Title: Reminiscing
Characters: Undefined
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1.139
Summary: Sometimes in life you know fighting is useless.
A/N: This is a very rare original fiction of mine that talks about one of the more common things in life these days; love gone wrong, marriage turned divorce, children with two homes. It's a piece that I enjoyed writing because it brought a little bit of peace to my mind while I was at it. I'd like to thank the person who read this while I wrote it and kept my fickle writer mind focused. ^.^
- - - - -
I’m not sure how these things start? They grow like weed in your garden. One day you’re innocently trying to find the butter your mother wants you to buy, the next day you’re baking cookies with a stranger. Or an almost stranger.
We met in a bar when I was out with my friends. She had a little too much to drink so I offered her a ride home, but she didn’t even remember her own address anymore so I took her to my place. I figured we still had a spare bed anyway and she wouldn’t mind if she still had her clothes on in the morning. She didn’t mind indeed. But since there was no breakfast, she offered to make cookies.
They were nice. With chocolate chips in them. The first cookies I made that were edible even. It wasn’t too hard to get along with her. In fact, it was really easy. And my mother never asked me about her staying over - as if it was a normal thing for a girl to do.
She was fifteen when we met. I was nineteen. People found that too much of a difference. It also wasn’t legal. We didn’t exactly care. It’s not like I talked her into bed the first night anyway. You know that feeling when you buy something or do something and you just know it’s exactly the thing you need? She was exactly the thing I needed.
Maybe we were young and foolish, I don’t know. She told me her name was Lilly and I wanted immediately to smell her fragrance. But she was a flower that still had to bloom. She didn’t see me like I saw her I guess. Or maybe she did but she never told me. In any way; we never really did much more than baking cookies back in the day. It was all I could do to keep in contact with her.
It was like that moment when the sun goes down and you can see the little shimmers of orange. It was wonderful. And she was there to see it with me. She was sixteen by then, I was nineteen for another month. We kissed, I guess? We made it to the part where you just don’t care about the outside world anymore. It was nice to hide in the things we both loved; music, dancing, baking chocolate chip cookies.
Maybe it was the way she smiled at me, or the way she messed up the chocolate every time we made cookies. I don’t know, but I fell. Her mother told me once that if I was going to take her, I’d better also care for her. So I did. I loved Lilly like a man loves the only woman in his life. From back then all the way up till we moved in together and even when we fought, got engaged, separated and married.
We understood each other, the two of us. She needed time to do her thing, I needed time to do my thing, so we did those things when the other had no time either, that way we could spend the time we did have together. It worked, we worked, she was awesome.
You can’t learn about love from the movies and books, you know, you can only feel it. The things they tell you … it goes way deeper than that and you often realise still even long after it’s gone. Even years later you’ll think back and say to yourself: ‘Dang, I loved that person.’ Because you did. And you do. The human mind works like that.
There was silence then, the man staring down at the floor tiles, lost in thoughts, the interviewer stopping his scribbling to look up and ask another question.
“So you don’t love her anymore now?”
The look he got for that was fierce, not exactly angry but more disappointed. As if the man was trying to tell him ‘isn’t it obvious?’ with just his eyes. And he got the message, looking down at his notes again to scribble something more.
“Then what happened?”
We grew up, we grew old, we got kids, they grew up. You know how life generally goes. We had a general life, with the general house, pet, garden, tree, kid kind of scenario. It worked for us. If you add in the chocolate chip cookies, of course.
But life is life and soon something felt off. When our son was about eight, our daughter eleven, she came to me saying it had become boring, normal. I didn’t know what to do or say to that, because in some way it was true. We didn’t really talk it out, I guess that’s what the problem was.
We fought more often from then on, over the smallest of things. Everything that had been solved with a smile and a shrug before now became something to fight over - whenever the kids weren’t listening in. It soon became obvious that we couldn’t live like that so we told the kids and I moved away not too long after.
The kids visit me once every week now, sometimes during the week days, sometimes during the weekend. Sometimes randomly. We’re not too far apart, just far enough to not get into arguments every minute anymore. I guess we managed to work it out nicely if you hear some of the stories that go around about divorces.
I still love her, I think that’s what matters most. Lilly will always be the fragrance of my life. I didn’t manage to live with her anymore, but we never really managed to live without each other either. Every time I pass by her house to pick up or drop off the kids, I still see the bits and pieces of me that linger there and I’m sure there’s bits and pieces of her in my house as well. A CD here, a little note there.
It’s not because we separated that we have to hate each other. It’s not because you’re over that the love is gone. I often think back to those early days and then I go ‘Dang I loved that woman.’ But even though I still do, I know it’s better this way. Fairytales don’t work in the real world, you know?
The man smiles a sad smile and the interviewer slowly covers his notes. There’s nothing more to say now. It’s not the end of the story, but what else is there to write about? They shake hands, the man gets up from his chair and walks over to the mirror to check his outfit, the interviewer leaves the dressing room.
Back to life. Back to work. Feelings tucked away in a corner to never be felt again, until the next time of reminiscing.
Monday 29 August 2011
[FIC] I dare you to move
Title: I dare you to move
Characters: Hyukjae, Zhou Mi, Donghae, Heechul, Kibum, Siwon
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3.314
Summary: They're trying to find the lesser one of all evils
A/N: So this is a story I started writing after reading one of my friend's newest fics. It inspired me to write abstract, vague stuff and this is what came out of that. The title comes from the song I've been listening to non-stop to write this; Dare you to move by Switchfoot. Aside from that I have nothing to say about this. I strangely love the story, especially the ending, which came out after reading one of Tablo's stories. ^^ I wish to warn my readers for character death. Nothing explicitly gross or anything, but people die. That is life.
- - - - -
The world is a dark place.
Literally.
To some it’s normal, they don’t know any better. To others it’s a sign of how much the world has changed since they were born.
He’s one of those that don’t have a clue.
But Heechul, Heechul speaks of wondrous scenes and abstract things like rainbows, or a shiny yellow orb called the sun.
It’s a dark world, but there’s still dreams and if you really want, you can make it big. Or at least that’s what they tell themselves when they lie awake in bed until late at night, trying to act like it’s not all bad and gruesome.
He usually fails at that.
It’s a dark Friday morning when they gather at the corner of the school building, Siwon bringing a few cigarettes, Donghae holding up the lighter he stole from his parents, Hyukjae taking the first drag. Zhou Mi just stands next to Hyukjae and looks at them. His expression is slightly judging, but he doesn’t say a word about it. They all know they’re doing something bad anyway.
“So what are the plans for the long weekend?” Donghae asks and he blows the cigarette smoke back out as he talks. It crinkles up into the air, becoming invisible to their eyes not long after.
They all shrug in reply to the question. There obviously are no plans.
“We could go somewhere together?” Hyukjae suggests. They pretend to think about it, but the answer is clear already. It’s always yes. What else would they do with their time?
“Hang out at the Monster?” Siwon adds like an afterthought and the other two nod in unison.
“Yo, Siwon, Hae, what have you two been up to? Haven’t seen you around lately!” It’s Youngwoon who walks up to them, wraps them in manly hugs and pats their backs rather harshly. Hyukjae is ignored, but he’s used to that. In this world of back alley clubs and spotlights his friends are more famous than he is. It’s not always clear if he cares about it or not.
“Been here and there, nothing much,” Siwon replies to their friend, tough grin on his face. These are their images, the parts they need to play in the theatre that is their lives. Siwon is the tough one, the one who beats up anyone that even dares to touch them. He’s growing more and more into that image lately. “What about you, hyung? Beat up some more people lately?” He laughs, Youngwoon laughs, Donghae does too. Hyukjae stays a little in the background. Zhou Mi didn’t even bother coming.
Zhou Mi is worth even less than Hyukjae in this scenery. He does not fight people, nor does he look angry or scary. Zhou Mi is the lamb of the underground world. You can’t find anyone more innocent than him in the world they live in.
But Siwon is not the only tough one. Donghae is Siwon’s right hand, in some way of speaking. Donghae doesn’t hit people, nor does he have that tough smile, but when he stares at someone long enough, they’ll leave anyway. No one wants to get Donghae angry.
It’s not exactly the fact that Donghae looks scary when he’s angry, or that he has killed someone in the past. What scares them is that he has never been angry before in a world where being angry is the new breathing. There’s nothing to win with kindness. One has to be hard and tough to survive, is what they say.
Donghae is not at all, but only Hyukjae knows this. Not even Siwon does.
“Yah you bastard, try saying that again with my fist in your face!” the tall, well-built man yells at him. Hyukjae merely looks back, eyes ever so cold. Usually he’s not the one to impress people, but there’s a certain absence of fear about him at that moment that makes his opponent hesitate. And hesitation is all it takes in the world they live in.
“I shall repeat myself; you’re a dickhead and you should stay the fuck away from my friends.” Hyukjae speaks then, voice icy, eyes still piercing into the other’s. They stand like that for a moment, before the guy who’s probably twice Hyukjae’s size relaxes and leaves.
Hyukjae calmly turns to the person he just saved then, reaching out a hand and helping the other up. “You alright?” he asks, getting a short nod in reply. The guy he saved is about half a head taller than him, doesn’t look like he’s familiar with the underground life, and smiles with so much innocence still it’s hard to think he’s lived in the same world as them for his whole life.
“You didn’t have to do that.” he speaks once he’s standing steady, voice a kind of caramel smooth with a rough edge to it. “I could’ve taken him on my own.” Hyukjae eyes the other in a scrutinising way, eyes wandering over the smooth face and unharmed skin, before he nods shortly and pulls his hand out of the gentle grip.
“Don’t get yourself in trouble again, okay? The streets are no place for people like you. You’d better stay inside the city walls.” he replies uninterestedly, turning away and walking off. But the stranger calls after him and he stops to look back.
“When I said I could’ve taken him on my own, I meant it. But thanks anyway, Hyukjae-ssi. When you need help one day, I’ll be the one to rescue you instead.” the boy speaks, pulling something out of his back pocket and throwing it at Hyukjae. It’s a pocket knife, the name ‘Kibum’ engraved in it. “Show this to someone important when you need help. People know where to find me.”
There’s a nod, a glimpse of a smirk and then Kibum turns around and walks away, disappearing into some back alley as he goes. Hyukjae is left staring after him, wondering how the hell that guy knows his real name.
“Remember the days when the world was brighter?” Heechul asks one day, something lighting up his eyes, but he shakes his head to that. The elder snorts, before sighing. “Yeah.. No one does.” he speaks then, smiling and lifting a hand to ruffle his hair. “No one does..” he repeats, but the light has left his eyes again.
He watches his hyung often, sitting in the chair close to Heechul’s bed, looking at how the light flashes on his pale skin. There’s so many emotions that Heechul hides. They’re all hiding something, so it’s nothing very surprising, but to him it feels like Heechul doesn’t specifically try to hide anything, his emotions just happen to not be visible to others.
One day Donghae takes a punch for Hyukjae. The fist is supposed to hit Hyukjae unconscious, but instead Donghae jumps in the way, taking it with his back and slamming into the ground. There’s a moment in which everyone stares at the boy on the ground, but then the attacker realises what he’s done and everyone runs as fast as they can.
Hyukjae crouches down in the blink of an eye, rolls his friend over and looks straight at Donghae’s bleeding nose and scraped forehead. The angle of the street light creates shadows under Donghae’s eyes that reflect how little sleep he's had over the past weeks.
Siwon rages at everyone who remains in a too close proximity with them and deals a few punches to people he knows relate to the guy who hit Donghae. Hyukjae watches it with empty eyes as he helps Donghae sit up and wipes the little pieces of gravel off of his friend’s face. He vaguely wonders if Siwon would have reacted like that too if he were the one to take the punch, but drops the idea before it can bring him pain.
When Hyukjae arrives at school the next morning, Zhou Mi’s applying disinfectant on Donghae’s forehead, while Donghae stares at the tall boy in faked annoyance, pretending to be tough. Zhou Mi makes sure he’s done before Siwon arrives.
“Where were you this weekend?” Siwon demands to know and Hyukjae frowns but remains silent, because they never ask questions about the others’ whereabouts. It’s an unwritten rule. “I asked you a question.” Siwon states then, expression darkening. Hyukjae just keeps staring, until the fist comes at him seemingly out of nowhere. He darts out of reach before it can hit him, taking his hands out of his pockets to defend himself if necessary and looking at Siwon in genuine surprise.
“Since when is it any of your business what I do with my weekends?” he asks, voice cold, some of that life in his eyes that surprises Siwon. They are not used to fire and fighting spirit. People are dull, people are tired, people are just trying to end up in the lesser one of all the evils. Hyukjae is starting to look more and more like he’s willing to live and it unsettles Siwon. Donghae merely stays out of it.
Zhou Mi just stands a little aside and looks at them judgingly. He always does.
“Forests were very pretty places. When I was younger my parents would take me on long walks through the forests and I’d play in the mud or chase after wild animals.”
It sounds like a fairytale to him, but Heechul is obviously lost in memories, smiling for once without that hint of regret. It makes him smile too as he runs his fingers through his hair and settles into the chair a little better. He wants to ask something more about those forests and what they looked like, but Heechul’s fallen asleep again, his breathing even.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Siwon hisses, and Donghae tightens his grip on the taller man’s wrist. Siwon doesn’t even try to struggle, he just glares. Hyukjae ignores the hatred seeping out of every part of Siwon’s body. Zhou Mi stands next to them with hurt in his eyes and pleading looks that for some reason keep going to Hyukjae and not to Siwon, as if he’s more scared of what the first will do than of Siwon’s anger.
“Like I said.” Hyukjae states calmly. “I’m talking to one of my acquaintances.” He turns around again then, completely disregarding anything that might be said to him from then on as he walks back to Hangeng - probably one of Siwon’s biggest enemies in the underground scene.
The next thing they know, Siwon throws himself forward and it takes both Donghae, Zhou Mi and two of Hangeng’s friends to stop the fight that ensues. Hyukjae comes out with several bleeding wounds and a look in his eyes that speaks of nothing but disappointment. Siwon realises that whatever he has been seeing in Hyukjae’s eyes for the past weeks, has finally made it further than just his eyes. Hyukjae is no longer the gullible kid they got to know him as.
Sitting in the back of a truck, they look out over a never-ending road that seems to fly by. An endless stream of asphalt and building ruins on the side. Hyukjae’s silent, arms wrapped around his knees that he pulled up against his chest. Zhou Mi’s sitting next to him, head having slouched to the side in his sleep. There’s no one else with them, no Donghae or Siwon, just the two of them.
It doesn’t take long for Zhou Mi to wake up, a bump in the road making him open his eyes in a flash. He looks around drowsily and tries to remember what he’s doing in the car. When he finally does, he stares at the passing road with empty eyes.
“Why are we here?” he asks after a moment of silence, and Hyukjae turns to look at him.
“I don’t know. I wanted to get out of there. Don’t you ever want to get out of that place? It’s all lifeless and dark.” he speaks, making Zhou Mi smile mirthlessly.
“The whole world is dark.” he says, but they both knew that already anyway. “Why did you take me along?” he adds then.
“Because you’re not.” Hyukjae smiles, something in his eyes that reminds Zhou Mi of life.
“I’m not what?” he inquires, trying to understand what his friend is talking about.
“You’re not dark, Mi, not lifeless.” Hyukjae replies then, turning to look at him and smiling still. “You’re alive and you’re hoping to make your life better than what it is now. None of us tries to do that. We just go with how things are. Smoking, drinking, fighting. You do none of that. You smile so genuinely and people call you a moron for it, but you don’t care. You just keep smiling. I don’t want you to have to live in that dark place.”
Zhou Mi hears things between the sentences that Hyukjae can’t bear to say out loud and he easily wraps an arm around the other’s shoulders, allowing Hyukjae to lean into the touch.
Sometimes he asks himself if he could draw a circle on the wall and walk through it. Heechul says anything is possible as long as you believe in it. Reality says it’s a solid stone wall, you can’t walk through that, and if you do try anyway you’ll have a headache. He likes Heechul’s way of thinking more, but still abides by reality’s words, because that is what he lives in.
“Not everything comes flying into your arms.” Heechul tells him, voice having grown hoarser throughout the years they’ve known each other. “But some things do even when you don’t want them to. You can try to outrun something like that, but in the end it’ll catch up with you and you’ll be stuck with it. Life is not a playground. It has become a battlefield.”
He smiles without happiness, runs his fingertips over the armrest of his chair and tries to imagine possible scenarios for every single crack in it. Heechul says something more, but it is in that language he doesn’t understand so he doesn’t listen to it. When he looks up several moments later, Heechul is looking at him with a distant expression on his face. He understands what is being said to him without hearing any words.
“Why didn’t you ask Donghae to come instead of me?” Zhou Mi asks him one day as they sit at the kitchen table eating their instant noodles. The Chinese man’s dark hair is tied into a small ponytail on the back of his head, his dark eyes peering at Hyukjae with a wisdom in them that is beyond his age. He clicks his chopsticks together in front of the other’s face when there’s no immediate response and smiles teasingly. “How often do I have to tell you no to sleep with your eyes open? Eat your food before it’s cold.”
Hyukjae blinks at that, consciously looks at his friend then, and tries to smile back. He fails awkwardly at it. “Donghae...” he speaks in a soft voice when Zhou Mi does not look away. “He cares about Siwon too much. He wouldn’t leave his hyung to go with me.” There’s a sad touch to Hyukjae’s smile, but Zhou Mi knows it’s not because Donghae doesn’t want to come along with him, but because he chooses to live in an environment he’s not made for just so he can be with the one he admires. Hyukjae regrets that Donghae can’t live like they’re doing.
They start to fall into a lifestyle that feels foreign to them, yet is normal for everyone else around them. Finishing up their studies, going to school every day and coming home to either cook dinner or eat what the other has prepared. The one home first makes the food is the golden rule, except for during the weekends, when they mostly just order in. It’s a comfortable existence they have and it works out even after university when they both get a job.
It all changes halfway into their first year of work, when a dark letter is sent by mail. The name on the back is not familiar to Zhou Mi, a certain man with the surname Kim, but Hyukjae pales a little upon seeing it and refuses to even look at it. Zhou Mi is not allowed to touch it either and he doesn’t because it’s addressed to Hyukjae not him. The next day the letter disappears and Hyukjae doesn’t talk about it anymore. That weekend, Zhou Mi wakes up in the middle of the night to a crying Hyukjae on the kitchen floor.
He wraps an arm around the other, pulls the lifeless body against his and hugs it. Hyukjae’s body trembles with soundless sobs, his tears seeming unending. He cries until well past five in the morning and Zhou Mi sits with him, holds him, comforts him. When Hyukjae stops crying, he holds him a little more, until trembling fingers bring a crumbled paper into view. When it unfolds, Zhou Mi read one thing only but needs no more.
‘Lee Donghae’ it says in dark, mysterious font that speaks of endings and silence. Hyukjae doesn’t talk for a whole week and when he finally says something during dinner the next Monday, he pretends nothing happened. Zhou Mi doesn’t try to force reality onto him.
They sit on the balcony one day, looking out over the streets where cars pass by occasionally. Hyukjae hums a song that sounds distantly familiar. It fills them with melancholy.
“How did you get us here?” Zhou Mi asks at some point. “Where did the truck come from that took us?”
