"junie? what happened; who's at the door," soobin stuck his head out from the kitchen to stare seriously at yeonjun panicking in the adjoined front hallway.
yeonjun immediately rushed over to him, stopping halfway to slide the rest of the way over in his socks.
he latched onto soobin's arm and said in a fearful tone, "there are crazy people at the door."
"'crazy people'," soobin repeated, his tone becoming even more concerned. he furrowed his eyebrows and gently turned yeonjun to face him, staring into his eyes. "what do you mean by 'crazy people'? do i need to do something about it?"
the doorbell rang again, and yeonjun stared at the front door with anxiety conveyed in his eyes.
he took a shaky breath and finally answered, "there was a man and a woman. he was from an entertainment company, and she was from a modeling agency. they wanted to talk to me. both of them. and they kept trying to shout over each other."
soobin looked confused. "an entertainment company. a modeling agency. why did they come to your house? how did they know where you live?"
yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "how should i know?"
shaking his head with a slight smile, soobin then said in a gravelly tone, "junie. . . its kind of weird but, maybe you should hear them out. . . those are very good opportunities."
"me?! a model?! an idol?!" yeonjun widened his eyes at soobin, horrified. "me," he emphasized, as if insinuating that he did not deserve either title.
soobin gently caressed yeonjun's face, warmth spreading through his features. "yes, you. ah, junie. do you really not see how amazing you are? you can do anything. you're so full of promise and i wish you could see yourself through my eyes. there's nothing in your way but your own self. you don't need anyone."
yeonjun frowned a bit, attempting to hold his ground. but how could he, when soobin had just spouted those words? no one had ever said those words to him before, and definitely not with that caliber of emotion.
there was a pinch-like feeling that started up around his eyes, and yeonjun's vision blurred as the weight of soobin's affirmation sank into his skin.
the old stinging, itchy pain started up again, around those familiar scars. but something else happened, too. his chest somehow felt like it was too small for his heart, and it beat wildly, crazily against the confines of his ribcage.
"oh, don't cry, my pretty baby."
soobin used his thumbs to wipe at the hot tears that had begun escaping yeonjun's eyes on their own whim.
"now, go open that door and listen to their offers."
his hands lowered to grip yeonjun's shoulders firmly, and he twisted the aforementioned's body around so that he faced the door.
"w-wait, i can't talk to them," yeonjun panicked, causing his voice to tremble. but soobin prodded him along, until they were standing behind the door. the doorbell rang again. "soobin, i-i'm serious; you know h-how hard it is for m-"
he was caught off-guard by soobin suddenly grabbing his wrists and using that leverage to pull yeonjun closer to him. their lips clashed together messily, and yeonjun's eyes closed on instinct as his head spun dizzily.
his body was curved against soobin's, and yeonjun could no longer think of anything else besides the contact. the worries slipped from his mind, dissipating into nothing.
but soon, having been caught in the middle of a spiel, yeonjun's lungs began to burn with lack of oxygen.
he twisted in soobin's grip and pushed back enough to catch his breath very audibly, his forehead pressed to the taller's.
with a laugh, soobin lightly pinched yeonjun's chubby cheek, "you look so cute when your face is all red like that. even cuter when i know it's because of me."
yeonjun pouted profusely and pushed on soobin's chest weakly before going to force his way out of his grip.
and soobin allowed this, but only to quickly maneuver around yeonjun to grip the doorknob and pull the front door open, revealing the two agents again.
yeonjun sent soobin an accusatory glare and then stepped forward slightly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious of his faded and dirty cinnamonroll socks.
"mr. choi. please hear me out," said the woman in a hopeful tone. "i'm so sorry for the intrusion in your home, but there was just no other way to contact you."
yeonjun fiddled nervously with the hoop on his necklace, nodding a bit at her words. he could not, for some reason, raise his eyesight any higher than looking at her shiny, black shoes.
timidly, the woman explained, "the agency attempted to reach you through your social media; recently, as you may be aware of, someone posted a few pictures of you, and that spurred an uproar that caused quite literally the entire internet to search for your profile. . ."
yeonjun attempted to understand and let the words sink into his brain. right. those stupid selfies were really coming back to bite him in the ass, weren't they?
figures. the one time he had been okay with taking his picture, and everyone had exploited it.
