. Jieun found Sanghyuk to be witty, warm, and the right amount of goofiness to raise her spirits at the end of a long day in the rat race.
“Oh, he’s coming over for dinner! Which is why I asked for the groceries!” Minah replied while looking at her watch “I’m so glad you guys hit it off though, you’ll finally get to meet him as well!” she added, rising from her seat with a smirk directed exclusively at her friend. While Sanghyuk and Jieun were trying to gauge the relationship between their friends, Minah was busy constructing her own ship. “Would you look at the time! Why don’t you take a shower while I get dinner started!”
“I’ll help you make dinner.” Taekwoon said, rising from his seat as well. He followed Minah out of the balcony and into the kitchenette while discussing the night’s menu while politely declining to join in on the dinner plans (and very quickly accepting right after Minah insisted once). Jieun blinked, suddenly feeling a certain strange panic fill her up. The realisation that she would now be face to face with a person she had only spoken to online made her nervous. Minah had assured Jieun that Sanghyuk was a perfectly nice guy and Jieun could sense the same, but what if she had it all wrong and he was just trying to be polite with her for the sake of Minah’s and his friendship? What if the dynamic of friendly banter would change if they met in person? What if the spark would die out the moment they set eyes on each other?
Taking a deep breath, Jieun tried to calm her senses, deciding to take Minah’s advice and making a beeline for the shower. Maybe that would soothe the nerves. On her way to the room, she spotted her friend puttering around the kitchen being watched by their tall, dark, and handsome neighbour looking at her like an adoring puppy.
On second thoughts, perhaps this domestic scene was soothing enough.
Jieun learnt that nervousness was not something that could be washed away by a shower. No amount of lavender scented body wash or loofah scrubbing could help with the possibility of a friendship being destroyed by awkwardness. She took yet another deep breath, mumbling into the muggy air - “Minah did this when she met Haneul, it went off well…but…” she paused, as her brain filled in for her - Sanghyuk is special and this felt so much like a blind date with someone you knew, but really didn’t.
The steady sound of the shower filled the gaps of her thoughts making her sigh and resign to her fate. At least if it didn’t work out, she could maim him as promised.
Wait, maiming him was a given anyway.
“Well, fuck,” she huffed, shutting off the stream of water and toweling herself off.
When Jieun stepped out of her room, she was the recipient of an eyeful of Jung Taekwoon stir frying shrimp with vegetables as Minah whisked together a salad dressing. The oil spluttered in the wok, causing the taller to take a step back into her friend which made the dressing splash when she dropped the whisk.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Taekwoon stammered, dropping the silicon spatula as he grabbed the closest cloth to help get the salad dressing off Minah’s arm. Gently gripping her wrist, he dabbed at the partially emulsified vinegar and olive oil with a focus that Jieun deemed amusingly unnecessary for the moment. She looked at her friend who, surprisingly, looked unperturbed by his actions.
“Thanks Taekwoon,” Minah smiled, meeting his eyes and suddenly Jieun could see how deeply awkward her friend was feeling. She cleared her throat, making the two turn towards her.
“Uh, the wok is smoking…” she pointed out to the grey smoke rising from the utensil on the flames, causing the man to drop her friend’s arm like a hot potato with a yelp. Pandemonium prevailed as Taekwoon lifted the wok off the flame in an attempt to rescue its contents.
Jieun had to admit, the movie-like situation made her chuckle and almost set her at ease. Watching a grown man panic had its sadistic benefits and if that made her a terrible human, so be it. Shuffling into the kitchen, she picked up the serving dishes to help set the little four seater table with a slightly creaky “chandelier” hanging over it (one of the landlady’s poorer choices in the room’s decor). Humming, she set down the cutlery and plates required for dinner when the doorbell buzzed.
“I’ll get it!” she called at the two in the kitchenette, fairly aware that they probably hadn’t heard her. She hit the buzzer button by the staircase allowing the guest upstairs and heard the heavy footsteps tromping up the narrow staircase.
Would it be too late to run into the room, lock herself up and never come out?
