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@Nam Dongju At his core, Dongju was still a child at heart. Though it wasn't the most sanitary way for him to resolve the younger's problem, Christian couldn't blame Dongju for not liking the Black Licorice at first taste. "It's an acquired taste," he reassured the younger, chuckling again as Dongju reached for the cookies and began to eat one after another. "Slow down," he reminded the younger, deciding to put the half-chewed licorice in a used piece of paper from his pocket to throw away later. It seemed that Dongju had quite the bland palette because he wasn't even stomaching the TimTams that well. "Well they're cookies. And you ate 3 ate once..." Christian muttered, reaching over to take one out of the container for himself, "I have a water bottle in the back seat. Can you reach it?" he asked, crunching down on the crispy chocolate wafer, "Mm, I miss these. Haven't had one in so long."

@Christian Yu Since Christian wasn't giving him a tissue, but he did offer an alternative at his own expensive, Dongju would be a fool not to take it. He couldn't keep it in his mouth for any longer, and he wouldn't, so he opened his mouth and let the half-chewed pieces of candy, held together by his saliva, drop into Christian's hand. He didn't think Christian deserved thanks after he made him eat such a terrible piece of candy, so he simply pulled out the next packet of snacks. Cookies sounded much better, and Dongju figured it would be pretty hard to mess up cookies. He ripped the package open, eager to get the taste of licorice off his tongue. He ate one, then a second, but the taste didn't hit him until the third. He made a face. "It's so sweet!"

@Nam Dongju Christian had to admit that black licorice candy was probably not the best first impression of Australian snacks that he could've shared with Dongju, since it was a stronger flavor that needed to be warmed up to. He should've advised the younger to save it for later on second thought, but Dongju had already put it into his mouth. From his peripherals, Christian could see Dongju's face contort in a series of displeasured expressions, and he couldn't help but chuckle in response. "Oh goodness, look at you," he cooed, holding a hand out instinctively to cup under Dongju's mouth. "Give it here," he said, ready to receive the uneaten candy, "It is a stronger flavor than what they have here in Korea. I don't blame you for not liking it. No more of this. Grab the long purple package. Those are cookies that you'll like better than this for sure. They're called Tim Tams."

@Christian Yu Dongju ripped the bag open. There wasn't much of a smell to it when he stuck his nose into the bag. The ropes of candy were stark and black, leading Dongju to ponder aloud, "Is this going to stain my teeth?" Dubiously, he pulled one out, gave it another tentative sniff, gave Lori a sniff, then brought it to his mouth. It was like eating a drawer of medication all at once, only it was the colour of hell, and Dongju wanted desperately to spit it all out. He looked pitifully at Christian, the candy half chewed in his mouth, waiting for Christian to smarten up and pass him a tissue.

@Nam Dongju Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Christian was delighted with Dongju's first pick. It was a personal guilty pleasure favorite of his. "[Black licorice]", he said to Dongju in English, without translating it for the younger, "It's a very popular type of candy back in Austrailia. Give it a try." Christian could hear the rustling of the bag as Dongju attempted to open it. "Pass me one too. I want to try it with you. It's been a long time."

@Christian Yu Dongju peered inside the bag he was offered, staring at all the bags of completely foreign snacks. He had never even seen any of these here, and had a sneaking suspicion Christian brought them over from Ameri- no, Australia. Dongju rifled through the bag for anything that sounded remotely more normal, choosing a bag of rope-like candy. Lori's ears twitched at the rustling of the package, and when Dongju held the bag of candy to her, she gave it a sniff and looked up at him. Dongju took it as approval. "This is candy, right?"

@Nam Dongju "Well of course I'm not going to run my tattoo parlor out in the rural areas - I don't need that kind of space!" Christian explained, "But since you take care of plants, I thought you might." He was starting to get used to the way the younger spoke so harshly that it didn't offend him as much as it did before. Dongju was just not very good at communicating, but he was sure that with some time and good modeling, Christian could show him how to say things in a kinder way. "I haves snacks," he said, reaching an arm back behind Dongju to pull out a plastic bag that was filled to the brim with snacks that he had prepared. He offered them out to Dongju, "These are Australian classics. All my favorite. You should try them with me."

@Christian Yu "What kind of question is that?" Dongju squinted, wondering just what kind of business model they taught in that foreign country. Even Lori picked up her head from Dongju's lap, presumably from the outrageousness of Christian's suggestion. "Who the hell is going to buy my flowers if I have a shop in the middle of nowhere? No, if I could afford to move the shop or open a third branch, it'd be in Hongdae, Gangnam, or Dongdaemun. And I should really just let you do that stupid plan of yours on your own, but out of my good conscience, I can't, so I'll warn you now. No one in rural South Korea is going to appreciate your tattoo parlour. Okay? Now do you have something to eat? I haven't had breakfast."

