[Fic] Buttons - Part 3
Sep. 25th, 2011 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotus_beautyTitle: Buttons
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: multi-chapter
Rating: R for language
Pairings: Jaejoong/Yoochun
Genre: gen, college!fic, drama, humor, romance
Summary: Micky followed along, not because he wanted to. Sure, he liked being around Jae, but he went because, really, he hadn’t anything better or more interesting to do. And Jae definitely made things interesting.
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, never were, but it's just fiction. The base story, however, is mine. Shoo.
N:
Micky awoke the next day to sounds of metal clashing and grabbed his glasses to find Jae sitting on the floor in front of his flat panel, playing a video game.
“What the fuuuuuuuuuuuck!” Micky groaned as he flopped back into his pillows.
“I have a headache, shut up.” His voice was a flat monotone.
“Then why are you playing a damn game?!”
“My urge to kill someone is being taken out on the guards of Italy. Very cathartic. Much better than actually killing someone.”
Micky grumbled another curse and rubbed his face under his glasses before sitting up. The novelty of having a roommate suddenly wore off and Micky wished he was living with his brother who would sleep until 2pm on a Saturday.
“Why do I have to suffer just because you have a hangover?”
Jaejoong was silent for a moment, then muttered, “Ah, finally.” The clashing stopped. “I’ve been playing for two hours and you were dead to the world the entire time. It’s not my fault your body decided to wake up now.”
Micky stared at his back for a moment then glanced at the clock on the table. It read 11 o’clock. He’d actually gotten more sleep than he’d intended.
“By the way, thanks for last night.”
Micky felt himself blushing, knowing exactly what Jae meant.
“I tend to roll over and get this weird dent in my nose and face because of my glasses.”
“No problem.” Then he wondered. “How did you know it was me?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure at first. I thought I might have taken them off, but when I looked over, they were folded up. I usually leave them open when I set them on the table.”
“Ah.” Found out.
“Play against me?”
“Isn’t that a single player game though?”
“This isn’t the only game I have.”
Resigning himself to Jae’s agenda, Micky sat down on the floor next to him and took the second controller. He spent the next few hours button mashing as they fought random players against each other, Jae complaining about his headache from time to time. Eventually laughter and curses at one another filled the room. Micky’s elbow jammed into Jae’s side if he was losing and received the same if Jae wasn’t doing well. Eventually, they switched to something more team oriented and ended up building Lego bits on the screen.
Then Micky’s stomach growled over the sound of the TV. “I think that’s a sign.”
“Too true.”
The two didn’t even bother changing clothes and walked off campus to find the closest restaurant that served breakfast at all hours. Within moments of entering, they had a booth to themselves and were perusing the menu.
“So, why black and white?” Micky blurted out, noting Jae’s black tank top and gray sweatpants.
“They’re my favorite colors.”
“They’re not colors.”
“Ooooh, someone listened in art class in high school.” Jae set down the menu as Micky gave him a sour look. “Black is the absence of color and white is all of them, so technically I like all of them.”
Micky snorted. “Practiced that one have you?”
“Too monotone?”
“A bit.”
“And you?”
“Huh?”
“What’s your favorite color? There’s no overabundance of any particular one that I’ve seen in your wardrobe or belongings.”
Micky sat back and pondered as the waitress came up and took their order. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
Jae raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe you. What about in grade school when they’d tell you to write it down?”
“It was different every time.” Micky shrugged as the waitress set their drinks on the table. “I guess I just like them all.”
“Queer,” Jae teased and Micky didn’t have it in him to say yes. He just grinned and shook his head, looking out the window.
“Speak Korean?”
“Yep. You?”
“Mmm hmm.” Micky nodded. “But can you write it?”
“Yes,” Jae said, emphatically pointing his fork at Micky. “My mother sent me to Korean school. I hated school. Both of them.”
“So why are you in college?”
“I honestly don’t know,” he answered with a chuckle. “I’d hate to let my parents down.”
Micky nodded. That was nice of him, to think of his parents like that, but silly not to think about his own future. “What do you want to do?”
“Oh, you know, travel the world, experience life,” he waved his hand as if to add ‘and so on.’ “You?”
“I dunno. Maybe a novelist or a poet or journalist would be nice. Whatever I end up liking.”
“So, writing.”
“Yep.”
