風水

     There was a prolonged moment of awkward silence. Kyungsoo shifted his weight from one foot to another and cleared his throat, waiting politely for the man to tell him to scram or to enter.  He seemed friendly enough, even if a bit amused. He did not get the “sure, my balcony is all yours” he had been hoping for, but the man waved for him to step inside and so he did.

     Kyungsoo’s shoes were muddy and there were dirt splatters on the legs of his pants, but he did his best to not bring any of it in. (Not that it would have made much of a difference. The place was messier than Kyungsoo’s well organized studio apartment, even if not downright unhygienic.) His jacket was left on. It would be needed if he would have to wait outside for a long time.

     He followed in the man’s trail, feeling a little sorry for invading his space uninvited. He found himself hoping that the man would say something, not because he fancied a chat, but because he sure as hell was not going to break the ice.

     Cool air got in trough the opened balcony door.

     “Um.” He cleared his throat again. “You can close the door once I’m out so you won’t freeze in here. Just let me back in when I ask you to. Is that okay? I mean, if its not too much trouble.”

It was colder outside than he expected. He hadn’t gone outside all day, and he hadn’t realised how much the temperature had dropped. It was windy up here, too, with no buildings to block the gusts of wind from sweeping across the balcony. Whatever the guy wanted to do, he sure was hell bent on it; knocking on strangers’ doors and standing outside to freeze to death. Junseo had to admire such strength of character. 

He didn’t quite catch the first part of what the guy said, since he wasn’t looking, but guessed well enough what the man was trying to say. But there were a couple of problems with that, and Junseo flashed the man a toothy grin before gesturing at his ear with one hand.

It turned out there was no universal hand gesture for ‘I’m deaf’ in this world. Some people never understood what he tried to get across no matter what he did, while others didn’t need half as much to connect the dots. Anyway, bottom line was, he wouldn’t be able to hear the man asking to be allowed back inside if he went away- and also, Junseo wanted to watch. He was curious now, and in his mind he concluded that it was his right to find out what was going on on his own balcony. He did own it, after all. He could casually smoke next to the guy or something, no big deal.

“ funny. ” sehun mutters sarcastically as he stares at his phone in his hand but a smile lingers on his lips nonetheless. he knows he doesn’t have to wait for long for the tall man to show up, surprised that he was slow to notice the other first this time. junseo had always been taller by a few inches and sehun particulary having no problems with his height got picked on for being the shorter one out of the two. junseo was the only one whom he let to get away with his teasing because otherwise sehun had thought of him as a good friend. and he had to admit that he missed the other, quite often. being busy doesn’t allow the swimmer to meet up with his friends often, so sehun always tries to make the most out of their time they get to spend together. “ i was just looking at something on the ground… ”he says, which obviously is a lie while standing in front of his friend, a bright smile on his face.

The therapist brushes the pen lightly over the list of items that were needed for the night, staying completely oblivious about his dear friend for only a moment. They both decided to plan a tiny gathering for just the two of them, both also refusing to call it a ‘sleepover’ because there was no way there would giggling confessions and truth or dare. It would be just an average, fun time. Nothing more. All good friends do it.                                                         ❛ bring some beers. ❜ He snaps out of his thoughts when hearing the other’s low voice, the point of his pen pressing firmly against the page. “Beer? Well if you want it, I guess I can buy it but don’t get too drunk on me.” Atlas jokes light heartedly, extending a hand out to gently nudge the other’s arm. “My break is over in thirty minutes but I’ll meet you tonight, yeah?” Atlas asks for confirmation, capping the fountain pen. “Around about 9 o’clock?”

Junseo likes to drink. He likes it a lot. Doesn’t matter if it’s at a bar, at his place or at someone else’s- although he could go without the hassle of having to clean up his apartment so that it’s decent enough to show to a friend or a hook up. Being tidy is not his strong suit even if he knows that it would help him focus, help him be more efficient; perhaps it’s ironic that the feng shui consultant can’t keep his own living space feng shui at all. 

