SUMMARISE。

Days of Our Lives; Jonghyun/Onew

2012-01-26T02:32:29Z

Days of Our Lives
4885 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Jonghyun/Onew.

author onew.
summary Lee Jinki is given the task to revive the career of a once successful artist. He's okay with it at first, until he learns that the artist in question is Kim Jonghyun.
notes For shineesanta

"Here you go — your new assignment."

Jinki reaches out for the envelope being given to him and takes out the documents in it, giving them a quick look. He furrows his eyebrows for a while before giving the documents a second look, this time paying more attention to the details — the subject's name, his age, his occupation, his favorite ice cream flavor and his favorite color for his clothing.

"You expect me to take this seriously? Favorite ice cream: Banana Split with Cookies and Cream and Rocky Road, really?"

Minho rolls his eyes. "Please, Jinki, just do it. You're the only one I can trust."

"I'm done taking care of kids, Minho. Please." Jinki takes a deep breath. "I've been managing singers for what, give or take 8 years? This guy has got to be the worst of the bunch. I've heard bad stuff about him."

"But he's also the most talented among them."

"That doesn't make him any more likeable—"

"Jinki." Minho's voice is strained and the smile on his lips a bit forced. "We can't lose him. His career might be not as strong as before but he's still one of our best talents. You just have to set his image straight. Once you're done with that, I'll give you to another talent. How does that sound?"

There is a reason why Minho is the youngest CEO the company has ever seen, Jinki thinks, especially when Minho's lips quiver a little and the smile on his lips turns into an apologetic frown — he has a way of leading people to believe that defying him is the worst thing one can possibly do. "Fine, fine, I'll do it," Jinki says all at once, breathing out in a huff. "But you owe me one."

There's a smile lighting up Minho's features and a giggle escaping his lips. He puts an arm around Jinki's shoulder for good measure.

"Thanks, as always."

"So you're my new manager."

It's not exactly the best welcome Jinki has received in years, but it certainly isn't the worst either — it's a particularly annoying one, though. He extends his hand for a handshake, and the very small smile on his lips falters a little when his new talent ignores it in favor of the documents he's holding.

"Seriously, let's drop the customary greeting. Let's get down to business."

"I'm Lee Jinki. I figured you could at least use that piece of information." He walks over to where the new talent is and settles beside him, careful to maintain a good distance from the former. "Kim Jonghyun, right? Quite the popular one. Two years into your career and you've already topped charts and bagged awards. Not shabby."

"Flattery doesn't sit well with me," Jonghyun says flatly.

Jinki doesn't like where this conversation is heading.

"Your attitude doesn't sit well with me, either."

Jonghyun scoffs a little. There's something akin to a smile tugging at the corner of Jonghyun's lips. Jinki doesn't know what to make of this — if he's offended Jonghyun or maybe made the whole meeting a lot lighter — but there's a sense of relief washing over him, like the reaction he has just earned from the former might just be one he'd initially planned on eliciting.

"I think I might like you," Jonghyun says and pauses for a while as he flips through the pages of his schedule, then continues, "I like your style."

"I'm the best the company has to offer. You better like my style."

There it is again — the scoff-smile combination from Jonghyun, the indiscernible look on Jonghyun's face. Jinki will have to spend a few more days taking a crack at this, but for now he's glad that the first straw is over.

The first one is the worst one, after all.

"So I heard you met him already."

Jinki shakes his head and leans back into the couch. "Mental, that one. If he didn't have talent, he'd be out of SM in a flash." He shifts a little in his position so that he's facing Minho and that he can see the way Minho's features shift from one expression to another — it can be quite a show. "Wouldn't even let me introduce myself to him at first. How rude."

"I can't see why he'd want you to introduce yourself, though. I mean, you are the most famous manager here. I bet he knows you."

"Customary greeting? Manners? Do those ring a bell?"

Minho laughs a little. "He's an artist of the new age. Old tricks don't work on the younger ones anymore." This earns a frown and a light punch on the arm from Jinki. "Take it as a learning experience."

Jinki rolls his eyes. "Yes, mom."

Minho ruffles his hair. "Good job, kid."

Minho is one of the few people who know Jinki inside out, and one of the even fewer people who can tell him off or give him a long lecture about dealing with people. Jinki's always been the type to not judge people, but first-hand experience with Jonghyun tells him to stray off his usual track and judge Jonghyun a little. He leans in a bit more to Minho's touch, caves in at the thought of being in familiar company, and takes pleasure at the fact that he can be like this for a while — whiny, needy, and terribly childish — for a few minutes, until his phone sounds off.

The first few beats of 'Moves Like Jagger' plays and Jinki knows it's time to get back to work. He gets back up and reaches for his phone, then gives Minho a pat on the back before taking the call.

Lee Jinki, Korea's top manager, is back on duty.

"You did what?"

A week into being Jonghyun's manager has Jinki running all over the place, cleaning up after Jonghyun's tiny but conspicuous mistakes. On Day One, Jonghyun turns up late for an interview. On Day Two, meanwhile, he throws a bit of a hissy fit during the taping of a show. Day Three makes Jonghyun seem like a lunatic when word gets out that he got into an argument with a barista at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Days Four to Six, meanwhile, witness Jonghyun's deficiency in the tact department and his mildly endearing ability to make the silliest facial expressions on air.

And today, Jonghyun manages to get himself in a car accident. In his defense, he was driving properly, like a good citizen of South Korea. He probably shouldn't have gotten into a fight with the driver of the other car, though.

"I was going to turn right and I had the goddamned signal on, but that fucking—" Jonghyun grumbles a little — Jinki can hear it through the static. "Okay, that blasted car overtook me and basically smashed into the left side of my car."

Jinki marvels at the fact that Jonghyun's still alive. "You're okay, though? No scratches or anything?"

"Why do you sound so disappointed that I'm still alive?"

He tries to bite back the chuckle threatening to escape his lips. "Oh, trust me, I'm hardly disappointed."

"Whatever. Anyway, I need you to pick me up. I have a schedule at five. I can't be late."

Jinki's lips hang parted for a while until he's able to gather his thoughts again. Oh wow, Prince Jonghyun is capable of being responsible, he wants to say, but he goes for, "Oh. Okay. Text me your location, then," instead. Jonghyun grumbles in reply and drops the call, and Jinki receives an SMS with the address a few seconds after.

"I'm on my way," he replies and, a few seconds after, his phone sounds off again.

Thanks. I owe you.

He chuckles to himself and fishes for his car key. It's four in the afternoon and he's still got work to do — he can't let his talent down.

Jinki marks Days Thirty to Forty-five as the worst of his life.

Word gets out that Jonghyun has been using a certain drug since the start of his career — NZ48, as the news calls it, but everyone knows the newsmakers got the name from Limitless — and that he's been spotted doing a woman in her 30's during one end-of-the-year awards nights. Jonghyun just opts to roll his eyes at the news until the media say that he got another girl pregnant — this time, a minor.

"Do you seriously believe any of those?" Jonghyun grumbles for a while, then shifts uncomfortably in his position. "Because if you do, I'm firing you as my manager."

"They're making you look bad because you're regaining your popularity. Awesomeness is a crime, you know."

Jonghyun laughs a little. He then busies himself with rummaging through his bag, but Jinki has a feeling that Jonghyun just doesn't know what to say in reply. "Thanks, I guess," he says after a while. His voice drifts off and gradually picks up volume again when he says, "That kinda makes me feel better."

Jinki notes the way Jonghyun's smile softens, the way Jonghyun's eyes crinkle just a bit that tells him that smile is raw and real. He ganders at the whole scene until Jonghyun furrows his eyebrows and pokes him in his side, saying, "You look weird." He trudges on, though, and continues watching Jonghyun, just laughs at the way Jonghyun hits him lightly on the arm.

He nods to himself after a while and whispers loud enough for Jonghyun to hear. "You're welcome."

"I hate you, really."

It's Minho's bright idea to unwind in the countryside to take Jonghyun's mind off the breaking news, and Jinki's idea to kidnap Jonghyun just so he can bring the latter there. Jinki thinks he's a bit too enthusiastic for his own good, but he's only doing this so that some of his newfound energy will rub off on Jonghyun.

"Thanks, but I'm sure it'll really do you good. Just a little more and we'll be there!"

Jonghyun frowns visibly. "But I hate the countryside."

Jinki chuckles. "Exactly why I'm bringing you there."

There's silence for a while, until Jinki shifts in his seat and the soft rustling fills the air a bit. He turns to Jonghyun with a big smile, then quips, "But hey, if it's any consolation, we'll get to see stars in all their glory there. Does that sound good enough?"

Jonghyun shrugs and turns up Jinki's radio, then props his arms as he looks outside the window. "You better surprise me," he mumbles. Jinki risks a glance at Jonghyun for a while, then fixes his eyes back on the road.

"Trust me on this."

The first thing Jinki does when they get to the location is to set up their picnic blanket, then drag Jonghyun to the said spot to finally have lunch. Jonghyun is apprehensive at first because, "I hate bugs, okay," but Jinki doesn't let this get in the way of his plans; besides, it's their day-off and he's cancelled his spa appointment for this so he definitely can't stand to see himself lose in this petty fight.

He grabs Jonghyun by the wrist, and makes him sit on the middle of the mat. "There," he begins, then smiles brightly and continues, "good boy."

Jonghyun scowls at him after that. What happens much later is a series of insults thrown back and forth, a few light punches on the arm here and there, and Jonghyun sharing his untold story of how he realized he wanted to be a singer. Jinki learns of Jonghyun's inclination to kids and baking and his apprehension with countrysides because of a bad break up with a girlfriend who used to take him to the countryside all the time.

"So basically, you're reminding me of her by doing this." Jonghyun nods thoughtfully as he munches on his sandwich. "Which makes you an awful, awful manager."

Jinki chokes midway through his drink and laughs. "Hey, thanks. I should get an award for this."

They spend the rest of the day mapping out each other's lives in the afternoon and the stars in the evening. Jonghyun's epic speech about constellations and supernovas conveniently gets lost somewhere in Jinki's head as he watches Jonghyun tell his story with much enthusiasm, a grin lighting his features, setting off tiny explosions at the back of Jinki's mind.

("A mutizen. A mutizen! A MUTIZEN AFTER SO LONG!"

There's a smile tugging at the corner of Jonghyun's lips as he shakes his head and looks away. "Don't you think you're overreacting?" he begins, then chuckles before continuing, "I mean, it's just one mutizen. Anyone could've won it—"

"— but you won it. That means you've got their trust again. That means they believe in you."

Jonghyun's blinks a few times and lets his lips hang parted, all the air filling his lungs. He doesn't hide the smile breaking across his features, doesn't fight back the urge to laugh at Jinki's exceeding enthusiasm, doesn't even try to hold back, and just drowns himself in a fit of laughter.

It's a win, alright.)

Things start to take a wild turn when Jonghyun ends up on Jinki's doorstep one day, heavily beaten up, breathing ragged and heavy. "Just get me to your couch and get me a glass of water," Jonghyun says in between gasps of air, and Jinki readily obliges, carefully taking Jonghyun in his arms. They sit in companionable silence for a while, until Jonghyun chokes up a few words and gathers the energy to tell the whole story.

"I was involved in drug dealing for a time." Jonghyun takes a deep breath, then laughs a little. "I was in deep shit then. My schedule was packed. My manager was a douchebag. My parents were going through divorce, and I recently found out I liked my best friend. I was young; I didn't know what to do."

Jinki scoffs. "So you took drugs."

"I sold them, too."

"You sound so proud of yourself."

Jonghyun hits Jinki on the arm lightly. "Hey, I made money out of that."

"Fine, fine, but it seems you got enemies out of it, too." Jinki looks at Jonghyun in the eye for the first time that night, then looks forlornly at the bruises and marks on Jonghyun's arms. He moves a bit closer, trying to see if Jonghyun is more receptive to Jinki tending to his wounds, but Jonghyun's breath hitches and he flinches a little. "I have to clean you up at the very least, you know. I don't want to do much explaining to the doctors."

There's a small smile tugging at the corner of Jonghyun's lips. "Fine, fine. And for the record, they were the ones who started the fight. I told them I didn't sell drugs anymore and they asked for my connections." Jonghyun's voice escalates by a few notches when Jinki raises an eyebrow at him. "In my defense, I really couldn't remember their names!" he rushes, and proceeds to just hitting Jinki on the arm with the nearest pillow in sight.

Jinki ends up with tears in his eyes from too much laughing. Jonghyun, for all the bruises on his body, emerges as the victor of the their tiny battle. But really, it's a win-win situation for both of them.

Things sail smoothly for the next few days, weeks, months, save for Jonghyun's few slips here and there. Jinki still has to cover for Jonghyun when the latter runs into some serious wardrobe malfunction, or when Jonghyun forgets his keys and doesn't want to admit it but, "Pick me up at the studio, please?"

Jinki's five minutes from the studio but he teases Jonghyun, anyway, chuckling into the receiver and saying, "Let me think about it."

"You have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, don't you?" Jonghyun asks once they're already inside Jinki's car. "I never doubted your ability as a manager, but you just have something to surprise me with every single time."

The light goes red and Jinki steps on the breaks. "I surprise you? How?"

Jonghyun laughs a little. "Like that."

"Like—"

"Like, you're the first person to not openly judge me on our first meeting. You're the first person to actually tolerate my silly antics. You're the first to convince me to change. Well, just a bit, but you get what I mean."

Jinki squints. "No, really, I don't get it."

The light goes green again, and a couple of cars blaze past them. Jinki's sure he hasn't heard so much honking in a long, long while, but Jonghyun effectively shuns out all the thoughts in his head with a light peck on the cheek and a soft chuckle. "You should probably get moving. We're blocking the way," Jonghyun says in between suppressed giggles. Jinki nods.

He steals a glance at Jonghyun, then shifts his attention back to the steering wheel.

Full speed ahead.

"Wow. You're still alive."

Jinki smiles weakly at Minho and plops down on the chair near Minho's table. "I'm sorry, I've been a really bad best friend but, in my defense, I've been a really good manager." He then offers a big smile, to which Minho just shakes his head and waves him off. "But I do need your help on something, so I guess I should do better than that?"

"Help or advice? You look conflicted."

Jinki laughs a little. "I need your… opinion on things."

Minho summons for his secretary and asks for two cups of coffee, some chips and one Four Cheese Pizza from the pizzeria nearby. The arrival of the pizza marks the start of Jinki's long narration about weird encounters with Jonghyun and the sudden change in his talent and, "That kiss. Well, fine, it was just a kiss on the cheek, but a kiss is still a kiss! It does mean something, right? Right?"

Minho leans back against his seat and takes a deep breath, furrowing his eyebrow in the process. "Well… if you didn't want that kiss to happen, then he's probably taking advantage of you. Now, if it's the other, then it probably means something."

"What do you mean I wanted it to happen? I was surprised, taken aback! He definitely took advantage of me!"

"Yeah, and you're not blushing."

"I… I am not!" Jinki purses his lips and crosses his arms over his chest. "You know what? Forget this conversation even happened. I have a meeting in thirty minutes. I'm going."

Jinki quickly gets back to his feet and gathers his things, then walks to the door to leave Minho's company. He looks over his shoulder before turning the knob, though, the flush on his cheeks still present.

"I'll… give that some thought. I mean, what you were saying earlier. And thanks for the pizza! Let's try Manhattan Meatlovers next time?"

There's a grin tugging at the corner of Jinki's lips as Minho's features light up with a smile. Minho shakes his head, and Jinki takes it as a sign that it's okay to leave, that giving everything that's been happening to him some thought is a wise decision, that, yes, they'll be having pizza again sometime.

"Bye!"

The next few weeks are a blur, save for the fact that the kisses on the cheek have grown in an increasingly alarming rate and have soon transformed into stolen kisses on the lips. Jinki doesn't know how to react to any of Jonghyun's advances, really, so, whenever Jonghyun surprises him with a kiss, he just stays still, willing all of his blood to rush back to his feet. "Why," he manages to ask one time, and Jonghyun just laughs lightly and kisses him a second time.

"You're impossible," Jonghyun whispers, then ruffles Jinki's hair. "I hate you."

Jinki blinks a few times until he realizes that Jonghyun has walked off and gone back to the set to rehearse his lines. He takes a few quick breaths before coming out of the dressing room, fishes for his phone and sends Minho a text. He kissed me again. I should probably do something about this, it reads, then much later he sends, Yeah, I probably should.

Minho replies a few minutes after. Jinki just shakes his head when he reads the reply.

Get him, big boy.

"Remind me why I'm here again?"

Jinki laughs nervously as he ushers Jonghyun in the room filled with too many people whose names escape him completely. Minho has asked them to attend some posh event for managers and solo artists, and Jinki remembers agreeing to the whole thing mindlessly if only for Minho's note that says, This is your chance to make things happen.

"One word: Minho," Jinki says, voice low and almost hushed. The once sheepish smile on his lips is soon replaced with a bright one as the other managers start greeting him.

"Should I ask him why we're here then?"

"God, Jonghyun, just play along."

Jonghyun rolls his eyes and shuffles away. Jinki doesn't see him again until three three hours after, when he recalls that Jonghyun has a 5 a.m. call time for some morning show that will be shown live. "But you can't leave me here," Minho slurs in Jinki's ear. He's obviously buzzed and will listen to no one.

Jinki clenches his fists. This isn't good.

"You're drunk. You should tell people to go home."

"I'm not! Besides, people are just getting started—"

Minho drops to his knees unceremoniously, ending up in a fit of giggles, and Jinki shields him from the view of the general public, then helps him get back up. "I'm sorry, I just have to, uh, get him out of here—" Jinki mumbles as he makes his way through the crowd and tries to get out of the room, but to no avail; people are starting to block his way, and the only way out is through that one door.

This isn't in the guide book. He's not prepared for this.

"Excuse me, if you could just—"

Jinki turns around sharply and there Jonghyun is, dashing in his crisp black suit, valiant in the way he practically shoves people aside so he can pass through. "I'll take care of this," Jonghyun mumbles when he passes by Jinki, and Jinki just nods, taking slow and steady steps as he follows Jonghyun out of the room. He gives Jonghyun one of his signature sheepish grins and curt nods as he trudges on, a tipsy Minho on one arm and a handful of apologies on the other.