“I got help from a friend.” Hyukjae states, staring into the distance. He’s clutching something in his hands that looks like a pocket knife with slight writing on it.
“Do you think I will ever see the sun, hyung?” he asks and Heechul smiles.
“Maybe.. But you shouldn’t hope for too much.” the elder replies, always honest, never giving hope when there is nothing to hope for. He smiles as well then, nodding slightly.
“I guess so.” he replies. Heechul nods too, then closes his eyes. He’ll probably fall asleep again soon.
He looks outside the window at the sky covered in clouds and the streets filled with kids trying to pick the lesser one out of all the evils. He tells himself he tried his best for them, that there’s nothing he can do about it. Even his mind doesn’t believe him when he remembers the grave of an innocent young man who was full of life but chose to die for someone he didn’t even know.
When he looks up at Heechul, the elder is not breathing anymore. He smiles a bitter smile and gets up, pulling the blanket over Heechul’s face. He mumbles something that might or might not be a prayer and walks out of the hospital room to tell a nurse.
One day the news speaks of possibilities that the sky might clear enough above their city to catch a glimpse of the sun. The next day they say the assumption was wrong. No hopes are crushed because no one bothers to hope for these things anymore.
The next week the sky does clear above their city and everyone stays inside because they’re afraid to get burned. Hyukjae goes to the park and stares at the sun all day. Zhou Mi sits next to him with an umbrella shielding him from the sunlight, watching the trees’ shadows wave on the ground. When they go home in the evening, Hyukjae sees black spots everywhere and they laugh when he walks into a street light for the third time.
It sounds foreign even to their own ears, but they do it again the fourth time as well.
Characters: Hyukjae, Zhou Mi, Donghae, Heechul, Kibum, Siwon
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3.314
Summary: They're trying to find the lesser one of all evils
A/N: So this is a story I started writing after reading one of my friend's newest fics. It inspired me to write abstract, vague stuff and this is what came out of that. The title comes from the song I've been listening to non-stop to write this; Dare you to move by Switchfoot. Aside from that I have nothing to say about this. I strangely love the story, especially the ending, which came out after reading one of Tablo's stories. ^^ I wish to warn my readers for character death. Nothing explicitly gross or anything, but people die. That is life.
- - - - -
The world is a dark place.
Literally.
To some it’s normal, they don’t know any better. To others it’s a sign of how much the world has changed since they were born.
He’s one of those that don’t have a clue.
But Heechul, Heechul speaks of wondrous scenes and abstract things like rainbows, or a shiny yellow orb called the sun.
It’s a dark world, but there’s still dreams and if you really want, you can make it big. Or at least that’s what they tell themselves when they lie awake in bed until late at night, trying to act like it’s not all bad and gruesome.
He usually fails at that.
\/\/\/\/\/
It’s a dark Friday morning when they gather at the corner of the school building, Siwon bringing a few cigarettes, Donghae holding up the lighter he stole from his parents, Hyukjae taking the first drag. Zhou Mi just stands next to Hyukjae and looks at them. His expression is slightly judging, but he doesn’t say a word about it. They all know they’re doing something bad anyway.
“So what are the plans for the long weekend?” Donghae asks and he blows the cigarette smoke back out as he talks. It crinkles up into the air, becoming invisible to their eyes not long after.
They all shrug in reply to the question. There obviously are no plans.
“We could go somewhere together?” Hyukjae suggests. They pretend to think about it, but the answer is clear already. It’s always yes. What else would they do with their time?
“Hang out at the Monster?” Siwon adds like an afterthought and the other two nod in unison.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Yo, Siwon, Hae, what have you two been up to? Haven’t seen you around lately!” It’s Youngwoon who walks up to them, wraps them in manly hugs and pats their backs rather harshly. Hyukjae is ignored, but he’s used to that. In this world of back alley clubs and spotlights his friends are more famous than he is. It’s not always clear if he cares about it or not.
“Been here and there, nothing much,” Siwon replies to their friend, tough grin on his face. These are their images, the parts they need to play in the theatre that is their lives. Siwon is the tough one, the one who beats up anyone that even dares to touch them. He’s growing more and more into that image lately. “What about you, hyung? Beat up some more people lately?” He laughs, Youngwoon laughs, Donghae does too. Hyukjae stays a little in the background. Zhou Mi didn’t even bother coming.
Zhou Mi is worth even less than Hyukjae in this scenery. He does not fight people, nor does he look angry or scary. Zhou Mi is the lamb of the underground world. You can’t find anyone more innocent than him in the world they live in.
But Siwon is not the only tough one. Donghae is Siwon’s right hand, in some way of speaking. Donghae doesn’t hit people, nor does he have that tough smile, but when he stares at someone long enough, they’ll leave anyway. No one wants to get Donghae angry.
It’s not exactly the fact that Donghae looks scary when he’s angry, or that he has killed someone in the past. What scares them is that he has never been angry before in a world where being angry is the new breathing. There’s nothing to win with kindness. One has to be hard and tough to survive, is what they say.
Donghae is not at all, but only Hyukjae knows this. Not even Siwon does.
\/\/\/\/\/
“Yah you bastard, try saying that again with my fist in your face!” the tall, well-built man yells at him. Hyukjae merely looks back, eyes ever so cold. Usually he’s not the one to impress people, but there’s a certain absence of fear about him at that moment that makes his opponent hesitate. And hesitation is all it takes in the world they live in.
“I shall repeat myself; you’re a dickhead and you should stay the fuck away from my friends.” Hyukjae speaks then, voice icy, eyes still piercing into the other’s. They stand like that for a moment, before the guy who’s probably twice Hyukjae’s size relaxes and leaves.
Hyukjae calmly turns to the person he just saved then, reaching out a hand and helping the other up. “You alright?” he asks, getting a short nod in reply. The guy he saved is about half a head taller than him, doesn’t look like he’s familiar with the underground life, and smiles with so much innocence still it’s hard to think he’s lived in the same world as them for his whole life.
“You didn’t have to do that.” he speaks once he’s standing steady, voice a kind of caramel smooth with a rough edge to it. “I could’ve taken him on my own.” Hyukjae eyes the other in a scrutinising way, eyes wandering over the smooth face and unharmed skin, before he nods shortly and pulls his hand out of the gentle grip.
“Don’t get yourself in trouble again, okay? The streets are no place for people like you. You’d better stay inside the city walls.” he replies uninterestedly, turning away and walking off. But the stranger calls after him and he stops to look back.
“When I said I could’ve taken him on my own, I meant it. But thanks anyway, Hyukjae-ssi. When you need help one day, I’ll be the one to rescue you instead.” the boy speaks, pulling something out of his back pocket and throwing it at Hyukjae. It’s a pocket knife, the name ‘Kibum’ engraved in it. “Show this to someone important when you need help. People know where to find me.”
There’s a nod, a glimpse of a smirk and then Kibum turns around and walks away, disappearing into some back alley as he goes. Hyukjae is left staring after him, wondering how the hell that guy knows his real name.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Remember the days when the world was brighter?” Heechul asks one day, something lighting up his eyes, but he shakes his head to that. The elder snorts, before sighing. “Yeah.. No one does.” he speaks then, smiling and lifting a hand to ruffle his hair. “No one does..” he repeats, but the light has left his eyes again.
He watches his hyung often, sitting in the chair close to Heechul’s bed, looking at how the light flashes on his pale skin. There’s so many emotions that Heechul hides. They’re all hiding something, so it’s nothing very surprising, but to him it feels like Heechul doesn’t specifically try to hide anything, his emotions just happen to not be visible to others.
\/\/\/\/\/
One day Donghae takes a punch for Hyukjae. The fist is supposed to hit Hyukjae unconscious, but instead Donghae jumps in the way, taking it with his back and slamming into the ground. There’s a moment in which everyone stares at the boy on the ground, but then the attacker realises what he’s done and everyone runs as fast as they can.
Hyukjae crouches down in the blink of an eye, rolls his friend over and looks straight at Donghae’s bleeding nose and scraped forehead. The angle of the street light creates shadows under Donghae’s eyes that reflect how little sleep he's had over the past weeks.
Siwon rages at everyone who remains in a too close proximity with them and deals a few punches to people he knows relate to the guy who hit Donghae. Hyukjae watches it with empty eyes as he helps Donghae sit up and wipes the little pieces of gravel off of his friend’s face. He vaguely wonders if Siwon would have reacted like that too if he were the one to take the punch, but drops the idea before it can bring him pain.
When Hyukjae arrives at school the next morning, Zhou Mi’s applying disinfectant on Donghae’s forehead, while Donghae stares at the tall boy in faked annoyance, pretending to be tough. Zhou Mi makes sure he’s done before Siwon arrives.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Where were you this weekend?” Siwon demands to know and Hyukjae frowns but remains silent, because they never ask questions about the others’ whereabouts. It’s an unwritten rule. “I asked you a question.” Siwon states then, expression darkening. Hyukjae just keeps staring, until the fist comes at him seemingly out of nowhere. He darts out of reach before it can hit him, taking his hands out of his pockets to defend himself if necessary and looking at Siwon in genuine surprise.
“Since when is it any of your business what I do with my weekends?” he asks, voice cold, some of that life in his eyes that surprises Siwon. They are not used to fire and fighting spirit. People are dull, people are tired, people are just trying to end up in the lesser one of all the evils. Hyukjae is starting to look more and more like he’s willing to live and it unsettles Siwon. Donghae merely stays out of it.
Zhou Mi just stands a little aside and looks at them judgingly. He always does.
\/\/\/\/\/
“Forests were very pretty places. When I was younger my parents would take me on long walks through the forests and I’d play in the mud or chase after wild animals.”
It sounds like a fairytale to him, but Heechul is obviously lost in memories, smiling for once without that hint of regret. It makes him smile too as he runs his fingers through his hair and settles into the chair a little better. He wants to ask something more about those forests and what they looked like, but Heechul’s fallen asleep again, his breathing even.
/\/\/\/\/\
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Siwon hisses, and Donghae tightens his grip on the taller man’s wrist. Siwon doesn’t even try to struggle, he just glares. Hyukjae ignores the hatred seeping out of every part of Siwon’s body. Zhou Mi stands next to them with hurt in his eyes and pleading looks that for some reason keep going to Hyukjae and not to Siwon, as if he’s more scared of what the first will do than of Siwon’s anger.
“Like I said.” Hyukjae states calmly. “I’m talking to one of my acquaintances.” He turns around again then, completely disregarding anything that might be said to him from then on as he walks back to Hangeng - probably one of Siwon’s biggest enemies in the underground scene.
The next thing they know, Siwon throws himself forward and it takes both Donghae, Zhou Mi and two of Hangeng’s friends to stop the fight that ensues. Hyukjae comes out with several bleeding wounds and a look in his eyes that speaks of nothing but disappointment. Siwon realises that whatever he has been seeing in Hyukjae’s eyes for the past weeks, has finally made it further than just his eyes. Hyukjae is no longer the gullible kid they got to know him as.
\/\/\/\/\/
Sitting in the back of a truck, they look out over a never-ending road that seems to fly by. An endless stream of asphalt and building ruins on the side. Hyukjae’s silent, arms wrapped around his knees that he pulled up against his chest. Zhou Mi’s sitting next to him, head having slouched to the side in his sleep. There’s no one else with them, no Donghae or Siwon, just the two of them.
It doesn’t take long for Zhou Mi to wake up, a bump in the road making him open his eyes in a flash. He looks around drowsily and tries to remember what he’s doing in the car. When he finally does, he stares at the passing road with empty eyes.
“Why are we here?” he asks after a moment of silence, and Hyukjae turns to look at him.
“I don’t know. I wanted to get out of there. Don’t you ever want to get out of that place? It’s all lifeless and dark.” he speaks, making Zhou Mi smile mirthlessly.
“The whole world is dark.” he says, but they both knew that already anyway. “Why did you take me along?” he adds then.
“Because you’re not.” Hyukjae smiles, something in his eyes that reminds Zhou Mi of life.
“I’m not what?” he inquires, trying to understand what his friend is talking about.
“You’re not dark, Mi, not lifeless.” Hyukjae replies then, turning to look at him and smiling still. “You’re alive and you’re hoping to make your life better than what it is now. None of us tries to do that. We just go with how things are. Smoking, drinking, fighting. You do none of that. You smile so genuinely and people call you a moron for it, but you don’t care. You just keep smiling. I don’t want you to have to live in that dark place.”
Zhou Mi hears things between the sentences that Hyukjae can’t bear to say out loud and he easily wraps an arm around the other’s shoulders, allowing Hyukjae to lean into the touch.
/\/\/\/\/\
Sometimes he asks himself if he could draw a circle on the wall and walk through it. Heechul says anything is possible as long as you believe in it. Reality says it’s a solid stone wall, you can’t walk through that, and if you do try anyway you’ll have a headache. He likes Heechul’s way of thinking more, but still abides by reality’s words, because that is what he lives in.
“Not everything comes flying into your arms.” Heechul tells him, voice having grown hoarser throughout the years they’ve known each other. “But some things do even when you don’t want them to. You can try to outrun something like that, but in the end it’ll catch up with you and you’ll be stuck with it. Life is not a playground. It has become a battlefield.”
He smiles without happiness, runs his fingertips over the armrest of his chair and tries to imagine possible scenarios for every single crack in it. Heechul says something more, but it is in that language he doesn’t understand so he doesn’t listen to it. When he looks up several moments later, Heechul is looking at him with a distant expression on his face. He understands what is being said to him without hearing any words.
\/\/\/\/\/
“Why didn’t you ask Donghae to come instead of me?” Zhou Mi asks him one day as they sit at the kitchen table eating their instant noodles. The Chinese man’s dark hair is tied into a small ponytail on the back of his head, his dark eyes peering at Hyukjae with a wisdom in them that is beyond his age. He clicks his chopsticks together in front of the other’s face when there’s no immediate response and smiles teasingly. “How often do I have to tell you no to sleep with your eyes open? Eat your food before it’s cold.”
Hyukjae blinks at that, consciously looks at his friend then, and tries to smile back. He fails awkwardly at it. “Donghae...” he speaks in a soft voice when Zhou Mi does not look away. “He cares about Siwon too much. He wouldn’t leave his hyung to go with me.” There’s a sad touch to Hyukjae’s smile, but Zhou Mi knows it’s not because Donghae doesn’t want to come along with him, but because he chooses to live in an environment he’s not made for just so he can be with the one he admires. Hyukjae regrets that Donghae can’t live like they’re doing.
/\/\/\/\/\
They start to fall into a lifestyle that feels foreign to them, yet is normal for everyone else around them. Finishing up their studies, going to school every day and coming home to either cook dinner or eat what the other has prepared. The one home first makes the food is the golden rule, except for during the weekends, when they mostly just order in. It’s a comfortable existence they have and it works out even after university when they both get a job.
It all changes halfway into their first year of work, when a dark letter is sent by mail. The name on the back is not familiar to Zhou Mi, a certain man with the surname Kim, but Hyukjae pales a little upon seeing it and refuses to even look at it. Zhou Mi is not allowed to touch it either and he doesn’t because it’s addressed to Hyukjae not him. The next day the letter disappears and Hyukjae doesn’t talk about it anymore. That weekend, Zhou Mi wakes up in the middle of the night to a crying Hyukjae on the kitchen floor.
He wraps an arm around the other, pulls the lifeless body against his and hugs it. Hyukjae’s body trembles with soundless sobs, his tears seeming unending. He cries until well past five in the morning and Zhou Mi sits with him, holds him, comforts him. When Hyukjae stops crying, he holds him a little more, until trembling fingers bring a crumbled paper into view. When it unfolds, Zhou Mi read one thing only but needs no more.
‘Lee Donghae’ it says in dark, mysterious font that speaks of endings and silence. Hyukjae doesn’t talk for a whole week and when he finally says something during dinner the next Monday, he pretends nothing happened. Zhou Mi doesn’t try to force reality onto him.
\/\/\/\/\/
They sit on the balcony one day, looking out over the streets where cars pass by occasionally. Hyukjae hums a song that sounds distantly familiar. It fills them with melancholy.
“How did you get us here?” Zhou Mi asks at some point. “Where did the truck come from that took us?”
“I got help from a friend.” Hyukjae states, staring into the distance. He’s clutching something in his hands that looks like a pocket knife with slight writing on it.
/\/\/\/\/\
“Do you think I will ever see the sun, hyung?” he asks and Heechul smiles.
“Maybe.. But you shouldn’t hope for too much.” the elder replies, always honest, never giving hope when there is nothing to hope for. He smiles as well then, nodding slightly.
“I guess so.” he replies. Heechul nods too, then closes his eyes. He’ll probably fall asleep again soon.
He looks outside the window at the sky covered in clouds and the streets filled with kids trying to pick the lesser one out of all the evils. He tells himself he tried his best for them, that there’s nothing he can do about it. Even his mind doesn’t believe him when he remembers the grave of an innocent young man who was full of life but chose to die for someone he didn’t even know.
When he looks up at Heechul, the elder is not breathing anymore. He smiles a bitter smile and gets up, pulling the blanket over Heechul’s face. He mumbles something that might or might not be a prayer and walks out of the hospital room to tell a nurse.
\/\/\/\/\/
One day the news speaks of possibilities that the sky might clear enough above their city to catch a glimpse of the sun. The next day they say the assumption was wrong. No hopes are crushed because no one bothers to hope for these things anymore.
The next week the sky does clear above their city and everyone stays inside because they’re afraid to get burned. Hyukjae goes to the park and stares at the sun all day. Zhou Mi sits next to him with an umbrella shielding him from the sunlight, watching the trees’ shadows wave on the ground. When they go home in the evening, Hyukjae sees black spots everywhere and they laugh when he walks into a street light for the third time.
It sounds foreign even to their own ears, but they do it again the fourth time as well.
[FIC] Shower Troubles
Title: Shower Troubles (Or how Kyuhyun doesn't know how to clean a bathroom)
Characters: Kyuhyun, Donghae, OC
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3.134
Summary: Kyuhyun's at a loss of why showers need to be cleaned and how.
A/N: This was mildly inspired by me cleaning the bathroom and wondering what it would be like if my brother had a try at it for once. It’s well over 3000 words of crack nonsense that makes no real particular sense. If you squint your eyes a little with the right lighting, you might find some romance in your peripheral view, even, but I’m not going to vouch for that.
Written for a lot of my friends, but also for those people out there who love Kyuhyun and need to get their heads fixed from that mental disease. This is for you guys. ♥
- - - - -
When Kyuhyun’s girlfriend leaves with some yells and banging doors, he isn’t really impressed. He’s had many girlfriends before her and there’s still a lot of girls out there to choose from so he doesn’t worry. It’s not like she’s irreplaceable.
He settles for some instant ramyun that evening, jamming in half an hour of overtime work in order to be done with it the next day before opening his game. It’s a normal evening and he doesn’t really notice his girlfriend’s gone. It really doesn’t feel like something’s missing in the house, in fact, he quite likes the silence and him being able to spend some time online in peace, without someone nagging about laundry and cleaning all the time.