They both sat back when the waitress returned with their food, and conversation lulled as they stuffed their faces.
“I guess I’m just good at studying,” Jae said suddenly.
Micky raised an eyebrow as he chewed.
“I may not like studying but I don’t want to give up the one thing I do quite well.”
Micky snorted. “That makes no sense. Shouldn’t you be finding something you want to do so you can do it as your job and be happy?”
Jae rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you ever seen that show, what is it called… Oh, Dirty Jobs. People do crap jobs all the time for the money! Like, working in sewers or cleaning up houses that have been destroyed by natural disasters like floods and stuff. Who the hell actually wants to do that?”
“So you want to clean up someone’s moldy house for a living?” Micky teased.
Jae grinned. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying I’m good at studying.”
“Just how good?” Micky asked, suddenly curious.
Jae just shrugged and went back to his food, leaving Micky slightly frustrated. Why bring it up if you weren’t going to explain yourself? Maybe he wanted someone to ask, so Micky just went back to his food too, still insanely curious.
“What about those cats?”
“Cats?”
“The gray ones.”
“Oh, I just collect them. I’ve got more somewhere.”
“That’s it?”
Jae frowned in confusion. “Yeah, why?”
Giving up, Micky shook his head with a shrug. Not so mysterious after all.
Once they were finished, Jae decided he was paying for the meal in return for Micky helping him game his hangover off. Micky felt it decent, since Jae had been fairly annoying about his headache.
As they headed back, Jae split off to go see some friends, still in his sleepwear, and Micky headed back to the dorm, which was finally starting to wake up.
“Hey,” Yunho caught him in the hall. “Did he have a headache this morning?”
Micky snorted. They really did know each other. “Yeah. Made me play games til it went away.”
“Figures.” Yunho nodded. “He had a lot to drink last night, and let me tell you, a lot means A LOT. I mean, it takes A LOT to get him drunk. His tolerance is ridiculous.”
“He had enough dexterity to screw with my laptop and have me add him on Facebook.”
“Oh, that doesn’t take much. He mustn’t have had any water after he got back.”
“Yeah, he passed out after that.”
“Lazy bastard. He’ll never learn.”
Micky laughed. “He get drunk a lot?” He realized that he should probably steer clear of the phrase ‘a lot’ for a while. He dug for the phone in his pocket when it started buzzing.
“Nah, he just likes having fun.”
[ARE YOU FREE?]
Micky raised an eyebrow at the screen and replied, [In what sense?]
“He’ll probably do the same thing tonight, so don’t be surprised,” Yunho added when Micky put his phone away.
“Nothing about him really surprises me anymore.”
Yunho snorted. “Don’t be too sure. I’ll see you later.”
The enigmatic statement tugged at Micky’s inquisitive side. What about Jaejoong was supposed to surprise him? The fact that he could imbibe ridiculous amounts of alcohol or breeze through college while doing it? Enough people could do the latter, so it didn’t surprise him. But it seemed Yunho knew Jae better than anyone else. Maybe he had an insight that others didn’t have, even if they lived with him.
Micky shrugged the thought away and entered his room as his phone buzzed again.
[I WANNA PLAY GAMES]
He rolled his eyes and typed, [I didn’t bring my console—
He paused and looked at Jae’s games. Without a thought, he deleted the message and flipped to Jae’s number to start texting him.
[Mind if I play your games?]
He sat at his desk and turned on his laptop, expecting to have to wait for a reply, only to have his phone buzz the moment he set it on the desk.
[And which games are we talking about? :3 Haha, kidding! XD Yeah, sure. Just don’t break anything or throw the controllers at the screen >:D]
Amused by Jae’s use of emoticons, Micky texted Junsu back. [Jae says we can play his games]
He was scrolling through his favorite forum when Junsu finally replied, [SWEET. B OVER SOON] then [WAIT, WAT DOES HE HAV?]
Micky snorted. [You’ll find out when you get here]
[FINE]
Upon his arrival, Junsu admired Jae’s collection of cats and wondered if he had any back home. Junsu had four or five at home. It wasn’t as much his family (though they did love the cats) as Junsu couldn’t turn down giving a new one a home. Micky could never stand being at Junsu’s house for too long without having a sneezing fit sometimes.
“You just can’t say no to their sad eyes!” Junsu protested when Micky teased him.