"Thank you," Jinki whispers, then breathes in sharply, "thank you for that… thing you did earlier. I didn't expect you to help."

Jonghyun's sporting clothes too flashy for a morning show and sunglasses to cover his eye bags with, completely overshadowing the lethargy in the stretch of his body. He waves Jinki off and mouths, "Just get me some coffee, please," so Jinki quickly obliges, shoves a warm cup of coffee in his hand within a few minutes.

"Just the way you want it," Jinki chimes as Jonghyun takes a sip, then a gulp. "And really, thank you—"

Jinki doesn't know how it happens but, the next thing he knows, Jonghyun's grabbing him by the back of his neck and his lips are crushed against Jonghyun's own. He can taste the coffee on Jonghyun's lips, his tongue, the trace of his teeth and, before he can even probe further, Jonghyun pulls away and removes his sun glasses.

"My coffee's too sweet." Jonghyun pauses for a while and bites his lower lip. "You need to do something about this."

There's a small smile on Jonghyun's lips that Jinki just wants to wipe off or kiss away. He can't really decide at the moment, so he settles for a shake of the head.

"I'm on it."

("Just to be sure, this thing we have — I mean, the weird kisses and the flirting and all — it doesn't mean anything, right?"

It's one in the morning when Jinki breaks the question to him, and Jonghyun really can't be bothered to gathered his thoughts for a coherent answer. "It can mean something, if you want it to," he replies, the words coming all too easy to him, his eyes still fixed on the book he's reading.

Jinki grabs the book in a swift move and their faces are merely inches apart now. "Are you serious?" Jinki punctuates the statement with a glare. "I mean, really, are you serious?"

He shrugs. "I'm as serious as serious can get. I mean, can you blame me for your being cute?"

Jinki assaults him with tickles and laughter shortly after that. The book lies forgotten on the other side of the couch until the end of the day.)

"So, your contract's expiring in a few days," Minho begins, and traces circles on the desk when he looks up at Jinki and continues, "Any chance you might want to renew that?"

Jinki takes a deep, deep breath, and sinks in his seat. The past few months have been nothing but crazy for him. He's never handled a talent as much of a pain in the neck as Jonghyun is. He's never been so involved and invested in a talent, either. He takes a deep breath, then turns to Minho. "Can I sleep on that and get back to you tomorrow?"

"But tomorrow's a busy day. It's the start of the gayos, remember?"

"Exactly my point. If I feel so strongly about it — if I feel so strongly about him — then I won't forget."

Minho shrugs, then offers him a little. smile. "I trust you to make the right decision," Minho says, and Jinki feels something heavy in his chest all of a sudden, like he has just been given an important task — a task to sort things out with his heart and mind.

That's pretty important, alright.

The clock strikes two in the morning and Jinki is still up, eyes fixed on the ceiling and fists clenched. "Two signs," he whispers to himself. "Two signs and I'll extend the contract." He takes a deep breath, then pulls the covers over his head.

Today is a big day and he hasn't even gotten sleep yet.

The end-of-the-year awards require them to be fashionably late to a certain extent, so he arrives with Jonghyun around ten minutes before the end of the red carpet. Before they slip out of the car, Jonghyun grabs him by the wrist, cutting the distance between them to a few centimeters.

"I heard from Minho that your contract's ending soon. You're extending that, right?"

Jinki chuckles. "Only if you win a daesang and greet me on stage."

Jonghyun raises an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me?"

Jinki flashes a V-sign, then opens the door and exits the car even before Jonghyun can reel him back in.

It's the end of the year and Jonghyun is on stage, receiving his third award for the night. Jinki can't help but feel just a bit responsible for all of these — the steady and gradual rise back to success, the fresh image, the crisp suit, the award, that look on Jonghyun's face as he gives Jinki a thumbs up. He nods to himself as Jonghyun gives his speech and casually mentions, "someone who's always been there to pick me up — my very patient manager, Lee Jinki".

He deserves more than this.

He fishes for his phone and a message from Minho comes in. So, are you going to extend that contract or what?, it reads. Jinki laughs, then types, Sign me up for ten more years.

Bring it on, baby. BRING. IT. ON.

---

"You know, I wasn't serious when I told you to extend the contract for ten more years."

Minho leans back against his chair and gives Jinki a lazy smile. "I'm a man of numbers. You can't expect me to not take figures seriously! Besides, ten is a good number."

Jinki frowns. "Ten years is too long. I'm getting old."

"Ten years is just enough. I'm not getting any younger, either."

There is silence for a while, until Jonghyun peeks from the door and says, "I have a shoot, remember? I don't have all day!" Jonghyun looks as if he'll go ballistic any moment, so Jinki takes it as a sign to wave off the small argument with Minho and let things slide. He gives Minho the customary hug, the squeeze of the arm, then whispers, "You better thank him."

Minho punches him lightly on the arm. "Go. Precious Prince Jonghyun is going to be late for his schedule.

Jinki catches up with Jonghyun and casually puts an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "You better be good this year, or else I'm done with you," he whispers, then runs off long before Jonghyun can even react. He owes Minho for this — his job, his amped up portfolio as a manager, Jonghyun — but a word of gratitude can wait for later.

For now, he's got a talent who has to make an 11 a.m. deadline. He'll have to thank the driver if and when they make it on time. And well, there's Jonghyun, too, since he almost forgot about the schedule.

That's just one of the many things he won't admit to himself or to anyone. Being fond of Jonghyun tops the list by a long, long mile.

Choice #1; Hoya/Dongwoo

2011-12-23T02:41:28Z

Choice #1
2540 words. PG-13.
— Infinite; Hoya/Dongwoo.

author onew.
summary Infinite disbands. That's one way Hoya and Dongwoo's story can end. Hoya believes there can be more.
notes Thank you, specialises, for being honest enough to tell me when things will work and when they won't. Thank you, too, quarticpolynomi, for letting me remix this wonderful work of yours. I hope I do it justice. (A remix of quarticpolynomi's The Wavefunction Collapse.)

This will be one of my last fics for the Infinite fandom. I hope you guys enjoy it. :)

After a long, successful run, Infinite disbands. Sunggyu does, much to Sungyeol's chagrin, remember to thank everyone ever involved in any of their successes during the two hour press conference. Myungsoo kicks Sungyeol under the table and tells him that it serves him right for squandering away his money in betting pools.
After that—

Myungsoo is probably too drunk to remember, but it’s his brilliant idea for everyone to place a bet on tomorrow’s press conference. Sungjong, Woohyun and Dongwoo all vote for Sunggyu coming up with a laundry list of everyone who has helped them until now. Sungyeol votes against it for the simple reason that having no one to bet against is plain useless, and because he believes that Sunggyu has the memory of a 70-year-old woman. Hoya abstains, drowning in a fit of laughter, and, when Myungsoo approaches him five minutes after and when everyone has conveniently fallen asleep on the carpet, he has to ask Myungsoo to repeat what he has just said.

"I said your bet’s probably on Dongwoo hyung. Whatever he chooses, I mean."

Hoya lets out a small sound of approval, then sinks in his seat. There’s a whirl in his head and his stomach and everywhere else in his body. I’m too drunk for this, he thinks, and closes his eyes, letting a wave of exhaustion overcome him.

The following day, the announcement is made: Infinite is disbanding, and Sungyeol loses the bet.

Woohyun and Dongwoo exchange triumphant smiles and high-fives under the table, while Sungjong bites his lower lip, the curve of his lips a mix of anxiety and relief. Myungsoo kicks Sungyeol and whispers, "Serves you right," then looks to his side.

"So," Myungsoo begins, voice low and hushed. "The second part of the bet—"

"I am not doing that."

"Suit yourself."

It's the last Hoya hears from Myungsoo, even after the press conference is over, even after they've packed their bags and have prepared to leave their dorm of so many years. Before they part ways, though, Myungsoo gives Hoya a pat of the back and a quick hug. "The offer still stands," Myungsoo whispers, and Hoya's breathing hitches.

Hoya nods to himself, and waves Myungsoo goodbye. Myungsoo is the first to be recruited into Infinite and the first to leave the dorm.

There are many ways that Hoya and Dongwoo could have had their happy ending.

Hoya comes up with a number of scenarios while watching each and every one of them leave. Dongwoo can get hitched with Ahra the soonest they can, or maybe that other girl — Nayoung, was that her name? Hoya can stop all those from happening by gatecrashing the wedding or by walking up to Dongwoo to say, "You're making the worst decision in your entire life."

They're the last ones left in the dorm. It's the perfect time for a confession.

A. Dongwoo's slated to leave tomorrow, at half past one in the afternoon. Hoya's leaving at two. They've ordered Chinese food for lunch. "Our last lunch together," Dongwoo reminds him, and punctuates the sentence with a chuckle. "Not that we've had many to begin with."

They're cramped in the small table and their knees almost touch. Hoya laughs and says, "Ah, yeah," not, "We can start having more."

Dongwoo leaves on schedule. Hoya stays a while longer. He admits to being bitten by the nostalgia bug everytime someone asks, but he'll never tell anyone that he spent the extra thirty minutes wondering why he let Dongwoo leave without putting up a fight. He fishes for his phone and types, "I lost," and sends it to Myungsoo. Myungsoo replies, "You've got 8 more lives. Continue?"

"Funny. Really funny. Yeah, I'll move on."

"Sounds great. Get ready for the next round. Fight!"

At the end of his military service, Dongwoo tells him he's proposed to Ahra. Two years after, he returns the favor and even makes Dongwoo his best man. Not too long after that, both couples have kids who pretty much follow their fathers' footsteps. Dongwoo visits Hoya from time to time to ask for knitting lessons, and, whenever he does, Hoya makes sure to hide the pill case that holds the answers to all the minor (possibly major; he can never tell) health scares he's been having. Hoya almost gives up on the possibility of Dongwoo coming up with a perfectly knitted pair of mittens, but Dongwoo blows him away one day, mittens in one hand and a thumbs up on the other.

Dongwoo gives the mittens to Ahra. Hoya takes a picture of the couple and the mittens. It's a wonderful picture, he thinks, and Ahra has never looked prettier in her entire life.

Life goes on. This is the end of the story.

B. They vacate the house at the same time. There are no goodbyes, only lopsided smiles and pats on the back. Hoya doesn't hear from or anything about Dongwoo for the next twenty seven years, until news gets out that "Choreographer and retired singer Jang Dongwoo is getting married to Lee Nayoung".

Retired singer is the perfect description. They should've included, "retired friend."

None of them get invited to the wedding. Hoya waits until the very last minute for an invitation, but to no avail. He sits in front of his laptop with a mug half-filled with coffee while reading the latest news on Yahoo and going through the wedding pictures. It's simple, nothing really flamboyant — just the way Dongwoo has always wanted it.

Hoya takes a sip and closes the tab. He moves on to Gmail and goes through the many unread messages. There are more important things to do.

Hoya gets married to a dancer three years his junior. They have three kids. His eldest has just graduated with Latin honors, while the other two — his twins — are on their second year in university. Life goes on. This is the end of the story.

C. Dongwoo's official announcement comes out earlier than expected — he's getting engaged to Cho Ahra, his girlfriend of three years. The reporters ask, "How did you propose to her?", "How did everything happen?", "How did you two even meet?" Dongwoo tells them about Hoya's crazy idea of having him dress in drag whenever he and Ahra go out just so people wouldn't flock them the first chance they got.

Hoya sits back and watches the interview from his house. He laughs at Dongwoo when the latter talks about wearing nail polish for the first time. "I can't believe they never noticed," he mumbles. Dongwoo was horrible as a woman.

Dongwoo calls him once the interview is over. "Yes, I watched, and no, that idea wasn't crazy, and yes, thank you for publicly acknowledging my talent."

"You're amazing, you know. Thanks for everything, really."

"So are you. And really, no prob."

Dongwoo puts the engagement party on hold until Hoya finishes his military service. He introduces Hoya as Lee Howon, his best man, and Hoya quickly grabs the drink threatening to fall from Dongwoo's grasp and says, "Yes. Yes, of course, I'll do it." His hands are shaking and his breathing is hitched, especially when Dongwoo puts an arm around his shoulder lazily and slurs a thousand drunken words in his ear, all saying how amazing he is and that he's the best friend anyone can ever have and thank you thank you thank you.

The same night, he meets a girl on the front desk who offers him a toothbrush and a sad smile. Later that night, she gives him her name. He asks for her number and things kick off from there. She's nice and sweet and listens to him rave about Dongwoo and his lack of tact when it comes to asking him to be his best man. The girl just nods and sighs.

The wedding comes and goes. Hoya does become the best man at the wedding. The girl he's met years back turn out to be the perfect wife. Things unfold as in A.

D. Dongwoo's been off his game for days, but Hoya's not exactly the type to probe even at a time like this, with Dongwoo sprawled across his bed and possibly too drunk to lie about how hideous his red socks are.

"You okay?" Hoya asks. His fingers linger on the small of Dongwoo's back almost hesitantly. Dongwoo's breathing is slow and even and his lips seem to offer answers, but Hoya pushes the thought to the very back of his mind. This is a risk he can't take.

"I'll be better." A sharp intake of breath, then, "I found out that she's married, that girl from middle school."

Hoya lets out the air in his lungs all at once, and in a moment of breath Dongwoo is a bit too close for comfort. "Shit," he begins, then rushes, "Well, that's just bullshit." Dongwoo chuckles a little, and falls unceremoniously into the pile of pillows nearby. Hoya checks for any bumps.

Dongwoo falls asleep, and Hoya watches him the entire time, fists clenched and lips tightly pursed.

They come close to something like this for a second time, except Dongwoo is drunk more than ever and he's just a touch, a decision away. "I'm drunk," Hoya quickly says when Dongwoo pulls away, and it might as well be true — he's drunk with the desire to hide in his shell and hide his feelings from Dongwoo forever.

Dongwoo leans back against the pillows and nods, then curls back against Hoya. Neither of them broach the subject again. Everything unfolds as in C.

E. The day before they debut, Hoya breaks up with his girlfriend.

It's just fitting, he thinks — he won't have time for her and she probably won't understand and they'll have fights brought about by miscommunication. That, and he can't possibly tell her that he's been gay all these years and that this is just an experiment. His thoughts abruptly get cut by Dongwoo stumbling into the room, fatigue in the stretch of his body.

"Sunggyu hyung is crazy." He takes a few quick breaths before continuing, "Wants you back in the studio within the hour. Where were you?"

"Cutting off loose ends."

"Oh. But you wanted this."

Hoya shrugs. "Yeah."

"You knew it would happen. You shouldn't have started anything."

Hoya laughs a little. He still hasn't gotten used to Dongwoo's honesty. "I know, genius."

There's a small smile on Dongwoo's lips and an almost apologetic look in his eyes when he says, "Come back to the studio. The choreography doesn't work without you." Dongwoo's hand rests on Hoya's thigh for a while and Hoya holds his breath. Dongwoo does this with all of them, but there's so much more to it, like a longing for a chain of touches and awkward smiles. It shouldn't mean anything, so Hoya just shrugs it off and leaves Dongwoo in the room, excusing himself to report to Sunggyu.

Only months after does he realizes that it's the start of fantasies, all these little, magical scenarios playing and plaguing his mind. He disregards all these in favor of the promise he's made with Dongwoo, one they've sworn to in front of Dongwoo's Gundam memorabilia.

"Best friends. Forever."

Life goes on. Everything unfolds as in A.

F. His father has never been receptive of his desire to dance and eventually become a star, but Hoya auditions for JYP anyway. The long wait is painful and nerve-wracking; his fists have become numb with the excessive clenching.

He splashes water of his face, freshening up for his performance ten minutes from now. It won't be too long before he brings home good news and possibly gets kicked out of the house.

"Same audition group?" Idol Hopeful #979 a.k.a. Dongwoo asks. "And I saw you last week at SM. Making the rounds?"

Hoya makes a non-commital sound and goes back to wiping his face. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he quickly fishes for it, pushes it back in his pocket when the display shows him Appa.

"Your girl friend?"

He looks at Dongwoo, eyes dark and dull. It's too early for them to be talking in such a familiar manner.

"Don't worry, she'll get over it."

He shrugs, and leaves the bathroom as soon as he can. Dongwoo's probably the kind of person who shoves unsolicited advice down people's throats. Hoya thinks he might hate him a little. His name is soon called, and Dongwoo is giving him two thumbs up and a toothy, ugly grin that makes Hoya sick in the stomach. He walks into the audition room, takes a deep breath and says, "I'm gonna beat his sorry ass."

He gets a call from JYP three nights later. His father takes the news rather well and says, "If that's what you want." He gives JYP a return call and he's got a spot as a trainee secured. He never sees Dongwoo in JYP, and, when he passes by SM one Saturday, he swears he catches a glimpse of Dongwoo's toothy grin, the ugly smile that has driven him to do so well during the auditions.

He walks away and pretends he doesn't care. Life goes on. Things unfold as in B.

G. "It is that easy," Dongwoo explains as he forces a grin out of Hoya. He pulls back Hoya's cheeks, and this earns a scowl. "Really, it is!"

Hoya has always believed that Dongwoo had the weirdest smile and gruffiest look and style, but the sudden contact sends a tingle down his toes. He convinces himself that Dongwoo is ugly and he deserves so much better, but everything suddenly clicks — his chest constricts and it feels so much harder to breathe and his stomach is making all these fancy turns and his brain is suddenly so sure that this is love.

"Teach me that," he says. I'm also probably in love with you, he thinks helplessly, bites his tongue when the words come all to easy to him.

There's really nothing to lose.

"Also, I'm probably in love with you."

And it is easy, so easy to let the words come out for a clumsy enunciation, to let all the air filling his lungs out for a well-deserved escape, to feel Dongwoo's muscles tense and watch Dongwoo suddenly become so uneasy, so unsure in his own skin. He prepares for the final blow and starts cracking up a chuckle, maybe a smile, anything that will make this seem like a joke, but Dongwoo takes a step forward and grabs the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. There's an explosion at the back of Hoya's eyelids, like fireworks or something so magical. He feels for the table when Dongwoo pulls away.

