Work Text:
This was the fourth time he was having KBBQ in the month.
Once with the Hip Hop Team after a day of practice, once with Jeonghan as his birthday date, and once with Jeonghan, Seungkwan and Vernon after a rather… interesting game. He honestly could feel his wallet burn with how much he is spending on the heaps of meat that laid on the table, despite Jeonghan agreeing to help cover part of the cost. But smelling the aroma of marinated beef being cooked, waiting to be eaten, all his worries about his thinning wallet went straight to the back of his head.
Why was he eating out again? According to Jeonghan, Seungkwan had been sulking a lot these days in the dorm, still guilty about his injury even though it had been months. Watching the performance team rearrange the formation on such a sudden notice to reduce the time he would have to dance, rewatching the numerous Going Seventeen episodes he was unable to take part in, and spending hours scrolling through comments on how Carats had missed him a lot.
Seungcheol knew how he felt: having been on hiatus throughout the majority of their An Ode World Tour, he remembered feeling sorry for the members who had to brave through the turmoils of the live performances without their leader, for leaving Jeonghan to bear the role of the leader as the next oldest member, despite having barely recovered himself. The guilt was suffocating at best. If not for Jeonghan calling him every night, reassuring him in his raspy morning voice that the 12 of them are doing well and do not blame him for needing time to heal, he would have felt worse.
Seungkwan had talked to Vernon and Chan earlier in the afternoon and they did a good job dispelling most of his worries. Bringing him out would distract him from the rest of his thoughts and cheer him up before next week’s promotions. They needed their group’s lively and cute MC after all.
Jeonghan suggested travelling further out to dine at the restaurant he used to patronise as a high school student. It was a 15 minute drive from the dorm so they asked their manager to use one of the group cars. He had let Seungkwan connect his phone to the car radio and throughout the ride, all he could hear was the catchy, poppy tunes of Wonder Girls and Girls Generation and the two singers having the time of their lives singing to the songs.
He didn’t mind though. Not just because he enjoyed listening to old kpop groups as much as Seungkwan, but also because seeing Jeonghan singing along in the shotgun was such an adorable sight to behold.
His eyes were squinted as he belted out line after line, in harmony with their main vocalist sitting at the back. His cheeks were slightly flushed from all the singing, and as he turned to look at him, mouthing a ‘join in’, Seungcheol couldn’t help but laugh along at their antics. He kept his eyes on the road, deciding that another look at his gorgeous boyfriend in this state would do him in, and because he need to drive them safely to the restaurant without swooning every five seconds. Listening to his voice made him happy enough to be grinning the whole way there.
The ajumma clearly remembered Jeonghan. When they reached, they were greeted by a white-haired old lady who hugged the idol tightly and cooed at his brown hair. Jeonghan returned the gesture, smiling, and they chatted for a bit. Seungcheol noticed how brightly his eyes sparkled looking at the ajumma and broke into a smile. Eventually she led them to a table at the side of the restaurant and bade them goodbye, leaving them to order their food.
~~~
“Hyung, why did you have to order Dongchimi? It’s disgusting!”
Seungkwan glared as the three bowls of soup were placed on the table. The ajumma chuckled at the whining singer.
“Don’t be so picky with your food, boy. If not, you can’t grow tall. Look at Jeonghannie, he grew up so well because he ate so well.”
The brown-haired idol, who was busy grilling the slices of pork and kimchi on the table, looked up at the ajumma and gave her a warm smile, before turning to the younger singer and smirking.
“Ya, Seungkwan. You should drink some soup so that you can finally be taller than Chan.”
Seungkwan raised his hand into a fist and pretended to punch Jeonghan, who laughed and continued to grill the meat. The ajumma’s lips quirked up into a joyous smile and leaned forward to give Seungkwan’s hair a ruffle.
“Enjoy the soup, Seungkwannie.”
She then left to tend to another customer.
As he dumped the rest of the pork onto the hotplate, Jeonghan glanced at Seungkwan, who was pouting at the bowl of Dongchimi in front of him. He looked like he was preparing to murder the soup, but surprisingly, he lifted the bowl to his mouth. Seungkwan held it to his mouth and hesitated, scrunching his nose at the smell. With a deep breath, he brought the bowl to his lips and took a sip. Within a split second, he spat the soup back into the bowl and promptly slammed it onto the side of the table.