“Whatever. Dogs are better,” Micky muttered, thinking of Harang (his well behaved and fluffy Malamute) back home.
“You’re just jealous because you’re allergic,” Junsu shot back as he perused Jae’s game collection. Micky ignored him as he kept scrolling through the forum he was on. It wasn’t until he heard some familiar voices and metal clanging that he realized Junsu was playing the game Jae had been on earlier.
“That’s a single player game!” he protested.
“You looked busy,” Junsu said with a grin. He then patted the guide beside him. “You can be my navigator!”
“I thought you said only unclean heathens used strategy guides.”
“I haven’t showered yet today.”
So Micky read the guide to himself as Junsu figured out the controls of the game and screwed around, killing random people.
“You’re not supposed to kill innocents. It takes away from your health.”
“It’s a sync bar,” Junsu replied, attacking someone new.
“Same difference.”
“No, you’re a moron.”
Micky rolled up the guide and whacked him on the head with it.
“OW!” Junsu rubbed his head with a glare. “Fine, it’s both.”
Satisfied, Micky shifted to the floor with his laptop in his lap and started looking up information about the game. He’d heard about it, but never played or watched anyone else play it. It looked pretty interesting from what he was seeing. He was in the middle of reading about the characters’ backgrounds when Junsu finished a sequence and decided to switch games. That meant Micky had to put the laptop down and join—finally!
They spent the rest of the late afternoon taking their frustrations out on one another before Changmin called and demanded food. Micky assumed that meant he wanted to eat, but not alone. They met up at an Italian place in downtown and watched as Changmin ate the place out of its free breadsticks, among other things.
“Where do you put it all?” Junsu asked as he leaned over and poked Changmin’s belly.
“We already had this discussion. There’s an inter-dimensional space hole in his stomach,” Micky commented casually as he pushed the food around his plate. He never understood why restaurants would serve this much food to one person, but leftovers would be well kept in Jae’s fridge.
“But then how does he access the contents?” Junsu asked in confusion.
“Maybe it’s like Hermione’s bag with the extension charm on it,” Changmin offered, only to be given looks of confusion. “Harry Potter. …never mind.”
“What’s your curfew tonight?” Junsu asked.
“Midnight.”
“Cinderella, your parents are evil.”
“Yeah, well, wouldn’t want me to do something like getting drunk at a college party.” Changmin waved his hands in mock panic. “I don’t think they really took into account who I hang out with or what I do for fun.”
“They’re just being parents,” Micky replied as the waitress came to get their plates.
“He’ll never have the real college experience!” Junsu cried in panic.
“Gaming with us til 4am? Yeah, that’s a real college experience. One he’s already gotten grounded for.”
Changmin let his head fall to the table. “Yes, let’s not repeat that. I didn’t like telling my other friends what I got grounded for.”
“What’s saddest is we were at Junsu’s house,” Micky pointed out.
“Ah, but my parents weren’t home, which made it highly improper.”
“We didn’t drink or smoke!” Changmin whined. “And it was just us; there weren’t even any girls there!”
“Does Micky count?”
“Shut up,” they both growled.
Junsu giggled.
“So what’s going on with you and Jaejoong?”
Changmin’s sudden change of topic made Micky’s head swivel in his direction. “What do you mean, ‘what’s going on?’ and how dare you take the topic off of yourself!”
“No need to get defensive,” Changmin said slyly.
“I know what you’re doing, and don’t,” Micky warned.
“What? I’m just asking how it’s going with your roommate! Are you getting along? Is he hot without his shirt on?”
Micky swallowed the urge to punch him and took a sip of his coke, trying to hide behind the glass.
“He’s got a thing.”
“He’s definitely got a thing.”
“I DON’T HAVE ANY THINGS,” Micky hissed. “He’s just my roommate.”
“Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you don’t want to get with him.”
“What are you, my matchmaker? And besides, I don’t even know if he’s into guys.”
“Why don’t you ask?” Junsu suggested.
“Why the fuck would I ask?”
“It could come up in polite conversation!”
“I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” Micky countered as the waitress brought back their leftovers in boxes and left the check.
“I’ll pay!” Changmin said as he snatched the paper up.
“And to what do we owe this unexpected bit of kindness?” Micky asked suspiciously.
“My mother gave me a ton of money for textbooks and I bought them all online used, for super cheap,” he answered as he scanned over the tip card in his wallet, trying to figure out how much to leave.