"Hoya," Dongwoo says. It's almost as if he's breathing his name. There it is again, the toothy grin, the most awkward and possibly stupidest smile in the world and Hoya just wants to take it and keep it in his memory or maybe kiss it away. He leans in for a second round, their bodies finding a perfect fit.

Later, Hoya will try to put the feeling to words and maybe attempt to write a song about it, but the system of words evades him. He tries for hours on end, the following month, the year after, until he gives up and just settles for a fancy tune Dongwoo hums.

Life goes on. The ending of the story escapes Hoya as much as the words do. He doesn't really mind.

Twice done and Over Easy; Jaejoong/Changmin

2011-09-26T01:15:26Z

Twice done and Over Easy
6666 words. PG-13.
— DBSK; Jaejoong/Changmin, Yunho/Jaejoong.

author onew.
summary Kim Jaejoong, editor-in-chief of Sooman Publications, is capable of doing possibly everything in this world but making Shim Changmin, his love of 10 years who left him in a huff, fall in love with him again, just like high school.
notes A spin-off of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Note that some events in this fic will not mirror the manga or the anime. (This is Version 1 of the Sekaiichi 'verse fic. This is Version 2. Both never made the Olymfics deadline, lol. This version strays a bit more from both the anime and manga and shows the Takano side of the story.)

"K—Kim-sunbaenim..."

It was a most pleasant surprise and break from Jaejoong's monotonous, day-to-day routine — the boy he had been so curious about for the past five years was about to grab the book he was planning to borrow earlier. Granted, the primary reason for him displaying any sign of interest in the book was because the boy had been eying it since he arrived in the library earlier this afternoon, but then he'd thought that the boy had already left. That was exactly why he was here — to get the book before the boy did, so that he'd at least have an idea of the kind of mood that the boy was in today.

It's little things like this that made him feel so much closer to the boy he had been pining all these years.

"Kim-sunbaenim, I—" The boy shoved the book in his chest. "Please, take the book!"

He blinked a couple of times and gently lifted the book from the boy's hands. How did the boy know his name, though? Did he hear it from someone? What are the chances of the boy actually knowing that he was one of the many Kim's in this world?

"Why do you know my name?"

There was silence for a few minutes, and Jaejoong took the liberty of clutching the book to his chest as if it was something so dear to him. The boy had his head hung low, and when the wind blew Jaejoong swore he caught a whiff of the boy's perfume — it was sweet, fresh, a bit on the light side. A few moments after, the boy's lips trembled.

"Because... Because I like you, sunbae."

A wave of relief washed over Jaejoong as the words echoed in his mind. I like you, sunbae— it replayed in his head like a broken record. He tried hard not to smile too eagerly, but it was hard — he'd liked this boy since he was twelve, he'd watched every basketball game, every running event the boy was in. He'd gone through every book the boy had read (and tried to discern what his name actually was, because the boy only ever wrote his name as 'Shim Min'). So he smiled a little, bit the inside of his cheek, and gave the boy — Min, as he had been calling him in his head all these years — a pat on the head.

"You're cute, you know that?"

Min turned at least two shades brighter, and Jaejoong just chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Shit."

Jaejoong blinked a few times. He had apparently passed out for at least ten minutes, and a manhwa was conveniently shielding his face from the public view. His eyes felt so sore, it was almost as if they were burning; it was that time of the month again, and dreams like the one had just a while ago were definitely, definitely welcome.

They proved to be both a good and bad distraction at times, though, and right now Jaejoong swore he was hearing voices which was impossible, given that the whole editorial department had submitted themselves to sleep.

"Excuse me?"

Jaejoong made an effort to crane his neck, checking to see who the speaker was. There was a tall man on their doorstep and he looked the least bit harmful (more like lost, to be honest), so he gestured for the man to come in.

"Uh, hi, good morning. I'm Shim Changmin, the new editor?" The newcomer smiled a little. "The management said I was supposed to start today."

"Ah, yes." Jaejoong quickly got to his feet and extended his hand to the newcomer for a handshake. "I'm Kim Jaejoong, the editor-in-chief. Please, take a seat there." Jaejoong worried his lips a bit when he saw the pile of manuscripts on the chair. "Or there. Anywhere. Sorry for the mess — it's the last stretch for production and we're cutting close to the deadline. This is actually better than the usual."

"You mean it can be worse?" Changmin asked.

Jaejoong nodded and tried to smile. "Much worse."

"Of course, once everything's done, things get better," Jaejoong rushed when he saw Changmin furrow his eyebrows. "This month was just particularly rough, what with the new authors and all." He offered a smile, this time one stretching across his lips so that his features brightened up a little. He crinkled his eyes for effect; he remembered Jungsu saying something about smiles being more convincing when coupled with crinkled eyes.

"I—I see. It'll be a pleasure working with you, then!"

A smile surfaced on Changmin's lips for the first time, and if Jaejoong squinted hard enough he swore he'd deem Changmin as someone overly familiar, maybe a good friend or a classmate from university. The glint of excitement in Changmin's eyes, the upward curve of his lips, the stretch of his body — they all seemed familiar, like Jaejoong had memorized his features by heart before.

"Have we... met before?"

"Maybe. Possibly?" There was a pause before Changmin continued, "I mean, I've been in the publications industry for a while already and we might have bumped into each other in the printers before." Changmin squinted a little. "You do look familiar, though."

Jaejoong's entire thought process was effectively cut off by the ringing of their company phone. Yoochun, the managing editor, was quick to pick it up. "The author is here with the submat, says she's waiting in the lobby," Yoochun called out as soon as the phone call had ended. Jaejoong nodded, then turned to Changmin to put an arm around him and usher him outside the office.

"Work starts now, kid. Come with me. We're going to check some lousy material and make a gold mine out of it."

There was something about the way his arm fit around Changmin's shoulder that made Jaejoong think about the craziest of things — that Changmin might have been one of his crushes was back in university, or maybe his best buddy back in preschool, or maybe even the boy he used to play with in the sandpit. He felt Changmin's muscles tense under the sudden contact, and he chuckled as he squeezed Changmin's arm lightly and Changmin let out a little sound of surprise.

"It's showtime."

The trip to the lounge was quiet, save for the few times Changmin popped a question about the substitute material. Why did they have to resort to publishing one, how much time did they have to finalize the drawings, when was everything due — the way Changmin asked gave Jaejoong the assurance that Changmin knew his way around here, in this industry where people who weren't thick enough had the slimmest chance of surviving. Changmin previously worked as an editor for an established publishing company, after all, and Jaejoong wouldn't be surprised if Changmin knew more than what he was showing.

"These are really good." Jaejoong commented as he scanned the drawings and reviewed them alongside the approved manuscript. "I knew the drawings were impossible to finish in three days, but these are really good!"

"Thanks," the artist — Kim Taeyeon, Jaejoong remembered because she was one of those dependable ones — replied, a blush lightly tinting her cheeks. "And no worries; I had time and it was a really fun story to draw. But please, allow me to revise scenes as necessary."

"If necessary. These are perfect so far." Jaejoong examined the panels, this time paying more attention to the details rather than the general feel of the scenes. "Just this one," he called out, his index finger lingering on a kissing scene. "Can you draw this from another angle? Like, have the boy tilt his head a bit, and the girl should look as if she's tiptoeing, but the cropping should be tight."

"Like this?" Taeyeon asked, quickly sketching the scene she had in mind. Jaejoong shook his head. "Or maybe this?" she asked again, this time showing him another sketch that showed the couple kissing from a different angle.

She was getting there, but not quite, Jaejoong thought. He worried his lip a little. They didn't have much time; the manuscript should've been with the printers thirty minutes ago and they were still here, redoing the only frame he didn't see fit for printing. He'd need a really good reference to capture the magic of the scene, but where will he be able to get one?

"Maybe we can get her some reference materials?" Changmin, who has just beside him, suggested. "I'd need some titles, though. I barely know anything about manhwas."

Jaejoong nodded thoughtfully. Yes. She definitely needed a solid reference material.

"I'll need your help, Shim."

He was probably going to regret this, but he went with it anyway — he grabbed Changmin by the wrist and pulled him close, maybe too close for comfort for two people who had just met a few minutes ago. "What the—" Changmin gasped, and Jaejoong felt the warmth of Changmin's breath on his skin, a familiar tingle rushing down to his toes.

Here goes nothing.

There was a skip of a heartbeat before Jaejoong held Changmin by the chin and leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't anything intimate — only lip contact, brief and feather-light, as if Jaejoong was testing whatever waters they were treading. When Jaejoong pulled away, Changmin's hands were poised for a punch and he was screaming at the top of his lungs, "What the actual fu— What was that for!"

"Work, of course." Jaejoong scoffed, and slowly inched away from Changmin for fear of getting hit. "What else?"

It was a necessary risk, Jaejoong thought. At least they were able to give the artist an accurate reference material, as seen in the way Taeyeon sketched the scene hastily and enthusiastically, and slowly added in details with Jaejoong's approval.

It was a necessary risk that told Jaejoong one thing — he had indeed met Changmin somewhere before, in high school where dreams big and small alike came true.

"It's three in the afternoon, Jae." Yoochun called out, craning his neck a bit so that he could see Jaejoong in the midst of the towers of papers on his desk. "Aren't you going to pull me out of my chair for a smoke?"

Jaejoong leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes. "Maybe, maybe not. I've got work to do, lots of them."

He glanced at Changmin who was sitting beside Junsu. Changmin had taken it upon himself to review everything they had published, claiming that it was important that he knew about the topics they had already covered at the very least. Manhwas were stacked all around Changmin, and Jaejoong stared a while longer and watched until Yoochun appeared in front of his desk, an eyebrow raised and a peculiar smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

"You, me, cigarette. Now."

Yoochun dragged him out of the office and he'd shaken Yoochun's grip on his wrist off by the time they reached the exit. "You don't just pull your editor out of the office for a smoke, you know," Jaejoong mumbled as he leaned against the glass door. "You know very well I'm still waiting for two authors to get back to me."

"Mhmm, I do," Yoochun replied, hands busy with lighting the cigarette in between his lips. "I also know you're terribly distracted and you don't work well when you are. What's up?"

It was a tough decision to call, whether or not he should tell Yoochun about everything that had just happened. A part of him shrugged the entire idea off, but another told him that it was probably better than telling anyone else (especially Yunho) about it. Yoochun was one of his closest friends, after all, and he knew he could trust Yoochun when it came to things like these.

He took a deep breath and breathed out in a huff, "He's… here."

Jaejoong watched as a look of confusion washed over Yoochun's features. "It's just the two of us here. What are you talking about?" Yoochun asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes. Jaejoong looked at him sternly as if saying, 'is there any other 'he' in my life, Park, really'. Yoochun's being forgetful was a double-edged sword; it was good when Yoochun forgot about Jaejoong not returning his clothes or his money (only at times!), but it was awful when Yoochun forgot about the important days of their lives — high school graduation, all-you-can-eat-pie day, I'm-more-awesome-than-you-day, and the like.

"Wait, you mean that guy from high school, the one who broke your heart?"

"Middle school," Jaejoong corrected. "And yeah, that one."

"Yeah, right, middle school." Yoochun nodded. "Where is he? Top management, sales, finance? Oh God, don't tell me he's the new receptionist." Yoochun looked around, eyes shifty and wary. Jaejoong hit him hard on the head, but he couldn't be bothered with laughing at Yoochun's attempt to lighten up the mood.

He took a deep breath. "The new kid, Shim Changmin? That's him."

Yoochun took the cigarette in between his lips and let the smoke escape his lips slowly. "The new editor? But didn't you say he was in the U.S. or something, that he didn't ever come back after he studied there?"

Jaejoong shrugged. "Well he's back now, apparently."

"How did you know, though? And how can you be so sure that it's him?"

"Simple." Jaejoong chuckled and bit inside of his cheek when he felt the smile on his lips getting the better of him. "I kissed him." He watched as Yoochun's face contorted, worry thick in the way his eyebrows furrowed and in the stretch of his frown. "Now, I know it's stupid but it was for work! Taeyeon needed some reference material and I just thought I'd use that opportunity to, well, you know—"

"Tell me no one saw that," Yoochun said through gritted teeth. "Please tell me Yunho didn't see that."

"He didn't, chill."

"Well, you're lucky. You know that guy has way too many tricks up his sleeve. And he has this Jaejoong-dar, for some reason." Yoochun took a long drag from his cigarette before continuing, "He won't want to have Shim around you once he finds out."

There was silence for a while until Jaejoong let out a sigh. He laughed a little; Yunho always made it seem as if his being a mess during university was Changmin's fault. Well, to a certain extent, it was, but to blame Changmin for everything that happened back in university was simply not right.

"He's always exaggerating things. I bet you he'll tell me off and give me a lecture on the risks of smoking when he sees me right now."

"The hell, I would."

Jaejoong almost laughed when Yunho emerged from the doors, wearing his standard 'I am not having an argument with you but will you please stop smoking' look. He slipped his hand behind his back, putting out the cigarette he had just started smoking a while ago. "I'm stopping, I'm stopping. You can get off my case now, thanks."

"I thought we agreed that you won't smoke anymore," Yunho said, eyes fixed on Jaejoong's own.

"And I thought we agreed you won't hover me like you were my mom." Jaejoong offered a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, you have work to do. No need to keep an eye on me."

In their ten years of being friends, Jaejoong learned that the best way to coax Yunho into doing something he normally wouldn't do was to hold him by the hand and tell him that things will be okay, so Jaejoong slipped his hand in Yunho's to give it a light squeeze before putting an arm around Yunho to usher him back to his office. It remained effective to this date, and Yunho had reduced his lecturing to mumbling.

One goal saved, thanks to Kim Jaejoong.

When he looked over his shoulder, Yoochun had a small smile on his lips. He could make out 'Go on. I'll go back to the office in a while' from Yoochun's lip movement. It was enough an assurance that Yoochun had his back and wouldn't spill even if Yunho did unspeakable things to him — took away and hid his supply of cigarettes, car keys and the Jonathan Livingston Seagull book that he always carried with him — or even if it was the end of the world.

'Thanks', Jaejoong mouthed right back. Yoochun blew a kiss through the smoke, and Jaejoong shoved Yunho inside the elevator before he could even see Yoochun smoking.

He made a conscious effort to not mention anything about his recent discovery throughout the elevator ride, even if Yunho was looking at him with eyes that possibly knew what had already happened. "I'll call you when I'm done," Jaejoong said before Yunho got off the lift, and Yunho just waved him off, saying, "Whatever. You never call me." He waved at Yunho for the last time before the doors closed, and before he knew it he was already on his floor.

He took a deep breath. This was just a preview of the days to come, but for some reason he was beginning to dread having Changmin as their new hire. It wasn't as if he had a choice, though — he wasn't able to make it to Changmin's interview because of a meeting with some higher ups, and had he only recognized Changmin from his resume he was sure he'd ask the management not to hire Changmin.

Besides, he knew Changmin as Shim Min, not Shim Changmin.

"Just stick to work, Kim," he said under his breath. "Just work and everything will be fine."

It was half past three in the afternoon when he had gotten back. Yoochun hadn't come back yet. Changmin had just finished another manhwa and was just about to start reading another. The thought of calling Changmin out for all his hard work was too hard to pass up, so he gave Changmin a light pat on the head, then ruffled his hair and whispered, "Keep it up." He didn't wait long enough to hear Changmin's small sound of surprise, nor did he hear Changmin's 'thank you', and when he had gotten back to his seat he threw his head back into the head rest and closed his eyes.

Half the day was gone but he knew he still had a long day ahead. A very long day, indeed.

---

"What do you mean you're not done with it yet? Do you want to die?"

The day had just begun and he knew this wasn't the perfect way to welcome it, but he had no choice — there was a manuscript due today and it was only halfway done.

Jaejoong massaged his temples. "I gave you enough time, Yoona. Besides, I never fell short in the reminders department! Now you're giving me this bullshit?" There was a pause, then Jaejoong raised an eyebrow. "You're doing your best? Well, you're not doing well enough!"

By this time, Jaejoong was already yelling into the receiver, eyes tightly shut in an effort to calm himself down. He normally didn't snap at authors, especially at Yoona, but this was one of those rare occasions when he had to pull the author together by means of force and whatever harsh words he had in his word bank. He had been reminding Yoona constantly about the deadline, after all, and he simply wouldn't put up with something like this.

"Whatever, I'm going to your place! You had better make progress when I get there!" Jaejoong hung up even before Yoona can say anything. There was a sharp intake of breath before he slipped his phone back into his pocket and gathered his things, stuffing them inside his bag.

He checked the editors — new manuscripts had just come in from Junsu's authors and he's particularly busy, Yoochun's on the phone, talking to the producers who want to turn Lee Eunhyuk's manhwa into an animated series, and Jungsu's leaving for a meeting in a while.

There was no other option.

"Shim, come with me. We're going to pay my beloved author a visit." Jaejoong picked up his bag, then gestured for Changmin to gather his stuff. "And while you're at it, bring your materials. We might have to do the screentones."

"But I know next to nothing about screentones," Changmin retaliated, not moving away from his seat nor grabbing materials to bring with him. Jaejoong raised an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder.

"Well, you're the only one not doing anything. Now, don't just stand there! Come on!"

The grimace written all over Changmin's features was amusing, to say the very least. He didn't wait for Changmin's reply; instead, he turned around, walked to the elevator as fast as he could so he could at least let loose the smile tugging at the corner of his lips a little.

"Im Yoona."

"Oh shit. You really came."

Stress was written all over Yoona's features, but Jaejoong didn't pay much attention to it and proceeded to look over her shoulder to check on her progress. "Still on page seven? Jesus Christ, if you're planning to beat a deadline then you better draw faster!" There was only a small grunt from Yoona as a reply before she went back to drawing, this time at a much quicker pace.

It was enough an assurance that Yoona had pulled herself together, though not completely. But it was enough.

