#junebye

summer is beginning to give way to fall, but the heat is still overbearing. the cicadas still cry, like they're not ready for time to pass either. teddy has seen plenty of tourists travel to boseong for the green tea leaves alone, but it's rare for someone to up and decide to move here. aside from teddy, but he didn't really consider himself high on the barometer of 'normal', so yanjun is an unusual addition to his life. they're perched on teddy's back porch, scooping out balls of watermelon for their hwachae when yanjun asks him this, and teddy lets out an undignified snort. then, after depositing the fruit in yanjun's bowl, he looks down at himself dressed in a hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. not exactly the spitting image of a cool seoulite. "you think i'm cool?" he hums, casting yanjun a sidelong glance with the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. "i mean, i guess my face alone is pretty and culturally significant enough to be consider a tourist attraction." if there's any lesson being taught tonight other than the best way to beat the heat in boseong, it's that yanjun shouldn't compliment teddy unless he wants a masterclass in feigning confidence. "you're cooler than me, yanjun-ah. influencing things. perhaps badly. i don't know, i haven't checked your stats." it might sound like a backhanded compliment, but the fact of the matter is that yanjun is young and cute as well as incredibly fun to tease. "are you liking it here, by the way? it's probably not what you're used to, but it's idyllic and charming."

his mouth thins at this dismissal, because while yanjun has always had a bit of a waifish frame and pale complexion, he looks so much more exhausted than usual. gunwoo the man wants to argue, you can and you should. but gunwoo the manager, whose quite familiar with yanjun's promotion schedule and the lack of veritable breaks between those physically demanding shoots, knows that realistically yanjun can't take time off. not without losing momentum. it frustrates him, really. he's not supposed to be thinking of yanjun as anything other than a product in these moments, whose performance or lack thereof has real world consequences next quarter. yanjun is stressed as it is, so gunwoo doesn't want to pay the worst-case scenario any more mind. similarly, he knows any arguments made by gunwoo the person will be shut down, and he doubts yanjun will listen to gunwoo, the manager any more easily. so gunwoo finds himself running to and fro, looking for any slack in the fine-oiled machine of the company to pick up, insists on yanjun taking some ginseng and herbal supplements. they take each moment as it comes, uncapping the water bottle for yanjun to swallow it with. he schedules for a registered nurse to come by with a banana bag to administer during the brief break they have between the live performances and radio interviews. gunwoo hopes yanjun will be feeling better by then, but if he doesn't, they'll find another alternative and gunwoo will keep an eye on the clock so yanjun doesn't have to. he waits for yanjun to down the medicine, a little wrinkle appearing between his brows as he unrolls the aluminum foil from some kimbap, bringing it to yanjun's lips. "eat. don't worry about messing up your lip makeup, jieun noona or i can redo it if it gets smeared," he reassures, his gaze unwavering until yanjun takes a bite. the tense set of his jaw relaxes a bit then, swallowing back relief. maybe gunwoo was being a bit smothering, a bit overdramatic, but he can't really find it in himself to care unless yanjun finds it burdensome. after all, nobody on the company's payroll was obligated to care about yanjun's psyche as well as his physical state, even though both things functioned like a system of organs, dominoes that could cause another thing to collapse if one organ was failing. "how are you feeling? let me know if something is bothering you."

gunwoo managed to make a case for himself as to why he needed to tag along to yohan and yanjun's choreography practice, of which they'd had plenty of unsupervised and gunwoo-free time to run through things prior so he knew he couldn't be too much of a distraction. but when yanjun leaves for a bathroom break, yohan accosts him. maybe that's an overdramatic recreation of what actually happened, but in gunwoo's mind, yohan looking at him with a small pitying smile and saying "you really care about him, huh?" had certainly felt like a provocation. not because it wasn't true. it was. but gunwoo didn't know what business it was of yohan's. gunwoo knows he's being stubborn and insecure, because he and yanjun hadn't made any type of formal commitment. this was all so new to yanjun, so he'd been trying not to rush things. but gunwoo isn't blind, he can see that yohan and yanjun really click, have a lot of common interests and creative passion. they could both speak english more fluently than gunwoo could, and so he felt a bit left out. gunwoo narrows his eyes, invading yohan's space and brushing lint off of his tanktop, a blase expression on his face. "i do. and if you care about him too, you won't play around with him. he deserves more than that. it's fine if you like him too, i won't stop you, but just, don't hurt him." at this, yohan looks shocked, jaw going slack. and it's at this very inopportune moment that yanjun decides to return from the bathroom, retracting his hands and looping an arm over yohan's shoulder with a smile. "not at all, we were just discussing the choreography. i think you two have it down to a t," he praises, yohan allowing the arm to stay there until gunwoo moves to return to the corner of the room to stay out of the way.