“Just don’t leave the tip in pennies this time?”
“I only do that when the service is crap,” Changmin answered as he neatly organized the bills and put them into the folder.
With the knowledge that Changmin’s parents wouldn’t let him stay out, even on a weekend, Junsu gave him a ride home before he went back to Micky’s room for more gaming. This time, they decided to try to figure out how to do the characters’ moves instead of just button mashing, which led to some hilarity.
“Did you just bitchslap me?” Junsu asked through laughter.
Micky shook his head in amusement. “It was supposed to be this epic uppercut that would throw him into spikes on the ceiling, then he was supposed to slide off and land in spikes a mile down,” he explained as he looked at the moves listed online. “Okay, let’s try one more.”
Just as they got to the end of the fight and the game said ‘FINISH HIM,’ Micky tried the combination of buttons only to kick Junsu’s character across the screen and cursed.
“Was that it?” Junsu asked through giggles.
“No, I think I messed the buttons up.” He frowned at his controller.
“How do you mess the buttons up?! They’re color coded!” Junsu waved his controller in Micky’s face.
“Well, they’re the wrong colors!” Micky protested.
“What do you mean by wrong colors?”
“A should be red and B should be orange!” Micky told him as he pointed at them. “They’re all wrong.”
“So what are X and Y?” Junsu asked. “Not blue and yellow?”
“No. X is…” Micky pondered for a moment. “X is a kind of light lilac and Y is a light pink.” He grabbed his notebook to write that down. He’d never really thought about it before.
Junsu stared at him for a good long moment. “You know I’m not sure those colors would go over well with the development team.”
“Shut up,” he said as he scribbled the colors down, along with a few other letters and their colors that came to mind. Actually, all the letters were colored now that he thought about it.
“You are psycho.”
They both jumped as Jae burst in through the door, slamming it behind himself.
“Synesthesia,” he said to them and then flopped on his bed, grabbed his headphones and plugged them into his iPod before blasting the music.
“Syna-what?” Junsu asked as Micky shook his head.
“I have NO idea.”
“I should probably go,” Junsu said awkwardly as he glanced from Jae to Micky. “I should go, right?”
“It’s not a terrible idea,” Micky agreed, hoping that Jae wasn’t angry to find them still gaming so late.
Junsu quickly gathered his things and made a hasty exit, promising to text the next day and left Micky wondering what in the world he should do, now that he was wide awake. He walked back to the TV and turned it and the console off, stowing the controllers neatly as Jae had left them.
He sat down on his desk chair and weighed his options. He could go to bed now, and not incur too much damage to his sleep cycle during the weekdays, or he could stay up trolling through forums and websites on his laptop. He could also grammar check a few essays he had due next week—er well, this week—but that didn’t seem very interesting. Bed seemed like the best idea. It wouldn’t get him into any trouble since his eyes wouldn’t wander…
Micky slapped his forehead. Damn Junsu and Changmin. Not only had they been suggesting things he’d been thinking about, he was now letting himself think those stupid creepy things. Like how Jae did look good with his shirt off, and how nice he looked with the top of his shirt unbuttoned. Though, as he noticed tonight, Jae’s shirt was buttoned all the way up to the top button. That was a bit odd for someone who had just been out drinking and having fun. Micky rested his head in his hand, elbow propped on his desk as curiosity set him thinking. Jae didn’t seem too happy when he walked in. It almost seemed like someone had pissed him off and sent him back to his dorm. Had the party been crashed?
Micky shrugged to himself. It wasn’t any of his business. He got up and made his way past Jaejoong and into the bathroom to get ready for bed. On his way out, mouth tasting minty, Micky noticed something. He leaned down and tapped Jae’s shoulder, whose eyes shot open with a scowl. Micky realized he was right and pointed at his eyes, mouthing ‘contacts.’
Jae blinked and sat up, pulling his headphones off. “Thanks. It would have been hell getting them out later.”
“No problem,” Micky waved it off as he turned and Jae shuffled toward the bathroom. Micky didn’t even bother taking his shirt off, opting to sleep in it, but kicked his jeans off and tossed them into the hamper. Then for some reason, he felt like he was being watched and glanced back to see the bathroom door closing.
Paranoid? Not at all.