The only female constant in his life is a girl called KimchiFly, or at least that’s her in game username, who he talks to on a regular basis. She’s cool, knows as much about games as he does and a little more about life. But at least she doesn’t push that knowledge in his face like it’s something he’s supposed to know as well.
theKyu: dangit I’m cold
KimchiFly: get a blanket
theKyu: I don’t even know where the blankets are
theKyu: or if I even have blankets
KimchiFly: put on the heater
theKyu: it’s broken
theKyu: I think they cut off my electricity
KimchiFly: then how does your internet still work?
theKyu: …
theKyu: good point
Four days into being single, he starts to miss decent meals and wonders why it seems like the bed is colder than it should be. He takes a moment to remember his girlfriend’s face only to realise he doesn’t remember it. He clearly remembers her voice, though, while that’s the thing he has always tried his best to block out while she was still around.
He goes out that evening, but every girl he chats with ends up being taken already or too uninterested when he mentions computers. The other half he doesn’t talk to is too drunk for his liking, so the fifth day he wakes up in the too cold bed that starts to get a little too big as well.
He starts to get really lonely when there’s a good program on the television that he wants to watch but his feet are freezing and there’s no one with nice, warm legs to press them again and no one makes him some tea.
The next day he moves his television to his room so that he can at least still talk to people online while he’s watching, that way it feels less lonely.
theKyu: how did we meet again?
KimchiFly: I failed at slaying a dragon, you did it for me
KimchiFly: then you told me you’d honour me with becoming my teacher in game
theKyu: oh yeah
theKyu: be honoured.
One month and a half after being dumped, he takes a shower and the water’s not going down the drain well. When he crouches down for a closer inspection, he finds there’s a lot more to showers than just water coming out of the sprayer and disappearing in the hole. Whatever that lot more is, is unclear to him still at this moment in time, but it sure as hell is dirty. He decides he doesn’t want to take a closer look, grabs a towel and leaves the bathroom to find some clothes.
theKyu: hey Kimch
KimchiFly: yeah?
theKyu: what do you know about showers?
KimchiFly: water comes out of them which you wash yourself with?
KimchiFly: what kind of question is this?
KimchiFly: are you drunk again?
theKyu: never mind
…
theKyu: I only had one beer today, by the way
By the time he’s two months into being single, he craves for some decent food, so he decides to give Donghae a call. His hyung gladly drags him out to ‘some cheap place, but they have the best pizza ever, you have to try this, Kyu’ where he shoves two pizzas with undistinguishable toppings down his throat.
Donghae talks a lot and Kyuhyun pretends to listen while he plans some new gaming strategies, but by the end of the evening he realises again why he only ever goes out with Donghae when there’s someone else around to keep him entertained. There’s too much life to his hyung for him to handle. He prefers a silent drink, an occasional word or two, but the continuous stream of words that comes out of Donghae’s mouth is too hard to block out.
To: Girlfriend
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Baby, I miss you, why did you leave?
To: Asshole ex-bf
From: Girlfriend
- - - - - - - - - -
Oh, after three months you finally noticed I’m gone?
Fuck you, Kyuhyun, I hope you die.
“Hyung what the hell is wrong with my shower?” He nags at Donghae over the phone one day. (talking to him over the phone is safer, he can just hang up when he gets tired of the other’s rambles and pretend the line went dead the next time they talk)
“What do you mean what’s wrong with it?” Donghae asks, obvious confusion in his voice.
“The water’s not running through well and there’s no water coming out of a few holes of the sprayer where it is supposed to come out!” He complains and Donghae sighs on the other side of the line.
“Clean it, Kyuhyun, it’s dirty,” he then says and Kyuhyun wants to curse at him, because really, he didn’t notice that yet! Note the sarcasm.
“Well why the hell is it dirty!?” He almost yells, but Donghae remains calm. Of course Donghae remains calm. He deals with dirty showers and toilets daily, working part time as a concierge in some nearby sporting hall because he needs the money. Kyuhyun needs the money too, but he at least found a decent job that suits his style; research and development at some high tech electronics company.
“Showers do that, Kyuhyun,” Donghae explains meanwhile, something Kyuhyun almost misses because he’s too busy cursing at the other in his mind. “When you use them for a while and don’t clean them they get dirty. You have to clean it.”
“But I never had to in the past!” Kyuhyun protests, five seconds before he realises Donghae’s using an didactic tone to him.
“What do you think your girlfriends did while you were flirting with other girls online?”
He hangs up on Donghae, promises himself not to talk to him for the next month or so and gets back to gaming. It’s just dirt, he tells himself, he can live with it.
There’s no way he’s going to pay someone to get the shower back to how it should be, so he takes his book with addresses one day, set on digging up someone useful. He starts flipping through the pages, finding names he doesn’t even remember anymore after so many years. There’s some names he does remember, though, and he jots them down on a paper. Everyone’s worth a try, he figures, even that fat one from a few years ago. She wasn’t fat when he dated her, but since then has grown quite a few extra kilos. He knows this because she e-mailed him that one day. As if it was his fault and he wanted to do something about it.
He also finds a post it with a number and Call me! written below it. He figures it must be someone that is okay with just a one evening thing, or else they wouldn’t leave post its, so he decides to give the number a try.
To: 0945832934
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Hey, it’s been a while. Want to meet up?
To: Kyuhyunnie
From: 0945832934
- - - - - - - - - -
Oh baby you’re right, it’s been too long!
I asked your appa and we can meet you this weekend.
Should we come to your apartment?
To: Mom x___x
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
I’m sorry mom, something just came up.
Maybe another time.
Tell dad I said hi.
He doesn’t touch numbers without names anymore after that. He does, however, try numbers that do have names and one of them is a girlfriend that he remembers from roughly a year and a half ago. He counts back and figures she must have been like girlfriend number somewhere in the twenty. Her name was Baek Jan Di or something like that. He remembers her because she made the most delicious chicken fried rice he has ever tasted in his life. So he decides to send her a text, but doesn’t really know how to go about the making up thing. They didn’t part in the friendliest of moods.
To: Jan Di
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Hey you. :) I’m sorry we lost contact. I suffered from cancer for the past year, but I’m better now. Want to meet up?
To: Kyuhyun wtf?
From: Jan Di
- - - - - - - - -
I’m sorry to hear that. I wish I had known so I could have come by and show you how much I don’t give a shit. My boyfriend would love to get introduced to you properly, though.
Microwave chicken fried rice isn’t all too bad either, he decides. He’s not THAT desperate for a clean shower anyway.
He’s well past half of the ex-girlfriends on his list -all having given him disappointing answers which were...well, disappointing- when he grows tired of the whole thing and decides to do it himself. He walks into the bathroom, breathes in the distinct smell of a room that hasn’t been entered or decently cleaned in a month and walks right back out.
Four months after the break up, he grows tired of washing his hair above the kitchen sink (he feels cleaner that way than when he showers) so he invites Donghae to go swimming. They swim a few lengths (or Donghae does, he stays in the shallow part and tries to remember what swimming was like again - paddle your hands, stamp your feet?) and then go for the showers. He takes a long shower, washing himself from head to toe, and takes his time to dry his hair adequately before he leaves the building. Donghae says nothing about it, but he’s giving Kyuhyun judging looks that are ignored. Kyuhyun hasn’t felt so clean and fresh in weeks.
KimchiFly: you should clean your apartment
theKyu: my apartment is fine
KimchiFly: I bet it’s covered in dust, except for that square metre your desk chair is on
theKyu: as if you know what my apartment looks like
…
KimchiFly: you use a vacuum cleaner to clean the house
KimchiFly: just so you know
theKyu: wtf? I didn’t ask anything
KimchiFly: but you WERE wondering
KimchiFly: you’re welcome for telling you
theKyu: you’re such an ass >.>
KimchiFly: love you too <3
Cinderella: u 2 r so married
theKyu: stop creeping on our conversations rella
“Donghae,” he exclaims once the other picks up and he swears he can hear a sigh on the other end.
“I’m not going swimming with you again unless you’re actually going to swim, Kyuhyun.” Donghae tells him before he can even get to the point of the conversation. “Besides I have a girlfriend now. I don’t have time to jump at your every whim.” Kyuhyun’s offended, at the very least.
“What? What are you talking about, I wasn’t calling you to go swimming. How ridiculous would that be? We just went t-” Suddenly he realises what else has been said to him. “Wait. You have a girlfriend? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did, about.. Let me count..two weeks ago. That time when you accidentally texted me instead of whoever you wanted to coax into having wine at your place.” Donghae explains, seeming bored with him. He huffs, but doesn’t go further into it. That was a rather embarrassing experience after all.
“Anyway,” he therefore changes the subject. “I wasn’t calling you about swimming. I wanted to know what stuff you use to clean those .. things you clean.”
“You what?” Donghae sounds genuinely surprised, and then ruins it a little more when he starts spouting nonsense. “You want to clean? Are you sure? Did you hit your head? Is the hygiene police holding a gun against your head telling you to clean? Did an alien take over your mind?”
“I want to make sure whoever is going to clean for me will have the right things to clean with. Just tell me hyung!” He protests and Donghae sighs, but at least obliges.
Five months into the life of a single man, he wanders into the bathroom, fully equipped with a mouth mask, rubber gloves, a cleaning towel, two bottles of lime out (the names people come up with for things lately) and a bucket with warm water. He walks over to the little sink first, but changes his mind halfway and goes for the shower. His first problem is to somehow get the draining hole free again, so he leans down once he reaches it, only to get back up and almost choke on his own coughing.
His next attempt is better coordinated. First he puts the bucket down, then the bottles of lime out. He kneels down next to his shower (it takes about four minutes before he gets over the fact that it’s all hairy and dusty there) and gives the draining hole another close inspection. He reaches out for it, but stops moments later, stares at it once more and then gets up, fleeing the bathroom.
KimchiFly: I went to the troll cave once
KimchiFly: instant death for sure
theKyu: I swear
Cinderella: so I shouldn’t go there?
Cinderella: hey Kyu
theKyu: showers are the spawn of hell
Cinderella: you still nagging about those showers?
Cinderella: dude get a grip
theKyu: shut up, rella
KimchiFly: no Cin, better don’t go there
KimchiFly: try the Rockfields
KimchiFly: hey kyu
KimchiFly: what did the shower do this time
theKyu: nothing!
theKyu: it’s still the same!
theKyu: it still smells
theKyu: and keeps being dirty
theKyu: tried cleaning it
theKyu: but seriously.. yuck
theKyu: how can anyone stand that?
Cinderella: that’s why they hire cleaning ladies
theKyu: but the shower’s supposed to be clean!
theKyu: and now you tell me I should pay someone to make it how it’s SUPPOSED TO BE?
Cinderella: welcome to life
theKyu: oh go diaf
Two days later he’s back at the shower, face mask and gloves on again, but this time armed with a pair of chopsticks as well. He sits as far away as he possibly can, stretching out his arm to the furthest and carefully picking at the hair that is cluttering the hole. When he finally gets hold of it, he pushes it up, only to stare in horror as he sees the glue-y white bits in between and even some smelly water still dripping off. Moments later he’s running out of the bathroom as fast as he can, trying hard not to throw up in the middle of his hallway.
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
I’m going to kill myself. It was nice knowing you, Hae.
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Even in your last text not calling me hyung? I’m disappointed.
Why so melodramatic, though?
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
HOW THE HELL DO I CLEAN A BATHROOM?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Seriously?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Seriously!?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
SERIOUSLY?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
You’re weak man. It’s just a shower.
You kill ogre trolls for breakfast.
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Shut up.
I hate you.
I hope you die.
He’s devastated, considers moving just so he can have a clean bathroom again, but then who would buy an apartment with a dirty bathroom? (and honestly, everything else is dirty too) He’s flicking paper balls at his television screen on which some dude is explaining the things going wrong in the world. He’s not gaming because Kimchi isn’t on and he’s pretty sure that if he has to listen to Cinderella’s complaints for even five minutes, he’s going to grab a gun and kill him – guild member or not.
Suddenly the doorbell rings.
“Hey Kyuhyun. I’m here to clean your bathroom.” some girl says, all smiles and happy waves, taking a step inside and hugging his neck for a moment. He can only stare, watching her as she lets go again. She looks at him as if she expects him to say something but he’s too busy figuring out if he’s awake or dreaming to notice. “You okay?” she then asks, feeling his forehead, which is probably the moment when he snaps back to reality.
He looks at her again, really looks at her, and there’s a sense of familiarity, so he starts counting back faces of his ex-girlfriends, trying to see if she’s in that row as well. He keeps counting and counting, until he stops all the way back at number one, when he was seventeen and she was eighteen and she took his hand and pulled him in for his very first kiss. He remembers three sunny months, before they had to part and go to college.
“What is this?” he finally manages to blurt out, blinking at her rather awkwardly. “How did you know where I live? Why do you think my bathroom needs cleaning?” She laughs, pricks a finger in his nose and easily walks past him, finding her way to his bathroom as if she’s been living in the apartment all her life. He stumbles after her to see what she’s up to.
“Who do you think you’ve been nagging at about it for the past six months?” she tells him happily. He stops when he realises what she just said, mouth agape and staring.
“Kimch?” he then questions, disbelief in his voice. Moments later her head pops out from the bathroom again, signature wide grin that he knows so well plastered on her face as she blows a kiss at him and disappears again.
“The one and only.”
Characters: Kyuhyun, Donghae, OC
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3.134
Summary: Kyuhyun's at a loss of why showers need to be cleaned and how.
A/N: This was mildly inspired by me cleaning the bathroom and wondering what it would be like if my brother had a try at it for once. It’s well over 3000 words of crack nonsense that makes no real particular sense. If you squint your eyes a little with the right lighting, you might find some romance in your peripheral view, even, but I’m not going to vouch for that.
Written for a lot of my friends, but also for those people out there who love Kyuhyun and need to get their heads fixed from that mental disease. This is for you guys. ♥
- - - - -
When Kyuhyun’s girlfriend leaves with some yells and banging doors, he isn’t really impressed. He’s had many girlfriends before her and there’s still a lot of girls out there to choose from so he doesn’t worry. It’s not like she’s irreplaceable.
He settles for some instant ramyun that evening, jamming in half an hour of overtime work in order to be done with it the next day before opening his game. It’s a normal evening and he doesn’t really notice his girlfriend’s gone. It really doesn’t feel like something’s missing in the house, in fact, he quite likes the silence and him being able to spend some time online in peace, without someone nagging about laundry and cleaning all the time.
The only female constant in his life is a girl called KimchiFly, or at least that’s her in game username, who he talks to on a regular basis. She’s cool, knows as much about games as he does and a little more about life. But at least she doesn’t push that knowledge in his face like it’s something he’s supposed to know as well.
theKyu: dangit I’m cold
KimchiFly: get a blanket
theKyu: I don’t even know where the blankets are
theKyu: or if I even have blankets
KimchiFly: put on the heater
theKyu: it’s broken
theKyu: I think they cut off my electricity
KimchiFly: then how does your internet still work?
theKyu: …
theKyu: good point
Four days into being single, he starts to miss decent meals and wonders why it seems like the bed is colder than it should be. He takes a moment to remember his girlfriend’s face only to realise he doesn’t remember it. He clearly remembers her voice, though, while that’s the thing he has always tried his best to block out while she was still around.
He goes out that evening, but every girl he chats with ends up being taken already or too uninterested when he mentions computers. The other half he doesn’t talk to is too drunk for his liking, so the fifth day he wakes up in the too cold bed that starts to get a little too big as well.
He starts to get really lonely when there’s a good program on the television that he wants to watch but his feet are freezing and there’s no one with nice, warm legs to press them again and no one makes him some tea.
The next day he moves his television to his room so that he can at least still talk to people online while he’s watching, that way it feels less lonely.
theKyu: how did we meet again?
KimchiFly: I failed at slaying a dragon, you did it for me
KimchiFly: then you told me you’d honour me with becoming my teacher in game
theKyu: oh yeah
theKyu: be honoured.
One month and a half after being dumped, he takes a shower and the water’s not going down the drain well. When he crouches down for a closer inspection, he finds there’s a lot more to showers than just water coming out of the sprayer and disappearing in the hole. Whatever that lot more is, is unclear to him still at this moment in time, but it sure as hell is dirty. He decides he doesn’t want to take a closer look, grabs a towel and leaves the bathroom to find some clothes.
theKyu: hey Kimch
KimchiFly: yeah?
theKyu: what do you know about showers?
KimchiFly: water comes out of them which you wash yourself with?
KimchiFly: what kind of question is this?
KimchiFly: are you drunk again?
theKyu: never mind
…
theKyu: I only had one beer today, by the way
By the time he’s two months into being single, he craves for some decent food, so he decides to give Donghae a call. His hyung gladly drags him out to ‘some cheap place, but they have the best pizza ever, you have to try this, Kyu’ where he shoves two pizzas with undistinguishable toppings down his throat.
Donghae talks a lot and Kyuhyun pretends to listen while he plans some new gaming strategies, but by the end of the evening he realises again why he only ever goes out with Donghae when there’s someone else around to keep him entertained. There’s too much life to his hyung for him to handle. He prefers a silent drink, an occasional word or two, but the continuous stream of words that comes out of Donghae’s mouth is too hard to block out.
To: Girlfriend
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Baby, I miss you, why did you leave?
To: Asshole ex-bf
From: Girlfriend
- - - - - - - - - -
Oh, after three months you finally noticed I’m gone?
Fuck you, Kyuhyun, I hope you die.
“Hyung what the hell is wrong with my shower?” He nags at Donghae over the phone one day. (talking to him over the phone is safer, he can just hang up when he gets tired of the other’s rambles and pretend the line went dead the next time they talk)
“What do you mean what’s wrong with it?” Donghae asks, obvious confusion in his voice.
“The water’s not running through well and there’s no water coming out of a few holes of the sprayer where it is supposed to come out!” He complains and Donghae sighs on the other side of the line.
“Clean it, Kyuhyun, it’s dirty,” he then says and Kyuhyun wants to curse at him, because really, he didn’t notice that yet! Note the sarcasm.
“Well why the hell is it dirty!?” He almost yells, but Donghae remains calm. Of course Donghae remains calm. He deals with dirty showers and toilets daily, working part time as a concierge in some nearby sporting hall because he needs the money. Kyuhyun needs the money too, but he at least found a decent job that suits his style; research and development at some high tech electronics company.
“Showers do that, Kyuhyun,” Donghae explains meanwhile, something Kyuhyun almost misses because he’s too busy cursing at the other in his mind. “When you use them for a while and don’t clean them they get dirty. You have to clean it.”
“But I never had to in the past!” Kyuhyun protests, five seconds before he realises Donghae’s using an didactic tone to him.
“What do you think your girlfriends did while you were flirting with other girls online?”
He hangs up on Donghae, promises himself not to talk to him for the next month or so and gets back to gaming. It’s just dirt, he tells himself, he can live with it.
There’s no way he’s going to pay someone to get the shower back to how it should be, so he takes his book with addresses one day, set on digging up someone useful. He starts flipping through the pages, finding names he doesn’t even remember anymore after so many years. There’s some names he does remember, though, and he jots them down on a paper. Everyone’s worth a try, he figures, even that fat one from a few years ago. She wasn’t fat when he dated her, but since then has grown quite a few extra kilos. He knows this because she e-mailed him that one day. As if it was his fault and he wanted to do something about it.
