it's block b time。

what it is what it is baby!

bbtimemods — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:00:39 GMT

The time has finally come! The long-awaited reveals :) Before we get there, a few words from the mods:

A special shout out to our two very lovely betas windfoam and wahwahforseobie who kindly took time out of their schedules to help us out! Thank you guys for being here in our times of need ♥ We couldn't have done it without you!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our first ever exchange/challenge! You guys have been great, and you all have definitely made the mods job infinitely easier :) Thank you so much for the quick responses and on-time submissions. Block B Time was a success because of your hard work and effort!

Now, drumroll please~

Mod Gifts

The World is a Vampire for silver_lined
B-Bomb/U-Kwon || PG-13 || 695
The line that divides the hunters and the hunted blurs. But it's cold and dark and they really don't give a fuck anyway.

If Not Famous, Notorious for youniqorn
B-Bomb/Taeil (Jaehyo/Kyung) || PG-13 || 1370
Despite the 2716358 working hours and perpetually low caffeine levels, the Pub House has it perks; or, the day in the life of editor-in-chief Lee Taeil.

The Great Ping Pong Revolution of '13 for maudlinsky
B-Bomb/P.O (Taeil/Zico) || PG || 569
In the midst of the spring semester, a fierce battle rages on.

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) for bakalildevil
U-Kwon/Zico || PG-13 || 1200
It's the compilation of tiny moments that becomes the soundtrack to love. Yukwon hums along to the tune of spring.

young heart, wild child for nerveless
B-Bomb/Kyung || PG || 947
Minhyuk could never really say no to Park Kyung, and maybe this is why he's Kyung's favorite.

(All We Know) Touch and Go for remplissant
B-Bomb/P.O/Zico || PG-13 || 1468
It was a summer he would never forget. But memories are easily stolen.

Flowers in your hair for kikutan
Kyung, OT7 || PG-13 || 1586
The Heap hasn't seen flowers in years.

Ridiculous Assertions Which Certainly Aren't True for inbrevity
Jaehyo/Kyung || PG-13 || 762
Kyung realizes that something is wrong when he notices that Minhyuk is right.

Exchange Gifts

Your "Everything Better" Plan for youniqorn by inbrevity
Jaehyo || PG || 2300
In a little town called Sunset Valley, Jaehyo finds himself in the midst of a crisis.

pick a part that's new for nerveless by youniqorn
Kyung/U-Kwon (Jaehyo/Kyung, B-Bomb/P.O) || PG-13 || 5538
Kyung never planned to spend his summer out on his lawn selling off most of his possessions, but things aren't too bad, especially when a stranger on rollerblades rolls up from the pavement on the first day of his yard sale.

The Last Planet for silver_lined by nerveless
U-Kwon/Zico || PG-13 || 9367
Life on board the Star Cow is never quite as simple as Captain Woo Jiho and his crew of human and alien comrades hope for it to be.

"Kyung in Wonderland" for kikutan by bakalildevil
B-Bomb/Kyung || G || Digital Media

I'll Be Your Pet for maudlinsky by kikutan
Kyung/U-Kwon (P.O/U-Kwon, Taeil/Zico) || PG || 3165
Yukwon is a journalist with a soft spot for abandoned pets and former classmate/current coworker Pyo Jihoon. One day, unable to resist the pull to take in a box of pets left outside his apartment, Yukwon ends up taking the mysterious Park Kyung in as well. Domestic hijinks ensue, full of disbelief, jealousy and probably some romance.

and this one's for you for remplissant by silver_lined
Jaehyo/Kyung (U-Kwon/Zico) || G || 4500
Jaehyo is not actually a shoujo manga hero, except in all the ways it matters.

brighter days ahead for bakalildevil by remplissant
OT7 (Kyung/U-Kwon/Zico) || PG || 4812
"One day we'll leave this place," says Jiho. The establisment isn't unkind, but there's no getting better here for people like them. Yukwon hopes for freedom.

Points of Inflection for inbrevity by maudlinsky
Jaehyo/Kyung || PG-13 || 1760
There comes a point when something changes. Kyung reaches that point on a Tuesday in November.

Playing Favourties for wahwahforseobie by silver_lined
B-Bomb/U-Kwon || PG || 3500
Minhyuk is his favourite except for how everyone is his favourite and Yukwon can't help but to love them all best.

A few quick statistics for the exchange!

Most Requested Character

Most Requested Pairing

Most Written Character

Most Written Pairing

Most Written/Drawn Character

Most Written/Drawn Pairing

Total Word Count

(at this point, feel free to post your fic elsewhere/everywhere and reply to comments! we hope to see you in the next exchange/challenge—PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAILS FOR A (SEMI-) IMPORTANT QUESTIONNAIRE! ♥)

FIC for WAHWAHFORSEOBIE! Playing Favourites (B-Bomb/U-Kwon)

bbtimemods — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 20:00:18 GMT

For: Jolie Autumn, THE BEST BETA EVER OMFG. (wahwahforseobie)
By: silver_lined

Title: Playing Favourites
Character/Pairing: ubomb, because a little birdy mod whispered in my ear ♥ 92 line as the best bff ever. jaehyo/bb cream.
Summary: Minhyuk is his favourite except for how everyone is his favourite and Yukwon can't help but to love them all best.
Rating: PG
Length: 3.5k
Warnings: DICK JOKES. Unrepentant plotless fluff. Jiho's occasionally homophobic mouth with his utterly non-homophobic intentions.
Author's notes: Thank you for being the best and making everything make sense and also, for my mental health. No one's in high school (nor in danger of getting knocked up!!) and there are no giant jellyfish, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

"Hey," Minhyuk says companionably. He slides his back down the wall and sits a few feet away from where Yukwon's nestled in the corner with his guitar.

Yukwon gives him a slightly smile, more a quirk of the lips than anything resembling his stage smile. He's strumming out maudlin love songs to the background chorus of Jiho and Kyung's bickering over the PS3, stopping every now and then for a few chords of the Final Fantasy victory chorus when one of them receives a crushing blow to the ego.

(Jiho's ahead. Yukwon suspects it's only because every time Kyung looks as if he's going to win, Jiho stands in front of the TV and starts dancing. Somewhat dancing. There's a lot of wiggling but Yukwon's not exactly sure. He can't look - he'll go blind.)

On the couch, Jihoon's bellowing support when not trying to coax Taeil onto his lap (Yukwon plays him a congratulatory Hallelujah Chorus when he finally succeeds through a combination of force, physics and strategic placement of freakishly long limbs), and Jaehyo's an incessant patter back and forth between Jiho's bunk ("The wi-fi's strongest there!") and the lounge room.

"Kwonnie," Minhyuk says patiently. "Are you listening to me?"

"Don't I always?" Yukwon says, though he's more concerned with watching Kyung pummel Jiho with a cushion.

Minhyuk snorts. "Sure," he agrees obligingly but smiles. "Hey, do you want to go out?"

"Now?" Yukwon asks. He keeps on strumming his guitar, an E to a B to a C sharp major chord. "Isn't it kind of late?" It is - they were all at the studio for hours, until the shortening autumn days had long passed to night and they'd stumbled home in an exhausted mess of limbs and obnoxiously loud laughter, half-drunk on the anticipation of their fast approaching comeback. "Do you need to go to the convenience store?"

"No," Minhyuk says, still smiling. "Not now. Later."

"You want to go tomorrow? Sure."

"No. I think we should date."

Yukwon's hands slip in a jarring clash of notes.

Minhyuk doesn't press. He acts the same as he usually does, which is perhaps driving Yukwon just the slightest bit crazy with a combination of nerves and indignation.

"Well," Kyung says philosophically when Yukwon drags both him and Jiho to an emergency meeting on his bed an entire 49 hours after Minhyuk's shock confession(!!). "It's not like no one called it."

"I didn't," Yukwon doesn't quite shriek because Taeil is in the room on the top bunk of the other bed, headphones plugged in securely and probably sleeping.

(Taeil had looked at the three of them huddled on Kyung's bed when he'd come in and asked, pragmatic and completely deadpan, "Do you need me to be an emotional pillar of strength?" then climbed into bed and pulled the covers securely over his head when Yukwon had ventured a hesitant no.)

"I did, hyung," Jihoon volunteers in an amicable rumble from the other bottom bunk where he's flat on his stomach, face illuminated by the screen of his phone. Yukwon gives him a betrayed look.

"Shush, maknae," Jiho commands imperiously and slashes his thumb across his neck. "You're too young and impressionable to be listening to this shit."

"Okay," Jihoon says, just as cheerful as before and goes back to eavesdropping without contributing.

"He's sort of obvious," Kyung says apologetically. "With the, you know." Kyung does something with his face that Yukwon can only stare dumbly at for a second before picking up a pillow and smashing out wildly with it.

Jico wraps himself around Yukwon's shoulders, with the bonus side effect of saving Park Kyung from death by memory foam. "Baby," he coos into Yukwon's ear in his aegyo voice. "Goo goo ga ga, goo goo ga ga."

"No homo," Yukwon says with a shudder and tries to shrug Jiho's freakishly long arms off.

Jiho grins. "You're already all the homo. Admit it. Move on. Go tap that ass."

Yukwon tries his hardest to put an elbow through Jiho's solar plexus.

"Or let him tap yours," Jiho continues, completely unfazed.

"Urgh," Yukwon says and tries in vain to bite Jiho's arm which has him in more of a chokehold than friendly hug.

"We are accepting of the homo here," Kyung says brightly and grins, all teeth and grease. "Look at the beautiful, functional relationship between me and my husband Jiho."

Jiho stares at him, completely disgusted. "I've changed my mind," he says flatly. "No homo."

"No takebacks," Kyung says triumphantly and grabs at Jiho's arm. Jiho shoves him away with a hand to the face.

"You guys are the actual worst," Yukwon says wonderingly and throws all of his weight to one side, toppling both Jiho and himself onto Kyung.

"Water," Yukwon gasps pathetically, sprawled flat out on the floor in the short break between one runthrough of the dance and the next. A bottle drops next to his head with a thud; he scrambles clumsily for it and holds it to his face - it's room temperature but feels blissfully cool.

"Kwon-sshi-" It's Minhyuk. Yukwon squints up at him. "-you should probably sit up. You'll choke."

Yukwon waves him off but Minhyuk drops down to sit besides him, body radiating heat even in the thin wife-beater he's barely wearing. Yukwon can see things. It's not decent.

"Kwon-sshi."

There's a hand waving in front of his face. Yukwon blinks at it, then beyond it at Minhyuk's face. It takes him a long moment to lever himself up, then slumps against Minhyuk's side. It's warm in the practice room - their overheated skin almost sticks together with sweat and it shouldn't be as comfortable as it is.

"Thanks," Yukwon says, a bit too late, but Minhyuk shrugs. Yukwon feels it more than sees it.

"No problem."

They remain pressed together until the dance instructor bullies them into formation for the next practice.

"Do you think," Yukwon says very seriously that night, leaning forward into the hushed, cramped space that is Kyung's bed and the official meeting space of the '92 line. "That I'm his rebound?"

There's a moment of silence. Jiho and Kyung exchange a long glance.

"He cried over her a lot, you know," Yukwon says helpfully.

Kyung takes a deep breath:

"Kim fucking Yukwon, I'm going to fucking kill you," he announces, and pounces.

Three minutes later, they're on opposite sides of the bed, Jiho nominally between them. Yukwon's sprawled half over his thighs, held down by the heavy weight of Jiho's hands on his back, while Kyung sits at the head of the bed with his back against the wall and a pillow clutched aggressively in his hands.

"You can't hit his face," Jiho patiently explains to Kyung. "He's our visual."

Yukwon makes a noise a little like a boiling kettle and a dying parrot.

"It's fine," Kyung says, widening his eyes and flashing his trademark smile. "I'm the leader of the visual line."

"And his arms," Jiho adds thoughtfully. "No marks where he has to be naked. Try the kidneys."

"I'm the dancer." Yukwon aims a pointed elbow at the soft flesh of Jiho's stomach, but he is rolled off Jiho's lap and onto the bed before he can make contact.

"You're right," Jiho admits easily and rolls Yukwon a little bit more, onto his back from on his front and then a little back and forth movement that Yukwon allows petulantly. "Don't punch him at all."

"Hey-" Kyung scowls, brandishing his pillow, but Jiho isn't done yet.

"Tell Minhyuk-hyung what he said," Jiho says and smiles.

"Fuck you," Kyung breathes, reverent. "Woo Jiho, you're the fucking devil."

Yukwon makes a strangled noise and launches himself at Jiho.

In the aftermath of battle, the mattress has slipped halfway off Kyung's bedframe, and Yukwon slipped halfway off that, tangled deliberately in the bed-sheets. The quilt is a crumpled heap to the left, Hello Kitty perched upon it like a disdainful queen. Jiho sits lightly on Yukwon's stomach, Yukwon's hands gathered in his to prevent more injuries than the somewhat battered plaster of the wall from the bunk bed frame jolting into it. Kyung grins down at Yukwon from where he's leaning against Jiho's back, vaguely devilish from Yukwon's upwards angle, straight up Kyung's nose.

"Are you done?" Jiho asks mildly. Yukwon hisses at him. "I guess not," Jiho says and shakes Yukwon by his captured hands.

"Idiot," Kyung chimes in. He pokes Yukwon's stomach and grins. "I don't actually know what he sees in you."

"Liar," Jiho snorts and there's a soft 'oof!' as he drives his elbow back into Kyung's ribs. "Kwonnie's hot. Everyone knows that."

"I'm hotter," Kyung insists. "But you know. Minhyukkie actually likes this idiot for more reasons than his abs. Which is good, since you're getting a bit pudgy, Kwon-ah."

The upside to being ridiculously flexible, Yukwon muses, is that no one ever expects you to be able to kick them even when trapped under the whale that is Woo Jiho. He says so out loud and then needs to spend a minute gathering his breath when Jiho shifts his weight hard. (Kyung yelps. No one cares.)

"Kim Yukwon," Jiho says firmly while Yukwon is busy dying from being smothered. "You're an idiot and a bastard for making me say this, but-" he pauses here to take a deep, pained breath "-you like him. He finally got his shit together and asked you out. Do something about it before you force me to mess up our dance formations. By killing you."

Yukwon glares furiously. "Wha-"

"I'm getting hives from the amount of unrequited gay in this apartment."

"You loooo-OW, FUCKING DAMNIT, KWONNIE," Kyung yelps when Yukwon scores another direct hit.

"Just go put him out of his misery, already."

Yukwon stares stonily at them until Jiho relents and stands up, shrugging Kyung off. He reaches out his hand to help Yukwon up, and doesn't let go even when they're all standing. One quick tug and Yukwon's wrapped in a hard hug.

"It's not going to change anything, you know," Jiho says, low. "We'll make sure of it."

Yukwon stands stiffly in his arms for a long moment then coughs and pushes away.

"Aww," Kyung coos, making a truly disgusting face. "What a touching bonding moment."

"Fine," Yukwon grumbles, arms crossed over his chest. He turns on his heel and stomps away, the stiff line of his back radiating indignation. He wrenches the door open, but pauses before he steps out and says, vindictively, "We're going to make out on every surface around the apartment. Including your bed."

Jiho almost brains himself tripping over the quilt as he rushes from the room, howling, "KEEP YOUR FUCKING HOMO OFF MY THINGS."

Yukwon comes barrelling out of his room with Jiho hot on his heels and grabs Minhyuk's hand, laughing wildly, to pull him out of the apartment. He merrily sacrifices a hapless Jaehyo by neatly nudging him into Jiho's path and scrambling into his shoes in the confusion that follows. Minhyuk follows his lead and in moments, they're down on street level. Between them, they have a handful of change and one mobile phone holding 8% charge. It's past midnight and even the streets of Seoul are quiet and still.

They get half a block away before Yukwon pulls them under the awning of a closed store, standing close and breathing hard. He drops Minhyuk's hand with something that definitely isn't a squeak and take a startled half-step back. When they're out of make-up, away from the stage costumes and lifts, they're closer to the same height than not - Yukwon's still a little unused to having to tilt a hairsbreadth up instead of down.

"So," Yukwon says, a little awkward, smile fading.

"So," Minhyuk repeats, a smile in his voice. The uneven street lights cast strange shadows on his face, highlighting his rounded cheeks. Yukwon tries to look away but can't. Minhyuk takes a step forward; Yukwon shuffles back until the cool grate of the security gate presses against his back. This close, Yukwon can feel Minhyuk's body heat down his front, Minhyuk's arms bracketing his sides, the soft puff of kimchi ramyun-scented breath-

And all of a sudden, Yukwon is laughing. He presses his forehead against Minhyuk's shoulder, slides his hands across Minhyuk's waist to his back and rests his palms against the warm muscle. It's late, a little too cold for the thin t-shirts and shorts they've run out of the house with, and Minhyuk presses a smile against his hair, like they're not almost famous (infamous), like they're any other twenty-something couple in Seoul.

The end up at the convenience store, buying a carton of iced milk coffee with the handful of coins they scrape out of their pockets. They take two straws but use one, walking side by side with their hands only briefly brushing now and again.

"Is this our first date?" Yukwon asks and if he puts his lips on the straw exactly where Minhyuk's were, no one can say.

Minhyuk laughs. "I treat you so good, you don't even know," he says and makes them take a selca under the next street light. The lights are yellow and his phone camera is grainy at night; they look awful, unbrushed hair and faces scrubbed free of make up. Yukwon smiles so hard that his eyes are the barest black slits, soulless in the low resolution.

When they stumble back to the dorms, hours later, hands clumsy with the cold, everyone else has already gone to bed. They brush their teeth in the tiny bathroom, jostling elbows and getting water all over the floor, and part ways in the living room.

"Good night," Minhyuk says softly, stretching up on his toes to brush a kiss on Yukwon's forehead.

"Mrrfpht," Yukwon says in return and flees.

It takes the entire time for Yukwon to change into his fluffiest pyjamas and locate his phone for his heart to stop being ridiculous, which is ruined the second he gets his hand on his phone, when it chimes and almost gives him a heart attack. Luckily, no one wakes up and he hastily thumbs the volume down to mute before gingerly flipping the case open.

His inbox has pretty much exploded with about 72 messages from 'woo fucking jiho,' most of them threats against his body and possessions and one actually terrifying, im putting my balls on ur stuff fucker. The most recent message, though, is from 'lee minhyuk (unique!!)'.

It's a multimedia message, the selca from before with its shitty resolution and crap lighting that shows the tired smudges beneath their eyes and the roughness of their skin. The accompanying message only says sleep well ^^.

Yukwon falls asleep with his phone in his hands.

Yukwon wakes up to hell. Or reasonably close enough, because Jiho is merciless and peels Yukwon's sleeping mask off him and hustles him out of bed and onto the floor. Yukwon takes his quilt with him because fucking sunlight, why.

(Trial and entirely too much error has proven that the top bunk cannot hold three twenty-one year olds, even if Kyung is a midget and Yukwon diets whenever the company insists.)

Taeil and Jihoon are already out, though Kyung grins entirely too cheerfully from his bottom bunk. He has too many teeth. Like a shark. Except tiny.

"Kim Yukwon," Jiho intones threateningly.

"Fuck off," Yukwon says and rolls himself more securely in his blankets. Then winces and rummages around in his blanket cocoon to find his phone before the sharp corners can do any more damage to his ribs.

good morning ^^

-the message from Minhyuk says, bright and cheerful even at this hellish hour. Yukwon filters out Jiho's voice with the ease of long practice and carefully swypes a reply:

jiho hates me

I can hear him from here.
you're his favourite.
you're my favourite, too.
I got you breakfast.

The messages come one after another, too fast for Yukwon to reply to individually. The last includes a picture of - Yukwon squints, still bleary eyed from sleep - two store-bought onigiri and a vitamin water and a convenience store plastic bag. It's from the same store as last night.

hes talking about balls

-Yukwon types plaintively, then,

thnx

-and snaps his phone shut, though it keeps chiming with new messages. Jiho's still talking, pacing back and forth even though it takes him all of two steps to cross the entire room, but Kyung's watching him with surprisingly cool and steady eyes.

"Kwonnie," Kyung says and tries for his best greasy smile, but his eyes are puffy with sleep and voice still a little husky. "Appa and umma just want the best for you."

"Never say that again," Yukwon says, horrified.

"Babyyy," Kyung coos at him. Yukwon violently twitches and rolls his entire blanket burrito self away and into Jiho's legs.

Jiho sighs and bodily hauls him up and shoves him half on top of Kyung. "Bros before hoes, fucker."

Yukwon struggles pathetically but Kyung is some undisclosed percentage tentacle monster and experienced in subduing his prey in hugs. Jiho drops heavily onto the bed and leans against Kyung's side, the taut line of his mouth relaxing.

"Whatever," Yukwon mumbles into the warm curve of Kyung's neck and they lay there, listening to the rumble of Jihoon's laughter until the door flings open and Jaehyo comes flailing in, shrieking about his BB cream.

("Wait," Yukwon says, midway through dance practice and just before the twenty third time they run through the Nillili choreography that day. "Did you call Minhyuk-hyung a ho?"

Jiho shrugs expansively. "You're all my hoes."

Yukwon opens his mouth to protest, or something, but there's... sort of really nothing, so he shrugs and moves wordlessly back into formation.

"It's okay," Jiho allows generously. "You're my favourite."

Kyung smacks him and practice is delayed for a few minutes more as Jiho and Kyung roll around, flailing wildly at one another. Yukwon stands at the side with Minhyuk and Taeil, Minhyuk's arm heavy around his shoulders.)

Dating Minhyuk is a lot like not dating Minhyuk, all things considered. They sit together in the short breaks between rehearsals and sometimes in the van, thigh pressed against thigh in the back bench because Yukwon likes the backmost corner seat snug against the window - but it's nothing new.

He still sneaks into Minhyuk's bed, though now after long and protracted negotiations with Jiho who sleeps in the bed adjacent.

("I'm not going to put dick on your pillow," Yukwon tells him sincerely.

Jiho looks nauseated. "Fuck you, Kim Yukwon."

"That won't happen too," Yukwon says primly then cackles. He curls smaller into the furthermost corner of the van and grins smugly at Jiho scrabbling against the hold of his seatbelt in the bench in front.

"We can have our own sleepover," Kyung coos at Jiho, making a kissy face.

Jiho slaps him lightly on the cheek and says flatly, "You fart in your sleep."

"With love," Kyung insists and then they're scuffling again, all flailing limbs and sharp elbows, while Jaehyo - trapped between them in the same row - tries to get away without more than minor bruising. Jihoon in the bench opposite gives him an encouraging little fist-pump and hwaiting! before going back to poking at Taeil who ignores everyone with the serenity of long practice.

Minhyuk laughs low in Yukwon's ear. "I knew it. You're just using me to get away from him."

Yukwon smiles and grips his hand a little tighter.

"Oh my god," Jonghwan-hyung says despairingly from the driver's seat. "If everyone doesn't shut up, I'm going to drive into the river and kill us all.")

Jaehyo doesn't get a say, though he plugs his headphones in with fatalistic despair when Yukwon bounces in and flings himself onto Jiho's bed. Jaehyo is totally Yukwon's favourite, except for how everyone is his favourite and Minhyuk is the best.

"Hi," Yukwon whispers into the curve of Minhyuk's neck, warm and smelling of that ridiculously girly coconut body wash that Kyung bought and everyone else borrowed.

"Hey." Minhyuk's eyes crinkle.

Yukwon grins at him, then bounces. The bunk bed shakes and maybe Yukwon's grin gets a little mean as he lets loose a filthy moan because, okay, Minhyuk is totally his favourite but fucking with Jaehyo comes a really close second.

"Oh god why," Jaehyo says faintly and Minhyuk laughs so hard the bed keeps shaking, smothering the sound in Yukwon's hair. Yukwon grins and with a surge of strength, rolls the both of them into a warm cocoon of blankets, startling another burst of laughter from Minhyuk's throat.

"Brat," Minhyuk says, low and fond.

Yukwon only laughs and wraps Minhyuk's arms around himself more securely. He falls asleep like that, thinking of nothing in particular at all.

FIC for INBREVITY! Points of Inflection (Jaehyo/Kyung)

bbtimemods — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:18:07 GMT

For: inbrevity
By: maudlinsky

Title: Points of Inflection
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung
Summary: There comes a point when something changes. Kyung reaches that point on a Tuesday in November.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1760
Author's notes: Thanks be to Dizzy Moon. Also, my dear recipient, I have something else to give to you once reveals come around. Thanks for amazing prompts!

It all starts because of Jiho.

Kyung thinks there are too many stories that begin that way, but there is no other reason he would be in a fraternity house on a Friday night. He carefully moves his beer from the table when an eager couple finds that maybe a table is flat enough to fuck on.

He draws his knees up, his feet rest on the edge of the sofa, and his chin peaks over his knees. And maybe if he really thinks about it—thinks of anything other than blankets of cigarette smoke and public fornicaiton—he could say he had a good time.

But as the clock ticks away another hour, pages he could have read, he thinks that maybe he should just leave Jiho in this dystopic society of beer, sex, and takeout.

He is in the middle of doing just that when his face collides with someone's rather unsteady body.

"Sorry," Kyung mutters as he weaves past the guy, who by now has probably found the sofa and a pretty girl to soothe his pain.

But he does look back when the crowd parts enough for him to breathe, just to check. The man is stretched out, knees bent over the arm of the sofa and arms behind his head. Clearly, he is fine.

Kyung meanders through writhing bodies and spilled alcohol in an attempt to find his sanity. He leaves behind memories of a beautiful guy and awkward encounters. He brushes it off with every step back up to his dorm room.

On a campus with 540,000 undergraduates, it is statistically unlikely they will ever meet again anyway.

He isn't sure why the results bother him so much.

"You left early," Jiho says as he sinks into a yellow bean bag.

Kyung shrugs. "I have better things to do than get humped by strangers."

"If you would ever leave your room or the library, then maybe they wouldn't be strangers."

"Maybe." Kyung finishes the last of Jiho's algebra homework, circling all of his answers so Jiho knows where one starts and the other ends. "But if I went out all the time, then when would I do your work?"

Jiho inspects the pages and hums while doing so. "Just try to get out more. This is supposed to be fun, you know? All that shit about the rest of our lives doesn't come until we're juniors."

Kyung just sighs.

Kyung spends most of his first semester locked away in his room, frantically deciphering trajectories of space particles and discovering the bearings of a train that never seems to get anywhere.

It is a Tuesday, cold and quiet, when he finds himself walking past the library in favor of sitting under the biggest tree on campus. He slides down the truck, digging the toes of his shoe into the dirt as he creeps lower.

"Why does it take you so long to sit down?"

Kyung loses his focus, his balance, his thoughts. He plops down next to someone that looks eerily familiar with a thud.

The man beside him looks at him for a moment or two. His eyes are big and round, straight nose and high cheekbones. He is pretty attractive, by conventional standards, and maybe in another time, he would care to chat for a bit. However, he doesn't have time for idle chatter or pheromones right now.

"I know you from somewhere," the man finally says. Kyung is two seconds away from standing, but all ongoing actions to that halt then. "Oh, I know, you're the guy I keep running into. Ahn Jaehyo, by the way."

The guy, Jaehyo, smiles. Kyung doesn't have time for beautiful smiles, either. "I don't remember running into anybody. Well, except for that guy at the party." Kyung is speaking more to himself than Jaehyo, but at the mention of the party, Jaehyo nods.

"Yeah, yeah. Thought that was you. I keep seeing you during my off period. Do you always walk with your head down? I try to dodge you when I can. You almost broke my spine at the party."

Kyung stares at Jaehyo's lips as he talks, really unable to do much else.

"Heard you've been talking to hot guys lately," Yukwon says as he tosses his backpack onto his bed. His body follows suit, albeit a little more gracefully.

Kyung closes his book, all thoughts of logarithms and relativity closing with it. "I have only talked to one guy recently. But I do talk to two losers named Yukwon and Jiho."

"So, hot guys," Yukwon repeats with emphasis on the plurality. "Tell me everything."

"Ahn Jaehyo, junior. Business major as of right now, but who knows how long he'll stick with that. Decent voice, but talks too much. I think he's in Jiho's fraternity, but I don't know. Didn't ask."

"So you're in love with some party hard frat boy?"

Kyung notices the writing in the margins of his paper, complex division and multiplication when he wants to be certain. He counts the number of times Jaehyo's name appears. Of all the things that pop in his mind, Jaehyo shouldn't appear eight times. The probability of it coming up is less than one percent.

Yukwon snaps his fingers in front of Kyung's face. "Well?"

Kyung grimaces. "He's not some party hard frat boy. He's just an idiot."

"And you're in love with him."

Kyung opens his book back up, unsure of where he stopped at. This is totally out of character.

"I like him a lot," he realizes.

Kyung decides that there is something romantic about the Pythagorean identities of trigonometry toward the end of November. He is sitting under the tree, wrapped tightly in a red sweater with Jaehyo beside him and a book spread over his lap.

"You can't be serious."

Kyung cocks his head to the side. "Of course, I'm serious. Watch this."

He writes sin squared x plus cos squared x equals one. He hears Jaehyo laughing at his side.

"Man, I don't think anyone else will find that romantic."

Kyung swats at Jaehyo's thigh. "It is, though. You didn't see the rest of it."

He quickly draws a portion of a sine wave, then underneath he draws a cosine wave. It's nothing more than a cycle's worth, but it is enough. "Do you see it?"

Jaehyo leans closer to the paper and squints. "Sorry, Kyungie, I don't see a thing."

Kyung sighs. "They are two different waves, two functions. Yet, they move in the same fashion. They are always constant, and look at how often they intersect. It's love, I tell you."

Jaehyo smiles, tracing his fingers along the sine wave. They accidently touch Kyung's, and Kyung tries his best to hide his smile.

"I gotta go. Marketing starts in less than ten minutes. See you?"

When Jaehyo is out of sight, Kyung traces the wave of cosine.

The sun sweeps by, dragging strands of orange and pink across the sky. Suddenly, the world becomes darker, lonelier. Jaehyo sits a few breaths away—might as well be a few light years away—with legs outstretched and hands busy rubbing away the chill of late afternoon. Kyung digs his shoes into the dirt as he bends his fingers around the edge of the bench. Jaehyo sighs and white puffs float in the space above his lips; Kyung is too distracted to react when his index finger brushes against dried gum.