The footsteps slowed down as she spotted a mop of fluffy brown hair coming up the stairs followed by a rather large body. Her stomach knotted up as Sanghyuk took the last few steps up to their floor of the boarding house. He easily towered over her by a head and, Jieun had to admit, smelled very nice up close. Looking down with a twinkle in his eye, he raised his hands up in surrender, a white plastic bag full of drinks swung from the crevice between his index finger and thumb.
“Don’t maim me,” he said with a smile that made every ounce of apprehension on Jieun’s bones just melt away. She smiled as swung her fist gently into his stomach, making him let out a soft huff-like grunt. “Lovely to meet you, Kang Jieun” he chuckled, hand now nursing his tummy.
“Likewise,” Jieun smiled back.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Previous || Next
Kaleidoscope of Our Summer ||5||
The next evening Minah found herself staring at the gate next to the boarding house with Taekwoon’s freshly laundered hoodie in hand wondering how to go about handing it back to him. Technically, it was a fairly simple task - ring the bell and ask for a Jung Taekwoon and hand the jacket over to him. So very simple.
But there was a catch, as there always was when Kang Jieun was involved.
Minah found herself cursing her childhood friend who had spent most of the evening smirking at her as Minah opened the washing machine door with the borrowed clothes in hand. Jieun had moved to Seoul just a few months back from their hometown, having received a job in a media company.
Minah shuddered at the memory of the interrogation session that took place with Jieun seated on the dryer, a cup of coffee in her hands as she swung her legs looking rather smug.
“Do I want to know what happened?” she asked, taking a sip of the bitter drink, watching her friend carefully measure out the laundry detergent. Jieun had been bogged down with a month-long project when she saw her friend stumbling out of a car from her window. Moments later, Minah had trudged up the stairs in clothes she hadn’t worn on the way out.
“I was tossed in the pool,” Minah replied, now donning pyjamas and sorting out the clothes before tossing them in.
Jieun continued to stare at her friend dialling the setting on the washing machine, demanding details.
“Han Sanghyuk thought it would be a great idea.”
“I will maim him if and when I meet him. Plus, that doesn’t explain the ride back home,” Jieun grinned, watching her friend freeze while she tapped out a beat on the metal top of the dryer “don’t think I didn’t notice! Spill everything that happened.”
“Hyogi’s friend is our neighbour, he helped me out of the water and drove me back,” Minah shrugged “the hoodie is his,” trying to seem as non-committal as possible making Jieun raise her eyebrows as a devious smile spread across her lips.
“Did you thank him?”
“My mama didn’t raise an impolite child!” Minah huffed, crossing her arms “of course I did! He asked me to thank him over a cup of coffee!”
Jieun’s eyes rounded, “That smooth fucker asked you out on a date!” she jumped off the dryer with a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame while Minah shook her head indignantly, grabbing her friend’s hand, Jiuen hissed “I swear I will not let you sleep till you tell me everything!”
A few days later, after summoning her courage (and ignoring the consistent teasing from Jieun), Minah stood in front of the gate adjacent to their boarding house under strict instructions from Jieun to ask Taekwoon to come to the boarding house for coffee (“just tell him you are a broke college student and making coffee at the boarding house would be so much more economical!”)
The sky was clear, but she could smell the second spell of summer rain coming. The forecast notification in the morning confirmed this. She had gone to University armed with an umbrella but now found herself foolishly swinging it back and forth while clutching a bag with Taekwoon’s hoodie carefully folded in it, deciding whether to ring the bell.
She suddenly found herself wondering how Miya’s “tea with the cutie” had gone. The youngest had messaged telling them that she had asked the “giver of flowers” (as Ara had dubbed him) to have a cup of tea with her and hadn’t messaged in a good two hours other than a “not kidnapped, don’t worry!”. Shaking her wandering thoughts away, she looked back at the gate hesitantly.
Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to ask Taekwoon to coffee right away, she decided, turning away from his house. Just then, the gate swung open and she found herself face to face with the man she was supposed to be talking to. Zipping his black jacket up, he looked up at her with a soft “oh?“
Panicking, Minah whirled back towards the tall man, fumbling over her words. “I had just come to return your hoodie and invite you over for coffee…uhm…you know, broke university student things.” Minah let out an awkward laugh, “if you aren’t busy that is!” she added as an afterthought. Feeling Taekwoon’s gaze on her, she dropped her own gaze to her feet before mumbling “I make decent coffee, I won’t poison you, promise.”
