Chapter Text
𓃦𓃹
“You cannot be serious.” Two strangers found themselves standing on a busy Seoul street in a puddle of coffee.
“You walked into me!” Soobin squeaked astonished. His latte drenching not only his tan trench coat but in looking up, equally soaked through the tight white tank top and unbuttoned blue dress shirt of, well now that he’s noticing, the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.
The man’s dirty blond hair fell into his eyes as he gazed at his own soiled shirt, the scowl he wore causing his plush lips to form a prominent pout. The slope of his delicate nose was quickly scrunched up as he looked back up to glower at Soobin, the line drawn between his eyebrows morphing into a v laced with disdain. Soobin looked back down at his body, his tight trousers showing off long yet supple legs and a slight bit of ankle before meeting a pair of shiny loafers. If he wasn’t so pissed he might have been inclined to get his number, a compulsion he hadn’t felt in quite some time.
“I literally just had this shirt dry cleaned,” the pretty stranger loured up at him while reaching down to wipe at his chest.
“Yeah, well. That’s what happens when you walk and text on a busy street.”
The stranger scoffed, looking him up and down and scoffing again in amazement.
“Ah hyung.” Kai stage whispered at Soobin. “I don’t thi-”
“Not now Kai-yah,” he dismissed his assistant, turning back to the man. “Look, this,” his hand motioned briefly between their muddied shirts, “is not my fault, I have somewhere to be. So, excuse me.” He bowed respectfully before skirting around the man still frozen on the sidewalk.
“Asshole, I have places to be too!” He sneered at the back of Soobin’s head as he pushed his way around him and towards the studio.
“Yeah and now I’m drenched in fucking coffee as well so, lucky us!” Soobin ribbed still walking straight ahead, not turning back to direct his comment at the other man. Kai bowed at the stranger quickly, a bit deeper, before hurrying after his boss.
“Um, Soobin-hyung. I think now is probably the best time for me to tell you that was Choi Yeonjun.” Soobin stopped in his tracks, Kai blowing past him at the same speed he had used to catch back up.
“What?” He questioned in shocked disbelief.
“That was Choi Yeonjun,” the younger repeated.
“Rhetorical question, probably wouldn’t have stopped in a state of shock otherwise Hyuka.” He groaned, throwing his head back. “Sorry, I’m sorry that was uncalled for. But fuck, what is with my luck today.”
𓃦𓃹
That morning Soobin woke up alone in bed just as he had every day for the last week and a half. However, this time it was three hours before his alarm was set and the sprinkler system was melting the sheets against his body. He quickly hopped up and ran to his glass balcony sliding door to look down at the street where there were approximately fifteen fire trucks littered around the block. As fast as he could he grabbed his phone, wallet and keys and booked it out of the apartment, flying down all 9 flights of the emergency stairwell.
Bursting out of the building and onto the street he was met by an equally damp Choi Beomgyu. His lovely neighbor to the right that always played his music a little too loud for how much he currently paid to live in a luxury building marketed as ‘quiet’. He was pacing with his eyes glued to his phone, a visible sense of relief washed over his body as he saw Soobin bust out of the emergency exit.
“So get this!” the younger man scoffed immediately. “False fucking alarm.”
Soobin wanted to bounce his head off the pavement.
“Yeah someone on the opposite wing of the building tripped their alarm and as a ‘precaution’ or whatever the fuck they’re calling it, the water system went off in every unit.” He droned throwing his head back, “do they know how much property damage this must have caused? And just as humidity season is starting. Fuck our shit is going to be damp for the rest of the year.”
“Gyu-yah,” Soobin’s body practically collapsed to sit over the curb, “it’s simply too early for me to be hearing so many words.” He rolled his head up to squint at him, eyes barely open in trying to make his point.
“Sorry, it’s the adrenaline or whatever, I woke up really thinking we might actually die,” sighing he plopped himself down next to Soobin. “Did you hear me pounding on your door?” He nudged him with an elbow.
“Mmm, yeah I think that’s what woke me up, thanks for thinking of me.” He smiled over at him. Noisiness aside, they were quite friendly with each other.
“Where’s Seungkwan-hyung, doesn’t he usually spend the night on Wednesdays?”
Just kidding.
“Not anymore,” what a cherry on top. Barely awake fifteen minutes and his ex was brought to the forefront of his mind. He had been hoping for at least an hour before having to relive that sadness, even if he knew it was inevitable to happen sooner than later.
“Oh,” he softened at the way Soobin’s body shrunk into itself. “Wow, I’m so sorry hyung.” He reached out to pat at Soobin’s knee, the comforting gesture did seem to settle a bit of his aching heart for the time being. Happy that at least in this instance, for once in his life, Beomgyu wasn’t pestering him for more details.
“Anyway why did the sprinklers trip without the alarm sounding?” Beomgyu paused a moment longer to look him over, a tinge of worry still on his brow before allowing him to lead the conversation away.