"What are you doing later?" Jaehyo asks.

Kyung can barely see the gleam of Jaehyo's dark eyes because of the tiny clouds of hot air. He wishes Jaehyo would shut up; he looks better like this. The glow of dusk is fading, and the streetlights are barely burning.

(Kyung wishes Jaehyo would kiss him; he imagines the taste of lip balm and the scent of aftershave. Jaehyo doesn't shave all that well, and the effects of that would scratch Kyung's tender skin. And maybe that would be alright, in the long run.)

A shake of the head, a rattle of thoughts. "I've got to get up early. Exams and stuff, you know," Kyung starts. Jaehyo nods and slides his hands down the length of his thigh. Kyung swallows and continues, "And I told Jiho I'd help him with something. And."

"Okay, then. Guess I'll see you tomorrow," Jaehyo says. He's practically forever away before Kyung registers this is goodbye, not goodnight.

Kyung doesn't know the difference between them, of course. He guess he won't figure it out tonight, either.

It's a knock on his door at five in the morning. Yukwon is sleeping, per usual, but manages to mutter something about how Kyung needs to fucking kill the person at the door.

Kyung hops out of bed, raking his fingers through his hair just in case it's something important.

He opens the door to a panting Jaehyo, who just seems to look at him like he's the one that's crazy.

"Can I come in?" Jaehyo whispers, every other syllable sounding less breathless than the last.

Kyung moves to the side to let Jaehyo sweep past him. There is something about the way Jaehyo looks down, the way he looks nervous. Kyung is expecting the worst in the most silent way possible.

Just as Kyung is about to ask Jaehyo what's wrong or why he's here this early, Jaehyo leans closer and kisses him. Soft, warm, and fleeting. Kyung can't think of a more tragic description of a kiss.

When Jaehyo pulls back, his eyes are larger than normal. He digs in his pocket, and Kyung thinks about breathing almost half as often as probably needed.

"Um, here," Jaehyo says. He sounds more breathless than when he was panting at his door.

Kyung delicately unfolds the notebook paper. When he sees the formula printed, he smiles. But he brightens even more when he sees the question at the bottom.

sin squared x plus cos squared x equals one

Will you be my cosine?

Kyung laughs a bit; Yukwon yells from his bed about the noise level.

"Are you serious? This is a Pythagorean identity," Kyung says.

"It's the most romantic thing I know. So?"

Kyung wraps his arms around Jaehyo's neck, pulling him closer for another kiss. This one is warm and sweet. Kyung thinks those are much better adjectives.

"Just so you know, I'm the sine wave," he whispers as close to Jaehyo's ear as he can get.

Jaehyo laughs and nuzzles Kyung's neck. "Whatever you say."

FIC for BAKALILDEVIL! Brighter Days Ahead (OT7, Kyung/U-Kwon/Zico)

bbtimemods — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:26:36 GMT

For: bakalildevil
By: remplissant

Title: brighter days ahead
Pairing: gen ot7, hinted!kyung/ukwon/zico
Rating: pg
Length: 4812
Summary: AU. "One day we'll leave this place," says Jiho. The establisment isn't unkind, but there's no getting better here for people like them. Yukwon hopes for freedom.
Warnings: general weirdness.
Notes: fig & jam, xoxo. bakalildevil, thanks for letting me play with the prompts. i will admit this is the first time i've tried something like this, and although it's a bit different, i hope you'll find something you like within the fic itself (: if you don't completely hate me because of this, please request something/anything after reveals and i'll do my best to give you something you'll like (:

"How do you feel today?"

Yukwon stays quiet on the examination table. Doctor – because there are no names here, only stations – makes a note in her chart. Outside the window, the sky is a saturated blue, cloudless, perfect running weather for Jiho. Yukwon scratches the bend of his elbow where the skin is warmer, and smiles.

"Good," he says, but he wants to tell her how sleepy he's been lately. He doesn't want the drugs, though. "The same," he says and shrugs his left shoulder.

Checkups are routine, once a week, but Yukwon hates them all the same. Doctor clicks her tongue, presses the back of her hand to his forehead, and says, "You're warmer. Don't do anything to overexert yourself." It sounds like a warning.

Yukwon nods along to her words, and she steps out of the room to allow him enough privacy to dress.

The establishment has friendly-enough staff; they willfully talk and feed them. Sometimes they even provide board games and old VHS tapes to watch in the rec room on Saturdays. Yet, there's a distance. They keep the boys like him at arm's length, as though waiting for one of them to snap. It happened once before, but no one likes to talk about it. The Accident is the reason why checkups are weekly, to keep them in line and monitor progress. They don't want another mess to clean up or any more government officials snooping around the area.

Yukwon's been here for so long that he doesn't remember what natural sunlight feels like. They took him when he was six, and he joined the other Lost Boys; that was ten years ago. He thinks maybe he should hate them – the people who kidnapped him – for the loss of a real family and friends, but he can't bring himself to feel anything at all. The other lost children are his family and friends now.

"How did the checkup go?" Jiho asks. He sits on Kyung's side of the room, splitting earpieces between himself and Kyung. He has his jacket zipped up, but this is understandable because they prefer keeping the temperatures near freezing in the room to keep Yukwon from burning from the inside-out. "We've been waiting for hours."

Yukwon smiles. "Boring," he says, "like it always is." He sits on his unmade bed and tucks his legs beneath him.

Kyung bobs his head to the music, cocooned in a layer of quilts and no doubt a sweater too. Yukwon never knew why they roomed together, considering the vast differences in their physiology and purposes, but Kyung was good company when they were both awake enough to talk. Kyung had a way of charming the female nurses on their floor into extending their curfews and special ice cream privileges; Yukwon felt that was a great asset. While Yukwon was off, being tested in rooms that felt like furnaces to normal people, Kyung was kept inside with books. He sometimes wondered how Kyung felt, alone in the library, while everyone else freely roamed the halls; Kyung never voiced his complaints, but he did talk a mile a minute whenever anyone gave him the chance.

He always had something to talk about, could recite novels from memory and work the level-5 math equations in under five minutes. Yukwon liked listening to him – that he could fill his silences, and sometimes, when Yukwon couldn't finish a cookie during lunch, he'd offer it to Kyung in exchange for a fairy tale. Ones about being locked away and later rescued – ones about being free.

"They had me running laps in the gym today," Jiho says, and he sounds proud too. But then, Yukwon thinks, when is Jiho ever not proud. "Beat my record. They gave me this," he waves around the music player, "as a reward."

Kyung's fallen asleep against Jiho's shoulder, lips parted, and Jiho gently tugs the earpieces from both their ears. Yukwon admires the way they act when they're together, how close they are despite being ripped away from society and stuffed into this cramped institution. Kyung and Jiho have been here longer than anyone else, and they rely on each other, almost like brothers. Jiho tosses the music player over, and his aim curves toward the right so it hits Yukwon's pillow instead of his open palm.

"Missed," Yukwon teases, and the next thing Jiho throws is his shoe. It clips him in the knee and falls to the floor.

*

"Good work today, Yukwon," Assistant Doctor says. He wipes his brow where his damp bangs lay flattened.

Yukwon shrugs out of his suit, hot but not sweating, and steps out of the Furnace. He allows Head Nurse and Assistants to pour water onto his skin, and it sizzles and changes to steam within a span of seconds. It cools his body, albeit minutely. When he's no longer a fire hazard, they give him his clothes and a jug of water to drink and cool his system. "Can't have you burning the place down," Jiho'd said on a tease once, but Yukwon knows that is what everyone fears.

"Thanks," he says to Assistant Doctor because, today, he actually feels good about himself. He will eat lunch with Jaehyo and Taeil, not alone. He pulls his shirt overhead, the world around him turning a blank white for a moment before his head works through the neck-hole. "Can I go now?"

Assistant Doctor rolls his eyes, fondly, and Yukwon always preferred him to the other staff. He wipes his brow again with the back of his lab coat's sleeve. "Sure," he says, "but remember to stay cool and keep away from Patient Kyung's books this time."

*

Usually everyone takes lunch before him because of the intensity and care put into his tests. By now, Kyung will be taking tests in the laboratory, and Jiho will be running laps and kicking up dust on the field. The others will be going to their physicals or testing now. Hanhae's in the sick room because of a mishap the day before.

He places his tray on the mostly empty table. The metal of the bench is cool against the back of his knees before it warms to his body heat. Jaehyo grins and Taeil offers a simple nod of his head. Taeil is newer than the rest of them, arriving a year or two after they adopted Jaehyo and Minhyuk; he was small then, tinier than Kyung, but he commanded a certain level of respect that even Jiho admired.

Taeil is Jaehyo's best friend in the same way that Jiho and Kyung are Yukwon's. Jaehyo had once clung to Taeil, but these days it's impossible because of the crackles of concentrated lightning that spark from Jaehyo's fingertips and the dampness of Taeil's skin. Yukwon spies the bandages wrapped around Taeil's wrists.

"They're turning him into the real-life version of The Little Mermaid," Jaehyo says. His voice pitches higher when he's excited, and he speaks faster then too.

The Little Mermaid is one of Jaehyo's favorites, and they watch it in the rec room on the fourth Saturday of every month and Jaehyo's birthday. Yukwon never lasts more than a couple minutes into the film, but Jiho assures him that it has a happy ending. Kyung once told him the true ending though, about sea foam and ascending. Yukwon prefers the ending where she's set free and allowed to be in love.

Taeil shakes his head, and it's hard to read his eyes when he wears the bulky sunglasses. The light in the cafeteria hurts his eyes; he needs a filter. "Gills," is what he says, coolly, and goes back to the goop in his tray. "And. I'd be a merman," he grumps before stuffing the unidentifiable goop in his mouth.

Jaehyo shocks his arm in turn, and Yukwon, well, he just laughs.

*

Jiho steals him away sometime that week. Yukwon doesn't really pay attention to the days anymore. His calendar – a gift from Nurse – is useless and sits on his desk, flipped to a picture of a kitten in a tree that reads: hang in there!. He's not sure if it's from this year or not.

They go to the indoor track field, and Jiho twitches because he always has an overabundance of adrenaline bursting through him. He's always moving – tapping his fingers or rocking his legs up and down; only when they've drugged him does he calm. Yukwon prefers this Jiho, in his element and racing circles around him. Never stopping, always in motion.

"How does it feel?" Yukwon asks from the bleachers. It's empty in the later times of the day when the staff takes to tending to the more volatile patients.

Jiho stalls momentarily, but he still goes too fast for Yukwon to comprehend. "I feel more alive here than anywhere else," he admits. There's a faraway look in his eyes, though. "It's easy to forget," he says quieter as though he's speaking to himself now. But the look is gone just as quick as it came, and he smiles up at Yukwon from his place on the track. "Come on and try it out."

Yukwon hops down the bleachers two at a time, heartbeat quickening in his chest as if he were already racing on the track, and meets Jiho on the field. The lot is huge, much bigger than the two of them.

Yukwon cannot possibly keep up with Jiho, no one can, but he feels the burn in his muscles and in his blood and pushes himself harder and faster.

They collapse together in the center of the field. Yukwon lost count of the laps they made around the track. His body feels hot and aching, but he feels better than ever.

"When I can't bear the labs or my room, I come here," he says. He picks at a loose lace of his sneakers. "It helps me think."

Yukwon stares up at the lights hanging overhead. Each of them look like stars from down here. They lapse into silence, and it's so natural for them to enjoy each others' company without the use of words.

"One day we'll leave this place," says Jiho. It surprises Yukwon whose mind has begun to drift. He sits upright using his hands to support his weight; their knees touch. "You and me and Kyung and everyone."

"Where will we go?"

He asks this because it's the first thought that comes to his mind when he entertains such ideas. What will he do? What can he do? Stolen away from the world for so long, no talents or skills to offer; he's nothing but a white hot flame that keeps growing hotter and hotter, to the point of burning. They once let him have a guitar, but he created sparks on the fret and set smoke alarms off.

Jiho glances over at him. Yukwon stares at his lips, watches the words form on his tongue as he speaks, and feels more drawn in than ever before. He's sixteen; he doesn't know what love or attraction feels like outside of the Disney movies and Kyung's stories. Jiho is compelling though, always has been ever since Kyung introduced them that one morning, and Yukwon trusts him – and Kyung – with his life.

"Where will we not go?" Jiho touches his cheek. It's such a simple act, one Jiho's done to Kyung countless times before, but it feels more affectionate right now. It has Yukwon's body heating more, but Jiho doesn't draw away even if his skin must be scalded. "We'll go anywhere we want."

Doctor steps out of Yukwon's room as he and Jiho round the corner. It's the first time Yukwon has ever seen Jiho halt completely, but it's only for a short beat of Yukwon's heart. Jiho is darting toward Doctor in the blink of an eye.

"What's going on? What're you doing here?" Jiho demands, and Yukwon skids to a stop right behind him.

Doctor pinches the bridge of her nose. "The patient had a dizzy spell, but it's nothing major," she says dismissing them both, but Yukwon remembers Kyung's increasing complaints of headaches and his need to sleep more and more.

Sometimes it felt like he was near-vegetable, skipping meals in favor of sleeping to regain energy exhausted during the day. Yukwon believes something is wrong, but it's nothing more than a sharp tug in his gut at this point. He thinks of Hanhae, still in the sick room, and hopes that the bad feelings will go away.

"What's wrong with him?"

Doctor flicks her gaze toward him. She furrows her brow. "What have you been doing? You're flushed."

"We ran a few laps –"

"I told you not to overexert yourself," she snaps. The dark look that crosses her features has him clutching the back of Jiho's shirt in his hands. The smell of burnt fabric fills him up, but he doesn't let go. Doctor shakes her head. "Probation," she says, voice low and allowing no arguments. "Both of you."

"Just tell me what the fuck is wrong with him," Jiho says again.

Doctor ignores him. "Back to your room, Patient Jiho," she says. She sidesteps them, and her heels click-clack against the polished tile of the hallway floor.

Jiho turns to face him, mouth curled down distastefully. Yukwon swallows; his throat is dry, so it's an effort to work it down. He stares at their feet, at the uneven laces in Jiho's sneakers and the scuffed tip of his own, and wills his body to calm and cool. Kyung is fine, he tells himself; calm down.

"Hey," Jiho says. Yukwon feels fingers touch the side of his neck, and then Jiho is hugging him. Yukwon wants to shove him away because this is dangerous, especially when he has no control over his body heat at the moment, but Jiho seems to sense his uncertainty and holds him tighter. "Check on him. Keep him company. He gets lonely in there by himself," he whispers, but these are things Yukwon already knows.

Jiho pulls back. He touches his cheek again, eyes searching. Then, he smiles.

Yukwon creates tiny flames with his fingers until Kyung awakens. He looks small – tinier than usual – wrapped in those heavy blankets, hooked to a monitor, pale and thin.

"I feel like I've been hit by one of Jihoon's punches," Kyung says, sitting up slowly. He's too weak to fight the blankets covering his body, but he tries anyway. He resorts to rubbing his temple. "Must've passed out in the library."

Yukwon frowns at him. Kyung smiles at him, sheepishly.

"Sleep with me?" he asks. He folds back the covers, and it's invitation enough for Yukwon.

He slips into the space beside Kyung, and together they push the quilts to the foot of the bed. Kyung leans into his side and steals his body heat. Yukwon rests his head atop Kyung's, and he feels how it dampens beneath his cheek.

"Are you too hot?"

Kyung hums, arms around Yukwon's middle just the same as the way he sleeps with Jiho, and says, "Thanks Yukwon."

The days pass by slowly after that. They have Yukwon on house-arrest, and they've revoked all his privileges. He hasn't seen a shock of blond hair or a flash of sneakers since the day Kyung passed out.

"Hey Yukwonnie," the youngest boy in the family, Jihoon, says. He's sweet-smiled and happy, cheeks round with childish fat, and in his hand he carries a bag of spoils. "I got this for my birthday," he explains the bag away, shaking it for emphasis.

They sit in the cafeteria together, knee to knee, and Jihoon is growing too fast. They worry about him, the same as they did Minho before the Accident, but so far he has kept below the bars and in control. Jihoon tells him about the gift he received from the staff and upends the baggie on the tabletop. He offers a lollipop to Yukwon.

Yukwon retells stories that Kyung has shared with him, and when he runs out of words he talks about his adventures with Jiho. Often he stretches the truth or forgets how a tale goes, but he goes on with prompting from Jihoon and the excitement he feels when Jihoon asks questions or begs for more.

He's in the midst of The Beauty and the Beast when Minhyuk settles beside them. Minhyuk's been in isolation since the Accident, and the Assistants hang around closer whenever he's in a room. Out of all the patients, Minhyuk is the most volatile; Yukwon considers him a good friend regardless.

"Hi," he says quietly, and Jihoon pushes a chocolate bar in Minhyuk's direction. Minhyuk smiles, but it's slight. Minhyuk has a soft spot for the younger boys. "Is Kyungie okay?"

Yukwon nods. He pushes the lollipop to the side with his tongue, and says, "Doc says he overworked himself, but Jiho thinks they've been pushing him too much."

Minhyuk nods. Jiho and Minhyuk haven't seen eye-to-eye since the Accident, but it's mostly been Jiho giving Minhyuk the cold shoulder when they bump into one another in the halls. Jiho holds grudges and is fiercely protective, especially when it comes to Kyung and – at one point in time – Minho, too.

Jihoon frowns down at the table. He slides a few pieces of chocolate toward Yukwon. "For Kyungie," he says.

*

Yukwon sees Jiho again in the rec room on Saturday.

They're watching The Lion King, and "I Just Can't Wait to be King" plays loudly. Kyung says, "this is my favorite part," to Minhyuk, who lets him curl into him, despite the fact Kyung never makes it past the part where Mufasa dies. He's too sensitive to deaths, or anything remotely sad. On Minhyuk's extreme days, he either laughs or cries; his emotions are always out of whack. Mostly, he stares transfixed at the flashing colors and never blinks. It unnerves Jaehyo who slaps his thighs or shocks him with electricity every now and then to get a reaction.

Jaehyo and Jihoon split a packet of cheese puffs, but Assistant Doctor clears his throat every time Jaehyo touches one to his lips. Taeil had his bandages removed earlier that week; the new gills are striking against his pale skin.

Jiho comes in, scowling, and Yukwon immediately notes that there's something off about him. He appears upset, but his movements are jerkier and slower. They've doped him to keep him calm, Yukwon realizes. He sits beside Yukwon, stock-still, and holds his hand out for Jihoon's snacks. They don't mind the two of them eating them out of house and home; they work the calories off faster than the others do, and they need it to keep their strengths.

Hanhae hasn't joined them today.

*

It all changes when the alarm bells go off.

Kyung sleeps through the sirens blaring and the steady pounding against their room door. It's Jiho, body thrumming so that every part of his body shakes, and Yukwon knows something's wrong. Horribly wrong.

"Hanhae's gone," he says.

Yukwon still remembers the Accident.

Song Minho had been a bright and shining star, but he crumbled under the pressure. He breezed through all the tests, always growing and strengthening, and at first he'd been happy. He'd bragged about it even, and there was not a single person happier than Jiho had been with the news that Minho was going to be a success like him.

No one knows what happened to him, but the morning after he disappeared there were Suits wandering the halls and asking questions. Jiho kept them away from Kyung, and Minhyuk was sent to the isolation room the following day.

Jihoon now wears the shoes Minho left behind. Yukwon wonders how they fit. Maybe they don't fit well, though, because he oftentimes catches Jihoon frowning or upset with himself. Minho had been his best friend, and now no one even mentions the name here.

*

Yukwon finds Jiho in the court, shooting hoops, during the week after Hanhae's disappearance. They've swept the news of the recent runaway under the rug, and even Assistant Doctor brushes off his questions. He looks a bit worse for wear lately, eyes rimmed red and stark purple bruises beneath his eyes. Jiho dribbles the ball – one two three times – then shoots.

"Missed," Yukwon calls out from his place at the doorway. He lingers there before joining Jiho on the court. "How do you feel?"

"On the verge of insanity." He shrugs and tosses Yukwon the ball. "You?"

Yukwon frowns and warms the ball beneath his palms. "They've tightened security. He did a number on the equipment when he left," Yukwon says conversationally. He mentions no names; after all, they don't use names here, just stations or mistakes.

"I overheard them talking to the Suits," Jiho says. "They call us super-beings. We're not even people anymore, Kwon." He scoffs and scuffs his sneakers across the court's glossy floor. It squeaks, and his shoe leaves a streak of black across the surface. "But they're just mass-producing weapons, you know."

Yukwon keeps quiet. He twists the ball in-between his hands. He wonders how long it would take to char the ball, set it alight, and reduce it to ashes at their feet. Probably seconds. Jiho runs his hand through his hair, and it's bright like the lightning Jaehyo can shoot from the tips of his fingers.

"I'm scared, Jiho," Yukwon admits.

He watches the bob in Jiho's throat as he swallows. The ball bursts into flames, and Jiho's eyes look wet in the bright light of the court.

*

Kyung, Jihoon, and Jaehyo have tiny lunch dates whenever they can. Yukwon sees them sometimes while he waits in line for his own meal, typically behind Minhyuk and some staff. He doesn't know how the three became friends, but they all seem happy together. They cleared Kyung two days ago after another dizzy spell, and his skin is sallow and sunken in. No one comments, but he sees Kyung checking his reflection in the mirror sometimes, self-conscious as he presses his fingertips to his cheeks and eye-bags.

Jaehyo slips a strip of meat onto Kyung's heap of rice. Kyung smiles at him, as wide as he can, and Jihoon adds a donut to the stack. Yukwon works his way to their table with Minhyuk in tow, and the staff smile politely when they pass but do not speak to them. Possibly because Minhyuk is still labeled a possible threat, and they all know it. They're waiting for him to turn on them.

Jihoon waves, gestures full of life, as they approach, and Minhyuk takes his seat on Kyung's left and Yukwon settles beside Jaehyo.

"Nice suit," he says, poking at the rubbery material covering Jaehyo's body.

Jaehyo sighs. "It's to keep me from singing anyone," he says. He touches his hand to his chest. "But you have to have a certain look to pull it off."

"I don't think you have that look, either," Kyung says, and Jihoon erupts into a fit of giggles beside him. Even Minhyuk cracks a smile.

Yukwon glances around, but Jiho's nowhere to be seen.

*

Taeil can no longer speak.

"So you are becoming the little mermaid," Jaehyo says, touching his gloved hand to Taeil's bandaged throat. Taeil glares at him, or at least Yukwon thinks he's glaring. It's hard to tell because of the glasses, but his lips curl down unfavorably. Jaehyo grins and claps Taeil on the shoulder. "Merman," he amends, and Taeil sticks his tongue out childishly.

"Shut up, Jaehyo," Jiho says, stirring a spoonful of rice around in his plate. He hasn't touched any of his food, and the staff huddled around their table frown at this.

Jaehyo closes his mouth, and Yukwon sees Taeil slump into himself once the conversation is dropped.

A week later, they introduce Taeil to the tank. The experiment is a success, but Yukwon wonders if the price was even worth it.

*

"Kwon," a nudge to his shoulder, "Kwonnie."

Yukwon cracks an eye open, sleepy, and sees Kyung's face. It's nothing more than a shape – he can't read the expression, but he hears the tone of his voice. Sad, desperate – but for what? Kyung crawls into his bed, rests his head on Yukwon's shoulder, and says little more. Yukwon cannot bring himself to ask.

*

Jiho kisses him on a sunny afternoon. They're standing in the middle of the track field, after running a few laps, and Yukwon has finally gotten a handle on controlling the fire burning in him. This is an all new feeling, though; this burn and rush feels different. Boiling in his veins, but not to the point it hurts; it's a pleasant warmth.

He touches his jaw, and Yukwon can feel the beat beat beat of Jiho's heart beneath his fingertips.

He forgets about everything: past, present, and future. He knows only the rush of blood to his head, and the feeling of Jiho's skin warming against his own.

*

Jiho wanders off for a few days after, but he hears by word of mouth (Jaehyo because Jaehyo knows all the gossip around the institution) that the staff is happy with Jiho's progress again.

"They think his rebellion had to do with –" Jaehyo glances around quickly. The staff seem inattentive to their conversations now that things are quiet again, but Yukwon's still on edge at least. Jaehyo seems paranoid too. "Hanhae, you know."

Yukwon nods.

Jaehyo spears a piece of chicken breast with his fork. He lifts it to his lips, but considers it before eating. "They also said Kyung's ready for the next level," he says, and he drops the chicken back to his plate. It falls in the pile of green lettuce. "Yukwon..." but he doesn't say it.

Yukwon already knows. If they continue pushing Kyung, he will steadily get worse. There is no getting better here, and it's taken him ten years to realize that.

*

Yukwon passes by the tank during free time. He sees Taeil's hand pressed to the glass, and Jihoon stands opposite him. Their hands don't touch, but Jihoon doesn't seem to mind. Minhyuk stands with them, hands in his pockets, but he is the one talking. Yukwon makes out his voice, but all he hears of Minhyuk's story is: "And they all lived happily ever after."

*

Jiho comes to their room more now than ever. He stays in Kyung's bed, taunting and teasing and bickering, while Yukwon pitches in every so often. It's fun – the most fun he's had since before the Accident, and with Jiho around the silence is driven into the far corners of their room.

But one night, long after Kyung has slumped into his pillows and Jiho's tucked him beneath his heavy quilts, Jiho slips into his bed. He doesn't speak; he merely kisses Yukwon's bare shoulder and twines their fingers together. Yukwon rests easy that night.

*

Tomorrow Kyung starts the next level of his tests. Doctor encourages lots of rest beforehand, and Assistant Doctor echoes her wishes when he comes to administer Kyung's medicine. Long after they leave, Jiho barges into their room.

"It's time," he says. "Take whatever you need, leave the rest. We're leaving."

The wheels of his suitcase squeak and click too loudly against the hallway tiles; it disrupts the silence of the establishment. No one rushes outside to see what the noise is, and the ceiling lights do not flicker on to give them away. They rely on the guide lights to make it down the many halls, a left here and right there. Jiho is in the front, the line of his back strong and his shoulders set, and Yukwon feels a sense of ease and security with him paving the way. His blood pumps faster, runs hotter, and he can hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He's excited, so he grips the thin of Kyung's wrist in his hand and feels the skin sweat and warm beneath his palm.

They reach the EXIT, lit in red, and pause at the keypad in their way. Jiho falters. End of the line, Yukwon thinks; there's no way to crack the code without alerting the System. Kyung pries his arm out of Yukwon's grasp.

"I think I can," he whispers, and Jiho steps to the left and watches over him. It doesn't take long, but Jiho is buzzing on his feet with the need to flee and Yukwon keeps checking behind them for any staff on patrol. He doesn't doubt Kyung's skills or level of intelligence, but this is too much even for him. They'll never make it out of here, and they'll be sent to the isolation rooms. They'll be turned into shells just like Minhyuk. And –

The lock clicks.

*

Where to next? Anywhere.

FIC for REMPLISSANT! And This One's For You (Jaehyo/Kyung, other)

bbtimemods — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:00:04 GMT

For: remplissant
By: silver_lined

Title: and this one's for you
Character/Pairing: en route towards Jaehyo/Kyung; background ZiKwon.
Summary: Jaehyo is not actually a shoujo manga hero, except in all the ways it matters.
Rating: G
Length: 4.5k
Warnings: Highschool. Dick jokes. Block B.
Author's notes: thank you to Jolie and B for not letting this turn into Juno because I was, trufax, one scrapped scene away from turning this into awkward high school mpreg and I'm not ashamed. Extra special thanks to Jolie for making sure I didn't hyperventilate myself into unconsciousness, and for giving everything a structure and form. Without her this would just be incoherent flailing and a lot more tragic.

The first day back at school, Jaehyo meets with the second and third year representatives of his official fan club and walks away with a proposal of this year's events, a neatly packaged bag of fangifts, a handful of pink perfumed letters with a regrettable amount of lipgloss stain kisses and more boxed lunches than he can eat without losing his enviably svelte figure.

The gifts he leaves in the bag to take home and reads the letters over a shared lunch with his seatmate/best-friend/rival ulzzang (after a carefully angled commemorative selca is taken and posted to their respective fancafes and twitter feeds), Minhyuk.

("It's bibum now," Minhyuk says serenely over a selection of fruit cut into animals and hearts and stars.

"Unique?"

"B-bomb," Minhyuk spells out with a careless wave of a decapitated apple rabbit. "My fancafe got revamped. There was a poll."

Jaehyo nods and makes a muffled sound of agreement through a mouthful of fried chicken.)

"This," Jaehyo proclaims over the detritus of their triumphant battle over way too much food for which no photographic evidence exists even though they're probably attractive no matter what the circumstance, "this is going to be a good year."

"This year," Kyung announces at the entirely-not-imposing-what-do-you-mean-that's-ridiculous wrought iron gates that lead into the institution that will be their lives for the next three years, "will be my highschool debut. I will shine. No longer will I be held back by my shackles. I will fly free."

"The contacts look good," Jiho offers. "You know. Given your face."

"I will have it all." If by all, he means a faceful of cherryblossom, that is. Undeterred, Kyung splutters through and grins rakishly (probably) at the small group of girls looking at him strang- admiringly. Right. Because now he is someone to be admired. Instead of being the funny awkward kid, Kyung is now totally the funny cool kid. He's grown his hair out of the fuzzy buzz cut and has only two eyes instead of four and his very most favourite minion-husband-musical genius rival-creature is back from study abroad in the States.

Life was good.

"You have crazy eyes," Jiho says because he is a cruel beast and came back too tall for civilization. The repeated head trauma from waking into low doorframes probably turned his empathy centres to mush. "And we have the first year's welcome ceremony to get to."

"Yeah, okay," Kyung concedes and lets himself be dragged along.

The auditorium is full of first year students, perfectly pressed blazers and short skirts and the overpowering smell of cheap deodorant. Kyung carefully scopes it out, looking at the fluttering groups of pretty girls with their curled hair and heavily mascara'd eyelashes, and thinks about the perfect avenue of approach - which is how he entirely misses Jiho leading them over to a couple of empty chairs in the middle back right.

There's a sleepy looking guy sitting there alone, slitted eyes a lazy flicker when they stand in frount of him. He's already a little rumpled, the top two buttons of his shirt undone, the perfect windsor knot of his tie loose and pulled down.