~***~
anyone notice the pattern yet? there are two. comments are ♥
Part 4
Author: LotusBeauty
Type: multi-chapter
Rating: R for language
Pairings: Jaejoong/Yoochun
Genre: gen, college!fic, drama, humor, romance
Summary: Micky followed along, not because he wanted to. Sure, he liked being around Jae, but he went because, really, he hadn’t anything better or more interesting to do. And Jae definitely made things interesting.
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, never were, but it's just fiction. The base story, however, is mine. Shoo.
N:
Micky awoke the next day to sounds of metal clashing and grabbed his glasses to find Jae sitting on the floor in front of his flat panel, playing a video game.
“What the fuuuuuuuuuuuck!” Micky groaned as he flopped back into his pillows.
“I have a headache, shut up.” His voice was a flat monotone.
“Then why are you playing a damn game?!”
“My urge to kill someone is being taken out on the guards of Italy. Very cathartic. Much better than actually killing someone.”
Micky grumbled another curse and rubbed his face under his glasses before sitting up. The novelty of having a roommate suddenly wore off and Micky wished he was living with his brother who would sleep until 2pm on a Saturday.
“Why do I have to suffer just because you have a hangover?”
Jaejoong was silent for a moment, then muttered, “Ah, finally.” The clashing stopped. “I’ve been playing for two hours and you were dead to the world the entire time. It’s not my fault your body decided to wake up now.”
Micky stared at his back for a moment then glanced at the clock on the table. It read 11 o’clock. He’d actually gotten more sleep than he’d intended.
“By the way, thanks for last night.”
Micky felt himself blushing, knowing exactly what Jae meant.
“I tend to roll over and get this weird dent in my nose and face because of my glasses.”
“No problem.” Then he wondered. “How did you know it was me?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure at first. I thought I might have taken them off, but when I looked over, they were folded up. I usually leave them open when I set them on the table.”
“Ah.” Found out.
“Play against me?”
“Isn’t that a single player game though?”
“This isn’t the only game I have.”
Resigning himself to Jae’s agenda, Micky sat down on the floor next to him and took the second controller. He spent the next few hours button mashing as they fought random players against each other, Jae complaining about his headache from time to time. Eventually laughter and curses at one another filled the room. Micky’s elbow jammed into Jae’s side if he was losing and received the same if Jae wasn’t doing well. Eventually, they switched to something more team oriented and ended up building Lego bits on the screen.
Then Micky’s stomach growled over the sound of the TV. “I think that’s a sign.”
“Too true.”
The two didn’t even bother changing clothes and walked off campus to find the closest restaurant that served breakfast at all hours. Within moments of entering, they had a booth to themselves and were perusing the menu.
“So, why black and white?” Micky blurted out, noting Jae’s black tank top and gray sweatpants.
“They’re my favorite colors.”
“They’re not colors.”
“Ooooh, someone listened in art class in high school.” Jae set down the menu as Micky gave him a sour look. “Black is the absence of color and white is all of them, so technically I like all of them.”
Micky snorted. “Practiced that one have you?”
“Too monotone?”
“A bit.”
“And you?”
“Huh?”
“What’s your favorite color? There’s no overabundance of any particular one that I’ve seen in your wardrobe or belongings.”
Micky sat back and pondered as the waitress came up and took their order. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
Jae raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe you. What about in grade school when they’d tell you to write it down?”
“It was different every time.” Micky shrugged as the waitress set their drinks on the table. “I guess I just like them all.”
“Queer,” Jae teased and Micky didn’t have it in him to say yes. He just grinned and shook his head, looking out the window.
“Speak Korean?”
“Yep. You?”
“Mmm hmm.” Micky nodded. “But can you write it?”
“Yes,” Jae said, emphatically pointing his fork at Micky. “My mother sent me to Korean school. I hated school. Both of them.”
“So why are you in college?”
“I honestly don’t know,” he answered with a chuckle. “I’d hate to let my parents down.”
Micky nodded. That was nice of him, to think of his parents like that, but silly not to think about his own future. “What do you want to do?”
“Oh, you know, travel the world, experience life,” he waved his hand as if to add ‘and so on.’ “You?”
“I dunno. Maybe a novelist or a poet or journalist would be nice. Whatever I end up liking.”
“So, writing.”
“Yep.”
They both sat back when the waitress returned with their food, and conversation lulled as they stuffed their faces.