“That’s exactly what I want to know hyung. God I don’t envy the amount of lawsuits this is going to bring on the leasing company.” He sighed, flicking a damp strand of hair out of his eyes.
“Yeah, well, that’s on them. Hopefully you have good renters insurance.”
“Oh I own my unit, but yeah I’m insured out the ass,” he shrugged noncommittally. Soobin looked at him perplexed, never fully able to figure the man out. ‘ Where the hell does he get his money?’ He thought to himself, genuinely in awe of the younger’s near constant casualness. Every time he learned something new about him he’d come up with ten more questions to think on.
“God, now I have to call Kai-yah and get dry clothes. I have a meeting in,” he looked down to the place on his wrist where a gold and brown leather Timex would normally sit only to be reminded he was sitting on the sidewalk in soaking wet pajamas. Sighing, “well, either way it’s too early for me to call and wake him up.”
“It’s not like we can go back up anytime soon, unless you fancy taking a shower in your living room,” Beomgyu’s joke fell flat even on himself as he shuttered a bit from the morning mid spring temperatures surrounding them, the sun only starting to rise around the tall city buildings.
𓃦𓃹
“I’m sorry hyung but that is your back up shirt. I can go out and buy you a new one but there’s no way I’d be back in time for the meeting.” Kai worried over Soobin with a damp cloth in hand, dabbing at the coffee stain slowly setting itself into the fabric of his stark white tailored dress shirt.
“It’s fine Kai-yah,” he shooed him away before starting to unbutton the shirt all together. “I have a sweater I can put on, not the most professional but better than this.” He handed the shirt to Kai who quickly brought it to the sink, particularly determined to save the fabric. “Kai-yah, it’s really fine. It’s just a shirt.”
“Okay hyung,” he looked at him skeptically, dissatisfied with the uncharacteristic nonchalance he was exhibiting towards his possessions. “They should be here in about twelve minutes so I’ll go set up the projector while we wait.” The younger started to shuffle through a stack of paper before finding what he was looking for. “I let Yunjin-noona know to bring them over to the meeting room once they arrive, then she’ll come back with everyone’s coffee orders. I’m sure this is going to be a long one.” He handed him the folder before adding. “Here’s a copy of the contract. It’s our standard one so not much has changed, but if you want to look it over again, here it is.”
“Ah, you’re the best. Thank you Hyuka, where would I be without you?~” He praised the younger man, always trying to remind him how appreciated he was. The kid was good at what he did, they had been working together ever since Huening Kai applied to be an intern for the studio years back. Soobin knew well that he needed to keep him around as long as he could possibly manage.
“I’ll be in in a minute, I just need to collect myself.”
“Of course, I can come back to get you if you’d like.” He offered, shooting him a knowing and pity ridden smile. Soobin knew he worried, they all did. Everyone of his employees had been coddling him the last two weeks and he had to constantly remind himself it was the fruit of his own labor. They cared as if they were all close friends, a direct result of the humanized and camaraderie based work environment he had strived to create since the beginning. It just sucked when said concern and attention was turned back on him instead of the other way around. He had always been better at taking care of than being taken care of himself.
“It’s okay Kai-yah, thank you.” Soobin smiled as convincingly as he could, the sarcastic furrow of Kai’s brow hitting home the message that he wasn’t at all convinced. Still he quickly dipped out of the room all the same.
Once the door clicked shut Soobin dropped heavily onto his desk chair, palms coming up to rub at his tired eyes. Now was not the time, but when was the time to think about a breakup? He had been looking forward to this new exhibit, it was the perfect excuse for overtime and the least possible amount of personal downtime. This was exactly what he needed most, the opportunity to lose himself in the work he loved. Besides, the art of Choi Yeonjun was undoubtedly something to be excited about.
He lifted himself into an upright position to flick through the profile and contract Kai had handed him. Yeonjun was somewhat of a hermit, it’s not like he hid from the public he just certainly didn’t advertise himself as a person. There were very few details and photos of the man himself circulating the community as far as his research showed. Always hiding behind the camera verses in front of it. His art was his life and Soobin couldn’t admire a trait more than that one specifically. His photography was raw, he only used film and developed all of his own shots. Practically working his craft alone from the ground up until recently, when he got enough traction and needed to start producing larger print quantities. He was the exact demographic of artist that Soobin sought out. Pure talent and little to no industry recognition. That was after all the whole reason he opened this studio, why do a PR showcase for some pompous asshole when there were so many people trying to break into the industry without help.
He stretched out the time he had left for as long as he could before standing to crack his back. Grabbing the folder and tucking it under his arm, he walked across the hall to the frosted glass meeting room. Kai turned his head as he walked in, shooting him a bright smile while motioning for him to sit in front of the neatly spread out legal documents. He nodded pushing up one of his sleeves, sweater already feeling a bit warmer than he would like against his skin. He placed a hand down to lean over the table and scan the papers just as the door opened. Looking up, the first thing he saw was the look of pure shock that passed over Choi Yeonjun’s face.
