I'll make a man out of you (Jiyong)

[Jacob Tapper]

Jacob Tapper was laying down in the courtyard, basking in the warm sun of the mid-afternoon. It was late September, so this being one of the last warm days for the next several months, Jake - and, judging by the number of other people in the courtyard, many of his peers - wanted to take full advantage. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, his red polo shirt discarded on the grass beside him. His sneakers had also been taken off, and with a pair of sunglasses on, it looked more like he was ready for the beach than for autumn in Vermont. It was summer if he said it was.

As it was, the weather was comfortably in the seventies that day, and he wasn't the only one dressed for the occasion. Notably, there were plenty of girls his age - and a few a bit younger - hanging out in the vicinity, gossiping or pretending to study or just laying out. It was shorts weather, maybe the last day like it until April, and Jake was indulging his instinct to check out those around him, particularly the small groups of girls who would occasionally walk by. He'd flash an award-winning smile occasionally, or say hello to someone he knew, but for the most part he just watched.

That said, he wasn't there for the girl-gazing. At least, not only for that reason. Little Jiyong would be joining him shortly. They were friends, sort of - they'd developed this kind of unexpected big bro-little bro dynamic, where Jiyong was kind of cute and Jake occasionally fed him. A party-sized bag of cheetos and few cans of soda* attested to the fact that he was expecting company. It was kind of nice having someone he could just be himself around, and who made him look more buff and masculine simply by association. Everyone had their use to Jake.

For now, the brunet was laying quietly in the grass, a notebook and pencil resting on his torso, going unused for the time being. He'd been jotting some notes for a story he wanted to write based on a vision he'd had earlier that week, but it wasn't coming together as well as he'd have liked. It rarely did; his visions were always better as he saw them, than as he wrote them down later.

((*I see Jiyong doesn't like "greasy American food," so if you'd rather it be something else feel free to just change it!))

[Jiyong Kang]

How Jiyong had managed to find a friend like Jacob, he would never know. He had a tendency to stick close to those who he could more easily communicate with, for comfort’s sake, but he wasn’t so introverted that he didn’t try to branch out on occasion. And so he’d found he liked the older, effortlessly ‘cooler’ guy, and for some reason, he seemed to like Jiyong back!

At least, he figured he did, considering they had actually planned to hang out. Jiyong would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited about it. And maybe if he was lucky, Jake would have brought some American snacks along! The Korean boy found there were many such foods that either didn’t taste good to him or didn’t agree with his stomach, but that didn’t keep him from trying new ones when they were presented to him. He didn’t have a lot of extra money to spend on those sorts of things, so he usually had to rely on his peers for such opportunities.

He scampered out into the courtyard, dressed in some of his ‘hippest’ clothes and snapback hat (at least, he thought they were hip, but likely weren’t anything special really). When Jiyong caught sight of Jake, he immediately grinned and sent him a big thumbs up. “Whoa, daebak! Hyung look so cool!” he declared when he got close enough. Really, how he look so cool even just relaxing? “You write for class?” he asked curiously, motioning to the notebook nearby. Jiyong should probably do his homework soon, but… This came first! He was side-eyeing the large, bright bag of…. Cheetos? … but he didn’t want to be rude and ask if he could try one until Jake offered.

[Jacob Tapper]

Since Jake had been looking around anyway, he noticed Jiyong approaching him almost instantly. He smiled - not nearly as wide as Jiyong's ecstatic grin, and without the thumbs-up gesture - and waited for him to come closer. He'd heard the younger male use this "hyung" word before, and now he was pretty sure it had something to do with him. He'd clarified, earlier on, that his name was "Jake, not hyung," but he hadn't really understood the Korean's explanation at the time. He did agree that he looked cool, though. Effortlessly, flawlessly, undeniably cool.

He sat up, cross-legged, when Jiyong joined him on the ground. He looked down at the notebook, which had just slid down into his lap when he'd maneuvered into a seated position. "Oh, nah," he said, shaking his head. He didn't really want to explain what it was he had been writing - ideas for a story based on a particularly interesting trans-dimensional vision he'd had of one of his friends earlier that week - since it was kind of embarrassing that he wasn't any good at it. On second thought, he probably should have just said it was for class, as that was the more convenient answer, even if it was a lie.