“I guess I’m just good at studying,” Jae said suddenly.
Micky raised an eyebrow as he chewed.
“I may not like studying but I don’t want to give up the one thing I do quite well.”
Micky snorted. “That makes no sense. Shouldn’t you be finding something you want to do so you can do it as your job and be happy?”
Jae rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you ever seen that show, what is it called… Oh, Dirty Jobs. People do crap jobs all the time for the money! Like, working in sewers or cleaning up houses that have been destroyed by natural disasters like floods and stuff. Who the hell actually wants to do that?”
“So you want to clean up someone’s moldy house for a living?” Micky teased.
Jae grinned. “I didn’t say that. I’m just saying I’m good at studying.”
“Just how good?” Micky asked, suddenly curious.
Jae just shrugged and went back to his food, leaving Micky slightly frustrated. Why bring it up if you weren’t going to explain yourself? Maybe he wanted someone to ask, so Micky just went back to his food too, still insanely curious.
“What about those cats?”
“Cats?”
“The gray ones.”
“Oh, I just collect them. I’ve got more somewhere.”
“That’s it?”
Jae frowned in confusion. “Yeah, why?”
Giving up, Micky shook his head with a shrug. Not so mysterious after all.
Once they were finished, Jae decided he was paying for the meal in return for Micky helping him game his hangover off. Micky felt it decent, since Jae had been fairly annoying about his headache.
As they headed back, Jae split off to go see some friends, still in his sleepwear, and Micky headed back to the dorm, which was finally starting to wake up.
“Hey,” Yunho caught him in the hall. “Did he have a headache this morning?”
Micky snorted. They really did know each other. “Yeah. Made me play games til it went away.”
“Figures.” Yunho nodded. “He had a lot to drink last night, and let me tell you, a lot means A LOT. I mean, it takes A LOT to get him drunk. His tolerance is ridiculous.”
“He had enough dexterity to screw with my laptop and have me add him on Facebook.”
“Oh, that doesn’t take much. He mustn’t have had any water after he got back.”
“Yeah, he passed out after that.”
“Lazy bastard. He’ll never learn.”
Micky laughed. “He get drunk a lot?” He realized that he should probably steer clear of the phrase ‘a lot’ for a while. He dug for the phone in his pocket when it started buzzing.
“Nah, he just likes having fun.”
[ARE YOU FREE?]
Micky raised an eyebrow at the screen and replied, [In what sense?]
“He’ll probably do the same thing tonight, so don’t be surprised,” Yunho added when Micky put his phone away.
“Nothing about him really surprises me anymore.”
Yunho snorted. “Don’t be too sure. I’ll see you later.”
The enigmatic statement tugged at Micky’s inquisitive side. What about Jaejoong was supposed to surprise him? The fact that he could imbibe ridiculous amounts of alcohol or breeze through college while doing it? Enough people could do the latter, so it didn’t surprise him. But it seemed Yunho knew Jae better than anyone else. Maybe he had an insight that others didn’t have, even if they lived with him.
Micky shrugged the thought away and entered his room as his phone buzzed again.
[I WANNA PLAY GAMES]
He rolled his eyes and typed, [I didn’t bring my console—
He paused and looked at Jae’s games. Without a thought, he deleted the message and flipped to Jae’s number to start texting him.
[Mind if I play your games?]
He sat at his desk and turned on his laptop, expecting to have to wait for a reply, only to have his phone buzz the moment he set it on the desk.
[And which games are we talking about? :3 Haha, kidding! XD Yeah, sure. Just don’t break anything or throw the controllers at the screen >:D]
Amused by Jae’s use of emoticons, Micky texted Junsu back. [Jae says we can play his games]
He was scrolling through his favorite forum when Junsu finally replied, [SWEET. B OVER SOON] then [WAIT, WAT DOES HE HAV?]
Micky snorted. [You’ll find out when you get here]
[FINE]
Upon his arrival, Junsu admired Jae’s collection of cats and wondered if he had any back home. Junsu had four or five at home. It wasn’t as much his family (though they did love the cats) as Junsu couldn’t turn down giving a new one a home. Micky could never stand being at Junsu’s house for too long without having a sneezing fit sometimes.
“You just can’t say no to their sad eyes!” Junsu protested when Micky teased him.