Soobin stood out of his crouch as straight as possible to usher them in, “Gentlemen, welcome. I am Choi Soobin, the owner of Studio 553. I’m so glad you could come in today. I look forward to working with you both and I’ll do my best to provide you with an exemplary showcase.” The smile he gave them was genuine and the scowl Yeonjun gave him back was just as genuine in return. ‘ Great.’
“Mr. Choi, your interest in my client’s work is a real honor. I know we’ve spoken over the phone but my name is Kang Taehyun,” the manager bowed deeply as his client stood next to him unmoving, eyes yet to shift away from Soobin’s face while in return he did his best in attempting neutrality.
“Yes, we have spoken. It's nice to finally put a face to both of your names,” he felt sweat pooling at the back of his neck, the look Yeonjun held had yet to lift and was slowly starting to make his skin crawl. “Um-,” he looked to Kai who seemed just as unnerved as he felt. “Oh, you have spoken with my assistant Huening Kai as well. He will be working closely with us throughout this process and is in near constant communication with me. If I am ever unavailable please reach out to him and he will fast track your needs to me. This showcase will be my top priority from this second on until the day after wrap.” He nodded once and clasped his hands together motioning for the two men to sit across the table from them. Trying desperately to ignore the fact that Choi Yeonjun had yet to utter a single word and instantly brought a hostile feeling to the back of his throat.
“Were you able to get your coffee or-” the scoff Yeonjun let out froze the whole room in place. Taehyun whipped his head over to him the quickest with an aggressively disapproving glare.
“Um, were you able to give Yunjin-ah your coffee orders as you came in?”
“Yes, yes we were. Thank you sir,” Taehyun replied with a genuine smile. “So where do we start?”
“Taehyun-ah I need to speak with you outside.”
Every eye in the room turned back towards the man of the hour, speaking for the first time since entering the room. Taehyun looked exacerbated, truly in awe of the way his client was conducting himself in such a meeting. Clearing his throat nonetheless, he looked back to the other two to apologize, “I guess we will be right back.”
The two men looked at each other once the door was closed in disbelief. “Well it could have been worse I guess?” Kai giggled trying to muffle his voice so the two standing outside the door couldn’t hear.
“That’s him Tae.”
“That’s who?”
The muffled voices outside carried through the closed glass door. “Do you think they know we can hear them?” Kai asked with a touch of concern looking over to his boss.
“I doubt it but I’m interested to hear what they have to say so don’t you dare let that conscious of gold get in the way,” he pointed accusingly, sensing the younger man about to stand from his chair. “I mean he couldn’t have even said hello? What’s his deal?” Soobin scoffed under his breath as the other two continued their bickering.
“The coffee guy,” Yeonjun sneered, spite dripping off of his tongue.
“Okay, bummer.” Taehyun’s monotone words hit the wall with force, bringing another trill of laughter from the two. Soobin instantly able to tell he was going to have a blast working with the artist’s manager.
“I don’t want to work with him,” he said with so much finality that it pulled a genuine laugh from the other. Yeonjun groaned in return, obviously not appreciating his reaction.
“We already signed the contract Jun. God do we even have time for this scolding right now?”
Kai giggled a bit too loudly next to Soobin who slapped at his arm, covering his own mouth to hide the surprised gawk directed at the way he was speaking to his senior. “We’re literally trying to start onboarding, that’s what this meeting is.”
“But he’s a fucking dick,” the two of their smiles died down rapidly. Soobin sank a bit further into his chair, rubbing at his brow. Suddenly regretting his words, not wanting to hear what they had to say any longer.
“Yeonjun-hyung. Do you know what the legality of trying to back out of a deal like this would look like? Not pretty hyung, not pretty. Besides I don’t need to remind you that you are still up and coming. He has a name in the industry, a big name Jun. He saw YOUR work and contacted US . Do you not understand how huge of a deal that is? He rarely reaches out first! He’s a name maker hyung, this is a really big opportunity. Do you want one spilled coffee to stand between you and the aid of one of the most powerful names in Seoul curation?” He sounded almost desperate to get through to the other, the two men sitting in the room understood well that there was a lot riding on the line for both of them in this situation.
“It’s the principle, he didn’t apologize,” Yeonjun spoke petulantly, almost like he was complaining to his mom.
“That’s semantics,” he dismissed. “Besides from what you said you weren’t looking where you were going.” The younger’s voice went flat again, the passion from a moment before turning into the type of frustration that implied these types of talks might be commonplace between them.
“Oh so now you’re taking his side?” Yeonjun scoffed in what sounded like disbelief.
“This is going to be an interesting few months,” Kai whispered as he let out a sigh sitting back against his chair. Soobin nodded silently, mouth set in a line having nothing to add to the sentiment.
“No hyung, I’m taking the side of your career. Seriously, how are you acting like this in your thirties?” The silence told the two they were most likely in some sort of staring match. Both men waiting to find out who would speak up first.
