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Did You Know... a plus side of dealing with anxiety mostly unmedicated for +15 years is that I know for a fact I'm not actually having a heart attack despite all evidence pointing to the contrary lol another one is that I've written enough fic that if I wanna read something specific I know where to find it. in my fic. that I wrote. about the things I wanna read. thank you, past me.
so anyway, I was going through some unpublished stuff in my gdocs and laughed at this scene because I have no recollection of doing this research about cars? I know I did, but I don't remember anything I wrote here??? it's like eric is telling me something completely new.
(this fic will never be posted because it's ridiculously ooc lol iirc I was possessed by the gemini curse of wanting to write something a lot of people seem to be into and I'm not, just to see how I'd tackle it - in this case, age gap. and with a bonus homage to watch it era eric.)
Something catches Juyeon’s attention. In the panel, the little engine light is blinking at him, slowly but surely.
“Oh, come on…” He mutters to himself.
Pulling the hand brake again, he grabs his phone to look up mechanics in the area. Juyeon moved into this small town in the middle of nowhere around three months ago, and aside from pizza places, grocery stores, and pharmacies, he doesn’t know much else about the area. Back in Seoul, he would only ever take his car to the same place, an expensive repair shop one block away from his office, and even the act of having to look up where to go feels foreign to him.
Well, a lot of things feel foreign to him now. That was the whole point of moving here in the first place, wasn’t it?
According to his GPS, there are two repair shops in town. It’s pushing 6p.m., and Juyeon wonders if he should just go home and worry about this later, but he’s pretty sure he remembers the warnings about blinking lights from the manual, something he read in what feels like another life. So with a sigh, he resigns himself to driving to the place closest to home.
The shop couldn’t be more different than the one he was used to in the capital. It’s small, almost like a garage squeezed between two nondescript one-story buildings, and it seems like every corner of it is haphazardly covered in tools, tires, parts, pictures… There’s a tow truck parked outside on the street, and Juyeon parks behind it, seeing no sign of anyone actually being in the shop.
There’s music playing somewhere inside. He walks up and sees a half-open door in the back, and he starts that way, going around the car currently occupying most of the space before he catches movement right by his feet—there are legs sticking out from underneath the car, one boot tapping along to the music. It’s hip hop, or something to that flavor, and Juyeon tries to call, “Excuse me?” but he’s way too quiet about it.
He tries again, louder, taking a step closer, and this time it must work. The person slides out from his position beneath the car with a frown, his expression clearing up once he meets Juyeon’s eyes. In one quick movement he has stood up, grabbed a phone from a nearby table, and hit pause on the music. Ok, good, now Juyeon can hear himself.
The guy gives Juyeon a bright, friendly smile that makes his entire demeanor much more approachable. “Hey, how can I help you?”
Wearing jeans and a white tee that has seen better days, the man is a little shorter than Juyeon, and he’s sporting at least three piercings on his ears that Juyeon can count, aside from a more obvious one on his left eyebrow. His brown hair is pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the back of his head. He’s definitely college age, or somewhere around it.
“Hi, it’s my car…” Juyeon points over his shoulder, a little awkwardly. “Sorry, are you the mechanic?”
The guy wipes his hand on the little towel hanging out of his jeans pocket before he offers his hand to Juyeon. “Yes, my name's Youngjae. We’re usually two here, but the other mechanic had something to do this afternoon so it’s all me.” Juyeon takes the handshake and nods in understanding. “Are you visiting anyone in town?”
“Is it that obvious that I’m not from here?”
“It’s a small town,” Youngjae says in lieu of a direct answer, not unkindly. He starts walking out of the shop to nod towards Juyeon’s car. “And we don’t see a lot of BMWs around.”
Oh, right. Juyeon smiles, admitting defeat, and the guy chuckles. He has a really nice smile, Juyeon notices. His eyes seem to scan everything, from Juyeon’s clothes to his car to his expression, and as soon as they’re by the car, he’s asking Juyeon to pop the hood. He doesn’t suggest taking the car inside or anything, just goes straight to it right there on the quiet street, poking inside the engine while Juyeon explains about the blinking light on the panel.