He also finds a post it with a number and Call me! written below it. He figures it must be someone that is okay with just a one evening thing, or else they wouldn’t leave post its, so he decides to give the number a try.
To: 0945832934
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Hey, it’s been a while. Want to meet up?
To: Kyuhyunnie
From: 0945832934
- - - - - - - - - -
Oh baby you’re right, it’s been too long!
I asked your appa and we can meet you this weekend.
Should we come to your apartment?
To: Mom x___x
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
I’m sorry mom, something just came up.
Maybe another time.
Tell dad I said hi.
He doesn’t touch numbers without names anymore after that. He does, however, try numbers that do have names and one of them is a girlfriend that he remembers from roughly a year and a half ago. He counts back and figures she must have been like girlfriend number somewhere in the twenty. Her name was Baek Jan Di or something like that. He remembers her because she made the most delicious chicken fried rice he has ever tasted in his life. So he decides to send her a text, but doesn’t really know how to go about the making up thing. They didn’t part in the friendliest of moods.
To: Jan Di
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Hey you. :) I’m sorry we lost contact. I suffered from cancer for the past year, but I’m better now. Want to meet up?
To: Kyuhyun wtf?
From: Jan Di
- - - - - - - - -
I’m sorry to hear that. I wish I had known so I could have come by and show you how much I don’t give a shit. My boyfriend would love to get introduced to you properly, though.
Microwave chicken fried rice isn’t all too bad either, he decides. He’s not THAT desperate for a clean shower anyway.
He’s well past half of the ex-girlfriends on his list -all having given him disappointing answers which were...well, disappointing- when he grows tired of the whole thing and decides to do it himself. He walks into the bathroom, breathes in the distinct smell of a room that hasn’t been entered or decently cleaned in a month and walks right back out.
Four months after the break up, he grows tired of washing his hair above the kitchen sink (he feels cleaner that way than when he showers) so he invites Donghae to go swimming. They swim a few lengths (or Donghae does, he stays in the shallow part and tries to remember what swimming was like again - paddle your hands, stamp your feet?) and then go for the showers. He takes a long shower, washing himself from head to toe, and takes his time to dry his hair adequately before he leaves the building. Donghae says nothing about it, but he’s giving Kyuhyun judging looks that are ignored. Kyuhyun hasn’t felt so clean and fresh in weeks.
KimchiFly: you should clean your apartment
theKyu: my apartment is fine
KimchiFly: I bet it’s covered in dust, except for that square metre your desk chair is on
theKyu: as if you know what my apartment looks like
…
KimchiFly: you use a vacuum cleaner to clean the house
KimchiFly: just so you know
theKyu: wtf? I didn’t ask anything
KimchiFly: but you WERE wondering
KimchiFly: you’re welcome for telling you
theKyu: you’re such an ass >.>
KimchiFly: love you too <3
Cinderella: u 2 r so married
theKyu: stop creeping on our conversations rella
“Donghae,” he exclaims once the other picks up and he swears he can hear a sigh on the other end.
“I’m not going swimming with you again unless you’re actually going to swim, Kyuhyun.” Donghae tells him before he can even get to the point of the conversation. “Besides I have a girlfriend now. I don’t have time to jump at your every whim.” Kyuhyun’s offended, at the very least.
“What? What are you talking about, I wasn’t calling you to go swimming. How ridiculous would that be? We just went t-” Suddenly he realises what else has been said to him. “Wait. You have a girlfriend? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did, about.. Let me count..two weeks ago. That time when you accidentally texted me instead of whoever you wanted to coax into having wine at your place.” Donghae explains, seeming bored with him. He huffs, but doesn’t go further into it. That was a rather embarrassing experience after all.
“Anyway,” he therefore changes the subject. “I wasn’t calling you about swimming. I wanted to know what stuff you use to clean those .. things you clean.”
“You what?” Donghae sounds genuinely surprised, and then ruins it a little more when he starts spouting nonsense. “You want to clean? Are you sure? Did you hit your head? Is the hygiene police holding a gun against your head telling you to clean? Did an alien take over your mind?”
“I want to make sure whoever is going to clean for me will have the right things to clean with. Just tell me hyung!” He protests and Donghae sighs, but at least obliges.
Five months into the life of a single man, he wanders into the bathroom, fully equipped with a mouth mask, rubber gloves, a cleaning towel, two bottles of lime out (the names people come up with for things lately) and a bucket with warm water. He walks over to the little sink first, but changes his mind halfway and goes for the shower. His first problem is to somehow get the draining hole free again, so he leans down once he reaches it, only to get back up and almost choke on his own coughing.
His next attempt is better coordinated. First he puts the bucket down, then the bottles of lime out. He kneels down next to his shower (it takes about four minutes before he gets over the fact that it’s all hairy and dusty there) and gives the draining hole another close inspection. He reaches out for it, but stops moments later, stares at it once more and then gets up, fleeing the bathroom.
KimchiFly: I went to the troll cave once
KimchiFly: instant death for sure
theKyu: I swear
Cinderella: so I shouldn’t go there?
Cinderella: hey Kyu
theKyu: showers are the spawn of hell
Cinderella: you still nagging about those showers?
Cinderella: dude get a grip
theKyu: shut up, rella
KimchiFly: no Cin, better don’t go there
KimchiFly: try the Rockfields
KimchiFly: hey kyu
KimchiFly: what did the shower do this time
theKyu: nothing!
theKyu: it’s still the same!
theKyu: it still smells
theKyu: and keeps being dirty
theKyu: tried cleaning it
theKyu: but seriously.. yuck
theKyu: how can anyone stand that?
Cinderella: that’s why they hire cleaning ladies
theKyu: but the shower’s supposed to be clean!
theKyu: and now you tell me I should pay someone to make it how it’s SUPPOSED TO BE?
Cinderella: welcome to life
theKyu: oh go diaf
Two days later he’s back at the shower, face mask and gloves on again, but this time armed with a pair of chopsticks as well. He sits as far away as he possibly can, stretching out his arm to the furthest and carefully picking at the hair that is cluttering the hole. When he finally gets hold of it, he pushes it up, only to stare in horror as he sees the glue-y white bits in between and even some smelly water still dripping off. Moments later he’s running out of the bathroom as fast as he can, trying hard not to throw up in the middle of his hallway.
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
I’m going to kill myself. It was nice knowing you, Hae.
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Even in your last text not calling me hyung? I’m disappointed.
Why so melodramatic, though?
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
HOW THE HELL DO I CLEAN A BATHROOM?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Seriously?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
Seriously!?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
SERIOUSLY?
To: Kyu
From: Donghae
- - - - - - - - - -
You’re weak man. It’s just a shower.
You kill ogre trolls for breakfast.
To: Hae
From: Kyuhyun
- - - - - - - - - -
Shut up.
I hate you.
I hope you die.
He’s devastated, considers moving just so he can have a clean bathroom again, but then who would buy an apartment with a dirty bathroom? (and honestly, everything else is dirty too) He’s flicking paper balls at his television screen on which some dude is explaining the things going wrong in the world. He’s not gaming because Kimchi isn’t on and he’s pretty sure that if he has to listen to Cinderella’s complaints for even five minutes, he’s going to grab a gun and kill him – guild member or not.
Suddenly the doorbell rings.
“Hey Kyuhyun. I’m here to clean your bathroom.” some girl says, all smiles and happy waves, taking a step inside and hugging his neck for a moment. He can only stare, watching her as she lets go again. She looks at him as if she expects him to say something but he’s too busy figuring out if he’s awake or dreaming to notice. “You okay?” she then asks, feeling his forehead, which is probably the moment when he snaps back to reality.
He looks at her again, really looks at her, and there’s a sense of familiarity, so he starts counting back faces of his ex-girlfriends, trying to see if she’s in that row as well. He keeps counting and counting, until he stops all the way back at number one, when he was seventeen and she was eighteen and she took his hand and pulled him in for his very first kiss. He remembers three sunny months, before they had to part and go to college.
“What is this?” he finally manages to blurt out, blinking at her rather awkwardly. “How did you know where I live? Why do you think my bathroom needs cleaning?” She laughs, pricks a finger in his nose and easily walks past him, finding her way to his bathroom as if she’s been living in the apartment all her life. He stumbles after her to see what she’s up to.
“Who do you think you’ve been nagging at about it for the past six months?” she tells him happily. He stops when he realises what she just said, mouth agape and staring.
“Kimch?” he then questions, disbelief in his voice. Moments later her head pops out from the bathroom again, signature wide grin that he knows so well plastered on her face as she blows a kiss at him and disappears again.
“The one and only.”
[FIC] Just for one night
Title: Just for one night
Characters: Hangeng, Heechul
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1.934
Summary: Hangeng visits just for one night, Heechul disagrees
A/N: My friend came over for a few days, we got to role-playing some Hanchul while lying in bed. (We were supposed to fall asleep early, but it didn't turn out as expected. I think I fell asleep at around 4AM, still in the middle of the RPG.) We had a little co-starring by my cat Lyntia, but that's about it. It's squishy, it's not really plotline-ish.. Probably just fluff without plut? Or something to the likes of that. Hanchul without plot? Enjoy either way.
- - - - -
Heechul lay in silence on the bed, staring into the dark that surrounded him from all sides. There was a sudden shadow popping up right in front of him, but before he could back away in fright, a loud, happy purring was to be heard and he smiled with a sigh.
“Baengshin-ah.. Don’t be such a creeper.” he murmured to the cat, poking its nose softly with one finger. The only reply was a lick on his finger after which the cat calmly made its way to the pillow to lie down there and go to sleep. Something, he realized, he should do as well to be fit the next day. Yet somehow sleep didn’t sound all that interesting.
Right at that moment, the person behind him suddenly turned a little and an arm was strategically laid over him. He huffed and pushed it off of him, but moments later it was put back. The sound of the other’s calm breathing was rather entrancing and the warm air blown against his neck every time felt more reassuring than anything had done in the past nine months. He let out an annoyed groan, but snuggled closer against the warm body behind him anyway.
“Tell me again why you have to leave?” he wondered out loud, putting his hand on top of the other’s. There was a short silence before the answer came, softly and almost hesitantly.
“Because I have a concert tomorrow.”
He could only huff again when hearing those words. “Cancel it.”
“And disappoint my fans? I can’t do that. They all paid for their tickets and expect me to come.” the other mumbled, causing him to sigh deeply.
“I’m sure they won’t’ mind you postponing your concert. They can wait a little longer.” he protested, but the other chuckled amusedly.
“I have to go, Chul. My plane is at seven, I have to get up at five to catch it.” the reply then came, followed by a soft sigh from the other as if talking about it seemed to make him remember the crappiness of the whole situation.
“Five? But that’s like..three hours from now.” Heechul muttered in protest.
“Yes. All the more reason to shut up and get the last few hours we can get.” the smile was obvious in his voice as he said those words, after which he turned a little to position himself better and then rested his chin on Heechul’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to sleep. When I wake up you will be gone. I don’t want you to be gone.” the latter said to that statement, his voice slightly whiny. There came no immediate reply and in the silence that followed, Heechul wondered if the other had fallen asleep, but suddenly Hangeng moved closer to him and muzzled their cheeks together.
“I will come back tomorrow.” he then promised, smiling lightly.
“Yeah, sure. You said that last time too. ‘I will be back soon.’ But I didn’t see you for nine freaking months, you moron.” Heechul immediately contradicted those words.
“Well I was incredibly busy, Chul. Besides, I told you I would come back, yes, but I never said how long it would take. This is my last concert and I took some free time without schedules, so I’ll be back tomorrow.”
The silence that followed showed how much Heechul believed those words. Before anyone could say anything, however, a certain cat woke up again and decided that three in the morning was the best time to go hyperactive without warning. So they both nearly rolled out of the bed in shock when suddenly a cat jumped on the covers and started attacking everything that moved - or moved just in his mind. It took some time for their suddenly erratic heartbeats to slow down again.
“You know you could have at least called or something. I don’t need you to appear at my doorstep, but a call at least?” Heechul continued the conversation softly once that was the case.
“I called. You just didn’t pick up.” Hangeng immediately contradicted, making Heechul frown and then feel slightly guilty, glad that the Chinese man could not see his face in the dark.
“You have to text me first, I’m busy.” he snapped, but he knew the other saw right through the façade and the lies. He wasn’t surprised when the answer that followed had completely nothing to do with the matter at hand.
“You’re an idiot.” Hangeng told him in such a way that made it clear he was not angry about the little lie but more amused and maybe even thinking it full-out laughable. Heechul didn’t even need a second to give an answer; “Yes that too.”
Hangeng smiled over those words, resting his head a little closer next to Heechul’s. There was another one of their silence, before he patted Heechul’s hand. “Go to sleep.” he then mumbled.
“I don’t want to sleep. I’ll stay awake until five and then make you stay here.” the elder protested with no humour whatsoever in his voice.
“Fine.” Hangeng calmly replied. “Do as you please, but I’m going to catch some sleep now.” He closed his eyes, but obviously didn’t really expect to be left alone to sleep by Heechul, as he merely lay waiting until the other would talk again. Meanwhile, Baengshin had given up on his hyperactivity again and calmly walked up to the pillow to lie down again right above their heads. It was when his belly touched the fabric, that Heechul spoke again.
“Tell me again why you have to get up at five..?” he mumbled, eyes closed but still very much awake and completely engulfed in thoughts about his friend’s flight from the next day.
“I have a concert tomorrow.” Hangeng replied with a sigh, knowing that he should have expected the question coming from his friends.
“What time?” the latter immediately inquired to know.
“Five in the evening.”
“Who goes to a concert at five in the evening?” Heechul rolled his eyes as he said those words, thinking the timing pretty stupid.
“Apparently lots of people because it’s sold out.” the younger immediately retorted, sounding slightly annoyed. “But it starts at eight. Only I have to be there at five.”
“Then why do you have to go at five in the morning? Sleep a little longer.” Heechul grumbled, untouched by the annoyed sound of the other’s voice. He lifted his hand and stroked the cat above his head a little. His actions earned him a loud purring almost right next to his ear.
“Because I wasn’t supposed to be here from the start. I didn’t even tell anyone I was coming here.” Hangeng sighed, slightly starting to think that maybe it had been wiser not to show up in Korea at all. Then again, he had promised to come back, so there was no way he could’ve stayed away forever. One day he would have had to face Heechul’s wrath anyway, so better now than later, when it would have been even worse.
“Oh, so soon you’ll get a call from your manager asking where the hell you are?” the elder sounded almost as if he was looking forward to that, but Hangeng shook his head, even though Heechul couldn’t see that.
“No.” he replied, leaving a short silence before continuing. “I turned off my phone.”
Another silence ensued and Heechul found himself wondering why the hell Hangeng showed up at eleven in the evening just to spend a night of sleep in Heechul’s bed and then leave again at five in the morning. He was still in the middle of thinking bad things when Hangeng softly took hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers.
In the following minutes they didn’t speak anymore again, but Heechul felt how Hangeng softly squeezed his hand and snuggled closer to him. A small smile appeared on his face and he slowly pulled his fingers out of Hangeng’s grasp. Yet even before he had the chance to pull away his hand completely, it was already taken hold of again and Hangeng intertwined their fingers once more. There was a slight battle of wills going on between them, before Hangeng kind of won when Heechul decided to let their hands be clasped together.
“How have things been, Chullie?” the Chinese man slowly asked, caressing the other’s hand with his thumb.
“Fine.” Heechul replied rather coldly. “I learned Chinese.”
“Ni hao. Wo shi Hangeng, ni shi Xi Che.” the soft voice immediately told him, making him chuckle slightly at the still only slightly familiar sound of the Chinese and his Chinese name. “I missed you.” Hangeng then softly added to his words, much less joking then before.
“I didn’t miss you. At all.” Heechul coldly replied, but there was a smile on his face. And he still smiled as he turned his head a little to the other to be able to catch a glimpse of the Chinese man’s face. The movement merely earned him another cheek-muzzle, which proved to him that Hangeng didn’t believe a word of what he was saying.
“You’re ruining my perfect skin.” he therefore complained half heartedly to his friend.
“You sound like such a moron, Heechul. You’re complaining like an ahjumma. Or maybe you’re more of a noona. You do look like one. My noona.” the latter then told him with a soft laugh. Heechul scoffed, but felt a slight bit of amusement at those words.
“You are such an idiot.” He said with a hint of that same amusement in his voice.
“I am your idiot, my noona.” Hangeng went on joking, causing Heechul to pull his hand out of Hangeng’s completely and swat his leg. Yet the other seemed to have seen that coming, because there were arms wrapped around him again immediately and he was pulled closer against the Chinese man’s chest a mere second later.
Right at that moment, a rather stalker-like Baengshin placed himself right in their middle, pushing its head against Heechul’s shoulder and practically stuffing its butt in Hangeng’s face. The latter merely pulled one arm free and moved the cat back to the pillow.
“Ah Baengshin.. I know you never really liked me, but this is really too much.” he sighed.
“What are you talking about? Baengshin just loves you! Heebum is the one who can’t stand you.” Heechul retorted amusedly. His words caused the younger to snort slightly.
“He even holds part of my name. Ungrateful cat. Much like his owner..” He let a few seconds pause between those words and the next. “..my noona.”
Heechul’s soft laugher made Hangeng smile as well and he wrapped his arm around the other’s middle again, snuggling as close as possible and resting his head against Heechul’s back. It didn’t take long for him to sink away into a hard-needed sleep after he closed his eyes, leaving Heechul awake all by himself to ponder over everything for a long time.
The next morning woke him with a lot of movement to his left. “Good morning.” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. There was an angry sound coming from next to him.
“Good close to noon, you mean? It’s eleven. My alarm clock didn’t work.” Hangeng then said, obviously a little more awake already than he was himself. He lay in silence for a while longer before a smile tugged up the corners of his mouth.
“Or maybe someone turned it off.” he said amusedly. A short astonished silence followed, before the arm around his middle was pulled away.
“YAH HEECHUL YOU….!!!”
Characters: Hangeng, Heechul
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 1.934
Summary: Hangeng visits just for one night, Heechul disagrees
A/N: My friend came over for a few days, we got to role-playing some Hanchul while lying in bed. (We were supposed to fall asleep early, but it didn't turn out as expected. I think I fell asleep at around 4AM, still in the middle of the RPG.) We had a little co-starring by my cat Lyntia, but that's about it. It's squishy, it's not really plotline-ish.. Probably just fluff without plut? Or something to the likes of that. Hanchul without plot? Enjoy either way.
- - - - -
Heechul lay in silence on the bed, staring into the dark that surrounded him from all sides. There was a sudden shadow popping up right in front of him, but before he could back away in fright, a loud, happy purring was to be heard and he smiled with a sigh.
“Baengshin-ah.. Don’t be such a creeper.” he murmured to the cat, poking its nose softly with one finger. The only reply was a lick on his finger after which the cat calmly made its way to the pillow to lie down there and go to sleep. Something, he realized, he should do as well to be fit the next day. Yet somehow sleep didn’t sound all that interesting.
Right at that moment, the person behind him suddenly turned a little and an arm was strategically laid over him. He huffed and pushed it off of him, but moments later it was put back. The sound of the other’s calm breathing was rather entrancing and the warm air blown against his neck every time felt more reassuring than anything had done in the past nine months. He let out an annoyed groan, but snuggled closer against the warm body behind him anyway.