The brunet's gaze followed Jiyong's, landing on the snack he had brought. He grabbed at them, opening the bag with that loud crinkling noise chip bags make when they're opened, and leaning the opening towards Jiyong. "Wanna try some?" He asked, perhaps a little bit louder than he needed to. Evidently he subconsciously thought talking louder made him easier to understand. "They're cheetos. They're cheesy. But it's not real cheese. I don't think. They're good." They were the big, puffy kind, not the original, smaller and crunchier kind. Jake liked them better this way.

[Jiyong Kang]

It was just habit for Jiyong to use the titles he was so used to for the majority of his life. Even when speaking English, it was a hard thing to stop doing. He knew Jake had told him to use his name, but it just seemed disrespectful, especially for such a cool guy! Jiyong just really didn’t want to seem uncool or impolite in his eyes, even though he probably seemed strange just for trying so hard.

“No?” he repeated curiously, wondering if it was alright to ask what it was that he was doing, considering Jake didn’t offer an explanation after answering. “You… Write love letter?” he guessed with a grin afterwards, just to be playful and sort of pry without really seeming like he was. And it sure was a romantic day, with the sun out and the sky blue, and the trees starting to turn pretty shades of red and orange. Lots of pretty girls around too, wow~ “Ahh, hyung, American girls so beautiful,” he sighed dreamily.

Ah! Jiyong sat up excitedly when Jake grabbed the exciting, crinkly bag, hoping that he would like whatever was inside. “Oh, yes please!” he beamed at the question. “I have not try before.” Fortunately, the younger boy didn’t seem to notice Jake’s louder-than-average voice; he thought Americans were loud in general anyway. “Cheetos, yes,” he repeated curiously. “Cheese is good! I not have a lot until I came here, but I like it.” Growing up on a farm in rural South Korea, there were many food experiences that were new to him, even cheese. He eagerly picked one out and popped it in his mouth, eyes rolling up slightly as he determined whether or not he liked it. “Ahh, wow, really strong flavor!” he exclaimed after swallowing. “Is good! Can I have another?” It tasted unusual, but not bad. And he enjoyed the texture.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake's eyes widened somewhat when Jiyong asked if he was writing a love letter. "Ah, no," he replied, quickly taking the notebook and closing it, the dark blue cover concealing anything that might have been written inside. From homework to love letters... well, maybe the truth was even weirder than either of those. But he couldn't help but be interested in the visions he had.

When the Korean commented on the beauty of American girls, Jake could only agree. "Yeah, they're pretty great," he stated; he had, just the other day, been to a house party hosted by one of the cheerleaders, and could attest firsthand to how beautiful they were. Some of them were even nice, too, which was the cherry on top. Pretty AND nice was the gold standard of American girls, in Jake's own opinion.

The brunet watched as his young friend tried a cheeto, pleased that he liked it. "It is good," Jake corrected helpfully. "Every sentence has a subject. The cheeto is good." He nodded sagely. It was easy to seem like a genius next to someone who wasn't fluent. That's why he kept the kid around. "You can have as many as you want." Obviously he wasn't planning on eating a family-sized bag of cheetos all by himself. He had no doubt Jiyong probably could, though.

Three young ladies happened to be walking by where they were sitting at that moment, and one of them knew Jake from English class (and a variety of social activities; they moved in similar circles). "Hey, Jaaaake," she greeted in a Valley Girl accent as she and her friends walked past, facetiously sounding flirtatious; they were just friends.

"Hi, Natalie," he replied with a smile, giving her a wink he realized she wouldn't see through his sunglasses.

"Shirt off, eh? Last day of summer for ya?" She laughed. "Better enjoy it while it lasts." She liked him, but she also thought he was kind of a tool sometimes, this being one of those times.

