Ship/Member: Vernon/Joshua, Joshua/OFC, Vernon/Joshua/OFC Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: non-canonverse, inspired by joshua's fast pace moment, the frustration of having feelings for someone who's operating on a different wavelength Permission to remix: Yes
Word count: 1300 thought you might want to know that i have never written fic before, but this prompt changed the chemistry of my brain *** From where he's sitting, Vernon can see them dancing far too clearly. Joshua is good, the way you are good when you've come through idol training and emerged on the other side as a person who now can dance, quite well, and sing, somewhat well. Jisoo is also good, the way someone who obviously loves dancing as much as she does can be expected to. Vernon learned her name when one of the hyungs they were there with called out for Joshua and both he and the girl dancing next to him turned around. They’ve been pretty much circling each other since.
Vernon's still sitting at the bar, mindlessly bobbing his head to a remix of some latin pop song when he sees Jisoo lean down to Joshua, close, close, closer. He can feel his heart beat way too loud in his chest, which is as distracting as it is frustrating. On a rational level he's completely against his heart doing any of that. First of all, Jisoo is a nice person who doesn’t deserve his jealousy. He barely knows her, but he’s sure of that, and she probably wouldn’t deserve it if she was less nice anyway. But she is, and earlier in the night she helped him order a drink when he couldn’t get the bartender’s attention. He even danced with her himself! It just didn’t look… like that. And second of all, well. It’s not her fault she has more chemistry and immediate understanding with Joshua than Vernon has managed to accumulate through years of knowing him.
It feels as though long minutes have passed, but, in the end, with a change of light, Vernon can see Jisoo is just whispering to him. Realistically speaking, she’s probably talking quite loudly, but that’s not the point. The point is, Joshua is turning his head to look straight at Vernon's face. He thinks he must look like a turtle in headlights, too slow to even try running away. He lifts his hand to wave at the same time as Joshua makes a beckoning motion. Certainly pointed in his general direction.
When he's closer, he can see that Joshua looks a bit different now than when he was dancing. He's really good at this too, making his face look as non-threatening as possible, as if to counteract the slightly intimidating effect his looks have on people. Vernon wishes he didn’t question the smile, could ignore the part of his brain reminding him that for Joshua making it reach his eyes is a conscious decision sometimes. He doesn't like that Joshua's doing that now, to him. You'd think after all this time he would feel comfortable enough around Vernon not to pretend.
"Jisoo said she wants to see me dance with my pretty dongsaeng," he says, stepping closer to be heard over the loud music.
"I just think oppa’s style will suit you more," she adds, smile teasing.
Joshua's eyes widen a little, but he laughs it off. Vernon looks between the two of them maybe a bit too long, trying to assess the overall vibe. It doesn't feel like he's being made fun of, yet somehow all of this comes across as vaguely condescending, and he'd much rather come up with an excuse to leave. But nothing sounds believable enough when he tries to phrase it inside of his head, all the possible reasons making him feel even smaller. Instead, he smiles, refusing to acknowledge the way he was just visibly rebooting in the middle of the dancefloor.
"Sure".
Joshua dances with him the exact same way he was dancing with Jisoo, which is surprising at first. His hip movements feel the same way they looked from the distance, except of course not the same at all – with Vernon now being in the front row, more than that, part of the performance. He puts his hands on Joshua's waist, drags them down, which gets Joshua to smile for real this time. If Vernon had to guess he'd say it's because he's back in his depth, back to being the seductive cat-like creature he becomes sometimes, feeding off of butterflies in strangers' stomachs. In Vernon's stomach, in this case.
It's like he's been thrown inside a kaleidoscope, familiar things creating unfamiliar patterns, colours changing all around him. He knows the shape of Joshua's hands, how big they are, but what he didn't know before is the way they feel resting on his neck, nails scratching lightly through the fine hairs of his nape, touch delicate. He does his best not to give in to sensation, not to close his eyes and hold his breath, hoping it lasts just a bit longer. He's not even that tactile, but something about the way Joshua touches him, gives Vernon his deliberate attention is heady and makes him scared of losing it. Scared to lean into it too much, too.
