𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 • 𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥

VIII

the annoying cuckoo clock strikes 10:00. jisoo hears a quiet, but coherent knock on his door. the writer is left confused, but he opens his door anyway. wasn't he needed at 12:00?

oh. it was snotty seungcheol. "little human, let me in." wow. demanding.

"what? why?"

"just let me in!"

"okay!"

seungcheol enters jisoo's room, closing the door behind him firmly. he seemed pissed, like really—but seungcheol's eyes told jisoo otherwise. jisoo hated how mysterious seungcheol was, but jisoo has to ask what's going on this time.

it felt wrong. just wrong. oh god, is this the climax of the story already? jisoo still hasn't done anything significant as a main character! (just kidding, but hey, he got kissed, didn't he?)

seungcheol sighed, sitting on the carpeted floor and leaning against the bed. jisoo sat beside seungcheol, without hesitation. before he could ask, seungcheol already cussed. "fuck those gibfaces!"

"oh, i, uh—volatile," jisoo comments. "what's wrong?"

seungcheol, luckily, didn't keep jisoo in the shadows. he probably needs help right now. did jeonghan and seungcheol fight? oh my god, maybe?!

"those bloody neighbors of ours. when i was heading out to get the ingredients for jeonghan's pie recipe, they saw him again. as always, they mock us, him—just—i wish hell upon those people!" seungcheol yelled, almost kicking the bedside table down. jisoo's eyebrows creased.

oh, so it wasn't a fight between the two immortals. of course it wasn't. they're in a mature and loving relationship. (jisoo wants that too.)

but hey—that was why seungcheol called the neighbors ugly! "go on, cheol."

(another mistake overlooked because of the situation. stupid jisoo.)

"and you see, jeonghan loathes being seen by outsiders. it is actually a surprise to me that he could laugh comfortably in front of you! but that's out of the topic now, isn't it; we were talking about the stupid neighbors. they saw him earlier, and did not waste that chance to yell vulgar insults. they even threw bloody pebbles at him! why do they see jeonghan as a monster? he clearly is not! he's even quite literally the contrary, for everyone's sake!

"they are mindless. they laugh at us for how we live. they laugh at what we wear. they steal our plants. they mock us. they wait at our doorstep once a week to get sight of my lover. now that it happened again, jeonghan is going to refuse to see anyone. he'll most likely lock himself in our room for a week or so. all because of those stupid, mindless fools!"

jisoo gulped. he knew jeonghan's insecurity was serious from the very beginning—and these people were making it worse! seungcheol is right! they are mindless fools!

placing a hand on seungcheol's back, jisoo starts to talk. "hey, calm down. what all you said is true. do you have guns?"

seungcheol's seething anger toned down as he turned to jisoo, flashing him a weird look. "little human, are you implying murderous intent?!"

"....maybe."

seungcheol slightly smiled. "good resolution, but we wish to keep our images clean."

"yeah... i was just trying to calm you down. no clear thoughts if your mind is clouded with anger!" said the writer, awkwardly laughing. the latter seemed to forget that he was angry for a while and chortled at jisoo—which is great!

shame on them. jeonghan is so pretty, they're missing out on so much things! also, what's with their amazing clothing?! jisoo could wear their clothes for the rest of his life! why are people being so mean?! to achieve the cottagecore aesthetic, one must have a kind personality—so why are they allowed in here?! just kidding. but of course, jisoo is till upset. the two immortals are just obviously trying to lead a peaceful life!

"they're so mean, cheol. i don't understand why there are people like this." jisoo mumbled, loud enough for the other to hear. seungcheol hums in agreement.

"i fear that one day they'll cross the line. i'm extremely mad, little human. i cannot be of proper use to my lover, too, so what am i supposed to be doing?" seungcheol said. "all i could do is head to your room and vent it all out."

"yeah. you must've been venting out on a wall for centuries." jisoo snickered, standing up. "now, you've got a talking wall."

seungcheol laughed, which was nothing. pfft. jisoo did totally not take note that seungcheol laughed like he was doing glottal stops in between and how it's so high pitched compared to his normal, grumpy 'lil voice. yeah. that was nothing, alright. no hearts were racing too fast. right, jisoo?

(lies.)

"why are you standing there?" seungcheol asked, with an expression that told jisoo seungcheol was in a brighter mood. "we do not have guns, stupid little human thing."

"well... you got the ingredients for the pie, right?" jisoo inquired, fingers slightlt quivering as his idea might not be too bright after all.

(his idea is baking pies and offering them to jeonghan. talk to him, too, if he feels like it. well, maybe only seungcheol talks to him.)

"yes?" seungcheol answered with a question, standing up as well.

"you know the recipe?" jisoo asked, and seungcheol nods. "well... let's bake a cake for your lover."

"what good is that going to do any of us?!"

"well—you never know!" jisoo replied defensively. as expected, seungcheol hates his ideas again. sigh. "let's offer it to him and see if he's willing to talk. if not, he'll know that we—you're here for him."

"you didn't need to correct yourself, little human. it's we," seungcheol states, voice full of confidence and determination. he interlaces his fingers with jisoo, and jisoo loses confidence and determination. "let's go bake those pies! i am glad your writer side is showing and that you are actually giving genius ideas."

calm down, heart. we know jisoo could take only one person doing these romantic things, but hey! jisoo has two holes—

(gunshots.)