"Yeah, you too," he replied with a grin, not missing a beat; he was implying that she should enjoy the view before fall came and he could no longer go around shirtless.

She laughed again, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as the three girls walked on. Jake watched them go; yes, American girls were pretty great.

[Jiyong Kang]

“Oh,” Jiyong replied simply to the denial about a love letter. Bummer, that would have been exciting! Apparently whatever it was, Jake didn’t want the younger boy to know, so he decided to stop prying. It must be something super-secret, like… Like Jake was a spy, or something! Yeah! At least, Jiyong could dream of such things. Speaking of dreaming… Jiyong sighed and nodded hopelessly as he stared after a particularly beautiful girl with long, dark hair and honey-colored skin. “Jake probably know a lot of girls, yes?” he asked his friend. He sure seemed the type to easily be able to interact with the opposite gender, unlike the Korean boy. He’d barely been able to talk to that shy cutie in the garden a while back, and she hadn’t even been an intimidating girl!

Jiyong blinked and looked up as the older boy corrected him, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. “It is good,” he repeated meekly. He didn’t mind his friends helping him with his English (especially since he didn’t practice it as much as he should), but it still embarrassed him a little bit. “Hyung is so smart, whoa~” he announced, not joking the least bit. Maybe he could try to teach Jake some Korean words and phrases sometime? “Really!?” he exclaimed, immediately reaching for the bag and grabbing several more of the snacks. “Kamsahamnida! Thank you!” If Jiyong wasn’t careful, he would end up with his fingers and the corners of his mouth coated in orange powder.

He munched on them as he curiously, and silently, watched the interaction between the genders happening in front of him. Jiyong dare not interfere, not unless Jake made an indication for him to. When it was over, the Korean boy shook his head incredulously and grinned over at his friend. “Hyung makes it look so easy!” he exclaimed with a sigh. “No girl talk to me like that. I think I am too short.” He pouted down at his five-foot-seven frame. “Or maybe, American girls not like me?” He’d heard rumors that there were certain stereotypes about his race that might be ‘unappealing’ to them, but surely not all of them cared about such silly, untrue things, right? “What does hyung think?” Did Jake think that Jiyong had any hope in wooing a beautiful blonde?

[Jacob Tapper]

What Jake liked most about Jiyong was how cool he felt next to him. The Korean boy seemed to hang onto his every word, to fawn over him and his ability to address women, and to appreciate even the most simple of gestures like sharing his food with him. The brunet wondered if this was what it was like to have a little brother, someone who seemed to look up to you and let you be the boss and the teacher. It was a nice feeling, particularly for someone like Jake who liked to be in charge and always appreciated an ego boost.

"Yeah, you could say I know a lot of girls," he replied with a grin and a nod. He was actually pretty middling in that department - there were probably a bunch of guys who knew more girls than he did, and certainly many who had gone further with a girl than he had - but again, it was nice to feel special. And he did his fair share of meaningless flirtation, like his brief exchange with Natalie.

He frowned, though, as Jiyong pondered aloud why he might not have so much luck with the Ladies of Hammel. In truth, yes, Jake was aware that there were certain... prejudices about Asian boys, and frankly there were just a lot of white chicks who weren't into Asian guys. (Now white guys into Asian girls, on the other hand... you couldn't swing your arms around without hitting one of those.) But he couldn't tell his little brother that! Then he'd never get any confidence around women. Jake didn't usually like to sugarcoat things - it just didn't do anyone any favors - but he didn't have to be brutally honest, either. There was a middle ground.

"No, no, it's not that," he said, raising a hand in protest, as though to hush the other boy's worries. "Girls like you!" Okay, maybe he was sugarcoating things. "I've even heard a few saying so." What are you DOING, Tapper? He screamed at himself internally, like he was unable to stop himself from running his mouth. Stop talking. But hey, being hyung had its obligations: he had to be good to the kid. But he could make this work. "It's just... girls like to be approached. They don't want to have to do all the work, ya know? So you just need to be more confident."

