College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Jun 9, 2019 1:23:56 GMT -8
Julian's graduation ended at three in the afternoon. Somehow, after everything, he was able to make it through his valedictorian speech without bursting into tears, or losing his train of thought. He didn't go to the reception though: he had a flight to catch.
One of his best friends, who was fortunately a junior, had convinced her parents to let him stay with them until the end of the school year, and they were also driving him straight to the Spokane Airport after the graduation ceremony. He'd thanked them repeatedly, and they had reassured him, but he was really glad that at least it was Jordan who had sprung for his plane tickets. He felt a little bit bad about that too in some ways, but he figured that if he'd be living with Jordan, he'd find a way to help pay that back a little bit at a time.
His entire life was in two checked bags, a carry on, and a laptop bag. Everything that he'd had time to pack. He was relieved that he ended up not having any trouble catching the flight, and he was so exhausted that he even managed a nap. The flight wasn't very long though, and before he was quite ready for it, they were coming down to land in SeaTac.
When he was finally allowed to turn his phone back on, it was to the text from his brother: Something came up at work. Kenichi, our roommate, is picking you up. I'm sorry. I love you.
Julian was relieved momentarily to find that Jordan had attached a picture. Then he decided that he wasn't relieved anymore because the picture of Kenichi with a pair of adorable dogs gave him a piece of information he really hadn't wanted to know, though he was sure that he would have figured out soon enough: his brother and his brother's partner had a hot roommate. This was going to be so awkward. Julian decided that he would focus on the dogs. The dogs were adorable.
He replied to the text, Thanks for the heads up. I'll see you when we get there.
Julian emerged into baggage claim right as the belt started being filled with the baggage from his flight, and he looked around trying to spot the man from the picture while also trying to watch for his two rather large bags while keeping his smaller bags that had come with him on the flight under control. That was of course when his stomach started growling, and he realized that he hadn't eaten in nearly twelve hours, since seven that morning.
He muttered to himself, "Bags first, find gege's friend, get food. That's the order."
He hoped that things would look simpler once all of those things were done.
Kenichi Yunhe Qiao
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Jun 22, 2019 11:04:50 GMT -8
Something came up at work. Can you please pick up Julian from the airport? Kenichi wanted to pretend he hadn't seen the text. Though as much as he was dreading this, and as nervous as he was, he knew he couldn't just let the kid sit in the airport forever. He sent back a confirmation that he would, and was then sent a picture of the kid (Oh no, he was good looking) and the time his flight would be arriving and the flight number. He yawned as he got up from his bed, making it and tidying up his room. He felt butterflies in his stomach, and he felt like he should have asked more about what Julian was like before this. He fed his dogs and gave them a quick walk before getting dressed properly and heading out. Though he wanted to bring the dogs, he wasn't sure how long he'd be waiting at the airport and didn't want to leave them in the car for that long.
It was only when he was already driving he realized he should have asked Jordan for Julian's phone number, too, but he supposed he'd just have to depend on the picture. He parked the car in the short-term parking lot and walked into the airport, checking his phone for the flight number again as he looked up at the board, happy to see it said it had arrived. He wandered over to the baggage claim with the flight number, looking around for the boy. He saw someone that seemed to fit the picture, looking up at the boy and back at the picture a few times before approaching him hesitantly. "Are you Julian?" He asked, not sure if those butterflies would feel like they were exploding more if the kid said 'yes' or 'no.'
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Jun 24, 2019 19:43:35 GMT -8
Julian was relieved that Jordan's friend found him quickly, well mostly. He looked up, quite a bit up in fact, at the other man, and was embarrassed that his voice cracked a little bit as he replied, "Yeah, that's me, you must be Kenichi, Jordan's friend."
He blurted out on the heels of that, not quite thinking because he was tired and hungry, and the day had been rather emotional, "You're really tall."
He blushed and ducked his head and muttered, "I, um, I still need to get my bags off the thing, the, um, baggage claim place. But do you think we could maybe stop somewhere for food? I think that I have enough cash left from birthday money to pay for something."