One of Yoona's assistants had just finished detailing the background for pages eight to eleven and asked them to apply the screentones, so Jaejoong taught Changmin how it was supposed to be done. It was essentially leveraging on his being Changmin's editor-in-chief and being an opportunist, but Jaejoong kept reminding himself that whatever it was that they were doing right now — him guiding Changmin's hands, their bodies pressed so close to each other — was purely for work and nothing else.

He had made it a point to separate work from personal affairs, but at the rate he was going it was going to be hard.

"Hey Kim, d'you think this will actually sell?"

Jaejoong turned to Yoona sharply. "I mean, everything seems so half-assed. We've been rushing the pages and there's hardly any heart in what I'm doing anymore," Yoona rushed. She worried her lip a little, then turned to face Jaejoong — her eyes, now red-rimmed, were faltering, her voice quivering just a bit. "Is it worth it? At this point, should I just give up?"

Jaejoong was just about to say 'that's not even a question, stupid' when Changmin stood from his seat, lips pressed against each other tightly as he turned to Yoona.

"Yes, it will sell. I mean, it should," Changmin began head hung low and avoiding Yoona's curious gaze. His grip on the backrest of the chair tightened. "I've been reading your titles, sonsaengnim, and even as a guy I really enjoyed them! I'm looking forward to this new book of yours, so please…" Changmin looked up for the first time since he spoke up.

"Please, sonsaengnim, don't give up just yet."

There was silence for a while, and Yoona's lips hung parted as she looked at Changmin intently. There were at least a hundred questions in Yoona's eyes — why are you saying this, how can you say that, are you absolutely positive I can do this — but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Jaejoong chuckled to himself — it had been a while since Yoona last got a compliment like this from a complete stranger and she had been struggling with her drawings these past few days, so it must have meant a lot.

"Why are you even thinking about these things?" Jaejoong quipped and walked up to where the two were, and offered Yoona a smile. "I've been telling you this since the day you pitched this story — it'll be a hit. It's awesome You're awesome. And besides, I managed to push the deadline to tomorrow morning so you could finish your drawings." He gave Yoona a light pat on the head — he knew Yoona hated it when he did that, but he also knew that Yoona knew it was his way of actually showing affection.

"Even this manhwa nobody says you're good, so get back to drawing and make things happen!"

There was a spark of hope in Yoona's eyes, and all the fatigue in the trace of her cheeks were gone. There was a small sound of gratitude from Yoona. He ruffled her hair lightly, enough to elicit laughter from the her. Beside him, Changmin was smiling.

And almost on instinct, he smiled at Changmin right back.

"We pulled through, after all!"

It was almost six in the morning when they had finally delivered the final manuscript to the printers, and almost quarter 'til seven when they got back to the office. The sunlight was particularly harsh today, or it might just be due to the fact that they haven't had any sleep yet.

Jaejoong squinted hard as he pressed a couple of buttons and got two cans of coffee. This wasn't enough a compensation for having Changmin stay up the whole night for work, but he hoped it would do. Or he could always invite Changmin for breakfast at the coffee shop nearby, except it wasn't open yet.

He heaved a sigh. He shouldn't even be thinking about those things right now. He had galleys to wait for and coffee to share with Changmin.

He made his way to the mini pantry inside their department and found Changmin there, slumped in the couch with his eyes closed. Changmin looked so peaceful and vulnerable like this, and Jaejoong tried to be as quiet with his steps as possible. He settled on the far end of the couch and studied Changmin's face.

It had been a while since he had last been at such close proximity with Changmin, so it was hard not to choke on his words, much less actually not wake Changmin up. But it was too late — Changmin was blinking to get his vision back into focus and shifting in his position so that he was facing Jaejoong.

"Glad everything's over now," Changmin mumbled and smiled a little. "We managed to meet the deadline, after all. But the people at the printers were really scary."

Jaejoong chuckled. "Trust me, I've seen worse."

There was silence for a while before Jaejoong decided to break the ice. "That was quick thinking back there, Shim, when you gave her a compliment out of the blue," he began, then took sip from his coffee before continuing, "She's not normally jumpy, but it was one of those days. She's been struggling for weeks but wouldn't accept any help. Stubborn girl, I'm telling you."

Changmin laughed a little. "I can see that. Invaluable asset, though."

"Yeah, which was why giving her that compliment was really, really helpful. It gave her the boost of confidence she needed." Jaejoong nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Changmin and offered him a can of coffee.

"Good job, Shim. Keep it up."

There was a look of satisfaction in Changmin's eyes as he grinned, bowed a little and accepted the coffee. "Thanks," he replied in a voice so tiny it contradicted his huge frame.

Jaejoong almost chuckled at the thought of it, but decided to bite back the laughter threatening to fall from his lips when he saw Changmin shrink back to the far side of the couch. All of a sudden, there was a surge of emotions running through Jaejoong's veins and the only possible thing to do was to blurt them all out in one sentence.

"You really don't remember me, do you?"

"I'm sorry?" Changmin cocked his head a little, confusion thick in the way his eyebrows furrowed. "I thought I made it clear — we've never met before, and if we have we weren't probably introduced—"

"So you really don't remember me? You're so unfair." Jaejoong choked on the last bit, a bitter taste surfacing on his tongue. "It must be so convenient, being able to forget everything just like that. I envy you. You have it easy, you really do."

Changmin scoffed. "I don't know anything about what you're saying."

"Oh." Jaejoong laughed a little. He stood from his seat, walked to the opposite side of the couch and put his hands on either side of Changmin. Changmin's eyes widened, and there was a small sound of protest from his lips until Jaejoong leaned in a bit too close, their lips just hovering each other.

"Then I'll make you remember."

Jaejoong pressed his lips on Changmin's lightly, a familiar sensation running down his spine. It was much like their very first kiss, when Changmin didn't even know what the gesture meant and didn't know when to open his lips so that Jaejoong could kiss him deeper. Jaejoong's fists clenched when Changmin parted his lips a little, a wave of relief washing over him as Changmin relaxed under the contact. It was like this for a while, a battle of tongue and lips, until Changmin's eyes flew wide open and Changmin pushed him away.

He bit the inside of his cheek.

"Whoa, whoa! What the fuck was that for?" Changmin's eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes sharp and his teeth clenched. "I let the first one slide because you said it was for work, but this one is just too much! What the hell are you doing?"

A part of Jaejoong wanted to hit Changmin on the head for being disrespectful. You don't talk to your boss like that, he wanted to say, but all these conveniently got tucked at the back of his tongue when a look of disgust surfaced in Changmin's features. He leaned back against the wall. He shook his head; if it was any other person, he'd be lashing out right now and generally throwing a fit for being forgotten, but then this was Changmin and that kind of reception hurt him more than anything else. "Oh well, I tried." He straightened his clothes, got back to his feet and turned on his heel. There was something akin to bitterness tucked at the back of his tongue, but he shrugged it off and tried to look as if it didn't matter, as if Changmin forgetting everything wasn't of any importance. "I'll check the galleys; they should be done now. I'll back in an hour or two."

"No."

Jaejoong turned around sharply.

"I said no, you're not going away. You answer my question — why did you kiss me just now? Is this a joke? Is this… a test for all the editors here? Do you do this with everyone?"

That was it.

Jaejoong walked back to where Changmin was and grabbed him by the collar. "Don't you go telling me that I just go around and kiss everyone on a whim! You should know that more than anyone else!" Jaejoong's grip on Changmin's shirt loosened a little when he realized what he had just said. The turn of the heel, the sudden outburst — he never saw himself reacting like such. He was known to keep his calm as much as possible, and this — a display of overflowing emotion — was just too much for him to digest all at once.

He let his arms fall to his sides and took a few steps back.

"I never played around when we were together, you asshole." His voice drifted off, then gradually picked up volume when he continued, "No wonder you can't remember anything. You thought what we had was a joke."

Changmin scoffed. "Look, I really don't know what you're talking about. I just want you to apologize for sexually assaulting me—"

"You told me you loved me, Min. Said you didn't know why, you just did. Does 'high school' pull a particular heartstring? Does it ring a bell?"

Changmin blinked a few times. "No. No, not at all." He shook his head, apprehension in the trace of his features. "No, it doesn't."

"Well then, bullshit."

Jaejoong picked up his bag from his seat and turned his heel to leave.

Just before reaching the door, he looked over his shoulder. "And because you're so forgetful and clueless, let me put this bluntly — my parents had a divorce just before graduation, when you upped and left me all of a sudden. I used to be Han. Han Jaejoong."

He couldn't bear to wait for Changmin's reaction, even when he heard Changmin gasp and call out after him. He had work to do.

He had to work on not letting his heart get the better of him, too.

It was the most awkward confrontation Jaejoong ever had to go through.

He was just about to leave the building for a dinner meeting when Changmin caught up with him. "You still owe me an apology, sunbae," Changmin sneered as he pulled Jaejoong by the collar of his jacket and pulled him back into the building. "And an explanation. You don't go dropping the truth on me like a bomb and walk off right after."

"You're the one to talk. Besides, you never hang around long enough to listen." Jaejoong tried freeing himself from Changmin's grip, but to no avail. "I have a meeting, Shim. Let go."

Changmin scoffed. "Try harder, Kim. Or should I say Han? Han Jaejoong, was it?"

This was going to be harder than Jaejoong thought.

Jaejoong took a deep breath, willing every inch of self-control to take over his body and set his thoughts straight. "If it makes you feel better, sorry for making you my guinea pig for Taeyeon's reference material. It worked, though, you've got to admit that, but I will not apologize for that other kiss. You couldn't remember anything, what was I supposed to do?"

"Give up, apparently," Changmin quipped. Jaejoong rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that kind of person, Shim. Besides, you're the one who owes me an explanation. You just upped and left for the U.S. all of a sudden! Oh, wait, I mean you left for the U.S. with your fiance. Does that sound better? Did I miss the key point?"

"What the— who even gave you the impression that I was going there with her?"

Jaejoong scoffed. "You did."

"I did not! And even if I did, it was probably because I was too naive and transparent back then! Geez."

Changmin's fists were shaking. It wasn't something Jaejoong had grown accustomed to seeing. "So there was a fiance, then?" he asked. It was the first time since their encounter that Changmin had fallen silent; he was probably right.

There was a crazy little idea playing in Jaejoong's mind, so crazy that he had to put it at the back of his mind and put it off indefinitely. Changmin probably wouldn't be so sold on it, anyway, so why would he have to put it out there for Changmin to know? "So we can start over," it came out unceremoniously, though, that even he was surprised. "Put the past behind since we can't seem to settle what exactly happened and just start anew. We can do that, right?"

"Like hell, I'd allow that," Changmin quipped, sharp and concise. "You think it's so easy to just put everything behind and—"

Jaejoong smirked. "I knew you'd say that. I really like challenges."

There was a flash of confusion in Changmin's eyes that Jaejoong took advantage of as he slipped past the former and walked closer to the exit. "I'll make you fall in love with me again, Shim. Just you wait," he said, and he turned on his heel before Changmin could even see the silly grin on his lips.

He let out a chuckle. This was going to be really interesting.

364 DAYS UNTIL SHIM CHANGMIN FALLS IN LOVE WITH KIM JAEJOONG.

It was a fine Saturday morning and he had decided on getting up late, but all the rustling and noise coming from the house next door ticked him off. He tried going back to sleep but his irritation got the better of him — whatever it was that was ruining his Saturday so early in the morning better have an explanation.

He burst from the door and caught a person crouching near the doorway of the neighboring apartment. He couldn't see the figure clearly at first — he had gotten up no more than five minutes ago, and at the wrong side of the bed even. He didn't even have his glasses on.

And he was still in his pajamas, but he could save that explanation for later.

"Ah, I'm sorry for the noise! I've just finished moving my stuff," his neighbor said. A pause, then a sharp bow. "I'm Shim Changmin, your new neighbor. I'm really sorry for the bother and I hope we can be good neighbors!"

Jaejoong raised an eyebrow, then smiled a little.

Talk about coincidences.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm your boss. Show some respect."

The neighbor raised his head and looked at him in the eye for the first time. There was something akin to horror and frustration and a tinge of surprise in the trace of his features, and a shriek soon escaped Changmin's lips.

"What the— Stop following me!"

"Huh? You said it yourself, you're my new neighbor. You're the one following me." Right before him was Shim Changmin, in boy shorts and a threadbare shirt, who turned out to be the source of the noise that gave him a headache and moved him to get up at eight in the morning. He leaned back against his doorway and watched as Changmin talked some more about probabilities and chances and maybe even destiny, the thought of kissing Changmin at the back of his head. He'll save it for later, he thought, and just gander at Changmin being a complete mess in front of him for now.

Just like high school, he thought, and chuckled. Yes, just like high school.

---

"Kim!"

It was only nine in the morning when Yunho had decided to barge into the peaceful comfort of the female manhwa department, only to lecture Jaejoong on something that supposedly implied something good. "What the fuck is this — your manhwa's already sold out and they're asking for new stock! What am I going to give them? We don't have any books left!"

Jaejoong looked up from his laptop for a while, then went back to work, mumbling, "Well if you just listened to my better judgment, you won't even be thinking about that."

"Your better judgment? You go with pure gut feel and instinct—"

"And my book's not sold out, yeah." Jaejoong shrugged. "I don't know if a certain someone remembers, but I requested for 30,000 more prints but someone was so stingy—"

"Shut up and fix this mess! Talk to the printers and pull off a miracle!"

Jaejoong rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was no use arguing with Yunho because he'd never get through, so he just fixed his eyes on whatever he was doing and didn't even budge when Yunho was already beside him and asking, "Are you even listening?"

"Whatever, I'll go figure this out. If you make another mess, Kim, I swear to God you won't make it back here alive."

"Yeah, yeah. Take it out on your boss."

A wave of relief took over Jaejoong as he sank in his seat, closing his eyes and throwing his head back in the process. Times like these, he wished Yunho wasn't a good friend of his so it would be easy to just fend him off. Other times, he just wished Yunho didn't breathe down his neck all time. It was quite a pleasure to watch Yunho walking away from half-lidded eyes, especially at a time like this.

"And who is this?"

Lovapalooza; Jaejoong/Changmin

2011-09-26T01:11:41Z

Lovapalooza
10719 words. PG-13.
— DBSK; Jaejoong/Changmin, Yunho/Jaejoong.

author onew.
summary There is something so magical in books, Changmin thinks, that he just can't put them away. The same goes for his first love — and possibly his love of ten years.
notes A spin-off of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Note that some events in this fic will not mirror the manga or the anime. (This is Version 1 of the Sekaiichi 'verse fic. This is Version 2. Both never made the Olymfics deadline, lol.)

For Changmin, books have always been special. There's something so captivating, so intrinsically magical about books that makes him stay for hours on end in libraries, or pulls him out of his covers on Saturday mornings to pay a visit to certain bookstores. Be it old or new, a book of any subject will always hold his interest, and even if it isn't that good he'll sit through it like a good boy.

"When you read all sorts of books, you'll be able to tell which is good and which is bad, which needs to be worked on a lot and which needs just a little spice. It's these little things—" His father pauses to point at certain parts of the book they're reading right now. "— these tiny details that make all the difference."

"Like how Luisa wore her pink, lacy, rainbow-printed socks the wrong way," Changmin asks in genuine curiosity and not at all in spite.

His father shrugs. "Mm yes, that can be. Yes."

Changmin doesn't really know where his love for books stems from. Maybe it's because the first gift he had ever received from his parents was a book — The Little Prince by Saint Antoine de-Exupery — or maybe it's because his father works in a publishing company. Either way, he's happy with how things are, and his greatest dream in life is to be perpetually surrounded by books.

So when he's finally 22, he enters his father's publishing company.

He's an instant shoe-in in the literary section, and there he finds himself loving books all the more. In a few month's time, he gets promoted to Literary Editor, and he gets well-known authors published under his name. There are rumors about his father pulling some strings from time to time, but he ignores all of these. As long as he's getting his job done, and well at that, nothing can possibly go wrong.

This is what he tries to believe for three long years.

It's one of those long and dreary nights when he's gone overtime again. It's eleven in the evening and he still hasn't had dinner. The convenience store ramyeon sounds delicious when it's this late, but at the same time he thinks he's had way too much of it already. Instant food for the busy soul.

"I guess I'll just grab some chips," he mumbles, eyes wandering aimlessly. He blinks a few times to keep his vision clear. He has a habit of talking to himself when he's tired; people probably wouldn't mind if he talked to himself right now. "And maybe Banana milk. No time to eat when I get home—"

"The best seller is Shim's author again," comes a voice from the end of the hallway, just near the entrance of the building. "He gets all the good ones." Changmin squints and a familiar face comes into focus — the one talking is from his team, that guy sitting just beside him in the office. The guy's with two other people from his group, a girl and a guy who he recognizes to be the editors he has worked with for their most recent book. Changmin bites his lip.

The girl laughs, disbelief in the undertone of her voice. "Tell me about it. He's never gotten a rogue author before. We're stuck with the rotten ones, I tell you. We're never getting a break with him around."

The other guy cuts through the conversation. "Cut the kid some slack," he says, scoffing a little. "Although come on, he's the owner's son. What would you expect?"

"Excuse me! Have you seen the end of the month report? Phenomenal numbers, I'm telling you!" Changmin rushes. His fists are clenched when he walks up to the three, a big smile on his lips. "Well, don't just stand there. Say something!"

"Yeah, we saw," the girl begins, voice a little weak and awkward. "Your title's the best seller again, Shim. You should drink to that."

"Nah, I wouldn't. Didn't do it alone." Changmin chuckles. "You guys helped by, uh, let's see, thinking I got the big name again because of my connections. Because I'm my dad's son."

"Changmin, you've got it all wrong—"

"Don't worry. It's all good. No hard feelings!" A hearty laugh escapes his lips, but there's a bitter tang at the tip of his tongue waiting to be spit out. "I mean after all, you guys have been at this ever since I got in. Papa's boy, Shim Changmin."

There's variety in their facial expressions — the guy who brought up the topic of best sellers is looking to side, lips parted a little in apparent uncertainty, the girl's biting her lip, and the other guy's eyebrows are furrowed in conflict. Changmin studies their faces carefully so that he'll never forget the faces of those who mocked him in his own company, so that he'll know who to prove himself to.