@Nam Dongju The list was much longer than Christian had expected, which resulted in his widened eyes out of concern for Lori wandering around Dongju's shop. However, it made sense that the younger was taking such precautions in his store already, seeing how much he loved Lori from the getgo. "That's good to know," Christian hummed. His own apartment was a simple man's pad, void of any real greenery. He took another highway towards the fair, starting to see more and more farmland as they went, "Do you ever want to move to a bigger business in the rural areas?" he asked.

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@Christian Yu "Well, aloe, for one," Dongju said, listing off the more common houseplants than obscure ones Christian would ever encounter—not that Christian was refined enough of a person to even keep flowers around, but it was still better safe than sorry. "Lilies, chrysanthemums, azaleas, hydrangeas, daffodils, hyacinths." Before Christian got scared and banned Dongju from taking Lori into the shop, Dongju added, "I only keep dog-safe plants on the floor in the shop. Everything else is on a a rack of hung up."

@Nam Dongju It wouldn't be good to push the idea of getting tattoos on somewhat who wasn't ready. Christian was a firm believer that people should only get tattoos if they were fully prepared to start and never stop. One was just not enough. Letting Dongju shift the conversation away, Christian widened his eyes and raised his brows, "Is that right? What are the most common species that we have to be careful of?" he asked. Coming from Australia, there were lots of dangers in nature, but he had learned to stay away from most of them. Being in Korea, things could be different, so it wouldn't hurt to have a native teach him about it.

@Christian Yu "Stop it." Dongju stopped stroking Lori so he could put his full force in a glare at Christian. "I'll never want one, so be quiet." When Dongju signed up for this trip, he didn't think being interrogated about his lack of tattoos was going to be part of it. Scratch that, he didn't think he'd /ever/ be asked such a ridiculous question. Christian was making Dongju feel like a villain for something so normal. "Then, do you know anything about plants? You don't, do you? Do you at least know there's a lot of plant species toxic to dogs?"

@Nam Dongju Dongju was so characteristically sharp-tongued that Christian was unfazed by his outright rejection of the tattoos. He couldn't really blame the younger either, since it was well-known that getting any sort of body modifications in Korea was heavily frowned upon. It was only recently that the entertainment industry started to accept piercings on artists' bodies anyways. "Lori is an Aussie girl," Christian reminded Dongju, "She wouldn't be so quick to judge." He continued to drive, though he would occasionally glance back at Dongju's hands, making an itch build within him. "Maybe tattoos aren't well-liked now, but if you ever decide you want one, I'd be happy to do some work for you," Christian said, "Of course, only if you prefer that kind of style." He didn't push the conversation from there, letting the silence lull between them while he drove.

@Christian Yu "It's not about pain," Dongju huffed. "And I'm not interested in the first place, so no, I don't know anything, and I don't care to know. Actually, no one does here. So you better hide them when we get there, okay?" Did Christian really think it was normal to be tattooed like that here? Did he not notice many of his clients were also foreigners? Goodness, he was blind. Dongju rested his head against the cool window, watching the scenery begin to fly by as they left the city and the road freed up. "Lori says it's unsightly."

@Nam Dongju "Don't worry, I have a jacket in the back," Christian reassured Dongju. If the younger was concerned that Christian was going to catch a cold at the fair and not be able to drive them home, then he need not worry. Christian was hardly the type to get sick, especially since his immune system was built in Australia. As he looked over at Dongju's hands, he noticed that they were clean and pale, untouched by a single drop of ink. "So do you know anything about tattoos?" Christian inquired casually, trying to keep the thoughts at bay of how he might introduce the idea of potentially getting one for Dongju, "Are you scared of pain?"

@Christian Yu "No, it's fine in here, but aren't you going to be cold outside?" Ugh, why was Dongju even concerned? No, it wasn't that he was concerned, but he was just curious. Also, he was the one who had to be stuck with Christian when they were at the convention. Everyone would be staring at Dongju too, wondering why he was hanging out with a gangster. What if someone there recognized Dongju? He had a lot of vendors and connections for his business, and if they thought Dongju was paying them with dirty money, they'd never do business with him again. "Did you at least bring a sweater?"