He tries not to make eye contact for too long, afraid of what either of them might see, so instead he looks at the way Joshua’s hair is styled, probably more strands falling onto his forehead now than initially intended. He looks at the way the lights catch on his ear piercings, feeling a sudden urge to tug on them with his teeth. He turns his gaze back to Joshua’s hair.
The best thing about dancing is there's no need to talk, Vernon decides. And not because he’s scared of what would come out of his mouth if he opened it, but because he doesn’t need a reminder of how they've known each other for years and never quite figured out how to do that. People learn that they share two languages and think that means their connection is deeper, but the truth is nearly all their conversations end three exchanges in, most often with a yeah.
There's a presence to his right, Vernon realises, a hand that feels distinctly un-Joshua slightly squeezing his bicep. Probably to attract his attention, not just to feel him up, but he's not sure there is any attention he can give right now. He mentally apologises to whoever it might be. There's a hand on Joshua's bicep as well, however, and, unlike Vernon, Joshua is turning his head, polite smile coming up once again. He can hear them exchanging some comments, Jisoo – of course it's Jisoo – quietly laughing at one point. She’s moving to the beat too, he notices. Weird that there being another person doesn't break the moment, although he can feel that won't last very long, as awkwardness begins to seep back into his body. For now, her being there only makes the whole thing feel more real, like there's a witness to the unusual energy between them, someone else who knows how Joshua can apparently look at him. Also, her touch feels nice.
Before he can get too lost in his head, Jisoo asks, this time loud enough for both of them to hear, squeezing his bicep once again. "Do you guys want to get out of here?"
Vernon’s heart thumps. He can almost hear the record scratch. There’s no room for thinking she could be talking to someone else, no room for deflection.
Joshua doesn’t laugh it off. He doesn’t say no, sorry, you’ve misunderstood. What he does is turn his head to meet Vernon's eyes, expression blank, a single eyebrow lifted. He waits for him to answer.
Vernon finds himself nodding, taken by the current, unable to put his feet down in the sand.
"Yeah, sure".
***
When they leave the club, Joshua has his hand on Vernon’s lower back. When they kiss in Joshua’s apartment half an hour later, the hand on his back belongs to Jisoo. When he leaves the apartment, they still haven’t exchanged more than five words at a time.
[FILL] matching your footsteps
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: non-canonverse, inspired by joshua's fast pace moment, the frustration of having feelings for someone who's operating on a different wavelength
Permission to remix: Yes
Word count: 1300
thought you might want to know that i have never written fic before, but this prompt changed the chemistry of my brain
***
From where he's sitting, Vernon can see them dancing far too clearly. Joshua is good, the way you are good when you've come through idol training and emerged on the other side as a person who now can dance, quite well, and sing, somewhat well. Jisoo is also good, the way someone who obviously loves dancing as much as she does can be expected to. Vernon learned her name when one of the hyungs they were there with called out for Joshua and both he and the girl dancing next to him turned around. They’ve been pretty much circling each other since.
Vernon's still sitting at the bar, mindlessly bobbing his head to a remix of some latin pop song when he sees Jisoo lean down to Joshua, close, close, closer. He can feel his heart beat way too loud in his chest, which is as distracting as it is frustrating. On a rational level he's completely against his heart doing any of that. First of all, Jisoo is a nice person who doesn’t deserve his jealousy. He barely knows her, but he’s sure of that, and she probably wouldn’t deserve it if she was less nice anyway. But she is, and earlier in the night she helped him order a drink when he couldn’t get the bartender’s attention. He even danced with her himself! It just didn’t look… like that. And second of all, well. It’s not her fault she has more chemistry and immediate understanding with Joshua than Vernon has managed to accumulate through years of knowing him.
It feels as though long minutes have passed, but, in the end, with a change of light, Vernon can see Jisoo is just whispering to him. Realistically speaking, she’s probably talking quite loudly, but that’s not the point. The point is, Joshua is turning his head to look straight at Vernon's face. He thinks he must look like a turtle in headlights, too slow to even try running away. He lifts his hand to wave at the same time as Joshua makes a beckoning motion. Certainly pointed in his general direction.