Another girl walked past them, saying hello to Jake but not to Jiyong - it was nothing personal, but she was in Jake's grade and had never met the younger kid - which didn't help Jake make his point about girls liking to be approached.

[Jiyong Kang]

Jake really felt like an older brother to Jiyong, like one he never had. His only sibling was his younger sister, and she was still back in Mokpo; he missed her dearly, but had no idea when he would see her in person again. His family didn’t make enough money to be able to fly him, or them, to see each other on a regular basis. So Jake would have to do for now, and he was great!

“I knew it!” Jiyong exclaimed with a laugh. Of course Jake knew girls, he was great at everything! “Maybe hyung can introduce some time? Maybe a girl that could like me?” He had no idea what kind of girl he could go after that might like his type. How was one even supposed to be able to tell? But surely one of the many women that Jake knew might think Jiyong was cute, right? Surely not all American women thought the way that the older boy was thinking, right…??

“They do??” he replied with wide, trusting eyes. Surely the brunette meant what he said! “You have??” Maybe girls were just too shy to talk to him? Oh no, poor ladies! “Who?? Hyung, please tell!” Jiyong would have been shaking the other boy’s arm by this point if his fingers weren’t covered in orange powder. As it was, he was leaning in almost precariously close, like he might topple over if he went too much further. He listened intently to Jake’s ‘wisdom’, nodding along like he understood (he didn’t really). “Confident! Yes!” he exclaimed. “I can do that!” Kimi had seemed to like his honey bees… Maybe he needed to show them to girls more confidently! Yeah!

But when the girl walked past and promptly ignored him, Jiyong deflated a little. “… Maybe… Maybe hyung can give an example?” he asked hopefully, reaching for another handful of Cheetos as he pouted. “Girls kind of… Scary…” he admitted sheepishly.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake and Jiyong had never discussed this, but the brunet also had a sister; she was three years older than him and, like most girls around their age, found him cute and generally nice but sometimes sort of annoying (but then again, what older sibling didn't occasionally see his or her younger counterpart as a nuisance). Jake didn't really know what it was like to have a younger brother, and he wagered having a Jiyong was about as close as he'd ever get to finding out.

Seeing the hopeful look in the younger boy's face made Jake instantly regret lying, not that he'd considered it a smart thing to do from the outset. Now he was on the hook: he had to essentially prove there was a girl - any girl, literally any girl - at Hammel who had something nice to say about this kid. That really shouldn't be too hard, one would think: Jiyong was a nice guy, sweet and sensitive and all that crap girls said they liked before ending up with a guy more like Jake. More importantly, he was pretty cute and had youthful features, which was definitely a plus at his age. The only problem, as far as the transdimensionalist could see, was that he just didn't know that many girls Jiyong's age or younger, so it would be hard for him to land on someone.

When pressed for details, Jake thoughtfully demurred. "Well, it's more like... I've heard it around." Here he made some kind of gesture with his hand out towards the world, as though to show that these thoughts belonged to the universe itself and not to anyone in particular.

"Yes, confident!" He replied, mirroring the boy's excitement. "They're not scary; you just need to figure out which girl you like, and then... you know, go for it." He was having trouble getting more specific than that, so Jiyong's request for an example was actually a helpful one. "Um, okay," he said, looking around the immediate area: there weren't any girls he knew well enough to do this with, and he'd feel sort of weird approaching a stranger just for Jiyong's sake. He turned back to the other boy. "Here, why don't you be the girl, and I'll be the guy, and then I can show you how to approach... you." He nodded like surely Jiyong would see the wisdom in this idea.

[Jiyong Kang]

Maybe…. Maybe Jake knew Kimi? Maybe she had said something about liking him?? It was the only girl Jiyong could think of off the top of his head. He had given her a flower, after all... Girls liked flowers! He knew that much. And he knew so much about gardening… Maybe he should hand them out to girls more often? But then… Would they get jealous of each other? Was it possible for them to get jealous over him??

