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18 May 2014 @ 12:16 pm

For:

estivaate

Title: Focus
Rating: PG
Length: 2500
Summary: It begins by accent (or by Joonmyun’s terrible memory, but either way, it begins)

It begins by accident.

Joonmyun leaves his camera on the living room table (not because he wanted to; he was up too late editing his latest series of shots and just—got distracted. Minseok woke him up from his uncomfortable resting place on the keyboard and dragged him to bed) overnight and, through a series of events that are mostly to do with Joonmyun trying to do everything at once, but perhaps a little serendipitous, it ends up staying on the table. For the day. And the following evening.

Which means it is sitting, innocuously on the table when Park Chanyeol barges through the door of the flat with his best friend, band mates, and a lot of alcohol, in tow.

Apparently Chanyeol doesn’t have an understanding of personal possessions, because he has little qualms in picking up the camera that is not his off the living room table, that is also not his, and taking pictures of people’s faces (oddly enough, none of those faces are his either. The only reason Joonmyun knows that it was Chanyeol because there is one apparent attempt at a selfie that resulted in just the blurred top of a snapback that he knows all too well).

So when Joonmyun finally finds his camera after a frantic search and perhaps just a little bit of panic (it was on top of the bookshelf, that was clue two as to the culprit of the random photos), he finds his usually serene album of nature and architecture being flooded with—

“People.”

Minseok laughs from the couch behind the computer, twisting around to raise an eyebrow at Joonmyun.

“You say that with such derision. You remember that you are people too, right?”

Joonmyun scowls at his flatmate a bit, takes a sip of his coffee, and starts selecting the images (all of the images) that he wants to delete.

He is almost impressed at how many were taken through the course of the impromptu party (at least, Minseok claims it was impromptu, Joonmyun isn’t so sure, they certainly had enough munchie food on hand), but is still just a little bit too wound up from having to find the thing to admire the dedication.

That is, until he reaches one photo, from the beginning of the evening.

Joonmyun inhales his coffee, chokes on it, and nearly coats his computer screen with coffee flecked with bits of lung.

“Did someone take a picture of their dick?”

The tone is far too amused, but Joonmyun doesn’t look into it, just shakes his head a rubs his chest as he stares at the face on his screen.

See, the thing is, Joonmyun really doesn’t like people. Well, it’s not that he doesn’t like people, but he doesn’t like taking pictures of them. He deals with them all day at work (he works in an office, managing more people that someone his age really should be managing) and doesn’t want to find them in his hobby. That and they never have the same serenity and balance that you can find in a horizon, a cityscape, or the colours of a rising sun.

But this face? Well, he might be—

“Oh hey, I didn’t see Jongdae last night.”

Once again, Joonmyun almost coats his screen in bits of lung, this time thanks to Minseok and his need to all but perch on Joonmyun’s shoulder to stare at the screen.

The other doesn’t even looks sorry, just smiles and looks back at the screen, at Jongdae, a small smile on his face.

“Want me to press delete for you?”

There’s a mad scramble where Joonmyun wrestles with Minseok, trying to keep his hands away from the delete button, while still trying to get air back in his lungs.

He only wins because Minseok is laughing too hard to really put up a fight.

“N-no, don’t—don’t do that. I—er, I have it under control.”

The look on Minseok’s face tells Joonmyun exactly what the other is thinking as he moves back to the couch.

“Uh huh, sure you do.” There’s a pause, almost long enough for Joonmyun to think he was safe before—“If you would like to know, he is single, finishing up his last year of university and is actually more well known for his voice than those cheekbones you’re freaking out over.”

“I am not freaking out over his cheekbones!”

“Sure you are. You haven’t stopped staring at his face, and you hate faces.” Minseok pauses. “Well, faces on your camera at least. I like to think that you like my face most of the time.”

“Only when you’re not letting children into the place, and letting them touch my stuff.”

Minseok laughs, calls Joonmyun old with a teasing smile, and (finally) leaves for work.

Joonmyun deletes the photos with just a touch of anger (but he keeps the one of Jongdae. It’s nice, really. His eyes are closed and his head is tilted back, laugher making the skin around his eyes and mouth wrinkle in a way that Joonmyun really should not find endearing and beautiful, but he does anyway.,. and maybe there is some merit to doing portrait work--)

Joonmyun wonders if love at first sight still holds true when it’s a photograph.