A big sigh was what they heard before an exhausted breath. “ It’s not happening Yeonjun-hyung. He’s not the type to black list someone for pulling the rug on a deal but there have already been articles put out about this exhibit. People will talk and I am not qualified in PR like that. Stop being a baby, okay? You don’t have to like the guy to know he’s good at what he does. Jesus. Also, the least you could have done was introduce yourself. This one eighty you’re doing is ridiculous, you were quite literally bouncing off your seat excited like twenty minutes ago.”
There was another long pause before Taehyun spoke up again. “Now are you ready to go back in there and let me do my job or would you rather bitch and moan for a few more minutes?”
The two men in the boardroom looked between each other with shocked eyes before quickly turning them neutral, the door swinging back open. Taehyun led the other in with a professional smile, bowing again before he sat and apologized for the delay. “So where were we? I believe you were about to start our meeting Soobin-ssi?”
“Yes, right.” He cleared his throat, still not completely over the whiplash their conversation had put him through. How Yeonjun was clearly happy to voice his pungent opinion of him. “Well first of all, we like to speak informally here. If you’re comfortable I’d like to start there.” Taehyun smiled up at him warmly, looking excited at the prospect. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Yeonjun decided now was his time to finally participate.
“I’m not.” He said with malice, glaring up at Soobin. The room once again went silent.
“Of course,” he spoke back professionally with a tight nod. Just as his heart was beginning to restart from the surprise of his tone they heard the clicking of heels and a barely muffled voice approaching the door.
“Yeah, no I just got the coffees. I'll bring them in and shoot you that email, yeah. Bye.” The door swung open and like there’d been no change in volume at all Yunjin popped her head in to place the coffees on the table with a bow. “Names are on the cups.”
“Thank you Yunjin-ah,” he murmured, turning back to the two guests. They both seemed to pale at the realization there was no sound resistance behind the door and the room inside. Looking between themselves and immediately gawking back at Soobin who had set his face in stone. The blush taking over Yeonjun’s face was the largest reaction he’d gotten since that morning on the sidewalk while Taehyun looked embarrassed at the disrespect his client had shown him even while seemingly in private.
Taehyun recovered the quickest, clearing his throat. “Okayy. So since I’m guessing you heard everything we said earlier, I’m sure it’s all out in the open. I assume you know where I stand with this whole situation. I believe I can keep him in line enough for this to be a success, even if he refuses to be mature,” he addressed the elephant quickly, not having the patience to skirt around the niceties. Soobin had no problem with it, that’s half of the reason he ran the business informally. Why need to have your words jump around in circles when you could get to the point while still remaining respectful.
“Look Yeonjun-ssi,” he finally addressed him directly. “Let’s level with each other. I want this to go well because my name is on it and I want this to go well for your career’s growth. That’s why I do what I do. I’m sure as Taehyun-ah-,” Soobin took a pause to look at the younger, making sure the new honorifics weren’t a problem. The tight nod he received was enough to continue, giving him a small smile of thanks in return. “-laid out for us all, you want this to go well just as much as I do. So let's start fresh? Hm?” He tried for it to be genuine, for no condescension to seep into his words, but it was hard. Ten minutes in a room with the man and he couldn’t tell who he wanted to strangle more Yeonjun or himself.
After a long pause and almost too sharp of eye contact Yeonjun had Soobin fighting himself not to sway or squirm away. “Is this you apologizing?” ‘ WOW. He cannot be serious’.
“Like I said I want this to go well,” he couldn’t help the way his gaze quickly flickered over Yeonjun’s body, like he didn’t have control over his eyes. He had gotten time to change fully before the meeting, the white tank top and open shirt had been replaced with a denim button up. It suited his frame well and made Soobin more angry to know he didn’t get the chance to reset his clothing in such a way. There was no other reason for his eyes to wander.
The accidental power play did however seem to move some of the bricks set between them, Yeonjun shifted slightly in his seat before glancing over to Taehyun, the manager holding a pleading look. Glancing back to Soobin indifferently he scoffed, “so that’s a no.”
“Yeonjun.” Taehyun curled his mouth gravely. He glanced over and rolled his eyes before taking a dramatically larger breath, pushing it out in a sigh.
“Yeah, okay. Fresh .”
𓃦𓃹
Four hours later Soobin collapsed onto the small chaise lounge in the corner of his office, slapping his notebook to the table in disgust wanting it as far away from him as possible. Huening Kai followed him in closely as he perched himself on the extra chair by his desk, automatically reaching for his own notes.
“What does he think I am, a divine god or something? I can’t believe some of the requests he just made. Like yes okay, most of them are to be expected but to the extent he wants a few of these? It’s asinine, does he think I’m made of unlimited time and resources?” He sat up manically to grab his discarded notes flipping through the eight pages of his chicken scratch. He started listing them off, “actual size prints of the pieces he wants to use and then twelve, twelve, other possible rotators because he’s ‘not sure yet’ and just as drafts not even at display resolution! Each in both a copy of color and black and white, he wants maroon, white, black and possibly navy backings for each of the mountings in the case he might want to ‘change his mind at some point’,” he scoffed face getting redder with each request.