“Ah, I know you won’t,” Taekwoon recovered quickly, stepping past the gate “I was just heading out to the convenience store, but I could go there after a cup of coffee.” He replied watching her eyes light up as she bobbed her head.
“Great! That reminded me I need to head to the convenience store as well,” she mumbled absentmindedly. “…should we…?” she tilted her chin towards the boarding house indicating for him to follow her.
Suppressing an amused smile, Taekwoon found himself passing the little wooden fence of the house, shoes squishing in the over-watered lawn that he had more than once found some drunk students lying on, and into the narrow corridor that acted as an entry-way. Shucking his now damp shoes off, Taekwoon reached over to relieve Minah of the bag with his hoodie in it, allowing her to take her own shoes off.
“Thank you,” she smiled before pursing her lips at the messy shoes and socks piling up on the landing of the entrance. The cupboard set aside for shoes was overflowing with footwear of different kinds and some smelly socks. “Sorry about the mess, it’s better upstairs, but the land-lady insists we take our shoes off here and carry it up. I really hope you don’t mind,” she sighed, biting her lip.
Taekwoon’s shoes were already hooked to his index and middle fingers and his feet slipped into the guest indoor footwear “no, I completely understand, I had some…similar experiences while I was enlisted… we had some very particular seniors.”
Minah visibly relaxed. Hopping up the stairs, she smiled back at him “I’d like to hear about that, but please, come in!” Jieun’s words about this possibly being a date made Minah nervous. She was awkward around strangers but she really owed Taekwoon one and he genuinely felt like a decent guy. Dialling in the security code for the top floor, Minah ushered him in and directed him to the couch in the common area.
The taller dropped his shoes off on the tiny rack by the door and sauntered over to the sofa watching the girl putter around, quickly keeping her things back in place. All through this, she managed to determine what kind of coffee he liked, if he was comfortable and if there was any kind of sandwich he liked in specific. The couch afforded him a good view into the kitchenette equipped with a stove, and a few appliances. Yet he found himself leaning against the door frame watching her hands move swiftly while inhaling the fragrant scent of freshly brewed coffee.
“Would you like to sit out on the balcony? It’s awfully stuffy in here thanks to the humidity. The land-lady has made us a nice set-up there for guests.” Minah asked, noticing the pile of clean laundry waiting to be folded casually hidden behind the couch. She’d completely forgotten about that the day before and now she was trying to avoid any peeks at her undergarments.
"That sounds nice,” Taekwoon replied, taking the tray of coffee from her as she squawked, shaking her head as she tried to retrieve it from him. “You can bring the sandwiches,” he nodded at the warm pieces of bread with gooey cheese oozing from the cut edges. Minah bit her lip and followed him out.
The breeze before the coming rain had Taekwoon pulling his jacket closer as he settled in the almost café-like seating on the balcony of the boarding house. He had to admire his neighbour’s tasteful choice in making this space for guests. Taking a sip of the warm coffee, felt the gentle flavour coat his tongue as the buzz of caffeine surged through his body.
“This is really good,” he mumbled, taking another deep sip.
Minah took a bite of her cheese sandwich and smiled back at him and suddenly Taekwoon’s cheeks felt a little warm at her gaze.
They weren’t sure who started the conversation. While it had its initial awkward moments, it slowly but surely began to flow. Their cups empty, their bellies warm, the trip to the convenience store forgotten as the rain slowly came pattering down.
The balcony door slid open, breaking their little bubble as Jieun popped her head in with “Minah, you have a call coming in from Sanghyuk,” and a very smug smirk on her face as she introduced herself to Taekwoon.
“Ah, Jieun, do you think you could tell him I’ll call him back and come and join us?” Minah turned to her friend with a frown suggesting that she wipe the smug look off her face. Jieun lifted the phone to her ear and answered while turning away from the two.
“Hi, this is Sanghyuk right?”
A rumbling voice responded on the other end, husky with sleep. Jieun assumed that he had just woken up from a nap. “Uh, yes…Minah?” he sounded confused, making her chuckle. Perhaps maiming him for nearly drowning her friend could wait for another day.