"the agency really, really wants you to sign with them, and for good reason. i think you'd be suited for a career in modeling," she admitted with a kind smile, then held out a business card. "please tell me you will at least consider calling to let us know if you're interested?"
he slowly took the card from her hand and nodded blankly. modeling? as in, getting his picture taken, in front of a camera?
on purpose? without hiding?
he felt queasy just thinking about it.
now the man spoke up, clearing his throat. "mr. choi yeonjun. i was sent by this entertainment company to scout some of your peers - jung wooyoung and hwang hyunjin? but i took notice of you as well. i believe the three of you would make excellent additions to the trainee program."
wooyoung and hyunjin? and he had been chosen along with them? yeonjun could quite literally not believe it. he nervously and absentmindedly scratched at his shoulder blade as the mention of dance made that stupid scar's pain flare up.
beomgyu. how was beomgyu anyway? they hadn't spoken in so long. . .
"with hard work, i'm confident we could have your trio debuting in a year," he nodded proudly.
oh. right. he was being spoken to.
yeonjun nervously glanced over at soobin, who was hidden from the view of the other two in his spot behind the door. the aforementioned raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement of the two offers, before sending yeonjun a dazzling smile and two thumbs up.
"i-i'll. . . okay, i'll be in touch," yeonjun swiped the business card from the talent scout's outstretched hand and immediately closed the door to muffled protests.
with a loud laugh, soobin doubled over to catch his breath.
yeonjun watched this take place with an unamused expression on his face.
finally, soobin wiped his eyes and sighed, "you're so adorable when you're nervous. you never stop thinking and thinking and overthinking, do you?" he stepped forward and cupped yeonjun's face in his warm hand, bringing their faces close. "i was watching you fidget and get all quiet with those big eyes you make and i nearly wanted to-"
he cut himself off and began sniffing the air.
"what's that smell. . .?"
yeonjun shuffled self-consciously. "well, it's not me; you just took me a shower this morning."
soobin smirked a bit at that, but then lowered his hand from yeonjun's face as his eyebrows pulled together in concentration.
the acrid smell reached yeonjun's nose then. and he gasped, knowing exactly what it meant.
"choi soobin!! you left the stove on unattended?!!"
yeonjun scurried off into the kitchen, his jaw falling open as he took in the sight of the thick, white smoke wafting into the air.
"in my defense," soobin spoke suddenly behind him, "i did tell you i can't cook."
yeonjun flicked the stove off and grabbed the smoking pan with his bare hands, not thinking clearly.
he cursed loudly and winced, dropping the pan to the ground, where it clanged chaotically against the tile.
"oh, shit, are you okay," soobin immediately grabbed onto yeonjun's torso and dragged him away from the smoky remains of the pan, setting him onto the table so he could examine his hand.
yeonjun swallowed back the tears, hissing. he insisted, "it's. . . not that bad. i'll be fine."
"i don't think so. show me your hand," soobin order in a stern voice, grabbing firmly onto yeonjun's wrist before he could hide it away.
a dry sob left yeonjun's mouth as he opened his hand slowly, the skin reddened and peeling in the pattern of the pan's surface.
soobin carefully examined the burn in the light, a serious look on his face. "stay here. i'll go get you a change of clothes, and then we'll take you to the emergency room."
"soobin!" yeonjun whined to deaf ears as he stubbornly marched off to do as he said.
his hand was screaming with pain, and it felt so bad nausea swam through yeonjun's insides. the skin was blistered and somehow bubbling up, causing him to feel grossed out.
he closed his injured fingers into a fist, fighting back the tears as hard he could. attempting to keep his breaths even, yeonjun counted to himself in his head, keeping his eyes away from the gruesome sight.
but. . .
the burn. . .
his vision was blurry. a prickly sensation followed the length of his wrist to his elbow, and his fingers pulsed with his own rapid heartbeat. a familiar tingle crawled against his skin, and the scars felt like innocent paper cuts in comparison to this new scalding pain.
it somehow. . . made him feel alive.