“I mean come on, he wants me to put up temporary drywall over the brick on an accent wall and to install a different brand of spotlights because it ‘just works for his vision’ even though mine are already better than the industry standard. I mean he can’t be serious with half of this stuff. I’ve never once had an artist try to change the actual elements of my showroom. Truly in all my years of dealing with artists I’ve never had one talk to me with so much entitlement,” he threw the notepad back on the table again with a touch too much force. “Even the big names aren’t this fucking rude.”
“It’s not like they are impossible asks hyung,” Kai attempted to reason with him, still shocked by the rest of the meeting himself. Knowing well that not only was he asking a lot, but that he was obviously doing it to stretch Soobin as thin as possible.
“I mean even Taehyun-ah looked shocked to hear half of the things he said, and he knows the guy personally.” He shook his head before leaning it back against the couch, misjudging the distance as he smacked his skull on the wall wincing back a yelp. “The way he talked over him while he was trying to narrow some of the needs down was crazy,” he sighed again at a loss, rubbing a hand over the bump slowly forming on his scalp. “I mean where does he get off?”
“Some artists are just like that, maybe it’s why he’s more or less a recluse?” He made his voice a bit more gentle, easily seeing how Soobin was quickly losing his patience.
“That shouldn’t matter and frankly that was unprof-” a knock at the door brought his words to a close, taking another deep breath assuming it was Yunjin bringing him the new cost estimates. “Come in,” he huffed, before Taehyun’s head popped into the room. Soobin scrambled to sit up as fast as possible, smoothing over the hair he had just been aggressively pushing off of his face.
“Hi, um. May I come in?” He asked politely, if not even a bit reproachfully.
“Of course,” Soobin stood to move over to the seat behind his desk. Kai standing as well, offering the guest his chair as he shifted to the chaise, instantly starting the process of inputting Soobin’s notes onto their shared drive.
“I feel the need to apologize,” he started, wringing his hands together anxiously. “He isn’t normally like that, truly. I understand if some of these requests are not able to be met, I’m sure they will put you in an unnecessary bind.”
“Nonsense,” Soobin smiled at him appreciatively, waving his worry away. “It’s nothing you have done wrong, he’s his own individual.” Taehyun nodded, still not looking even the slightest bit placated by Soobin’s calmness.
“I have our original list of requests here, if you’d like to see it and work from there?” He began pulling a packet of paper from his bag before Soobin put out a hand to stop him.
“That’s not necessar- Actually, you’re right. I would like a copy just so I can make sure none of your original requests were lost in the process,” he put on a professional smile, pointing for him to hand the papers to Kai. “Nothing he asked for is undoable, maybe a bit. Well, eccentric. But nothing impossible. I pride this studio on being able to provide whatever our artists need. And if this,” he motioned over to the notebook Kai was scanning over closely, “well, if this is what he needs to feel successful then there is no reason for us not to provide it.”
There was another moment of shocked silence before Taehyun blinked himself back into action. “Thank you. Really, thank you. Again I’m so sorry for having to ask so much of you. I’ll have a talk with him about staying in line I promise,” he bowed as he stood up excusing himself. Before he made it to the door Soobin stopped him again.
“Oh, and for the in-house workspace he requested. There is a building with decent sized artists studios down the block, I have a good relationship with the owner and I can rent out a darkroom space pretty easily. Of course if that’s not close enough for him, there is a room in the basement next to my work station we can convert to fit his needs.” ‘ Kill him with kindness Soobin, you can be the bigger person Soobin.’ Taehyun’s shock was back and this time even more skeptical.
“Are you sure? Personally I really don’t want to reward his behavior.” He shook his head before adding, “I know you heard how I spoke with him earlier and I want you to know it isn’t always like that, we have a mutual respect for each other but I’m not opposed to putting my foot down. I hope you know I won’t hesitate to do so in the future.”
Soobin hummed, “thank you Taehyun-ah. I will certainly keep that in mind. Is there anything else you’d like to add to the list as of right now?”
“No, no not as of right now. Thank you,” he bowed again.
“Perfect. If you could, I’ll have you work with Kai-yah to get the raw files onto our hard drive, then I can start the process of getting the draft prints made,” Taehyun nodded while Soobin took a pause to think, tapping on his chin in contemplation before speaking again. “With the quantity it will take a few days but I should be able to put it in as a rush and have them by Monday, Tuesday at the latest.”
“Oh, that’s great,” once again seeming so surprised by his willingness. It made him curious as to what the studios they had worked with before were like. He knows the production leniency he provides is unusual but it seems like the other was constantly being startled by the ease of his assistance.
