1930s in la!au

*

writing to jazz is so relaxing, i'm so giddy and comfortable at the same time...

like. "long ago (and far away)" by chet baker is so flippin pretty, i can;t

Also, when I was writing with no music, "Recording Sketch" by Vixx's N (?) kept playing in my head, so you could say this story was partly inspired by that :)

i tried to focus on the setting for more emphasis on the time zone (tho i usually don't write like that) :) i really hope i didn't mess too much up ahhaa even thouugh i know the 1930s werre DEFO not like what i wrote... anyway, i;m such a bad writer ;/

Let's get on with the short story, shall we XD

***

"alright, jae. let's get it!" jae slowly pushed open the door to one of the most well-known tune cafes in los angeles and made sure that his guitar case did not get stuck in the door as he stumbled inside. today, he had an interview with his potential boss, and he was beyond nervous. as he took a few tentative steps inside, the black-haired man comfortingly clutched his guitar case to his chest and tapped his fingers on it to cool down.

once he looked up from his feet, jae glanced around the cozy cafe in awe. he finally allowed his guitar case to leave his chest and swung it from one of his hands. its peeled, worn plaster tapped against his leg as he slowly began to walk forward in a dream-like stupor, but he paid it no mind. the man was too busy admiring the interior of the cafe to notice such irrelevant details at the moment.

the pale yellow walls were fittingly framed by fascinating white marble columns, supporting gaping archways leading into the center of the cafe. plants adorned the walls and vines climbed up the columns, giving the place a homey feel. glass tables with comfy little chairs were spaciously ordered around the expanse of the cafe, little plants placed at the center of each one along with sugar and a small jar of honey. but what entranced jae the most was the centerpiece all of these details led to. the circular stage planted smack-dab in the middle of the building.

it was... gorgeous.

lights played at the edges of the gazebo, catching the shots of sunlight streaming in from the open glass ceiling and allowing them to twinkle and sparkle on the metal of their holders. the gazebo itself matched the columns, and it was as vast and wide-open as them. there was enough space in it for a small group of performers to fit, and the top must have been open to the sunlight, as a bright spotlight shone at its center, easily illuminating the person currently standing there. as jae walked closer and closer to the gazebo, minding the glass tables neatly placed to the right and left of the pathway he was walking through and his mind never leaving its trance-like state, he could better see the individual talking to the small audience gathered around him at their tables.

a man with glossy, gelled-back hair was softly speaking into a standing microphone, his lips brushing the metal from time to time as his eyes crinkled into shy smiles. jae stopped when the man noticed him and sent him a short glance of recognition before murmuring into the mic, "hello there! you must be jae park. i recognize you from the photograph you sent by telegraph. i'll be over to interview you soon; i have only one song left to perform. thank you for coming early today." he waved over a waiter and signaled for the man to lead jae to a table, but before the waiter could reach jae, the man "oh"ed and murmured once more into the microphone with a playful tone. "i'm young k, by the way. i'm sorry for not introducing myself sooner."

as the waiter ushered jae over to a table situated viewing distance of the gazebo and took his order, jae realized just how heart-wrenching it was to be addressed by a person on stage. once he had safely set his guitar case beside him on the floor and quietly asked for some hot oolong tea ("no milk, please"), jae turned back to the stage. he felt his heart leap when he noticed that young k had waited for him to place his order before he began to sing. because only when he looked up at the stage did young k smile and nod at the pianist sitting at the glamorously white grand piano next to the gazebo, allowing her to begin playing the melody to his last song of the morning.

the sound of the keys being softly tapped by the pianist flowed into jae's ears like honey spilling into a cup of steaming tea, and a few seconds of jae swaying his body to the beat and closing his eyes in bliss passed before the melody faded for a little bit, opening a pathway for young k to start singing.