°˖✧☆✧˖°

It isn’t until a few weeks later (and several knowing looks from Minseok) that Joonmyun actually meets Jongdae.

“And this is Joonmyun, my flatmate, and Real Adult friend.”

“Real Adult? What are you—“

“It’s nice to meet you, Joonmyun.”

Joonmyun blinks, eyes flitting between Jongdae’s face (the cheekbones are even more prominent in reality than they are in a picture) and the hand that is extended between them.

He doesn’t miss the poorly hidden laughter coming from Minseok either.

“Ah, yeah, you too.” His handshake is firm and Joonmyun is halfway through coming up with a reason to run far away before he can embarrass himself when he opens his mouth again. “Can I take your picture?”

Jongdae blinks. “Um, excuse me?”

The laughter from the worst friend Joonmyun has gets just a little bit louder.

“Er, I mean. I— I’m a photographer as well as a boring old suit and I just—want to take your picture?”

He is pretty sure that Minseok has fallen over into the couch at this point, but he ignores his flatmate and focuses on Jongdae. Who looks… well incredibly good, he must say. Also a bit confused.

A lot confused.

“Um, I would rather you didn’t.”

Joonmyun tries not to let his face fall.

“I kind of hate having my picture taken. I always end up looking like some kind of deranged elf or—“

“You do not!”

So, perhaps he was a bit too vehement in his denial of Jongdae’s statement. There is silence (even from Minseok) as Jongdae looks at Joonmyun wide eyed and, dare he think it, amused.

Joonmyun tries not to fidget. “Er, what I mean is…”

“What he means is he likes your face.” Minseok smiles serenely as he leans against the couch, all false innocence and amusement as he watches Joonmyun fidget and Jongdae’s amusement grow (there was a reason that he liked Jongdae, the other’s sense of humor was always right up his alley). “Which is interesting, because he hates faces. Unless they are carved from marble.”

Minseok stops, a light coming into his eyes that has Joonmyun groaning and bracing for the worst.

Sufficient to say he is surprised when Jongdae speaks and not Minseok.

“You think my face is carved from marble, huh? Well, I have to say, that is the most interesting compliment that I have received to date.”

Jongdae laughs and Joonmyun has to tell himself that it does not sound like bells, or happiness, or something else equally as clichéd. He doesn’t entirely succeed, but it could really be worse.

“Um…”

“Still, I don’t like having my picture taken, sorry. I do, however, like the waffles that the coffee house down the street makes.”

There is a moment where Joonmyun gapes a little, wondering if that meant what he thought it meant.

“I’ll grab our coats, Joonmyun!”

The hopes that were rapidly building in his chest deflated. Right. Minseok. He turned to his flatmate and the worst friend ever, scowl on his face. Instead of being met with Minseok’s smiling face, he is met with the lens of his own camera and the familiar click of a picture being taken.

And that is how Joonmyun gets his second picture of Jongdae. And, while his scowling face in the foreground isn’t really all that attractive (he looks like he might be trying to murder the camera with his eyebrows), the slightly out of focus image of Jongdae smothering a laugh behind him makes it all worthwhile.

He can forgive Minseok for coming along with them if only because he then manages to sneak two more blurry pictures of Jongdae with his mouth full of strawberries and whipping cream.

°˖✧☆✧˖°

After that, it becomes something of a game for Joonmyun. Sure, he still goes out and takes his pictures of the cityline, of the gnarled tree in the courtyard of a neighboring building, of sunsets and skyscrapers at dawn, but he also starts to amass an impressive collection of sharp jawlines and laughing eyes. All out of focus and a little blurry, but hey he has them.

He has perfected the art of the quick picture, of seeing when Jongdae is going to laugh (which he does, quite a lot, Joonmyun learns) or allow for the mischievous look to spread across his face (which happens even more often, Joonmyun finds out. It becomes apparent on the first outing to the coffee shop that Jongdae finds it far too amusing to lead people into awkward and embarrassing situations) and capturing the moment.

Joonmyun becomes so impressed with his second rate pictures that Minseok actually stops teasing him (it is almost like the words go in one ear and out the other, the ridiculous smile never moving from Joonmyun’s face) about them and, instead, moves on to teasing Joonmyun about his inability to actually ask Jongdae out on a date.

“A real one, where I don’t join you. Or Chanyeol. Or Yifan. Just, the two of you.”