@Nam Dongju Christian wanted to ask why Dongju didn't get himself a puppy now that he was living alone and not with his parents, seeing that he was so infatuated with Lori. Then again, he didn't want to plant an idea in the younger's mind that would suggest he wanted to increase the distance between them again, and ultimately decided to not say anything at all. Besides, if Dongju wanted to give Lori attention, that was only good for her in the long run. She had known only Christian to be the main constant in her life, so it would do her good to have someone else doting on her. Continuing down the road with one arm on the steering wheel and the other resting over the arm rest on the door, Christian didn't know what prompted Dongju's question until he cocked his head to a side and noticed that Dongju was fixated on his arms. Christian chuckled and shook his head, "No darling, it's quite nice in here. Are you cold? Would you like me to adjust the temperature for you?"

@Christian Yu "Yeah, just go already," Dongju said, bending to sniff the top of Lori's head. The dog smelled heavenly. "Lori-yah, there's a bakery there~ I'll get you lots and lots of treats." Once Dongju let go of her, she curled up on his lap and closed her eyes. Dongju rested his hands over her oven-like body, but he didn't disturb her otherwise. Without Lori to fill up the space anymore, Dongju glanced at Christian. The spring weather had just begun to make its appearance, but while Dongju was swathed in a cashmere turtleneck, Christian was wearing a t-shirt, his loud arms fully exposed. Dongju wrinkled his nose. "Is it really that hot?"

@Nam Dongju "We're going, no need to worry," Christian reassured Dongju when the younger reminded him of the traffic rules. He got into the car again once Dongju entered, and fastened the seatbelt over himself. "Ready to go?" he asked rhetorically, seeing that Dongju was already too invested in Lori to even give him the time of day. He snickered to himself when Dongju referred to himself as someone's Oppa. He wasn't going to oppose to Dongju loving on Lori, but he did have to admit that the sudden infatuation Dongju had with Lori was rather unexpected, and it persisted time and time again too. "I think there is a pup bakery there," he reported after the cooing died down a bit, though his eyes were still on the road, "I planned on getting her a new doggy bed too."

@Christian Yu The night before the convention, Dongju tossed and turned in bed. He had spent time with Christian alone before, and barring the time Christian fixed his sink, the longest time they'd been together alone was probably a few minutes at most, and they argued for most of that time. Now, Dongju was going to be stuck in a car with him for a drive across half of Korea.

But then, the next morning, Dongju realized he had nothing to be scared of. The guy was an idiot—it was more likely Christian would have to focus on driving than anything. Dongju eyed the car parked haphazardly against the curb. "You know this area is foot traffic only, right?" Before anyone could run out to fine them, Dongju grabbed Lori and slipped into the passenger seat, cradling her on his lap as he pulled his seatbelt over his chest. As expected, foreigners never thought the rules applied to them. "This baby was excited?" Dongju babbled to Lori as he held her up by her underarms, his tone of voice completely different when he spoke to the puppy. "I hope they have some doggy things at the convention for you. Oppa is going to spoil you a lot."

@Nam Dongju Just as they had planned, as Sunday morning rolled around, Christian met Dongju in front of their stores. Only this time, he rolled up to the curb in a sedan that he'd rented the night before. It wasn't anything glaringly crazy, but he had not been able to cruise around in a car for a long time, so the whole experience of it had his mood elevated. "Good morning," he greeted, getting out of the car and pushing his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to see Dongju better, "Ready to go?" he called out, pulling Lori out of the driver's seat as well and holding her out to Dongju, "She's been excited for it all night."

@Christian Yu "Hold on," Dongju said, leering at Christian as he hugged Lori a little tighter. "I'm not going to sleep when you're in the car." Without further elaboration, Dongju pulled another biscuit from the bag for Lori, letting her take her delicate little nibbles from his hand. At least Christian was smart enough to know what Dongju wanted to ask next, because being alone in a car with Christian was more daunting than Christian harassing Dongju in the store. "Okay, good. Lori needs some exercise. She doesn't like how you coop her up—that's why she ran out today." Once Lori finished and was smacking her little dog lips, Dongju handed her back to Christian. "I guess I'll meet you in front of our stores on Sunday morning."