the first note throbbed and pulled at jae's heartstrings, drawing his eyes open and directing them to the stage where young k's heavenly voice was coming from the breathy pull of his lips on the air. the graceful lips' halting serenade on the microphone drew jae's mouth open and he took in every sound echoing around the cafe. the sounds of dishes softly clattering against glass tables and slurping of beverages from dainty cups faded away, lulled to sleep for an infinitesimal sliver of time as young k's voice carried through the ears of the audience. every time an especially long note came out of the singer's mouth, he would sensually tilt the microphone towards himself, lingering his lips on it as his eyes closed in soft emotion and his eyebrows drew slightly together and up and his nose creased and raised a bit. each and every second of hearing the man's voice carry over to him through the mic swayed jae, captivated him in a veil of comfort and excitement and every other beautiful emotion out there. every time young k's gaze accidentally met his which caused a fleeting smile to settle on the man's lips while he sang, jae's heart would pulse, and when the waiter woke him up from his trance, he noticed the drool sliding down his lip for the first time. sending a quick and quiet thank you to the waiter and wiping his drool with the handkerchief he was offered along with his tea, jae turned back to the stage, where young k was dancing to the sliding of the piano and the straining of the alto-sax and the strumming of the contra-bass, whose sounds melded perfectly together in a mellow jazz melody.

jae smiled and took a slurp from his tea cup, humming at the warm and easing taste of the liquid before looking back up. his glasses had fogged up a bit because of the tea, so he quickly wiped them with the handkerchief. but when his vision finally registered young k dragging his tongue over his bottom lip as he danced and biting his lip, all while gazing at jae (was it on accident? who knew?), the poor man nearly dropped his tea cup in surprise. feeling the burn of scalding hot tea trickling onto his fingers, jae hissed and carefully placed the cup back onto its plate and wiped his burning fingers with the 'kerchief. but the sensation of redness creeping up his fingertips did not distract his curious gaze from the stage, and jae was glad for this. because his eyes were met with a soft body roll, an innocent spin, and a grab of the mic and tilt of it towards the audience as young k's eyes screwed shut and his mouth widened in the emotional drawl of a particularly sensual note that made jae's toes subconsciously curl inside his slacks. jae's heartbeat never strayed from the rhythm for the rest of the song, his ears never strayed from the vibrations of young k's lingering voice, his eyes never strayed from the performer's emotion-clad face. and when the song was over and the instrumental sounds faded, leaving the last breath of the singer echoing through the microphone, jae felt his heart beat out the final traces of rhythm that were meant to silently hide in this last note of the jazz melody.

claps suddenly filled the air around him, some soft sounds of hollering and whistling breaking jae out of his trance. his hands found each other and he joined the clapping individuals as young k pleasantly introduced the musicians who had been playing their instruments along with him, earning more applause from the small group of cafe-dwellers, and then he shyly thanked the audience for their attention and made his way down the few steps of the gazebo. as soon as he remembered that young k was going to come to his table for an interview now that his  performance was over, a flustered blush crept onto jae's cheeks and encompassed his ears, and the glasses-clad individual picked up his cup to take a sip from it to calm himself down. his gaze on the table, jae breathed out into his teacup to steel himself. he realized that this had been a mistake when he saw his glasses steam up once more. as he set his cup down with shaky fingers and grabbed blindly for his 'kerchief, he heard the chair in front of him being pulled out and felt a pair of hands gently tug his glasses off his face.

"here, allow me." young k wiped the glasses with his own dry handkerchief, placing them back on jae's nose when he was done. "better?"

"yes, thank you," jae stuttered. his face turned even more pink and he lifted his shoulders for confidence.

"good." young k finally sat down and fixed the collar of his pink dress shirt, which had begun to slide down his shoulder, scandalously showing off his collar bone. jae almost turned as pink as the shirt having witnessed this action, but he willed himself to calm the fuck down and just snap out of it already. "so, jae park, huh?" when jae nodded, young k smiled. "you can call me young k or brian, whichever you prefer."

"i like brian better. it fits your face more smoothly," jae blurted out, covering his mouth with the handkerchief he had finally gotten his hands back on and blushing madly. upon hearing brian's gorgeous laugh fill the air between them at the table, softened further by the sound of a simple piano and contra-bass melody filling up the cafe, jae started to stutter out through the muffling fabric of the 'kerchief pressed to his lips, "ah, i mean... brian is just smoother-sounding than young k... and you give off that soft kind of vibe... you know?"

"hmmm... not really. would you care to elaborate?" the owner of the cafe teased.

"no," jae breathed out, already embarrassed enough. "no, i would not."

"that's okay, then." brian's eyes became soft as he looked down at jae's tea cup. "what kind of tea did you get?"

"oolong."