“No, sorry, it’s Jieun. Minah is a little busy and can’t pick up the phone, can I take a message?”
She heard him tumble off his bed and frowned as he fumbled with his phone. After a few seconds of silence, she heard him mumble “fuck, please don’t maim me please don’t maim me” which made her burst out into laughter.
“Is that the message Mr Han Sanghyuk? What have you done to attract the ire of my friend?”
“Absolutely nothing!” he quickly denied “I was calling to let her know that I’d gotten news that the inter-department fest theme was being changed and we were supposed to put up a stall together…”
“Alright, I’ll ask her to call you back on that. But more importantly, who shouldn’t maim you?” Jieun bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing again.
“I was going to ask if I could drop by, actually. But, I just realized that it’s raining.” Sanghyuk continued, blatantly ignoring her question. He refused to admit that Minah had scared the crap out of him with what Jieun was capable of.
Apparently, it’s stuff that “can’t be mentioned” plus Minah had said that Jieun promised to maim him if they ever met and he really didn’t want to die so soon. But her laugh sounded so pleasant over the phone that Sanghyuk was certain, even in his half-asleep state, he was experiencing what one would call whiplash.
“On any other day I’d have asked you to come over,” Jieun said, peeking at the pair sitting in the balcony in peaceful silence “but I think your friend is currently on a date with your Hyung.”
There was a silence that followed as Sanghyuk processed the information that had been passed to him.
“Wait…what? Who? Which Hyung?!”
Jieun eyed the time on Minah’s phone, noting that the conversation had gone on for a little too long for it to be a “Minah will call you later” moment.
“I think you should ask her for yourself because if she notices that we’ve been speaking for over ten minutes, she will get suspicious.”
Sanghyuk looked at his own screen and cursed.
“Fuck, sorry, I need to know now. Is it Hakyeon Hyung? Suddenly? Hongbin Hyung? JAEHWAN HYUNG?”
Jieun flinched and replied with a negative and Sanghyuk sighed.
” You know what? Give me your number and text me the details.”
Jieun blinked at the excitement, finding herself getting swept up in it as well as she slowly gave him her number hearing her own phone vibrate with a barrage of messages on the table.
“Okay, I sent you a message! I need all the tea,” Sanghyuk chirped on the other end of the line.
“How are you so certain I will give you any details and not maim you?” Jieun replied casually as the other end of the line fell silent and a soft curse was heard as she laughed.
The two seated outside were completely unaware of the developments indoors.
——————–
Kaleidoscope of Our Summer ||4||
“I didn’t think Jaehwan would get so violent over a game of Monopoly,” Minah chuckled as she followed Taekwoon down to his car. She knew Miya had been the one to choose the game, claiming that it was the best way to see how much strategy and skills the two eldest had gained over their enlistment.
What she had really meant was that it was the best way to get everyone riled up and actively involved. Which meant there was cheating, screaming, fighting, death threats, and finally Jaehwan smacking the board off the table when Haneul and Hakyeon formed a business partnership and pretty much took everyone down.
This was with Sanghyuk sitting on top of him to prevent said violent explosion.
Taekwoon scoffed “this is exactly how every game of Monopoly goes. Everyone cheats, screams, and threatens and then there is a coalition and Jaehwan gets mad. Then the game ends,” he stopped by a white Jeep, sticking his hand into his pocket to fish out the keys and unlocking the door.
“Woah! I really like this car,” Minah gaped at it in awe. “They’re so nice for family trips!” she grinned when Taekwoon looked at her, holding his hand out, he indicated to the bag in her hand holding her now damp clothes.
“I’ll just drop it in the backseat.”
“No no! I can carry it, I don’t want your seat to get damaged…” Minah held the bag tight as the man let out another scoff.
“This car has seen the bodily fluids of my nephew and niece. A little water won’t do any harm.” Taekwoon continued to hold his hand out and Minah sighed, knowing there was no winning with that argument. Handing the bag over to him, she watched as he opened the door to the backseat and leaned in, seeming to rummage for something as he dropped the bag on the seat. Leaning back out, he held up what looked like a heavy piece of fabric.