Life would be easier if everyone could sign but, no such luck. Junseo nods to agree to everything Atlas just said, lip reading as usual, but instead of saying anything he steals the fancy fountain pen right from his hand to scribble down on the piece of paper instead. Sure he could talk but he’s a little bit too self conscious of how funny it sounds. He can’t hear himself after all, which makes controlling his voice harder than it needs to be. 

It was Junseo who realized that Joonmyun had gone missing, their parents too busy with work to notice. But how many days had passed by then? It was shortly after Joon had graduated from high school. Junseo hadn’t seen him for days and went to check his room and there was nothing there. Nothing. Joon had cleared his closet, taken his suitcase, and left. 

No note, no farewell. But the silence and the empty space spoke louder than his brother ever had.

Years passed. They all moved on, somehow. Junseo could never quite forget his missing brother but he had to keep living his life, his parents told him so as well as his counselor. It wasn’t his fault.

Perhaps it wasn’t, but he could have maybe held the boy back. But Junseo had never been able to dwell on one thing for long, and soon Joonmyun became only a passing thought. When he’d eat his favourite foods, pass by the door of his room in their childhood home, look back at old pictures. His little brother... And he’d wonder where he might be, what he might be doing. He never thought that Joon might be dead but somehow that was more unsettling. Wherever he was, he didn’t want to be found. He had thrown them all away.

Of course it left a mark.

But it was even more life changing to have Joon come back after a better part of ten years had gone by. His brother, suddenly in his office at work, because it was the only way he could find him. 

Joon was barely recognizable. He seemed... smaller. He was skinny and pale in a way that was translucent, as though he could vanish again at any given moment. He was like a scared animal, fidgeting, obviously afraid, even as Junseo embraced him.

He never wanted to let go. His small brother who nearly disappeared inside his arms now. Whatever he had been up to had not treated him well, that much was clear. 

Joon refused to tell him the full story but he did relay him the fact that he was... invisible. His brother had somehow become, well, magical- a creature of the dark side with an addiction problem and clearly enough issues to last him a life time. He also told Junseo he didn’t wish to see their parents and insisted he wouldn’t tell them. That he’d do it at his own pace.

At this point Junseo couldn’t possibly refuse him anything.

I changed his name from Park Chanyeol to Kim Junseo. From now on he’s the older brother of my other muse, jcaecus, and I had to name him accordingly. The url change also signifies that as I’ve modeled it to match that of my kjm account. You could say that this account is now subordinate to my jcaecus one, but that doesn’t mean that Junseo isn’t going to have a story line of his own. 

Mostly I’m doing this because I ran out of inspiration for this account entirely. Something needed to change to bring me back here. I know that pcy and kjm are not the best match to be brothers but not all siblings look alike so. Whatever. 

Especially towards people he can sympathize with.

Of course he can’t hire anyone just out of pity, and that’s not the case with the new boy either. He will  have a real job to take care of, intern or not- but indeed, after learning about his condition Chanyeol was slightly more biased to hire him under him. 

Finally someone who could communicate with him in his native tongue in his own darn company. 

Chanyeol is out meeting a client when the boy is supposed to come in, so he misses the first few hours of his day and when he makes it back it’s already lunch time. But Chanyeol is curious, and can’t even attempt to hide that, making his way towards the corner of the office where the internet should be hiding, somewhere. Doing... something. Chanyeol isn’t quite certain what he might have been made to do on his first day; maybe just memorize some core information about the company? Maybe? It’s been a while since he last initiated anybody. He knows he gives off quite the capable boss vibe, with his slacks, button down and dress shoes, but he also hopes that his rolled up sleeves and a friendly smile will help soften some of his edges. He doesn’t want to intimidate the kid- that’s just not the kind of boss that he is. 

He raps on the door with his knuckles, fully aware that the boy does have decent hearing, to draw attention to himself, and only then does he sign his greeting. ‘How’s it going?’