“Tell me again why you have to leave?” he wondered out loud, putting his hand on top of the other’s. There was a short silence before the answer came, softly and almost hesitantly.
“Because I have a concert tomorrow.”
He could only huff again when hearing those words. “Cancel it.”
“And disappoint my fans? I can’t do that. They all paid for their tickets and expect me to come.” the other mumbled, causing him to sigh deeply.
“I’m sure they won’t’ mind you postponing your concert. They can wait a little longer.” he protested, but the other chuckled amusedly.
“I have to go, Chul. My plane is at seven, I have to get up at five to catch it.” the reply then came, followed by a soft sigh from the other as if talking about it seemed to make him remember the crappiness of the whole situation.
“Five? But that’s like..three hours from now.” Heechul muttered in protest.
“Yes. All the more reason to shut up and get the last few hours we can get.” the smile was obvious in his voice as he said those words, after which he turned a little to position himself better and then rested his chin on Heechul’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to sleep. When I wake up you will be gone. I don’t want you to be gone.” the latter said to that statement, his voice slightly whiny. There came no immediate reply and in the silence that followed, Heechul wondered if the other had fallen asleep, but suddenly Hangeng moved closer to him and muzzled their cheeks together.
“I will come back tomorrow.” he then promised, smiling lightly.
“Yeah, sure. You said that last time too. ‘I will be back soon.’ But I didn’t see you for nine freaking months, you moron.” Heechul immediately contradicted those words.
“Well I was incredibly busy, Chul. Besides, I told you I would come back, yes, but I never said how long it would take. This is my last concert and I took some free time without schedules, so I’ll be back tomorrow.”
The silence that followed showed how much Heechul believed those words. Before anyone could say anything, however, a certain cat woke up again and decided that three in the morning was the best time to go hyperactive without warning. So they both nearly rolled out of the bed in shock when suddenly a cat jumped on the covers and started attacking everything that moved - or moved just in his mind. It took some time for their suddenly erratic heartbeats to slow down again.
“You know you could have at least called or something. I don’t need you to appear at my doorstep, but a call at least?” Heechul continued the conversation softly once that was the case.
“I called. You just didn’t pick up.” Hangeng immediately contradicted, making Heechul frown and then feel slightly guilty, glad that the Chinese man could not see his face in the dark.
“You have to text me first, I’m busy.” he snapped, but he knew the other saw right through the façade and the lies. He wasn’t surprised when the answer that followed had completely nothing to do with the matter at hand.
“You’re an idiot.” Hangeng told him in such a way that made it clear he was not angry about the little lie but more amused and maybe even thinking it full-out laughable. Heechul didn’t even need a second to give an answer; “Yes that too.”
Hangeng smiled over those words, resting his head a little closer next to Heechul’s. There was another one of their silence, before he patted Heechul’s hand. “Go to sleep.” he then mumbled.
“I don’t want to sleep. I’ll stay awake until five and then make you stay here.” the elder protested with no humour whatsoever in his voice.
“Fine.” Hangeng calmly replied. “Do as you please, but I’m going to catch some sleep now.” He closed his eyes, but obviously didn’t really expect to be left alone to sleep by Heechul, as he merely lay waiting until the other would talk again. Meanwhile, Baengshin had given up on his hyperactivity again and calmly walked up to the pillow to lie down again right above their heads. It was when his belly touched the fabric, that Heechul spoke again.
“Tell me again why you have to get up at five..?” he mumbled, eyes closed but still very much awake and completely engulfed in thoughts about his friend’s flight from the next day.
“I have a concert tomorrow.” Hangeng replied with a sigh, knowing that he should have expected the question coming from his friends.
“What time?” the latter immediately inquired to know.
“Five in the evening.”
“Who goes to a concert at five in the evening?” Heechul rolled his eyes as he said those words, thinking the timing pretty stupid.
“Apparently lots of people because it’s sold out.” the younger immediately retorted, sounding slightly annoyed. “But it starts at eight. Only I have to be there at five.”
“Then why do you have to go at five in the morning? Sleep a little longer.” Heechul grumbled, untouched by the annoyed sound of the other’s voice. He lifted his hand and stroked the cat above his head a little. His actions earned him a loud purring almost right next to his ear.
“Because I wasn’t supposed to be here from the start. I didn’t even tell anyone I was coming here.” Hangeng sighed, slightly starting to think that maybe it had been wiser not to show up in Korea at all. Then again, he had promised to come back, so there was no way he could’ve stayed away forever. One day he would have had to face Heechul’s wrath anyway, so better now than later, when it would have been even worse.
“Oh, so soon you’ll get a call from your manager asking where the hell you are?” the elder sounded almost as if he was looking forward to that, but Hangeng shook his head, even though Heechul couldn’t see that.
“No.” he replied, leaving a short silence before continuing. “I turned off my phone.”
Another silence ensued and Heechul found himself wondering why the hell Hangeng showed up at eleven in the evening just to spend a night of sleep in Heechul’s bed and then leave again at five in the morning. He was still in the middle of thinking bad things when Hangeng softly took hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers.
In the following minutes they didn’t speak anymore again, but Heechul felt how Hangeng softly squeezed his hand and snuggled closer to him. A small smile appeared on his face and he slowly pulled his fingers out of Hangeng’s grasp. Yet even before he had the chance to pull away his hand completely, it was already taken hold of again and Hangeng intertwined their fingers once more. There was a slight battle of wills going on between them, before Hangeng kind of won when Heechul decided to let their hands be clasped together.
“How have things been, Chullie?” the Chinese man slowly asked, caressing the other’s hand with his thumb.
“Fine.” Heechul replied rather coldly. “I learned Chinese.”
“Ni hao. Wo shi Hangeng, ni shi Xi Che.” the soft voice immediately told him, making him chuckle slightly at the still only slightly familiar sound of the Chinese and his Chinese name. “I missed you.” Hangeng then softly added to his words, much less joking then before.
“I didn’t miss you. At all.” Heechul coldly replied, but there was a smile on his face. And he still smiled as he turned his head a little to the other to be able to catch a glimpse of the Chinese man’s face. The movement merely earned him another cheek-muzzle, which proved to him that Hangeng didn’t believe a word of what he was saying.
“You’re ruining my perfect skin.” he therefore complained half heartedly to his friend.
“You sound like such a moron, Heechul. You’re complaining like an ahjumma. Or maybe you’re more of a noona. You do look like one. My noona.” the latter then told him with a soft laugh. Heechul scoffed, but felt a slight bit of amusement at those words.
“You are such an idiot.” He said with a hint of that same amusement in his voice.
“I am your idiot, my noona.” Hangeng went on joking, causing Heechul to pull his hand out of Hangeng’s completely and swat his leg. Yet the other seemed to have seen that coming, because there were arms wrapped around him again immediately and he was pulled closer against the Chinese man’s chest a mere second later.
Right at that moment, a rather stalker-like Baengshin placed himself right in their middle, pushing its head against Heechul’s shoulder and practically stuffing its butt in Hangeng’s face. The latter merely pulled one arm free and moved the cat back to the pillow.
“Ah Baengshin.. I know you never really liked me, but this is really too much.” he sighed.
“What are you talking about? Baengshin just loves you! Heebum is the one who can’t stand you.” Heechul retorted amusedly. His words caused the younger to snort slightly.
“He even holds part of my name. Ungrateful cat. Much like his owner..” He let a few seconds pause between those words and the next. “..my noona.”
Heechul’s soft laugher made Hangeng smile as well and he wrapped his arm around the other’s middle again, snuggling as close as possible and resting his head against Heechul’s back. It didn’t take long for him to sink away into a hard-needed sleep after he closed his eyes, leaving Heechul awake all by himself to ponder over everything for a long time.
The next morning woke him with a lot of movement to his left. “Good morning.” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. There was an angry sound coming from next to him.
“Good close to noon, you mean? It’s eleven. My alarm clock didn’t work.” Hangeng then said, obviously a little more awake already than he was himself. He lay in silence for a while longer before a smile tugged up the corners of his mouth.
“Or maybe someone turned it off.” he said amusedly. A short astonished silence followed, before the arm around his middle was pulled away.
“YAH HEECHUL YOU….!!!”
[FIC] Valentine's Day
Title: Valentine's Day
Characters: Zhou Mi, Kyuhyun
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1.913
Summary: They have a house, a couch and a friendship. Zhou Mi ponders over Valentine's day.
A/N: This story is dedicated to two friends who both weren't feeling as happy last night. I wanted to cheer them up but sadly wasn't able to write this fic in 10 minutes. I finished it later on, however, and am now also posting it up here.
- - - - -
“How was work?” Kyuhyun questioned from his position on the couch, where he had flopped down after coming home himself. Some laid back variety show was playing on the television, the controller loosely clasped in his hand. When there came no reaction from the person who had just entered the dorm, he turned his body a little so he could look up at the other. Zhou Mi was standing in the hallway, taking off his shoes with a thoughtful expression on his face. When he looked up and saw Kyuhyun’s questioning expression, he blinked and seemed to realise where he was again.
“Mhmwhat?” he asked, seeming unfocused. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes as he watched Zhou Mi put his books on a chair and his bag on the shelf. It was amusing to see the confusion on his face when the redhead walked back to the chair to take something out of his backpack only to find that said bag was not there. For a moment Zhou Mi stared at his books, before turning around with a completely lost expression on his face.
“The shelf.” Kyuhyun helped out, making the redhead look at him again. “What?” Another roll of his eyes accompanied his following words. “Your bag? It’s on the shelf. Over there.” He waved his hand in the general direction of the bookshelves while keeping his eyes on Zhou Mi. “You look distracted today. Anything went wrong at tutoring?” he then continued his questioning, hoping to get a decent answer this time.
“No..” Zhou Mi immediately replied. “No, tutoring went well.” A small smile appeared on his face and he seemed to become more of the cheery person Kyuhyun was used to. “She’s really improving. We had a whole conversation about the weather today. In Chinese.” His smile was a proud one, showing how much progress his student had made, and it made Kyuhyun smile a little too. He knew how much Zhou Mi cared about his students and how well they were doing.
“So if tutoring went well, then what’s bugging you?” He put down the remote and rolled out of the couch. Once he was up on his feet, he easily made his way over to the table as well. “Anything happened in school today?” He opened his arms a little even before he reached the other. The offered hug was gladly taken by Zhou Mi, who basically glued the two of them together as he cuddled close.
“I don’t know, Kuixian.” he muttered then. “I was just thinking... It’s Valentine’s day soon. Shouldn’t we get something? Or do something special? I mean...I don’t think Haejung would appreciate it if you just let it pass, would she?” For a moment Kyuhyun stilled, but then he completely let go of the other and quickly fled back to the couch he had left moments ago.
“You’re in your Valentine mood again, aren’t you?” he questioned, voice sceptic. “I’m so not going to sit through that a second time. You figure out on your own what Mina likes and let me deal with Haejung on my own.” He turned up the volume of the television, knowing Zhou Mi would try to persuade him into coming up with Valentine plans together. “I remember how you had me light candles and spread rose petals in her room. I almost burned down her bed. Not going to do that again this year. You come up with your disasters yourself and I’ll just watch this show in peace. Hyori noona is in it today.”
“Hyori noona?” As expected that drew Zhou Mi’s attention away from the Valentine’s day topic and he quickly walked closer to peer at the screen. The next five moments were spent on discussing how she seemed to look really tired and how she needed to get more rest. Somewhere along the discussion, Zhou Mi made his way around the couch to find a spot next to Kyuhyun, who immediately propped his feet up on the other’s lap. Not ten minutes later, commercials popped up, making Kyuhyun groan in annoyance.
“I swear, these days they’re not playing commercials in between programs, but programs in between commercials.” he complained, making Zhou Mi smile over his usual grumpy self.
“Well, the people making the products need to earn money too.” he replied then, gently picking up Kyuhyun’s feet from his lap, standing up and putting them down again on the couch. “I’ll go make some tea. You want anything?” He paused a moment at the side of the couch, one hand on the back rest, eyes fixed on Kyuhyun. The latter looked up at that, sent him a soft smile and nodded. “Some tea as well, thanks.” he replied, before gluing his eyes to the television again. His hand found the remote again and he lazily zapped through the channels.
It took quite a while for Zhou Mi to return with two mugs of steaming tea, putting the plate down on the table and claiming his spot on the couch again. For that, Kyuhyun had to lift his legs of course, but after some poking and Zhou Mi threatening to just go sit on them, he grudgingly did so. They sat in silence then, both carefully sipping from their tea, looking at the currently playing commercial about diapers. There was a comfortable silence, or at least Kyuhyun thought so. But moments later Zhou Mi broke it again.
“Should I buy her some chocolates?” he suggested, making Kyuhyun almost literally facepalm. If it wasn’t for the cup of tea in his hands, he probably would have. For a moment he contemplated between ignoring the other or smacking the back of his head, but one look at Zhou Mi’s pensive pout made him change his mind. He sighed and sat up a little straighter.
“Maybe you should be original. Give her something aside from chocolates.” he suggested. “I’m going to cook something nice and invite Haejung over since you’ll be gone with Mina. If I make her dinner that will assure me her love for another year. What more do you need? It’s not like Valentine’s day is more special than all the other days you’re together. Especially you and Mina. With both of your busy schedules it’s surprising there are even any days at all that you can spend together.”
Zhou Mi chuckled at that. “It’s not because we’re less physical than you and Haejung that we don’t love each other, you know.” he countered then. “This might surprise you but...” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Kyuhyun silenced him with a wave of his hand and a short ‘shush!’ when the show started again, the first person in view being Lee Hyori. Both their attention was focused on the screen for a moment, until it turned out that Hyori had actually left for other schedules and the focus of the rest of the show would be on other people.
“What kind of nonsense is that!” Kyuhyun immediately exclaimed. “Have you ever seen a show where the idol leaves halfway? I protest against this! We should send a protest mail to SBS or something.” Zhou Mi took another sip of his tea, before reaching out and patting Kyuhyun’s knee. “Don’t worry, Kuixian, I’m sure there’s plenty of shows online where you can watch Hyori. Just make sure Haejung doesn’t find out about all those DVDs you have of the woman or you can forget about your dinner and being loved for another year. Since when can you cook, actually?”
His hand shot up right in time to prevent a pillow from slamming in his face and he quickly put down his cup of tea to make sure it wouldn’t get damaged in the outburst of Kyuhyun’s mock anger. “I’ll let you know that I’m very good at cooking, you idiot.” the younger bit at him, frowning in obvious displeasure. Zhou Mi merely smiled back, patting the other’s knee once again. “Oh I’m sure you are, Kuixian.” he then soothed, which seemed to calm down Kyuhyun a little. “You surely are a master at the culinary art of ordering in and getting takeout.”
Zhou Mi was out of the couch and fleeing to his room before Kyuhyun had time to react to that, but a pillow flew right past him as he ducked behind the table. “You’re going to take that back before the night is over, Zhou Mi!” the younger threatened, crawling over the backrest of the couch to chase after him. They spent the next twenty minutes on chasing each other around the apartment, throwing insults like they were confetti, a wide grin on Zhou Mi’s face, an even wider one on Kyuhyun’s. After that, they both ended up on the couch again, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling.
“Maybe I should buy her one of those cute dresses.” Zhou Mi then wondered aloud. “With floral patterns, they’re very fashionable again now.” Kyuhyun groaned, rolling his eyes and taking his phone out of his pocket. Several pressed keys and some dial tones later, a cheerful voice sounded up from the other side that Zhou Mi immediately recognised, making him look at his friend in alarm.
“Mina, dear, please tell your hopelessly romantic boyfriend that you wouldn’t mind him giving you a chicken for Valentine’s day as long as he spends it with you. Because if I have to hear him suggest possibly gifts for the rest of the week, you won’t have a boyfriend to celebrate the damn day with.” Kyuhyun stated calmly, making the girl on the other side laugh amused. Zhou Mi was motioning Kyuhyun to shut the hell up, because he wanted to surprise his girlfriend for Valentine’s day, but of course the brat wasn’t listening. “Oh and I think Mimi wants me to tell you that he loves you very much but Hyori is still hotter.” he instead calmly continued.
“Kuixian, what are you doing!?” Zhou Mi exclaimed in pure horror, leaping on the other and pulling the phone out of Kyuhyun’s hand, immediately bringing it to his own ear. “That is not true, Mina!” he wildly stated. “That is not true, I swear! I’ll make it a wonderful day and I won’t share any of my ideas with that … stupid! … ever again!” Once again Mina laughed, before finally getting a word in between all their talking.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I know you’ll do your best. I’m free from six pm, so come pick me up and make the day amazing like always.” she said, the smile audible in her voice. “I have to go now, I’m teaching right now. I’ll text you later, okay? Love you!”
“Love you too.” Zhou Mi quickly replied before she could hang up. The next moment the dial tone told him his girlfriend had hung up again and he immediately turned his displeased face to Kyuhyun. The younger was grinning smugly as if he owned the world, seemingly unaware of the consequences of his actions. Zhou Mi was torn between stuffing the phone in that smug grin and scolding the other, but in the end settled for the easy way out; simply ignoring him. So he got up, took his cup of tea and calmly walked to his room. Kyuhyun let him go, feeling smug and happy he had won the discussion…
...until he realised that Zhou Mi still had his phone while Haejung had said she’d call him later that evening.
Characters: Zhou Mi, Kyuhyun
Rating: G
Wordcount: 1.913
Summary: They have a house, a couch and a friendship. Zhou Mi ponders over Valentine's day.
A/N: This story is dedicated to two friends who both weren't feeling as happy last night. I wanted to cheer them up but sadly wasn't able to write this fic in 10 minutes. I finished it later on, however, and am now also posting it up here.
- - - - -
“How was work?” Kyuhyun questioned from his position on the couch, where he had flopped down after coming home himself. Some laid back variety show was playing on the television, the controller loosely clasped in his hand. When there came no reaction from the person who had just entered the dorm, he turned his body a little so he could look up at the other. Zhou Mi was standing in the hallway, taking off his shoes with a thoughtful expression on his face. When he looked up and saw Kyuhyun’s questioning expression, he blinked and seemed to realise where he was again.
“Mhmwhat?” he asked, seeming unfocused. Kyuhyun rolled his eyes as he watched Zhou Mi put his books on a chair and his bag on the shelf. It was amusing to see the confusion on his face when the redhead walked back to the chair to take something out of his backpack only to find that said bag was not there. For a moment Zhou Mi stared at his books, before turning around with a completely lost expression on his face.
“The shelf.” Kyuhyun helped out, making the redhead look at him again. “What?” Another roll of his eyes accompanied his following words. “Your bag? It’s on the shelf. Over there.” He waved his hand in the general direction of the bookshelves while keeping his eyes on Zhou Mi. “You look distracted today. Anything went wrong at tutoring?” he then continued his questioning, hoping to get a decent answer this time.
“No..” Zhou Mi immediately replied. “No, tutoring went well.” A small smile appeared on his face and he seemed to become more of the cheery person Kyuhyun was used to. “She’s really improving. We had a whole conversation about the weather today. In Chinese.” His smile was a proud one, showing how much progress his student had made, and it made Kyuhyun smile a little too. He knew how much Zhou Mi cared about his students and how well they were doing.