He felt like an idiot and he kind of really wished that it was his brother here picking him up, and not someone who he was sure he was going to get to know pretty well, but was currently just a very pretty stranger who he was pretty sure he wasn't making a very good first impression on.
As he spotted his bags and rushed over to catch them, rubbing his face with his sleeve to try to make his eyes stop leaking. He pulled the two bags off the belt and turned to try to figure out where Kenichi was. He hoped that the other man hadn't parked too far away.
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Jul 6, 2019 11:52:19 GMT -8
Kenichi let out a visibly nervous laugh at Julian's comment about his height. "Yeah... Don't know where it came from." He said honestly. His dad was next tallest in his immediate family, and he was still nearly a head taller than his dad. He noticed the kid seemed frantic, though he supposed he couldn't blame him. He couldn't imagine getting disowned or being forced to leave home literally straight out of high school. His chest ached as he looked at Julian. The poor kid was clearly a mess. "Uh, yeah, we can get anything you want. My treat, you just got here." He said softly. He hoped that wasn't overstepping any boundaries, and he chewed on his bottom lip as Julian grabbed his things.
He pointed in the general direction of the parking structure. "I got a pretty good spot." He began, "Did you want help carrying anything?" He was awkward around sad people, because he always wanted to help them but never knew how. Did he ignore it? Acknowledge it? Give him a hug? Do you give someone you just met a hug? At least he had tissues in the car, he could offer them now matter how awkward he felt about this whole situation.
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Jul 8, 2019 23:41:57 GMT -8
Julian scrubbed a little bit more at his face and managed to get out a slightly watery, "Thank you, you sure? I can, um, pay you back, or take you out to eat once I've got a job. Can you pick something maybe? I don't know what there is here."
He wasn't very picky about food, but he kind of wanted something that would be comfort food right then. He added, "Something comfort food maybe?"
He tentatively held out the handle on the smaller of the two big rolling bags and said, "You're already helping me a bunch, but if it's not too much trouble, it's hard to juggle them both."
He looked down at his feet. He wished that his brother had been able to pick him up, or even his brother's partner, because he knew that he was already kind of imposing on Kenichi, and he didn't want to start out by seeming too needy.
Then it struck him again that he was probably going to have to find a job, and he'd never done that before. He had volunteer experience at least because that had been required for school, but he hoped it would be enough and he'd be able to find something. He kept trying to hide his slightly panicked sniffles as he followed Kenichi towards his car.
As they got further from the bustle of other people trying to get their bags, he added, very quietly, more muttering towards his shoes than actually talking to his brother's friend, "Thank you for... well this. I'm sorry I'm already causing you trouble."
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Jul 16, 2019 19:46:51 GMT -8
Kenichi gently took the bag from Julian's hands and gave him a smile, "Yeah, it's fine, and don't worry about paying me back; at some point or another you'll probably end up treating me to a meal or something. I don't know, maybe in a year from when we celebrate how awkward your brother made things by not being able to pick you up." He said, hoping Julian read it as a joke, as that was how he intended it.
As they got closer to the car, and Julian muttered his thanks, Kenichi nodded, "It's not a problem, really." He assured him. "No trouble at all. Although..." He tapped his chin, "I've been trying to figure it out on my own based on Jordan's food preferences, but I really am not sure what you'd constitute as comfort food. So I'm fine going whereever, but I'm going to need a little more of a hint."
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Jul 28, 2019 2:16:16 GMT -8
Julian let out a slightly sniffly laugh at Kenichi's comment about Jordan making it awkward. He said, "I'm probably not helping the awkward, am I? I've had a day, well a month really. I went straight to the airport from graduation. I'm still in my graduation clothes, which like weren't super fancy because robes over them and I wasn't going to the reception, but I was valedictorian so I had to look reasonable on the visible parts. I would have liked to have a better first impression."