“Ya! It’s shit! Get that thing away from me! Bleghh…”
Jeonghan laughed at Seungkwan’s outburst and offered him some water to drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Seungcheol smiling at his phone, busily tapping at the screen. The leader seemed to have sent something, and with one final tap, he looked up and met his eyes. Jeonghan tilted his head playfully.
“What’s so funny on your phone, Cheollie?”
Seungcheol smiled broadly and picked up his chopsticks. He picked up the cooked meat off the hotplate, dipped them in the sauce and shoved it into his mouth.
“You’ll see for yourself.”
“Then no meat for yo… Ya! Did you take my meat?”
Jeonghan spent the rest of the meal grumbling about what a jerk his boyfriend was for eating the last kurobuta slice he left for himself.
~~~
After showering and checking his phone for any messages from their managers, Seungcheol changed into his shirt and sweatpants. Winter was already approaching so he threw on the blue sweater on his pillow and opened his window, letting the cold wind into his room. He slumped onto the bed, reached for his phone on the bedside table and began to look through WeVerse.
His room was not the proudest thing he owed. Even though he now had a single room, which meant less things and more space for him, the mess was far worse than before. Call him a slop, but he just couldn’t be bothered to pack away things he knew he was going to use again, sooner or later. In his trainee years, Jeonghan would be the one to complain about the mess on his side of the room. Even when they got different rooms over the years, the man, who came by more often than every other member combined, would pick at his messily packed clothes and the papers and dirty laundry strewn around the floor and on his bed. Maybe he owed it to him that he was a lot tidier now, no longer throwing all his stuff at any empty space visible to the eye.
What would he do without Yoon Jeonghan?
He made him a better man, in so many ways. Because of him, he was able to lead their team stoically. Because of him, some of the darkest days in his 5 years became sweeter memories with a touch of his empathy and playfulness. Because of him, he could love and be loved by the most amazing guy he knew. Thinking back to the dinner, he could only smile to himself at how wonderful the man made him feel just by being in his presence. A fool in love, Jihoon liked to say, but he didn’t care if he was the fool if he could spend every waking hour with the beauty.
His fingers drifted to the Artist section of the page. No other member had posted yet, so he could see his post at the KBBQ restaurant. While he laughed a little at Seungkwan’s face of disgust, his eyes focused on the angelic smile of his boyfriend busily cooking the meat on the hotplate.
Was the Dongchimi good?
What’s you name? Your meat grilling technique…
Ah, It’s an art
Seungcheol really wasn't thinking about the food when he had posted that. He kept looking back at the picture of Jeonghan, admiring the way strands of hair fell in front of his eyes, and how he was teasingly nagging at Seungkwan in the background at that moment.
He was art. A masterpiece he wanted to savour and stare at for the rest of his life.
As an artist would love their work, Seungcheol was simply enjoying the beauty of his lover. How his kindness was reflected in golden glints in his eyes when he looked at their members. How the wrinkles formed around his eyes and mouth when he laughed too hard at his jokes never made him look old, but rather made him to be like a giggling child. How shining tears would frame his face when he confessed his deepest worries to him in the cover of the night. Jeonghan was a gift he was blessed to have received.
An idea popped into his mind. He hadn’t posted a selca in quite a while, and it wouldn’t hurt to post a couple of pictures the fans would love. But as he thought about how Jeonghan was probably exiting the shower now and would look at his phone soon, he found another motivation to post.
To give his boyfriend a pleasant surprise. As simple as that.
Lying on his side, he took a few quick pictures and promptly posted them onto WeVerse.
Ta da
A few moments later, after watching the stream of comments flood his feed, he posted one more lying on his back.
I am going to go now
Embarrassed as he was, he felt the weight of his eyelid threaten to pull him into deep sleep. As he let the day’s lethargy lull him to rest, he wonders if Jeonghan would like the little gift he left online for him. One thing was for sure: no number of selfies could ever beat the beauty of the true masterpiece that is his boyfriend Jeonghan.
~~~
My Cheonsa <3:
Cute
Wait
That’s the blue jacket i gave you
CHOI SEUNGCHEOL WHY DID YOU POST THAT SELFIE
Arghhh
Im too lazy to even come down to get it
You keep it
Can you send me that picture of Kwannie his face looks funny
ME:
Stop texting
I was asleep
Goodnight baby
My Cheonsa <3:
YA
COME BACK
Nevermind I can just use your phone tomorrow and send it to myself
Sweet dream my love