“So if tutoring went well, then what’s bugging you?” He put down the remote and rolled out of the couch. Once he was up on his feet, he easily made his way over to the table as well. “Anything happened in school today?” He opened his arms a little even before he reached the other. The offered hug was gladly taken by Zhou Mi, who basically glued the two of them together as he cuddled close.
“I don’t know, Kuixian.” he muttered then. “I was just thinking... It’s Valentine’s day soon. Shouldn’t we get something? Or do something special? I mean...I don’t think Haejung would appreciate it if you just let it pass, would she?” For a moment Kyuhyun stilled, but then he completely let go of the other and quickly fled back to the couch he had left moments ago.
“You’re in your Valentine mood again, aren’t you?” he questioned, voice sceptic. “I’m so not going to sit through that a second time. You figure out on your own what Mina likes and let me deal with Haejung on my own.” He turned up the volume of the television, knowing Zhou Mi would try to persuade him into coming up with Valentine plans together. “I remember how you had me light candles and spread rose petals in her room. I almost burned down her bed. Not going to do that again this year. You come up with your disasters yourself and I’ll just watch this show in peace. Hyori noona is in it today.”
“Hyori noona?” As expected that drew Zhou Mi’s attention away from the Valentine’s day topic and he quickly walked closer to peer at the screen. The next five moments were spent on discussing how she seemed to look really tired and how she needed to get more rest. Somewhere along the discussion, Zhou Mi made his way around the couch to find a spot next to Kyuhyun, who immediately propped his feet up on the other’s lap. Not ten minutes later, commercials popped up, making Kyuhyun groan in annoyance.
“I swear, these days they’re not playing commercials in between programs, but programs in between commercials.” he complained, making Zhou Mi smile over his usual grumpy self.
“Well, the people making the products need to earn money too.” he replied then, gently picking up Kyuhyun’s feet from his lap, standing up and putting them down again on the couch. “I’ll go make some tea. You want anything?” He paused a moment at the side of the couch, one hand on the back rest, eyes fixed on Kyuhyun. The latter looked up at that, sent him a soft smile and nodded. “Some tea as well, thanks.” he replied, before gluing his eyes to the television again. His hand found the remote again and he lazily zapped through the channels.
It took quite a while for Zhou Mi to return with two mugs of steaming tea, putting the plate down on the table and claiming his spot on the couch again. For that, Kyuhyun had to lift his legs of course, but after some poking and Zhou Mi threatening to just go sit on them, he grudgingly did so. They sat in silence then, both carefully sipping from their tea, looking at the currently playing commercial about diapers. There was a comfortable silence, or at least Kyuhyun thought so. But moments later Zhou Mi broke it again.
“Should I buy her some chocolates?” he suggested, making Kyuhyun almost literally facepalm. If it wasn’t for the cup of tea in his hands, he probably would have. For a moment he contemplated between ignoring the other or smacking the back of his head, but one look at Zhou Mi’s pensive pout made him change his mind. He sighed and sat up a little straighter.
“Maybe you should be original. Give her something aside from chocolates.” he suggested. “I’m going to cook something nice and invite Haejung over since you’ll be gone with Mina. If I make her dinner that will assure me her love for another year. What more do you need? It’s not like Valentine’s day is more special than all the other days you’re together. Especially you and Mina. With both of your busy schedules it’s surprising there are even any days at all that you can spend together.”
Zhou Mi chuckled at that. “It’s not because we’re less physical than you and Haejung that we don’t love each other, you know.” he countered then. “This might surprise you but...” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Kyuhyun silenced him with a wave of his hand and a short ‘shush!’ when the show started again, the first person in view being Lee Hyori. Both their attention was focused on the screen for a moment, until it turned out that Hyori had actually left for other schedules and the focus of the rest of the show would be on other people.
“What kind of nonsense is that!” Kyuhyun immediately exclaimed. “Have you ever seen a show where the idol leaves halfway? I protest against this! We should send a protest mail to SBS or something.” Zhou Mi took another sip of his tea, before reaching out and patting Kyuhyun’s knee. “Don’t worry, Kuixian, I’m sure there’s plenty of shows online where you can watch Hyori. Just make sure Haejung doesn’t find out about all those DVDs you have of the woman or you can forget about your dinner and being loved for another year. Since when can you cook, actually?”
His hand shot up right in time to prevent a pillow from slamming in his face and he quickly put down his cup of tea to make sure it wouldn’t get damaged in the outburst of Kyuhyun’s mock anger. “I’ll let you know that I’m very good at cooking, you idiot.” the younger bit at him, frowning in obvious displeasure. Zhou Mi merely smiled back, patting the other’s knee once again. “Oh I’m sure you are, Kuixian.” he then soothed, which seemed to calm down Kyuhyun a little. “You surely are a master at the culinary art of ordering in and getting takeout.”
Zhou Mi was out of the couch and fleeing to his room before Kyuhyun had time to react to that, but a pillow flew right past him as he ducked behind the table. “You’re going to take that back before the night is over, Zhou Mi!” the younger threatened, crawling over the backrest of the couch to chase after him. They spent the next twenty minutes on chasing each other around the apartment, throwing insults like they were confetti, a wide grin on Zhou Mi’s face, an even wider one on Kyuhyun’s. After that, they both ended up on the couch again, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling.
“Maybe I should buy her one of those cute dresses.” Zhou Mi then wondered aloud. “With floral patterns, they’re very fashionable again now.” Kyuhyun groaned, rolling his eyes and taking his phone out of his pocket. Several pressed keys and some dial tones later, a cheerful voice sounded up from the other side that Zhou Mi immediately recognised, making him look at his friend in alarm.
“Mina, dear, please tell your hopelessly romantic boyfriend that you wouldn’t mind him giving you a chicken for Valentine’s day as long as he spends it with you. Because if I have to hear him suggest possibly gifts for the rest of the week, you won’t have a boyfriend to celebrate the damn day with.” Kyuhyun stated calmly, making the girl on the other side laugh amused. Zhou Mi was motioning Kyuhyun to shut the hell up, because he wanted to surprise his girlfriend for Valentine’s day, but of course the brat wasn’t listening. “Oh and I think Mimi wants me to tell you that he loves you very much but Hyori is still hotter.” he instead calmly continued.
“Kuixian, what are you doing!?” Zhou Mi exclaimed in pure horror, leaping on the other and pulling the phone out of Kyuhyun’s hand, immediately bringing it to his own ear. “That is not true, Mina!” he wildly stated. “That is not true, I swear! I’ll make it a wonderful day and I won’t share any of my ideas with that … stupid! … ever again!” Once again Mina laughed, before finally getting a word in between all their talking.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I know you’ll do your best. I’m free from six pm, so come pick me up and make the day amazing like always.” she said, the smile audible in her voice. “I have to go now, I’m teaching right now. I’ll text you later, okay? Love you!”
“Love you too.” Zhou Mi quickly replied before she could hang up. The next moment the dial tone told him his girlfriend had hung up again and he immediately turned his displeased face to Kyuhyun. The younger was grinning smugly as if he owned the world, seemingly unaware of the consequences of his actions. Zhou Mi was torn between stuffing the phone in that smug grin and scolding the other, but in the end settled for the easy way out; simply ignoring him. So he got up, took his cup of tea and calmly walked to his room. Kyuhyun let him go, feeling smug and happy he had won the discussion…
...until he realised that Zhou Mi still had his phone while Haejung had said she’d call him later that evening.
[FIC] Opposites
Title: Opposites
Characters: Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Eunhyuk
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2.882
Summary: Two enemies set out to save a common friend
A/N: I go straight against the Kyuminism because so many people are for it, but since my Twinnie asked for Kyuminhyuk, they're of course in this. I just made it easy for myself to write them and I really enjoyed this all. So I hope you all do too.
- - - - -
Cho Kyuhyun and Lee Sungmin were like fire and water, heaven and earth, up and down, left and right,.. To put it short, they were complete opposites. Yet for the sole purpose of finding their lost friend, Hyukjae, they teamed up to go look for him in the mountains of Australia. They set off with a tent, a sleeping bag each and two heavy backpacks filled with food, drinks and the needed clothing.
~*~
Sungmin sighed as he looked at the other, already vast asleep despite the hard ground, the creeping cold and the raging storm. After a few moments of doubt, he finally lifted his hand and softly pushed his companion. There came no reaction. He shook his head in disbelief, before lifting his foot and basically kicking the other from underneath the sleeping bag. The assaulted person cursed as he woke up and quickly scrambled back to his warm spot.
“Bloody hell, Ming!” he hissed when his eyes found the culprit. “I’m sleeping! Can’t you see that?”
“I was able to hear it, that’s a given. But dang, you idiot, I’m cold.” the other replied, lifting an arm to prove his words by showing the goose bumps on it. A sigh escaped the lips of the one who had so forcefully been woken up.
“Alright, alright. Get over here.” he then said as he rolled his eyes and lifted up a corner of his sleeping bag. Sungmin immediately took hold of the opportunity and scooted closer to the other, pulling his own sleeping bag over them as well to give them even more warmth. The moment his cold fingers touched the other, however, Kyuhyun quickly pulled away from him, cursing under his breath. “Shit, dude, you’re freezing.”
“No really? I told you I’m cold, you idiot.” Sungmin snapped back, before cuddling up against Kyuhyun’s warm body. The latter sighed, but wrapped his arms around the other nonetheless, just to make him warm up. He wasn’t about to let his companion freeze to death when they were trying to save Hyukjae. It didn’t really help that he couldn’t stand Sungmin at all, but at least the pink-loving King of Gays had stopped talking now. “And don’t even think about throwing me out from under the sleeping bags over night, you smelly piece of cow shit.” Or maybe not.
“I love you too, Ming.” he replied sarcastically. “Just sleep. We have to get up early, remember?” He closed his eyes shut and wished in vain that his ears could be closed as well. Luckily the other didn’t speak anymore and he soon found himself drifting off into the much needed sleep.
~*~
He woke up to find a strange vivid light around him. When he turned his head, he noticed Sungmin still sleeping beside him. A small smirk formed on his face and he got up from under the sleeping bag, only to pull both of them off of his companion. He then turned to the entrance of the tent and opened it to look outside. Everything was white. Not just white, but WHITE. No matter where he looked there was white staring back.
“What the hell?” he cursed disbelievingly. “We’re in frigging AUSTRALIA, what’s the fucking SNOW doing here?” The last words were yelled, waking up an already shivering Sungmin.
“W-what are you t-talking about, c-chickenshit?” he mumbled through chattering teeth, using yet another insult, although he was still groggy from sleep and trembling with cold. “There is no s-snow in Aus-stralia.”
“Tell that to the surroundings, smartass.” Kyuhyun snapped, grabbing a hand of the ice cold substance and throwing it at the other. Sungmin didn’t even flinch when the icy snow fell on his leg and Kyuhyun realised with a shock that his companion had for some reason taken off his pants and pullover while asleep, so he was now basically freezing in the hardly liveable temperature of the tent.
“What the hell did you do, you moron?” he immediately yelled, taking both the sleeping bags and tucking them tightly around Sungmin. “Do you WANT to die or something? Did you forget that we are trying to find a lost person here. I don’t need you to go all suicidal on me as well, you know!” While shouting those words, he plopped down next to the other boy and wrapped his arms around the heap of boy and sleeping bags.
“I’m s-sorry Kyu, it was j-just so w-warm last n-night in your emb-brace.” The chattering of Sungmin’s teeth slowly began to lessen. Pretty soon after the both of them had fallen asleep again, oblivious to the still raging snowstorm outside.
~*~
The next time Kyuhyun woke up, it was because he was the one being cold. He felt his teeth chatter and his body tremble because of the lack of sleeping bags to cover him. He muttered something silently under his breath, before taking the sleeping bag and scooting under it as well. When his cold fingers touched the other boy’s skin however, Sungmin woke up too.
“Kyuhyun? What are you doing?” he asked, still halfway asleep.
“It’s cold you moron, I’m trying to warm up.” he hissed back.
“Yah! Did you sleep outside of the blankets? Are you stupid?” Sungmin scolded, getting up as he said those words. “It’s snowing outside and.. Wait. Is it really snowing?”
“Yes, you fucking idiot! I told you before!” Kyuhyun retorted, savouring the nice warmth of the sleeping bags. “We’re in frigging Australia and it’s frigging snowing!” Sungmin quickly scooted out from under the sleeping bags and zipped open the tent to look outside, but was met with a huge wall of snow nearly crashing on him. He managed to zip the tent close again right on time.
“It looks like we’re stuck in here.” he then said, turning around to face Kyuhyun. The youngest of the two opened an eye and looked at his companion for a moment.
“What do you mean?” he asked, not really interested.
“Oh you heard me. Wake up and get a grip, Cho Kyuhyun.” Sungmin snapped, finally losing his patience. For the sake of finding their mutual friend, they had cooperated on their road through the vastness of Australia’s deserted mountains, but now that they were already on the road for a full three days, they had seen enough of each other and were ready and willing to grab a gun and kill either themselves or the other. Preferably the latter. “There’s snow covering our whole tent.”
“So push it away, it’s no big deal.” Kyuhyun mumbled, closing his eyes again.
“Don’t get smart with me, you dumbass.” Sungmin hissed back.
“If I got smart with you, how would you know?” Kyuhyun said to that, pulling the sleeping bag over his head to drown out the other one’s nagging. All it earned him, however, was a heavy kick in the stomach, making him slid to the other side of the tent as he grabbed his middle in pain, immediately wide awake again. “What was that for!?” he shouted in shock.
“With your IQ, I don’t think you would understand.” Sungmin told him coldly, without looking up from rummaging through his backpack. Kyuhyun stared at him for a while, mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something, but when nothing came out, he finally scrambled towards the entrance and pushed against the fabric of the tent. The huge heap of snow seemed to bulge, so he did it a few more times, before zipping open the tent again. When he saw they were still caved in, he started to understand the seriousness of their situation.
“Hey, you moron, we’re stuck in here.” he said slightly shocked, as he turned to look at the other.
“Oh really, genius? I told you that FIVE FUCKING MINUTES AGO!” Sungmin shouted, pushing Kyuhyun out into the snow as he threw a spoon and a pair of gloves at him. “Have fun digging your way out.” he snapped, before zipping the tent shut again.
“Yah! What do you think you’re doing!?” Kyuhyun shouted from outside, banging on the tent that could not be opened from outside unless one destroyed it. “Yah! You pink-obsessed drag queen! Let me in! Yah” When no visible or other reply came, he cursed loudly and turned to the heap of snow surrounding him to start digging a way through.
~*~
Five hours later they found themselves both back inside of the tent. The snow around them had turned out to be too frozen to dig through. Sungmin, not being a murderer, had let Kyuhyun back in after half an hour. They had been sitting each at the other side, shivering and trembling like there was no tomorrow. At first they had sent each other deadly glares, but as time passed and the cold increased, they found that there was no point in trying to kill the other with glares when they were almost dying from cold themselves. It was only after two more hours that Sungmin finally gave in to the cold and got over his stubbornness.
“Fine, you idiot, I’ll say it. I’m sorry, okay? Can we now sit closer again? I don’t really feel like freezing here.” he mumbled, looking straight at the other again for the first time in hours.
“You sound so sorry it almost makes the snow outside melt.” Kyuhyun replied sarcastically, but he moved a little anyway so that Sungmin could sit next to him. Once they sat side to side, they draped the sleeping bags over both their bodies. Without really thinking about it, Kyuhyun put his arms around Sungmin and pulled him closer. The latter didn’t have anything to object to that, but merely rested his head on Kyuhyun’s shoulder.
Another three hours later they found themselves dozing off at times because it started to become warmer in the tent. Yet Sungmin knew the sole reason for that and he wasn’t really feeling all too well about it. Outside, the storm rumbled on, making them hear all kinds of strange noises. There was screeching, the relentless sound of distant thunder at times even and for some strange reason also a never ending ticking that seemed to come closer together with the storm.
“Kyuhyun..” Sungmin finally said, when the noise became louder and louder. “We might run out of oxygen.” The moment he said the words, however, he realised the truth in them and suddenly his fear that had been building ever since he found out they were snowed in rose to the surface and he felt his body starting to shake. “We might die here.” he continued his rambling. “Then Hyukjae will forever be lost in the mountains and I’ll die without ever having heard my name said properly by you and..”
“Yah, you moron, we’re not going to die.” Kyuhyun interrupted him, patting his arm in an awkward way of trying to calm him down. “Don’t go all dramatic on me just so that I would stop calling you moron. It’s not going to work, you smartass.” Sungmin huffed at those words, but there was a slight smile on his face anyway and Kyuhyun’s confidence seemed to work on him.
“At least I’m the smartass. You’re the dumbass of us two.” he retorted, punching his companion playfully in the side at the remark.
“Well my ass is not supposed to be smart, it’s supposed to be sat on.” Those words coming from Kyuhyun made Sungmin chuckle softly and he closed his eyes. “Catch a bit of sleep, we’ll get back to digging a path through the snow when we wake up. I think I know a way to get us out.” Kyuhyun then proceeded to say, before resting his head against the tent and snow behind him and closing his eyes as well. It didn’t take them too long to drift off into sleep again.
~*~
Sungmin woke up with the strange feeling that someone was eyeing him. He sleepily opened his eyes and stared ahead for a while. When he realised that he was looking at someone’s crotch, his cheeks immediately turned slightly red and he quickly averted his eyes. The first thing he saw was Kyuhyun, still vast asleep. Realising that it must be something else making him feel uncomfortable, he slowly untangled his arms from Kyuhyun’s and turned his head to search for his backpack. What he saw the moment his eyes scanned the tent made him freeze in his movements and then suddenly lunch forward.
“Hyukjae-ah!” he called out in excitement as he practically assaulted his best friend. The unsuspecting boy toppled over and they ended up falling on the ground, laughing and hugging. “You’re alive!” Sungmin managed to get out at a certain point in between laughter and chuckling. He hugged the other tightly and hid his face against Hyukjae’s chest. “I thought you were somewhere lost in the mountains and then we went to save you and then we got snowed in and.. How did you get in? We were snowed in.” Hyukjae merely laughed, patting Sungmin’s back.
“It’s alright, Min, it’s alright. I managed to get back only hours after you two had set off to find me. They told me you two had left, so I went to get help to find you in the mountains, as they had predicted a snowstorm to happen. We set off a day after you did, but then it took us two days to find you and you were all covered in snow. We needed the whole of this day to dig you out, but finally we managed. Luckily we had brought enough material to do so. I’m glad we dug you out on time, before you two ran out of oxygen.” he then explained, rubbing his friend’s back and smiling all the way through.
“I spent three days in the presence of that damned Cho Kyuhyun. I can’t even believe you’re really here, am I not dreaming?” Sungmin exclaimed again, looking up from Hyukjae’s chest and waiting for some kind of affirmation. Hyukjae only shook his head and smiled, to which Sungmin started grinning brightly. “Ah, Hyukkie, I really thought you were dead! I’m so glad you aren’t!” he cheered, subconsciously leaning in and pecking his friend on the lips. When he realised that after another few moments of happily beaming, he turned a shade of tomato-red and shied away from his friend a little.