He was thinking all of these thoughts as he waited for Jake to give a name or two. What he said instead made Jiyong’s eyes widen in wonder. “So… So lot of girls?” he asked, awed. That must be why Jake couldn’t give him a single name, right? “Wow, daebak!“ Jiyong was going to have to find these girls! It was sort of amazing that none of them had approached him before, but… maybe he attracted the shy type? Kimi had seemed shy, so that made sense, right?

“I… I think I have girl I like,” he admitted a little shyly. “I meet her in the garden some days ago. Her name is Kimi.” She wasn’t scary, he thought. But how was he supposed to “go for it”, especially when she was so quiet and didn’t react strongly to things? He waited expectantly for Jake to find a girl to give an example with, but when he gave his idea instead, Jiyong almost laughed at the idea. But… Maybe it would work? “Okay, hyung!” he chirped, sitting up straighter. “Er, I mean… Oppa~” The younger boy giggled, then cleared his throat and tried to put on a good act. Jiyong lifted his chin and pretended to flip some hair over his shoulder as he gazed dramatically away from Jake into the distance. “This good?” he whispered without looking at his friend.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake didn't know anybody named Kimi, so when Jiyong mentioned her he just stared blankly back at him for a moment. He was going to try really hard to stop lying just to make his younger friend feel better, and that started with not purporting to know this girl, or how she felt about him. That just wouldn't be helpful, especially if he guessed wrong. "A girl you like," he repeated, nodding his head. Well, that was good: it meant they had something to work with, rather than Jake having to find the girl. "Why don't you, like, pretend to be her, that way you can see how I would talk to her and you can do the same." That seemed like a good enough suggestion.

He didn't know what "oppa" meant, just as he barely knew what "hyung" meant, so the comedy of the statement was lost on him. Instead, he watched as the Korean 'got into character,' smirking as he pretended to play with his imaginary long hair. "Uh, yeah, that'll work," he replied, shaking his head when Jiyong was turned away. He was starting to kind of regret this idea, since despite being manlier in the traditional sense than Jiyong was, it would still be hard for him to pretend he was a girl and actually make some moves on him.

He cleared his throat, like it was now time for him to become an actor, then 'approached' girl-Jiyong. "Uh, hey, Kimi," he said with a smile as he got 'her' attention. "How's it going? Your hair looks really nice today." Jake couldn't recall ever saying that to a girl, but they did like to be complimented, so it was a lesson Jiyong should learn.

[Jiyong Kang]

Jiyong belatedly remembered that Kimi actually had short hair – almost as short as his – and therefore his ‘acting’ wasn’t all that accurate if he was supposed to be her. “Kimi very shy though…” he mused to himself, wondering how she might react to being flirted with in this way. Jiyong honestly didn’t know her all that well yet, just that she said about one word for every dozen that he had spoken.

Was it bad how well (at least, he thought he was doing well) he could act like a girl? He was, after all, supposed to be strong and tough and masculine – but this was just for fun, right? And educational purposes!

He tried not to crack a smile as Jake “approached” him, but it was pretty hard. Instead he dramatically turned to look at the older boy, and fluttered his lashes (that was what girls did, right?). “Hi,” he said softly, trying to imitate her voice. So soft… “You think? I don’t know…” He fluffed his hair “nervously”; Kimi had acted really shy when he’d complimented her flower crown, after all. In fact, she’d taken it off as though she was too self-conscious about it once he’d pointed it out. Jiyong was still trying not to laugh, though. “I am good, Jake-san. Can I help you?” He didn’t know if he was using the right honorifics or not, but at least he was trying. He knew less Japanese than English.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake sure had his work cut out for him, as it turned out: whomever Jiyong was mimicking was a very soft-spoken thing, quite different from the more extroverted girls Jake usually set his proverbial sights on. No matter: he was convinced he could win over pretty much anyone if he tried hard enough. After all, he'd gotten a cheerleader interested in him without saying a word, and one of his teammates just by looking at him the right way. This would be a walk in the park. Maybe.

