Freudian Slip

Chapter 2 : Lies

A week passed before either Jisoo or Jeonghan heard anything from the odd pair running the study. The two hadn't spoken much beyond short texts checking for updates and Jisoo was concerned that at any moment Jeonghan could change his mind about the arrangement. The pinging of his phone alerting him to a text was almost relieving, Soonyoung had sent a mass text informing every participant that a questionnaire had been emailed to each of them, and that it was to be completed before the week was out.

Abandoning his essay, Jisoo opened his browser and was staring at his cluttered inbox in a few clicks. The email from Soonyoung popped out at him 'Questionnaire: To be completed together' and Jisoo let out an exasperated sigh. Sliding his smart phone from his pocket, he tapped through his contacts before hovering his finger over the call button; he'd never called Jeonghan before and suddenly he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest. Dismissing the pounding, he tapped the button and held the receiver to his ear. After too many rings, Jeonghan answered.

"Hello?" A groggy voice crackled through the phone.

"Jeonghan?"

"Mm-hm," the line was dead for a moment as Jisoo pondered what to say.

"Were you asleep? It's 2 in the afternoon."

"No, why woul-," Jeonghan's lie was quickly foiled by a yawn that interrupted his sentence, "Okay I was having a quick nap, what's the problem?"

"Well, while you were napping, I just got a text from Soonyoung - one of the guys running the study - he wants us to do this questionnaire." Jisoo's voice was monotone, he clicked the link through to the online questionnaire and began reading over the questions. The other end of the line was filled with yawns and noises of agreement. "Are you even listening to me Jeonghan?"

"Yeah, questionnaire thing, is there something up with it or something?" Jeonghan groaned and Jisoo's ear was filled with banging and scuffling.

"What are you- oh whatever," Jisoo rubbed his forehead, trying to prevent the onset of a headache, "it's about how we met and how long we've been together and stuff, just basic profiling info but we need to fill it in together."

The only noises from Jeonghan were ones of muffled chewing and the slamming of cupboards. Through a mouthful of food, he invited the younger boy around to his apartment, reeling off the address in one short breath.

"You want me to come over to yours? And why exactly should I do that, why can't we go the library or something?" Jisoo wanted to keep his distance from Jeonghan as much as possible and visiting his apartment definitely wasn't keeping a distance.

"If you'd rather do that sure, you can introduce me to your friends while we're there and explain to them exactly why you're taking part in a couples' study with a guy, and, why he has a video of you doing some very ungodly things on his phone." Jeonghan's voice was nonchalant but Jisoo could picture the irritating smirk that would be painted on the genius's face.

Already tired from a day of working on papers and writing music, Jisoo didn't have the energy to argue, "Fine, I'll be over in a bit."

"I'll be waiting."

*

Old receipts and other unsightly rubbish was littered through the concrete building that housed Jeonghan's apartment. Clutching his phone tighter in his hand and pulling the collar of his coat up to conceal his face, Jisoo slowly approached the address provided. A collection of old beer bottles rattled outside the faded green door, rusted brass numbers sat above a peephole. Jisoo cautiously knocked and waited for an answer. The sound of rushed steps and the rattle of a chain led up to the door swinging open to a surprisingly nice apartment.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Jeonghan left the door wide open and retreated back to the couch, where an old wheezing laptop and a mound of blankets and pillows sat. His usual skinny jeans had been forgotten for a pair of loose sweat pants, most of his hair hung lose bar a small bun atop his head.

Jisoo closed the creaking door behind him and approached the kitchen's breakfast bar, resting the bag of drinks he'd brought on it. The entire apartment felt faded and dark, tired blue walls surrounded the room filled with black and grey furniture, the shadows somehow making it homelier. Jisoo's already numb fingertips noticed the lack of any sort of heating and he understood now why Jeonghan was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. He finally plucked up the courage to join Jeonghan on the sunken black couch and, like everything else in the apartment, found it to be surprisingly comfortable.

"You can take off your coat you know?" Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at Jisoo's awkward position, his hands were rested in his lap and his feet flat on the floor, "I know it's cold but I have plenty of blankets to spare."

Forcing a smile, Jisoo attempted to look a little more relaxed in the new environment, "I'm fine really, this coats quite comfortable."

Refusing to leave the stubborn boy shivering, Jeonghan tossed a spare cover to Jisoo, who accepted it with a mumbled thanks.

The majority of the questions were multiple choice, lies that were easily decided by the two and admitted to memory. The tail of their relationship easily spun with a few clicks of a mouse and the tapping of keys.

"Oh this one's good," Jeonghan snapped his head around to face Jisoo, who had abandoned his coat over the back of the couch in favour of a soft woollen blanket, "how did we meet?"

Jisoo mused for a moment, "Through a mutual friend?"

"Really Jisoo? In what world would we have a mutual friend?"

Every time Jisoo attempted to voice his opinion, offer his insight, Jeonghan would shoot him down. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that Jeonghan had all the control in the situation, or that Jeonghan thought he was better than him, but Jisoo was quickly growing tired of being treated like an idiot.

"Let's see..." Jeonghan continued on, unaware of how irritated Jisoo was by his blunt behaviour, "You're studying music in university right? And I play bass, so what if we met in a music store?"

For a moment Jisoo sat, open mouthed and expressionless, before speaking, "Where do you pull this from?"

"You need to believe me more, I told you I was a good liar."

Regardless of how much Jeonghan annoyed Jisoo, his cheeks flushed red at the sight of his smile. The cocky personality Jeonghan so proudly paraded around, mixed with his unexpected cuteness, made him dangerous in Jisoo's books; He'd surely broken a few hearts in his time. Anxious to be done with the test and away from his confusing partner, Jisoo was pulling on his jacket before Jeonghan could tell him the questionnaire was over.

*

"Had another hot date?" Was all Jisoo was greeted by the moment he entered his dorm room.

Lost pages from textbooks were strewn across the floor, Hansol sat amongst them, furiously scribbling in a distressed notebook. Abandoned headphones, wrapped in duct tape, hung from messy bed sheets, muted rap music playing through them.

"I guess you could call it that." After hours dedicated to his secret life, Jisoo returned to the reality of the countless papers he had to work on. Being with Jeonghan was like being in a bubble, filled with sarcastic comments, away from the world. Even though he was desperate to escape whenever Jisoo was trapped there, he couldn't help but miss how it lifted the stress from his shoulders.

"So who is this girl? What's her name? What's she like?" Hansol's words were almost unintelligible due the pen resting between his teeth.

Jisoo racked his brain for answers and began to vaguely describe Jeonghan, "Well er, she has blue hair and plays bass in a band..." Hansol mimed for him to continue, so he did, finding it almost too easy to gush about Jeonghan, "she has a laugh that's almost adorable as her smile and a terrible habit for biting her lip."

The lies seemed to convince the boy on the floor, who returned his focus to the beats flowing from his laptop, "You seem to really like her."

"Yeah, maybe I do ..."