“Whatever. Dogs are better,” Micky muttered, thinking of Harang (his well behaved and fluffy Malamute) back home.
“You’re just jealous because you’re allergic,” Junsu shot back as he perused Jae’s game collection. Micky ignored him as he kept scrolling through the forum he was on. It wasn’t until he heard some familiar voices and metal clanging that he realized Junsu was playing the game Jae had been on earlier.
“That’s a single player game!” he protested.
“You looked busy,” Junsu said with a grin. He then patted the guide beside him. “You can be my navigator!”
“I thought you said only unclean heathens used strategy guides.”
“I haven’t showered yet today.”
So Micky read the guide to himself as Junsu figured out the controls of the game and screwed around, killing random people.
“You’re not supposed to kill innocents. It takes away from your health.”
“It’s a sync bar,” Junsu replied, attacking someone new.
“Same difference.”
“No, you’re a moron.”
Micky rolled up the guide and whacked him on the head with it.
“OW!” Junsu rubbed his head with a glare. “Fine, it’s both.”
Satisfied, Micky shifted to the floor with his laptop in his lap and started looking up information about the game. He’d heard about it, but never played or watched anyone else play it. It looked pretty interesting from what he was seeing. He was in the middle of reading about the characters’ backgrounds when Junsu finished a sequence and decided to switch games. That meant Micky had to put the laptop down and join—finally!
They spent the rest of the late afternoon taking their frustrations out on one another before Changmin called and demanded food. Micky assumed that meant he wanted to eat, but not alone. They met up at an Italian place in downtown and watched as Changmin ate the place out of its free breadsticks, among other things.
“Where do you put it all?” Junsu asked as he leaned over and poked Changmin’s belly.
“We already had this discussion. There’s an inter-dimensional space hole in his stomach,” Micky commented casually as he pushed the food around his plate. He never understood why restaurants would serve this much food to one person, but leftovers would be well kept in Jae’s fridge.
“But then how does he access the contents?” Junsu asked in confusion.
“Maybe it’s like Hermione’s bag with the extension charm on it,” Changmin offered, only to be given looks of confusion. “Harry Potter. …never mind.”
“What’s your curfew tonight?” Junsu asked.
“Midnight.”
“Cinderella, your parents are evil.”
“Yeah, well, wouldn’t want me to do something like getting drunk at a college party.” Changmin waved his hands in mock panic. “I don’t think they really took into account who I hang out with or what I do for fun.”
“They’re just being parents,” Micky replied as the waitress came to get their plates.
“He’ll never have the real college experience!” Junsu cried in panic.
“Gaming with us til 4am? Yeah, that’s a real college experience. One he’s already gotten grounded for.”
Changmin let his head fall to the table. “Yes, let’s not repeat that. I didn’t like telling my other friends what I got grounded for.”
“What’s saddest is we were at Junsu’s house,” Micky pointed out.
“Ah, but my parents weren’t home, which made it highly improper.”
“We didn’t drink or smoke!” Changmin whined. “And it was just us; there weren’t even any girls there!”
“Does Micky count?”
“Shut up,” they both growled.
Junsu giggled.
“So what’s going on with you and Jaejoong?”
Changmin’s sudden change of topic made Micky’s head swivel in his direction. “What do you mean, ‘what’s going on?’ and how dare you take the topic off of yourself!”
“No need to get defensive,” Changmin said slyly.
“I know what you’re doing, and don’t,” Micky warned.
“What? I’m just asking how it’s going with your roommate! Are you getting along? Is he hot without his shirt on?”
Micky swallowed the urge to punch him and took a sip of his coke, trying to hide behind the glass.
“He’s got a thing.”
“He’s definitely got a thing.”
“I DON’T HAVE ANY THINGS,” Micky hissed. “He’s just my roommate.”
“Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you don’t want to get with him.”
“What are you, my matchmaker? And besides, I don’t even know if he’s into guys.”
“Why don’t you ask?” Junsu suggested.
“Why the fuck would I ask?”
“It could come up in polite conversation!”
“I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” Micky countered as the waitress brought back their leftovers in boxes and left the check.
“I’ll pay!” Changmin said as he snatched the paper up.
“And to what do we owe this unexpected bit of kindness?” Micky asked suspiciously.
“My mother gave me a ton of money for textbooks and I bought them all online used, for super cheap,” he answered as he scanned over the tip card in his wallet, trying to figure out how much to leave.
