[3] There Be Fools Alive | Hongjoong ✓

ten | there be half-assed truths and whatnot

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'IGNORANCE TRULY IS BLISS' WAS reverberant throughout JoJo's mind as the door clicked shut behind Hongjoong. The bad part of being aware was conditioning to that state of awareness, she also thought, and at the moment, it told on her countenance. Which was why it'd been such a relief returning to an empty house, Soobin missing in action. He was the hyper-perceptive kind, so JoJo wouldn't doubt that where Hongjoong, at present, was playing the know-nothing card impressively, Soobin would be calling her out—"Save us both the energy and just be out with it, Han JoJo," even with the full-name act.

   The better she felt she got to know who Hongjoong was, the easier it was to call this him trying to keep out of what he'd deemed trouble (more trouble, that is) after having been forced into biting off more than he could chew (by her doing, no less). Hongjoong almost always being able to tell that the next thing to come out of her mouth would be a lie meant Hongjoong right now was likely pretending. No, he most certainly was. If this was his notion in regards to being together—digging deep only when he saw fit to have it matter to him—it was nothing short of disheartening. JoJo, on the other hand, was way too lily-livered to do some digging deep for herself. At the moment, however, Hongjoong only needed to look her over once to make his diagnosis: Not tipsy, not bending over to retch her guts either. No face-twisting ordeals—she's fine.

   But the bright side: thank God it wasn't going to be the same the next time life splashed him in the face with a jar of figurative piss and she was the first thing a sympathetic universe dropped his way. Next time, they might cuddle, share a blanket, while Hongjoong relayed to her why it felt like everything was going to shit for no reasonable reason—I mean, all I did was... and from there an intervention would be staged, Hongjoong's heart poured out to her, him letting her know she was the only one who could and the only one he wanted to fix it. Perhaps a few drops of tears here (although he didn't strike her as touchy-feely), couple mouth pecks for strength there. Things may get a little more interpersonal than anticipated with him deciding to curl up foetus-style, his head resting on her lap.

   Hongjoong was smiling the polite smile of a first-time-visiting visitor as he gave himself a brief one-man tour of the living area, issuing the customary appraisal. "You have a lovely place. I could get around something like this." He turned to her. "Where is the co-tenant?"

   "He's out."

   "He?"

   "Soobin gets paid peanuts to work overtime once in a while," she said. Once having shook off her jacket, JoJo realised she could use an hour-long soak in a bathtub they didn't have. All the same, standing underneath a hot shower for half that time would do some appropriate therapy to both body and mind.

   "You never said anything about a he." A part of JoJo was willing to file this under a show of jealousy, because set before her, still assessing her shared apartment, probably for elements that proved Male too lives here, was the cutout of a possessive lover. Thinking about it, she could appreciate one of those, especially if Hongjoong was the one offering. "Soobin, you say?"

   She nodded. "I didn't think it mattered," she returned, fishing line tossed in, hopeful Hongjoong was dumb enough to take the bait. "What difference would it make really?"

   In return, he grinned imploringly. "Is it too early to ask you to move in with me?"

   In JoJo's opinion, some jokes should be too expensive to be made.