“Get a room you two.” another voice suddenly broke the slightly awkward moment and both Sungmin and Hyukjae turned to look at the third person in the tent. Kyuhyun was eyeing them with a mixture of amusement and disgust. “So we go out to save your behind and you end up saving ours, huh?” he then added to his earlier words, obviously addressing Hyukjae. The latter grinned and nodded.
“Super Hyukjae saves the day.” he said, grinning widely. He then looked back at Sungmin, who was staring at the ground again shyly, and patted his friend’s head. “It’s alright, Min, you were just a little overactive.” he said amused. It only made Sungmin hide his face against Hyukjae’s chest again.
“Ah, Hyukkie, I feel so embarrassed now.” he muttered, silent enough for Kyuhyun not to hear. The latter was calmly wrapping up their sleeping bags again and putting them away, not even sparing the two hugging friends another glance. “You see how much I care for you? I went out into the snow with him with only one tent and I really can’t stand him. He always insults me.” Sungmin went on complaining. Hyukjae only laughed and pulled his friend closer to him for another moment, before letting go.
“So we can go home now?” Kyuhyun asked right at that moment, very uninterestedly. “I’m getting kind of sick of having to be in this pink-lover’s presence.” He glanced up at his older friend, only to get an amused smile from him. “What are you smirking at, silly?” he snapped, but he was smiling nonetheless, showing that he wasn’t actually as annoyed as he sounded like.
“You two still didn’t become friends?” Hyukjae wondered out loud, looking from Sungmin to Kyuhyun. “One would think you were best mates or even boyfriends seeing as how you were nicely sleeping just before.” He chuckled at the memory and got up to help Kyuhyun with packing the bags. Sungmin sighed as he watched the two work for a moment.
“Well.. Apart from the snarky comments, the constant annoyingness, the star gazing arrogance and the complete lack of IQ, Kyuhyun is quite alright.” he then said walking towards the backpacks as well and quickly organising his stuff the way it was supposed to be. There came a short laugh from Hyukjae in response to his words and Kyuhyun huffed in amusement.
“If you weren’t such a pink-obsessed King of Gays, you wouldn’t be so bad either.” the youngest then said, grabbing his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder as he walked out of the tent. Sungmin stuck out his tongue at Kyuhyun’s back and then rolled his eyes at Hyukjae, who merely laughed at it all. After making sure they had gotten everything in the tent with them, they followed Kyuhyun out and Sungmin happily locked arms with his best friend.
Characters: Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Eunhyuk
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2.882
Summary: Two enemies set out to save a common friend
A/N: I go straight against the Kyuminism because so many people are for it, but since my Twinnie asked for Kyuminhyuk, they're of course in this. I just made it easy for myself to write them and I really enjoyed this all. So I hope you all do too.
- - - - -
Cho Kyuhyun and Lee Sungmin were like fire and water, heaven and earth, up and down, left and right,.. To put it short, they were complete opposites. Yet for the sole purpose of finding their lost friend, Hyukjae, they teamed up to go look for him in the mountains of Australia. They set off with a tent, a sleeping bag each and two heavy backpacks filled with food, drinks and the needed clothing.
~*~
Sungmin sighed as he looked at the other, already vast asleep despite the hard ground, the creeping cold and the raging storm. After a few moments of doubt, he finally lifted his hand and softly pushed his companion. There came no reaction. He shook his head in disbelief, before lifting his foot and basically kicking the other from underneath the sleeping bag. The assaulted person cursed as he woke up and quickly scrambled back to his warm spot.
“Bloody hell, Ming!” he hissed when his eyes found the culprit. “I’m sleeping! Can’t you see that?”
“I was able to hear it, that’s a given. But dang, you idiot, I’m cold.” the other replied, lifting an arm to prove his words by showing the goose bumps on it. A sigh escaped the lips of the one who had so forcefully been woken up.
“Alright, alright. Get over here.” he then said as he rolled his eyes and lifted up a corner of his sleeping bag. Sungmin immediately took hold of the opportunity and scooted closer to the other, pulling his own sleeping bag over them as well to give them even more warmth. The moment his cold fingers touched the other, however, Kyuhyun quickly pulled away from him, cursing under his breath. “Shit, dude, you’re freezing.”
“No really? I told you I’m cold, you idiot.” Sungmin snapped back, before cuddling up against Kyuhyun’s warm body. The latter sighed, but wrapped his arms around the other nonetheless, just to make him warm up. He wasn’t about to let his companion freeze to death when they were trying to save Hyukjae. It didn’t really help that he couldn’t stand Sungmin at all, but at least the pink-loving King of Gays had stopped talking now. “And don’t even think about throwing me out from under the sleeping bags over night, you smelly piece of cow shit.” Or maybe not.
“I love you too, Ming.” he replied sarcastically. “Just sleep. We have to get up early, remember?” He closed his eyes shut and wished in vain that his ears could be closed as well. Luckily the other didn’t speak anymore and he soon found himself drifting off into the much needed sleep.
~*~
He woke up to find a strange vivid light around him. When he turned his head, he noticed Sungmin still sleeping beside him. A small smirk formed on his face and he got up from under the sleeping bag, only to pull both of them off of his companion. He then turned to the entrance of the tent and opened it to look outside. Everything was white. Not just white, but WHITE. No matter where he looked there was white staring back.
“What the hell?” he cursed disbelievingly. “We’re in frigging AUSTRALIA, what’s the fucking SNOW doing here?” The last words were yelled, waking up an already shivering Sungmin.
“W-what are you t-talking about, c-chickenshit?” he mumbled through chattering teeth, using yet another insult, although he was still groggy from sleep and trembling with cold. “There is no s-snow in Aus-stralia.”
“Tell that to the surroundings, smartass.” Kyuhyun snapped, grabbing a hand of the ice cold substance and throwing it at the other. Sungmin didn’t even flinch when the icy snow fell on his leg and Kyuhyun realised with a shock that his companion had for some reason taken off his pants and pullover while asleep, so he was now basically freezing in the hardly liveable temperature of the tent.
“What the hell did you do, you moron?” he immediately yelled, taking both the sleeping bags and tucking them tightly around Sungmin. “Do you WANT to die or something? Did you forget that we are trying to find a lost person here. I don’t need you to go all suicidal on me as well, you know!” While shouting those words, he plopped down next to the other boy and wrapped his arms around the heap of boy and sleeping bags.
“I’m s-sorry Kyu, it was j-just so w-warm last n-night in your emb-brace.” The chattering of Sungmin’s teeth slowly began to lessen. Pretty soon after the both of them had fallen asleep again, oblivious to the still raging snowstorm outside.
~*~
The next time Kyuhyun woke up, it was because he was the one being cold. He felt his teeth chatter and his body tremble because of the lack of sleeping bags to cover him. He muttered something silently under his breath, before taking the sleeping bag and scooting under it as well. When his cold fingers touched the other boy’s skin however, Sungmin woke up too.
“Kyuhyun? What are you doing?” he asked, still halfway asleep.
“It’s cold you moron, I’m trying to warm up.” he hissed back.
“Yah! Did you sleep outside of the blankets? Are you stupid?” Sungmin scolded, getting up as he said those words. “It’s snowing outside and.. Wait. Is it really snowing?”
“Yes, you fucking idiot! I told you before!” Kyuhyun retorted, savouring the nice warmth of the sleeping bags. “We’re in frigging Australia and it’s frigging snowing!” Sungmin quickly scooted out from under the sleeping bags and zipped open the tent to look outside, but was met with a huge wall of snow nearly crashing on him. He managed to zip the tent close again right on time.
“It looks like we’re stuck in here.” he then said, turning around to face Kyuhyun. The youngest of the two opened an eye and looked at his companion for a moment.
“What do you mean?” he asked, not really interested.
“Oh you heard me. Wake up and get a grip, Cho Kyuhyun.” Sungmin snapped, finally losing his patience. For the sake of finding their mutual friend, they had cooperated on their road through the vastness of Australia’s deserted mountains, but now that they were already on the road for a full three days, they had seen enough of each other and were ready and willing to grab a gun and kill either themselves or the other. Preferably the latter. “There’s snow covering our whole tent.”
“So push it away, it’s no big deal.” Kyuhyun mumbled, closing his eyes again.
“Don’t get smart with me, you dumbass.” Sungmin hissed back.
“If I got smart with you, how would you know?” Kyuhyun said to that, pulling the sleeping bag over his head to drown out the other one’s nagging. All it earned him, however, was a heavy kick in the stomach, making him slid to the other side of the tent as he grabbed his middle in pain, immediately wide awake again. “What was that for!?” he shouted in shock.
“With your IQ, I don’t think you would understand.” Sungmin told him coldly, without looking up from rummaging through his backpack. Kyuhyun stared at him for a while, mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something, but when nothing came out, he finally scrambled towards the entrance and pushed against the fabric of the tent. The huge heap of snow seemed to bulge, so he did it a few more times, before zipping open the tent again. When he saw they were still caved in, he started to understand the seriousness of their situation.
“Hey, you moron, we’re stuck in here.” he said slightly shocked, as he turned to look at the other.
“Oh really, genius? I told you that FIVE FUCKING MINUTES AGO!” Sungmin shouted, pushing Kyuhyun out into the snow as he threw a spoon and a pair of gloves at him. “Have fun digging your way out.” he snapped, before zipping the tent shut again.
“Yah! What do you think you’re doing!?” Kyuhyun shouted from outside, banging on the tent that could not be opened from outside unless one destroyed it. “Yah! You pink-obsessed drag queen! Let me in! Yah” When no visible or other reply came, he cursed loudly and turned to the heap of snow surrounding him to start digging a way through.
~*~
Five hours later they found themselves both back inside of the tent. The snow around them had turned out to be too frozen to dig through. Sungmin, not being a murderer, had let Kyuhyun back in after half an hour. They had been sitting each at the other side, shivering and trembling like there was no tomorrow. At first they had sent each other deadly glares, but as time passed and the cold increased, they found that there was no point in trying to kill the other with glares when they were almost dying from cold themselves. It was only after two more hours that Sungmin finally gave in to the cold and got over his stubbornness.
“Fine, you idiot, I’ll say it. I’m sorry, okay? Can we now sit closer again? I don’t really feel like freezing here.” he mumbled, looking straight at the other again for the first time in hours.
“You sound so sorry it almost makes the snow outside melt.” Kyuhyun replied sarcastically, but he moved a little anyway so that Sungmin could sit next to him. Once they sat side to side, they draped the sleeping bags over both their bodies. Without really thinking about it, Kyuhyun put his arms around Sungmin and pulled him closer. The latter didn’t have anything to object to that, but merely rested his head on Kyuhyun’s shoulder.
Another three hours later they found themselves dozing off at times because it started to become warmer in the tent. Yet Sungmin knew the sole reason for that and he wasn’t really feeling all too well about it. Outside, the storm rumbled on, making them hear all kinds of strange noises. There was screeching, the relentless sound of distant thunder at times even and for some strange reason also a never ending ticking that seemed to come closer together with the storm.
“Kyuhyun..” Sungmin finally said, when the noise became louder and louder. “We might run out of oxygen.” The moment he said the words, however, he realised the truth in them and suddenly his fear that had been building ever since he found out they were snowed in rose to the surface and he felt his body starting to shake. “We might die here.” he continued his rambling. “Then Hyukjae will forever be lost in the mountains and I’ll die without ever having heard my name said properly by you and..”
“Yah, you moron, we’re not going to die.” Kyuhyun interrupted him, patting his arm in an awkward way of trying to calm him down. “Don’t go all dramatic on me just so that I would stop calling you moron. It’s not going to work, you smartass.” Sungmin huffed at those words, but there was a slight smile on his face anyway and Kyuhyun’s confidence seemed to work on him.
“At least I’m the smartass. You’re the dumbass of us two.” he retorted, punching his companion playfully in the side at the remark.
“Well my ass is not supposed to be smart, it’s supposed to be sat on.” Those words coming from Kyuhyun made Sungmin chuckle softly and he closed his eyes. “Catch a bit of sleep, we’ll get back to digging a path through the snow when we wake up. I think I know a way to get us out.” Kyuhyun then proceeded to say, before resting his head against the tent and snow behind him and closing his eyes as well. It didn’t take them too long to drift off into sleep again.
~*~
Sungmin woke up with the strange feeling that someone was eyeing him. He sleepily opened his eyes and stared ahead for a while. When he realised that he was looking at someone’s crotch, his cheeks immediately turned slightly red and he quickly averted his eyes. The first thing he saw was Kyuhyun, still vast asleep. Realising that it must be something else making him feel uncomfortable, he slowly untangled his arms from Kyuhyun’s and turned his head to search for his backpack. What he saw the moment his eyes scanned the tent made him freeze in his movements and then suddenly lunch forward.
“Hyukjae-ah!” he called out in excitement as he practically assaulted his best friend. The unsuspecting boy toppled over and they ended up falling on the ground, laughing and hugging. “You’re alive!” Sungmin managed to get out at a certain point in between laughter and chuckling. He hugged the other tightly and hid his face against Hyukjae’s chest. “I thought you were somewhere lost in the mountains and then we went to save you and then we got snowed in and.. How did you get in? We were snowed in.” Hyukjae merely laughed, patting Sungmin’s back.
“It’s alright, Min, it’s alright. I managed to get back only hours after you two had set off to find me. They told me you two had left, so I went to get help to find you in the mountains, as they had predicted a snowstorm to happen. We set off a day after you did, but then it took us two days to find you and you were all covered in snow. We needed the whole of this day to dig you out, but finally we managed. Luckily we had brought enough material to do so. I’m glad we dug you out on time, before you two ran out of oxygen.” he then explained, rubbing his friend’s back and smiling all the way through.
“I spent three days in the presence of that damned Cho Kyuhyun. I can’t even believe you’re really here, am I not dreaming?” Sungmin exclaimed again, looking up from Hyukjae’s chest and waiting for some kind of affirmation. Hyukjae only shook his head and smiled, to which Sungmin started grinning brightly. “Ah, Hyukkie, I really thought you were dead! I’m so glad you aren’t!” he cheered, subconsciously leaning in and pecking his friend on the lips. When he realised that after another few moments of happily beaming, he turned a shade of tomato-red and shied away from his friend a little.
“Get a room you two.” another voice suddenly broke the slightly awkward moment and both Sungmin and Hyukjae turned to look at the third person in the tent. Kyuhyun was eyeing them with a mixture of amusement and disgust. “So we go out to save your behind and you end up saving ours, huh?” he then added to his earlier words, obviously addressing Hyukjae. The latter grinned and nodded.
“Super Hyukjae saves the day.” he said, grinning widely. He then looked back at Sungmin, who was staring at the ground again shyly, and patted his friend’s head. “It’s alright, Min, you were just a little overactive.” he said amused. It only made Sungmin hide his face against Hyukjae’s chest again.
“Ah, Hyukkie, I feel so embarrassed now.” he muttered, silent enough for Kyuhyun not to hear. The latter was calmly wrapping up their sleeping bags again and putting them away, not even sparing the two hugging friends another glance. “You see how much I care for you? I went out into the snow with him with only one tent and I really can’t stand him. He always insults me.” Sungmin went on complaining. Hyukjae only laughed and pulled his friend closer to him for another moment, before letting go.
“So we can go home now?” Kyuhyun asked right at that moment, very uninterestedly. “I’m getting kind of sick of having to be in this pink-lover’s presence.” He glanced up at his older friend, only to get an amused smile from him. “What are you smirking at, silly?” he snapped, but he was smiling nonetheless, showing that he wasn’t actually as annoyed as he sounded like.
“You two still didn’t become friends?” Hyukjae wondered out loud, looking from Sungmin to Kyuhyun. “One would think you were best mates or even boyfriends seeing as how you were nicely sleeping just before.” He chuckled at the memory and got up to help Kyuhyun with packing the bags. Sungmin sighed as he watched the two work for a moment.
“Well.. Apart from the snarky comments, the constant annoyingness, the star gazing arrogance and the complete lack of IQ, Kyuhyun is quite alright.” he then said walking towards the backpacks as well and quickly organising his stuff the way it was supposed to be. There came a short laugh from Hyukjae in response to his words and Kyuhyun huffed in amusement.
“If you weren’t such a pink-obsessed King of Gays, you wouldn’t be so bad either.” the youngest then said, grabbing his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder as he walked out of the tent. Sungmin stuck out his tongue at Kyuhyun’s back and then rolled his eyes at Hyukjae, who merely laughed at it all. After making sure they had gotten everything in the tent with them, they followed Kyuhyun out and Sungmin happily locked arms with his best friend.
[FIC] The Burden
Title: The Burden
Characters: Super Junior, OC
Rating: G
Wordcount: 2.394
Summary: The life of an idol is never easy, but for Super Junior, it's even harder
A/N: This fic was written for a purpose. Yesterday evening I found myself being at around 660 posts on a SJ forum and I wondered; what to do when I reach 666 posts? As I replied to a story here and there I finally reached my 665th post and decided to ask some of my friends where I should post my 666th post. Well, no one really had an idea, since 666 is such an evil number. That was, until my most amazing & wonderful Twinnie -Maxime- told me to write an evil story and post that one up as 666th post. When asked about what I should write, she answered 'You, me and Super Junior.' So I was set. I then spent half an hour writing in bed before sleeping and the whole of today in school to finish the shot by evening, which I succeeded in. ^^
- - - - -
The life of an idol is never really easy. One couldn’t say that idols have lots of free time or that they can do whatever they want, but when compared to other idols and idol groups, Super Junior knew a life that was twenty times as hard as any of the others’, if not worse than that, for they carried a burden that none of the other idol groups knew the real weight of. But the members could not complain, for no one was allowed to know about The Burden. Revealing it to the world would be like opening Pandora’s box. No, they were doomed to deal with it all by themselves. Day by day by day..
Five of them had managed to escape so far. Each with their own excuses..
Zhou Mi and Henry were luckiest of all, as they had their homes in China or stayed in separate houses in Korea. They didn’t have to go head over heels trying to find a good reason why they would need to be outside of the dorm.
Kibum had been the first to succumb to the stress. He had gone to the president and had begged the company to give him more acting schedules. Somehow his begging had apparently been very convincing, for they had given him two movies and another possible one in the future. He had no reason anymore to be in the dorm from then on, so his escape was successful.
Kangin had tried to get more programmes as well, but when they refused, he had gone berserk. On one of the evenings that he went away to escape, he had drunk a little overly too much and had crashed his car into some taxi along the road, successfully earning himself a year out of the dorm and away from The Burden. Later on it had proven to become three full years without it. They all envied him in some way.
Hangeng, because of his foreign genes he had had more trouble. Unable to take it any longer, he had filed a lawsuit against the company, blaming it for its ‘slavery contract.’ Not that that wasn’t true, but they all knew the real reason was different from that. He was just trying at his own best knowledge to escape The Burden.
The other ten were less fortunate.. They had no other choice but to stay in the dorm and do their duties. They all knew the consequences of slacking or backing out of their needed work and none of them wanted to take that shot. That’s why they dealt with the burden as good as they could, doing everything the best way they knew how to. Yet it was hard, for The Burden was not just a secret desperately needing to be kept, no, it was more than that. There were two of them actually.. Two what? you might wonder now. Well.. As Heechul would say it..