Changmin turns on his heel when he's done, looking over his shoulder for a closing statement. "I won't be here starting tomorrow. Time to step up, kids," he says, lips drawn up just slightly to a smirk. "I'm sure you'll get 'em big shots when I'm not around." He doesn't wait for a reply, or an apology, or anything that can remotely be considered a reaction. He trudges on, walking down the silent streets of Myungdong, eyes fixed on nothing but the evening sky, mind filled with only one determined thought — a thirst to prove to the world that he can excel in his field without the help of his father.

It's half past eleven and he hasn't had dinner yet, but he doesn't mind, especially after he sends a short text message to his father.

I'm handing in my resignation, Mr. Shim. Consider this effective starting tomorrow.

Not more than a month after, he gets accepted into another publishing company — Sooman Publications. The specifics of his job are still a bit blurred, but he comes in on the Monday following his interview, doing as he has been told. The place feels and smells much like home — silent, magical, and with books everywhere.

"Shim Changmin…" The voice of the lady who has escorted him to his new office drifts off. "You're the new hire for the Emerald department, aren't you?"

"I um, don't think I'm following. What's the Emerald department?"

The lady laughs a little. "Oh silly, you don't have to play innocent about it! It's okay to know stuff about the Emerald department! I mean, it's not as if being part of the manhwa department is that bad..."

"Uh, yeah." Changmin soon finds himself laughing along until the lady's words finally get processed in his mind, one by one — part of the manhwa department.

"Wait, wait! You've got it all wrong!" He abruptly stops in his tracks. "I specifically told the interviewer that I used to be the Literary editor in my company and I prefer to stay that way! There… there must be a mistake!"

There's a look of confusion in the lady's eyes before she reaches inside the envelope she's carrying for Changmin's information sheet. "But it clearly says here — Shim Changmin, full-time employee, female manhwa department. Besides, the people there are all nice and sweet! Plus the guys are all good-looking and, well, so are you..."

"Female manhwa? What—"

"We're here!"

Changmin slowly tears his gaze from the lady and scans the office for a good first impression. To say that he's shocked is an understatement; mortification, yes, that's what he's feeling right now as he surveys the entire office, his eyes settling on the desks that should otherwise be occupied by people, then on the piles of papers scattered all over the office. "I— I'm sorry, there was a mistake. This clearly isn't a good time— There… must be a mistake with the cycle—" the lady rushes, and she turns around to leave even before Changmin can ask what she's supposed to mean by that (and if there's actually a good time to walk in on this kind of office).

"Good morning. I'm Shim Changmin and I'm the new editor. Pleased to make your acquaintance?" he calls out, a bit unsure if anyone's listening or even paying attention. One of the piles rustles a bit, and from amidst the clutter three men appear, all beaming weakly at him.

"Mr. Kim, the new guy's here," one of the editors says. There is silence for a while until he repeats, "Mr. Kim!"

"Quiet! I hear it the first time, okay!" Some grunting and mumbling, and finally Changmin gets called to the editor-in-chief's office. "Come here, new kid!"

Changmin smiles at the three for a while before they collapse back into the piles.

The road — more like the paper-filled aisle — to the boss' office proves to be quite a challenge, what with the piles of manhwa and papers left and right, so he takes the shortcut and makes a leap for it, effectively reaching the cubicle in just a few leaps. He straightens out his clothes, puts on his best and most polite smile and doesn't let it falter even after seeing his new boss' disgruntled state.

"Your name?" The boss has a manhwa on his face, so the line comes out a bit muffled.

"Changmin." He takes a deep breath before repeating, "Shim Changmin."

"Cute name." The boss slowly gets back to his feet, and he soon removes the manhwa from his face. "I wasn't there for the interview, but I saw your credentials. You've got three years of editing experience?" The boss pushes his glasses with his index finger casually, and Changmin wonders for a while if this is actually an interview and not his first day at work.

He nods, musters whatever courage he has left. "Yes. I used to work for Shim Publications. I—"

"Any experience with manhwa editing? Comics, at least? Magazines?"

"N-none at all."

The boss turns to him for the first time. "So you're new at this." Changmin nods because this is the truth, and this is the part where he expects for the worst or maybe a sudden change of character in his new boss. The boss chuckles, adjusts his glasses again. "Completely useless. But anyway—"

Changmin fights the urge to raise and eyebrow and to answer back. This is your first day here, Changmin. Make a good first impression, the quit after two weeks! He repeats this in his head until the shrill ringing of the phone resonates in the room.

"Mr. Kim, Taeyeon is here with drawings for the replacement manuscript. She said she's waiting in the lobby."

"Tell her to meet me in the lounge. You, new kid, come with me."

"What?" Changmin takes a step back, alarmed at the sudden turn of events. He's new and he knows nothing about manhwa editing, but Kim is making him tag along to meet the artist. Isn't this something done by those with experience, at the very least?

Kim looks at him from head to toe. "Well, what are you waiting for? Show me what you can do, new kid. Come on."

"Thank you for coming. I know it's impossible to finish the drawings in three days, but you managed to pull through."

"Ah, no, really! It's okay!" Taeyeon's cheeks turn a bright shade of red. "I had time, anyway, so..." She chuckles and hands the replacement manuscript to Kim. Praises from Mr. Kim must mean a lot, Changmin thinks. Maybe that's how he gets away with being rude.

"Well, don't just stand there," Kim says flatly. "Be of use."

Changmin takes a seat beside Kim and shifts uneasily when Kim places the manuscript between the two of them and, in turn, moves a bit too close for comfort. After going through the manuscript twice, Kim lays the illustrations beside it.

"Hm. This is good," Kim points at one of the panels. "But the kissing scene can use a bit more magic. Like, if you draw it from this angle, it should look more romantic."

Changmin turns to Kim sharply. "You're making her redraw the scene? But it's already good!"

Kim raises an eyebrow at him. "The new kid has something to say?" This effectively silences Changmin and wards off any thoughts related to retaliating. Kim pushes his glasses back with his index finger — it must be a habit. "Besides, it can be improved. I don't want a half-assed drawing."

Taeyeon just nods as she redraws the scene quickly, adjusting some parts of it as Kim points out the areas to be improved.

"Hm. This won't work... You've already kissed someone before, haven't you?"

The statement sends Taeyeon gasping and turning at least two brighter shades of red, and, beside Kim, Changmin gapes at the whole scene. "Th-that's totally uncalled for," he mumbles, undecided on how he can actually help out and if he really should have commented with that. Kim doesn't turn to him, so he safely assumes that his boss didn't hear what he had just said.

"But even if I have, I won't... see how it looks like," Taeyeon replies, embarrassment in the tone of her voice. She laughs nervously.

Kim nods thoughtfully. "You're right."

Changmin doesn't know why Kim suddenly stands from his seat until Kim says, "I'll give you a reference, so draw this quickly." Changmin guesses that they'll be needing reference photos, so he quickly offers his help by asking where he can find those. Kim doesn't reply, so he repeats, "Um, sir, about the reference photos—" but then he abruptly gets cut by Kim grabbing his by the wrist, cutting their distance by more than a feet, reducing it to mere centimeters.

"What—"

And then it happens, something Changmin has never dreamed of happening on his first day at work, something Changmin hasn't experienced in years — Kim kisses him on the lips. The kiss is innocent, but something about the warmth and softness of Kim's lips makes Changmin go a little weak in the knees and breathless. For the next ten seconds, the weird feeling sits still in his nerves, and Kim pulls away unannounced, straightens his clothes and turns back to Taeyeon with a straight face.

"Now sketch that."

Changmin's lips remain parted in disbelief, and he sinks in his seat until he feels his legs again. Five minutes after, Taeyeon perfects the drawing and Kim gives Taeyeon a well-deserved pat on the back and quickly gives the printer a call.

And the clock finally strikes twelve.

He breezes through the rest of the day, reading and checking the manuscripts that have just come in. Kim is quick to assign the task to him, saying, "I'm not supposed to treat you like a newbie, even if you really are. Make yourself useful." This is why Changmin is more than relieved when he finally finishes everything and Kim doesn't give him so much as a passing glance when he excuses himself for a break.

Who'd even think I'd be molested like that on my first day here, Changmin thinks, and sinks in his seat when the weird feeling settles on his stomach once more. Just thinking about the entire incident compels him to turn in his resignation as soon as possible.

My loss, definitely. Changmin frowns, sinking in his seat all the more.

"Hey."

"What?" Changmin asks rather irritatedly, and promptly takes it back when he turns around and sees Kim. "Oh. Um, yes. How did the nego with the press go?" Kim takes a deep breath and shrugs, then takes out a cigarette stick and lights it. How rude, Changmin thinks, especially when Kim blows some smoke his way.

"It went well. They accepted the manuscripts, at least. It's not as if they had a choice."

"That's true. I mean, they signed a contract and all."

"Oh, by the way," Kim pauses, even takes out the stick resting between his lips. "I talked to some higher ups earlier. You're the heir to the Shim Publications?"

Changmin averts his gaze from Kim. "No. I'm not related to the company at all."

A soft chuckle escapes from Kim's lips. "Disappointed you got assigned to the manhwa department?"

Changmin's eyes remain fixed on anything but Kim. He's never been good with lying, and if he's planning to tell a lie he'd have to make the least eye contact with whoever he's talking to. "It's... not that. It's just that I'm new to these things. Like, isn't female manhwa supposed to be about magic and sweet things and love?"

Kim bends over to put out his cigarette. "Funny you should say that."

"I mean," Changmin begins, rushing, "My experience of love has been bittersweet, for the most part, and I'm sure that's not how it's supposed to be in manhwas. It's just not my thing."

"Well then, if you hate it so much, then quit as early as now or you'll just be a burden."

It's the first time since the start of the encounter that Changmin actually looks at Kim in the eye. So you understand, he wants to say, but then something at the back of his tongue wants to lash out and say, No, you're wrong. I won't be a burden.

"Everyone starts out at the bottom of the ladder, kid. I'm sure whatever experience you have with literature won't be useless here."

Changmin furrows his eyebrows for a moment. Maybe this is Kim's way of encouraging people, that despite all the yelling and insulting, his aim is actually to bring out the best in people.

"But of course, useless people will always be useless unless they try doing something."

He shakes his head. No, definitely not. Kim's just weird. And rude. He must have issues.

"Anyway, the others went home already so you can go home, too. Just make sure to be here early. I've got a lot of work for you tomorrow."

Kim lights another stick before turning around and Changmin exhales freely, grateful at the fact that the awkward conversation is not over. He's just about to thank whoever deity has finally heard his prayers when he sees Kim stopping in his tracks to turn around.

"Oh, by the way, have we met before?"

"Probably not," Changmin replies, a bit unsure. Kim nods thoughtfully, shrugs, and gets back on his tracks, to Lord knows where.

Honest to God, Changmin wants to go home already and not come back to this office ever again, but the weirdest idea struck him after that conversation with Kim — he has to prove himself to Kim, no matter what. So he makes the wise decision of going to the stockroom to look for the manhwas Sooman Publications has ever released. He goes through each of them, starting with the first manhwa they ever published and slowly but surely making his way to the most recent.

It takes him longer than expected to finish everything, but the feeling of accomplishment is more than enough to not make him regret everything. So at three in the morning, he lays the most recent manhwa down on his desk and makes his way home.

(It's nine in the evening when Kim gets off from work. Well, not entirely, since he's got an author to meet in thirty minutes, and he can possibly be running late for said meeting already.

"Going home?" asks one editors in the office next to theirs. Kim shakes his head, then smiles a little.

"Nah. Meeting."

He waves at the editor and takes a peek at the office through the blinds. He's set on going when he sees Shim with a pile of manhwa on his desk. He chuckles to himself.

This will be interesting.)

---

Changmin comes to work early, as per practice. He's only at the entrance of the building yet he feels like going back home already. The mere thought of spending another day in the battlefield, of spending another day with the person who stole a kiss from him yesterday, sends shivers down his spine.

He covers his mouth when he yawns. It seems like it wasn't such a good idea to stay up late to read all the manhwa in the inventory, after all.

"Good morning, Changmin!"

Changmin stops abruptly in his tracks and adjusts his vision to the new scene — his supposed office is now clean, pink, and reeking of flowers. He doesn't mind the overall change, but Jesus Christ why is the office so hideously pink?

"I… I think I went to the wrong office. I'm sorry for the mistake." Changmin turns around sharply and attempts to look to anyone for sanity or at least an explanation, but to no avail. His teammates grab him by the collar and drop him on his chair, grins still on their lips.

"B'awww, he's such a cutie!" one of his teammates comments, pinching his cheeks. "Sorry for yesterday, by the way. We were… a bit caught up with the bad manuscripts. But everything's with the press now, so we're fine."

Changmin nods slowly, digesting everything that he's just been told. He looks at each of the three — huge change there, he thinks, from the hairstyle to the clothes to the overall aura of each person. Then he remembers what the lady he met on his first day said.

"Is this part of the… cycle?"

"Oh, that!" There is collective chuckling, then a sharp intake of breath. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. They say we work like the 20-day Japanese Radish." Another chuckle. "That's what everyone says."

"I'm sorry, but what's with the 20-day Japanese Radish?"

The more serious-looking of the three steps up from behind the one who has just pinched his cheeks earlier. "They say the Japanese radish can be harvested in 20 days. The same works for us — we create manhwas in a 20-day period."

There's a mental image of radish growing in his backyard in Changmin's brain, and he doesn't blame himself or even feel the slightest remorse when the faces of his teammates superimpose on the radish.

He bites his tongue. "Ah, I see."

"Oh, by the way, I'm Junsu. Kim Junsu. Sometimes they call me 'the other Kim', but only because Mr. Kim came first." Junsu, the one who pinched his cheeks (sorry, but he can't get over this), says, then proceeds to introducing the others. "This is Park Yoochun. He prefers to be called Yoochun because Park is far too formal." His voice drops to a whisper after a while. "And he's popular with girls! There was a time when one of his authors walked up to him and gave him a bouquet of roses—"

"I think we're not here to discuss that, Junsu," Yoochun quips flatly. Junsu chuckles.

"Mhmm, right. And he's grumpy." Junsu winks at the end of his statement, and Yoochun just rolls his eyes. "And this is Park Jungsu! He's essentially Mr. Park Number Two... But anyway, Jungsu's a bit shy, but wait 'til he gets drunk." Junsu leans closer to Changmin. "He takes off his clothes."

Jungsu frowns a little. "I resent that, you know. So much for being the hyung—"

The conversation effectively gets cut off by Yoochun bringing up the topic of teaching Changmin the basics. They start with the shades, toners, then the phototypesetting and sticking inside the lines (unless explicably stated by the author). He then learns how to use this specific type of cutter that they use when laying down the letrasets. It's a pretty productive day, and he slowly gets the hang of things after a while.

"They say when you go out of the line, your heart's also out of the line," Jungsu comments as Changmin carefully lays down one of the text inside the text box. "So even if digital manuscripts are the norm nowadays, you should always be ready to do these things, and be mindful of what you do."

"Your phototypesetting was off by a millimeter," Yoochun quips, eyes fixed on Jungsu. "Last month's issue, page 6."

"Aa, Yoochun! Why didn't you point that out earlier!"

"And why didn't you pay more attention to what you were doing?"

Junsu laughs at the sidelines, and Changmin continues studying the other manhwa that the company has published. He scans the panels one by one, carefully studying the text placement, the order in which the textless scenes appear, even the way the tones are being applied on various scenes. One panel catches his attention, and he can't help but point it out to the three.

"Did the… writer run out of time for this manhwa or something? The ending seems kind of rushed."

Yoochun and Jungsu stop midway through their argument and huddle over Changmin. "What do you mean?"

"See, before the last page, she draws the characters in great detail, then on the last page she uses this huge whitespace, then cuts it with a block of toner and just places short text on it. It's as if the climax just… goes down." Changmin scrunches his nose. "It's almost as if she didn't have—"

"You fool!"

"Wha—"

Changmin doesn't know how it happens, but Kim is now standing in front of him, an accusatory pointed in his general direction. "That is called the maiden's heart-grabbing frame, you newbie!"

"The maiden's… heart-grabbing frame?"

"If you studied hard enough, you'd know! You see how the author builds up the story?" Kim grabs the manhwa from Changmin and slams it on his desk, and Changmin holds his breath for a while until Kim speaks again. "The girl clutches the back of the guy's shirt, and the author zooms in on that. Then she shows the small change in the guy's lip movement as the girl sets the mood for her confession. And then she switches to first person so that it becomes easier for the reader to sympathize with the reader!"

The flip of the page resonates a strange vibe, somehow, capturing's Changmin's attention all the more and making him hold his breath in anticipation.

"And then as the reader flips the page in anticipation, the realization comes to the girl, hitting her hard, like a wave of emotions enveloping her and she whispers her confession — slow, sure, yet muted."

Changmin breathes out heavily.

"You know how that feels, right?" the three chime, and Changmin shoots them a weird look. No, not at all, he wants to say, because his past experience with his first love when he was in high school has already jaded him when it comes to these things.

Manhwa characters have it easy. If only this was the case with his past love.

No, Shim Changmin. He bites the back of his tongue. You do not think about these things! Not about Han-sunbae!

He figures that the three won't let on if he doesn't show any sign of approval, so he nods and smiles a little and sets the manhwa aside. He runs his eyes through the catalogue of manhwa, checking which title seems the most interesting to read at this time of the day. "What are you doing with the catalogue?" Junsu asks, curious as always, head propped on Changmin's shoulder.

"I'm trying to read all the manhwa in our inventory but I 'm trying to familiarize myself with the titles first. That way, I'd have a good idea of what the manhwas are about even if I haven't read them yet."

Jungsu's eyes widen. "Are you serious? We've published more than a thousand books already!"

Changmin laughs. "It's okay. I used to read all the books in our library before as a hobby." There's a bit of embarrassment playing on Changmin's lips as he admits to his little secret and recalls the high school tirade he had to go through. From the corner of his eye, he sees Kim looking at him with wide eyes.