gunwoo is prideful, even when it comes to things that he objectively shouldn't be. the way their relationship unfolded was purely circumstantial, because it's not like gunwoo demanded or pleaded with the CEO to become yanjun's manager, and initially he'd even thought it might not be a good fit if yanjun was too much of a spoiled brat. now after getting to know him, he'd say that yanjun was too professional and kind, arguably not spoiled enough. sure, maybe gunwoo still has all the responsibilities and runs all the monotonous errands he's always done for yanjun, but it still feels like gunwoo is being spoiled at times, which he enjoys very much. "that's right. i saw you first. i fell for you first," gunwoo brags, pressing teasing kisses to the sharp line of yanjun's jaw, arms looped around his waist. "so don't you think it makes sense that i get to experience all of you before i share your attention?" there's a tense set to his jaw that's all for show, a bit of a sulkiness to his pursed lips, but if it's effective on yanjun then that's all he needs. he needs to know that he still has a hold on yanjun's heart, that he's still wrapped around gunwoo's little finger because gunwoo was smitten with him. he wants yanjun to have it all, to never have to settle for anything professionally or romantically. he'd had that thought when they started this, and his mind hadn't wavered much since then, even with how complicated things were beginning to get. gunwoo thought he'd been decent enough at hiding how he felt, face impassive and honey-eyed gaze only directed at yanjun in their shared clandestine meetings. it turns out he wasn't as subtle as he thought, at least in yohan's eyes.

yohan smiles at the request, although he's a bit reluctant because he'd taught himself how to play the guitar and he's unsure if he'll be a suitable teacher. "i can try, but let me tune it first." he offers, adjusting that pesky g-string that always goes out of tune first. yohan nibbles on his bottom lip, contemplative, before he hands the guitar to yanjun and presses against his back. "so, the strings are numbered from the bottom up. you'll want to put your hand here, and your fingers here," yohan instructs, grabbing one of yanjun's hands to position his fingers where he needs them on the g-chord. "and then, your other hand here. fingerpick and let that ring out. i think it's easier to learn intuitively, and just lower your fingers to a different string. um, i don't know if i'm making sense," yohan confesses with a little laugh, breath ghosting the shell of yanjun's ear. he waits, giving yanjun's hand an encouraging little squeeze before letting go. "go on, try it." you learn by doing, after all.

from what gunwoo understands, the point of the assignment is to understand the physiological differences between their two species alongside their similarities. gunwoo has had plenty of vampire friends, but he's always strayed away from asking questions that could be deemed invasive or too personal. as soon as it's announced that they'll be working with pre-assigned partners, several pairs of hands shoot up and professor park smiles, waving them away. "let me cut to the chase, you cannot switch partners. the point of this assignment is to be objective with your findings, so if you're wanting to switch partners to feel more comfortable, i suggest you step out of that comfort zone." professor park was a vampire himself, and seemed to be a straight shooter who didn't tolerate prejudice. this could either be really fun, or a collaborative project from hell, gunwoo thinks. gunwoo takes another peak at the class syllabus, and gathers the rest of his reading materials and notebooks before sliding into the seat next to his assigned partner. "hello," he greets, scooting a bit closer and extending a slightly sweaty palm. "i'm gunwoo. it's yanjun, right? you're popular on campus, so i've heard a lot about you. i hope we can work well together." it's definitely not his best and a bit of a shaky introduction, but he's pretty sure they've only seen each other around on campus or heard about the other in passing. gunwoo feels apprehensive, if only because it seemed like other students already wanted to change partners. "i think this could be fun, but then again, i don't even know the standard body temperature for a vampire," he confesses, letting out a self-effacing laugh. gunwoo tilts his head to the side, waiting patiently as his gaze flits from yanjun's face then back down to his outstretched hand. "do you know what it is for a werewolf? 40 degrees celsius."