"Hi," Jiho says because he is a smooth dog, let no one say different.

"Oh my god," Kyung blurts out, appalled.

"Hi," Sleepy offers back and Kyung recoils at the force of his smile, supernova bright.

Sleepy's name is Yukwon and he came to this school because, "My hyung is here and my noona graduated here a few years ago."

Jiho already has an arm casually slung around the back of Yukwon's chair, angled towards him with his long legs open in a sprawl, knees almost touching the row of chairs in frount of them. Whatever. Kyung isn't jealous of that extra height at all.

"We're here because Jiho has a mancrush on this vocalist he stalks in Hondae," Kyung says with a sort of cheerful maliciousness, making certain to stay just out of arm's reach.

Jiho snorts. "Like you're not with me at every show."

"He's a very good singer." Kyung shrugs, absolutely unashamed.

"Huh," Yukwon says, and then, "You mean Taeil-hyung?"

The look that Jiho gives him is so patently assessing that Kyung is actually a little embarrassed for him. "You know him?" Jiho says in a voice that makes it sound more like, how did you get even more perfect?

"He's a friend of a friend," Yukwon says and then they're hushed up by the feedback squeal of the microphone, for three long, intensely painful hours of welcomes and speeches.

At the end of it, they stumble out into the bright sunshine of the real world, blinking and bleary and entirely not prepared to be set upon by what seems like the entire population of the school in the recruitment drive for the clubs. It's a pretty good tactic, as far as these things go, and Kyung forcibly pulls Yukwon away from someone waving a poster of a large-eyed ball of fluff masquerading as a kitten.

"I like cats," Yukwon says sadly.

"So," Kyung says loudly over the top because, really, no. "Was there anything you were actually planning on joining?" In middle school, Kyung had been a Math Olympiad and a Science Triathlete and owns a trophy half as big as his torso, shaped mostly like a chess piece bishop and a little like a grotesque sextoy. He'd laughed until he'd almost thrown up when he received it at the end of year dinner for the Chess Club.

"Dance, I think," Yukwon answers obligingly enough. "And I think hyung wanted me to help out with his club."

"What club is that?"

"Well," Yukwon says and points to a teeming mass of girls surrounding a guy that stands and entire head and shoulders over the crowd. "His fan club, actually."

Usually, the structure of his fanclub means that Jaehyo is pretty much three people removed from the more enthusiastic of his fans but there are special occasions where he's required to put in more public appearances. The annual recruitment drive is one of them and he tries exceedingly hard not to feel awkward surrounded by the hungry gleam of pretty, made-up eyes.

"Um," Jaehyo says. "I mean. Welcome. To this school. And congratulations."

Jaehyo is the most eligible bachelor in the entire school zone and all the online polls say so, as well as research through all the surrounding schools (most of which have official chapters of his club and pool online resources in a disturbingly efficient way), and it is entirely because of how smooth and charming he is, really.

"I hope you'll. Have a good time here?"

Sometimes, it is actually really, really hard to be beautiful.

Off to the side, the third year representative - Kim, referred by last name only, razor thin, all sharp, efficient angles and no patience for idiots or inefficacy who had taken control of his fans with military precision back in first year in order to stop him from 'disrupting class with his personal issues' and never learned to give up control - rolls her eyes at him. Good job, she mouths and gave him a tight, close-mouthed smile.

Help, Jaehyo does not mouth back, though he raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes very eloquently in her direction.

Across the courtyard, there's a familiar flash of bright red hair - a completely not respectable shade, unlike Jaehyo's subtle chocolate brown that highlights the pale porcelain of his skin, his stylist had promised - which inadvertently makes Jaehyo smile in a way that means that love poetry dedicated to his face will be written in the near future. One of the girls swoons.

"And. I have to go. Now. But Kim-sshi will be here to explain all the things," he finishes with all the grace and poise expected of someone with a substantial fanbase. That call him Prince.

It's only ironic with some people.

Jaehyo gracefully extracts himself with the crowd, trying very hard not to listen to Kim explain membership to the fancafe and the levelling up process, pop quizzes about his favourite colour and preferred style of underwear.

Eventually, they're herded into the classrooms, a long stretch of rooms that line the second floor and look out over the sports grounds. By luck (theirs, and the teacher's distinct lack of it), Jiho and Kyung are in the same class, with Yukwon a welcome addition.

They slouch towards the back row, Yukwon taking the window with a languid stretch, face turned towards the sunlight that sparks off his red hair.

"I don't believe there are fan clubs," Kyung says flatly, ignoring the way that Jiho is an embarrassment to men everywhere. "For students. Here."

"Only two," Jiho grins at him. "Though maybe I can make it three."

"Ha," Kyung says, pointing. "And ha again. No."

"I'm hot property. Zi-ah-co," Jiho laughs and takes the opportunity to tell Yukwon all about being a rap artist, struggling underground, being an independent musician and (hopefully) wildly sexy.

Kyung bashes his forehead against his desk and thinks about tall seniors with perfect hair and skin, the hold of his wrists when he gestured as he spoke and how utterly unfair the entire world was.

Eventually, school life becomes mostly routine. Kyung wakes up at 6:30 in the morning, swears at his alarm clock for four minutes, falls back asleep until 7:00 and then rushes through his morning routine to get to school seven and a half minutes before the bell rings, which is enough time for the majority of the school girls from other schools to disperse but enough unfortunately early enough to see Ahn Jaehyo, school idol, finish up his morning greetings to an adoring crowd.

"He's not that bad," Yukwon says from his desk between Kyung and Jiho's.

"I hate his face," Kyung says, only mostly hysterical.

Yukwon shrugs fatalistically. "I think it's insured."

"I may just hate everything about him."

"He's not actually a bad person," Yukwon says, a little apologetically. "You know. Given life."

"You're obligated to like him," Kyung says bitterly. "You're childhood friends. Why don't you love me? How can you actually be helping him out?"

"Eh," Yukwon says and slumps lower in his chair. There's just enough time for a three minute nap before the bell rings.

"Why doesn't anyone love me?" Kyung rages and Jiho laughs at him, open mouthed and obnoxious.

"Channel your emotions. Write a song about it."

"Worst. Minion. Ever." Kyung hisses, eyes narrowed at Jiho's stupid laughing face.

"Well," Jiho says contemplatively. "Maybe if you had nicer thighs."

"Urgh," Kyung says reflexively. He grabs the sadly still awake Yukwon in an affectionate headlock, pulling him halfway across Kyung's desk. "At least Kwonnie will support me."

"If I say yes," Yukwon says consideringly, "will you let me go back to sleep?"

"No."

"No."

"Then no," Yukwon says and flops limply in Kyung's arms. "You're all terrible."

A few times a week, Yukwon goes up two flights to the third year classrooms for lunch. He's never stopped, even though the corridors are guarded jealously against first-year interlopers, which Jaehyo attributes to the terrifying efficacy of his fanclub and Yukwon says is due to his growing jailbait charms.

Jaehyo can't, actually, in good conscience dispute that since whenever Yukwon comes around with the first year fanletters and fangifts, he spends a good ten minutes sitting with the girls in Jaehyo's class, letting them coo over his cheeks and slip him candy.

Jaehyo is a terrible influence. Yukwon's brother is going to kill him one day and he's going to have absolutely no defence against it.

Case in point, Jaehyo is fairly certain that Yukwon is carrying more per-volume candy for himself than two day's worth of collected things for Jaehyo.

Jaehyo looks at him accusingly. "You'll get fat."

Yukwon shrugs and unwraps a lollipop philosophically. "I'm even cuter when I'm round."

"You terrify me."

There's a moment's silence where Minhyuk stares unbecomingly at Yukwon shoving an entire lollipop the size of a small whale into his mouth, and Jaehyo sadly contemplates how his life has come to this. He sighs, resigned, and mutters into his hand held despairingly over his face. "Are you still chasing after that noona?"

Yukwon pulls his candy out of his mouth with a loud pop. "I might have a boyfriend," and then, "I'm wearing her down."

"You have a-"

"Maybe," Yukwon shrugs. "I'm working on it. Both of them."

In no way did 18 volumes of Otomen and repeated watchings of Gokusen and Reply 1997 prepare Jaehyo for the realities of actual high school life.

"She's in university," Jaehyo says, pained, because how was that the less controversial subject.

"On the plus side," Yukwon says, supremely unconcerned. "I'm not in middle school anymore."

Minhyuk continues staring and Jaehyo contemplates the possibility of actually willing himself dead.

"Why do you have no morals?" Jaehyo asks plaintively when he feels like he can speak without having a heart attack.

"It's mostly the people I hang out with," Yukwon says, unapologetic.

"Hooligans."

Yukwon shrugs. "He just has a lot of feelings about your face."

Jaehyo sighs and tries to smother himself with his own hands.

Jiho has really terrible ideas. It comes from being a really terrible person, Kyung is pretty sure, but on the odd occasion, his advice actually sticks and Kyung finds himself scribbling on crumpled sheets of paper between classes, trying to think of words enough to express his loathing of Ahn Jaehyo's entire being.

"Sure, he's good-looking," Kyung rants, frothing slightly at the mouth. Jiho carefully edges his desk away, leaving a catnapping Yukwon where he is as a human shield. "But what else does he have besides inhuman good looks?"

"Height," Jiho says smugly.

Kyung makes an inarticulate sound of pure rage and launches himself at Jiho in a flurry of limbs. Using some previously unknown sixth sense, Yukwon mutters in his sleep and slides peacefully under his desk as the battle rages on overhead.

"Does anything actually rhyme with 'bilious'?"

"You have problems."

"You actually wrote a song about his face."

"I don't see why you're surprised," Kyung huffs, crossing his arms. "You're the one that suggested it."

"Yes," Jiho says patiently, like he's talking to a not particularly bright child that liked to eat paste. "But I'm a dick."

"You really are," Kyung says agreeably.

Jiho's eyes light up in a truly disturbing fashion. "A really big-"

"Can we not discuss your junk?" Kyung holds up a hand, pained. "Please?"

"I don't mind," Yukwon weighs in, even though his eyes are still closed and he is, to all appearances, fast asleep on his desk as usual.

"It's either that, or Jaehyo's face again and I like my dick a lot better." Jiho grins, utterly unrepentant.

"I. Am not going to make 'rock and a hard place' similes," Kyung says, feeling the last bare remnants of his sanity trying to squirm out of his fingertips. "Because. Reasons."

Jiho's grin is utterly filthy. "Good call."

"It's not the first time someone's written a song about Jaehyo-hyung." Yukwon rolls and stretches and his smile is just as incandescent as the first day they'd met him, though it was far easier to see the undercurrents of pure evil now. "Most of them tend to be odes."

"This is not an ode," Kyung says, only minorly offended. "It's a diss track."

"Mm," Yukwon hums. "Do you want me to pass it on to him?"

Sometimes, Kyung thinks, Yukwon is also a dick.

ahn jaehyo @prince_jaehyo
Thank you, @holke for the song. I don't really get rap but I'm sure you're very talented.
[ 96 RETWEETS | 81 FAVORITES ]

Yeah, okay, Kyung thinks through the rising fog of hysteria when he checks his twitter feed during a slow moment in class. Clearly, Ahn Jaehyo had to die.

"Here, hyung," Yukwon says, uncharacteristically disgruntled, dropping a handful of letters and a small gift bag on Jaehyo's desk. "Delivery."

"Thank you, Kwon," Jaehyo says, entirely too chipper, looking up from fixing his bangs in the frount camera of his phone. He shoots Yukwon a practiced smile, ignoring Yukwon's twitch and muttered 'hyung, no!' in response.

"Kwon-ah!" one of the girls calls from across the room. "Come here, noona has something for you."

Yukwon perks up just the slightest bit because offers like that mostly result in food, candy or embarrassing pictures of Jaehyo's face, any or all of which would be completely satisfactory. He trots over obligingly, leaving Jaehyo to preen and coo over his fanmail.

It's pretty standard at first - there's a phone charm in the bag, a simple thing in silver and purple crystals that Jaehyo promptly attaches to his phone - and three letters in varying shades of pink, smelling of light florals and vanilla. Mixed up amoungst them, though, is a single sheet of roughly torn-off notebook paper, edges ragged. The only thing written on it, in a meticulously neat and rounded hand, is a time (now!), place (behind the science block? how strange) and 'I'll b waiting'.

Probably Yukwon will be able to tell him more about it, so Jaehyo neatly shuffles together his letters and looks up - only to freeze when confronted with half a dozen shark-like smiles and Yukwon giggling gleefully over one of the girl's phones.

"Hyung~" Yukwon calls out, and Jaehyo hastily decides that no, he doesn't really need to know, he can go and deal with this in person like someone polite and reasonable and definitely not fleeing from the vipers masquerading as high school students.

"Sorrygottago," Jaehyo says with a nervous smile, then turns to frown briefly at Minhyuk. "You can't eat with just your eyes."

"I think I can," Minhyuk says peaceably, barely audible over the scrape of Jaehyo's chair being pushed back, but Jaehyo's gone too fast to have to think up a good response.

The science block is far away enough from the third year classrooms that Jaehyo is almost (almost!) able to compose himself and think (almost!) rationally. He's had confessions from boys before - though most of them had sent letters nicer than that- and if Yukwon had delivered it, it was probably a first year. On the whole, first years were tiny, harmless things bar a few exceptions that Jaehyo really wishes Kwon would stay away from because of reasons. Good ones.

So it's with a happy and open heart that Jaehyo rounds the corner. And promptly has a small heart attack.

Or at least that's what it feels like, though Jaehyo is a little too busy gaping wildly to really analyse how his entire body has seized.

"Y-you-" Jaehyo chokes out.

"Ahn Jaehyo," Park Kyung sneers (not altogether unattractively, Jaehyo thinks faintly) and takes a step forward.

"YOU STAY RIGHT THERE," Jaehyo says in a rather high pitched shriek, throwing one hand out in the classic 'stop!' pose. He can feel his eyes getting unbecomingly wide.

"Wha-"

"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN." Jaehyo's generally good at matters of the heart but he'll chalk this one up to wilful blindness to matters that shouldn't ever be thought of. "People don't hate me. Of course you don't hate me. WERE YOU REDIRECTING YOUR INTERNALISED HOMOPHOBIA AT YOUR FEELINGS FOR ME AT ME? BECAUSE THAT IS WRONG."

"Um-" Park Kyung says.

"IT IS PERFECTLY OKAY TO BE GAY," Jaehyo continues determinedly, even though at this point he's staring at his own hand because Park Kyung called him out to this deserted spot with an anonymous note and everything is awful. "EVEN IF IT'S YOU."

"Hey!" Kyung interjects forcibly and takes two steps forward.

Jaehyo takes a skittering step back, pressed against the safety of the wall. "I should have known when you wrote a song about my face."

Kyung makes a noise like a cross between a kettle boiling and ~~Yukwon~~ a kitten, a sort of shrill squeak. "That was a diss track! I hate your face!"

"No one hates my face," Jaehyo explains kindly. He tips his head back to rest against the wall and closes his eyes with a mournful, "This is the worst day of my entire life."

He regrets it a second later because suddenly, Park Kyung is in his personal space and then there's touching (rather forceful contact between Kyung's shoe and his own shin) and pain and Jaehyo pushes past Kyung, hopping frantically on one foot until he's a good few metres away and can clutch defensively at his leg.

"PLEASE DON'T TOUCH ME."

"Are you actually insane?" Kyung is all shrill voice and crazy eyes. Jaehyo is not impressed.

"YOUR TSUNDERE LOVE IS NOT APPRECIATED," Jaehyo says but immediately feels bad because that is not the right way to deal with heartfelt emotions, even if they're unexpected. "WAIT. I APPRECIATE YOUR CONFESSION BUT I AM AFRAID THAT I CANNOT ACCEPT YOUR FEELINGS RIGHT NOW I HOPE THE BEST FOR YOUR FUTURE GOODBYE."

Kyung takes a half step forward, but Jaehyo can feel the edges of his sanity crumbling at an extreme rate so he throws out one last line on automatic ("AND I AM SURE YOU WILL FIND SOMEONE TO CHERISH YOU SOON.") and makes a run for the dubious safety of his classroom.

So maybe that hadn't worked out exactly the way he'd planned.

"Will you please stop laughing," Kyung grits out.

"AHAHAHA," Jiho howls, clutching at the tree trunk for balance. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA."

Kyung can feel his hands spasmodically clenching into fists. "It's really not that funny."

Jiho pauses for half a second to peer at Kyung's face, then slowly topples over clutching at his midsection. He's laughing so hard that barely any sound is coming out, face red and sweaty and highly unattractive. Kyung hopes he chokes.

"Goodbye," Kyung says pointedly and turns on his heel to stomp away from the totally cursed science building and the wheezing gasps of Jiho's laughter.

Kyung doesn't make his way back to the classroom until the chimes of the warning bell have almost faded, which stalls Jiho for exactly 0.2 seconds.

"So," Jiho grins, like a shark. "You have to admit. It makes sense."

"Nothing about today makes sense," Kyung does not wail because he is a manly man and the entire class was looking at him.

"You wrote a song about his face."

"It was a diss track," Kyung says for the n^th time today. "It was about how much I hated his face."

"You mentioned his eyes seventeen times," Jiho points out maliciously.

"They're very mentionable eyes!" And, well. His stupid skinny wrists and knees that were just on this side of knobbly and the curve of his neck. It couldn't be helped. Kyung is an artist, he notices these things. And puts them in ~~song~~ rap. "His eyelashes are abnormal, okay. They shouldn't be that long."

"I'm just saying," Jiho says, because he's awful.

"Please don't."

Yukwon, silent up until now (and probably because he had been using his eyes as lasers trying to stare into Kyung's soul), motions with his hand. "You know-"

"I don't know anything," Kyung says bitterly.

"There's easier ways to get Jaehyo-hyung's attention."

Kyung stares at him, open-mouthed, for a few very long and painful seconds. "Why would I even-"

"It's okay," Yukwon smiles, bright and sweet. "I'll help."

"Kwon-ah," Jaehyo moans into the curve of Yukwon's neck, clinging to his shoulders and trying hard not to break down and cry. They're in Jaehyo's room, sitting on the previously neatly made bed, and several hours have not been long enough to put the trauma behind him. "Why is everything terrible?"

"Probably because it's you," Yukwon says heartlessly.

People had been staring. There are probably fan accounts in his fancafe because people are terrifying and Jaehyo is going to have to relive being ambushed by forbidden rival-shipping BL forever.

Jaehyo makes a low and piteous sound of heartbreak. "Why have you betrayed me so?"

"There, there," Yukwon says with a pat on his shoulder, utterly unsympathetic. "It's not that bad."

"My entire worldview has been shaken," Jaehyo says solemnly.

"I thought it reaffirmed your belief in universal love. For you. Besides, it's not like you have a problem with the gay."

Jaehyo looks up, startled out of his tormented misery. "Has someone been giving you a hard time? Do I need to have words? Because your love is perfectly natural, even if he's a juvenile delinquent that bleached his brain. And it's not even statutory rape with this one."

"Thank you," Yukwon says. "Really."

"I support you in all of your life choices," Jaehyo says encouragingly. "Even when they're awful."

"You know," Yukwon says loudly, because deep down inside he's still that five year old that followed Jaehyo around and not just the spawn of Satan he appears to be these days. "Park Kyung isn't that bad."

"Well. No," Jaehyo concedes. "He likes me."

"He likes you," Yukwon repeats in a tone that Jaehyo can't quite quantify.

"He wrote me a song."

"You liked it."

Jaehyo frowns. "I prefer ballads."

"You didn't hate it," Yukwon amends.

"I really don't understand rap as a medium," Jaehyo says apologetically. "But it was very emotive. There was English in it."

"Was it really that bad?" Yukwon asks, the stroke of his hand up and down Jaehyo's arm almost hypnotic in how soothing it was. Yukwon, Jaehyo keeps on forgetting, never really learned how to play fair.

"Well," Jaehyo says reluctantly. "It could be worse."

Yukwon smiles.

Kyung's deep and true abiding loves include his graphics calculator, his laptop, and the clean sweep of a new sheet of square lined graphing paper; which is why when he gets home that night, he takes out his graph paper pad and draws up a list.

An hour later, he puts down his pen and looks at the neatly itemised list. It starts with his hands, the way they gesture in the air just a little too stiff but graceful nonetheless, and passes by the way he smiles when surprised, and meanders through how he always tries so hard all the way to nice, which should be the simplest - a throwaway point, a lukewarm compliment like 'good personality' - but has a half page of dot points underneath.

"Huh," he says out loud. Perhaps it's time to rethink his approach.

Author's notes: THIS IS HOW THIS FIC WAS DESCRIBED IN MY NOTES;;

kyung sees like, all the fangirls and whatever that jaehyo gets and develops great bitterness in his heart, because he's a cucumber. and would also like a fanclub, pls.

Title from Your Song because, ahaha.

P.O. actually exists in this universe, but he's still over in middle school, scaring all the firsties with his booming devil's voice.

FIC for MAUDLINSKY! I'll Be Your Pet (Kyung/U-Kwon, others)

bbtimemods — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 05:00:45 GMT

For: maudlinsky
By: kikutan

Title: I'll Be Your Pet
Character/Pairing: Yukwon/Kyung. slight Yukwon/Jihoon, hinted at Taeil/Jiho
Summary: Yukwon is a journalist with a soft spot for abandoned pets and former classmate/current coworker Pyo Jihoon. One day, unable to resist the pull to take in a box of pets left outside his apartment, Yukwon ends up taking the mysterious Park Kyung in as well. Domestic hijinks ensue, full of disbelief, jealousy and probably some romance.
Rating: PG maybe?
Length: 3165 words
Author's notes: Ugh, this is far from completed. It just...wouldn't stop and I tend to be a bit long winded so...it went on a bit longer then it should have and there's no time to finish it by the deadline. :( So..I will post this amount, and then continue it as a chapter-ed fic after reveals have gone up, because it's really not fair to give you something that isn't finished. I hope that's okay, it's the only thing I can think of, as it's kind of too late to say I can't make it at all. Hopefully you like this teaser...chapter 1 sort of deal and will look forward to the rest of it. Again, I'm so sorry, I suck at everything. :<

Yukwon was a bit selfless at times, he worked hard at his journalism job even when he'd rather be dancing or fighting for animal rights, he helped out without thinking about any consequences, and he had this relatively odd habit of picking up strays and trying to find a permanent home for them. His best friend, Lee Taeil, thought it was really strange but even his opinion didn't stop the energetic journalist. If there was a box on the side of the road with animals in it, Yukwon would take them in without a thought.

He figured everyone, including pets, had a right to a good home. And he also knew that if the box was found by the wrong person, they'd be taken in and put down after so long if no one adopted them. So he took it as his god given quest to help them out when he could. Even if that meant that he had a few extra pets that he didn't necessarily have room for.

It was one of these occasions, when Yukwon was coming home late from work when he noticed a rather large box just outside of his apartment. He tried really hard to resist the urge to peek inside and take in the cute animals inside but in the end, his habit won out. He stepped over to the box, listening intently to make sure it wasn't just full of garbage before he pulled back one of the flaps and gasped slightly.

It wasn't just a couple animals curled up inside the box, but also a man, looking worse for wear than the kittens curled up beside him. Yukwon's head swivelled around before he took in a determined breath before beginning to drag the box towards the doors to his apartment, hoping no one would wake up from the noise.

It took about an hour before he was able to get the man and the kittens into his apartment and he was definitely ready to pass out but he figured he should probably see if this guy was okay. Shaking his head, Yukwon grabbed his first aid kit and sat down next to the couch he'd put the guy on, surprised he was still asleep through all the commotion of getting him inside. Looking at him, the man was probably about his age, with dark hair and bruises and scratches all over his face and arms. It almost looked like he'd escaped from some sort of torture.

Shaking his head and muttering to himself about strays and stupid habits, Yukwon set about doing his best to fix the injuries. The kittens pranced around the rest of the apartment while he fixed up the box-boy, sniffing things and probably getting into other things while he wasn't paying attention.

After working on the dark haired man's face, he moved on to his arms and hands, grimacing at the skin that seemed to be peeling back from his fingertips. This guy had seen a battle, Yukwon was pretty sure he was lucky to have been found. Some of these injuries would have gotten infected pretty quickly without any sort of medical attention. When he was done bandaging the guy's hands, Yukwon stood up and covered him with a blanket, eyes surveying the apartment quickly before returning the kit to its place in the bathroom.

“Here kitties, I'll just go out to the convenience store to get some things for you...keep an eye on the big one over there for me okay?” He smiled, scratching their heads before picking them up and settling them on top of the sleeping man. At least it was only two actual animals, it wouldn't be too hard to find someone who wanted a cat, they seemed to be everywhere in this neighbourhood after all.

Yukwon sighed again and pulled on his shoes, stepping out and jogging down the street to the 24-hour store. It didn't take him too long to find what he needed and also to pick up some food to eat either. He was humming softly when he walked into the apartment again, pretty content with life until he turned around from the door to become face to face with a rather happy looking box-boy.

“Geez! You weren't there when I opened the door!” He looked around, noticing the lump of blankets on the couch, complete with sleeping kittens before bringing his eyes back to the other.

“The dutiful master returns!” Box-boy crowed loudly, grinning widely before lifting a bandaged hand so it formed a paw and cocking his head to the side slightly. “Woof woof!”

Yukwon's eyes widened and he looked at the boy like he'd grown a second head, thoroughly confused. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Being a good pet so you'll keep me? Don't they always greet their master when he or she returns home?” He pursed his lips, deadly serious.

“But you don't know me...and you're not a pet...”

“Well, we could get to know each other if you let me stay here with you as your pet.” He grinned, winking slightly from his still crouched position; his hand dangled uselessly in front of them still.

“This...this is weird. Is this your way of asking me to let you be a freeloader?” Yukwon shook his head slightly, toeing off his shoes and scooting passed the boy so he could set the kittens up with some food and a litter box.

“Not really...I don't expect much..just some affection and the occasional meal. I'll even help out around the house.” He followed Yukwon into the kitchen, grinning still and it was almost infectious.

“Are you on drugs?” Yukwon frowned, looking at the boy as he set things up, shaking his head slightly before looking away. “Once you're healed you can leave...I don't have time to babysit.” He sighed softly when he looked up and saw the biggest puppy eyes.

“I promise I'll be good, I don't have anywhere to go. My landlord is a crazy homo and he might find me.” The boy shuddered and stuck his lip out further, enhancing the cuteness of his expression. “Like I said, I'm just a pet, I don't take up much space and I'm not too disruptive.” He bit his lip slightly, perching on a bar stool as he watched Yukwon.

The journalist pursed his lips and finished what he was doing before starting to pull out what he needed for kimchi rice. He sighed softly in defeat a few moments later as he was putting two portions of rice into the pan. “Don't think this is a permanent thing, you can sleep up in the loft but you don't get a bed.” He shook his head, pointing with his spoon at the ladder just to their left. He'd been using that space just as storage before but he was sure there was space on the floor for a bed of blankets.

“Really? Hooray, you're the best master a pet could have.” Box-boy yelled the words excitedly, curly red bangs flopping away from his face as he stuck out his tongue happily.

“What should I call you? My name is Yukwon, I don't expect you to call me master or anything.” Yukwon shuddered slightly, mildly bothered by the idea.

“Hmm...well my name is Kyung but you can call me anything.” He shrugged slightly, “I'm your pet, you choose. Everyone renames their pets don't they?” He smiled slightly, leaning forward on the counter as he watched Yukwon cook.

Yukwon looked at Kyung with a withering stare, unimpressed by the suggestion. “You're a human...not a pet....you can just keep your name, what do I care? This isn't permanent.” He shook his head slightly, dishing out the spicy smelling fried rice onto two plates and sliding one across the counter to Kyung. “Eat that and don't come whining to me if it's too spicy or you're hungry still. I have work to do.” He frowned slightly, looking at the red head with a frown before shaking his head and continuing on his way to the desk.

Yukwon sat down at his desk, pulling out his laptop from the keyboard drawer and opening it up. He was just about to start typing into a word document when he felt something warm and large on his lap. He looked down and frowned at the sight of Kyung's head in his lap, eyes staring unblinkingly up at him. “What now?”

“I'm dirty...I need to bathe.” Kyung smiled sheepishly, expression hopeful.

“I'm sure you know what a bathroom looks like. You can find it.” Yukwon nudged the boy's head from his lap and turned to stare at his screen, wanting to immerse himself in work for a while. But then Kyung was sticking his bandaged hands in his face and pouting at him.

“I can't get these wet though...so you need to help me.” Kyung grinned, looking for the world like he hadn't just asked Yukwon to bathe him.

“I'm not bathing you.” Yukwon shook his head, cheeks flushing as he looked at Kyung like he'd grown a second head.

“Why? We're both guys...it's not like it's anything you don't have.” He nodded his head before pursing his lips and grinning like he had a great idea. “I'll wear my boxers...and you only need to wash my hair and that's it.” He nodded his head, tugging at the red curls.

Yukwon looked at Kyung for a moment, expression irritated before he was letting out a heavy sigh and motioning behind him. “Just...give me a second, I'll be there to help you.” He shook his head slightly, exasperated by the other. Though Kyung didn't seem to notice as he let out a happy whoop and got up to go find the bathroom.

The journalist blew a loud burst of air through his lips before pulling out his phone and firing off a text to Taeil. “I hope Jiho's not home, you need to come over tomorrow morning. :<” He nodded his head and set the phone down, going into his room to change his clothes. He made sure to pull on an apron and grab a towel before he went into the bathroom to help Kyung out. This was all way over his head and he was sure he would regret it later, but for now he just had to deal with the consequences.

After a terribly long bath during which Yukwon struggled to get Kyung to sit still and to keep his shorts on, Yukwon tossed some blankets at the other and stormed into his room. He was done being hospitable for the night, it was entirely too late and knowing his best friend, Taeil would be over bright and early. Some people just had no clue about sleeping in.

Yukwon woke up in sluggish alarm the next morning when the smell of burning filtered through his door and into his room. He looked around, noting that there was no smoke, before he crawled out of bed to investigate. He'd almost forgotten about the stray person he'd taken in until he saw Kyung attempting to make pancakes or something. The resulting stack of vinyl record looking things was terrifying.

