Adore You - Junbob

one

It was three am when Junhoe held a conversation with Jiwon for the first time.

To be fair, he shouldn't have been there in the first place. He was just going through the supermarket having messy hair with a blue bandana tied up in it because he wasn't about to put in hair gel but he had too much of a headache to keep his hair down (the tips were getting long in his opinion, even though it barely reached past his ears), tired pink lips from binge-drinking a drink that he found out wasn't even alcoholic when he realised that he wasn't getting buzzed one bit, and round glasses perched on the end of his nose. He hadn't even bothered buttoning his shirt up completely and if he was about to complain that his shoulder was freezing where the fabric was slipping off it, then he was a failed man. His heavy coat was helping but he hadn't bothered to get his fingers to do labour and button that up either.

So he was a mess, but his emotions were a mess too as well as his house so having time out of it was an absolute delight.

He shouldn't have been there though because he was vulnerable, high on emotions and there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to fight back if any stranger tried anything funny. Either that or he'd hurl himself at them in a frenzy, but that's a road he wouldn't like to travel down.

He moved at the speed of a snail as he walked through the store, taking comfort food and alcohol that would at least last him a week unless he decided to go psycho. But at one point, he lost balance of himself and his connection to the universe and it was bound to happen eventually since he was really not in the right state of mind to do anything but lie face-flat on a couch, so one second he was alive and had nothing on his conscience, and the next he had crashed into a stack of cans and was sporting a bruised knee, sharp pain in his abdomen and, the worst of it all, hurt pride.

"Jesus Christ," Junhoe sighed tiredly, ignoring the warning look from the market's guard and another customer, and he set down his basket and slowly lowered himself down so he could start stacking up the cans again. As a struggling art student he was sure that he could do something this simple, and he was halfway through a masterpiece in his eyes when someone gently touched his arm and Junhoe jerked in an overreaction and accidentally elbowed his work of art, thus leading it to topple. Junhoe just watched the cans splay out across the floor with sad, disappointed eyes.

"I'm sorry-"

"Do you really think I need to face more disappointment today?" Junhoe snapped but his voice just sounded small and wretched as he stuck out his foot to (fail to) stop a can from rolling under a storage surface. "God, now I'm going to have to start again and it's all your bloody fault, get away from me-"

"No! I came to stop you, you don't need to do it, you don't work here-"

"I don't fucking care-"

"You said you don't need to face any more disappointment and stacking cans is pretty darn disappointing, just let me do it, okay?"

Junhoe blinked then finally looked to see who the person is, and he froze for a moment. Not because the guy looked absolutely delectable in Junhoe's hazy, sleep-deprived mind, not because he had something on his face, not because he was trying to downright tell Junhoe what to do which should lead to him getting executed if Junhoe ever had his way. But because, he was recognisable.

Junhoe knew him. Yeah, Junhoe knew him. Or knew of him. Or knew his name. Kim Jiwon. Actress, or hot purple-headed bunny. Knowing a name basically meant knowing a person, right?

Jiwon was staring at him too. Unabashedly. Shamelessly. Junhoe with all his envious self-esteem was pretty sure that he was quite gorgeous but he knew that that wasn't the case right now, not when he was tired and sensitive and he knew he looked absolutely atrocious, just in a slightly prettier way than most people do on low days. So he shielded himself away from Jiwon, holding onto a can very tightly as he muttered, "I can do it myself."

Jiwon rolled his eyes and out of the corner of his eye, Junhoe checked him out a little longer because he realised that he was doing something special, something surprising. He was wearing a crop top. Definitely not a conventional one, it was a crop hoodie to be fair and he had sports shorts that almost reached the hem but a stretch of toned sun-kissed skin still peeked through and Junhoe was pretty sure that he was in love...well, that was, until the guy tried to take the can away from him and Junhoe nearly bit his head of.

"Calm down, tiger, I just want to do my job," Jiwon snorted amusedly, looking tired too so Junhoe reluctantly handed over the can, suddenly having the urge to please. And he stood there for a minute, completely closed off from normal behaviour before Jiwon looked up at him a moment later and gave him a confused nod, and Junhoe was quickly on his way again on his quest to make himself happier through food. And he was getting so, so close, his eyes lighting up at the sight of eclairs and his favourite soda and his basket was bulging to the brim when he finally got to the service counter. He was too busy pulling the basket up onto the ledge to notice Jiwon gently tapping the lady at the counter's arm, whispering something in her ear, and so Junhoe was extremely surprised when he was face-to-face with a grinning Jiwon and not the familiar clerk who would usually scan his items.

"Hey, again," Junhoe said quietly, lowering his gaze as Jiwon started scanning his items, setting them to the side and a while passed before Junhoe perked up and realised that he should start filling the bag he brought with the stuff he was buying. He didn't get to see Jiwon trying to smile at him, nor did he see the flash of disappointment cross the elder's face when he realised that Junhoe wasn't about to engage in any sort of interaction. And Junhoe was content, humming to himself quietly as his glasses slipped to the end of his nose and he just let them, but he froze (again) when he heard, "So, anything up?"

Junhoe looked up out of habit, making eye contact with Jiwon and the guy considerably lit up while Junhoe just felt burdened by the far-too-warm irises meeting his but he couldn't look away now. So he rested a hand on the counter, saying decisively, "Yes. My heart's broken and my world is tearing apart as I speak, is that good enough?"

Oh shit. Junhoe hadn't meant that. He had been planning to say the stupidest comeback ever ('the sky') but nope, his mind always had to make him go off and seem like he had anger issues.

Jiwon stilled for a moment, face completely blank as his hand holding crystallised apricots hovered perfectly over the counter before he coughed and looked down, resuming his scanning. "That's terrible, I'm sorry."

"I don't need your pity."

"I'm sure you don't but I want to do something at the least. Want me to lend you my heart while you wait for yours to mend?"

Junhoe's eyes widened, his heart fluttering for a moment under his heavy coat and he could sense Jiwon's pleased beam, even if he wasn't looking at it.

"Jiwon."

"Junhoe."

"I'm not in the mood for smooth fuckery right now so scan my items and get out of my face."

And Jiwon actually shut up, leaving Junhoe space to appreciate this company much more through silence. Because that was the best type of company. Silence. But when Junhoe was about to leave, Jiwon ended up saying 'have a nice day' and that was more than enough to make Junhoe have to choke back on a few unwelcome, distasteful tears. He hated the fact he had to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists, he hated the fact he had to make his inner pain visible enough that he made Jiwon sharply take in a breath. And then Junhoe was looking up, lips in a soft, upset pout and eyes glassy as he murmured sadly, gentler than he had expected of himself, "I'm a mess."

Jiwon nodded, looking so worried but compassionate as he gingerly reached out a hand and pushed Junhoe's glasses up his nose so they weren't slipping precariously anymore. His finger just about brushed Junhoe's cheek which instantly flushed a little pink, but he was too upset to care.

"You're a beautiful mess, if that helps."

And Junhoe's breath was catching, something inside him blooming but the only things he did were throw money at Jiwon and take his bag quickly, leaving the supermarket without a word or notion of goodbye.