Joonmyun blinks a few times, then goes back to staring at the latest of his blurred images (in this one, Jongdae is burying his face in Joonmyun’s shoulder as he laughs, having just managed to convince Yifan of something utterly ridiculous that, in all honesty, Joonmyun was not paying attention to at all. He was a bit caught up in the warmth bleeding through his shirt and the way Jongdae shook with laughter).

Minseok sighs.

“You know, he would say yes. The fact that he hasn’t tried to actually strangle you for taking all these pictures of him means something.”

Joonmyun looks up at that, eyebrow raised. “What do you mean? He doesn’t even—“

He stops at the look Minseok gives him.

“The camera makes noise, idiot. And you often forget to turn the flash off. He knows you’re taking a picture, and he still hasn’t tried to murder you. That says a lot.”

Joonmyun isn’t convinced.

Minseok wonders how the hell Joonmyun made it as far up the corporate ladder as quickly as he did if he was seriously this dense.

“Remember that giant bruise on Chanyeol’s face like, a month ago?”

Joonmyun nods. Not quite knowing where this was going.

“Yeah, and then how his hair was a ridiculous shade of pink red right after?” Minseok waits for the penny to drop.

It never does.

“Oh my god, Joonmyun. Jongdae did that. Because Chanyeol took that picture of him on your camera at the party. He really does hate it.”

The elder gives him an exasperated look before flopping back on the couch.

“I give up.” He throws his hands over his face and sighs heavily. “The universe owes me, I tried.”

He misses the small, fond smile that creeps along Joonmyun’s face as he looks back down at the camera.

°˖✧☆✧˖°

“Are you going to a funeral?”

Jongdae blinks at Joonmyun, who had showed up at his rather small (and possibly unclean, whoops) flat dressed in absurdly fancy clothes and, much to Jongdae’s surprise, sans camera.

He is, needless to say, suspicious.

Joonmyun laughs (the nervous one, Jongdae can tell, because his hand moves up and he scratches the back of his neck. Jongdae sees this laugh a lot) and tries not to fidget.

“Um, possibly a funeral for my pride, but I don’t really know yet.”

Jongdae keeps staring.

Joonmyun keeps fidgeting.

“…well?”

Joonmyun coughs and finally focuses on Jongdae rather than his fancy Italian shoes. “Um, was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me.”

It takes all of Jongdae’s willpower to not let a familiar curl of lips grace his features.

“Where’s Minseok? Is he dressed up too? Wait, does he even own a suit?”

Joonmyun huffs, but Jongdae continues.

“Oh, is he going to meet us there? Or will Yifan, I haven’t tormented him nearly enough lately, it’s entertaining to watch him freak out over things that make no sense at all.” Jongdae deserves a reward for not laughing at Joonmyun as he gets progressively more and more frustrated.

“And where’s the extension of your hand? It’s kind of weird seeing you without the camera, you know. And what about--”

Finally, Joonmyun interrupts Jongdae’s rant.

“I’m asking you out on a date, Jongdae.”

This time, Jongdae doesn’t manage to hold in the laughter. He leans against the doorframe and smiles at Joonmyun (it’s a smile that Joonmyun hasn’t seen yet, and right now he really wishes he had his camera because it’s, well, it’s beautiful and lights up Jongdae’s face in a way that he has never seen before).

“Well, why didn’t you say so?”

Joonmyun nearly chokes on his breath.

“Wait, what?”

“You know, most people give their date some kind of warning, especially if they are expecting some kind of fancy dress attire.” He waves flippantly at Joonmyun’s outfit. “I don’t think I can match that, face of marble or not.”

He sticks his tongue out at Joonmyun before stepping back into his flat and motioning to Joonmyun to follow.

“Give me a moment, yeah?”

Joonmyun doesn’t reply, still a little too caught up in the fact that Jongdae said yes. There is a tiny voice in the back of his head that sounds like Minseok that is rolling its eyes and saying ‘I told you so’.

Joonmyun is still a little stunned when Jongdae comes back and, damn, now he really wishes he had his camera.

“…well? You think this will pass?”

Nodding, Joonmyun tries to find his voice. “Um, yeah. Wow. That is—“

“I clean up well, don’t I?” His voice is teasing, but Joonmyun nods anyway. It was strange, seeing Jongdae in something other than his jeans and sweaters and t-shirts, but it certainly was nice.

“So, where are we going?”

And, even though Joonmyun doesn’t get any pictures of their first date, he does get some of their second. And third.