“What the hell are you doing?” Yukwon frowned, moving over to open the kitchen window, gently pushing Kyung out of the way to take over cooking.

“I was trying to make breakfast...apparently I can't cook.” He frowned slightly, looking up at Yukwon with a puppy dog expression and the journalist couldn't help but think of the cocker spaniel he'd had growing up.

“Breakfast for yourself I hope?” Yukwon lifted a brow, scraping another failed pancake off of the pan.

“Well...I'd hoped you would eat it...but I don't think they're even edible.” Kyung laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck lightly.

Yukwon shook his head, “I don't eat breakfast...I just drink a smoothie usually.” He shrugged, depositing the dirty pan in the sink and grabbing a new one to finish off the batter with some nicer pancakes. Cooking was one thing that he'd always been particularly eager to learn and master. He'd have to remember not to let Kyung into the kitchen from that point onward. Though of course, he reminded himself, this situation was not permanent.

“Oh...well, see, I didn't know that. I can clean it all up though...” Kyung offered hopefully, mildly surprised when a plate of fluffy looking pancakes was shoved into his hands.

Yukwon shook his head slightly, already starting to do the job. “Don't worry, just eat that. With your hands bandaged up like that, you can't get them wet, remember?” He shrugged slightly, not entirely concerned. While the breakfast had been destroyed, the kitchen wasn't that bad so it was a quick clean. He finished that job, made his smoothie and then went to get himself ready for company and work. He was lucky that he was allowed to work later hours in his office, it meant he didn't always have to get up early. Though they still preferred him in earlier most days.

He was surprised when Kyung bounced into his bedroom an hour later, smile one his face as he saluted and offered a cheeky grin. “Off to school now, I'll be back later. How will I get in if you're not home?”

Yukwon frowned slightly before sighing softly, “aren't you thorough?” He shook his head slightly and left the room, with Kyung following closely behind him, to find his keys. Kyung was lucky that Yukwon kept a spare set of his keys, just in case anything happened. Though he decided as he was taking them off of his keyring, it was probably a bad idea to keep them on the same ring as his normal keys.

“Use these, don't lose them.” He waved the boy off, smiling tightly even as he wondered absently how old Kyung was to still be in school. Though it was clearly not as low as high school considering how late in the morning it already was. And just as he was about to wonder why Taeil hadn't come yet, Kyung was opening the door to reveal the short man's surprised face and raised fist.

“Oh, a friend? I'm Kyung, I'm sure I'll get to know you eventually.” The red head grinned before scooting around Taeil and bounding down the stairs, as if he hadn't just gotten beat up the day before. Absently, Yukwon wondered if Kyung was some sort of a con man.

“What was that?” Taeil stared after the energetic male for a moment before letting himself inside Yukwon's apartment.

“That...he's a stray I somehow took in.” Yukwon sighed softly and shook his head, expression dark as he shut the door behind his friend.

“The reason why you wanted me over no doubt.” Taeil nodded his head perceptively, moving to go prepare tea in the journalist's kitchen.

Yukwon sighed softly and nodded his head, “yeah, exactly. And to catch up for the lost time when Jiho was home.” He grinned slightly, moving to sit down at the kitchen table to watch the other. “He was home for a long time this time...I'm kind of surprised he didn't drag you off to Canada or something to make it official between you two.” He laughed softly, kicking the table legs lightly.

Taeil raised a brow before holding up his hand to display the simple gold band on his ring finger, “he did do that though. He surprised me with the trip and then we went skiing for the weekend afterwards too. And then he still stayed home for another week after.” The shorter man sighed dreamily as he poured the hot water into two cups with tea bags and then carried them to the table to sit across from Yukwon.

“So you're officially a married couple now? That's great!” Yukwon nodded his head, looking at the ring a bit closer before leaning back and nodding his head. “I'm kind of jealous...I feel alone in the world.” He pouted slightly, exaggerating the expression slightly.

“Oh please, you brought it on yourself, saying you can only be with that Jihoon guy.” He shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes at Yukwon, sipping the hot tea.

“But I swear that Jihoon is my soul mate...he's just...everything.” Yukwon breathed out a happy sigh as he thought about the younger journalist. “Oh! He's coming to work in my office again! He's been in America and Shanghai for the last two years so it's exciting.” Yukwon was practically beaming and Taeil teased him by pretending to gag.

“You're probably the only one who's excited for it.” Taeil laughed and then motioned towards the door, expression curious. ``Now...tell me about that kid.”

Yukwon pursed his lips slightly, looking almost disgusted with himself before he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “There was a box outside last night...”

“That's how all of these stories start isn't it?” Taeil rolled his eyes and sipped his tea again.

“Yeah..I guess so. But...like usual I just had to look.” He shrugged, as if it was something he just had to do. “And Kyung was in there with those two little guys.” Yukwon pointed to the kittens curled up on his sofa, smiling slightly at them. “The plan was to patch him up, let him sleep on the couch and send him on his way in the morning.”

Taeil frowned and arched a brow, looking at Yukwon like he was insane. “Yeah..that clearly didn't happen.”

“Yeah, no...he fancies himself my pet now...” Yukwon frowned slightly, swirling his tea in its cup.

Taeil laughed softly, “well, I wonder what mister Pyo will say about that when you finally get him home.” He grinned, shaking his head slightly as if he might have thought that Yukwon was stupid.

“Probably not good...” He frowned slightly, cheeks turning pink. “Though...do you think he'd even be interested in me?” He pursed his lips and couldn't help the almost sad sigh from escaping him.

“Well...you'll find out today at work, won't you?” Taeil offered a helpful smile, glancing at the time. “I can give you a ride if you want, you have to start in a little bit right?”

Yukwon glanced at his clock and sighed again, nodding his head. “Unfortunately yes, that would be great.” He grinned at his best friend before putting the rest of his tea down the hatch, pushing away from the table. “Just let me go get changed.” And as he walked away from the table, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of panic at what could be awaiting him at work.

ART for KIKUTAN! "Kyung in Wonderland" (B-Bomb/Kyung)

bbtimemods — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:00:52 GMT

For: kikutan
By: bakalildevil

Title: Kyung in Wonderland
Character/Pairing: Bbomb/Kyung
Rating: G
Media: Digital Media
Warnings: bad drawing lol
Artist's notes: I wish I could've done more and something better but I lacked time. I felt that I still had to do this, like some sort of duty? Haha. So I hope you do like it. I really hope you can recognise who they are too. I'm sorry if it's not to your liking.

FIC for SILVER-LINED! The Last Planet (U-Kwon/Zico)

bbtimemods — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 05:00:37 GMT

For: silver_lined
By: nerveless

Title: The Last Planet
Pairing: Zico/U-Kwon
Summary: Life on board the Star Cow is never quite as simple as Captain Woo Jiho and his crew of human and alien comrades hope for it to be.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 9,367
Warnings: Human/alien relations (makin’ out), implied character death
Author's notes: Okay, I know your list said you didn’t want deathfic! But this isn’t deathfic! Just trust me, I promise you true love and a happy ending and if that still isn’t enough, contact me after reveals and I’ll write you something to make up for this fic completely running away with me. ;_; I’m truly sorry for, well, this and everything I do.

The sound of boot heels clicking along the smooth, reflective flooring of the craft echoes along the hallway as the starship’s captain makes his way into the control room with the quiet hiss of the doors sliding open for him. At the ship’s helm, the navigator turns to regard the captain with a nod of his head as he adjusts settings at the main control board.

“How is it going?” the captain asks, taking a seat beside the helm. “Do we have power?”

“There’s still something wrong with the thrusters,” the navigator replies, frustration building in his voice. He presses a button to bring up communication with the engine room, where their chief engineer is toiling away in an effort to get their starship moving again. Minhyuk’s sweaty face pops up on a holographic screen projected from the control board and he wipes his forehead with his arm.

“Kyung, can you try allocating more energy from the cooling system to the thrusters? We’ll be a little hot, but we should be able to break away from orbit and get ourselves to the nearest station to refuel.”

“Okay, I’ll try that,” Kyung says, clicking a few more buttons. A strong beep overhead signals the shutdown sequence for the cooling system and Jiho sighs as the room begins to warm almost immediately.

“Where do we go, then?” Jiho asks his navigator, removing his coat. “We’re still stuck in orbit around the star Galleos.”

“As soon as we get the thrust needed to push ourselves out of orbit, we need to head towards Station 215 to fuel up and get everything working again,” Kyung responds. “It’ll only take us a few light-years to get there, we aren’t very far.”

“Great.” Jiho stretches his arms out over the back of his chair, popping one of his shoulders. “We could use a little break from all of the pillaging. That last planet was way too close to that black hole, and we nearly lost our lives trying to get the ship out safely.”

“But it was well worth it, I imagine,” another voice speaks up from a nearby chair. The man sitting in the chair turns in Jiho’s direction and pins him with the sharp gaze of his unearthly green, glowing eyes. “You’ve got yourself a genuine Baraklavian Scooter of Darkness now, haven’t you, Captain?”

“That’s Sceptre of Darkness, Tree Boy. You plant people have such shitty hearing.”

“I am not a plant,” the alien Jaehyo snaps hotly, glaring at Jiho.

The control room doors slide open with a whoosh behind them and Yukwon walks in, peering around the room. His eyes fall on Jiho and his face lights up as Jiho stares back at him with an interested look. Just then, the ship suddenly lurches as the loud sound of the main thrusters kicking back on suddenly booms throughout the room, and Jiho grabs hold of the back of his chair to keep from falling. Yukwon crashes his head against the door as he stumbles and grunts out of pain and Jiho rushes out of his chair the instant the ship settles itself again.

“They’re back! Take us out of here, Kyung,” Minhyuk shouts over the com system just as Kyung grabs for the controls.

“I’m on it,” Kyung replies shortly, flying them out of the star’s orbit and straight out towards the station with all of the power left in the ship.

“Are you okay?” Jiho asks as Yukwon stands back up beside him.

Yukwon nods and Jiho smooths his hand over the curved ram’s horn on the side of Yukwon’s head. The multi-colored horns look undamaged and Yukwon chuckles to himself.

“Volcanic glass,” Yukwon reminds Jiho, rapping his knuckles on his horn. “They don’t break.”

Jiho nods in relief. The Carabinatan’s horns hardly look affected at all and he assumes the glass is made of alien materials unlike any he’s encountered in his travels, made to endure any blow. The horns are the one thing which remained after his starship modified Yukwon’s form to fit the Earthly human bodies the ship is most familiar with, like Jaehyo’s eyes are all that remains of the Breanchian’s original tree-like form. They retain bits and pieces of their original bodies, just enough to remind themselves and Jiho’s crew that they’re far from human.

“Sure is hot in here,” Kyung complains, removing his jacket.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Yukwon pipes up.

“They found you on a volcano planet. I don’t think you’re qualified to talk about temperature.”

Yukwon shuts his mouth at the mention of his home planet, looking away, and Jiho sends a glare Kyung’s way. The alien’s discomfort goes entirely unnoticed by the navigator as he concentrates on steering the starship.

“We’re almost there.”

“Get Minhyuk back up here. Prepare for the landing. I’ll go tell the others.”

Kyung signals to the captain that he’s heard and Jiho leaves the control room with Yukwon to search for the remainder of his small crew. They find Jihoon in the cafeteria, stuffing his face with Rocktofarian fruit pilfered three trips ago. Jiho scoffs as he rests one foot on the chair opposite Jihoon, staring down at his resident chief of medicine.

“Were you eating while we were trying to escape Galleos’s orbit?” Jiho asks incredulously. “I thought I told you to make yourself useful.”

“Can’t be useful on an empty stomach, Cap’n,” Jihoon points out cheerily. “We out of danger, then? Got ourselves back on track?”

Jiho rolls his eyes. “We’re landing at Station 215. We’ll refuel and stock up again before we head back out there.”

“Where are we going next? You never told us.”

“It’s a surprise.” Jiho steals one of the square, neon blue fruits, biting into the hard flesh. He makes a face as he chews. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s pretty neat, isn’t it?” Jihoon grabs the last fruit, biting into it. “I think I like it even better than the Scroove death fruit.”

“The one that tasted like rotting meat, yeah. I’d say this is better,” Jiho replies dryly. “Get back up front.”

Jihoon grins at him and hops to his feet, fixing his lab coat. Jiho walks back out of the cafeteria ahead of him with Yukwon trailing behind them. “Where’s the new guy, then? Taeil, I think.”

“Dunno. I’ll have a look for him.”

Jiho sends Jihoon on his way and continues walking towards the bedchambers. He steps into Yukwon’s unit after the alien and follows him to the built-in closet, taking the cloak off of the single hanger in the empty compartment. Yukwon drapes the hooded cloak over himself and Jiho takes the hood, drawing it securely over Yukwon’s head and tightening it until the horns at the sides of his head are fully concealed.

“Remember, if anyone asks—”

“I’m human,” Yukwon says.

Jiho nods. “Human. Not from Carabinata, you don’t even know where that is.”

“Right.” Yukwon takes a deep breath, looking Jiho in the eye. Jiho smooths his hands over the hood, down to Yukwon’s shoulders.

“We should be docking any second now. Are you ready?”

Yukwon nods, smiling at him. Jiho thinks that the way his mouth quirks, as if he’s uncertain, yet determined to convince Jiho otherwise, is eerily humanlike.

“Here,” Jiho says, placing a small, circular silver device into the palm of Yukwon’s hand. “It’s a single-person teleport button. If you get separated and you need to leave without me, press it and it’ll bring you back to the ship.”

“Back onto the ship?” Yukwon asks slowly. “Always?”

“Always,” Jiho repeats, resting his hand on the back of Yukwon’s hood. “It’ll always bring you back to me.”

The Intergalactic Space Station Number Two-One-Five is only one of several thousands of similar stations set up in a group of adjoining galaxies in one area of the universe. These stations serve as way stations for ships to dock and refuel, restock and repair any damages while traveling across the galaxies, and the proximity of Station 215 to the Milky Way galaxy (known as the galaxy Caardos-197 to non-Earthlings) makes it a semi-frequent pit stop for the Star Cow, Jiho’s starship. Jiho and his crew line up to identify, waiting with an assortment of aliens and several humans to gain admission.

“Identify yourselves,” a Kroog station officer commands them, blinking its single eye.

“The starship Star Cow, captained by Woo Jiho, human of Earth. Crew: humans of Earth Park Kyung, Lee Minhyuk, Pyo Jihoon and Kim Yukwon, Jaehyo of the planet Breanch, and Taeil of the planet Ooloc.”

“Malfunction,” the Kroog responds.

Jiho can feel Yukwon tensing beside him and Jiho reaches out subtly to take his hand and try to calm him.

“The planet Ooloc does not register,” the Kroog continues.

“Oh, shit, that’s right,” Jiho says, turning towards Taeil. “What was it? Ooloc...?”

“Oolocontrippixithorsoiforus,” Taeil speaks up, looking up at the Kroog.

“Planet found. Please enter.”

Jiho nudges Yukwon and the group walks forward after Jiho signals up towards the ship for Kyung to drive it in and dock it. Moments later, Kyung comes down from the ship, and he and Minhyuk leave to start fueling the ship up at the station pump.

“Do you want to look around?” Jiho asks Yukwon, who is staring around them at the gigantic, cylindric station and its fifty floors, stretching up towards the glass ceiling.

“I’d love to,” Yukwon breathes excitedly.

Jiho grins at Yukwon’s ever-present fascination with space stations and he turns to the rest of his ship’s crew. He gives orders for everyone to meet back up in an hour of Earth time and makes sure everyone’s watches are in working order before he dispatches them to wander the space station at their leisure. Jihoon rushes off with Taeil to show him around and Jaehyo wanders off alone, disappearing into the dense crowd. Once they’re alone, Jiho and Yukwon take the elevator to another floor, Gifts and Souvenirs. Yukwon watches as the buttons light up and runs his fingers over the metal railing, taken in by all of the technology.

“Everything is very different, isn’t it?” Jiho asks him. “From Carabinata?”

“Well, you saw what it’s like there,” Yukwon replies softly, quirking an eyebrow. “The only technology we have is in weapons.”

Jiho nods, gazing at the elevator floor. He doesn’t need to be reminded of the bare, instinct-driven race of people they had left behind on Yukwon’s planet, and he doesn’t doubt that a space station would have done little to entertain most of the citizens of the planet unless it was engaged in war, littered with the dead and the still fighting.

“Did you say ‘Kim’?” Yukwon asks suddenly. “When we were identifying?”

“Remember that name. Kim Yukwon. If you’re going to pretend to be a human, you’ll need to remember your full name.”

“Humans have two names. That’s interesting. Why do you need so many?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Lineage. Pride. We’re pretty full of ourselves, if you hadn’t noticed.”

The elevator doors ding open at last, and he and Yukwon step out to a floor lined with shops of all kinds, many containing a few items Jiho recognizes from back home. They walk along and gaze through the windows until Jiho suddenly stops at one store and leans against the glass to look in.

“Oh, wow. Check it out.”

Yukwon stops and looks into the pet store along with Jiho, looking around at all of the pens containing small animals. Next to the pen of tiny elephant-like creatures, a single furry creature bounds around in excited circles, jumping up against one of the pen’s walls to rest on its front paws and wag its tail, looking up at them through the window.

“What is it?” Yukwon asks. “It’s so...hairy.”

“It’s a puppy,” Jiho replies. “How’d they get a puppy way out here?”

“I want to see it.” Yukwon goes inside the store and Jiho follows him quickly. The puppy notices them walking inside and starts yipping as soon as they approach, tail wagging furiously. Yukwon picks it up out of the pen and holds it out in front of himself, watching as the puppy wriggles in his hands.

“Here, you hold it like this,” Jiho says, moving the puppy closer to Yukwon’s chest and directing his arms to support its weight.

Yukwon gasps in shock as the puppy licks at his hands.

“No, it’s alright. It’s just saying hi,” Jiho laughs, scratching the puppy’s head.

Yukwon watches for a moment as Jiho pets the puppy and then attempts to stroke it himself, scratching his fingers along the puppy’s back. He smiles widely when the puppy settles in his arms, resting its small head against his chest.

“Can we take it?” Yukwon asks. “Please?”

“I don’t know,” Jiho begins slowly, smiling when Yukwon makes a sad face and hugs the puppy closer. “Alright, fine. But we’ll need to take food for it. I don’t think puppies eat Rocktofarian fruit.”

Yukwon grins in delight and lowers his face to allow the puppy to lick at his cheek. Jiho grins as he watches him play with the puppy until it starts to paw at Yukwon’s face, catching one paw in the hood of Yukwon’s cloak. The hood falls back suddenly and the human shop owner screams as the iridescent horns meet the shop’s light.

“Carabinata!” she screams, pointing at them. “He’s from Carabinata! Someone, help!”

Jiho yanks Yukwon’s hood over his head and grabs him, pulling him out of the shop. They rush down the crowded walkway of the station floor as the shop owner runs out behind them, still screaming at them and drawing the attention of all the nearby patrons. The woman goes silent suddenly and Jiho looks back to see Jaehyo pulling his hands away from the woman’s temples as she drops to the floor, unconscious. Jiho pulls Yukwon into the elevator and jams on the door release just as Jaehyo slips in behind them, taking the elevator back down to the ground floor.

“What the hell did you do?” Jiho hisses at the Breanchian.

“Bought us some time,” Jaehyo replies cryptically. “She’ll be fine. It’s just a little life energy.”

Jiho leans against the wall of the elevator, catching his breath. He turns to the strangely silent Yukwon, standing against the wall with his head bowed and his hood obscuring his face. Jaehyo points at the puppy in Yukwon’s arms.

“What is this thing?”

“Shit,” Jiho sighs. “I forgot about the puppy.”

“The what?” Jaehyo asks, squinting in suspicion.

“We need to get out of here. The ship should have enough fuel to take us to the next station.”

They exit the elevator at the ground floor and make a beeline for their docked ship. Jiho directs Jaehyo and Yukwon inside and he makes a dash for Kyung and Minhyuk at the pump while he calls Jihoon and Taeil back. By the time the Kroog are gathering on the ground floor, searching through the confused and startled humans and aliens milling about, the Star Cow is already departing from Station 215 with a half-full tank and a brand new member of the crew sleeping soundly in Yukwon’s arms, twitching in its dreams.

While preparing for their next journey, Taeil’s fishlike shape begins to change into a human’s. The alien pats his body down in panic as his form settles and he finds that the only body part from his original form remaining are the gills on the sides of his neck.

“Oh, look. The genetic modifier’s worked its magic on Taeil,” Kyung speaks up, pointing at him.

“The what?” Taeil asks.

“When you travel on our ship for long enough, the ship registers you as a crew member and it modifies your DNA to make you look human if it recognizes non-human DNA,” Minhyuk explains, peeling an orange in his seat.

“But I still have my gills.”

“It has to retain at least a part of your original DNA so it can change you back if you ever decide to leave the crew. That’s why Yukwon’s still got his horns and Jaehyo still has his creepy eyes.”

Jaehyo kicks Minhyuk and steals a piece of his orange as revenge, and Minhyuk laughs.

“Your ship is truly amazing,” Taeil says, awed as he looks into a mirror provided by Kyung.

“Thank Minhyuk, that was all his idea,” Jiho says, grinning proudly at his engineer. “He’s a genius.”

“What is the purpose, though? Why do you need us to look human?”

“For protection. We figured if we pick up any aliens along the way, they would probably be running away or hiding from something. Also, it’s easier to be pirates if your description passes around as a ship of seven humans instead of four humans and aliens from Carabinata, Breanch and Ooloc. We like to fly incognito.”

Taeil gives the mirror back and tries to settle into his new body, feeling a bit off balance with his new proportions and weight. “I should like to hear the story of how you came to be pirates some day.”

“It’s not a very long story.” Jiho sits down to talk, and Taeil and the rest of the crew turn to listen to his story time with rapt attention. “It started out as just me and Minhyuk. We stole my uncle’s starship and decided to run away from home and fly off into space. One of the first planets we decided to go plunder was Carabinata, which was a huge mistake. The planet was at constant civil war and the people were all obsessed with fighting and killing. We barely made it off of that planet alive. While we were there, we saw that this guy was going to be publicly executed by his own family for refusing to fight in the war. See those horns on Kwon’s head?”

Everyone stops listening and turns to look at Yukwon, who is standing in the corner and quickly covers his horns with his hands at the sudden scrutiny.

“That means he was a soldier,” Jiho explains. “On Carabinata, you’re either born as a soldier with horns or a civilian without them, and if soldiers don’t fight, they’re executed for treason.”

“So that’s why that woman at the space station was so afraid of you,” Taeil interrupts, looking at Yukwon.

Yukwon avoids his gaze, his mouth set into a hard line.

“Anyway, Minhyuk and I took Yukwon while his father was distracted and we escaped on the ship. Try to imagine the whole of the local Carabinatan army chasing us down as we ran away. It was fucking terrifying.”

“I honestly thought we were going to die on that planet,” Minhyuk agrees.

“But we made it off the planet, safe and sound. The three of us traveled around together for a long time before we finally picked up Jaehyo from Breanch. He was sent as a peace ambassador for his people, because they thought we were ambassadors from Earth at the time. He ended up becoming part of our crew, anyway. It turns out the Breanch really like treasure.”

“Or Jaehyo really likes treasure. We aren’t sure.”

“Oh, very funny,” Jaehyo says, unamused.

Minhyuk swings his arm around Jaehyo’s shoulders and feeds him another orange slice to shut him up.

“After that, we went back to Earth for a little bit to tie up some loose ends. While we were there, we contacted a couple of old friends. Kyung was in the Air Force and Jihoon was in medical school. They both decided to run away and join us on our crew, since we needed an experienced flight navigator and someone to help us if we got sick or injured.”

“I was a fighter jet pilot,” Kyung explains to Taeil. “That’s a soldier who can fly aircrafts on Earth.”

“And finally, we stopped by your planet to steal some of your family’s gold and wound up bringing you back with us. I’m still not sure why you asked to come.”

“Yeah, we were in such a hurry to leave we didn’t even ask you about yourself. Why were you so desperate to run away?”

Taeil glances from Jiho to Kyung with a frown. He looks down at the control console and runs his hand along the smooth metal.

“Actually, I was getting married.”

“Wait. The wedding we crashed, that was yours?” Minhyuk asks incredulously.

“It was an arranged marriage. Our families wished to share some of their assets with each other. It was more of a business partnership than a marriage.”

“Wow, that’s rough.” Jiho leans back in his captain’s seat. “Being forced to marry someone you don’t even know well.”

“You can see why I wanted to leave, then,” Taeil assumes.

“Yeah, man. I totally get it.”

“So that’s our story as a crew,” Minhyuk sums up with a smile. “I fixed up the genetic modifier after I found it in the storage room of the ship and installed it to help Yukwon.”

“You’ll get used to the human thing after a while, don’t worry,” Jiho adds. “We’ll have to come up with a human name for you, too. We don’t need them at most space stations, but when we go to planets, we go with full human disguises.”

“Speaking of planets,” Kyung pipes up, “where are we headed to next?”

“Plot the coordinates for Zones 415,387 and 001,446,” Jiho instructs.

“Wow, that’s way out there. Alright. I’ll set the thrusters on maximum to cut the arrival time down.”

Kyung moves to the console to enter the coordinates as Jiho stretches his arms out and stands.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me,” Jiho calls out, leaving with Yukwon trailing right behind him.

Yukwon scratches his fingers against the puppy’s belly as it rolls over on the bed, wriggling against his leg.

“I don’t know,” he answers Jiho. “Do puppies really need a name?”

“Of course,” Jiho insists. “Call him whatever you want.”

“I can’t think of anything.” Yukwon frowns, staring down at the creature as if trying to decipher ancient script. “What would you name a puppy?”

“Something stupid,” Jiho says, laughing. He finishes changing into comfortable clothes and walks back over towards the bed in pajama pants, watching Yukwon and the puppy gazing at each other. “When I had a dog when I was a kid, I just named it ‘Dog’. I’m not great with naming.”

“Dog.” Yukwon looks up as Jiho sits on the bed. “I like that one.”

“What, really? Are you sure?”

“I like the way it sounds.”

“But it’s...I mean, a puppy is a dog.”

“This puppy is a Dog.”

“No, I mean,” Jiho trails off, cracking a grin. “You know what? Screw it. Dog is a great name.”

Yukwon smiles in satisfaction, rubbing the puppy’s belly. “Dog.”

“You’re getting attached.” Jiho scoots closer to lean against the headboard of the bed, propping a pillow behind himself. “I thought on Carabinata you weren’t supposed to love things.”

“Well,” Yukwon counters softly, eyes downcast, “we were told it was dangerous to love. Carabinatans think love makes you weak.”

“What do you think?” Jiho asks.

Yukwon looks straight at him sharply. “You know what I think of love.”

Jiho grins sloppily and slides down the headboard against Yukwon’s side, edging closer. Yukwon looks at him uncertainly until Jiho leans up and he accepts the kiss with a tilt of his head.

“Just like to hear you say it,” Jiho admits. “When you told me Carabinatans don’t love, I was pretty put out.”

“Maybe they don’t,” Yukwon says, shrugging. “Maybe they refuse to. But I’d rather love you than fight for them. Even if I’m still learning what to do.”

“You’re a fast learner,” Jiho assures him. “Care for a pop quiz?”

Yukwon looks from Dog to Jiho, nodding quickly. His surprised grunt is muffled by Jiho’s mouth and he shifts his body to lie down as Jiho guides him, running his fingers into his hair. Yukwon finds that he learns the best when they’re both horizontal and he remembers everything Jiho’s ever asked him to do, curling his fingers around Jiho’s waist. Jiho lays on top of him and hitches an exhale against his mouth, chuckling.

“We need to thank Minhyuk for making your human form fully functional,” Jiho murmurs, stroking Yukwon from chest to hip.

Yukwon responds by leaning up to kiss him, trailing his fingers up the back of his shirt.

As if summoned by the mention of his name, the door to Jiho’s cabin slides open and Minhyuk pops his head in to look at them.

“Hey,” he interrupts, “you two, put a lid on it for a second. Kyung needs you in the control room.”

“Wow,” Jiho barks a laugh, “your timing, Minhyuk.”

“Sorry,” Minhyuk apologizes hastily, averting his eyes. “In front of the puppy? Really, Jiho?”

“Shut up.” Jiho grabs his coat and Yukwon hops off the bed, unfazed by the interruption.

“I think you have some explaining to do,” Minhyuk warns Jiho on the way over. “Kyung didn’t sound too happy.”

“I’m sure he isn’t,” Jiho acknowledges him cryptically, following him into the control room.

“I thought the coordinates you gave me sounded familiar,” Kyung starts, staring stonily at Jiho.

Jiho takes a seat, looking a bit comical in his captain’s jacket and sheep-printed pajama pants.

“I looked them up to make sure, and I was right.” Kyung splays his hands over the console to lean on his arms heavily. “Why are we going there?”

“Going where?” Jihoon asks curiously, looking from Kyung to Jiho and back. The entire room feels stifling from the tension between their captain and navigator.

“Noctua,” Jiho replies immediately, casting his gaze towards the medical student. “The Noctuan galaxy. That’s where we’re headed.”

The entire control room goes deathly silent, and even the harsh breathing of the Ooloc seems muted and punctured by uncertainty.

“What’s in Noctua?” Jaehyo asks, glancing around at his comrades. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Why don’t you explain, Kyung?” Jiho suggests lightly, in stark contrast to the uncomfortable atmosphere. “You did pretty well in our Space History classes in high school.”

“The Noctuan galaxy is one of the oldest surviving galaxies in the universe,” Kyung says towards Jaehyo, though he’s projecting his voice as if speaking to the room at large. “It’s said to have stood as a civilization since the beginning of time, the longest running civilization in history. The Noctuan race survived for trillions of years and died out mere centuries ago, and the galaxy is dying. It could go at any moment, any day now.” Kyung looks straight at Jiho. “It could be today or tomorrow.”

“Or in a few months, or years, or centuries,” Jiho argues, crossing his arms. “It’s still here now, isn’t it?”

“There’s no way of telling, Jiho,” Kyung says seriously. “If we went there, we would be taking a huge risk. The planet, the whole galaxy, could go at any moment. If we were even within airspace, we’d be incinerated in the blast.”