"i've never seen somebody drink oolong without milk," brian breathed out in wonder.

"i can't drink milk."

"oh... i'll keep that in mind."

jae cursed his heart for jolting.

"so, jae... you want to be a guitarist here?"

jae nodded, playing with his fingers. "yes."

"can you sing?"

"sure. who can't?"

brian warmly chuckled, his eyes crinkling in a heart-wrenching way. "i like that attitude. more people should have it."

"thanks."

brian chuckled again and jae swore he was into girls. he couldn't be like that roommate of his... mark would never stop teasing him for it, telling him over and over how many times he had told him this would happen... and had been right about it... fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc-- "so... why are you out in only a t-shirt, if i may ask?"

jae looked down at his clothing, his mouth going slack when he noticed his mistake. so that's why the waiter had looked at him with pity. "ah, i'm so sorry," he muttered out once he came back to his senses. a blush of discomfort and embarrassment crept down his neck. "i didn't mean to come here in my undergarments... i just had to run out of my apartment because my roommate had his partner over and i forgot to wear my dress shirt... i'm so so sorry..." *apparently  tshirts were considered underwear in the 1930s or something?? wth?!*

a friendly, bubbly laugh sounded across from him and jae looked up to see brian waving his hands around. "it's okay. it's honestly fine. i have nothing against it... i just wanted to know if you were trying to start a new fashion trend or rebel or something." the man stood up and continued, "since i will be evaluating your skills on stage, let me get you a dress shirt to wear. i don't want you to feel uncomfortable just because you forgot your clothes at home."

as he walked away with a warm smile and a slight giggle on his tongue, jae's gaze followed him. for a second, the guitarist's eyes flicked to the man's ass, but when jae caught them doing that, he flung his eyes back to the table. his face would never stop burning today, would it? and then brian was stopping in his tracks and returning to the table, and jae was scrambling to find something to do to cover up his mistakes... all those fucking mista--

"you know, i just realized how improper it is to change in public. why don't you come with me? and bring your guitar with you."

jae curtly nodded and stood up from his seat. he took one last sip from his teacup before grabbing his guitar case and following after brian. as they entered the back of the cafe, jae noted the warm, light-orange interior, plants lining the walls, a simple bed in the corner, pictures framed up on the walls, a lamp, a window, a windowsill with yet more plants, a dresser, a small kitchen, a breakfast table. jae caught sight of a newspaper lying on the table. the main article was titled, young kafe in la reaching new level of popularity as of late, and then something just clicked in jae's mind. "is it called young kafe because your stage name is young k?" he covered his mouth as soon as these words flew out of it, because of fucking COURSE that's why its called that, jae, you fucking idiot!

"yeah. not all people understand, actually. it's kind of disappointing."

"well, more people should be like me. you said so yourself." jae didn't know where the sudden courage to act like his usual self came from, but it seemed to please brian quite a bit.

"that's right." the man lifted out a casual, white dress shirt with faded blue vertical stripes from his dresser and shut the drawer. "but i'm still glad you're the only you out there." he paused in front of jae, holding out the shirt to him. "jae park." his voice -- halting, slow, taunting; oh how jae wanted to run back to his apartment in embarrassment and tell his roommate every single fucking detail... but then he would have to listen to mark yell on and on about how he knew he would be right someday and that jae would own up to his lack of attraction to women that he would never give up to try to find.

"thanks," jae spoke, trying to pull the shirt over his head as quickly as he could. unfortunately, the buttons were all done up and his head would not fit through the neck opening no matter how hard he tried pulling it through.

brian noticed this and breathed out a chuckle. he stepped forward and stopped jae's frantic actions by gently grabbing onto his hands. "woah, woah. slow down. do you really want to rip my shirt that much?"

jae's entire face burned up even though he couldn't see brian from under his shirt. "no. i'm sorry." his hands clasped around brian's as he shifted to stand up to his full height.