“Just don’t leave the tip in pennies this time?”
“I only do that when the service is crap,” Changmin answered as he neatly organized the bills and put them into the folder.
With the knowledge that Changmin’s parents wouldn’t let him stay out, even on a weekend, Junsu gave him a ride home before he went back to Micky’s room for more gaming. This time, they decided to try to figure out how to do the characters’ moves instead of just button mashing, which led to some hilarity.
“Did you just bitchslap me?” Junsu asked through laughter.
Micky shook his head in amusement. “It was supposed to be this epic uppercut that would throw him into spikes on the ceiling, then he was supposed to slide off and land in spikes a mile down,” he explained as he looked at the moves listed online. “Okay, let’s try one more.”
Just as they got to the end of the fight and the game said ‘FINISH HIM,’ Micky tried the combination of buttons only to kick Junsu’s character across the screen and cursed.
“Was that it?” Junsu asked through giggles.
“No, I think I messed the buttons up.” He frowned at his controller.
“How do you mess the buttons up?! They’re color coded!” Junsu waved his controller in Micky’s face.
“Well, they’re the wrong colors!” Micky protested.
“What do you mean by wrong colors?”
“A should be red and B should be orange!” Micky told him as he pointed at them. “They’re all wrong.”
“So what are X and Y?” Junsu asked. “Not blue and yellow?”
“No. X is…” Micky pondered for a moment. “X is a kind of light lilac and Y is a light pink.” He grabbed his notebook to write that down. He’d never really thought about it before.
Junsu stared at him for a good long moment. “You know I’m not sure those colors would go over well with the development team.”
“Shut up,” he said as he scribbled the colors down, along with a few other letters and their colors that came to mind. Actually, all the letters were colored now that he thought about it.
“You are psycho.”
They both jumped as Jae burst in through the door, slamming it behind himself.
“Synesthesia,” he said to them and then flopped on his bed, grabbed his headphones and plugged them into his iPod before blasting the music.
“Syna-what?” Junsu asked as Micky shook his head.
“I have NO idea.”
“I should probably go,” Junsu said awkwardly as he glanced from Jae to Micky. “I should go, right?”
“It’s not a terrible idea,” Micky agreed, hoping that Jae wasn’t angry to find them still gaming so late.
Junsu quickly gathered his things and made a hasty exit, promising to text the next day and left Micky wondering what in the world he should do, now that he was wide awake. He walked back to the TV and turned it and the console off, stowing the controllers neatly as Jae had left them.
He sat down on his desk chair and weighed his options. He could go to bed now, and not incur too much damage to his sleep cycle during the weekdays, or he could stay up trolling through forums and websites on his laptop. He could also grammar check a few essays he had due next week—er well, this week—but that didn’t seem very interesting. Bed seemed like the best idea. It wouldn’t get him into any trouble since his eyes wouldn’t wander…
Micky slapped his forehead. Damn Junsu and Changmin. Not only had they been suggesting things he’d been thinking about, he was now letting himself think those stupid creepy things. Like how Jae did look good with his shirt off, and how nice he looked with the top of his shirt unbuttoned. Though, as he noticed tonight, Jae’s shirt was buttoned all the way up to the top button. That was a bit odd for someone who had just been out drinking and having fun. Micky rested his head in his hand, elbow propped on his desk as curiosity set him thinking. Jae didn’t seem too happy when he walked in. It almost seemed like someone had pissed him off and sent him back to his dorm. Had the party been crashed?
Micky shrugged to himself. It wasn’t any of his business. He got up and made his way past Jaejoong and into the bathroom to get ready for bed. On his way out, mouth tasting minty, Micky noticed something. He leaned down and tapped Jae’s shoulder, whose eyes shot open with a scowl. Micky realized he was right and pointed at his eyes, mouthing ‘contacts.’
Jae blinked and sat up, pulling his headphones off. “Thanks. It would have been hell getting them out later.”
“No problem,” Micky waved it off as he turned and Jae shuffled toward the bathroom. Micky didn’t even bother taking his shirt off, opting to sleep in it, but kicked his jeans off and tossed them into the hamper. Then for some reason, he felt like he was being watched and glanced back to see the bathroom door closing.
Paranoid? Not at all.
~***~
anyone notice the pattern yet? there are two. comments are ♥
Part 4