“Here,” he held out a dark hoodie to her. “I know it’s summer but it feels like it’s going to rain and I don’t think you’d want to catch a cold,” he added in a way of explaining, nudging it into her hands. Minah looked at him as he walked over to the driver’s seat. Biting her lip, she noticed the cool breeze pick up.
Maybe that’s why it was insufferably humid today.
Slipping the hoodie over her head, she marvelled at how soft it was but didn’t let her thoughts wander for too long as she clambered into the car and strapped her seatbelt on.
“Ready?” he asked and she nodded in response as the engine roared to life and Taekwoon stepped on the gas, easing the car out of its parking spot and onto the road.
Conversation with Taekwoon was sparse, but not without meaning and Minah appreciated the silence and the lack of obligation to speak. Instead, she had the opportunity to watch the storm brew outside, clouds twisting into each other in shades of purple, grey, and blue.
The rain would be a relief from the oppressive heat, but perhaps it might just make getting to university difficult the next day. She could hear Taekwoon humming along with the song playing on the radio - a pleasant tune and sounded like one of Miya’s favourite artists. She resisted the urge to reach for her phone and search up the name but there was something about the moment that made her feel like the bright white light of her phone would ruin it. Instead, she tried peering at the screen of the inbuilt audio player, hoping it would give her an answer. Instead, she found herself struggling, her contacts having been washed away in the pool, and no glasses to wear instead.
“There’s No Way. It’s by Lauv and Julia Michaels.” his voice broke through her attempts at squinting at the screen. “Did you not bring a pair of glasses with you?” he asked, nudging the indicator to turn. He could see the confused frown in his peripheral vision. “I noticed you squinting at the board through the game.”
“Uh…” Minah paused, “I didn’t expect Sanghyuk and Jaehwan to throw me into the pool.”
“Fair enough,” he hummed “you’re staying in that house they turned into a boarding house right?”
“Yeah,” she sighed “I moved in earlier this academic year. I was staying in University accommodation before.”
“Ah, it wasn’t a boarding house when I enlisted, I found out it had been turned into one just last year…I think the last time I saw someone there was a bunch of drunk college students making a mess on the lawn.”
“I’m surprised you’ve even seen the house, it’s literally at near a dead-end!” Minah chuckled “I barely get a chance to use the lawn area. I’m just running to University or to Schools.”
“Schools?” Taekwoon asks, stepping on the brakes as they approach a crossing.
“I’m majoring in Education, so I have fieldwork where I visit schools to shadow teachers and help in any way I can.” Minah grinned “it’s quite nice.”
Taekwoon hummed in response as he pulled into their neighbourhood. The first few drops of rain splattered against the windshield as he drove up the street where Minah’s boarding house stood. It was a large duplex that had been split into two. The landlady, following her divorce, had a kitchen installed upstairs and turned it into a boarding house where the tenants could cook for themselves. It was a nice setup, convenient and just a short walk away from the subway. Minah held up her hand to wave at it.
“You can stop here! I don’t want to trouble you anymore, and turning at that dead-end is really difficult.” She undid her seatbelt “I really cannot thank you enough for today, seriously. Hold on…let me get this hoodie off,” she mumbled making Taekwoon exhale a soft chuckle.
“You can thank me over a cup of coffee,” Minah froze, hoodie dropping back over her frame “and you can return the hoodie to me later,” he added, pointing to the house adjacent to her own boarding house “I live right here, so you can toss it across the fence since you’re in such a hurry.”
Minah blushed “it’s not like that…I really don’t want to be any more trouble than I was today. I really owe you one”
“Like I said, I like a good cup of coffee and am pretty much free till I get a job…so, let me know when you want to treat me to one.” She saw a hint of a smile on his face as he stopped the car in front of her boarding house “now hurry in before you get drenched again.” He leaned back to reach for her bag and suddenly Minah had an eyeful of his long neck and the folds in the fabric of his t-shirt gave her a glimpse of his chest.
The same chest she had been smooshed against this afternoon.
Shaking her head, she retrieved her bag from him. “Uh…yes…I’ll head back…thank you!” she squeaked, feeling his eyes on her “good night!” she thrust open the door and quickly shut it behind before bolting into the boarding house as the rain started pelting down.
——-
