nytis
it was only a matter of time before jihoon realized that soonyoung had no idea what he was doing or where he was supposed to go. jihoon should've known that a complete stranger like soonyoung would know nothing about nytis.
jihoon had always assumed that soonyoung knew where he was going but after a few nights of walking back home from the bakery, he started noticing soonyoung pacing around on the dark streets as if he had nowhere to go.
and the more he paid attention to the boy, jihoon noticed that soonyoung was always walking around with not much purpose. the more he noticed, the more he started to question soonyoung. things just didn't add up.
soonyoung said that he was on break from learning so he came to nytis. that was the first big question. why would anyone want to come here? and let's say soonyoung really did want to come to nytis. that has to mean he has an incredible sum of gold but the way he dresses says otherwise.
then that could only mean that he snuck in. but why would he do that?
it was another unanswered question jihoon was going to find the answer to.
soonyoung walked into the bakery with a cheery grin. he had just bought a new change of clothing and boy did it feel great to change out of his old outfit. "jihoon!" he skipped to the front counter and smiled at the baker behind it.
"don't skip soonyoung, you'll fall." jihoon said, meeting soonyoung's eyes. soonyoung laughed and pulled a chair over to sit on.
"jihoon's worried about me?" soonyoung said in a overly exaggerated voice. jihoon lifted his head up and a small crease appeared on his forehead.
"no, if you fall in here, jeonghan's gonna force me to tend to your injury and i don't want to waste medical supplies on you."
"that's no way to talk to a customer!" jeonghan's muffled voice floated out from the storage room in the back.
typical jihoon answer. over the past few days, soonyoung noticed that jihoon sort of resembled jisoo in the fact that both of them cared deeply for people except jisoo shows it much better than jihoon.
he also learned a few new things about the boy. first thing was that jihoon was just as old as him and he could already make pastries better than the ones made by the royal baker in reinwa. although soonyoung knew that he wasn't ever taught how to bake, it made him feel a little useless.
two, jihoon was a very reserved boy. at least that's what jeonghan told him but he had also said that he had never seen jihoon talk this much to someone he just met. this surprised soonyoung a little because jihoon didn't really say much to him most of the time. but still, if that was considered as lots of talking, he'd take it.
and three, jihoon is restraining himself. soonyoung can tell even in the short amount of time he has been visiting that jihoon has wishes waiting to come true. except they can't. they can't because of these things that are weighing him down. soonyoung doesn't know what but he wants to break those restraints while he's here because soonyoung doesn't believe that's how jihoon should live.
propping his chin on the back of the chair soonyoung hummed and watched jihoon work. pale, thin fingers dancing across the pastries, placing colourful fruit and sprinkles of sugar over the food. biting his pink lips in concentration as he carefully piped intricate designs on baking sheets.
soonyoung watched jihoon carefully place the try in the oven. how can someone look so good while working? he watched as jihoon ran the back of his hand against his forehead. jihoon was worming his way into soonyoung's heart incredibly fast. it was scary.
"soonyoung?.. hello?"
the silver haired boy blinked. "huh?"
jihoon shook his head, "you're always spacing out..." he muttered, "i was wondering if you wanted to buy something."
soonyoung snapped his fingers after remembering why he was here today. if he were being honest, the past week he had spent in nytis was filled with confusion. he had no idea how things worked, where everything was and he desperately needed to find a proper place to stay.
he got off the chair and hurried in front of the baker. "help me jihoon. i don't know what i'm doing here." startled, jihoon took a step back. "i mean... you don't have to but for the past week i really just have been wandering around not knowing what to do."
"i was wondering when you would ask." jihoon said with a small smile. "i can leave earlier today and show you around." there was a sudden clattering of pots in the background and both jihoon and soonyoung glanced at the storage room.
coughing, jeonghan came out covered in flour. "i'm not letting you leave until you finish with those pastries and that loaf of bread you said you would bake."
"..what happened to you?" jihoon asked, with a hint of amusant in his voice.
"i knocked over some things.." he grumbled, dusting the flour out of his hair. "cheol is rubbing off on me. this isn't good." he grabbed the dustpan and broom from the side and headed back.
"i guess you'll have to wait a bit longer." jihoon said, turning back to soonyoung. "i'm assuming that you're gonna stay?"
soonyoung took a seat, and nodded. "yup, gotta keep you company while baking."
looking at soonyoung, the baker shook his head. "you're so..."
"wonderful?"
"hm, no." running his hands under some water he got back to work with a little bit more energy than before.