"Uh, 'something the matter, Mr. Kim?"

"I—" Kim pauses tentatively, eyebrows furrowed. For a moment, Changmin thinks he sees a bit of tenderness or even disbelief , but then it's hard to tell when the only look Changmin has ever seen Kim fashion is either one of boredom or anger. "Nothing," Kim soon says, and the conflict of emotions in his eyes abruptly disappears, especially when he says, "Now get back to work."

Kim is the perfect definition of bipolar, Changmin thinks, and he turns his attention to the manuscripts that have just come in for checking. "Strict as usual, Mr. Kim," Junsu slips casually, and Changmin looks over his shoulder to see if Kim will give anything that can be remotely equated to a reaction. But none of that — Kim is just reading, occasionally pushing back his glasses with his index finger.

Just before Changmin tears his eyes from the scene, he catches Kim looking at him, and he immediately shifts his gaze back to the pile of papers on his desk. He doesn't know why, but his heart is beating wildly and there are butterflies in his stomach. Maybe it's because of the fact that his boss just caught him staring, but really, really that shouldn't matter at all.

Changmin takes a deep breath. Best to not think about weird things and just work. Yes, that's right — work.

Kim pulls him out of whatever he's doing at around 2:30 to visit one of their author's who's falling behind the deadline. He hasn't been informed about this, to be honest; he finds out when he hears Kim arguing with someone over the phone about deadlines and negotiations and working till their hands drop.

"Goddamit, don't you think I'm also struggling here? I'm trying my best, okay! If you want this job, you better start understanding why I'm doing this!"

The atmosphere becomes still for a while and everyone's got their eyes on Kim until he gestures all of them to get back to work — except for Changmin, at least. He points at Changmin, gestures for him to get up and prepare some materials. Changmin does as he is told, albeit grudgingly, and follows Kim on his way out of the office without another word.

The elevator ride is silent, save for a few grunts and mumbling from Kim. When they get out, Changmin manages to muster the courage to ask, "The one you were talking to on the phone, was that the author?"

"It's none of your business, new kid." Kim doesn't even give him so much as a passing glance. "Just watch and learn."

"My name is Shim, sir!" Changmin replies through gritted teeth.

Kim chuckles as he starts the engine. "Stubborn as ever."

"I'm sorry?"

Changmin quickly turns his gaze to Kim. If he heard things right, Kim was actually implying that he had always known Changmin was stubborn. But that's impossible, Changmin convinces himself. Maybe Kim just sees a friend of his in him, that's all. Or maybe Kim has this thing with making people feel so damn uncomfortable.

"Nothing. Wear you seat belt, Shim. This will be a rocky ride."

Kim holds true to his promise — to say that the drive is rocky is a complete understatement. If Changmin was the type of person to get carsick, he'd be puking buckets right now, but lucky for Kim he isn't. So Changmin just holds his breath, closes his eyes, and holds on to whatever seems stable enough for dear life.

Changmin doesn't see it but Kim smiles a little, maybe a bit brighter than before.

"Shit, Kim, you're here."

Changmin makes the smart decision to shuffle to the table at the far end of the room and stay away from any source of animosity, a.k.a. Kim. He listens carefully to the conversation, though, even as he prepares the tools they might be needing for whatever is to come.

"You seriously thought I was joking when I said I was coming over?" Kim has his hands on his waist when he walks to the author — Im Yoona. "If you so much as have time to think I'm joking, then you should be drawing!"

"But I am! It's just that... I just want this spread to be perfect!"

"Who even draws the Namsan Tower in complete detail for a spread? Jesus Christ, Yoona, have some common sense!"

Yoona's lips tremble a little and her hands are shaking. She's got dark circles under her eyes, too, and her hair's all over the place; she obviously hasn't had any decent rest in a while. "Well, apparently, I do! It's a vital part of the plot, okay. I don't want to leave out the small details and pass this to the printers… I don't want to turn in something 'half-assed', as you always put it. You do know how much I've put into this, right? Right—"

"Yes, I do, which is why I'm telling you to fucking get back to work because we have a deadline!"

Logic tells Changmin to stay away from the drama and just offer his help if and when needed. He's been in this kind of situation before, and experience has taught him that it's best not to meddle in these kinds of things. But then Yoona looks so helpless and desperate from this angle, spirits broken down and body starting to give up. Changmin tentatively stands from where he is, and as he walks to where Kim and Yoona are he slowly and steadily builds the courage to speak up.

"Excuse me!"

Kim looks at him sharply, an eyebrow raised, but Changmin trudges on. "Sonsaengnim, I've read your books, and I especially enjoyed the previous installment. I bought it yesterday and started reading it right after I got it."

Yoona's features brighten up a little, but there's a trace of curiosity in the "Don't you get those for free in the office?"

"Ah, yeah, we do, but I wanted to show my support for you, even if that… basically means giving back the money I earned from Sooman Publications to them." Changmin laughs shyly. "What I'm saying is… I'm new to the entire concept of manhwa-making and all, but I know a good story when I see one. And this," Changmin traces the edge of the page Yoona is drawing on, then offers her a small smile. "This is good. I mean, more than good! It's engaging, and that's because tou have the ability to connect with your readers with the manhwa you make."

Changmin takes a deep breath, lightly pressing his lips together, the smile on his lips growing brighter and just a bit more awkward. "So please, sonsaengnim, please try hard to finish this. You can do this, I know you can."

Changmin's voice trails off, all the confidence he had earlier slowly wearing off of him like a whisper to the wind. He hangs his head low because he's got nothing else to say, and because he's afraid he might not have done Yoona any good with his speech dripping of pure hero-worship. Then all of a sudden, Kim fits himself beside Changmin and gives him a light pat on the shoulder.

"See? Even the kid believes in you. Besides, have I ever been wrong with saying something is good?" Kim then pats Yoona lightly on the head, and something akin to a burst of happiness lights the corners of Yoona's eyes. "And I've already talked to the printers. I managed to convince them to push back the deadline to tomorrow afternoon."

There's something like hope breaking from Kim's features, and Changmin looks at him as if he's been hit hard with a realization — even if he didn't speak up, even if he didn't say those little words of encouragement, Kim would have still found a way to bring out the best in Yoona. His boss, no matter how much of a tyrant he is, has already planned to let Yoona finish her drawings at her own pace (maybe just a bit quicker, but at Yoona's own momentum nonetheless).

Yoona quickly turns to Kim. "But they said I only had until 5 p.m. today..."

"Just do your work. I know you want to make this good, so do it."

With a small smile on her lips and a nod of approval, Yoona gets back to sketching without another word.

Yoona finishes the drawing of the tower at five in the afternoon, and they all manage to put everything together (those assistants of Yoona's really pulled through) at around five in the morning. Changmin puts whatever he's learned from Junsu, Yoochun and Jungsu to use for the very first time, and he thinks he's successful, save for the few blunders left and right that Kim manages to salvage.

It's already six in the morning when they get back to the office, and Changmin's got his face buried in his hands while Kim goes off to grab a cup of coffee from the vending machine.

Changmin's normally a morning person, but right now he hates sunshine and would very much appreciate a good night's rest.

"She really pulled through last night, Yoona," Kim comments when he arrives, and settles at the far end of the bench. "She isn't normally the panicky type, but she was really having a hard time with this month's issue. Good thing you were there to give her a morale boost."

Changmin's eyes shoot up. "I didn't do much. You were going to let her finish, after all—"

"Words of encouragement are always good, especially at times like those. You knew how to handle her, which shows your skill as an editor." Kim pauses and takes a sip of his coffee, then proceeds to look at Changmin in the eye. "Good job."

There's something about the upward curve of Kim's lips that sends a fancy tingle down to Changmin's toes, something about they way Kim's eyes glimmer that makes his heart skip a beat, then two, then three, as he holds his breath in anticipation of what is to come. "I was afraid I'd say things recklessly," he blurts out, unceremonious and unprepared, "that I'd just make things worse and—"

"Recklessly saying things, huh?" Kim chuckles. "You haven't changed at all."

The good image of Kim that has just been painted of what happened the day promptly gets shattered, and Changmin frowns, irritated at Kim's persistence. "Mr. Kim, you should stop saying things like that." Changmin shifts in his seat, his face now held high and no longer buried in his hands. "I told you, we've never met before, and even if we have, we've never been properly—"

"So you don't remember me?" Kim leans back on the head rest, voice dropping to a whisper. "You're the worst."

"Please, stop. This isn't nice—"

"Maybe you'll remember everything when I do this."

Everything happens in a rush — one minute, Kim is sitting at the far end of the bench, and the next minute Kim is just beside him, fingers tracing the length of his face. His breath hitches as Kim breathes out, the warm air tickling his skin. There is no trace of the of the Kim he's come to know, no sharpness in his eyes, only warmth and, perhaps, affection.

"Mr. Kim, I—"

Kim presses his lips on Changmin's tentatively before leaning in, testing the waters that haven't been trudged for years. Changmin feels invaded, at the very least, but something about the familiarity of the whole thing, the wave of comfort that he feels in the kiss that prevents him from struggling. But then the better half of his senses gets him back to his feet, and seconds after he pushes Kim away.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"You still don't remember? Jesus Christ…" Kim shakes his head, a trace of disgust in his voice. "Do you just go kissing people and not remembering how you felt while doing so? You really are the worst. Anyway," Kim pauses and stands from where he is, then smoothens the creases of his shirt. "I'm going to the press. The galley should be done by now.Try to remember while I'm gone."

Kim picks up the briefcase and turns on his heel to leave. There's a few meters between them already when Kim stops and looks over his shoulder.

"Oh, and by the way, my parents got a divorce when I was in university. I used to go by Han. Han Jaejoong."

My parents got a divorce—
I used to go by Han.
Han Jaejoong.

Han-sunbae, his first and only high school love. Han Jaejoong, his first kiss. Han Jaejoong, the man who defiled him at age fifteen (and he doesn't even regret it). Han Jaejoong, no, Kim Jaejoong, his boss at Sooman Publications.

You shit me not.

"Ya, Kim!" Changmin calls out at the top of his lungs as he runs after Jaejoong. He won't be disrupting work, anyway; it's just six in the morning, for fuck's sake, and it's a Saturday. "Hey, you, come back! You don't walk away after telling me you're actually Han Jaejoong! Ya!"

Changmin stops in front of the elevator, hands on either door so that he'd be able to talk to Jaejoong face-to-face. Jaejoong laughs and shakes his head, and Changmin soon realizes the big resemblance between the two — the cheeky grin, the peculiar upward curve of the mouth, the sharp eyes, the small frame. How could he have missed this?

"I kept telling you you looked familiar. You just shrugged me off. Clearly not my fault there. Now please, I have to go to the printer—"

"No. You stay here and explain to me why you suddenly upped and left just before Christmas," Changmin says through gritted teeth, fists clenched and breathing heavy. "How dare you play around with the heart of 15-year-old? I might have been too young for you then, but I was definitely serious with you! You heartless bas—"

"Hey, hey! Hold on, weren't you the one who upped and left me? You have the nerve to talk to me like that after kicking me around like a dog and leaving me the very next day!" There is disbelief in the undertone of Jaejoong's laughter. "So now I'm the villain! Wow, great! It must be convenient to have selective memory, mustn't it?"

Changmin takes a step back. "But you laughed at me when I asked you if we were going out. You didn't even give me a straight answer after that!"

"What the fuck? I never did that!" Jaejoong scoffs. "Okay, fine. If ever I did, I might have just been hiding my shyness, but don't go telling me I was never serious with you because I was, Shim. I definitely was."

By now, Changmin's heart is racing against his ribcage and his nails are digging way too deep into his skin. He gulps down hard. Is it true? Could Jaejoong have been serious about their so-called relationship all along? Was he wrong to hold a grudge against Jaejoong for ten long years?

Changmin shakes his head. No, he's sure Jaejoong was the one who left. And if Jaejoong really was serious about everything, he'd have returned after being away for so long. He has every right to be mad and to demand an explanation, that's right.

"I've tried being in various relationships these past ten years and they never worked because I was still in love with you, okay." Jaejoong takes a deep breath. "Now, I don't care if you hate me or what, but I assure you I'll make you say you love me again."

"What?"

"You heard that right. I'll make you say those three words again, Shim, so you better be ready."

Jaejoong presses hard on the close button, and Changmin abruptly lets the doors go. A wave of exhaustion soon envelops him as he leans against the wall for balance, and a question plagues his mind.

What the actual fuck?

It's not as if he's forgotten about his affair with Han Jaejoong when he was still in high school. In fact, he remembers it clearly, save for how everything ended. The day of the so-called break-up is a blur, to be honest, and it must be that bad for him to actually forget what happened. It is for the very same reason that he opts to not tell people about the entire thing — considering the ordeal he had to go through just to recover from that relationship, it's understandable that he doesn't want anyone to know about it.

Changmin laughs to himself. How he was even able to do everything back then, he doesn't know, but thinking about it right now makes him marvel at his bravery at such a young age.

See, Han Jaejoong — now Kim Jaejoong — was his biggest high school crush.

It started when he was in first year of middle school. Jaejoong was on his last year of middle school then. Changmin, being a huge fan of books, always hung out in the library, making it a habit to read a new book everyday, and it just so happened that Jaejoong hung out in the library often, too. So Changmin made it a habit to read every book Jaejoong read, checking the books in the library for Jaejoong's name, learning more about Jaejoong with every book he read.

He was the master of stalking back then, thank you very much.

It was pretty much his routine for the next three years — study - go to the library - read books relevant to school - check out what Jaejoong is reading - snatch the book Jaejoong has just returned to the shelf. Rinse and repeat, add some more outrageous acts of stalking like peeking from the shelves to see if Jaejoong is in his usual position, or purposely passing him by to check the title of the book he's reading. He was pretty much contented with this kind of lifestyle until that one fine day when he was in his first year of high school.

The library was unusually empty, but that was probably because it was nearing the end of the school year already. And since this was the case, Changmin was scrambling to look for this book that he really wanted to read before the school closed for the break. He was scanning the titles in the shelves when all of a sudden, a hand reached out for the very same book he was looking for.

He quickly looked to his left. "Ha-Han-sunbae."

Jaejoong raised his eyebrows a little. "You know my name?"

It was probably his naivety and his childishness at work, but at that time his emotions were just mixed up and in the heap of helplessness, all he could do was be completely honest. I love you, sunbae. I love you. He took a few quick breaths, the confession choked at the back of his tongue — and for a very good reason. He wouldn't want to make a fool of himself with this confession, and no way in hell is he confessing right now! Still, the urge to just spill was so strong that if he fought it, if he so much as tried to resist, he'd end up having a seizure.

"I— I love you, sunbae."

There was a vacant expression in Jaejoong's eyes, and Changmin didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on in his mind. When Jaejoong asked, "Do you want to go out with me," though, his faculties ceased to function, and he was reduced to a love-sick 15-year-old.

A lot of things happened after that. Jaejoong invited him to his house to watch some films at first, but then the next thing Changmin knew Jaejoong was already kissing him and touching him in places he never dreamed Jaejoong would touch. And in the succeeding days, they started hanging out in the library together, until closing, and when they were sure they were the only ones left Jaejoong would lean in for a kiss (and more).

A 15-year-old could only handle so much.

The trip back home is silent, save for overly confusing thoughts running through his mind. He's able to shun them out for a while, but when he arrives at his doorstep there's this huge question mark drawing itself, etching itself on his mind again.

What is the world just happened?

"Oh, so you're here to confess? That's a pretty quick change of disposition."

Changmin quickly looks to his side, and he doesn't even bother reacting with much vigor when he sees Jaejoong standing on the doorway next to his. He's gotten used to misfortunes caused by Jaejoong by now, and this once is the icing on the cake. "Oh wait, let me guess. We've been neighbors for what, give or take a year already, and we never found out until now." Changmin takes a deep breath. "I'm destined to live a miserable life, really."

Jaejoong shrugs. "Looks like it. So, are you here to tell me you love me?"

"Not in a million years," Changmin says, sneering. He unlocks his door and closes it behind him once he gets in. He takes a deep, deep breath.

Shit just got real.

364 DAYS UNTIL SHIM CHANGMIN FALLS IN LOVE WITH KIM JAEJOONG.

"KIM!"

Changmin's choice of something to start the day with has always been coffee and pancakes or anything sweet in general, with an ounce of silence thrown somewhere in between, and this is definitely not what he is being serviced at the moment. Someone has just come barging in their office, calling out Jaejoong for something he's done wrong, and Jaejoong barking back in reply.

"Uh, excuse me, Jungsu," Jaejoong whispers, leaning in in the process. "Are they arguing about the latest release?"

Jungsu chuckles a little. "Mhmm. The magazines are now sold out and we need to restock since the demand is still high. I mean, it's just been a week after all."

Changmin furrows his eyebrows. "But isn't that supposed to be good? And we can always have the magazine reprinted, right?"

"Yes, but it'll take us days before we get the final press." Jungsu takes a deep breath and frowns a little. "We'll lose sales during that time, and by the time we get the new press, we might not be able to sell as much anymore. Mr. Kim really fought for a bigger number for the initial print, because he believed the author would sell this much, but the higher ups didn't listen."

"So they don't really take the editor's say as the final word," Changmin quips, voice drifting off. Jungsu nods and this earns a sharp intake of breath from Changmin. "But oh, that guy arguing with Mr. Kim, who is he?"

There's something different in the curl of Jungsu's mouth when he replies. "Oh, he's the head of the finance department. Everybody says he's a terrorist, but it would be better if you called him—"

"Yunho. Jung Yunho."

Jungsu turns on his heel quickly, perfect smile still intact. "Ah, 'pleasure seeing you after a long time, Mr. Jung. Has life been treating you well?"

Changmin watches as exasperation surfaces on Yunho's features before Yunho turns to him with sharp eyes. "Are you new? This is the first time I've seen you around."

"Ah, my apologies!" Changmin bolts from his seat, then bows to Yunho. "I'm Shim Changmin, and I started a few weeks ago as an editor for the Emerald department. I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Shim, is it? The sole heir to the Shim Publications? Did you get in by riding your father's name?"