then brian was laughing again, squeezing his palms real quick and untangling their hands to trace his fingers up jae's arms and to the buttons on the shirt. his dexterous fingers masterfully unlatched each button, slowly, haltingly, just like his voice. and when jae could finally see him through the fabric of his shirt, he was met with brian's face only a few inches away from his own, looking down at the buttons he was undoing at the middle of the shirt. the slightly shorter man began to murmur as jae continued to watch him, gazing at how handsome young k was from so close up. not like he wasn't breathtakingly handsome from far away. but jae figured he would not get to see brian from so close up ever again, so that was something. "this is not a t-shirt, jae. do you not know that you're meant to unbutton a dress shirt and put it through your arms, not try to stick your head in firs--" brian finally looked up and noticed jae looking at him, his sentence cutting off as he stared at the man before him in awe. "oh. hello."

jae snapped out of it and swiftly snapped his head down so he was looking at the floor, a shade of embarrassed red taking over his neck. "i'm sorry," he whispered out, gently pushing brian's hands away from the shirt and clumsily unbuttoning the last button. "i usually leave the top button of mine undone so i can pull my head through first."

the owner of the dress shirt took a step back to give him some space to put the shirt on. when jae had trouble pulling his arms through the dress shirt without having his t-shirt crease uncomfortably under its long sleeves though, brian spoke up and stepped closer to jae once more. "wait. that won't work." jae stopped fumbling with the sleeves and looked at brian. their close proximity caused jae to gulp and he turned his eyes down once more as the other man spoke again. "let me help."

jae stopped moving altogether when brian slid the dress shirt off of his arms and draped it over his shoulder. he held his breath when the other man held onto the bottom of his t-shirt and brought it over his head, revealing his bare chest. while brian carefully slid his arms back through the dress shirt and buttoned it, a soft hue of light pink painting his cheeks, jae stood there with a thudding heart and a sluggish mind. fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu--

"all done." brian patted his chest, where a pocket for a handkerchief or a pen was mindfully sewn into the dress shirt. "now you can go perform that song for me."

"thank you," jae breathed out, locking eyes with brian for a second before grabbing his guitar out of its case and following the man back out to where the gazebo was waiting. "you got this, jae! bring it, baby!!" he whispered to himself as brian went to sit at a table directly in front of the gazebo and sent him an encouraging wave.

once jae had sat himself down in front of the lowered microphone and adjusted his guitar on his lap, he looked at brian to see a grin growing on his face. "introduce yourself," brian encouragingly said, winking at jae.

jae felt his heart do the mad galumph, galumph before he gulped back his nervousness and flipped the switch to, "hello, everybody! my name is jae park, and i will be singing and playing guitar for you! gimme some love, now, would you?" a confident smile graced his lips as the people at the tables let out a few celebratory whoops and encouraging claps. and then he started to play.

brian watched jae's fantastic fingers expertly dance over the strings of his gorgeous guitar and listened to the sweet, sweet sound of the notes coming from the instrument. the song was calm, allowing the audience members to chill but captivating them enough to keep them from talking amongst themselves throughout the performance. jae had captured the audience members' attention even before he began singing, younghyun noted. that had not been the case with any of his previous interviewees and employees. jae was special, he knew it.

when jae did begin singing, brian felt his stomach clench in satisfaction, knowing full well that THIS was exactly the voice he had been looking for when he sent out a job request form to the newspaper. and, fuck, was he happy that jae was the one whose voice fit exactly with his needs and expectations for the cafe.

the performing man's eyes were closed in total serenity as he sang, his mouth either wide open in a straining oval or forming a comfortable half moon with small smile lines tugging at the corner or his lips. jae was clearly in his natural habitat on the stage, his body rocking to the rhythm, his crossed legs swinging and foot tapping to the rhythm, his fingers constantly strumming and tapping and sliding. younghyun couldn't draw his eyes away from the alluring sight of the man before him, couldn't tune out his soulful voice for anything. those breathy sighs between verses where what he lived for, those fleeing moments when jae's eyes opened to look his way and innocently blink at him, those times when his breath caught in his chest because jae moved his face forward to drag his lips on the same mic his lips had lingered on only a short time ago... brian never wanted it to end.

but soon enough, jae's voice faded off into the distance, his fingers dragging the last notes out of his trusty guitar until those faded, too. the cafe-frequenters applauded with zeal, calling out jae's name and hollering in joy. but all that mattered to jae was brian standing up from his chair and saying, "you're hired. welcome to young kafe... jae park."

***

AAAAAAAAH I WANt to WRITE A SEQUEL to this SO FUCKING BAD BUT I HAVE TO START WORKING ON THE OTHER DAYS rip