“Brats! Annoying little brats!” The blond-haired, short-tempered young man grabbed his bag. “Hyung, I’m off to Youngstreet. Good luck over at Sukira.” he muttered to the other blond-haired young man in the band. The latter looked up from his magazine and smiled.
“Good luck to you too, Chullie.” he mumbled, as the other walked out of the room and into the dreaded living room.
“I’m leaving!” he called through the dorm to inform his members. Immediately two heads popped up from behind the couch.
“Oppa ppoppo!”
“I don’t have time right now, I need t-”
“Lena wants ppoppo!” one of the girls whined, already starting to look like she was going to tear up.
“Okay, fine, fine. Come here while I put on my shoes, oppa will give you a kiss.” He surrendered. He muttered an annoyed ‘brats’ under his breath, before leaning down to give them both a kiss on their cheek.
And that’s how it always went. Whenever Heechul left for something or returned from his schedules, they would demand a kiss. Never from other members. Only from him. Because they knew that Heechul hated those kisses. But every time he refused to give them one, they would pout and whine and cry until he finally gave in.. Which he always did, for the noise they could make was unbelievable.
But he wasn’t the only one bothered by them. Almost all of them suffered from the consequences of having The Burden in their dorm. Who else? you might wonder now. Well, let’s take Yesung for example.. He would always refer to them as..
“Animal abusers!”The dark-haired young man with slightly squinted eyes snatched his turtle out of their hands and gently carried it to its cage, where he sealed it away from the girls’ evil claws. They immediately squinted their eyes and started pouting, obviously threatening him with possible crying. But he had seen it too often and he knew exactly what to do.
“Oh, look! Is that Heebum over there? Or was it Baengshin maybe?” he exclaimed, pointing at something in the door opening behind their backs. Immediately the two of them got up and ran out, excitedly calling for Heechul’s two cats.
With a sigh, the young man gathered the markers they had used to colour on his turtle’s shield and put them away in his desk, hoping the two wouldn’t find them yet another time. After making sure the markers were stuffed away, he quickly went to check on his turtle, to see if it had suffered much from their actions.
They would do it every time again, grabbing one of his turtles and doing something to it. Sometimes they would colour its shield, sometimes they would play with it as if it were a baby doll – putting it to bed, trying to feed it milk, giving it clothes, .. – and sometimes they would just take it and put it somewhere in the dorm, trying to find out if it could find its own way back home. It would always be Yesung’s turtles they played with, for the cats would all just struggle their way out if they got annoyed by them.
Yet it wasn’t only the animals they tried to abuse. Well, abuse.. No one really knew if they did it on purpose or if they really thought they were meant to colour the turtles’ shields and pull the cats’ hair or tail. Apart from the animals, there were also pieces of furniture or other lifeless belongings that had to undergo an alike treatment. The maknae had the most experience with this. He didn’t have his own personal nickname for them, though. When they bothered him, he would mostly cry something like..
“Hyung!!!!” The slightly curly haired young man pulled his desk chair away from his desk, quickly making the distance between his precious table and their hands as big as possible. He fumed as he took in the damage they had done this time. There were colourful doodles all over the table, going from childishly drawn bunnies to random twirls and lines. His head snapped up when the door opened.
“What’s the problem?” his roommate asked as he walked in. The moment his eyes fell on the two on the desk chair, he sighed and walked up to them. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother Kyuhyun oppa anymore?” he mumbled, stroking through one’s hair. The two only huffed and pulled away from his touch, like they always did. Sungmin took a step back, hurt, like he always was, for they seemed to not like him the least bit.
“Hyung!” the maknae called out a second time. “Both of you!” It didn’t take long for his two wanted hyungs to come into the room. The moment they saw what the problem was, each one of them scooped up one of the two on the chair and carried them out of the room. The two girls happily wrapped their arms around the neck of their own favourite oppa and stuck out their tongues at the maknae as they were carried out.
Kyuhyun was left behind with Sungmin, looking at the ravage on his desk for a while, before sighing and going to the kitchen to grab some water and a towel to clean up the doodles. Sungmin helped him with this, looking sad all the way through the activity, until the maknae patted his back and told him that he shouldn’t let it bother him so much, for they were two annoying brats anyway. Sungmin nodded, but his face didn’t brighten up until long after the incident.
Yet it would happen again, at least once a week, sometimes even more often than that. They would trash another part of the maknae’s desk or attack his bed or closet, until he would find out and call his hyungs to come and get them. But Sungmin would always be there first and he would always try to be close to the two, but they would never let him. Every time again, they refused his touch or care, after which they would happily be scooped up by their favourite oppas.
No one was spared, really. They would steal Shindong’s food, put an overdose of salt on it, or pour water over it. They would hang around Ryeowook’s legs as he was cooking, mix up all the ingredients or throw over the pot of food. They would assault Siwon the moment he came in, but he loved them dearly, so he didn’t mind as much, yet when they trashed his Bible for the umpteenth time or woke him up from his needed sleep, even his never ending love and patience would sometimes falter.
It was safe to say that Eunhyuk and Donghae suffered very little from the antics of the two. As the five year old twin’s favourite oppas, they had privileges. The girls would never trash their stuff, would never bother them as they were working or concentrating and they would never ask for something they knew they actually couldn’t really get. The only problem the two friends had, was that they had to come running every time the girls did something bad to take them away from the crime scene before the other members would explode. But it was hardly to be called a burden, when one took in account what the others had to go through.
But, you might be thinking now, then what about Leeteuk? Well, he was a completely different story.. When it was bedtime the girls would crawl into bed with him and he would read them a bedtime story. They would be asleep by the time he finished, so he could fall asleep without problems himself. Sometimes, over night, they would crawl out of his bed to go sleep with their favourite oppas, but they never woke him. Around Leeteuk, they were the sweet, cute, kind and adorable children that one would think them to be at first glance. Which had only one reason..
“Appa, annyeong!” both of the girls called out, waving happily at the blond-haired young man who was getting ready to leave. He looked up from closing his bag and smiled at them.
“Anna, Lena, come give appa a kiss.” he said, crouching down so they could reach his face. They happily ran up to him and each kissed one of his cheeks. As they did so, he pulled the both of them into a hug and patted their backs. “Now be good kids, yes?” he then told them. “Don’t bother the ahjumma too much.”
“Anio appa, we’ll be good!” the eldest of the two, Anna, said and they both started nodding like crazy to convince him of their promise. As he got up and walked out, the twins ran into the kitchen, where they sat down nicely and ate their rice cakes in silence. He knew they would keep their promise. They never bothered the ahjumma. They only bothered his members, and no matter how often he scolded them for it, they would keep doing it, for they had too much fun watching the young men get annoyed with them, without ever exploding in anger.
“Ahh, sometimes they’re so sweet.” he mumbled as he closed the door behind him. Siwon, who had been waiting for him, smiled sourly.
“And sometimes they’re a real pain, hyung.” he replied to the absentmindedly made comment. The leader looked up in surprise, but smiled softly when he saw his friend.
“I never told you to be so nice to them, Siwon-ah.” He pulled his bag better over his shoulder and started to walk down the hallway.
“But they’re yours, hyung! Even if I would be aggressive like that, I can’t hit your kids!” The younger one’s eyes turned big in shock as he thought of the terrifying idea of hitting a kid.
“They’re not mine!” the eldest immediately protested. “I’m still a v.. I always play safe!”
“They were dropped off as said to be yours.” the younger one retorted. “Not that that means much, since everyone can drop off a kid like that..” He sighed. “But if you don’t claim them, then why are we still taking care of them?” Leeteuk smiled knowingly and patted Siwon’s shoulder.
“If I gave you the choice, Siwon-ah, would you throw them out?” he asked, already knowing what the answer would be, even though it came only minutes later.
“No..”
Why not? you might wonder now..
Because the girls could be nice too.
When they were not annoying..
When they nicely played with their toys..
When they cutely fell asleep on the couch after a tiring day..
When they came running to get a hug, or a kiss in Heechul’s case, the moment the guys got home from schedules..
When they were their happy, cheery, bouncy selves after the guys had a day full of have to’s and stay still’s..
When they showed their love for the ten older males that were their only family..
Yes, Super Junior knew a life that was twenty times as hard as any of the others', if not worse than that, for they carried a burden that none of the other idol groups knew the real weight of. But the members could not complain, for sometimes, The Burden would become The Blessing and the laughter of the two little girls would be the only thing cheering them up on a gloomy day.
Characters: Super Junior, OC
Rating: G
Wordcount: 2.394
Summary: The life of an idol is never easy, but for Super Junior, it's even harder
A/N: This fic was written for a purpose. Yesterday evening I found myself being at around 660 posts on a SJ forum and I wondered; what to do when I reach 666 posts? As I replied to a story here and there I finally reached my 665th post and decided to ask some of my friends where I should post my 666th post. Well, no one really had an idea, since 666 is such an evil number. That was, until my most amazing & wonderful Twinnie -Maxime- told me to write an evil story and post that one up as 666th post. When asked about what I should write, she answered 'You, me and Super Junior.' So I was set. I then spent half an hour writing in bed before sleeping and the whole of today in school to finish the shot by evening, which I succeeded in. ^^
- - - - -
The life of an idol is never really easy. One couldn’t say that idols have lots of free time or that they can do whatever they want, but when compared to other idols and idol groups, Super Junior knew a life that was twenty times as hard as any of the others’, if not worse than that, for they carried a burden that none of the other idol groups knew the real weight of. But the members could not complain, for no one was allowed to know about The Burden. Revealing it to the world would be like opening Pandora’s box. No, they were doomed to deal with it all by themselves. Day by day by day..
Five of them had managed to escape so far. Each with their own excuses..
Zhou Mi and Henry were luckiest of all, as they had their homes in China or stayed in separate houses in Korea. They didn’t have to go head over heels trying to find a good reason why they would need to be outside of the dorm.
Kibum had been the first to succumb to the stress. He had gone to the president and had begged the company to give him more acting schedules. Somehow his begging had apparently been very convincing, for they had given him two movies and another possible one in the future. He had no reason anymore to be in the dorm from then on, so his escape was successful.
Kangin had tried to get more programmes as well, but when they refused, he had gone berserk. On one of the evenings that he went away to escape, he had drunk a little overly too much and had crashed his car into some taxi along the road, successfully earning himself a year out of the dorm and away from The Burden. Later on it had proven to become three full years without it. They all envied him in some way.
Hangeng, because of his foreign genes he had had more trouble. Unable to take it any longer, he had filed a lawsuit against the company, blaming it for its ‘slavery contract.’ Not that that wasn’t true, but they all knew the real reason was different from that. He was just trying at his own best knowledge to escape The Burden.
The other ten were less fortunate.. They had no other choice but to stay in the dorm and do their duties. They all knew the consequences of slacking or backing out of their needed work and none of them wanted to take that shot. That’s why they dealt with the burden as good as they could, doing everything the best way they knew how to. Yet it was hard, for The Burden was not just a secret desperately needing to be kept, no, it was more than that. There were two of them actually.. Two what? you might wonder now. Well.. As Heechul would say it..
“Brats! Annoying little brats!” The blond-haired, short-tempered young man grabbed his bag. “Hyung, I’m off to Youngstreet. Good luck over at Sukira.” he muttered to the other blond-haired young man in the band. The latter looked up from his magazine and smiled.
“Good luck to you too, Chullie.” he mumbled, as the other walked out of the room and into the dreaded living room.
“I’m leaving!” he called through the dorm to inform his members. Immediately two heads popped up from behind the couch.
“Oppa ppoppo!”
“I don’t have time right now, I need t-”
“Lena wants ppoppo!” one of the girls whined, already starting to look like she was going to tear up.
“Okay, fine, fine. Come here while I put on my shoes, oppa will give you a kiss.” He surrendered. He muttered an annoyed ‘brats’ under his breath, before leaning down to give them both a kiss on their cheek.
And that’s how it always went. Whenever Heechul left for something or returned from his schedules, they would demand a kiss. Never from other members. Only from him. Because they knew that Heechul hated those kisses. But every time he refused to give them one, they would pout and whine and cry until he finally gave in.. Which he always did, for the noise they could make was unbelievable.
But he wasn’t the only one bothered by them. Almost all of them suffered from the consequences of having The Burden in their dorm. Who else? you might wonder now. Well, let’s take Yesung for example.. He would always refer to them as..
“Animal abusers!”The dark-haired young man with slightly squinted eyes snatched his turtle out of their hands and gently carried it to its cage, where he sealed it away from the girls’ evil claws. They immediately squinted their eyes and started pouting, obviously threatening him with possible crying. But he had seen it too often and he knew exactly what to do.
“Oh, look! Is that Heebum over there? Or was it Baengshin maybe?” he exclaimed, pointing at something in the door opening behind their backs. Immediately the two of them got up and ran out, excitedly calling for Heechul’s two cats.
With a sigh, the young man gathered the markers they had used to colour on his turtle’s shield and put them away in his desk, hoping the two wouldn’t find them yet another time. After making sure the markers were stuffed away, he quickly went to check on his turtle, to see if it had suffered much from their actions.
They would do it every time again, grabbing one of his turtles and doing something to it. Sometimes they would colour its shield, sometimes they would play with it as if it were a baby doll – putting it to bed, trying to feed it milk, giving it clothes, .. – and sometimes they would just take it and put it somewhere in the dorm, trying to find out if it could find its own way back home. It would always be Yesung’s turtles they played with, for the cats would all just struggle their way out if they got annoyed by them.
Yet it wasn’t only the animals they tried to abuse. Well, abuse.. No one really knew if they did it on purpose or if they really thought they were meant to colour the turtles’ shields and pull the cats’ hair or tail. Apart from the animals, there were also pieces of furniture or other lifeless belongings that had to undergo an alike treatment. The maknae had the most experience with this. He didn’t have his own personal nickname for them, though. When they bothered him, he would mostly cry something like..
“Hyung!!!!” The slightly curly haired young man pulled his desk chair away from his desk, quickly making the distance between his precious table and their hands as big as possible. He fumed as he took in the damage they had done this time. There were colourful doodles all over the table, going from childishly drawn bunnies to random twirls and lines. His head snapped up when the door opened.
“What’s the problem?” his roommate asked as he walked in. The moment his eyes fell on the two on the desk chair, he sighed and walked up to them. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother Kyuhyun oppa anymore?” he mumbled, stroking through one’s hair. The two only huffed and pulled away from his touch, like they always did. Sungmin took a step back, hurt, like he always was, for they seemed to not like him the least bit.
“Hyung!” the maknae called out a second time. “Both of you!” It didn’t take long for his two wanted hyungs to come into the room. The moment they saw what the problem was, each one of them scooped up one of the two on the chair and carried them out of the room. The two girls happily wrapped their arms around the neck of their own favourite oppa and stuck out their tongues at the maknae as they were carried out.
Kyuhyun was left behind with Sungmin, looking at the ravage on his desk for a while, before sighing and going to the kitchen to grab some water and a towel to clean up the doodles. Sungmin helped him with this, looking sad all the way through the activity, until the maknae patted his back and told him that he shouldn’t let it bother him so much, for they were two annoying brats anyway. Sungmin nodded, but his face didn’t brighten up until long after the incident.
Yet it would happen again, at least once a week, sometimes even more often than that. They would trash another part of the maknae’s desk or attack his bed or closet, until he would find out and call his hyungs to come and get them. But Sungmin would always be there first and he would always try to be close to the two, but they would never let him. Every time again, they refused his touch or care, after which they would happily be scooped up by their favourite oppas.
No one was spared, really. They would steal Shindong’s food, put an overdose of salt on it, or pour water over it. They would hang around Ryeowook’s legs as he was cooking, mix up all the ingredients or throw over the pot of food. They would assault Siwon the moment he came in, but he loved them dearly, so he didn’t mind as much, yet when they trashed his Bible for the umpteenth time or woke him up from his needed sleep, even his never ending love and patience would sometimes falter.
It was safe to say that Eunhyuk and Donghae suffered very little from the antics of the two. As the five year old twin’s favourite oppas, they had privileges. The girls would never trash their stuff, would never bother them as they were working or concentrating and they would never ask for something they knew they actually couldn’t really get. The only problem the two friends had, was that they had to come running every time the girls did something bad to take them away from the crime scene before the other members would explode. But it was hardly to be called a burden, when one took in account what the others had to go through.
But, you might be thinking now, then what about Leeteuk? Well, he was a completely different story.. When it was bedtime the girls would crawl into bed with him and he would read them a bedtime story. They would be asleep by the time he finished, so he could fall asleep without problems himself. Sometimes, over night, they would crawl out of his bed to go sleep with their favourite oppas, but they never woke him. Around Leeteuk, they were the sweet, cute, kind and adorable children that one would think them to be at first glance. Which had only one reason..
“Appa, annyeong!” both of the girls called out, waving happily at the blond-haired young man who was getting ready to leave. He looked up from closing his bag and smiled at them.
“Anna, Lena, come give appa a kiss.” he said, crouching down so they could reach his face. They happily ran up to him and each kissed one of his cheeks. As they did so, he pulled the both of them into a hug and patted their backs. “Now be good kids, yes?” he then told them. “Don’t bother the ahjumma too much.”
“Anio appa, we’ll be good!” the eldest of the two, Anna, said and they both started nodding like crazy to convince him of their promise. As he got up and walked out, the twins ran into the kitchen, where they sat down nicely and ate their rice cakes in silence. He knew they would keep their promise. They never bothered the ahjumma. They only bothered his members, and no matter how often he scolded them for it, they would keep doing it, for they had too much fun watching the young men get annoyed with them, without ever exploding in anger.
“Ahh, sometimes they’re so sweet.” he mumbled as he closed the door behind him. Siwon, who had been waiting for him, smiled sourly.
“And sometimes they’re a real pain, hyung.” he replied to the absentmindedly made comment. The leader looked up in surprise, but smiled softly when he saw his friend.
“I never told you to be so nice to them, Siwon-ah.” He pulled his bag better over his shoulder and started to walk down the hallway.
“But they’re yours, hyung! Even if I would be aggressive like that, I can’t hit your kids!” The younger one’s eyes turned big in shock as he thought of the terrifying idea of hitting a kid.
“They’re not mine!” the eldest immediately protested. “I’m still a v.. I always play safe!”
“They were dropped off as said to be yours.” the younger one retorted. “Not that that means much, since everyone can drop off a kid like that..” He sighed. “But if you don’t claim them, then why are we still taking care of them?” Leeteuk smiled knowingly and patted Siwon’s shoulder.
“If I gave you the choice, Siwon-ah, would you throw them out?” he asked, already knowing what the answer would be, even though it came only minutes later.
“No..”
Why not? you might wonder now..
Because the girls could be nice too.
When they were not annoying..
When they nicely played with their toys..
When they cutely fell asleep on the couch after a tiring day..
When they came running to get a hug, or a kiss in Heechul’s case, the moment the guys got home from schedules..
When they were their happy, cheery, bouncy selves after the guys had a day full of have to’s and stay still’s..
When they showed their love for the ten older males that were their only family..
Yes, Super Junior knew a life that was twenty times as hard as any of the others', if not worse than that, for they carried a burden that none of the other idol groups knew the real weight of. But the members could not complain, for sometimes, The Burden would become The Blessing and the laughter of the two little girls would be the only thing cheering them up on a gloomy day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)