He still wasn't sure how he'd gotten through his speech that morning. He hoped that Kenichi wouldn't think worse of him for being a mess.
He had to think for a moment, settling into the car once he had loaded his bags and leaning against the passenger side door, sagging with exhaustion, once he'd fastened his seatbelt. Then he replied, "Um, Chinese food and Vietnamese food mostly. Somewhere I can get tea would be good, I'm very tired."
He hoped that that was a broad enough category that Kenichi could pick something.
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Sept 16, 2019 18:42:47 GMT -8
Kenichi frowned, consciously wiping it off his face before getting into the car to keep neutral facial features. "Nah man, you're allowed to make it awkward. You've had a rough month, like you said, but also from what your brother has told me, and I'd honestly consider it a worse first impression if you were emotionless or happy right now."
He thought a moment before smiling, "In that case, I'll take you to your brother's - and so consequently mine and his husband's - favorite Chinese restaurant. They have good tea, and even a couple desserts if you so desire."
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Sept 17, 2019 1:21:18 GMT -8
Julian nodded, not quite sure what to say to that. He took a moment to wipe his face with the tissues in the car, clutching the used ones into a ball in his hand, not quite sure where to put them, and not quite comfortable enough to ask.
He was relieved when Kenichi decided on a place to go, and he replied, voice soft and timid, "That sounds good. Tea sounds good too, but I don't like many sweets, so unless they have one of the rare things that I like, I think that I'll probably stick to the not sweets."
He was tempted to ask about his brother's husband, since Kenichi knew that man, but he was also a little bit antsy to do so. He didn't want to make things more awkward. Instead, he hit on something that he could feel pretty confident asking about. His voice was still shy, but he sounded genuinely curious when he asked, "There were two really cute dogs in the picture that Jordan sent me of you, are those yours?"
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Oct 26, 2019 11:57:20 GMT -8
Kenichi gestured toward the back, "There should be a little bag for trash somewhere back there." He mentioned, noticing Julian was holding the tissues. He usually kept his car pretty clean, but it was only made possible after someone (he couldn't remember who, possibly an old friend) suggested he keep a trash bag of some sort in the car. Before that, his car tended to get pretty messy pretty often. "I think just behind my seat." He added before pulling out of the spot, and beginning the drive to the restaurant.
He had to stop himself from making a big deal of Julian not liking sweets; but often had to remind himself not everyone grew up on sweets, or practically lived in a bakery their whole lives like he and his sister had. "Maybe you'll find one, if not, that's okay too." He said simply in regards to the sweets comment.
A smile broke out on his face the mention of his dogs. "Yup! They like to go places with me, too, so when I'm going somewhere I know allows dogs, I bring them along. The white one is named Xiao Wei, and then orange one is Wan-kun."
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Oct 29, 2019 1:17:06 GMT -8
Julian was relieved that Kenichi seemed understanding at least, but it didn't make it less awkward, not really. This was someone whose whole life he was about to invade. They'd be sharing a bedroom, which granted, he would have been sharing a room with a stranger if he'd ended up in the dorms, but that wasn't in his scholarship, so if he wasn't living with his brother, he might not have been able to even start university when he was supposed to. Plus, Kenichi was a stranger who wasn't really entirely a stranger. This was one of his brother's closest friends, one who lived with his brother. If he got this interaction wrong somehow, Jordan might be mad at him for it.
He was glad that Kenichi seemed enthused to talk about his dogs. Julian smiled a little bit tearily listening to him, and said, "I'll look forward to meeting them then. They're names are cute too."
He stumbled over his thoughts then, wondering what he should say or do next. Normally, Julian was pretty OK at being friendly with people. He finally asked tentatively, "What sorts of things do you like to do? I don't feel like my brother told me much about you, or even his husband, maybe because I was still living with our parents or maybe because we were just so far away. I wonder if he was originally planning to introduce us slowly."