“Um, our time frame is obviously flexible around your process for the next month at least.” Soobin hummed, tapping on his computer to light up the screen. Quickly he looked away to type in his passcode and move to scan over his calendar. “The backing is something I’ll do personally, so that will take a bit longer with how varied the dimensions and quantities are. But still, all very doable. I have a few other obligations I’ll have to ask Kai-yah to push aroun-”
“You really don’t have to do that,” Taehyun cut him off with a worried frown.
“Like I said earlier, Yeonjun-ssi is officially my top priority from here on out. It’s fully to be expected, especially in the beginning stages, for my schedule to fluctuate. Please don’t worry yourself over it,” the manager nodded reluctantly once more, a slight grimace taking over his face as he realized just how dedicated this man was to his work. Embarrassed all over again for the way his client’s lack of cooperation was already setting them back.
“Let me know by the end of the day what Yeonjun-ssi thinks about the artist space and I'll have Yunjin-ah sort out the rest of the details. If he chooses the basement option it may take two or three weeks before it’s fully operational as a darkroom, so I’d highly suggest convincing him to let me rent a space instead,” he gave one more final nod and a more genuine smile as he turned away from his computer screen. Trying his best to show appreciation towards the younger’s ethics and commitment to the project.
“Of course, and to be honest,” he leveled Soobin with a mischievous glance, “I won’t be giving him the basement option. He’s being an absolute ass and I hope you don’t mind me saying so.” Soobin laughed, a smile crashing over his face at the candidness of his new coworker. “As you said earlier you like to speak informally here, so I hope that also means we can speak as friends. Of course please let me know if I cross a line, I don’t want to stretch your good will on top of what Jun-hyung already has.”
“No no,” Soobin chuckled. “This is exactly the thing I hope for within my studio. I appreciate your willingness to participate in the culture,” he stopped to think for a moment before glancing over to Kai who was watching the interaction smugly. “We should all go out for a drink once I have the backings finished, I should have a bit more free time then. Whether it’s just you, me and Kai-yah or the both of you. I think it best we learn to,” he gestured his hands around wildly, “to grow together or whatever.”
Taehyun laughed, finally gracing Soobin with a truly discomfort free smile. A weight visibly lifting out of his chest. “Thank you hyung, you don’t know how much I, we , appreciate what this experience will bring our future. I promise with time Yeonjun-hyung will be able to show you that gratitude as well.”
“Ah well, I won’t be holding my breath,” he laughed, hoping the sarcasm got across even if the words rang true. “But your sentiment is heard either way.” Taehyun nodded once more before bowing to Kai and excusing himself, heading for the door without any further delay.
“Wow hyung,” Kai spoke up as soon as the door clicked shut. “You really were the bigger person just now,” he stood to sit back in the chair by Soobin’s desk stretching his legs as he sank all the way down to a slouch, his pants riding up his calves.
“Yes Hyuka, I am occasionally capable of such things. Just meaning unfortunately for you, you’ll have to be the one who’s stuck hearing my bitching,” he snorted when the younger just nodded casually. “Besides why have a poor relationship with him too when he’s the one who is obviously on the side of professionalism. I just hope I can avoid resenting Yeonjun-ssi in the long run. It’d be the first time I’d feel that way for an artist and I’d like for it to not progress that far,” he rolled out his neck popping the joints before he tossed on his readers.
Squinting back down at his computer he looked over his upcoming schedule. It was almost full with only a few open slots left and unfortunately it just would not do, puffing out a breath he looked back to his assistant. “Can I assume you know what meetings to push around? I need at least four hours a day, or It’d be even better if you could reorganize it by blocking out two days a week, preferably back to back, so I can work uninterrupted. That would probably be best if manageable.” He raised his hand to pull at the neck of his sweater before standing to open a window. “I’m really going to be stretched thin this month.”
“Of course I can definitely clear it out for you,” he stood to start the journey down the hall to his own office before stopping. “Hyung, the only thing I won’t be moving are your therapy sessions, okay?” He looked up to Kai with a sad smile only nodding at the younger before pointedly looking back at his computer screen, effectively ending the one sided conversation. Kai sighed but moved through the door anyways, closing it behind him.
Soobin took his glasses off and flung them to the table with a groan. Bending down to rest his forehead on the desk, he thunked it lightly up and down a few times before resigning himself to get back to work.
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Soobin felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket just as he cut the final board of wood for the fourth canvas he’d be stretching that day. Flicking the table saw off, he fished around in his back pocket only realizing it was his third missed call from Kai.
“Hey, sorry I had the saw on. What’s up?”
“Ah, no worries hyung, I just wanted to warn you that Yeonjun-ssi is on the way to the studio. He said he wanted to make sure you’re-” Kai’s voice cut out, clearly not excited to say his next words.
“Make sure what Hyuka?” ‘ This should be good.’
“Well, he said he wanted to make sure you weren’t ‘doing it wrong’,” he spewed his words out as fast as he could. It didn’t stop the bitter laugh that spilled out of the older’s mouth.