“So we’d have to make it a really quick trip,” Jiho reasons. “Get in, get out and be on our way.”

“What the hell would we even do on Noctua?” Minhyuk asks. “There’s nothing there anymore, right? Everyone’s dead.”

“That’s what makes it so perfect. Kyung.” Jiho turns back to his navigator. “We’re pirates, right? Think in terms of treasure. What makes Noctua so special to historians nowadays, besides the whole ‘oldest galaxy’ spiel?”

“You can’t be serious,” Kyung deadpans.

“The Noctuan dust diamond,” Jiho answers himself, standing up to walk around the room. “The largest and most pure dust diamond left in the universe. It used to be guarded so heavily history books say no one could even approach it without being shot by the guards. But like you said, Kyung, they died out centuries ago. No one there to stand guard. No one there to stop us.”

“Or any other stupid, daredevil pirate who had the same idea,” Minhyuk points out. “How do we know it’s still there?”

“Most people wouldn’t dare get near the planet,” Kyung points out. “It’s covered in poisonous gas left over from the collapse of the empire and all of the factories.”

“So most people would be too afraid to try stealing the diamond,” Jiho continues. “But we just so happen to have a ship stocked with enough reinforced suits to make it through the atmosphere without suffocating.”

“Your uncle’s old space suits?” Minhyuk asks. He hesitates for a moment. “Well, I guess they would protect us from the gas.”

“I’ve been tinkering with them to make sure,” Jiho assures him. “We’ll be fine.”

“We still don’t know if the planet’s going to die while we’re on it,” Kyung reminds him.

Jiho shrugs. “Well, if you don’t think it’s worth the risk, we won’t go. But I want you to think about what we’d be missing out on if we got our hands on that diamond. Even if we split the profits for all seven of us, we’d all still be among the richest people in the universe.”

Silence dominates the room once again as the crew seem to collectively envision the riches the Noctuan dust diamond would grant them with a single trip. Jaehyo stands up right away.

“I’m willing to go,” he speaks up, adding, “if you all are.”

“Me too,” Minhyuk joins, raising a hand. He exchanges a look with Jiho. “God knows we’ve bet on even worse odds before.”

“I’ll go,” Taeil offers, shrugging a shoulder. “What have I got to lose?”

Jiho looks around the room at the remaining crew. Yukwon peers over from the doorway.

“You know I’ll go wherever you want me to,” he says.

Jiho grins at him warmly. He turns back to his last two crew members. Jihoon shifts on his feet before he straightens up to talk.

“I’m the only one who could help if you all got hurt,” he points out. “If I didn’t go with you and something happened, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

Jiho smiles at Jihoon and nods in thanks before settling on Kyung, who still looks very disapproving. Jiho strides over to the console to talk to him, leaning against the controls.

“If you want, you can stay on the ship,” he offers quietly. “You can be our getaway driver and warn us if the galaxy starts looking like it’s gonna blow.”

Kyung purses his lips as he thinks, blinking hard by squeezing his eyes shut for a second. His nervous habits betray how uneasy he feels about the plan, but he drops his hands onto the console again with determination.

“I’m no fucking starship babysitter,” he argues, setting the thrusters back to maximum and guiding them towards their destination again. “I was a soldier. I could handle danger better than you ever could.”

“I won’t argue that,” Jiho concedes, giving Kyung his space. He smiles as Kyung begins navigating to Noctua without another word.

“ETA twenty-four hours,” Kyung informs them.

“Alright,” Jiho answers, pleased with the results of his persuasion. “If you need me, I’ll be—”

“With me,” Minhyuk cuts in, catching the escaping Jiho and Yukwon under his arms. “Come on, we’ve got some catching up to do.”

Jiho twists his bottle of alcohol around on a napkin on the bar table. The alcohol was stolen in crates from the planet Baraklav, while they were working on confiscating the Sceptre of Darkness from the Baraklavian royal court’s high priest. Jiho hadn’t had a chance to visit the starship’s bar room to taste the newly liberated alcohol, and he isn’t sure what to make of the taste. It’s a tad bitter, a little sweet, and it goes down smooth. Yukwon immediately approves of the taste and he’s working on his third bottle when Jiho finishes his first.

“So, here we are,” Minhyuk speaks up, turning towards them on his bar stool. “The original three.”

Jiho looks at Yukwon between them and then at Minhyuk at the end. “The original troublemakers.”

“Hey, you have to admit, things were a lot easier when it was just us traveling.”

“Yeah, because we were only three people. We had fewer heads to count while we were running away from the cops.”

“We were together for a long time, too,” Yukwon adds. “We got so used to each other.”

Minhyuk grins and leans over to rest an arm over Yukwon’s shoulders. “I’ve been thinking about the good old days. Remember when we first picked up Jaehyo and he hadn’t changed form yet? We didn’t know the ship regulated his hydration by itself, so we kept throwing water on him?”

“And we’d ask each other, ‘Did you water Jaehyo today?’” Yukwon mimics. “He’d get so mad at us.”

“Well, he looked like a fucking tree. What did he expect us to do?” Jiho asks. “It’s not like he came with a step-by-step guide for How To Care For Your Breanchian.”

“Do you remember when we went to Talak-9, that planet with the genderless aliens? And Yukwon asked them how they fuck?”

Yukwon’s face turns red and he nudges Minhyuk’s shoulder with a frown.

“Oh, come on, it was adorable,” Minhyuk teases him. “A little vulgar, but adorable.”

“That was the week you two were trying to convince me that humans mate by eating each other alive and I couldn’t sleep for four days. It wasn’t my fault I was so curious.”

“Yeah, I felt kinda bad after you said you were having nightmares,” Jiho admits. “You should have seen the look on your face, though.”

“I would have paid good money to watch Yukwon try to have sex with you by chewing on your arm or something,” Minhyuk says, smirking. “Maybe we should have kept the joke up for a little while longer.”

“That’s so not funny.”

“Yeah, I’m with Yukwon on this one. You can keep your sick little fetishes to yourself, okay, Minhyuk?”

Minhyuk bursts into laughter and Jiho grins as he takes Yukwon’s hand under the bar on his lap. Soon, a small pile of bottles grows on the counter, and Yukwon is resting back against Jiho’s chest, falling asleep.

“So what prompted this get together, anyway?” Jiho asks somberly. “Are you preparing for something? Taking one last night to hang out with your friends before we all go off and die tomorrow?”

Minhyuk stops smiling abruptly, staring at Jiho.

“That’s what it sounds like,” Jiho continues, draining another bottle. “Damn, this shit hits you hard.”

“That’s not,” Minhyuk tries, sighing and resting his arms on the counter. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want to take any chances.”

“We’re going to be fine,” Jiho tells him. “Nothing’s gonna happen to us.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Minhyuk clarifies himself, resting his head on his arms and gazing in their direction. “You know that I trust you with my life, but sometimes things just happen, whether you want them to or not.”

“I promise you, by this time tomorrow, we’ll be back from Noctua and we’ll either be rich or we won’t, but we’ll all be alive and safe.”

“You promise?” Minhyuk asks softly.

“Never trust a pirate’s promise,” Jiho advises Minhyuk, wrapping Yukwon under his arm, “unless he’s your captain.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Yukwon responds automatically, startling himself awake and making Jiho and Minhyuk laugh at him.

Jiho wakes up with wide open eyes and a sharp inhale into his lungs, catching the faint echo of a sound just leaving his ears. Across from him, a pair of dark brown eyes flutter open a split second after him and stare back at him in the relative silence of his bedroom unit. Jiho studies the eyes of his companion for a moment, looking back and forth between them, and he ponders the humanity of the face in front of his.

“I repeat,” Kyung’s voice crackles over the intercom in his wall, “all hands report to Control immediately.”

Jiho groans and Yukwon yawns and turns over lethargically. Just as Jiho moves to draw the bed sheets over his head, the com system starts up again.

“Jiho. You’re really gonna want to see this.”

Jiho throws the sheets down defeatedly, giving his ceiling a very cross look. Beside him in bed, Yukwon chuckles into his pillow.

Minutes later, the captain of the Star Cow and his boot heels clomp their way into the main corridor and enter the control room with a quiet hiss of the doors sliding open for him. The ship navigator standing at his helm turns to regard him with a curt nod and a tilt of his head towards the observation deck.

“You might want to catch a glimpse of this. I doubt you’ve ever seen anything like it.”

“Come check it out, Jiho!” Jihoon calls from the deck.

Jiho and Yukwon exchange glances and they make their way out of the control room onto the open, dome-shaped observation deck and its sheer glass walls. Jiho and Yukwon both squint as soon as they step into the room, taken by how bright the view is, but their vision soon clears and Yukwon grabs Jiho by the hem of his jacket with a quiet gasp.

Just outside of the triple-shielded windows of the observation deck, the Noctuan galaxy sprawls out in a mass of dying stars, unclumping into complicated arrays of curling gases, clouds of dust and dissolving nebulae. The galaxy appears to be turning backwards in time, taking all that its creation has meticulously glued together into small planets, stars and moons and pulling them apart in strings of star dust, unfurling outwards across the vast stretches of space. It looks to Jiho as if the galaxy is undoing itself piece by piece, leaving the planet Noctua for last at its dead center, already breaking off into tiny particles and releasing them back into the air as the toxic gas making up the surface atmosphere. The planet is all that is left of the galaxy, Jiho realizes, struggling with every last flail of its quickly ending life to cling on for just a moment longer, waiting for him, waiting for them to arrive.

“Right,” Jiho murmurs to himself, staring around at the clouds of deep red, bright pink, greens and purples and oranges and blues all mixed together in one massive galactic graveyard. “We’ll just have to be quick, then.”

“It’s so beautiful,” Yukwon says, beside him. Jiho looks over and quirks his mouth, taking Yukwon’s hand in his. Yukwon sniffles, entranced by the colorful dust clouds, what used to be a thriving galaxy, millions of particles that once were the Noctuan race, living and breathing people, and he quickly lifts a hand to swipe at an escaping tear.

“We’re approaching Noctua,” Kyung calls out to them from the control room. “We should get into our suits. ETA: five minutes.”

“Let’s do this,” Jiho says, squeezing Yukwon’s hand.

“Uh, what about,” Yukwon asks vaguely, gesturing towards his head.

“No, it’s fine,” Jiho replies, smiling in the eerie orange-blue light of what used to be the Aectarus nebula. “Your helmet was specially designed for the horns, it extends out at the sides. You’ll be safe.”

“Really?” Yukwon asks interestedly. “Like a special Carabinatan space helmet?”

“Yeah, you’re a real pioneer of your race, alright. Wearing space suits, being a pirate, dating humans. I bet your dad would be real proud if he knew.”

“Perform a surface scan,” Jiho tells Minhyuk the second they make planetfall.

The engineer checks his scanner readings, holding it up in the open air. Minhyuk turns around in his suit to give Jiho a thumbs up. “You were right, the suits should be fine. The atmosphere is fifteen thousand times more toxic than a human body could handle, but as long as we stay out of direct contact with it, we’ll be just fine.”

“Great.” Jiho starts heading towards the compound the Star Cow landed beside. “Let’s keep moving. We’re on a very strict time limit.”

“How the hell do you know where the diamond is?” Jaehyo asks from his suit as they work their way into the compound.

Jiho points at Kyung and the navigator answers for him immediately. “The Noctuan race had a monarchy. There was a palace and a royal treasury. If the dust diamond is still on this planet, it’ll be in the treasury.” He points to the compound. “In this palace.”

“Palace?” Taeil asks incredulously. “This place looks more like a dump to me.”

“It’s been deserted for centuries, remember?” Kyung shoots back, stepping inside and holding the door for the rest.

The foundation of the palace is just slightly shifted out of place and cracks litter the flooring of the vast hallways. Jiho steps over a crack in the center of a large tile depicting what looks to be some kind of a lion-like creature and he flashes a light down the hallway, moving as quickly as his suit can manage. He passes up ordinary doorways leading to rooms too small to hold a treasury, foregoing exploration for his search for treasure. Somewhere behind him, one of them trips over a fault scarp where the ground has cracked and shifted up a few centimeters, but Jiho soldiers on, calling on every bit of his experience as a space pirate to lead him to the promised treasure trove.

“Ohh,” Jiho mutters, freezing in his tracks in the middle of the sixth hallway he comes to.

Taeil nearly runs into Minhyuk, who stops abruptly behind Jiho and looks over his shoulder at the wall he’s staring at.

“That look familiar to you?” Jiho asks, pointing towards the wall.

Minhyuk carefully steps closer to get a good look at the wall. He notices a variation in the coloring of the tiles, the edges of the pattern not quite lining up with each other in several spots.

“Yeah, that job we took on the planet of the All-Seeing,” Minhyuk says, tapping on the wall. “They had illusion walls. Only there unless you’re looking—”

“In the opposite direction,” Jiho finishes, turning around and stepping backwards through the wall.

Minhyuk and the rest of the crew follow suit, walking backwards through the illusionary wall until they make it through into a separate, hidden room. Jiho is already inspecting every corner of the chamber, checking all of the shelves and tables scattered around.

“This has to be it,” Jiho talks to himself. “Secret documents, important files, royal seals.”

“I found a ring,” Jaehyo says excitedly, grabbing the piece of ancient jewelry.

“Where is it?!” Jiho shouts in frustration, knocking a few expensive-looking vases and some metal coins off of the shelves. “Where is that dust diamond?”

“Hey, some of that could be worth a lot,” Jihoon reasons, picking a few coins up.

“We didn’t come here for money,” Jiho insists. “We didn’t risk our lives for a couple of fucking vases. I need to find that diamond.”

“Jiho,” Yukwon whispers from the corner of the room.

Jiho whirls around in place and walks to where Yukwon is holding a stone slab. Jiho looks down at the simple, flat slab of rock with Yukwon, rubbing his thumb over the small indentation in the center of it where it looks like the slab was being used to display something.

Kyung steps over to join them, inspecting the slab.

“But this isn’t a very large indentation,” Kyung says. “The history books said it was the largest diamond in the universe.”

“The largest dust diamond,” Jiho corrects him quietly, staring at the slab, expressionless. He glances up to meet Kyung’s eyes. “Most of which are usually smaller than your pinky nail.”

“Oh,” Kyung intones, looking back down at the slab’s indentation. He takes a slow breath. “We’re...too late, aren’t we?”

“I’m sorry,” Jiho replies, taking the slab from Yukwon. “Really, sorry.”

“Well, I’ve got to hand it to them,” Kyung admits shakily. “Whoever took it. They had a lot of guts, coming here and stealing the dust diamond from a place like this.”

Jiho’s gaze darkens as he glances around himself and the meaning in Kyung’s words dawns on him.

“We need to get out of here.”

Just then, the ground starts to shake violently, fault lines drawing brand new cracks through the floor underneath their feet. Jiho quickly steps out of the way of a forming crack and he dashes towards the wall of the treasury to hurl himself through it backwards. He waits long enough to catch Yukwon jumping through and then they take off running down the corridors, dodging falling rocks and crumbling ceiling.

“The palace is falling,” Minhyuk shouts as he catches up. “It’s the atmosphere, it’s ripping the whole place apart.”

A section of the ceiling tears away and the shrill blowing of the toxic wind outside whips through the hole, sounding more like a hurricane than the calm atmosphere they had landed in. Jiho curses as he has to dodge another large falling rock and he dashes around a corner into the last long stretch of hallway leading outside. Glancing back over his shoulder, he sees that the rest of the crew has caught up and are all following him, and he lets out a small bark of relieved laughter to see them all unharmed.

“There’s the exit!” Kyung yells, and he, Jaehyo and Taeil sprint down the hallway past Jiho, who slows down just enough to check on the lagging Jihoon and Minhyuk.

“It’s sort of blocked off,” Kyung calls back towards them, “but we can squeeze through.”

“Come on,” Jiho urges, grabbing Jihoon by the arm and running faster as Minhyuk and Yukwon run just ahead of them.

Kyung manages to squeeze his way through the narrow hole in the caved ceiling, climbing his way to safety.

“Come through, I’ll help you,” he calls from the opposite side.

With his help, they manage to get Jaehyo, Taeil, Minhyuk and Jihoon through the hole. Just as Kyung and Minhyuk are pulling Jiho through, the rocks crumble down further, narrowing the gap. Jiho tries wriggling his torso until he can slide through the uncomfortably narrow gap of rock. The rock surface scrapes hard at his skin through the suit and he cringes as he forces his way through the rest of it, but he pulls his legs free without much struggle.

“Hurry up,” Minhyuk calls over the roar of the atmosphere. “It’s starting to get pretty wild out here.”

A loud explosion in a nearby compound deafens them for a moment and they all fall to the ground with the aftershock. Jiho springs to his feet and looks through the hole towards Yukwon, leaning into it to shout.

“Come on, the planet’s not going to hold for much longer.”

“Coming,” Yukwon calls back, quickly scaling the rocks. He pushes his arms through and then hesitates as his enlarged helmet knocks against the sides of the narrow gap.

“Yukwon!”

“Hold on!” Yukwon shouts, turning his head to the side and trying it from that angle, but he still can’t quite manage to fit the large helmet encasing his curved horns through the gap. “It’s my horns! They won’t fit!”

“Jiho!” he can hear Jaehyo shouting. “Everything’s falling apart, there’s no time!”

“Yukwon, watch out,” Jiho calls through the hole, reaching through it. “Here, let me help pull you through.”

“I—I don’t think I can, Jiho,” Yukwon responds, taking one of his outstretched hands and holding it. “I’m sorry. It’s too narrow. It’s alright, just go on.”

“What?” Jiho shouts back, over the noise of another rattling explosion in the distance.

“I can’t make it!” Yukwon responds, leaning into the opening to talk through it to Jiho. “Just go, you all have to get back to the ship!”

“What are you talking about? Don’t—don’t fucking talk like that, okay? I can still get you out, just push as hard as you can!”

“Jiho,” Yukwon calls again, swallowing a knot in his throat. “I’m really sorry. I’m not going to fit.”

“Well I’m not leaving you!” Jiho yells hysterically, reaching through the gap and feeling for Yukwon’s body, tugging him against the gap. “Come on! Just try it for me!”

“Jiho,” Minhyuk calls from nearby, “we have to go.”

“The planet’s crumbling, it’s gonna blow!” Kyung screams afterward.

“Shut up!” Jiho screams back. “All of you, just shut up! We’re not leaving him! Captain’s orders!”

“Jaehyo!” Kyung shouts, and Yukwon nods through the gap, not at Jiho, staring at him with a tear-streaked face and wideblown eyes full of panic, but at Jaehyo climbing the rubble behind Jiho.

With Yukwon’s confirmation, Jaehyo grabs Jiho by the helmet and their captain struggles for a split second before going limp in the Breanchian’s arms.

“He’ll be fine,” Jaehyo calls through, and Yukwon shakes his head.

“Just go,” he urges. “Go, now.”

“I’m sorry, Kwon,” Minhyuk says, his face appearing in the gap, as if on the screen of a holograph back on the Star Cow, talking about thrusters.

“They were wrong,” Yukwon talks to him through the gap, staring at Minhyuk as if they were standing face-to-face. “Love does not make a Carabinatan weak.”

“What does it make you?” Minhyuk asks, even as the sky swirls with a raging wind overhead and his crewmates yell at him to hurry up.

“Reckless,” Yukwon laughs, cracking a weary grin. “So, so reckless.”

Minhyuk smiles a watery smile at him, making a kiss with his lips. He touches his helmet in front of his mouth and then shoves his hand through the gap at Yukwon’s helmet to give him the kiss, slapping the front of the helmet.

“Go!” Yukwon yells at him, and Minhyuk hops down and disappears from his vision, scrambling back down the rubble to join the escaping crew of the pirate starship the Star Cow as they race to leave the dying planet of Noctua.

Yukwon waits until he can see the starship rising, a black shape in the infinite cosmos, darkening the fantastic beauty of the scattered nebulae and star dust surrounding the planet’s atmosphere. Then, he smiles in his unusually shaped helmet, touches the imaginary kiss on the front of it and slides back down the crumbled palace wall.

“Thrusters set to maximum,” Kyung calls out frantically, flipping every switch in sight. “Everything set to maximum, actually. Hold on to your seats, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!”

Kyung kicks the engine on and grabs hold of the control panel as the starship shoots itself out into space, trying to escape the galaxy’s atmosphere before the last bits of the planet of Noctua can burn up and ignite the gaseous atmosphere into a galaxy-ending explosion. The starship begins to shake violently as the turbulence rocks the whole ship and Jihoon kneels on the floor in the center of the control room to steady their unconscious captain, holding him still where he lays with his arms stretched out like a falling star.

“Leaving Noctuan airspace in ten,” Kyung counts down, clinging to the control panel, “nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...one!”

The starship settles into a regular flight pattern, gradually slowing down, and Kyung slams his hand onto the button controlling the observation deck so they can run out to watch. As they fill the observation deck, a sudden, blindingly bright white light overcomes the deck and they all cover their faces with their arms in surprise. The boom that comes after the light can only mean one thing. Minhyuk lowers his arms first, squinting through watery eyes as the light begins to fade and the explosion falls away into the distance, an entire galaxy disappearing in a single cataclysmic blow, soon to become an event of the past. He stares at the space where Noctua once was, wiped out of the universe, and the finality hits him like a hammer to the back of the head.

Somewhere behind them, a stirring noise brings their attention back to the control room. Jiho sits up groggily, lifting a hand to his helmet. They all file into the room silently as Jiho tugs his helmet off of his head and attempts to regain control over his mind and body.

“We’re back on the ship,” he says blandly, looking around. “Fuck, Jaehyo. You’re never allowed to use that energy-sapping trick on me again.”

“Sorry,” Jaehyo apologizes, “it’s just...well.”

“Wait,” Jiho mumbles, scrunching his brow. He looks around at his crew in confusion, blinking several times as his brain tries to click everything into place. “Hold on a second. Is something...is someone...?”

“Jiho,” Kyung starts talking, frowning to himself. “There wasn’t enough time.”

“Where’s Kwon?” Jiho asks as soon as he catches up with the situation. “Did you get him out? Is he hurt?”

He turns to Jihoon, looking for answers. Jihoon stares back at him blankly, his wide eyes frozen in apprehension.

“Is he hurt?” Jiho asks again, his voice deadly serious. He looks from one crew member to the next. “Report to me. What happened to Yukwon?”

“Like I said,” Kyung sighs, taking it upon himself to deliver the news. “There was no time. We had to leave.”

“You had to leave,” Jiho repeats hollowly. “You had to leave...him. Back there. You left him behind.”

“Jiho,” Minhyuk speaks up. “You tried. We couldn’t, there was no way.”

“You left him there,” Jiho says mechanically, pointing towards the observation deck, to the empty space where Noctua stood. “In, in that place. In the palace. In that star dust outside.”

Jiho stands up and he strides right up to Minhyuk. Minhyuk tries to step back, but Jiho grabs him by the front of his space suit and backs him up to the wall next to the opening to the observation deck. He points outside again.

“Yukwon is that star dust outside,” Jiho continues, voice shaking, “isn’t he? Is that Yukwon out there? Is that where you all left him? To fucking die?”

“Jiho,” Minhyuk mumbles, holding Jiho’s arms. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not sorry!” Jiho screams, shoving him into the wall again. “You’re not sorry!”

“I am sorry,” Minhyuk insists, his voice cracking up like the crumbling walls. “I’m so fucking sorry, Jiho. I didn’t want—”

“I can’t fucking believe you,” Jiho sobs, hitting his fist on Minhyuk’s chest. He crumples against the front of Minhyuk’s space suit, choking on his grief.

“If we stayed a second longer, we would have all died,” Minhyuk tells him, wrapping his arms securely around Jiho. “Yukwon told us to go. He saved our lives.”

“It was either him or all of us,” Kyung tries to explain, stroking his hand along Jiho’s arm. “There was nothing we could do.”

Jiho shakes his head, speechless. Kyung looks up at Minhyuk and frowns, and he wraps his arms around them both from behind Jiho.

The doors to the control room slide open with a quiet hiss.

“Um,” Taeil speaks up from behind them.

“What?” Kyung asks impatiently, still trying to console Jiho.

“Um, well, it’s just,” Jaehyo interrupts, walking over to them slowly with shock written all over his face. “It’s Yukwon.”

“Let it go, Jaehyo,” Minhyuk says quietly, resting his head against Jiho’s.

“No, seriously. It’s Yukwon. Right there. Just walked in. As in, here, right now.”

Jiho breaks away from their hold and spins around faster than anyone can catch him, stumbling a bit on his feet. Standing there in the entrance to the control room and leaning against the door, Yukwon stares at everyone in the control room with alarm, noticing Jiho’s state of distress.

“Is everything alright?” Yukwon asks worriedly. “What...what happened?”

“Kwon!” Jiho shouts, running over to him. He yanks Yukwon’s helmet off of his space suit and immediately starts feeling his face, tracing his hands over his horns. “Is that really you?”

“Well, yeah. Who else would it be?”

“But you just...exploded,” Jihoon says numbly, looking as if he’s sure he must be dreaming. “Like ten minutes ago.”

“No I didn’t,” Yukwon argues.

“How the hell did you get here?” Jiho breathes, overcome with shock. Yukwon smiles at him as he runs his fingers through Yukwon’s hair to check for realness.

“You said it would always bring me back onto the ship,” Yukwon tells him, taking the single-person teleport button out of his space suit. “You didn’t mention it would put me in a locked storage room, though. That was a bitch to break out of. Sorry about the locks.”

Jiho grins so wide his face feels like it’s going to break open, pulling Yukwon tight against himself and kissing him hard. Yukwon gladly wraps his arms around Jiho and returns the kiss, leaning up into the overjoyed captain, and then he stumbles back when the rest of the crew slams into them and nearly topples them over.

“So I guess, in the end, we weren’t the greatest, richest pirates in the universe,” Jaehyo says with a touch of sadness, fiddling with his bottle of Baraklavian alcohol. “Some other cool pirates were.”

“Or maybe the Noctuans took the dust diamond with them when they died,” Kyung suggests. “Destroyed it so no one could ever take it for themselves.”

“Maybe,” Jiho says, shrugging. “Who knows? It was still a hell of an adventure.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough adventuring for the moment,” Yukwon adds. “Maybe we should take a vacation.”

“Hey, there’s an idea,” Jiho says, turning to Kyung. “Where’s the closest vacation planet?”

“We could always drop by the planet Helendria,” Kyung replies. “It’s supposed to be a tropical paradise.”

“Sounds nice,” Taeil says. “I’m giving my vote to Helendria.”

“Big surprise, the fish alien wants to go swimming,” Jihoon jokes.

“You know,” Minhyuk jumps in, “I heard Helendria has a stash of ultra-rare hypersonic jet skis.”

“That sounds expensive,” Jiho says contemplatively. “How much do you think they’d sell for?”

“I said vacation,” Yukwon reminds him, sounding utterly amused.

“Yeah, yeah, nice vacation, take Dog for a walk on the beach,” Jiho agrees, nodding to himself, “steal some hypersonic jet skis, get the hell out. Sounds like an amazing vacation.”

“I’m in,” Jaehyo says.

“Me too.”

“So am I!”

“Do they have any cool fruit on vacation planets?”

“We aren’t stealing any more fruit.”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Priorities, Jihoon. We’re space pirates. We have dignity.”

“Eh, dignity’s overrated. You sure as fuck can’t sell dignity on the intergalactic black market.”

FIC for NERVELESS! Pick a Part That's New (Kyung/U-Kwon, others)

bbtimemods — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:00:43 GMT

For: nerveless
By: youniqorn

Title: pick a part that's new
Character/Pairing: Yukwon and Kyung friendship. Mentions of Jaehyo/Kyung and Minhyuk/Jihoon.
Summary: Kyung never planned to spend his summer out on his lawn selling off most of his possessions, but things aren't too bad, especially when a stranger on rollerblades rolls up from the pavement on the first day of his yard sale.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 5538
Warnings: None
Author's notes: Dear nerveless, thank you so much for pretty much the best prompts that a person could ever ask for. It took me a while to settle on which one of your prompts to write, and I had a lot of fun figuring things out when I finally decided on writing this! I hope you like it! (◡‿◡✿) title from the Stereophonics song of the same name.

"YARD SALE", the sign reads, red poster paint on the brown insides of an old cardboard beer carton. It's small, roughly the size of a shoebox, and the 'E' of the 'SALE' is squashed into a corner, but it's the best that Kyung can do for now considering how broke he is. It's the same lack of digits in his bankbook that got him into this whole mess, his landlord threatening to kick him out of the battered, old, one-storey house he's been living in if he doesn't pay his rent on time by the next month.

His parents aren't much of a help to him financially—at least, not right now. Kyung knows that if he hasn't managed to scrounge up the money by the time it's time to transfer money into his landlord's account, a quick call to his mother (along with some pitiful whining) would be enough to ensure him another month of considerably comfortable living.

For now, he has pretty much everything he owns out on his lawn. Sure, he's kept his bed and a futon, his laptop, a standing lamp, and a microwave, but if worse comes to worst, he figures the bed would have to go.

If people would even want to buy it, Kyung thinks, and his mind wanders to the discoloured sheets on his mattress, not to mention the mysterious stain on one edge that he hopes is pizza sauce and not some other unknown fluid.

Kyung's settled out on on his lawn, sitting back on a creaky poolside chaise he thinks he inherited from Jiho one year after spring break. The town's public pool had put up notice about one of their chaise's going missing, but even if Kyung suspected Jiho of furniture snatching, he highly doubts the pool's management would want their chair back with the amount of spray paint and carved in profanities on it now.

He's broken out of his thoughts when someone taps him on the shoulder. It's a man who looks around his age, though the stranger is taller, tanned, and has much tinier eyes.

Triple T, Kyung muses to himself. "Hi," he says instead, eager to do business with possibly the first (but hopefully not only) patron to his yard sale.

"Hey," Triple T, greets in return, and he rolls on from the sidewalk over to Kyung's place on his chaise. It's only then that Kyung notices that he's wearing rollerblades, but Kyung has never really been interested in details concerning footwear, not even his own, apart from the possibility that he can fit insoles into them.

"Kim Yukwon," Triple T says and motions to himself, and Kyung quickly throws out the name he'd created off Yukwon's appearance from his head. “I’m just looking.”