Given the fact that Yunho is Changmin's superior in more ways than one and that they've just met, Changmin shouldn't be fighting back or doing anything that can remotely imply resentment, but he simply can't sit this down. He slowly brings himself back up, takes a deep breath before offering Yunho a smile.

"You know nothing about me, Mr. Jung, so please don't assume that I used my father's connections just to get in." Changmin's lips are pressed to a thin line, and when he looks at either side of him Yoochun and Junsu's eyes are wide and there's barely noticeable change in Jaejoong's features. He takes this as a sign to go on. "And if that isn't enough to change your mind, then let me knock you off your feet and prove to you that I got in because I am good. "

Yunho chuckles bitterly. "Quite the cheeky bastard, aren't you? Watch your words, newbie." Yunho then eyes Changmin from head to toe, and turns on his heel when he meets Changmin in the eye.

"Anyway, Kim, just make sure this doesn't happen again." Yunho looks over his shoulder and pauses for a while, then runs his eyes up and down Changmin once more before shooting a glance at Jaejoong. "And keep your bastard of a new editor out of my sight, thanks."

"Then next time, tell your boss to trust my better judgment! And weren't you the one crossing the line?" Jaejoong shakes his head and swivels on his seat. "Pssh, what a troublemaker."

When Jaejoong stands from his seat, Changmin starts expecting the worse — getting fired right on the spot, receiving a scolding from Jaejoong, or something else entirely unimaginable and nothing his hear can take. He takes a few quick breaths as Jaejoong draws nearer and stops just behind his seat.

"You really did well out there." A chuckle, then a light pat on the head. "Good job."

From beside Changmin, Junsu is grinning, and from a few tables away Yoochun is smirking and Jungsu is holding his right thumb up. He holds his breath as Jaejoong ruffles and briefly runs his hand through his hair, the warmth of Jaejoong's hand sending shivers down his spine. "Thanks," he mumbles, the strain on his voice evident especially as he tries to fight back the urge to smile.

So there's a new person to look out for — Jung Yunho.

He starts thinking about this when Yoochun picks up a call from Yunho. "Mr. Jung is asking if you can go out for a drink with him. He says he won't take no for an answer," Yoochun says flatly, relaying the message half-heartedly. Jaejoong brushes him off, his hands gesturing something along the lines of 'you deal with this mess right now; I'm busy'.

"Please, Mr. Kim. He won't let on."

"Tell him I'm busy and I'm not interested."

Yoochun takes a deep breath. "Please tell him yourself."

Jaejoong rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Talking to him is such a drag, anyway. Just drop the phone."

Yoochun mumbles a small apology to Yunho before hanging up and lets out a sigh once the call is dropped.

The entire thing surprises Changmin a little. Just a while ago, Yunho and Jaejoong were at each other's necks, yelling at each other, and now Yunho is asking Jaejoong to drink with him. It just doesn't make sense! But then everything starts losing sense and logic when Jaejoong is in the picture.

Changmin retracts his red pen for a while and furrows his eyebrows. Why is he even analyzing things? More importantly, why is he thinking about Jaejoong?

"Oh by the way, Shim," Yoochun calls out, stretching his neck a bit so that they can see each other. "Any news from Hwang-sonsaengnim?"

"Ah, no, she hasn't gotten back to me." Changmin offers a small smile. "I'll just give her a call to check up on her progress."

It's perfect timing both for his sanity and work, Changmin thinks, that he has to follow up on his author, so he immediately gives her a call. The storyboard is only halfway done, she tells him. "Sorry for the delay; I'll try to get everything in before the day ends," she says faintly, embarrassment in the undertone of her voice. Changmin offers some words of encouragement, and this is how he convinces her to submit the storyboard by 8 p.m., by hook or by crook.

"You can just fax it to me at home; I'll give you my number. Here—

For the first time in weeks, he goes home before eight in the evening.

This has been his routine for these past few weeks — wake up, get dressed, go to work, avoid any contact with Jaejoong, go home late, try to grab something to eat on the way, bump into Jaejoong somehow, run away. It's pretty tiring but it keeps him alive somehow, and today he's decided to treat himself to something special. Maybe a real meal that isn't composed of instant ramen and hotdogs. Maybe something more, but definitely not this.

"Who even makes manga about cats these days?"

"Definitely the one I have. Hah."

Changmin abruptly stops in his tracks when he sees Jaejoong and Yunho near the doorway. Great, he thinks. These two just have to block the only way out. There goes his stealthy exit from the building, there goes his last attempt at avoiding Jaejoong today. He takes a deep breath; this shouldn't scare him off at all.

"Stop joking around!"

Jaejoong hits Yunho lightly on the arm, the sound of his laughter loud enough to reach Changmin who is at least ten feet away. Jaejoong, stoic and strict as ever, the ice prince, is currently laughing and it's all because of something silly that Yunho has just said.

Changmin scoffs. Petty, he tells himself, and proceeds to going on his way, his fists balled when he walks past the two.

"So this is how you treat your superiors? You don't even greet us on your way home? Show some respect, Shim!" Jaejoong's eyes are sharp and his voice thick with demand. There is no trace of the laughter that escaped from his lips just a few minutes ago, or the crinkle in his eyes when Yunho made him laugh. None of those at all.

"I'm going ahead. Thank you for your hard work!"

Changmin walks as fast as he can, convincing himself that he has to catch the 8:30 train in order to get some decent food from the convenience store or perhaps any restaurant near his place. That, and he knows Jaejoong's catching up and that he heard Jaejoong telling Yunho he's going and that they'll continue the chat next time.

He lingers long enough to catch this, though — Yunho telling Jaejoong he'll be coming over later, Jaejoong pleading to please not push through with it, and Yunho calling Jaejoong by his first name.

Changmin manages to catch the 8:30 train but then so does Jaejoong, and the train is so cramped that their bodies are pressed so uncomfortably against each other. Changmin's breathing is heavy against Jaejoong, and he passes it off as the lack of breathing space at work.

"You've been avoiding me," Jaejoong quips out of the blue. "Why?"

Changmin scoffs a little, fixing his eyes on anything and anyone but Jaejoong. "I am not."

"I'm not stupid, Shim. You've been avoiding me and it's not helping us work as a team."

Changmin faces Jaejoong, lips drawn to a frown. "There are other members of the team, Mr. Kim, and please let it go. I am not in the mood for an argument."

"I don't understand. I've been doing all these nice things for you and you still hate me?"

"Do you actually think I'm that cheap?"

The train takes a sharp turn and the lights flicker for a while, effective throwing Changmin off balance and holding on to whatever is closest to him for dear life. Jaejoong is conveniently there, rigid, still standing, and generally unfazed by the sharp turn, so Changmin clutches at Jaejoong's shirt and lets his fall be cushioned by Jaejoong's chest. When the lights flicker back on, Changmin lets go, and Jaejoong's eyes are closed and he's biting his lower lip.

"S-sorry about that," Changmin mumbles, and turns around even before Jaejoong can say a word.

The rest of the trip is silent, even their short walk from the station to their apartment. Changmin can feel Jaejoong watching him as he walks past the latter and faster than the usual. When he hears a faint 'good night' from Jaejoong, he quickly closes his door and locks it.

---

"You mean you don't know?"

"What's there to know?" Changmin's eyebrows are furrowed, confusion thick in his voice. The look on Junsu and Yoochun's faces are far too priceless not to point out, so he indulges. "You both look as if this is a matter of life and death. I mean, it couldn't be." Changmin chuckles. "It's just—"

"Mr. Kim is leaving for the U.S. today."

Changmin nods slowly, taking the news pretty well. It shouldn't be a big deal; Kim goes to different countries often. It's not monumental at all. "Mhmm. Okay. So what? He always does that, going to different countries and all."

"No, no. You don't get it." By now, there's worry in the trace of Junsu's features. This is a look Junsu fashions only when he's desperate and clearly being misunderstood. Yoochun's worrying his lower lip — he doesn't do that often, too. Only when there's the slightest chance that a manhwa might be redeemed.

"Jaejoong's leaving for the U.S.." Jung is standing in the doorway, but his voice so clearly resounds in the four walls of their office. His arms are crossed over his chest, conflict visible in his eyes and the sound of his voice. "He's leaving today, right now if that makes everything much clearer and urgent." Jung takes a deep breath before continuing, "And he's not coming back. Not anytime soon, at least."

"But we've got unpublished magazines. He can't leave his work just like that! It's just not like him to be—"

Jung chuckles. "Well, guess what, Shim. He just did."

Then it comes to Changmin — a wave of worry, doubt, sadness and at the same time a bit of happiness. Good riddance, he wants to say. Yes, that's right — Jaejoong's departure should mean a more peaceful life for him, if not a worry-free one. He should be inexplicably happy! But something so heavy settles at the pit of his stomach, and if he doesn't get to his feet and run to the airport or wherever Kim is, for that matter, as fast as he can, the feeling might just not fade.

He turns to Junsu and Yoochun, then to Jung.

"I… I should leave."

He's never been the athletic type, and this is precisely why the speed at which he is running right now overwhelms him, effectively countering the weird feeling in his stomach just a little. He takes the stairs to the ground floor — he figures he doesn't have time to wait for the elevator — and by the time he gets to the entrance of the building, his legs are already sore.

He silently curses his lack of athletic skill. The only reason he passed his P.E. class was because he aced the exams and got perfect marks in his projects. That was back in college, where everything was much easier, much more bearable than today. That was back in college, when he buried himself too deep in his studies so that he'd forget.

They say there are some loves that you just can't un-love. He can't help but agree all the more today, right now.

He takes a deep breath. Shit, yes, today. He's got a plane to catch and he's running on two feet. Only a miracle can bring him to the airport so fast.

"Hey Shim!"

Changmin quickly turns around in search of the person who called him, and he finds Jung's car conveniently parked outside the building, the window of the driver's seat lowered so that Changmin can see Jung clearly.

"Get in the car, quick! You don't expect to get there fast by just running, do you?"

"I—"

Jung laughs and shakes his head. "Thank me later. Just get inside and wear your seatbelt." There's something different in the way Jung's eyes glimmer right now. It's as if there's an understanding between them that there's a story to be ended, a manuscript to be turned in.

They have only a little over 30 minutes to make things right and publish possibly the greatest story ever told.

"Thanks, for whatever it's worth," Changmin mumbles. Jung starts up the car.

30 MINUTES UNTIL SHIM CHANGMIN FALLS IN LOVE WITH KIM JAEJOONG.

(WIP) #23; Junsu/Nichkhun

2011-09-24T05:42:55Z

#23
2694 words. PG-13.
— 2PM; Junsu/Nichkhun.

author onew.
summary
notes Canary is the 23rd color in the list of Crayola colors, and has a lot of meanings. Tthis was written for an anon at kpopficwangst. This is the first and last time I'll write 2PM, haha. Never got to finish this one, too.

Junsu has always been the awkward odd ball in the group. Even in his own skin, he feels as if he doesn't fit or belong, always sputtering words at random. He avoids interviews like the plague, lest he make himself look like a fool in front of everyone. His attempts at being humorous or even remotely amusing come across as weird, if not disturbing to most people.

Nichkhun is just as awkward, but his innate grace makes it possible for him to brush off awkwardness so easily. He doesn't fumble or stumble in his words when he's confused, doesn't make people cringe at his clumsiness and, instead, makes them swoon. Nichkhun is a natural charmer, disarmer, and the mere notion of Nichkhun, just his name, sweeps people off their feet.

Junsu isn't jealous, not the slightest bit. He simply watches from a good distance as Nichkhun takes a stab at coming across as funny or humorous, captivates everyone with a silly joke and makes everyone burst into a lovely peal of laughter. Junsu doesn't quite understand what the joke is supposed to mean, but he does know the meaning of the smile playing on his lips as Nichkhun turns around and flashes a V-sign at his, grinning rather awkwardly, from ear to ear.

---

One time, though, it changes.

Nichkhun is in the middle of delivering a joke and Wooyoung's eyes are already wandering aimlessly. Chansung is considerate enough to give the occasional smile, small and forced. Taecyeon just nods — appreciatively or not, no one knows — in between Nichkhun's lines.

"And then he said, 'Doctor, thank you for saving us!'" A smile hangs loosely on Nichkhun's lips as he delivers the last line of the supposed joke, eyes darting from one corner to the other. There's no trace of amusement on everyone's features, not even a sign of appreciation for Nichkhun's effort to make everyone smile.

Junsu shifts uncomfortably in his seat and suggests, "Maybe it's time we hit the sheets?" The rest of the members shuffle out of the living room appreciatively, leaving only him and Nichkhun. Taecyeon shoots a glance at them and calls out, "Don't stay up too late; we have a schedule tomorrow." They simply nod in reply. Something is wrong, Junsu thinks, especially when Nichkhun worries his lips, settles beside Junsu and sinks in his seat, dejection washing over his features.

"That was a lame joke," Nichkhun says flatly, and throws his head back.

"No, it wasn't."

Nichkhun scoffs. "At least they thought it was."

"Hey." Junsu puts an arm around Nichkhun and pulls the latter considerably closer. "Maybe they're just tired. We did have a long day, after all." Junsu smiles a bit, warm and true, and he feels Nichkhun's muscles relaxing against his. They sit in companionable silence until Nichkhun turns to Junsu.

"But you did get the joke, right?"

Junsu nods tentatively. Nichkhun frowns.

"You didn't."

Junsu finds himself casually laughing when frustration surfaces on Nichkhun's features, but only because he's finally successfully delivered the punch line.

"You're laughing at me. I can't believe you're laughing at me!" Nichkhun exclaims, and Junsu laughs all the more at the sudden burst of outrage. The next few minutes are spent trying to appease Nichkhun, making up to him by saying a really lame joke, and running his fingers through Nichkhun's hair.

"Things are changing," Nichkhun says after their little tirade is over, his voice drifting off. "It's only a matter of time until everyone changes."

Junsu scoffs and shakes his head, hiding the nervousness in his eyes. He doesn't say anything for fear of giving himself away, but he knows there is truth in what Nichkhun is saying. A scary, impending truth.

---

They say the only constant in this world is change, and that remains to be true for Junsu.

Two years after, the changes take full control of their lives. Fans dwindle in number, the support power wavering in turn. Issues and scandals are raised against them. Before the manager can even give a formal statement, Junsu mutters under his breath, "It's over."

Except it isn't, not for him, because he's given a second chance at making it big in the entertainment industry. He signs up for a solo career. Wooyoung and Junho stay in the company but, this time, behind the camera, training potential stars that come their way. Taecyeon goes on with his hosting stints, and eventually delves into acting completely. Chansung takes a stab at studying again, the prospect of taking a second course coming off as exciting to him. And Nichkhun, he goes on a trip around the world, but all of them know that he'll only go back to two places that he can call home.

Junsu doesn't debut as a solo artist until six months after the disbandment. And as he stands at the center of this stage, all alone, he can't help but feel so small, so he lets the hundreds of flashing lights blind him as he sings his first and only song.

Right after his performance, he gets various messages and calls from everyone. There's even one from Jaebum, and it says, "Always knew you'd do well even as a solo artist. Let's sing again sometime?" He smiles weakly and sinks in his seat, waiting for the end of the show before he can leave. Minutes come to pass and he doesn't realize that he's already fallen asleep in the dressing room, his head propped up by his arm.

This becomes a routine, falling asleep backstage after his last schedule for the day. During the course of a year, he learns how to control his sleepiness by moving around or immersing himself in something remotely interesting, but sometimes he just lets on and lets sleep get the better of him.

When someone taps him on the shoulder and says, "Everyone's left already. You should go home now," in a voice mildly familiar to him, he just nods sleepily, hauls his bag over his shoulder, and allows whoever has woken him up to stow him away to Lord knows where.

---

The next day, Junsu wakes up with a striking pain in his neck.

He stretches uncomfortably on the couch, surprised to find himself in his apartment — formerly known as 2PM's apartment — when he vaguely remembers falling asleep backstage. The new manager might have brought him here. He stretches in his position after a while and glances at the wall clock. It's a little past seven in the morning, so he should be preparing breakfast now; his first schedule is at eight.

"You should never sleep in that position, you know, unless you want to have a sore body when you wake up."

Junsu's eyes dart to the person emerging from the kitchen, widening upon recognition of who it is. "Hey there," the person says in perfect English, using one hand to wave at him and balancing a tray in the other. Junsu holds his mouth agape.

There, before Junsu, is an image of a person he hasn't seen nor talked to in roughly an entire year, except that person isn't just an image but is, indeed, real.

---

"You didn't tell me you were coming back."

"I wanted to surprise you," Nichkhun chirps as he stirs the soup he's cooking. "I was supposed to pay Wooyoung and Junho a visit, but they're apparently in India right now, taming the camels." He laughs as he ends and fills the bowl with soup, then turns on his heel to face Junsu. "So I'm here making food for you. Isn't that nice?"

Junsu's hair is sticking out in at least eight different directions, eye bags pulling his eyes down as he stares blankly at Nichkhun. This is clearly a sign of disapproval. "It could've been if you told me. I'd have prepared clothes for you to dress me in. I look awful in this— this." Junsu takes a good look at his shirt and cringes at the sight of candy and balloon prints on his pajamas. "Really, now. Candies and balloons, really." Junsu frowns.

"You used to like them."

"Used to," Junsu emphasizes. "Things change, okay. My preference when it comes to pajama prints has changed."

Nichkhun laughs bitterly. "Things change, huh?"

What follows is a silent breakfast, two people sitting opposite each other, eyes fixed on their respective soup bowls. Junsu feels for the hem of his pajama shirt, fumbling with it until he feels right at home, just like before. A year into going solo, into being alone has done this to him, and he is tempted to say that this is just a change in concept, nothing special. Instead, he tells Nichkhun, "You haven't changed. Not at all."

Junsu slowly finds himself caught in the allure of Nichkhun's lips slightly curved down, the fall of Nichkhun's cheekbones as he frowns and turns to him with a wavering smile, saying, "You have."

---

Junsu eventually gives in to the urge to kid around, randomly saying, "It's just part of the concept."