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Nov 18, 2019 15:49:59 GMT -8
"That's possible, or even likely. No one really expected things to end up this way, and so it's possible Jordan just kind of... forgot he hadn't mentioned us much." Kenichi let out a shy chuckle as Julian mentioned wanting to meet his puppies and liking the names, "Thanks. They'll more than likely love you immediately." He said softly. He chuckled slightly as he tried to think of what he liked to do. "Uh... I like art. I draw myself, but also like going into the city to visit the Seattle Museum of Art. Uh... watching movies? Star-gazing? Learning about my family's heritage and culture?" He ended all of his hobbies as if it were a question, trying to think of things he liked that might also be of interest to Julian. "Honestly, your brother hasn't told me much about you, either. Except for like, basic older brother things, and like, how proud of you he was that you got into UW."
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Nov 18, 2019 23:53:38 GMT -8
Julian perked up a little bit as Kenichi started listing off his interests. He asked tentatively, "Do you think that you'd be willing to show me the Seattle Art Museum at some point? I'm always nervous to go to things like that alone, but I like museums."
He smiled a little bit and figured that Kenichi was probably right about Jordan not expecting to toss them together like this. He said, "I like the arts a lot in general. I've never been as good at drawing as I would have liked, but I did choir and orchestra all through school, and I'll probably try to keep doing them at UW or with community ones or something. I really like singing especially. And dance, but I didn't get to pursue that as much as I wanted, mostly because I was able to take it for my PE credits at school."
There were still a few sniffles coming out of him, and he was still kind of exhausted, but he figured that he and Kenichi would be able to find some common ground at least. He asked, still tentative, "What sort of movies do you usually like? I feel really silly saying this, but I've never actually gone to see a movie in a theater before. It's on the list of things that I want to do now that I'm here."
He was relieved that Jordan's friend, his new roommate, wasn't an engineer. Julian still had no clue what he wanted to major in in school. He knew what his parents had wanted, and there had been some of that that he'd been OK with and had been defaulting towards, but now he got to choose for himself, and he had a full ride four year scholarship and was ahead on credits, so he could spend some time just taking classes he was interested in.
|
|
Barista.
Homosexual.
Single.
04/07/1995.
28.
Boar (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Kenichi Yunhe Qiao on Dec 2, 2019 22:45:01 GMT -8
Kenichi's face broke into a smile at Julian's request. "Sure!" He said excitedly. He was relieved; so far, Julian seemed nothing like his little sister, and it made him hopeful that Julian wouldn't be holding his smarts over his head.
"Um... I like nearly every kind of movie. Lately I've been on an action movie binge, but that's mainly because of all the Marvel movies that have been coming out lately." He was kind of shocked Julian had never been to a theater, but he tried to not show it, "Also we've definitely got to go see a movie in theaters at some point, is clearly what that means, so you're in luck we don't live far from the mall that has a theater." He said matter-of-factly.
|
|
College Student (UW).
Gay.
Single.
05/04/2001.
21.
Snake (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Julian Jiangqing Vu on Dec 10, 2019 3:51:21 GMT -8
Julian gave Kenichi a slightly watery smile just as his stomach grumbled audibly, and he blushed just a bit. He murmured sheepishly, "Um, I guess I'm definitely hungry."
Following up on their conversation, he said, "I've also not ever seen a Marvel movie, though I've read some of the comics, those were easier to smuggle into the house in my backpack."
He figured that Kenichi had to at least have an idea of the fact that he'd been kicked out, though he didn't know how many details Jordan had shared. Hell, he realized that he didn't actually know for a fact that Kenichi knew that he was gay. He wasn't too worried about that, this was the roommate of his brother and his brother's husband, which indicated that it wasn't going to be an actual issue, but he realized he had no clue.
He whispered, "I also just realized that I have no idea how much you know about me, and like what happened and stuff."
He knew that he was being vague, but it was hard, not knowing what to expect his new roommate who was best friends with his brother, to know and not know and what he'd have to tell. Telling this stuff was harder.
|
|
