preference
"Oh, hey there! Are you looking for someone? Me? I'm Zelo, if you need anything, come talk to me! I'm pretty lax... Unless you piss me off, but let's not talk about that."
novella • para • always literate
tracking; deathxzelo
“You seem happy, what’s new with you, Junhongie?” Chanhee laughs and teasingly pokes the younger’s arm.
“I’m just happy today~ no reason!” Zelo grins and collects Chanhee into his arms. He rocks the two of them from side to side and buries his face into the crook of the elder’s neck. “I just really love you, Channie~”
“Ah, is that so?” Zelo nodded, confirming her words with a shy smile in return. He took her hand in his own and shook it while bowing his head just slightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Sora-ssi. I’m Zelo.”
There was always something Chanhee expected from his dongsaengs whether or not they were from his own friend circle or simply idols from the new generation. He expected certain code of conduct from his fellow acquaintances and he expected them to follow them. It wasn’t his ego talking either, Chanhee liked to think the younger generation still preserved their honour in acknowledging the elders no matter how little of an age difference there was. Yes, Lee Chanhee valued these little things but he certainly wasn’t one to berate anyone should they decide otherwise. People were human, which meant they made mistakes; even as an Angel, Chanhee knew he wasn’t perfect. He couldn’t expect that much from humans as thus but it didn’t mean he couldn’t be a tad bit disappointed.
The brunet brushed aside his bangs; they were getting a little too long for his tastes but he’d been told by several people that he looked rather dashing with his new cut so he didn’t seem to mind it that much. He licked his lips, and glanced at his cell phone which had little to almost no service. Of course this didn’t come as a surprise knowing his current predicament wasn’t exactly in his favour. Chanhee glanced around the dead wilderness with bitter eyes and a scowl. This wasn’t exactly a place he’d call home, a place he’d consider a date to take place in, and it certainly did not meet his standards of calling it a preference.
Zelo was out of his mind to choose such a dreaded state.
The Angel sighed and shoved his phone back into his jean pockets, opting to stare into the horizon of the setting sun instead. He caught a quick glimpse of the birds that were lined up so neatly as they flew across the blazing sun to reach their destination for the up-coming winter season. It was getting cold; he could feel the air biting at his skin, nipping at every barren spot it could find – Chanhee rubbed both hands together and blew a breath of hot air into the palms.
“Pabo Lo,” he grumbled, making a sure note to lecture the young man when he made his dramatic but tardy appearance. “Making me wait like this…”
Shit, shit, shit! Zelo darted past a dead log, leaped over another one, and then rounded past a set of trees that seemed to be blocking his way. Hell, the whole world seemed to be against him at that very moment; everything pissed him off, Zelo was literally about to just dig a hole and hide in there – forever if he had to. The boy glanced over his shoulder to make sure his pursuers weren’t closing in on him but sadly, there they were – about a few blocks away, still very hot on his trail. The demon cursed as a string of colourful vocabulary left his lips. Sure, taking on those strays wouldn’t necessarily be that much of a trouble but he had a date to attend to. Yes, that sounded stupid in all honesty, but this date was something he’d been looking forward to all week and nothing was going to take that away from him.
The tall male skidded in his path when he realised there was no way around this situation. He sighed and waited for his pursuers to catch up. He realised late that it didn’t matter how far he ran or how far he tried to outrun the strays, they would eventually catch up. Which not only meant delaying the trouble, but putting Chanhee in danger as well. Yes, Chanhee was an Angel and could probably back him up in case something went wrong (but no, the chances of that happening was probably really slim, Zelo wouldn’t dare put the elder in danger) but he’d rather not have the brunet engage in any sort of combat. At least not for now. Chanhee wasn’t quite ready for an actual partner battle and Zelo wasn’t going to humour fate in letting him do so either.
“Yah…” he grumbled, eyes narrowed in annoyance, lips firm and pressed, his entire form looked peeved. Zelo tapped the ends of his dark combat boots and fixed the collar on his matching trench coat. “You’re making me late for something really important…”
Hell no, Zelo wasn’t about to forgive the dead. The strays were closing in on him but Zelo paid no attention to their crunching footsteps. Leaves crushed underneath his boots when he took a step back. He glanced up at the sky, the grey mixing with the orange that had dominated the entire space just moments ago was slowly dissolving into nothing but mist; he bristled. Seeing as he was already late and the trees blocked most of the service, Zelo had no choice but to just resolve this as quickly as possible. He sighed picked up a pebble – it was tiny, barely the size of his thumb and flicked it at one of the strays’ forehead. It went right through and out the other side; blood splattered through the wound as the body fell limp to the ground; the screech of the stray lingered and echoed through the forest.
“One down, six to go…” he said as he took note of the remaining bodies around him.
Raising an eyebrow and smiling, Jaeseop leaned over the counter in the bakery. “Oh? Is that so? And who /ever/ could have sent you to bother poor little ole me, hmm?” He winked and chuckled as he went into his display case and pulled out a fresh piece of strawberry cheesecake and a fork, placing them on a plate and handing them to the other. “My name is Jaeseop, or you can call me A.J. if you’d like. Take that, on me.”
Jaeseop wasn’t blind. Well, he almost was, literally, but in the figurative sense he wasn’t blind at all, and he could see Zelo’s mood worsening as soon as he’d mentioned anything about Chanhee being cute. Humans were so strange, did they always overreact to such things? However, A.J. stayed sensitive and raised his hands innocently. “Hey, babe, Chanhee’s cute and all but he’s got a boyfriend last I checked and I’m interested in someone else currently. I have a boyfriend for a week but it feels like it might end up more than that, so it’s alright. I’m not taking Chanhee from anyone, ‘kay? No worries.”
Taffy yipped at Zelo as the other said hello, leaning forward and sniffing at him happily. While they were sitting down, A.J. blinked at the question and nodded. “Ah, yeah I think we are. Hyunsik said we could use some new helpers with all sorts of Holidays coming up. Why don’t you talk to him? He should hire you, so long as you know how to help out in a bakery.”
It was more like Zelo couldn’t control himself whenever people assumed Chanhee as cute or any other affectionate nicknames so even if AJ proved otherwise, he still couldn’t help himself to that bit of awful green in the pit of his stomach. It churned every time someone complimented his love interest and Zelo would very much appreciate it if they didn’t. He was a really weird person all together, if one were to insult Chanhee, then hell hath no fury like Zelo’s wrath. The best way was probably not mention Chanhee at all. Maybe.
“No, it’s okay…” he grumbled, clearly still a little pissed off (more or less) over those previous words of harmless affection. Zelo cleared his throat as he took note of the man’s words. No, Chanhee was his. And he preferred to keep it that way even after their month’s end. “Ah, I see. Well, I hope things work out for the two of you.”
Sadly, Zelo wasn’t very experienced working in a bakery like the other had suggested – actually he wasn’t good at working in general, but he made a mental note not to express that part of him considering he was looking for work. The boy smiled awkwardly and rubbed his arm rather sheepishly. “W-Well… I haven’t actually worked in a bakery before but I’m a quick learner and I always make sure to get things done on time… Do you think I have a chance?”
Yes, and that is how you make people you don’t want following you, unfollow you.
when zelo tries to do the greeting