@Nam Dongju Christian had not been expecting much from his interest check with Dongju, but he perked up unconsciously when the younger seemed to be interested in the idea. "Yeah! There's two actually, both with different varieties," he said, holding out the flyer again to show the younger, "It's this weekend. I was planning to go on Sunday though, what do you think?" he asked, "Let's head out in the morning?" He had a blatant smile on his face, chalking it up to the fact that he wasn't going to attend the fair alone. "I haven't had the chance to get a car yet since moving to Korea, so I'll have to rent one. I'll drive, so you can sleep more on the car ride over if you need to." He was getting a little carried away with his planning, Christian realized, so he toned it back down, "I'll leave this flyer here with you. Let me know if anything comes up, or if you want to go earlier or later. I'm open to it." he said, reaching over to rub Lori's head, "And yes, I'll bring her along too."

@Christian Yu Dongju thought Christian was quite pitiful. If Dongju had a friend who wanted to be accompanied somewhere, he would go with no hesitation, even if his friend just wanted to ogle at cosplayers. He and Christian were not friends, so it wouldn't make sense for Dongju to go, but it didn't seem right to call them 'enemies'. They didn't fight like they did in the beginning, and their conversations became much more cordial ever since the strikes and ever since Christian fixed Dongju's sink. Although he had complained, he never went after Dongju for money or any weird favours. Dongju didn't want to owe him anything, and he certainly did not want Christian to bring it up again one day when he wanted something sketchy done. "Okay... you said there's a plant corner?" Dongju let Lori his fingers clean, sighing as he conceded. "Okay. When is it?"

@Nam Dongju From the way Dongju had practically tore Lori away from Christian, anyone else who didn't know them would assume that Dongju was the original owner and that Christian was some sleazy dog thief trying to take off with the younger's best friend. He turned and chuckled as Lori stared at him wide-eyed, her lips, and then started to nibble at the milk bone without so much as a muscle twitch to get back towards him. /"Alright, alright, you enjoy that treat love,"/ Christian chuckled, heading back into the store and leaning over the counter while Dongju fawned over Lori. He didn't want to come off as a loner with no friends to Dongju, but the truth of the matter was that since he'd moved to Korea, Christian didn't have much time to socialize between setting up his new shop, receiving new clients, and just trying to acclimate in general. "I don't know anyone interested in this fair as of now," he lamented with a shake of his head and a sigh.

@Christian Yu “Ah, wait!!” Dongju ran after Christian and ripped Lori from his arms. He hadn’t even fed her the treat he bought yet! “I bought these milk bones for her this morning. Let her eat it first, gosh.” He was definitely not panicking that Christian wanted to go with somewhere outside of this plaza, trying to avoid giving an answer. They weren’t even friends, he hated Christian, and he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Yes, he /was/ sure, but all of a sudden, he wasn’t anymore. He cradled Lori and brought her back behind his counter, hand feeding her a milk bone like she was an infant with a bottle. Glancing warily at Christian, Dongju ventured to ask, “Don’t you have other people who can go with you?”

@Nam Dongju "What?" Christian asked, reevaluating his whole choice of wanting to go to the fair or not when he heard what Dongju had to say about it. "Are you sure?" he asked, bringing the flyer back to his face to scan for details, "It doesn't say anything about cosplaying here." Christian had been hoping to see some cool stuff, but he supposed he didn't know enough about Korean culture to know if that was normal or not. In Australia, there were specific cosplay events that were set up for the right demographics. "Well, I thought about asking if you would want to come with me to this, since there are going to be plant vendors there. I'll think a little more...but if you want to come along, the more the merrier," Christian said, bending down to pick Lori up, "Guess it's just you and me for now girl," he said, turning to leave with her.

@Christian Yu "Oh. Good for you," Dongju said, his gaze brushing over the flyer without taking it in too seriously. Lori gave a shrill bark, and Dongju put a finger to to shush her. She was probably so mad that Christian was using her as a garbage disposal that she was asking Dongju to become her new owner. Since she was here, Dongju put her on the counter so he could open the new bag of treats he bought her. There was no time like the present when it came to convincing her that he would make a much better owner. "Of course I've heard of it. It's a big convention where nerds go to look at girls in revealing cosplay. Don't leave it in my store—my clientele aren't really the target demographic."

@Nam Dongju If there was a time to shoot his shot at finding a companion to attend the fair with him, now was as good a time as ever. Dongju's answer sounded optimistic enough for Christian, and he retracted his hand quickly when it was smacked. "Ah well," he chuckled uneasily, "That's the paper that Lori had snatched from me while I was reading it." Unfolding the crumpled mess for Dongju to see once the paper was returned to him, Christian casually explained, "There's a fair coming up. There's a bunch of different vendors that will be there. Have you heard of it before?" Lori seemed to sense that she had a role to play in this conversation, and let out a bark directed at Dongju, as if telling him to read the paper more closely.