“Has he even been to one of my shows before? I always do like half the stuff by hand just so I can control the quality. Everyone knows that,” he could feel the angry heat rolling off his body. Brushing away the thin layer of saw dust from his apron he took it off to unbutton his dress shirt, shedding it quickly and tossing it over a stool before shaking out his stiff back. Quickly he put the apron back on over the thin tank top he had been wearing underneath, tying it tight behind him. “Whatever, when is he coming in?”
“Well he called fifteen minutes ago and said within the hour,” Soobin moved to the work bench and grabbed a few nails, setting his phone down to put Kai on speaker.
“Okay, so another words he might walk in at any second?” He mumbled as he put a few extra nails between his lips, attaching the first pair of posts.
“Yeah hyung, but I can tell you’re in your workhorse zone so I’ll leave you be. I’m ordering you lunch and will have Yunjin-noona bring it to you downstairs, also I'll have her report back to me on if you ate it or not. So eat,” Kai scolded him, knowing his tendency to ignore bodily functions once he was knee deep working on a project.
“Yes Eomma, I’ll eat,” Soobin sighed, dropping the hammer as he tried to balance it on the edge of the table. Just nearly missing his toe.
“Okay, and play nice. Maybe he will to.”
“Okay bye Kai-yah!” He said curtly, hanging up the phone to shamelessly end the conversation. Rolling his eyes and pushing his glasses up, he turned back to the frame at hand.
Soobin was wrist deep in canvas gesso when he heard the sound of footsteps descending the basement stairs.
“To what do I owe the pleasure,” Soobin sang out when he heard the squeak of the stairs come to a halt, not yet turning his body to face the inevitable. When no one answered he finally moved his head to the side, looking over his shoulder. Yeonjun was there, it was just that he was frozen in place, openly staring at the younger’s back. He remembered quickly then that he had removed his outer layer an hour prior and flushed shyly for just a minute before realizing the advantages of being so openly ogled at by the other man. ‘ HA!’ He quickly turned his face back to hide the self righteous sneer that passed through his entire body before settling the look down and turning around.
The older’s eyes barely strayed, only instead shifting to look at his broad shoulders and collarbones before scanning down his sculpted biceps. Soobin had to snap his fingers, lifting his hands towards his eyes to pull Yeonjun’s attention away. When he spoke up again it was through a smirk, “Yeonjun-ssi?” The other jump started with a nervous cough, quickly looking down to the canvases drying on a rack, really anywhere other than the man he had so obviously been checking out. “To what do I owe the pleasure,” he repeated, unable to keep the obvious smirk out of his voice.
Instead of a cordial answer, Yeonjun just pointed down to Soobin’s last two hours of work. “I don’t like the thickness of these mounts. I think it’d look best if the canvas were about a quarter inch thicker, can you do that?”
Soobin looked up at him with understandable disbelief. ‘ A QUARTER INCH? He has to be joking.’ As his face set in an attempt of neutrality, he patiently met the eyes of the man that had invaded his work space. Soobin took his time to think through his answer as he quietly wiped the canvas glue off of his hands and onto his apron.
As his silence went on Yeonjun shifted uncomfortably, obviously not enjoying the game of chicken he himself had started. Leaning into professionalism, calm confirmation was what he decided on, “these are the dimensions you had on the original list of requests. Taehyun-ah gave it to me after our first meeting, your new list didn’t specify any other width, so I went with the one I was provided.” Factual and to the point.
“Well, he shouldn’t have done that. That list is obsolete now and I want them a quarter inch thicker.” Soobin nodded against his will, smiling back at him as politely as he could. Without breaking their eye contact he reached for his phone to dial Kai. As always, he answered quickly.
“Hey Kai-yah. Yeah, oh don’t worry he’s here,” he smiled sickly sweet at Yeonjun, quickly raising his eyebrows once in a way that caused the other to scoff and roll his eyes. The older man turned away to look down at the perfectly fine canvases he had spent his time meticulously building. “Can you put in another order at the hardware store, yeah I know. He needs it a-” he pulled the phone away from his ear to face back towards Yeonjun, “you wanted another quarter inch, correct Yeonjun-ssi?” He pouted, nodding petulantly in response before Soobin turned away with an eye roll. “Yeah he wants the dimensions to be a quarter inch thicker. Yes I know , it’s practically the same,” he sneered lightly as his mask fell a bit further. "But it’s what he’s asking for. No don’t worry, I’ll just use the other wood for myself, I’ve been meaning to make more anyways. Yeah, thanks Kai-yah. Oh also you can tell Yunjin-ah to just leave my lunch upstairs,” he turned back to look directly into Yeonjun's eye. “Yeah until we can get that wood in it seems like I’ll have a much freer afternoon than I had originally anticipated.”
The silence went on after he hung up the phone, using the time to turn to the sink and diligently wash under his cuticles. The basement was like any other, low ceilings and small windows. The exposed cement walls were bare and damp in most spots but it still provided everything a small curating studio might need. Soobin kept his work bench stocked with the necessities in residence so he wouldn’t have to lug his own tools here anytime he needed them. It was his space mostly but it wasn’t a place he spent a plethora of time in unless grunt work needed to be done, just like now.