They do the usual routine of testing things out—turn on the engine, step on the gas, turn it off, now turn it on again—before Youngjae gestures Juyeon over. “I don’t think it’s electrical,” he explains when Juyeon stops next to him, pulling his short sleeves up until they’re bunched up around his shoulders, his biceps in full display as he bends over the engine. “The plugs seem fine, transmission seems fine, there’s no overheating that I can tell… Probably wise to check the converter, though.”
At Juyeon’s lack of reaction, he grins.
“Let me guess: you don’t take the highway very often?”
“Not really,” Juyeon admits. “I drove here from Seoul when I moved, but I mostly drive inside the city limits.”
“You live here now?”
“Yeah.”
Something about Youngjae’s face tells Juyeon he’s curious to hear more. “That’s cool. Did you bring the family with you?”
“Oh, no. My—” Juyeon stops himself short before saying my wife and corrects course. “My ex wife is in Seoul, and most of my extended family is in Gwangju. I moved here by myself.”
There’s a moment in which Youngjae says nothing, only nods sympathetically, like he noticed Juyeon’s hesitation and read the situation correctly—that the divorce is still recent, and Juyeon the cliche of the middle-aged guy who moves away to start over after his life falls apart.
That is only half the truth, however. Juyeon’s marriage had been over for years, long before they decided to get the paperwork done last year and dissolve the image of the perfect couple they had been painstakingly sustaining for no one’s benefit but their families’. His life didn’t fall apart as much as it gave him a reason to just… start anew.
“So, uh, the converter?” He asks Youngjae.
“Right, yeah!” Youngjae goes about closing the hood again, his biceps bulging in the process. Juyeon doesn’t know why he’s paying such close attention to Youngjae’s arms, but he is. Maybe it’s the tight shirt. It’s short enough to ride up Youngjae’s middle every time he stretches. “The catalytic converter is part of your exhaust system, so that means we need to get this baby up. How fast do you need it done?”
Juyeon works from home. He technically doesn’t even need his car to go around his neighborhood. “I’m not in a hurry,” he says vaguely. “Would you like me to leave it here so you can take a better look at it?”
“That would be best, yeah. I can drive you home tonight.”
“Oh, it’s—It’s all right, you don’t have to.”
Tapping Juyeon’s shoulder as he walks past him to go back into the shop, Youngjae says, “Totally my pleasure, sir. Let’s just get your information down first.”
so anyway, I was going through some unpublished stuff in my gdocs and laughed at this scene because I have no recollection of doing this research about cars? I know I did, but I don't remember anything I wrote here??? it's like eric is telling me something completely new.
(this fic will never be posted because it's ridiculously ooc lol iirc I was possessed by the gemini curse of wanting to write something a lot of people seem to be into and I'm not, just to see how I'd tackle it - in this case, age gap. and with a bonus homage to watch it era eric.)
Something catches Juyeon’s attention. In the panel, the little engine light is blinking at him, slowly but surely.
“Oh, come on…” He mutters to himself.
Pulling the hand brake again, he grabs his phone to look up mechanics in the area. Juyeon moved into this small town in the middle of nowhere around three months ago, and aside from pizza places, grocery stores, and pharmacies, he doesn’t know much else about the area. Back in Seoul, he would only ever take his car to the same place, an expensive repair shop one block away from his office, and even the act of having to look up where to go feels foreign to him.
Well, a lot of things feel foreign to him now. That was the whole point of moving here in the first place, wasn’t it?
According to his GPS, there are two repair shops in town. It’s pushing 6p.m., and Juyeon wonders if he should just go home and worry about this later, but he’s pretty sure he remembers the warnings about blinking lights from the manual, something he read in what feels like another life. So with a sigh, he resigns himself to driving to the place closest to home.
The shop couldn’t be more different than the one he was used to in the capital. It’s small, almost like a garage squeezed between two nondescript one-story buildings, and it seems like every corner of it is haphazardly covered in tools, tires, parts, pictures… There’s a tow truck parked outside on the street, and Juyeon parks behind it, seeing no sign of anyone actually being in the shop.
There’s music playing somewhere inside. He walks up and sees a half-open door in the back, and he starts that way, going around the car currently occupying most of the space before he catches movement right by his feet—there are legs sticking out from underneath the car, one boot tapping along to the music. It’s hip hop, or something to that flavor, and Juyeon tries to call, “Excuse me?” but he’s way too quiet about it.