"Good to meet you, Kim Yukwon. I'm Park Kyung; welcome to my yard sale. "

Yukwon blinks and looks around a little, scrunching his nose up before he turns back to Kyung and smiles. Kyung narrows his eyes a little. Yukwon's smile is nothing but charming, but Kyung know for certain that he'd be able to use his charm to get his way when bargaining and trying to cut prices.

"Is there anything you'd like? We have trinkets, everyday appliances, and furniture, all owned by yours truly!" Kyung smiles, wide and as friendly as he can; he's not going to lose to this Kim Yukwon and his seemingly natural charm.

"How much is your rice cooker going for?" Yukwon asks, stepping up to it and lifting the lid to peer inside it.

Kyung turns in his seat to face Yukwon quickly. "About 40 thousand won, I'd say," he tells him, and Yukwon lifts an eyebrow.

"You're not going to make anything from this sale if you're selling used stuff for the same price as it would in a department store, you know."

"Well," Kyung says, mind whirring and ready for a price battle, "This is a really special rice cooker," he tells Yukwon. It's really not special at all, truthfully, paint peeling off the outer coat and switch cracked slightly, but Kyung isn't going to lower his price without some negotiating.

"Okay," Yukwon says, slowly, and he seems amused. There's a quirk to his lips now, and Kyung knew there was more to him than his smile. "Tell me what's so special about it, and I'll consider buying it."

"This is a rice cooker that is crucial in a story of love, of passion, of a couple at odds at times and smitten at others—"

"Please don't tell me this is some kind of story called 'Kyungie-o and Juliet," Yukwon interjects.

"No, nobody dies in this. God, I'm still here, come on." Kyung hushes him with one hand. He points to a short children's stool an arms-length away from his chaise, legs barely as long as the weeds that have taken over his lawn. "Sit down, and I'll tell you about us and the rice cooker. "

Yukwon trudges through the overgrown grass the best that he can, rollerblades squelching in the slightly muddy soil. "I am a willing customer here you know," Yukwon tells Kyung, and there's something in his voice that Kyung thinks sounds like he expects Kyung to give up his chaise for him. A lifted eyebrow tells him that this is, in fact, what Yukwon wants.

Kyung looks at him cooly. He grabs the ratty cushion from behind his back and tosses it at the stool. Yukwon just manages to grab it with his fingers and stop it from landing straight in the muddy grass.

"There," Kyung says, and that's as much as he's willing to give Yukwon at this point. "And for the record, Juliet's name in this story is Jaehyo."

Christmas. When Kyung was a child, Christmas was spent opening presents, carolling and going to church with his family. Now though, the days leading up to Christmas aren’t spent looking forwards to feasts or present opening, but rather thinking up favors that he’d be able to scrawl onto tiny sheets of Post-Its as his own personal Park Kyung Coupons in lieu of actual present buying.

Back when he was little, he didn’t have to think about cooking either.

Shit, Kyung thinks, as he stares into the rice cooker. He's pretty sure he set the timer right at RICE and not at PORRIDGE. It's at that moment that Jaehyo bounds into the kitchen.

"Kyung, Jiho has pretty much eaten half of our roast. Also, at least a quarter of the potato salad has been inhaled by Jihoon, and I'm pretty sure that was before he brought it over as his dish for the potluck—what is that."

The starchy white gloop stares sadly up at them both, and Jaehyo turns to look at Kyung, eyes hard. Kyung thinks he might as well have set the rice cooker to DEAD MEAT.

Kyung fiddles with his sweater sleeve and pulls it back from where his hand is still at the rice cooker's dial. "It was set at RICE," he opts for, finally, but Jaehyo's gaze doesn't waver.

"How much water did you put in."

It's more of a statement and less like a question, and on normal days, Kyung would tease Jaehyo for his shit emphasis on keywords in phrases, but today the day of their first ever Christmas party as a couple, and Kyung figures he should spare Jaehyo from his witty quip before Jaehyo chucks his Christmas present out the window of his 13th floor studio apartment.

“Ah,” is what he says instead.

“So, while you’re telling me about all of this merry making, eating, and getting wasted,” Yukwon butts in, and Kyung pauses in his tale of Christmas past, “What say we have a little something to drink?”

He isn’t carrying a bag of any kind, and Kyung is pretty sure his pockets aren’t deep enough to carry anything other than a cell phone. Kyung gives him a once over. “You’re not hiding beer somewhere are you, because there is no way I’m going to drink any kind of beverage that has been anywhere near your rollerblades—”

“Actually,” Yukwon stops him, “I was thinking maybe you’d like to break out the six-pack of boxed juice over there with your one and only first customer—”

“How did you know you were my first and only customer?” Kyung asks, and he sniffs a little for effect. Yukwon is getting quicker and more charming with his retorts, and Kyung is reminded of his own self-honed antics to charm his way in and out of any situation.

“Kyung, your sign is made out of the back of a beer carton. The very least you could have done was to laminate a printed sign in order to attract customers; your current sign is damp from the drizzle this morning and the paint has pretty much run off the board by now.”

Yukwon’s sharp words remind him of himself, but there is no way that he’s better looking than Kyung. “Hmph,” he grunts, and Yukwon points beyond his chaise again. Kyung turns and brings the six-pack of juice to his lap, rips two boxes out of the plastic wrap and tosses one to him.

Yukwon catches it with ease, and Kyung has to give him points for the agility that Kyung has pretty much been lacking his entire life—not that he’s ever needed it, though. “That’ll be 2500 won.”

Yukwon sighs around his straw and motions for Kyung to continue with his story.

“Ah,” is what he says instead, and he ducks when Jaehyo flings the unused rice ladle at him. “Hey,” Kyung starts, indignant, but Jaehyo just picks up the rice cooker. “Hyung—”

Jaehyo covers his mouth with one hand. Kyung licks at his fingers, defiant, and thinks that he’d much rather have had this happen in the bedroom when Jaehyo speaks again. “I’m mad at you, okay,” Jaehyo tells him, and his mouth is set in a grim line as he wipes his hands off on Kyung’s shoulder. “We’ll settle this later.”

He brings the rice cooker it out into the hall, shouting about porridge and the health benefits of softer foods. Kyung stands in the kitchen, bewildered and the tiniest bit turned on, then he hears Jiho cussing about eating old-people’s food on Christmas and decides to rejoin the group in the dining room.

Jaehyo handles the situation perfectly fine, if accidentally tipping Jiho’s can of beer right off the table and onto his pants can be counted as fine.

“And that was that,” Kyung finishes.

Yukwon stares at him. “That’s your story?” he asks, seemingly incredulous. It makes Kyung a little bit uncomfortable because he hasn’t even said anything about wanting to buy the rice cooker.

“Pretty much.”

“There’s got to be more than that.”

Kyung bites at his juice box straw and hums. “We had dinner, and the porridge was perfect. After we washed up, he dragged me into the bedroom and we made sweet, sweet love—”

“Okay this I actually do not need to know—”
“—except it wasn’t really sweet, sweet love because he was still kinda pissed at me but trust me he gets kind of really hot when he’s mad and we fuck so—”

“Okay, I get it, I won’t ask anymore!” Yukwon half shrieks. He’s covering his eyes with his hands as if he can see Kyung and his sexy antics right in front of him. Kyung scoffs, because Yukwon should really be basking in his presence, be it in his mind or not.

“So, are you going to take it?”

Yukwon drops his hands from his face. “There is no way I’m taking a faulty rice cooker, and definitely not for 40 thousand won.”

“Ah, but you see, the rice cooker I have here is not faulty at all!” Kyung tells him happily.

“Kyung,” Yukwon deadpans, “You just told me an entire story about it.”

“I told you that this rice cooker was crucial in this story,” Kyung says, “And it is! Because I replaced the faulty one with this one.”

Yukwon stands up from his stool, and he might be taller than Kyung but he’s not the slightest bit intimidating with his hands on his hips and his feet in rollerblades. “You didn’t tell me that.”

Kyung chucks his now empty juice box at the trashcan he’s also selling, but it bounces off the rim and ends up on top of his bedside table with the wobbly leg. He shrugs. “You didn’t give me a chance to tell you about what happened after Jaehyo and I got in bed, so...”

Yukwon takes a look at his watch briefly, then reaches into his pocket. He hands Kyung a thousand won bill, and Kyung takes it without knowing what he’s actually paying—or underpaying—for.

“Thanks for the juice,” he says, “I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you a story and get that ricecooker given to me for free. And maybe your toaster too.”

*

The next time Yukwon comes back, the chaise and stool have disappeared from Kyung’s yard, and Kyung is squeezed into the corner of a burnt-orange loveseat reading a tattered looking volume of One Piece.

“You’ve lost your wheels,” Kyung notes, and he points at Yukwon’s blade-less feet with his comic book.

Yukwon rolls his eyes. “You’ve lost your chaise.”

“And my stool!” Kyung tells him quite happily. He’d managed to donate the chaise to the public pool, undoubtedly where it originally came from, but now it had a splash of color on it that would bring some originality to the poolside. As for the swear words scrawled all over it, Kyung figured that not too many of the town’s people would be able to make out Jiho’s chicken-scratch scrawl in a mix of English, Japanese and Korean. The management even let him throw in the stool as an extra gift.

“Your couch isn’t very big.”

“I’m not exactly the largest of people.” Kyung deadpans. He pats the couch cushions, offering the space to Yukwon, who declines with a shake of his head. “I’ve got somewhere to go right now. But I’m here to offer you a goods trade.”

Kyung perks up at that. “What have you got in mind?”

Yukwon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a single sock for Kyung to inspect. It’s mostly black, a few cartoony stars printed onto the ankle, but it clearly has character, from what Kyung can see of the faded cartoon zebra sprouting out from the toe portion of the sock all the way up the top of the foot. “Cute,” Kyung says, “What do you want for it?”

“I’ve seen your old sock collection. I’m willing to trade you this one sock for your pair of argyle ones.”

Kyung scratches at his chin, contemplative. “The black and grey, or the neon pair.”

“The neon,” Yukwon says, and Kyung walks over to his goldfish bowl of old socks to fish them out of the pile.

“Tell you what,” Kyung says, “I’ll give you one for one. One of my neon argyle socks for one of your smiling zebra socks.”

Yukwon seems to think about this. Kyung hopes he knows that procuring a neon argyle sock, whether in a pair or one alone, is already a steal, especially for such a low cost. Kyung himself had found the pair in an old shop in Dongdaemun market, where he’d traded half a bag of roasted chestnuts with an old lady for them.

Yukwon doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then he flips his zebra sock over to show off the bottom arch of the sock. Kyung peers at the printed details of the back of a zebra, mane and all. It’s a double sided character sock, and Kyung knows a bargain when he sees one. He reaches out a hand, and the two of them shake on it.

“Deal,” Kyung says, and hands the neon socks over.

*

A few days later, Kyung finds Yukwon sprawls across most of the loveseat, considering Kyung hardly takes up any space at the end of it. He tilts his head back, and Yukwon shifts to get comfortable.

“So,” Kyung says, then pauses. “I’m waiting.”

“Hmm? For what?” Yukwon sounds confused.

Kyung lets his head roll to the side to face him. “I’m waiting for you to get on with your toaster story.”

“You’re serious?”

“As serious as I can be!” Kyung chirps, “I’m waiting for whatever you have that you think will win you my rice cooker.”

“Your rice cooker and your toaster.” Yukwon looks thoughtful.

Kyung squints at him. “Let’s see what you’ve got before we start bargaining, okay?”

“Fine,” Yukwon says, and there’s a look in his eyes that tells Kyung that his story is either going to be one big fib, or so ridiculous that it has to be true.

Kyung presses himself back into the couch, bringing his knees up and squishing his ankles into the lumpy cushions, set and ready to listen and criticize. Yukwon snorts at his antics, then stretches his hand out towards the pavement in a swooping motion, palm out and fingers spread, as if casting a scene in his head.

“Picture this,” Yukwon starts, “A friend and I are on a vacation in Jeju as a weekend trip, and he almost burns the hotel down...”

The hotel is large and luxurious, bigger and far grander than any hotel Yukwon has ever stayed in, let alone chanced upon, in his entire life.

He’s lucky that Minhyuk managed to acquire a weekend away at the hotel, and even luckier that Minhyuk decided to bring him along to Jeju. His parents had won the weekend getaway in a lucky draw organized by their credit card company, but had to attend a relative’s wedding in Mokpo that weekend instead, leaving the accommodations to Minhyuk.

They had a two bedroom suite to themselves, and each of them had taken a turn in the near pool-sized bathtub the night before when they’d checked in before knocking out on the thousand-threadcount sheet covered beds, sinking their heads into the plush pillows and falling almost instantly asleep.

Now though, it was time for breakfast.

Yukwon stares at the multiple buffet tables in the hall, each one ladened with dish after dish of breakfast food and thinks that yes, he is very, very lucky indeed.

Minhyuk seems just as awed, and probably just as hungry, judging from the sounds of a gurgling stomach that reaches Yukwon’s ears from his right, where Minhyuk is standing. He looks back and forth from table to table before looking at Yukwon.

“I don’t know where to start,” he confesses, a wide grin on his face. Yukwon smiles back.

"Well, I do," Yukwon answers him, "I'm going to order and omelette from the eggs station."

"Cheese?"

"Lots of it!"

Minhyuk laughs. "I'll guess I'll head to the bread to pick up some toast."

"Hyung, you can make toast easily at home."

"I know that, but when have you ever seen such a huge toaster in your life?"

Yukwon has got to admit that he has a point there. The toaster is gigantic, a half-meter wide conveyor belt designed to lead slices of fluffy break into the mouth of the toaster, where its insides are complete with hot-lamps on each of its four walls, ensuring that the bread gets toasted evenly on every side before it slides out to be grabbed and consumed at the other end, browned and crisped to perfection.

Minhyuk looks ready to drool at this point, and Yukwon flicks his nose before his spit has the chance to hit the floor. “I’m going to run over to the eggs before you catch me in your droolfest.”

Minhyuk flips him off with a laugh, and that’s the last Yukwon sees of him for the next ten minutes.

“While we have a few minutes of you not seeing this Minhyuk in your story,” Kyung cuts in, bored out of his mind, “do you think you could speed things up a little bit?”
“No.”

“The longer you take to get to the point of your story, the less I’m going to be willing to give you my ricecooker.”

“And toaster.”

“There is no way in hell I’m giving you my toaster. All this talk about the hotel and your foodporn is nothing compared to my story.”

Yukwon kicks him in the side, and Kyung thanks the heavens he’s not wearing his rollerblades today. He stretches his legs off the edge of the couch when Yukwon speaks again. “Your own story about your loverboy was shit.”

“It’s not my fault that you don’t want to listen to my recollection of him going down on-”

Yukwon throws an old sock at him from the growing pile on Kyung’s sidetable. “Shut up. I’ll get on with it.”

Ten minutes doesn’t seem like a long time when you compare them to an hour or two, or maybe even a day or a week. But in ten minutes, Yukwon managed to place his order for his omelette with the hotel’s standby egg-chef, grabbed a few pieces of crackers and an assortment of cheese slices, and picked up two portions of every fruit on the hotel’s fruit platter. Ten minutes, if you had asked Yukwon when he first woke up that morning, would simply be those glorious extra minutes of sleep you’d wish for after the blear of an alarm clock.

Yukwon would have never imagined that ten minutes would be all it takes for an amateur arsonist to start a fire in a four-star hotel’s breakfast buffet hall, using an industrial toaster and a slice of bread.

“And a slice of cheese,” Minhyuk would chime in later, years after That Incident with the Toast, or so he liked to call it. Yukwon can still smell the smoke and hear the shouting, but most of all he can remember Minhyuk’s frantic face and sheepish look when the hotel’s manager came running into the breakfast hall.

Yukwon at the time didn’t care so much for how the fire was started, but more so for how Minhyuk managed to start a fire by failing at the simplest task of toasting bread.

“I had the toast all buttered up and ready,” Minhyuk tells him, in the manager’s office, when the manager is busy telephoning Minhyuk’s parents in order to get some kind of confirmation that yes, their son has no reported past of being a grand arsonist. “I put on the slice of cheese because i wanted cheese on toast-”

“That’s all fine, Minhyuk, but how did you let the toast catch fire in the toaster?” Yukwon has had plenty of time to vouch for his friend’s innocence, if retelling the story of his parents’ winning draw in the competition and proof of their identities can be called that, especially if it’s to five different hotel employees.

Minhyuk hums at him thoughtfully. “See, I put the cheese on the butter on the bread, and then I set it on the conveyor belt.” Yukwon waves his hand, tells him to get a move on with it because Minhyuk clearly isn’t the greatest person to trust when it comes to getting out of trouble, and he’ll have to hurry with his explanation if Yukwon is to be their saving grace, judging from the furried looks on the manager’s face from where he’s standing across the room, still connected to a call with Minhyuk’s parents. Minhyuk sighs. “After I put it in the toaster, I walked around a bit. I picked up a roll or two, some jam, some little packs of honey too! And I just. Kind of forgot about the toast...”

Kyung starts laughing before Yukwon can say another word, forcing Yukwon to stop until Kyung is done. Only when Kyung is wheezing does Yukwon poke at his thigh with his toes. “Done?” he asks, and Kyung nods. “Your friend sounds absolutely ridiculous.” Yukwon just shakes his head and sighs.

Yukwon’s eyes widen, incredulous. “You didn’t pick it up at the other end of the toaster.”

“Nope.”

“You let it continue on the conveyor belt and it fell to the bottom of the toaster and got burnt to a crisp.”

Minhyuk winces at that. Yukwon has been known to be blunt when he needs to be. “Pretty much,” Minhyuk says slowly, “I didn’t expect the added cheese to make things close to explosive though. And the added layer of breadcrumbs at the bottom of the toaster must have added to the flammability. Of my, uh. Toast.”

“So. That’s my story.” Yukwon finishes, looking serious. Kyung has got to hand it to him: it was a great story. But Kyung isn’t that easy to break. He reaches behind the couch for the rice cooker—and only the rice cooker. Yukwon doesn’t seem so amused by this.

“What the fuck, Kyung, I told you such a great story.”

Kyung hushes him with the wave of a hand. “You’ll have to give me much better than that to get the toaster too. For all I know, there’ll be a slightly more willing customer who’ll want my toaster here.”

Yukwon’s glare isn’t particularly menacing, but Kyung holds his tongue from telling him so. He knows how egos can be wounded, especially after one has been denied a toaster from the great Park Kyung, so he keeps his mouth shut about Yukwon’s inability to be intimidating. Yukwon takes the rice cooker gingerly by one of it’s lacquered handles before jumping up from the couch.

“I’ll be back,” he says, and he shakes the rice cooker as a goodbye, the pot cover clanging away as he walks.

Kyung smiles. “I’m looking forwards to it!”

*

When Yukwon stops by next, it’s on the day after the morning that Kyung woke up to find that a disaster hit his yard. He’s attempting to scrub what he can out of the fabric of his couch, not that it’s doing much good.

“Is that...” Yukwon asks, squinting at Kyung’s newly vandalized loveseat. “Yes,” Kyung says with a long-suffering sigh. “Since I’m not selling my bed, my best friend seems to have thought that by not letting him carve actual notches on my bedposts, he’s decided to add scribbles to my loveseat instead.”

The previously orange and plain couch is now covered in what looks to be considerably authentic ‘stains’, probably painted in whitish translucent glue and made to look like the couch had housed an orgy the night before. Each stain is coupled with an arrow that points to it, random numbered dates along with “XMAS” and “1ST ANNIV” written in black permanent marker to label them. In what looks to be baby pink paint, there are scribbles of “Hyung~♡”, “Jaehyo~♡” and “Kyungie~♡”. Kyung has to give Jiho points for creativity, though it doesn’t make him any less pissed off.

“I gotta say,” Yukwon tells him, “this is pretty amusing.” He picks up a half dried up marker from Kyung’s old pencil holder to fill in one of the multiple hearts floating about Kyung’s couch.

Kyung throws down his washcloth. “Just wait until it’s dark; he used glow in the dark paint.”

*

Kyung has a thing for remixes. It’s just something that he’s come to like over years of listening to various genres of music and thinking up how certain songs would sound with another song’s lyrics or artist.

What he’s come to learn, however, is that remixes don’t stop just at songs, but at stories too. It’s not stealing, really, when he starts a great tale about a hotel and burnt toast, not when he mixes things up a bit, especially when he has willing customers and the smell of money pretty much right under his nose.

“And get this,” Kyung finds himself saying quite enthusiastically, “he puts in the toast and forgets all about it, cheese and all!” He doesn’t see Yukwon coming up the driveway, this time with his rollerblades on, but it doesn’t really matter all that much, especially when Taeil has his wallet in his hands and Kyung’s toaster tucked under his arm. Jihoon delightedly presses down on the toaster lever over and over again just to see it spring back up.

“God,” Taeil huffs, close to breathless by the force of his laughter. “What a spacey guy. What’s his name again?”

“Yukwon.”

Yukwon rolls up at that moment, and Kyung hurriedly introduces him to Taeil and Jihoon. “Yukwon, lover of neon socks and owner of my ricecooker, not to mention the very star of the true story I just told you. Yukwon, this is Taeil and Jihoon, roommates and my old friends.”

Yukwon bows slightly, eyes trailed on the toaster in Taeil’s hands. He looks pretty livid when Taeil introduces himself as the proud new owner of Kyung’s old toaster.

“I just couldn’t say no,” Taeil tells him, taking out a few ten thousand won bills, “Not after the story about how you nearly burnt down that hotel in Busan!”

Yukwon’s lips thin, and Kyung dodges the blades on Yukwon’s feet that have suddenly started to gravitate towards his own. “It was Jeju, and I didn’t—”

“Hey now!” Kyung stops him, and he whips the money out of Taeil’s hands. They disappear quickly into the pockets of his jeans. “Let’s not get Yukwonnie here embarassed, okay, guys!”

Jihoon smiles at them and lets go of the toaster lever, and it jumps back up to the top of the groove. “It’s okay, though! Being spacey can be really endearing!”

Kyung looks at him as if he’s lost it, and Yukwon is a little lost for words. Taeil on the other hand simply rolls his eyes. “It’s because he’s seeing someone now,” Taeil says, “Some guy my age who honestly sounds like he doesn’t have much up there, if you know what I mean.” He points at his head for emphasis, and Kyung is sure that Jihoon isn’t dating someone who’s balding.

Jihoon elbows Taeil in the side. “It’s not his fault,” he starts, slightly pink cheeked. “Minhyuk is just the tiniest bit slow when it comes to understanding how things work!”

Kyung is ready to explode at this point, but he manages to mask his laughter with a whooping cough. Taeil thwacks him on the back, hard, and Yukwon wheezes something out. “Minhyuk? Lee Minhyuk?”

Jihoon blinks and nods. Yukwon bursts out into laughter and Kyung punches his shoulder.

“There is sure to be more than one Lee Minhyuk in Seoul,” Kyung hisses to him. To Jihoon he says: “I’m happy for you, Jihoonie! I’m sure your Minhyuk is great!”

“He is!” Jihoon tells them happily, and Kyung couldn’t insult him even if he tried.

When the two have made it down the street and turned the corner, finally out of sight, Yukwon jabs his fingers into Kyung’s ribs, causing him to double over. He then rolls over Kyung’s flip-flop clad feet with his rollerblades, hard enough to sting but not hard enough to bruise.

“You owe me something huge for that story, you thief.”

Kyung manages to let out a small, pathetic sound, his toes still smarting. It doesn’t hurt all that much, but Kyung is a master at the drawing things out and being as dramatic as possible when he wants to be. He flops back onto the loveseat. “Go ahead and take the couch, free of charge, if you want.”

Yukwon raises an eyebrow again, a look that Kyung has become quite accustomed to, and Kyung knew from the beginning that Yukwon would be trouble.

*

Two months later, Kyung finds himself on the same couch surrounded by the same furniture and stuff that he’s had for most of the entirety of his bachelor life. There are old socks tacked to the wall in a spiral pattern, his large goldfish bowl sits on his low coffee table, filled with dirty laundry, and a pack of juice boxes balances on the rim. There’s a text saved in Kyung’s phone from Taeil from a month back, jihoon’s boyfriend just blew up our toaster, and Kyung thinks that life couldn’t get any better than this.

This is Yukwon’s tiny flat, and in one summer, Kyung has managed to not only sell out at his yard sale, but also acquire a friend.

Life is pretty good.

FIC for YOUNIQORN! Your "Everything Better" Plan (Jaehyo-Centric)

bbtimemods — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:01:05 GMT

For: youniqorn
By: inbrevity

Title: Your "Everything Better" Plan
Character/Pairing: Jaehyo-centric
Summary: In a little town called Sunset Valley, Jaehyo finds himself in the midst of a crisis.
Rating: PG
Length: 2,300~
Warnings: none
Author's notes: hello dear recipient! this probably isn’t exactly what you had in mind. since it's really only jaekyung if you squint. or bjae if you squint harder. nonetheless i hope you enjoy! i adore this game to bits and have lots of feelings for it. i also want to thank the lovely person who read this over and endured my last minute frustrations. this would be a fic riddled with cats and nothing else if not for her. cheers!

The first time Jaehyo wonders if there might be more to life is during a particularly mundane sunrise, when the only exciting part is a seemingly unnoticeable glitch in one of the rays of light. It falters for only a nanosecond, a horizontal streak of blankness only someone who scrutinizes the sun each and every morning would notice. The brief shock of nothing terrifies him, and it seems, despite the infinitesimal effect it had on the entire neighborhood, that in that moment his world had been turned entirely upside down, that something as infallible as the sun could cease to exist.

Jaehyo expresses this revelation to his soon-to-be-life-partner-but-currently-a-nuisance-of-a-roommate, Minhyuk, who only responds with a red 'x' in a thought bubble. Minhyuk finishes smoothing out his side of the bed and leaves Jaehyo to daydream and drown in his own thoughts.

It's a little later—mid-breakfast and post thought bubble—that the notion would fully click: Jaehyo thinks there must be a higher power at play. There has to be. It was a certain Destiny that had wanted Jaehyo to come downstairs and make breakfast when all he wanted to do was lay in bed. So here he is at the dining table, but what does it mean?

Jaehyo relates his confusion in the only way he knows how, through a series of frustrated arm flails and a firm stomp of his left leg. Nothing happens. His roommate responds with his distaste at the loud noise in another red 'x' in another thought bubble. "Renato! Renato!"

The words are foreign and meaningless to him. Jaehyo finds no comfort in them and thinks that it seems like just yesterday that they were still speaking the same language.

While Minhyuk is at the sink washing the dishes, Jaehyo stretches his limbs, relishing in the lazy feeling of Sunday morning, still mildly upset that he didn’t get to sleep in.

Through an appropriately informative moodlet, Jaehyo learns that the distress and confusion he's currently experiencing is something called a mid-life crisis, which only exacerbates his crisis because he's certain he is not yet near his mid-life.

But when he revisits all of his memories and realizes he really did let his young adult life slip away, the only thing he can think of to do is complain and pester his roommate.

Minhyuk, who only knows how to express himself through negative thought bubbles, is no help.

So after Jaehyo rummages through all of five books on their bookshelf, finding only cooking books he vaguely remembers reading, he resorts to the only other alternative he can think of—maybe he should hit the library.

This is when his suspicions of his Destiny are confirmed. As he's making the drive to the library, turning a particularly sharp corner and stopping briefly to allow a deer to cross, it would seem that Destiny doesn’t want him going to the library. Destiny wants him to go back home and bake a pie. Just like Destiny had wanted him to get up early.

Unsure of how it happened, Jaehyo suddenly finds himself standing in the kitchen, measuring out cups of flour for key lime pie. It's a purely mechanical process, kind of a miracle actually, and he’s freaking out on the inside, but seemingly has no physical control to express it. Jaehyo is positive he has no clue how to make key lime pie, yet, a few hours later, a steaming key lime pie sits on the counter. Jaehyo doesn't know whether to thank Destiny, or to blame it. He silently wonders how long he’s been obediently following it.

When it becomes clear that Destiny wants him to eat the pie alone, Jaehyo decides: enough. For one, it’s taken him way too long to achieve the figure that he wants, and two, he’s not even remotely hungry. He refuses to let this power, no matter how high it is, control in him such a way. He’s let so many of his years slip away, blindly abiding to his set path in life; he’s going to take a stand. He’s not going to eat the pie.

It’s then, during the internal struggle with Destiny, that he hears the rumble of his neighbor’s old pick up rolling into the driveway. Through the window in the kitchen, Jaehyo can see Kyung climbing out of the vehicle. Jaehyo waves, not entirely sure Kyung can see him.

He remembers how they use to be Close Friends, maybe even Romantic Interests back when Jaehyo, young and on the cusp of adulthood, first moved to the neighborhood. Now they’re simply just Distant Friends. He frowns at the thought. Along with all of his young adult years that slipped away, Jaehyo wonders how that happened. When Kyung smiles and waves back rather cordially, Jaehyo gets an idea.

He tucks the key lime pie into his inventory, fighting the little voice in his head that is telling him to eat it, and starts walking out the door towards Kyung’s house. Destiny immediately rejects this maneuver before Jaehyo even makes it off of his own porch. Similar to how it happened before, he suddenly finds himself inside again.

Determined, Jaehyo walks out again, but once again finds himself back inside. Even more determined, he tries it again, but to no avail still. Minhyuk watches the whole fiasco, his head swiveling back and forth as if he were a spectator at a ping-pong match.

“Jowlenin!” Minhyuk, amused, claps his hands.

Jaehyo stomps his feet and points disapprovingly at the door. Fueled with frustration, he runs outside as fast as he can. He’s then forced to run back inside just the same. Rather than giving up just yet, he continues to dash out the door quicker and quicker each time, but he’s defeated every time. Minhyuk chuckles like someone just told him a joke.

Just when Jaehyo’s almost fed up with this entire thing, he sees the same quiver as earlier, except instead of only a small ray of sunshine, it’s happening all around him.

Everything freezes and flickers on and off to black. It’s quite frightening. This time his entire world really is getting turned upside down. Even Minhyuk is frozen mid-chuckle.

Without thinking, Jaehyo takes one last tentative step onto the porch, and after meeting no resistance, sprints towards Kyung’s front door.