As he turned the faucet off Yeonjun finally spoke up, pointing to the canvases. “How do you even know how to do this anyways? You’re just a curator.” And god did that make his bones want to melt into lava, condescension at its finest. He took a deep breath trying as hard as he could to reduce the rising temperature of his skin and not let out the scoff of disdain he so desperately wanted to.
“Well Yeonjun-ssi, I’m assuming the fine arts university you went to also taught you how to draw, did it not? Or did you somehow get away with only taking photography courses?” The politeness in his tone did a wonderful job of throwing the other off his guard. Patting himself on the back that he was ever so slightly able to resist barking back at the taunt thrown his way.
“Yeah well, they did,” he admitted it in a smaller voice, a win in Soobin’s book all the same. “Did the paints come in yet? That’s why I came, I wanted to double check the color.” The response was normal, smart in fact. Soobin was glad to see that at least within the small requests, he was participating in executing this exhibit the way he wanted for it to turn out.
“Yes, the cans are on the floor over there, I can get you something to open it with and the swatching materials are on my bench,” the other nodded, moving into action without a snide remark. ‘ Another win’. “Oh, and there is a switch over in the corner that is set up with one of the spotlights we use in the showroom as well as a few of the same bricks from the walls upstairs, so you can see how it will look together. I know they aren’t the lights you wanted yet but it’s what we’re working with for now,” Yeonjun stood in shocked silence, looking at him as if he was fluently speaking a dead language. Impressed maybe? He couldn’t tell.
“You really think of everything, don’t you?” ‘ A compliment?’ “I’m surprised.” ‘ No.’
“Well yes, Yeonjun-ssi. I try my best to be successful, I like to think it’s the little details that are most important. Hence why I want to make sure these colors meet your standards before I spend another unnecessary day doing obsolete work,” Yeonjun looked at him with a glare but it softened a bit when he saw the sincerity behind his words. Soobin hoped so desperately he was slowly coming to realize he truly was doing his best to make this work between them. His body actually straining the muscles in his neck to not respond the snarky way he’d like.
“This maroon is a nice shade,” Yeonjun mentioned as he stuck a wooden stick into the canister, pulling it back to look it over in the light. “it’s the same brand I usually use so this is exactly what I wanted. The bricks compliment it well I think,” he gave Soobin a tight smile and the possibility of progress made the curator want to jump in the air.
“Perfect,” Soobin grinned down at him so genuinely the other seemed to pause in time, blinking his eyes back to earth he too gave a small upward tilt of his lips in return.
“Ah, I don’t know what your schedule is tomorrow but they will be working on getting the drywall up. If you want to stop by and see it once they finish I can have Huening Kai shoot you a message.” Yeonjun scoffed at him with a new frown. “What?” Soobin asked curtly wondering what he could have possibly said this time that made him once again flip a switch.
“Why do you have Kai-yah do all your bidding?” ‘ Of course he dropped honorifics with him.’ Soobin looked at him dumbfounded.
“Because- well, ha. Because it’s his job?” He couldn’t help the astonished look his comment won and definitely couldn’t help the challenging words that immediately dripped off his tongue. “Why does Taehyun-ah contact me for you?” He let out a crazed laugh.
“That’s not the same.” Yeonjun crossed his arms and fixed him with a glare so scalding that it could probably melt ice.
“How is that not exactly the same?” He pinched the bridge of his nose and couldn’t help the exacerbated laugh that pushed its way out of his chest, a real one deliriously bubbling up after. Yeonjun’s scowl deepened.
“It just isn’t.” Soobin silently mouthed the word ‘wow’ as he removed his apron, reaching to the stool for his shirt. He felt eyes flitting over his body again as he quickly refastened the buttons, his eyes turning back to his audience while shoving the shirt’s tail into the back of his pants.
“Seriously, why can’t we have one singular decent exchange?” Yeonjun’s eyes moved quickly up from where they were at the hem of his pants to frown, blush still prominently lighting up the tips of his ears. “I want us to get along.”
“Okay, well we don’t always get what we want now do we. Hmm?” Soobin threw his head back again in disbelief, the word ‘wow’ inaudibly coming from his tongue once more.
“Okay, well come tomorrow if you want. If not, I’m sure you’ll still drop by some other time to terrorize and insult my work.” He said it matter of factly, fed up like there was no room to argue its validity. His eyes set themselves in an unmovable way that visibly had Yeonjun deflating in front of him. ‘ Good.’
“Hey,” Yeonjun protested much more gently, lightly lifting a hand as if he might try and touch Soobin comfortingly, freezing itself in mid air. “That’s not what I meant to do,” he looked almost regretful? Soobin couldn’t process the look before he was walking over to flick off the spotlight. With the room much dimmer he turned back, his mouth in a flat line as he silently motioned for the other to start making his way up the stairs.
𓃦𓃹
come say hi ✿