When he's closer, he can see that Joshua looks a bit different now than when he was dancing. He's really good at this too, making his face look as non-threatening as possible, as if to counteract the slightly intimidating effect his looks have on people. Vernon wishes he didn’t question the smile, could ignore the part of his brain reminding him that for Joshua making it reach his eyes is a conscious decision sometimes. He doesn't like that Joshua's doing that now, to him. You'd think after all this time he would feel comfortable enough around Vernon not to pretend.
"Jisoo said she wants to see me dance with my pretty dongsaeng," he says, stepping closer to be heard over the loud music.
"I just think oppa’s style will suit you more," she adds, smile teasing.
Joshua's eyes widen a little, but he laughs it off. Vernon looks between the two of them maybe a bit too long, trying to assess the overall vibe. It doesn't feel like he's being made fun of, yet somehow all of this comes across as vaguely condescending, and he'd much rather come up with an excuse to leave. But nothing sounds believable enough when he tries to phrase it inside of his head, all the possible reasons making him feel even smaller. Instead, he smiles, refusing to acknowledge the way he was just visibly rebooting in the middle of the dancefloor.
"Sure".
Joshua dances with him the exact same way he was dancing with Jisoo, which is surprising at first. His hip movements feel the same way they looked from the distance, except of course not the same at all – with Vernon now being in the front row, more than that, part of the performance. He puts his hands on Joshua's waist, drags them down, which gets Joshua to smile for real this time. If Vernon had to guess he'd say it's because he's back in his depth, back to being the seductive cat-like creature he becomes sometimes, feeding off of butterflies in strangers' stomachs. In Vernon's stomach, in this case.
It's like he's been thrown inside a kaleidoscope, familiar things creating unfamiliar patterns, colours changing all around him. He knows the shape of Joshua's hands, how big they are, but what he didn't know before is the way they feel resting on his neck, nails scratching lightly through the fine hairs of his nape, touch delicate. He does his best not to give in to sensation, not to close his eyes and hold his breath, hoping it lasts just a bit longer. He's not even that tactile, but something about the way Joshua touches him, gives Vernon his deliberate attention is heady and makes him scared of losing it. Scared to lean into it too much, too.
He tries not to make eye contact for too long, afraid of what either of them might see, so instead he looks at the way Joshua’s hair is styled, probably more strands falling onto his forehead now than initially intended. He looks at the way the lights catch on his ear piercings, feeling a sudden urge to tug on them with his teeth. He turns his gaze back to Joshua’s hair.
The best thing about dancing is there's no need to talk, Vernon decides. And not because he’s scared of what would come out of his mouth if he opened it, but because he doesn’t need a reminder of how they've known each other for years and never quite figured out how to do that. People learn that they share two languages and think that means their connection is deeper, but the truth is nearly all their conversations end three exchanges in, most often with a yeah.
There's a presence to his right, Vernon realises, a hand that feels distinctly un-Joshua slightly squeezing his bicep. Probably to attract his attention, not just to feel him up, but he's not sure there is any attention he can give right now. He mentally apologises to whoever it might be. There's a hand on Joshua's bicep as well, however, and, unlike Vernon, Joshua is turning his head, polite smile coming up once again. He can hear them exchanging some comments, Jisoo – of course it's Jisoo – quietly laughing at one point. She’s moving to the beat too, he notices. Weird that there being another person doesn't break the moment, although he can feel that won't last very long, as awkwardness begins to seep back into his body. For now, her being there only makes the whole thing feel more real, like there's a witness to the unusual energy between them, someone else who knows how Joshua can apparently look at him. Also, her touch feels nice.
Before he can get too lost in his head, Jisoo asks, this time loud enough for both of them to hear, squeezing his bicep once again. "Do you guys want to get out of here?"
Vernon’s heart thumps. He can almost hear the record scratch. There’s no room for thinking she could be talking to someone else, no room for deflection.
Joshua doesn’t laugh it off. He doesn’t say no, sorry, you’ve misunderstood. What he does is turn his head to meet Vernon's eyes, expression blank, a single eyebrow lifted. He waits for him to answer.
Vernon finds himself nodding, taken by the current, unable to put his feet down in the sand.
"Yeah, sure".
***
When they leave the club, Joshua has his hand on Vernon’s lower back. When they kiss in Joshua’s apartment half an hour later, the hand on his back belongs to Jisoo. When he leaves the apartment, they still haven’t exchanged more than five words at a time.