He makes it and pulls out the pie as he rings the doorbell. He smiles the smile he’s practiced many times in the mirror while attempting to increase his charisma.

The flickering ends and the normal bustle of the neighborhood resumes. Then one minute he’s holding the pie at his neighbor’s door, heart swelling with hope and triumph, the next he’s walking down the sidewalk back to his house. No, no, no. Jaehyo tries to turn around, but his feet keep moving forward. When he’s back on his own porch yet again, he manages to steal a look over his shoulder just as Kyung opens the door.

Jaehyo attempts to shoot electrical signals conveying I’ll be back, mostly it’s a facial expression resembling a scowl, and he’s not sure if communication really works that way.

Kyung waves back at him. Maybe it does.

Jaehyo huffs, dissatisfied at having wasted the whole day. He stands cross-armed at his bedroom window and stares at the forbidden front porch of Park Kyung. Daylight slowly fades away and Jaehyo is glad Destiny doesn’t have anything planned for his evening. He’s not particularly in the mood to do anything.

Ironically the sunsets in Sunset Valley aren’t that great. The sky just goes from light, to something darker, to night. It’s not nearly as charming as a sunrise, or maybe mornings are just nicer in general.

He climbs into bed, despite it still being early. Jaehyo’s eyes are closed as he pretends to be asleep. He figures that maybe in this way Destiny won’t even try to bother him.

Now his thoughts can wander freely. His thoughts can go outside, figuratively speaking, without being forced to go back inside. But the more he thinks about it, the more he becomes disheartened by the fact that his thoughts are really nothing but electrical impulses: images spun out of algorithms. Part of him, the part in a mid-life crisis, doesn’t want to accept that this is all there is to life.

The pie is still in his inventory and it’s probably going to spoil soon. He doesn’t have much time. In between devising a plan to share it with his neighbor and entertaining questions of ‘who am I?’, Jaehyo falls asleep wondering if maybe Destiny is really just something he can’t escape.

He wakes up in more or less the same mood as the morning before: irritated at having to get up early and more irritated because he’s about to make watermelon pancakes for the fifth consecutive day.

He really doesn’t understand what Destiny’s grand plan is, but as he’s cracking the eggs he always cracks, Jaehyo comes up with a plan of his own.

Since he is rather skilled at the culinary arts, Jaehyo rarely burns any food, but sometimes these things do happen. Sometimes he spaces out and leaves the food on the heat for a few moments too long. Sometimes the food catches on fire. Sometimes the entire stove catches on fire, and then sometimes the entire kitchen starts to go up in flames.

Jaehyo, satisfied that his plan is working, takes advantage of the distraction a home fire creates to make a run for his neighbor’s house, much like he did the day before.

He successfully makes it across the yard and this time he doesn’t waste time with knocking. He barges in, grabs Kyung who is conveniently standing around doing nothing, and begins to run.

Kyung is initially dazed, then very alarmed at the sight of the fire next door, and before he can even remotely protest, he’s being dragged along under Jaehyo’s death grip. Jaehyo silently chants this is the only way in the back of his mind. The pie is seemingly weightless in his pockets, but he doesn't forget it's there.

Minhyuk runs out of the house, frantically waving his arms, but Jaehyo keeps running. He tries to read his lips but remembers they don’t speak the same language. He tries to read his thought bubbles, but they contain no viable information other than Fire! They run past him without even slowing down.

Jaehyo knows the distraction is only going to last briefly and he’s running with no idea of where to go. Where in the world can he run to escape Destiny?

They make it into town, and do a U-turn at the end of Central Park because Jaehyo suddenly spots Divisadero Budget Books. His face breaks out in a manic smile as he tugs a frightened Kyung behind him.

Once they’re inside, Jaehyo lets out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Kyung wrenches his arm from Jaehyo’s grip and seems to shout to above rather than to his captor. He stomps and points disapprovingly at his surroundings.

Jaehyo blinks. “Woah.”

He blinks again. “I can understand you, woah.”

Kyung blinks. “Woah, I can understand you.”

They stare at each other in the blankness, blinking being the only movement.

“What do you think this means?” Kyung says after a prolonged moment of silence, seemingly overcome more by wonder than by the fact that he has just been essentially kidnapped. He wonders if it’s possible that his neighbor of all these years is also questioning Destiny, and if so, whether he has any answers.

Jaehyo shrugs, the timer on his mid-life crisis moodlet ticking down until it disappears. Then it’s like a weight being lifted off of his shoulder. This is one of the few places Destiny can’t control them. Technically they’re in the bookstore, but it feels as if they’re no longer even in Sunset Valley. Jaehyo doesn’t know how to describe it, or let alone where he thinks they are. He just knows, although it’s only temporary, that he has out run Destiny; he can feel it.

Jaehyo finally procures the key lime pie from his inventory and extends it towards Kyung in a friendly manner.

“I think it means we are meant to share this pie.”

---

“Minhyuk. How long have you been here?” Jaehyo says as clambers in around midnight looking very exhausted; he begins changing into sleep appropriate attire. “I left for practice this morning. You look like you haven’t moved since then.”

Minhyuk, startled, clutches his laptop tightly and stares like a deer caught in headlights at Jaehyo with his bloodshot eyes.

He wipes a few crumbs from his cheeks while his mind is still swimming in the confusion at what the hell went wrong with his game. One minute everything was going fine—he and Jaehyo are living a nice apple pie life, he’s about to be promoted, and they’re about to adopt children—the next his screen starts freezing and the entire house, along with the matching curtains, designer furniture, and hot tub on the roof, burns down; then he dies in the tragic fire, thus ending their cohabitation. Are these tears in his eyes? They must be irritated. He blinks to rehydrate them.

“What are you even looking at?” When Jaehyo tries to peek at his screen, Minhyuk slams the laptop shut before he can do so and tosses it to the end of his bed.

“Nothing. It’s broken. Leave me alone.”

Minhyuk turns away and burrows into the blankets, hugging a pillow close to his chest. His head throbs and the pillow becomes slightly damp as he mourns the loss. He thinks about the nice sunsets in Sunset Valley and decides that, regardless, it was still twenty hours well spent. Then he realizes he had quit without saving.

[MOD GIFT] Ridiculous Assertions Which Certainly Aren't True (Jaehyo/Kyung) for INBREVITY

bbtimemods — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:00:05 GMT

For: inbrevity

Title: Ridiculous Assertions Which Certainly Aren't True
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung
Summary: Kyung realizes that something is wrong when he notices that Minhyuk is right.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 762

Living in a cubicle farm provides few quality distractions to help pass the long, monotonous days. Kyung discovers that Minhyuk chooses to pass the time by spinning in his chair an excessive amount when he spins himself out too hard and knocks against the wall of the cubicle, rattling the tiny plastic Transformers figurines on Kyung’s shelf. Kyung quickly fixes the figurines and he walks his rolling chair over to look around the edge of his cubicle into Minhyuk’s.

“Sorry,” Minhyuk calls, slowing down to a stop and leaning to the side from his temporary dizziness. “Lost control for a second there.”

“Do you ever actually work?” Kyung asks, out of genuine curiosity. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do...anything.”

“Oh, you know, I think some ideas up. Send them over to the boss man. Wait for him to approve.” Minhyuk shrugs. “Web design isn’t exactly all that difficult.”

“I can see that,” Kyung drawls, flat-toned. “You’re probably still a lot more useful than Jaehyo.”

“Still got the hots for him, then?” Minhyuk asks brightly. “Do you still want to rub his designs all over your body and shove his pens in inappropriate places?”

“No, what. I’m going to pretend you never said that.”

“Hey, if you ever need a spare hand to help you through your dick drought, you know where to find me,” Minhyuk offers, spreading his hands wide to indicate the realm within his humble cubicle walls.

“No.”

“Kyung,” someone calls, stumbling out of a cubicle three rows down. The tall man with the skinny, crooked tie jogs over and fixes the IT guy with his most pathetic expression.

“What did you do now?” Kyung demands, huffy and stern-faced.

“I deleted the internet,” Jaehyo says sheepishly.

“What?” Kyung snaps. “All of it?”

“How do I get it back?” Jaehyo rests his hands on Kyung’s arm rests, leaning down with a plaintive look. “Please come and help me?”

“You probably just deleted the shortcut icons on your desktop again,” Kyung explains, standing up and kicking his rolling chair back into his own cubicle. “Let’s go take a look.”

“Totally whipped,” Minhyuk comments as they leave, waiting for Kyung to glare back over his shoulder at him to make a whipping sound complete with a jerking hand gesture.

Kyung is trying to avoid his boss’s searching eyes when he presses himself up against a wall next to a miniature Christmas tree on a table. He’s already been asked to fetch two glasses of champagne for his demanding and rather pushy employer, and he doesn’t really feel like playing the part of a personal butler for the rest of the night, if he’s going to be forced to sit (or hide) through one of his company’s Christmas parties.

“Hello,” the Christmas tree greets him, startling Kyung. Jaehyo leans around the bushy tree, sporting two different reindeer antler headbands stacked in his messy hair.

“Oh, god,” Kyung replies, looking around for a means of escape.

“Having fun?” Jaehyo asks, sidling closer. “Minhyuk told me to tell you something. It’s funny.”

“What is it?”

Jaehyo clears his throat, spinning himself around as he transfers from the opposite side of the tree to the other side of Kyung, leaning against him and tilting his head down to talk into his ear.

“Baby, you could turn my floppy disk into a hard drive.”

Kyung groans. “Nerdy pick-up lines? Really?”

“I thought it was funny,” Jaehyo says with a frown. “I thought you liked computer stuff like that.”

“Not like that, no,” Kyung says, watching as their boss starts to turn in their direction. He grabs Jaehyo by the arm suddenly, heading off towards the door. “Let’s go get some fresh air.”

“He’s always saying stuff like that, though,” Jaehyo tells Kyung, as they wander down the sidewalk in front of their co-worker’s home. “Minhyuk is, I mean. I wonder why?”

“Because he’s depraved,” Kyung answers quickly, balancing himself on a line of bricks.

“I mean stuff about you and me, not about weird pick-up lines.”

“Oh.” Kyung leans forward on his feet, touching the sidewalk with his toes. “He thinks I want you.”

“Oh, really?” Jaehyo asks too calmly. He shoves his hands in his pockets and turns towards Kyung. “Is he maybe right? Just a little?”

“Uh,” Kyung says, hopping off of the bricks. “Why? Do you...uh, want him to be?”

“Um,” Jaehyo responds, chewing on his lip. He turns his body to the side. “Want to go celebrate Christmas with me? At a restaurant, someplace? Or even at my place?”

“As long as you promise not to touch anything electronic.”

Jaehyo nods quickly, and Kyung begins to lead them down the sidewalk, freezing in his tracks a moment later to add, “And take those stupid antlers off.”

[MOD GIFT] Flowers In Your Hair (Gen) for KIKUTAN

bbtimemods — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:00:34 GMT

For: kikutan

Title: Flowers in your hair
Character/Pairing: Kyung, gen ot7
Summary: The Heap hasn’t seen flowers in years. dystopia!au.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1586
Mod Notes: loosely inspired by a few images I saw on Tumblr, Midgar, and the Nillili Mambo music video. I condensed it the best I could without losing too much information; if anything is confusing, my sincerest apologies. We hope you'll enjoy it, Natsu!

The Heap hasn’t seen flowers in years.

There’s no place for flowers – for any life, for that matter – in this wasteland, not since the Great Collapse and the mercenaries came to stay. Fields gave way to buildings gave way to the rubble and corruption; the plate that hangs overhead, successfully shutting the Heap from the Cradle, blocks out all flecks of light, casting the world below in an eternal winter.

–
Kyung had been newly sixteen when the Cradle was built, when society deemed him unfit to survive and damned him and his family to waste away in the Heap. He had been angry then, kicking and screaming and picking fights with the men who guarded the gates to the Cradle; but the days grew long, and the body grew weary.

Kyung left school because there was no more reason to stay, and he took to the streets like all the other boys and girls.

–
Jiho changed his name to Zico when he joined the resistance faction; if he discarded his past, then it would be hard to trace him back to his family. Kyung kept his name, all that he had of his family anymore; he buried Chan, and he left with Zico to join the cause.

It should be the afternoon, early summer ripe with berries and flowers, but with the plate casting shadows down across the Heap it could be easily mistaken for mid-winter. Time and seasons are nonexistent below the plate, and now everything is gray and dull. Even the colors of old cloths and fabrics have faded until they've bled into one murky shade. Kyung cannot remember what his favorite color even looks like these days, let alone how brilliant and blue the sky would look this time of year or how green the fields would be.

Zico and he travel together amid the soot-colored streets, picking up odd jobs here and there and stealing what little they can when the days are rougher. The buildings are crumpled, piles of rubble that give the Heap its name, and what's left make for tiny shacks that mismatched people who refer to themselves as a family use as makeshift homes. Kyung hasn't known of a home in four years; he forgets what makes a family anymore, if there is even such a thing in this wasteland.

–
Lee Taeil owns a bar on the outskirts of the Heap. It's tiny and shabby, the only place that even has alcohol any longer, and it serves as the base for the resistance faction. Zico drug him here after Chan died that one night, told him that he knew a place where he could stay, and Taeil took him in, no questions asked or needed.

Kyung's not a formal addition to the team; he mops with dirty brown water, and he wipes the mugs with the cleanest towel in the joint to pay for his room and board. But he does listen in on their plans, notes the different people that make up this rag-tag team rebelling the Cradle and the government that subjected them all to this fate. There are six of them total, including Taeil and Zico.

“That won't work,” he says during his shift one night. No one else is in the bar, just them and him and the ticking clock in the corner. They look up at him, pulled out of their heated debate on how to break through the Cradle's defense. He grips his mop handle tighter. “They'll kill you.”

Minhyuk, the most enigmatic of them all, says, “We can still try.”

“They'll kill you,” he repeats, finding his voice quiet and weak. The spittle of fire that once ran through his veins has long burnt out.

The man next to Minhyuk, just to his left around the dingy wooden table, is Ahn Jaehyo. He's an outsider, not of this place, but he's trapped just like any of them. Zico doesn't look at him, eyes focused on the sketch laid across the table, and Taeil listens in on the conversation, gaze focused on Kyung.

Jaehyo asks, brow furrowed: “What do you suggest we do?”

–
Yukwon had the job of bar-keeping before Kyung; he now sits at the table and discusses battle plans. Kyung's not close with him – it's hard to be close to anyone these days – but Kyung considers him a confidant, especially during the nights when Zico is away with Jaehyo and Minhyuk.

They share the mat in the upstairs room with one another, listening to the water drip into the bucket in the southeast corner. Kyung misses Chan and Saehim and mother and father, and the gunfire rattles through his dreams and pierces the deepest recesses of his mind. Yukwon doesn't roll away when he clings to him; he loops his arm around his waist and comforts him to the steady drip-drip-drip of the leaking ceiling.

–
Pyo Jihoon isn't from the Heap – he's not quite like Jaehyo, an outsider from a distant part of the wasteland, because Jihoon hails from the Cradle itself. No one knows why he left the cushy life above with endless days of sunshine and grass growing wild and food abundant for this. He never speaks of it.

It's hard to mistrust someone like Jihoon, though; no matter how much they want to hate him for what world he once belonged to, they can't. There's an innocence in his eyes, a playfulness in his demeanor, that Taeil and Minhyuk want to protect. Kyung understands; he's probably spent the most time with Jihoon, curled up on a beat-up sofa in the only corner of the bar that doesn't leak, laughing at shared stories from life before the Great Collapse.

There's a bit of him that reminds him of Chan – this one special piece, maybe his eyes or his words or his laugh or his hugs – and Kyung takes Jihoon in as his own surrogate brother.

–
They've been talking for months, trading ideas back and forth, but one night they take action. Kyung waits at the bar, wipes the same mug over and over again with his filthy rag, and worries his bottom lip between his teeth. The grandfather clock is broken, so he doesn't know how long it's been, and Jihoon rocks about on his stool uncharacteristically quiet.

The time passes slowly, dragging its feet wearily. Then:

“Kyung, get the bandages!” Zico barks as he pushes open the door. The right side of his face is bleeding, and memories rush back of fires and bullets and screaming. Kyung stands frozen. Zico rages: “Kyung, get the fucking bandages now.”

He fumbles with the medicine box beneath the bar and Jihoon's rushing to Jaehyo and Taeil's sides as they tumble in through the door as well. They're dirty, grimy, and their clothes are tattered but with a cursory glance Kyung assess that they're mostly fine if not a bit bruised.

“Where's Kwon? Minhyuk?” Kyung asks, hands shaking as he wipes the dried blood from Zico's temple. He hisses, but otherwise he sits as still as a statue beneath the hard press of his cloth. “Tell me they're alright.”

“We're fine,” someone grumbles – Minhyuk, tumbling through the open doorway with Yukwon hanging onto him. His lip is busted, as is Yukwon's, and Kyung feels relief flood his chest. Yukwon's limping, but nothing appears broken.

Yukwon presses his thumb to the cut on his bottom lip when Kyung makes his way toward them with the bandages. His brows furrow at the sight of the blood, but when Kyung tilts his chin to take in the damage, he offers him a small smile.

“Told you we'd make it back alive.”

–
The way Jaehyo patches up Taeil's arm is clumsy, knot sloppily tied to secure it around his bicep, and Minhyuk laughs lowly before he shows Jaehyo how to do it correctly. Kyung's hands haven't stopped shaking since they've returned, and his pen scratches and jumps about the paper he writes in skittering, frantic jerks. He remembers Jihoon telling him of how he came to the Heap; how there are no guards at the south exit during a certain hour; how the infrastructure is weak there – comments Jihoon made in passing and no one placed much stock in. Kyung times and plans it out till the last detail.

And, later, much later, he addresses the group: “I have an idea,” and his hands no longer shake.

–
They stand together when the metal screeches and breaks; when the infrastructure begins to chime in the new era with a sharp crack and the slipping of the structure. They stand there, all seven of them, triumphant with their elbows touching.

Kyung imagines the fields of flowers when they return again in the spring, bringing life back to the scorched earth. Kyung will lie there, somewhere in the field, flowers bent beneath his back and tickling his cheeks and neck. Jaehyo will tie the flowers into chains, clumsy knots and crushed petals; Minhyuk will take them from him, steady his hands, nimble fingers at work. There will be Jihoon, happier than ever, and Yukwon not having to hold back any of his smiles. Zico will search for his family and tell them of his accomplishments, reintroduce himself as Jiho. Taeil will have the bar, booming and loud and never empty, and no one will forget.

Kyung can see it, this bright and blinding future, as the first bits of sunshine peek from between the broken, splintered metal and highlight the land before them.

–
It's a brand new day.

[MOD GIFT] (All We Know) Touch and Go (B-Bomb/P.O/Zico) for REMPLISSANT

bbtimemods — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:00:45 GMT

For: remplissant

Title: (All We Know) Touch and Go
Pairing: B-Bomb/P.O/Zico
Summary: It was a summer he would never forget. But memories are easily stolen.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1468

Jiho, the hero of light, travels across the universe to combat the shadows lurking throughout. This leads him to many places, but it has yet to lead him to the one he craves the most.

Yet, he continues.

A memory of something great, something nice, flashes in Jiho's mind. A boy stands amongst dark trees with his eyes toward the sky. The boy is saying something. Something important, Jiho is sure. But like all of his other visions, this one fades when he awakens.

"You're sleeping forever away. We have things to do, you know," Kyung says as he slides on one of his boots.

Jiho forces his lids to drop, hoping it would summon the dream back. Instead, he summons painful poking episodes from Kyung.

"Alright, let's get going!"

It happens along a path that borders the Realm of Darkness, and he follows it. Just as he had dreamt, the dirt trail winds around sinister trees and not the other way around.

"Jiho, where are you going?" Kyung asks from a distance. Jiho has no time to explain, even less time to capture what he may remember.

He comes across a piece of road where nothing lives, and it feels familiar. As does the man that now stands between him and the rest of his dream.

"Excuse me, I need to go," Jiho says impatiently yet politely.

The man turns at the sound of his voice and does nothing but stare. Well, Jiho isn't sure if the man is staring or not. A thick black robe covers the man's body, a hood hides the face.

And almost like a dream, the man speaks. "Jihoon?"

Jiho shakes his head; he really doesn't have time for delusions, especially someone else's. "No. My name is Jiho, and I really need to pass by you."

"Jihoon, it's nice to see you again."

"For the last time, I'm not Jihoon!"

The man's chuckle is muffled in the darkness. "Of course, you are. I know you, would know you anywhere."

"Clearly not, because I'm Jiho. We haven't met, and honestly, I hope we never do again."

"But we will. Destiny." The man's arms raise toward the sky; Jiho wishes he would save his stupid reunification joy for an acutal reunion.

"Look, I gotta go. So can you like, leave?" Jiho asks, frustration filling his voice to the point of anger.

The man lowers his arms. "Don't worry, Jihoon. We will meet again."

He starts to fade away into nothing as he says, "Oh, and Jiho? I know you better than you think. This will not be the last you see of me."

The tower is empty when Jihoon climbs up. It's the peak of summer, when the heat is overwhelming and all Jihoon can do is lick sea salt and ice cream from his hands. He can almost see the beach from here, almost hear the waves. Maybe they will go soon.

He stretches out in what's left of the sun, sticking what's left of his ice cream into his mouth. His teeth tap against the stick as he waits for his friends.

They seem to be busier now; Jihoon hopes this means the plan is a success. He doesn't know what all the plan entails, but he knows the basics. He gathers hearts in hopes of gaining his own. Well, the one he lost.

Minhyuk had told him what it is like to have a heart, to know what it means. But Jihoon decides if he gets one of his own, then he can understand what Minhyuk had said about love.

As the wind picks up, Jihoon climbs down the tower, careful not to look down. Once on the ground, he pulls the stick from his mouth. There in red reads WINNER.

"Where are you going?" Minhyuk whispers as loudly as possible.

Jihoon stares at the horizon. The light is barely there, just like it's always been, will always be.

"I've got to do this. I have to know."

Minhyuk rakes his fingers through his hair. "But if they find out, they'll." Minhyuk goes silent with the prospect of their fates, the existence they have.

"Look, no one has to know," Jihoon starts. His face contorts into a wry smile, "Nobody will miss me anyway."

Minhyuk watches as Jihoon leaves, unsure of how to let go of someone that was never meant to be. But they are. The dark seems stronger, though he knows the sky is a constant.

When Jihoon is no longer in sight, he softly says, "You're right, Jihoon. Nobody misses you."

The town seems to shine despite the lack of sunlight.

"Jiho, where are you going?"

Jiho pauses midstep to contemplate Kyung's question. To be honest, he has no idea what he's doing or why he's here or how everything seems so familiar.

"Just wanted to check everything out, and you know, maybe head to the beach for a bit."

"Is there a beach here?"

Jiho looks up at the sky, focusing on the tower that reaches the clouds there. "I have no idea, but maybe? We could check it out from that tower."

The smell weaves through the breeze. That smell brings back an image of a boy, perhaps his own age, eating something sweet and salty. Like the rush of the waves and the warmth of summer.

"Jiho, are you okay? Jiho?"

The world goes dark with a thud on the pavement.

Jihoon sees Jiho when the world around them stops, just for a moment. But a moment was enough.

Before Jiho strikes the final blow to rid the world of filth—of the nothing that Jihoon is—Jihoon smiles.

"You know, you're a good other."

"What are you talking about?" Jiho asks.

The question echoes off the walls. Jiho is alone. Maybe he always is, never is. He isn't sure anymore.

"I'm what?" Jihoon asks the cloaked man.

The wind whistles through the trees on the edge of darkness. The man laughs. "You are nothing. That is all you will ever be. Unless."

Jihoon blinks. "Unless what? I want to know who I am."

"I have said enough already. You must first refill the kingdom, then you will have your answers."

In the middle of what he supposes is night, while Minhyuk is away, Jihoon climbs the tower alone. Only this time it is intentional.

The sun is still soft; the air tastes of the sea. And he is reminded of the reason he ventured here.

The popsicle stick rests by a seashell. Maybe nobody will remember him, but maybe that's how it should be.

Jiho walks past the umbrellas neatly tucked in the sand. On a bench by the water, a black-clad man sits. The man must sense his presence or hear the squeak of feet in hot sand.

"Ah, Jiho, we meet again," the man says as he pulls down his hood. He tosses a popsicle stick at Jiho; it reads WINNER in bright red letters. "I've been eating them everyday for a year now. Now, we're even."

"You said you know me, but I don't remember. Who are you?" Jiho says. His fingers instinctively wrap around the stick.

The man laughs. "The name's Minhyuk. Got it memorized?"

Jiho watches as the man, as Minhyuk, fades from view. He feels his left arm tingle, and it raises on it's own accord. Like trying to call back something. Call back someone. Minhyuk?

"Gah, Jiho. I swear if you run off again, I'll put you on a leash." Kyung bends over, resting his palms on bent knees and breathing like he may never do so again. "What are you doing?"

Jiho pulls his arm back down. It is still numb, and he feels something wet on his face.

As he wipes under his eyes, Jiho holds up the stick he was given. "Think this is good for a free sea salt ice cream. Want one?"

"I don't know. Are they any good?"

"They have to be."

Jihoon, born through darkness yet lives because of light. He's rejected from both, but he belongs to both despite it all. He should have never existed.

But he does.

"Jiho," Jihoon whispers to the sleeping body.

The other boy doesn't move, barely breathes. His eyes are closed, and Jihoon suspects that maybe Jiho is dreaming. Maybe that's all he is. Maybe that's all he ever was. A dream.

"You know, Jiho, you're lucky. Looks like my summer vacation is over."

Two boys breathe in the darkness, neither have hearts. The heart they share is mending, and Jihoon knows that it's now or never.

Jihoon loses himself in the thoughts of Jiho, always there and waiting.

Jiho wakes up alone in the dark with an image of a boy in his mind. An image of a boy and the taste of summer.

[MOD GIFT] Young Heart, Wild Child (B-Bomb/Kyung) for NERVELESS

bbtimemods — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:00:09 GMT

For: nerveless

Title: young heart, wild child
Pairing: BBomb/Kyung
Summary: Minhyuk could never really say no to Park Kyung, and maybe this is why he's Kyung's favorite
Rating: PG
Length: 947

In the more recent years of their friendship – and sometimes Minhyuk doesn't know how it's managed to become years of friendship – Kyung's taken to showing up at random times of the day and throwing rocks at his window.

“What are you doing, Kyung?” Minhyuk asks. He inspects the chipped paint on his windowpane. “Aside from destroying public property?”

Kyung grins; Minhyuk can see it plain as day, bright and wide and slightly abashed, even from this bird's eye view.

“Coming to kidnap you!” Kyung announces, and quite happily too. He spreads his arms out wide, fingers waggling, and says: “Just like any great romance!”

Minhyuk winces and draws back to listen in on his parents in the room next door. When he hears nothing, he leans back out the window to say: “You probably shouldn't say that.” He intends to scold, but he's laughing at how proud Kyung is, standing in the faint glow of the streetlights with his arms outstretched.

“C'mon, Minhyukie,” he hears Kyung say, voice lower. He's practically whining, and Minhyuk could never really say no to Park Kyung – not when they were middle school children and not now. “It'll be fun.”

“It's for luck,” Kyung says, popping a piece of yeot into his mouth. He offers a piece to Minhyuk, but he politely refuses. He never liked yeot anyway. “More good luck for me, then,” Kyung says, grinning so wide that Minhyuk feels a phantom pain in his own cheeks.

Minhyuk bumps into Kyung's side, walking awfully close but comfortable, and Kyung retaliates by looping his arm through Minhyuk's. The neon glow of a club's sign ahead casts half of Kyung's body in a reddish glow, bright and brilliant, and it still amuses Minhyuk that – for all his haughtiness and confidence – Kyung continues to blush and turn his face away from the scantily-clad models in the lingerie store on the strip.

But before Minhyuk can begin to make a jab at Kyung's flustering, Kyung points to a tiny ramyun stand opposite where they stand. “Buy me dinner,” Kyung suggests, tugging on Minhyuk's fingers.

Between a mouthful of ramyun and a long-winded, pointless anecdote involving Jiho and Yukwon during band practice earlier, Minhyuk comes to a sudden realization.

“Is this a date? This kind of feels like a date.”

Kyung shoves noodles in his own mouth. His cheeks and nose quickly take on a pinkish hue, but it could be because of the heat of the noodles and spices he consumed. “What are you talking about?” he asks once he swallows.

“You and me. On a date?” Minhyuk supplies, turning on his stool to face Kyung. All he gets is a profile-view of Kyung's tensed jaw and cheeks puffed with noodles and soupy contents. Minhyuk touches Kyung's thigh, rubs his palm in a slow circle just above his knee, and draws out his name: “Kyu-ng.”

Kyung tenses. He swats Minhyuk's hand, lazy and halfhearted. “Hush child.”

He does stop once Kyung stuffs his mouth with the remaining noodles in his large bowl, but even that doesn't wipe the stupidly silly grin off of Minhyuk's face.

“I can't believe we're on a date and you weren't going to tell me,” Minhyuk says conversationally on the way back to his house. Kyung tightens his thighs' grip on Minhyuk's hips, and Minhyuk thumbs over the downward slope of Kyung's knee in response. “And now you're making me carry you.”

“Did I ever tell you that I like you best, Minhyukie?”

Minhyuk frowns and turns his face to the side to glimpse Kyung. “Don't lie. You told Jihoonie that yesterday. And Taeil the same thing this morning.”

Kyung nuzzles into the side of Minhyuk's neck, nose cold but lips warm, and it almost makes up for Kyung's traitorous habits. “They're my other favorites, but you're my most favorite?”

“Why do you sound so unsure?”

“Because I'm afraid you're going to drop me on my ass any second now and I might need to take my comment back.”

Minhyuk laughs, pinches the undersides of Kyung's thighs, and jostles him so he has a better grip on Kyung. Once settled, Kyung rests heavily against his back, and Minhyuk can feel the solid weight of Kyung press into him. It's quiet for a long moment. Every even breath Kyung exhales kisses his neck, intimate in a way only a kiss can be.

If Minhyuk walks a little slower, no one can fault him for that.

Kyung twists his hands on the bars of his bike; Minhyuk watches his knuckles grow white.