He tries again, louder, taking a step closer, and this time it must work. The person slides out from his position beneath the car with a frown, his expression clearing up once he meets Juyeon’s eyes. In one quick movement he has stood up, grabbed a phone from a nearby table, and hit pause on the music. Ok, good, now Juyeon can hear himself.
The guy gives Juyeon a bright, friendly smile that makes his entire demeanor much more approachable. “Hey, how can I help you?”
Wearing jeans and a white tee that has seen better days, the man is a little shorter than Juyeon, and he’s sporting at least three piercings on his ears that Juyeon can count, aside from a more obvious one on his left eyebrow. His brown hair is pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the back of his head. He’s definitely college age, or somewhere around it.
“Hi, it’s my car…” Juyeon points over his shoulder, a little awkwardly. “Sorry, are you the mechanic?”
The guy wipes his hand on the little towel hanging out of his jeans pocket before he offers his hand to Juyeon. “Yes, my name's Youngjae. We’re usually two here, but the other mechanic had something to do this afternoon so it’s all me.” Juyeon takes the handshake and nods in understanding. “Are you visiting anyone in town?”
“Is it that obvious that I’m not from here?”
“It’s a small town,” Youngjae says in lieu of a direct answer, not unkindly. He starts walking out of the shop to nod towards Juyeon’s car. “And we don’t see a lot of BMWs around.”
Oh, right. Juyeon smiles, admitting defeat, and the guy chuckles. He has a really nice smile, Juyeon notices. His eyes seem to scan everything, from Juyeon’s clothes to his car to his expression, and as soon as they’re by the car, he’s asking Juyeon to pop the hood. He doesn’t suggest taking the car inside or anything, just goes straight to it right there on the quiet street, poking inside the engine while Juyeon explains about the blinking light on the panel.
They do the usual routine of testing things out—turn on the engine, step on the gas, turn it off, now turn it on again—before Youngjae gestures Juyeon over. “I don’t think it’s electrical,” he explains when Juyeon stops next to him, pulling his short sleeves up until they’re bunched up around his shoulders, his biceps in full display as he bends over the engine. “The plugs seem fine, transmission seems fine, there’s no overheating that I can tell… Probably wise to check the converter, though.”
At Juyeon’s lack of reaction, he grins.
“Let me guess: you don’t take the highway very often?”
“Not really,” Juyeon admits. “I drove here from Seoul when I moved, but I mostly drive inside the city limits.”
“You live here now?”
“Yeah.”
Something about Youngjae’s face tells Juyeon he’s curious to hear more. “That’s cool. Did you bring the family with you?”
“Oh, no. My—” Juyeon stops himself short before saying my wife and corrects course. “My ex wife is in Seoul, and most of my extended family is in Gwangju. I moved here by myself.”
There’s a moment in which Youngjae says nothing, only nods sympathetically, like he noticed Juyeon’s hesitation and read the situation correctly—that the divorce is still recent, and Juyeon the cliche of the middle-aged guy who moves away to start over after his life falls apart.
That is only half the truth, however. Juyeon’s marriage had been over for years, long before they decided to get the paperwork done last year and dissolve the image of the perfect couple they had been painstakingly sustaining for no one’s benefit but their families’. His life didn’t fall apart as much as it gave him a reason to just… start anew.
“So, uh, the converter?” He asks Youngjae.
“Right, yeah!” Youngjae goes about closing the hood again, his biceps bulging in the process. Juyeon doesn’t know why he’s paying such close attention to Youngjae’s arms, but he is. Maybe it’s the tight shirt. It’s short enough to ride up Youngjae’s middle every time he stretches. “The catalytic converter is part of your exhaust system, so that means we need to get this baby up. How fast do you need it done?”
Juyeon works from home. He technically doesn’t even need his car to go around his neighborhood. “I’m not in a hurry,” he says vaguely. “Would you like me to leave it here so you can take a better look at it?”
“That would be best, yeah. I can drive you home tonight.”
“Oh, it’s—It’s all right, you don’t have to.”
Tapping Juyeon’s shoulder as he walks past him to go back into the shop, Youngjae says, “Totally my pleasure, sir. Let’s just get your information down first.”