He didn't let 'Kimi's self-consciousness deter him. "Yeah, I definitely think so," he replied just as surely as before. "You look real pretty." Perhaps surprisingly, Jake actually did not feel weird saying these things to Jiyong, who while cute was obviously not a pretty girl with nice hair: the transdimensionalist must be a better actor than he had given himself credit for. Or maybe the Korean was just effeminate enough that he didn't really have to act that hard. But that was what Jake was there to help with.

When asked if Jiyong-as-Kimi could 'help' him, he was a bit thrown off. That wasn't a question he usually got. The honorific, of course, was completely lost on him as he spoke no Japanese, but by now he'd learned that Jiyong occasionally threw in foreign-sounding things into casual conversation and he could pretty easily just ignore them. "Well, I just wanted to talk to you," he replied, "I like talking to you." He flashed here an award-winning smile, the kind that so often got him out of trouble and endeared him to others. Who could resist? "Are you doing anything fun this weekend?"

[Jiyong Kang]

Maybe the reason that Jiyong didn’t find this interaction quite so strange as most people was because he didn’t really understand that two men could actually be interested in each other in this sort of way. Growing up on a farm in Korea, not much was spoken about same-sex relationships around him; as far as he was aware, they weren’t really a common thing. He’d seen a couple strangely intimate-acting friends(?) since coming to Hammel, but he hadn’t really paid close enough attention to them to ask too many questions. If he did ever have questions, though, he would definitely ask his hyung first!

Had any girl called him handsome, Jiyong surely would have blushed. As it was, he had to stifle laughter at being called “pretty”. “You are too kind,” he replied with a wave of his hand, still in the soft voice he remembered. How would Kimi have replied to that? “You… Are not bad too.” Ehh… maybe not quite, but close enough? He began fiddling with his hair, tucking some strands behind his ear and letting out a small, feminine giggle (partially to get his own mirth out, and partially trying to keep up the cute, shy girl act).

He reached into the grass and picked a daisy. Jiyong remembered seeing Kimi doing something with the flowers with Bunny (another cute girl!) that day before she’d run into him, so it seemed like the right thing to do. “You want to talk to me?” he repeated, trying to sound surprised. “Why? I am not interesting…” That seemed like something she would say. Kimi didn’t seem to have a lot of self-confidence in that department, as far as he could tell. That smile, though, made him grin back in return, and almost break character. “This weekend? I… I have no plan. Why ask?” Jiyong propped himself up on his arm and did another eyelash flutter. He was having too much fun with this.

[Jacob Tapper]

If Jiyong was playing Kimi true to her character, than this would prove to be something of a challenge. The girl was not only shy, as Jake had already deduced, but she also seemed to have pretty low self-esteem. She couldn't really take a compliment, nor could she take a hint. Then again, maybe Jiyong's own naïveté was seeping into his portrayal of the girl, though perhaps Jake wasn't giving the kid enough credit. Either way, the boy quickly surmised that Kimi wasn't much of a talker, so she would most likely be won with actions, not with words.

As it were, words weren't exactly Jiyong's strong suit, anyway. And this was coming from Jake, who set a pretty low bar in that department.

"I think you're interesting," he replied assuredly with a nod. "In fact, well, I..." He paused here, as though demonstrating that one shouldn't be too forthright when talking to a shy girl; you didn't want to scare her away by coming on too strong. "My awesome friend Jake is having a little party on Friday night. It'll be pretty chill. I was wondering if you'd want to go with me." There was no such party; he just made it up to give something for Jiyong to ask Kimi to in this little role-play of theirs - he had the feeling that a long conversation wouldn't do Jiyong any favors. But hey, in his duties of hyung-slash-wingman, he could throw something together if it would help in the real world.

To be sure, it wasn't lost on the brunet that his young friend was getting a kick out of pretending to be a girl. The way he played with his hair, his little giggles, his fluttery eyelashes... Truth be told, Jake sort of got a kick out of it too. If Jiyong was a girl, or pretty much anyone else, Jake might consider using some of the same moves on him. But Jiyong was like his kid brother, so Jake's brain was wired not to see him that way, ~*~*~*~*~at least for now~*~*~*~*~.