The bike's a tiny thing – possibly meant for someone more Chan's age than Kyung's, but it suits him. It's red, small, one of the pedals has flecks of dirt and grass from where he drops it on the school-grounds, and the back tire is in desperate need of some air. Minhyuk will lend him his air-pump; if he remembers to do so tomorrow, that is. He's always been pretty bad about remembering the important things.

Kyung kisses him.

It's chaste, shy, nothing more than a brush of their skin together for the briefest of moments. Kyung draws back, fidgeting again. Minhyuk feels the silly smile on his face, and he doesn't know how to stop it – he doesn't know if he wants to stop.

“So it was a date then.”

Kyung punches him. He needs to work on his aim, hitting Minhyuk just below his bicep and almost in the crook of his arm. “Shut up, asshole. You totally want me because I'm so awesome. Admit it.”

Minhyuk admits nothing, but he does pull Kyung in by the collar of his t-shirt and kiss him again. Maybe that's answer enough.

[MOD GIFT] You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (U-Kwon/Zico) for BAKALILDEVIL

bbtimemods — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 05:00:40 GMT

For: bakalildevil

Title: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
Pairing: U-Kwon/Zico
Summary: It's the compilation of tiny moments that becomes the soundtrack to love. Yukwon hums along to the tune of spring.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1200

Yukwon props his head on his palms, his elbows on the counter. The rain is pouring gently on the roof and windows, and his eyes close on their own accord. He has one earbud in and one out, just in case someone asks him something stupid. As the bell above the door rings, someone comes to do just that.

"I need the worst record you have."

Yukwon's eyes flutter open before squinting at the man leaning on the counter. He pulls out his other earbud, letting it dangle across his shoulder. "You want the worst?"

The man smirks. "Yeah, the worst album you can think of. And I'm kinda in a hurry."

Yukwon wanders off toward the back of the shop, using a head gesture for the customer to follow. After a quick sift through the clearanced records, Yukwon pulls out one in a dark brown sleeve.

"This is the worst one I can think of, but you are more than welcome to dig for yourself," he says as he blows the dust off.

The man flips the album over, perhaps reading over track names. He nods every so often, and Yukwon wonders why it means so much to do so little.

Finally, the man smiles. "No, I think this'll work. Um, thanks...Yukwon," he says as he squints to read Yukwon's name tag.

They walk to the front of the store together, in step and to the timing of a parade cadence. The man pays in cash, exact to the change. Yukwon hands him the record and the receipt. The receipt is shoved deep in the man's pockets; the record is handled delicately with care.

As Yukwon hears the goodbye ring of the door, he wonders what all of it means.

Yukwon is barely coherent when he hears a voice, a man he remembers moved so well to the tapping of rain.

"Hey, so my friend hated the record I bought him," he says.

Yukwon shakes his head to regain some sort of reality and alertness. "I'm sorry. If you're here for a refund, I have to tell you we have a strict no-refund policy."

The man's head cocks to the side, lips part in thought. "No, like I bought it because I wanted him to hate it."

"So, you're an asshole by choice?"

As soon as the words stumble off his tongue, Yukwon wishes he could take them back. But the man just laughs. "Yeah, you could say that," he says as he looks around the shop. "I was wondering if you could help me find some more records."

Yukwon looks through the aisles of albums, neatly alphabetized and thrown into categories. There aren't many other customers wandering about, so Yukwon figures he really should help this one out.

"Alright, bad ones or good ones?"

"Good ones. Do I look like I listen to bad music?" the man asks, a smile brightening up his face.

Yukwon shrugs the question off and heads further into the store. "I don't know. I don't even know you. You could have bought that last album for yourself, for all I know."

"Well, my name is Woo Jiho, and I like good music. Let's see what you can do."

The giggles of the day's search complement the melody Jiho hums. Yukwon faces another goodbye with a smile and traces of a chorus.

New songs are discovered; old ones are remembered. Yukwon spends his working days idly waiting for a guy to tumble in to the sound of chimes.

Jiho sifts through records with quick fingers; Yukwon's mind struggles to keep up. But soon, they laugh off another track, joke through another cover.

Yukwon is left with rearranging albums alone while the moon rises higher. Jiho comes in to the chiming of bells; he walks away with Yukwon's heart.

Yukwon's fingers dance over Jiho's knees, brushing against denim and earning a smile in return. Jiho pulls out an album, thick with dust, and says, "This should be played."

Yukwon stares at the navy album sleeve, the words curled and gilded. Jiho is already adjusting the needle and grinning. The sight of which causes Yukwon's lungs to pause a little longer; his heart beats a little faster.

"But that's like some love song crap," he starts. Jiho is all about weaving lyrics to make you think and heavy beats that thump against the soles. "You don't like love songs."

Jiho turns slowly. His eyes are focused, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "I know."

The song starts with the glide of a violin. Jiho stares out the window where flowers are swaying in the breeze and moonlight. Yukwon stares at Jiho and wonders; in the background, the song picks up into the lovesick bridge.

The minutes tick away, and Yukwon sweeps whatever's left of the outside world into the trash. The shop should have closed a few minutes ago, but he feels like he should just keep the door open for a little while longer. A pop song plays through the speakers set up around the shop; Yukwon does nothing but watch the dirt fly around when the door opens.

"You know, you really need to listen to music that actually have lyrics worth listening to," Jiho says, closing the door behind him.

Yukwon shrugs but nothing else. The room feels so much bigger when Jiho starts to walk toward him.

"And," Jiho continues, "I need another album. Something that doesn't suck."

"Dude, I'm off-duty. You'll just have to come back tomorrow."

Jiho shakes his head, his hands shaking Yukwon closer. "It really can't wait. It's an emergency."

"Alright, alright. What kind?"

Jiho smirks. "Doesn't matter. You pick."

Yukwon tilts his head a bit, thinking of something strange and wonderful. Something much like the man that is standing before him. He walks to the counter and holds up an album decorated in navy and gold. Jiho laughs a little and moves toward him.

"This is shit. I don't wanna walk out with this." Jiho's voice is colored with a smile. "Think I'll just take you instead."

Yukwon punches Jiho's arm, not quite hard enough to leave a bruise. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you want me, asshole."

Jiho frowns a little; Yukwon thinks he still looks beautiful. "Guess I'll go, um, work on that. See you later."

"Tomorrow."

Jiho turns around, confusion on his face. "What?"

Yukwon swallows. "You can see me tomorrow. I don't have to work."

"So like three?"

Yukwon smiles. "Three's fine."

"Honestly, when I asked for the worst, you should've given me this one," Jiho says as they listen together on opposite sides of the phone line. "I can't believe I bought it."

"I can. You are an idiot." Yukwon can hear Jiho's chuckle through the static. "It does make me think of you, though."

Yukwon can almost see Jiho's grin. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're both much nicer when I don't have to hear you."

The humming of a hang-up litters Yukwon's ears, but with it, he can sing the promise of another ring. Jiho doesn't give up that easily; their song has yet to be written.

[MOD GIFT] The Great Ping Pong Revolution of '13 (B-Bomb/P.O) for MAUDLINSKY

bbtimemods — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:00:05 GMT

For: maudlinsky

Title: The Great Ping Pong Revolution of '13
Pairing: B-Bomb/P.O; Zico/Taeil
Summary: In the midst of the spring semester, a fierce battle rages on.
Rating: PG
Length: 569

Park Kyung is the self-proclaimed ping pong king of the student activity center. Lee Taeil is the underdog rising up in the ranks of the ping pong enthusiasts living in the student dorms, who is hell-bent on dethroning Kyung and taking the title for himself. And Lee Minhyuk is just the aggravated, fond yet overly frustrated friend who has taken it upon himself to try to get them to see the voice of reason and end this bloody feud.

“You haven’t even gone to any of your classes in three days,” Minhyuk reminds them dutifully as Kyung sends the ball flying back over to Taeil’s side with a backhand.

The microwave in the activity center beeps and Pyo Jihoon jumps up from the couch Minhyuk is leaning against to grab his cup of steaming ramyun. Jihoon peels the top off of the cup and blows on it in an effort to bring it down to an edible temperature as soon as possible. He still burns his tongue with a surprised exhale when he slurps the noodles into his mouth a moment later.

“Give it up, hyung,” Jihoon tells Minhyuk, resting beside him against the back of the couch and watching the game. “You know how serious this is to them.”

Minhyuk sighs in response and looks very unamused when Kyung fails to return the ball and loses a point to Taeil right afterward. He would think from the passionate display of angry cursing and Kyung throwing the paddle down onto the table in a fit of rage that he was competing in the Olympics instead of in a friendly game in the student activity center.

Jiho immediately throws his hands into the air and starts yelling, “That’s my boy!”, grabbing Taeil by the shirt and kissing him.

“He’s really not helping, either,” Minhyuk points out, shaking his head to illustrate his disapproval of Jiho’s blind support of his boyfriend’s irresponsible behavior.

“Alright, Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Jihoon mocks him, trying to feed him some ramyun. “Since when are you the fun police?”

“I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure neither of them has had a meal since they started this dumb competition,” Minhyuk says, blowing on the noodles in front of his face and eating them from Jihoon’s chopsticks. “That is, since last Tuesday.”

“I always thought Tuesday was a pretty weird day of the week. Are you sure you aren’t just jealous because you aren’t hanging out and having fun with them?”

“Of course not. We’re all here together, anyway.”

“Mmm,” Jihoon hums appeasingly, slurping another few noodles up and offering the rest to Minhyuk. He waits for Minhyuk to grab Jihoon’s wrist to steady it as he eats another mouthful of his ramyun, and then makes a blithe suggestion, “Maybe you just need to get laid.”

Minhyuk freezes, noodles half-slurped, to glance quickly at Jihoon, who is reaching over to swipe at a drop of broth on Minhyuk’s cheek with his thumb. Jihoon meets his eyes and Minhyuk inhales the rest of the noodles. Jihoon blinks at him, and they both look away simultaneously, focusing back on the game.

“Maybe,” Minhyuk agrees, licking the flavor of ramyun off of his lips.

The student activity center erupts in applause as Taeil manages to sneak another victory past a despairing Kyung, and Jihoon is left wondering in the chaos that follows the outburst whether the arm snaking across the back of the couch and around his waist is in celebration or if it’s something else.

[MOD GIFT] If Not Famous, Notorious (B-Bomb/Taeil) for YOUNIQORN

bbtimemods — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:00:35 GMT

For: youniqorn

Title: If Not Famous, Notorious
Pairing: taeil/minhyuk, slight jaehyo/kyung
Summary: publishing house au. despite the 2716359 working hours and perpetually low caffeine levels, the Pub House has its perks; or, a day in the life of editor-in-chief Lee Taeil
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1370

"What's this?"

"My two weeks notice."

Taeil blinks. Jaehyo's frown is still there when he glances up at him. Taeil sighs, scrubs a hand down his face, and reminds himself that it is only just Monday.

"This is the sixth time this month that you've sent in your two weeks notice," says Taeil. "What happened this time?"

Jaehyo glances behind him, seemingly paranoid, and when he's satisfied that no one is listening in he says, "I heard Minhyuk killed Hanhae." He begins to fidget in his place in front of Taeil's desk, picking at his sideburns and smoothing down his hair. Taeil often thinks about telling Jaehyo about stress-induced baldness, but then Jaehyo'd extra-quit on the grounds that he's being bullied at work. "I think I might be next on his hit-list."

Taeil pinches the bridge of his nose. Jaehyo, the intern-turned-editor, had at one point in time been Taeil's favorite coffee boy – if he ignored the multiple coffee spills and completely botched orders here and there. When Hanhae transferred offices, Taeil had needed to make a decision. Jaehyo's résumé listed all his previous work experience, his lack of a business degree (after dropping the major, and then university altogether), and the fact that he was a rather "skilled" typist. Not exactly qualified for the job, but at least he had been eager – if not a little desperate.

Honestly, Taeil didn't have any other choices on hand and Jaehyo bought him lunch that day. It was no contest, really.

"Who told you that?"

Jaehyo opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. His shoulders slump, and he says, "Jiho... and Kyung. But I'm beginning to believe it too! He keeps staring at me –"

"That's not exactly an offense, Jaehyo. Minhyuk stares at everyone like that," Taeil says, cradling his chin in his open palm. So far the week hasn't started as he would've hoped: quiet morning, no interruptions, him and his coffee and newspaper; instead it's been issue after issue (Kyung's server crashed, Mino called in sick, Minhyuk cut Hanhae up at night, etc). "Stop listening to those two; they're dumbasses."

Jaehyo pouts, hands on his hips. "When I go missing one of these days, I'm going to tell you that I told you so."

Taeil rustles his newspaper, and where is Jihoon with his coffee? "No you won't," says Taeil; he flips the page of his paper. "You'll be dead. Now get outta here before I kill you myself."

"Jiho and Kyung are spreading rumors about me again," Minhyuk grumps after lunch break.

"Yeah, I heard. You killed Hanhae." Taeil sips from his mug. Jihoon brought his coffee just before noon, and just in time too. Caffeine levels had been dangerously low. "I wonder if Hanhae knows he's dead."

Minhyuk folds his arms across his chest and leans back in one of the office chairs. "If I had to choose anyone to end, it'd be Jiho. Why is he even here? He works with the Creative department."

Taeil shrugs, eyeing the lapels of Minhyuk's jacket. He looks nice today: pale gray suit and blue tie. "You learn to ignore him."

"Easy for you to say," Minhyuk says, leaning onto Taeil's desk. "He doesn't get in your way when you're trying to walk down the halls. Next time I'm just going to hit him."

Taeil waves Minhyuk off. "Don't make me an accessory to any murders. I'm too important and very busy."

Minhyuk rolls his eyes, but he does push off the desk. He straightens out his suit, sliding his hands over the creases at his waist. "Hey, are we still on for dinner tonight?" he asks, the corners of his lips turned upward in this tiny, awkward smile. All of Minhyuk's smiles kind of look like this when directed at him. "It's my turn to pick the movie, by the way."

Taeil nods, and despite the rules that clearly point out no fraternization and no PDA (the last of which was submitted by one Kim Yukwon) he leans forward and kisses Minhyuk. "Don't pick out anything geared toward twelve year old girls this time. It's hard trying to picture you naked when animals are singing onscreen."

Minhyuk bites his bottom lip for that.

It is no secret around the department that – other than coffee-boy-slash-intern Pyo Jihoon – Yukwon is Taeil's favorite employee. Mostly because he's sane, but also because he doesn't barge into his office every hour.

Yukwon sleeps under his desk for no apparent reason and sometimes he's reading the latest issue of his favorite manga instead of the manuscripts he should be editing, but Taeil likes him. He's not necessarily the best employee, but Taeil awards him with Employee of the Month every month anyway. Much to Park Kyung's dismay and Jaehyo's tantrums.

"What's going on?" Taeil asks during a short intermission. He catches the very end of what Jaehyo's saying to Kyung: because it was a weapon of math disruption, and watches Kyung's mouth curl up. Taeil's not sure if Kyung's smiling out of polite-interest or if he really finds Jaehyo funny; since no one thinks Jaehyo's funny, Taeil assumes it's the first reason.

Yukwon removes the brim of his Styrofoam cup from his teeth. "I think they're flirting," he says, solemn.

Taeil laughs. "That bad, huh?"

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry." Yukwon sloshes the remains of his coffee around in his cup. He glances over at Taeil and smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. "I feel a wave of second-hand embarrassment for both of them."

"After being friends with Jaehyo for so long, I think I'm immune to his embarrassing ways."

Sadly, this is true, but Jaehyo around Kyung is a special brand of painfully awkward. Taeil's made numerous observations over the passing months; it's hard not to notice them as they create chaos wherever they go in some form or fashion. When together, the two regress into an eight and ten year old respectively, teasing and taunting and shoving. Taeil believes there may be a cash pool and bets on when one of the two will finally make the first move.

(Totally off the record, but Taeil doesn't think it'll take much longer. He also believes Kyung will be the first to confess in some roundabout, passive way; Jaehyo won't take a hint. The no PDA rule will be broken, but Yukwon won't have to witness it, napping beneath his desk.)

Near the end of the day, Taeil receives a department-wide email marked URGENT!!! sent by Woo Jiho. It says:

PARK KYUNG WANTS AHN JAEHYO'S NUTSACK!

Taeil promptly trashes the email and continues on with his work like it never happened.

At a quarter till five there's a soft knock on his office doorway. The department has calmed considerably since the morning, especially after the extra long, extra special Monday coffee break at 2pm, and Taeil's managed to make a dent in the papers stacked up on his desk.

"Hey," Minhyuk greets, strolling in, tie loosened around his neck and shirttail untucked. He comes around the back of Taeil's desk and chair, hands falling to his tired shoulders, and begins to knead the muscles and skin. "Almost done?"

"Not at all," Taeil answers, eyeing the pile of crinkled sheets towering over him. "Probably gonna take another hour or so." He leans his head back to stare up at Minhyuk's face; all he can see from this angle is his nose. "What movie did you decide on?"

Minhyuk tips his head down and aligns their mouths. "Ghost," is what he says when they part, but before Taeil can even comment on the fact that Minhyuk cries so easily during sad romances he's already kissing him again, fingers in his hair and on his chin and ears.

"I'll be in my office when you're done," Minhyuk says, drawing away. He gives Taeil's shoulders one last firm squeeze. He rounds the desk and heads back to the exit, and Taeil admits he rather likes the view of Minhyuk's ass in those pants. "Bye Boss," Minhyuk says, giving him a two-finger salute.

Taeil eyes the papers on his desk. He glances back to where Minhyuk just left. He shrugs.

"They can wait till tomorrow."

[MOD GIFT] The World is a Vampire (B-Bomb/U-Kwon) for SILVER_LINED

bbtimemods — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:00:57 GMT

For: silver_lined

Title: The World is a Vampire
Pairing: BBomb/U-Kwon
Summary: The line that divides the hunters and the hunted blurs. But it's cold and dark and they really don't give a fuck anyway.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 695

It's well past the witching hour, after the colors are drained from the sky and the sound dissipates into the eery mask of night. It is there that Yukwon decides that his friends are morons.

"You can't catch a vampire with fake blood," he says as he kicks a rock toward Jiho. "They can probably tell the difference."

Kyung rolls his eyes as he ties the rope around the tree. Jiho drips gooey red stuff liberally on the ground, cursing a bit when some dribbles onto his shoes. His bag, finally empty, is thrown somewhere behind him.

"Now, which one of you wants to be bait?"

Kyung throws a stick at Jiho's head. "It was your idea. You should get the honors, especially since once we catch him, you'll get the glory."

"But, you play the victim much better than I do!"

"Kwon, what do you think?" Kyung asks. He looks around the campsite; Jiho calls out in the darkness. Yukwon isn't there.

"Looks like you'll be my damsel after all," Jiho says with a smirk.

Yukwon wanders alone. The trees shadow the ground; the glowing of eyes flicker through the night.

"They're really bad at this, aren't they?"

Yukwon turns. Standing on a limb, eyes bright and focused, there is a man. A man with fangs. A man with fangs that looks terribly hungry.

"What?"

The man gestures from where Yukwon came, where his friends are setting up a trap. Yukwon swallows.

The man tilts his head, his dark hair sweeping over his eyes. "You were right, though. We can tell the difference between blood."

Yukwon tenses as the man moves closer. Maybe if he just cranes his neck, it'll be over soon. Maybe if he doesn't move, then the vampire will go away.

But even as Yukwon does all the things he sees in the movies, all the things he swore he would never do, the man stays and looks at him. Yukwon works up the nerve to look back.

"Um, I don't really know how to do this. You're the only person I've met, well, when I wasn't feeding. And I was watching you and I wondered if maybe you want to, I don't know, maybe hang out. With me."

Yukwon's eyes widen; the vampire looks at him expectantly. The chill of the breeze comes and goes, along with any word Yukwon has ever known.

The man before him shifts a bit, turning away and creeping toward the dark. "Of course, he doesn't want to. You are an idiot, Minhyuk. Watching him? You sound creepy as shit. You're a monster, for fuck's sake."

Against all logic, against everything he has ever been taught, Yukwon's hand moves to the shoulder of the vampire, toward Minhyuk. Minhyuk turns back around, and they stand face-to-face in silence.

"Um, Minhyuk? I'm Yukwon," he starts. He smiles, maybe for reassurance. He swallows and continues, "Are you doing anything later?"

Minhyuk shakes his head, and he looks more afraid than Yukwon should be.

"Good. I have an idea."

Yukwon's idea of doing something later involves Kyung wandering blindly through the forest as Jiho scurries after. They drip fake blood and sweat with every step, and Yukwon almost knocks Minhyuk over in his fit of laughter.

"So, good first impression?" Minhyuk asks as he retracts his fangs.

Yukwon rubs his wrist across his mouth and thinks. "Yeah, I mean, you didn't actually bite them. Better than some of the guys I go out with."

Minhyuk tilts his head a bit, opened mouth with questions ready to tumble out. He shakes his head and reconsiders.

Yukwon shrugs. "And, bright side and all, you did help them catch a vampire. Kinda."

"They definitely need more practice."

"Well, maybe later. I think I should get a chance first," Yukwon says, his eyes focused on his shoes.

Minhyuk's fingers lift Yukwon's chin a little, forcing his eyes to move upward if only for a moment. "Tomorrow night? We can play hide-and-seek."

Yukwon chuckles and nods. "You should be warned. I'm excellent at hiding."

Minhyuk moves backward into the dark just as the break of light starts to warm the earth. "Guess we'll see."

Special Announcement!

bbtimemods — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:00:23 GMT

We would like to thank each and every one of our lovely participants for their hard work and dedication. You truly made the first Block B Time Exchange amazing! So, give yourself a pat on the back. (No, I mean really give yourself a pat on the back. And maybe some cookies, too. You deserve them!)

In the honor of you and with the love of Block B, your loving mods have decided to bestow gifts upon each and every one of you! You should have received an email with the time and date of your gift, but you can also check back here every eight hours or so to view gifts for our other participants.

The first gift goes up in one hour!

To reiterate, thanks so much everyone for everything! You are absolutely fantastic!

[MOD] Submission Guidelines

bbtimemods — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:24:27 GMT

Header - For All Submissions
Please submit one of the following headers with your work:

FOR FIC:

FOR ARTWORK:

Warnings: Edit this field using the categories listed and adding any additional warnings you feel are necessary; use your best judgement. If none of the warning categories apply, the field may be omitted.

Author/Artist's Notes: This is your chance to thank anyone who may have helped you along the way (betas, handholders, cheerleaders, etc) or credit any source you may have drawn inspiration from. Please use abbreviations or nicknames (ex: Q, lumpy space princess, etc) when thanking so as to not give away your super secret identity!

Art Submissions
Please send artwork in one of the following formats: .png (preferred), .jpg, or .gif as an attachment in an email. Artists may include their header information in a .txt file as an attachment or paste it directly into the body of the email. Summaries are optional (but encouraged!) for artwork; you may use the prompt you've chosen as a summary.

We also ask that artists create a thumbnail for their art; please make it 150x150 pixels and worksafe. The thumbnail should be a window onto a tiny section of your artwork, not a scaled-down version of the entire piece.

Fic Submissions - All Stories
For fic, your story should be submitted in fully post-ready form. That means that we should be able to copy and paste from your document right into a livejournal html posting window without making changes. It is a good idea to test your coding by making a private-locked post before submitting.

You may write your fic in the word processing program of your choice, but the final submission must be in either *.doc or *.txt. As a last resort you may paste the story into the body of the email. Include the required header information and any standard html tags with your submission.

If you want a word to appear in bold or italic print, include html tags as explained here.

All Submissions
Send your fic/art to the mods email (bbtimemods@gmail.com) by April 1st; if an extension is needed or if you have any questions, email mods asap!

:) We look forward to hearing from you again!

[MOD] Number Two Checkpoint!

bbtimemods — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:34:32 GMT

It's been one month since assignments were given out, so we're checking up on you guys now! :) If you're not participating in the exchange, feel free to disregard this post! Posting won't begin until April, so please wait a little longer for that!

If you are participating, please read on:

At this time, the mods have sent out emails to participants checking up on your progress and any cries for help! If you did not receive one, please contact the mods immediately at bbtimemods@gmail.com. Please respond to the email by Friday, March 15; a reply is mandatory!

This is similar to the first check-in. We want to see where you've gone with your assignment and whether or not you're still with us. You still have a few weeks to write/draw, so hang in there :) You can do it. Your mods believe in you.

If you're having serious issues: needing a beta, wanting someone to talk to, struggling with prompts/pairings - please let us know sooner rather than later! We're here for you, and we'd love to talk if that's all you need.

Remember: this is an anonymous exchange!

We hope to hear from you soon! - BKZ Mods

[MOD] Number One Checkpoint!

bbtimemods — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:20:31 GMT

It's been two weeks since assignments were given out, so we're checking up on you guys now! :) If you're not participating in the exchange, feel free to disregard this post! Posting won't begin until April, so please wait a little longer for that!

If you are participating, please read on:

At this time, the mods have sent out emails to participants checking up on your progress and any cries for help! If you did not receive one, please contact the mods immediately at bbtimemods@gmail.com. Please respond to the email by Friday, March 1; a reply is mandatory!

This is just a general check-in to see where you are and whether you've thought about your assignment at all. We hope you have! You still have a little over a month to write/draw, so hang in there :) You can do it. Your mods believe in you.

If you're having serious issues: needing a beta, wanting someone to talk to, struggling with prompts/pairings - please let us know sooner rather than later! We're here for you, and we'd love to talk if that's all you need.

Remember: this is an anonymous exchange!

We hope to hear from you soon! - BKZ Mods

[MOD] Assignments Are Out!

bbtimemods — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:41:55 GMT

Hey guys, and thanks for the interest in the first blockbtime exchange!

We're a little ahead of schedule, and we've just finished sending out the assignments via email. If you are participating, please reply to the mods' email before February 15. If you do not, we will attempt to find you. If you still do not reply, we will assume you are no longer willing to participate (and we don't want that!)

If you signed up for the exchange but did not receive an email, please contact us immediately at bbtimemods@gmail.com. Please check your spam, also!

If you were too late to sign-up and still want to help, you can be a beta or pinch-hitter! You are also more than welcome to just write or draw something for the community! Otherwise, please patiently wait for the posting to start come April!

Please remember to keep your assignment a secret until the reveals!

- Z

[MOD] Beta and Pinch Hitter Sign-Up Post

bbtimemods — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:09:30 GMT

FOR BETAS:

FOR PINCH HITS:

ADDENDUM

Participants that have signed up to be a pinch hitter already need not to fill out a form. We have your information already, so it would really be overkill.

Participants in the exchange cannot sign up to be a beta. However, if you know someone, feel free to link them here!

To sign up, just comment below with the appropriate form. Also, to save us all from confusion, it would be swell if you could start each comment off with which form you are filling out.

If you would like to be both a beta and a pinch hitter, you may use both forms in one comment.

Pinch hitter assignments are due April 8th, which is the starting date for posting. All works must be submitted to the mods by that date.

Betas and pinch hitters may be called on at any time, so be ready for anything.

Have fun!

This post will remain open for the entirety of the exchange. Comments are screened.

* DISCLAIMER You will not be asked to do something you specified you would not/could not do. However, anything else is fair game. Be open-minded or be specific.

[MOD] Sign-Up Post

bbtimemods — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:47:08 GMT

This is the sign-up post for the first Block B Time Exchange! This post will officially open on February 1 (but early birds are welcome). Please check the rules and the schedule before signing up. Sign-ups will close February 7.

Reminder by signing up, you are agreeing to follow the rules and write fic or produce artwork for another participant. You will also receive fic or art! If you are not willing to make this commitment, please do not sign up.

This exchange is for Block B only, so please refrain from trying to include any crossover ships. You may request threesomes (and moresomes!) or even just general friendship fic/art, so long as the main focus is on a Block B member/pairing(s).

When prompting, try not to be too vague and remember that not everyone will see your otp(s) the same way as you. Also please use stage and/or real names when writing the pairings you want instead of writing the actual pairing names (this is because the mods are oftentimes :|? and argue about things like whether it's Taeco or Zaeil). If you can't think of any prompts, consider asking for an AU such as high school or college, or even ask for future or domestic scenarios! If you would like your comment and prompts to be screened, let us know!

EXAMPLE SIGN UP

LJ Username: bbtimemods
Name/Nickname/Alias: james bond 007
Email: bbtimemods (@) gmail (.) com
Are you producing fic or art? both

What you want to receive
Pairings/OT3s: Zico/Kyung/Bbomb, Jaehyo/Kyung, Jaehyo/Zico, P.O/Ukwon, Taeil/Zico
Maximum rating: NC-17
What would you like to see in your fic/artwork?:
1. Jaehyo goes on a grand quest to find his missing phone; Zico gives him directions.
2. Taeil as a cagefighter. Minhyuk trains him by breaking raw eggs on his head. He has a match coming up vs. Yukwon, an ex-luchador.
3. Jaehyo and Jihoon accidentally switch identical luggage bags on the bus; Jihoon discovers Jaehyo's bag is full of cash (or body parts).
4. 92line set a dragon free from the dungeons by accident and have to journey out to capture it and bring it home.
5. Block B are LARPers; fighting over who gets to be the wizard and who has/hasn’t died; “I CAST MAGIC MISSILES!”
6. High School Sports!AU
Anything else? Kyung is the man and/or tops during sex, food porn, witty one-liners, erotic handholding, someone has bodice ripping fantasies, fluffy animals (fluffy. reptiles are not okay.)
What would you not like to see? insults to Zico’s nose, iguanas, horror, angst

What you can offer
Characters/Pairings you can/will write/draw: Zico, Zico/Bbomb, Kyung/Bbomb, Zico/Kyung, Jaehyo/Zico, Jaehyo/Taeil, Taeil/P.O, Ukwon/Bbomb
Characters/Pairings you cannot/will not write/draw: Bbomb, Kyung/Taeil, Kyung/Ukwon, Taeil/Ukwon
Maximum rating: NC-17
Is there anything you are not willing to write/draw? iguanas, horror, romance

Willing to pinch-hit? yessir!

(please fill out the form below and submit it in the comment section!)

SIGN UPS ARE NOW CLOSED. Assignments will be sent out within the next few days. Participants are encouraged to watch the community, follow the twitter, and/or check the dreamwidth mirror for any updates!