"Part of the concept, my ass."

Junsu stifles a laugh when Nichkhun makes that remark, turning his back on the latter so the stretch marks on his face won't be seen. His eyes run through the different shirts in his closet — his smile visibly waning when he sees some of the outfits he's worn during their 2PM days.

"If you're so eager to prove me wrong, stay with me for a week. After that, tell me if I've really changed." It's tempting enough an offer, Junsu thinks, since he and Nichkhun have never spent much time together before, save for the very few occasions when they would stay behind in the practice room for an hour's worth of extra practice, or when Nichkhun would walk up to him and seek advice when it comes to singing. If anything, their bond only stretches up to the bounds of professionalism; anything else beyond that is an invasion of personal space, as if they're not 'friends'.

"Deal," Nickhun says with much vigor, a grin breaking across his features. Junsu smiles, nodding approvingly, and throws a hanger at Nichkhun just for the fun of it.

The bet starts today. Junsu wakes up a couple of minutes later than Nichkhun, and invokes bathroom proprietorship rights when Nichkhun uses the 'late card' on him. "This is my bathroom now. See, my underwear is inside!" For someone who has just woken up, Junsu's eyes are already wide open. Nichkhun snickers in a corner, claiming victory.

Junsu grumbles under his breath and lets Nichkhun in, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.

Today, Nichkhun tags along with Junsu in all of his activities. He attracts the press people, the media, and some unwanted attention from ballistic fans, so he seeks comfort in Junsu shielding him from everyone else. "I'm sorry, he's shy," Junsu says tentatively, and smiles rather awkwardly at the press people. They easily slip past the crowd after that.

"I kinda missed this, you know."

---

"No, I am not doing this." Junsu shakes his head, smiling rather awkwardly to convince everyone but Nichkhun that the entire scenario isn't making him uneasy, just a bit shy. He tries freeing himself from Nichkhun's grasp for a couple of times, but to no avail; Nichkhun just won't let on and let him off the hook.

"Come on, Junsu," Nichkhun quips, then smiles as if teasing the former. "I know you've still got some dance tricks up our sleeve." Nichkhun gestures for the DJs to play a song, and Junsu's eyes widen upon recognition of the familiar beat.

A song plays in the background, one he's grown fond of these past few days. He remembers humming the song to Nichkhun, asking for the title of the song because he never bothered to look it up. He only ever remembers hearing 'Jason the Ruler' in the lyrics and Nichkhun mocking him about giving names to inanimate objects. A few days later, he finds out that the name of the singer is Jason Derulo, not ruler. So the teasing comes to an end.

Nichkhun smiles at him rather affectionately, as if saying, "Isn't your song?"

He makes small movements as the song begins just to set the mood. It doesn't take too long for him to find his rhythm; he starts moving his hips in accord to the beats. He can get away with looking weird while dancing this; he's a singer, after all, not a dancer.

Except he proves himself wrong, his movements matching the song perfectly as he moves on the dance floor.

By the end of the chorus, he finds himself walking up to Nichkhun, proximity nonexistent as grabs Nickhun by the collor. "Dance with me," he says, breathily. Nichkhun gulps down hard.

Nichkhun complies without much hesitation, and the crowd makes a sound of approval as the two battle it out on the dance floor. Junsu starts, doing some simple moves that complement the beat. Nickhun follows the steps Junsu has made and attaches some of his own somewhere along the way. Soon enough, they find themselves moving in accord with each other's bodily rhythm, moving to a familiar dance routine. Junsu recalls Jaebum teaching them this, but never have they danced it in front of a crowd and, more importantly, with each other.

Beside Junsu, Nichkhun stretches out his hand. "Let's do this."

---

Junsu wakes up the following day at four in the morning, a bit earlier than the usual. He carefully slips out of the bed so as to not wake Nichkhun up. Drowning himself in coffee thirty minutes after, he's led into thinking that last night might have been a defining moment for them, or maybe Nichkhun was just in the mood to get cozy. Nichkhun loves cuddles; he just doesn't know if Nickhun loves kissed. If anything, Junsu only assumes they're much closer than before. He doesn't want to read too much into things.

"Hey, good morning," comes Nichkhun's sleepy greeting, a soft smile playing on his lips. Junsu smiles a little, returning the greeting in a breathless sentence.

"Good morning."

He'll have to get used to this, Junsu thinks. It's been six days since they made the agreement, but it seems as if he's still feeling around for all the right words to say, the right things to do. The awkwardness only wears out when they're in bed, when Nichkhun is straddling him and his hands are on Nichkhun's hips. Only then does he ever think straight, even if he's acting purely on instinct. All traces of the Junsu he's become over the past year has been washed away by Nichkhun — silly old Nickhun, the crowd favorite, everyone's ideal guy.

Junsu chugs the remaining coffee in his cup and passes a cup to Nichkhun. Nichkhun almost loses his grip on the cup and Junsu only smiles in a muted response.

They sit in companionable silence until Junsu has to leave for his recording session and Nichkhun has some shopping to do. There's a hanging understanding in between them, but there's something in Nichkhun's grip on Junsu's wrist when the Junsu turns his heel to leave that leads Junsu to believe two things: either Nichkhun doesn't want him to go, or Nichkhun wants to stay.

Either way, he doesn't have a hand at things, so he proceeds to getting on the van to leave for his first schedule for the day.

Eighteen hours later, he finds himself lounging on the couch, eyes wandering aimlessly he runs his hands through Nichkhun's hair. He listens to the soft tick tock of the wall clock, thinking, this is the end. So he kisses a sleeping Nichkhun into and past midnight, at the same point in time the previous day that they were all limbs and skin all over each other. Junsu's lips fit perfectly in Nichkhun's, even as the latter sleeps his way into the kiss.

Nichkhun's hand moves a bit and Junsu can see a small smile at the corner of Nichkhun's lips. Junsu only assumes Nichkhun's dreaming or this is how the human anatomy works. He doesn't want to read too much into things.

* Originally from this thread.

(WIP) The Toy Story; Gen

2011-09-24T05:36:48Z

The Toy Story
973 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Gen.

author onew.
summary The time has come for Taemin to grow up.
notes Inspired by the Toy Story series. I wrote this last year, around October, after watching Toy Story 3. I wish I would have done a better job at writing this, but alas :(

Minho was Taemin's very first toy. Taemin got him around the time when he was interested in cowboys and guns. He could still remember the day Taemin took him out of the box and scribbled something on back of his right shoe — Taemin's eyebrows were furrowed, his nose scrunched in determination; he gripped the crayon tightly.

"Mhmm, Tae— Min," Taemin said in his tiny, tiny voice, and Minho resisted the urge to laugh.

Eight months after, when the crayon writing on his right boot had worn out, Taemin wrote his name with a white board marker. New toys arrived, others thrown away or donated to some other lucky owner, but the writing was still there, clear and crisp as if it had only been written yesterday.

The new toys got the same marking on their shoes, too.

Jinki, the T-rex who loved rainbows and cotton candies, came around two months after the crayon writing wore off. Youngwoon and Heechul, the Potato Heads, came soon after. Yunho, the evilest, most daring coin bank-slash-villain of all time was next, followed by Key, the other, more fashionable cowboy who was never found without his horse, Bullseye. Jonghyun, the space ranger, was the last to arrive, along with his bunch of aliens — Hyukjae, Junsu and Donghae.

Taemin played with them everyday, treated them all with equal love and respect. Even if Yunho had always been the villain, Taemin loved him just the same. Even if the Potato Heads were mean and always stole money from the aliens, Taemin didn't love them any less. But Minho— Oh, Minho had always been special, and always portrayed the role of the protagonist. He would take down those creatures that Jonghyun wouldn't be able to with his laser, his skills in fighting and his wit unmatched by any other toy in the world.

That was because he was Minho, Taemin's first toy ever.

So when Taemin held onto him, even if it was already sleeping time, Minho smiled a little and though, maybe this will last forever, after all.

Three years and a couple of months after, Minho's faith started to teeter.

It was 5:30 a.m. The alarm went off for a full minute until Taemin pressed the 'turn off alarm' button, rolling on his tummy and crushing Minho's tiny body in the process. Minho's eyes flew wide open as he struggled for air until he realized that it was time for Taemin to get up. He reached for Taemin's belly button, tickled Taemin, and earned soft giggling from the latter.

"Stop it, Minho. It tickles."

Taemin rolled over, lying flat on his back, eyes still half-lidded in sleepiness. A couple of minutes after, Taemin got up and lazily walked out of his room, calling out to his mother for breakfast.

It was the first day of Taemin's last year in high school. The play times had been steadily decreasing over the past few months. Taemin's graduation was fast approaching, his adulthood even faster than the latter. Minho sank in the pillow and asked himself, is it too much to ask for ten minutes of Taemin's time?

This is not a story about toys.

This is a story about how a boy named Taemin picks out a cowboy figure from a bunch of toys at a toy store for his eighth birthday and names the cowboy figure 'Minho'. This is a story about how a friendship between a toy (Minho) and a human (Taemin) develops through the years, how a friendship between the first toy and the succeeding toys develop, too. This is a story about growing up and outgrowing childish things, but never outgrowing youth.

But this is definitely not a story about toys.

Jonghyun and Minho have already talked about this — tell everyone about the situation calmly because Jinki will surely freak out and, "You know how much of an emotional wreck Kibum is." Minho nods approvingly and takes a deep breath.

"We're in this together. Always. Remember that," Minho tells Jonghyun, earning a small smile from the latter.

"We're all in this together."

So when Jonghyun suddenly says, "It's over, Minho," Minho can't help but feel a bit betrayed.

"Oh, don't say that!" Minho waves Jonghyun off, hitting Jonghyun's helmet activator button before Jonghyun can even say anything. "I'm sure Taemin will pick us up soon! He'll come home from his last exam at four so we should be ready at least thirty minute before that and—"

"And what?" Kibum asks as he gets down from Bullseye. "He'll just go straight to bed, Minho. He won't pick us up. He'll never pick us up again."

Minho pauses tentatively, worrying his lower lip. He doesn't normally let it show, but it's hard keeping it all in. At one point in time, Taemin will really get rid of them, forget them completely. There's always the hope of being kept, yes, but the chances are slim.

"We have to make it easier for Taemin, Minho," Jonghyun pauses, slinging an arm around Minho's shoulder. "We have to make it easier for ourselves, too."

"By abandoning Taemin? By just putting everything behind? I thought we were in this together!"

"We are!"

"No. You're leaving Taemin behind!"

"We're leaving Taemin behind?" Jinki takes a few steps forward, his tiny hands clenching uncomfortably. "But we can't do that. That will make Taemin feel bad."

Silence washes over the room, only to be broken by the doorbell sounding off.

"He's here! Quick, back to the box!" Minho waits until everyone has gotten inside the box before he hides. He lifts the cover a bit, worrying his lips a bit when he sees the exhausted look on Taemin's features. Maybe Kibum is right; maybe Taemin will never pick them up again. He slowly pulls the cover down and thinks to himself, some things just don't last forever.

(MOD) My last present of sorts for everyone

2011-09-24T05:32:40Z

As some of you might know, I'll be leaving fandom soon due to work and more RL issues. As such, I'll be posting what's left of my WIPs over the next few days as I don't them to go to waste. I won't be crossposting them to communities since AFAIK WIP-posting isn't really allowed in fic comms, so they'll just be sitting here. I will not be continuing these WIPs anymore, no matter what happens.

Thanks for sticking with me all these years!

♥ Reeza

Various drabbles/fics @ kpfw

2011-09-23T09:32:03Z

One massive post. Dumping some fics I wrote for the past few fic memes and will never get to finish. Just making sure that everything that needs to be posted will be posted before I retire for real.

Enjoy!

Hey mister, go lightly
Woohyun/L; 311 words; PG-13. Woohyun has issues with being looked down on. Myungsoo tries to rectify this with a pat on the back.

It's one of those days again when Woohyun strains his vocal chords a bit too much and walks out of the room with a forced smile of satisfaction on his lips. The trainers have been egging on him to push harder, do better, but a man who has been recording for six hours straight can only do so much. He's glad to be one of the two (the other being Sunggyu, who can hold so much better than he can) to have a solo and a duet in their album, but his throat is dry and his eyes are heavy and the lyrics are getting messed up in his head.

"Okay, that will do. It's a wrap."

Woohyun hates the sharp and rustic taste of blood in his tongue as he bites a bit too hard on his lip. Myungsoo pushes hard on his back and makes him bow to the staff, and promptly pulls him out of the recording room.

The rest have left already. Myungsoo seems to have been the unfortunate loser in a game of rock-paper-scissors, so he's the one who has stayed behind to make sure Woohyun doesn't lose his way. "Complain. It's okay to complain," Myungsoo says just before they hit the parking lot. Woohyun chuckles, punches him lightly in the cheek, and shakes his head.

They sit in the car in companionable silence, and he asks Myungsoo if he can sleep on his shoulder. Myungsoo just looks at him and blinks, so he takes it as a yes and indulges. There's a sharp intake of breath from Myungsoo as he sinks into a peaceful slumber, and only when he wakes up does he realize that he's holding on to Myungsoo's hand so tightly and has been during their entire trip home.

And that he doesn't even bother letting go when they get off the car.

Pixie dust
SHINee, gen; 601 words; PG-13. When Jinki turns 27, he finds out he's destined for much bigger things.

Jinki had quite the unconventional job.

He was a fairy godfather. Yes, the male version of that lady who gave Cinderella a nice, blue dress for the ball. It was hard to believe at first, given that he looked completely human and didn't come decked in fairy attire or didn't even have wings, but his parents kept telling him, "It's your destiny." Primary and secondary school came, university followed, and by the time he was twenty five he had resolved to himself that he was never going to be a fairy godfather.

Which was probably good, he reminded himself. At least he could continue working as a barista at Starbucks and get free coffee everyday, all-day.

When he woke up on his twenty seventh birthday, though, he felt a funny tingle in his toes that sent weird vibrations throughout his body. It creeped him out thoroughly because there was definitely no vibrating object anywhere near him, and he definitely wasn't masturbating. But the effect of the overall sensation was something akin to having an orgasm, he noted, as he closed his eyes and let out the lump of breath that had caught itself in his throat.

Shit, he thought. That was arguably the best birthday gift ever.

Except when he had gotten to his feet, blue silk fell to his knees and something attached to his spine had stretched as if it was being freed for the first time. He rushed to the mirror and, lo and behold — he was a legitimate fairy godfather, sans the old element of the 'godfather' title.

He fells to his knees and thought, this was the worst birthday gift ever.

So it was his first mission.

He'd been partnered with Jonghyun and Minho, novice fairy godfathers in their own right, and sent off to this kid's house to watch over him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. The kid was quite the easy person to bully, and it didn't help that he was too kind.

"Pathetic," Jonghyun, dressed in his pink robes, said. Minho, who was in green, nudged him in his side. "Ow! I'm just telling the truth, okay! Besides, fairies never lie."

"You're playing the part too much, Kim," Minho replied, voice low and almost thoroughly creepy. "It's weirding me out."

"I might as well be as convincing as I can be."

"Will you two be quiet?" Jinki shot a stern look at the two and flew closer to the the kid's bedroom window. "What did they say our mission was? I'm sure it wasn't just keeping watch on this boy."

"Well," Jonghyun began, taking out the list of responsibilities for this particular mission, then ran his finger through each item. "There's making sure he eats on time, doesn't sleep on his way to class, doesn't strain himself during dance practice, and that he falls in love with a certain 'Kibum.'" Jonghyun paused for a while, then looked at Minho and Jinki . "That's weird. Kibum is a guy's name, right?"

Minho raised an eyebrow. "Are you questioning our destiny and the orders of he gods?"

"No, no, of course I'm not! Just… curious." Jonghyun's voice drifted off. "God, Minho, you're too serious. Get a life."

Jinki chuckled a little at how Jonghyun bravely stood up to Minho, and at the weird thought that one of their goals was to make this kid fall in love. "What was his name again?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. 'Lee Taemin, says the book,' Jonghyun called out, and Jinki thought to himself, wow, this was going to be interesting.

Very interesting.

Grandslam
Onew/Jonghyun/Minho; 749 words; PG-13. Jonghyun, ATP world #1 and one grandslam short of a golden slam, faces Minho on the clay court for the nth time in his career and frankly, he doesn't have a good feeling about it. (for nautisch)

It was the greatest rivalry of the century, and arguably the most anticipated match of a lifetime — Kim Jonghyun, world number one and the champion of the U.S. and Australian Opens and Wimbledon, was up against Choi Minho, master of clay and world number two, for the first time in Roland Garros, a bit too early into the tournament. This was a deciding match for Jonghyun; if he lost, it would mean missing the chance to snag the elusive French title for the fourth time in a row and risking his number one status for the first time in 128 weeks.

"Shit," Jonghyun mumbled as the realization hit him. He'd been waltzing his way through tournaments all these years yet always been struggling with the French. This had to be his toughest match yet, though, as he was down 4-0 in the third set, with him and Minho having a set each to themselves.

"Scared, Kim?" Minho asked just when Jonghyun had already positioned himself for the big serve. Jonghyun gulped down hard and gripped the ball tightly.

"You wish."

He released the ball into the air, drew his racket back, poised himself for an American twist, and braced himself for what was to come.

Jonghyun bolted from his bed. He had the same dream again. This had been his routine these past few weeks — dream of the 2010 quarter finals match against Minho, wake up regretting every tennis decision he's made from that point on, wonder if playing tennis was all a mistake, then check his phone for any news on the training or exhibition matches from his trainer. The calls and messages for exhibition matches had been steadily decreasing, and he was now at number three, a far cry from where used to be months back.

It was funny how a simple unforced error became his greatest downfall.

He was leading Minho by a set then, and they were at 5-2 in the third set. It was his service game, and he was two points away from winning the match. A service ace and Minho's features had gone from determined to exhausted. Jonghyun was going to win this, he was sure of it, and he just needed another point to win the match.

He tossed the ball in the air and served. It's a fault. These things happen, he told himself. It was probably the tension and excitement at work.

Another service and he's charged a double fault.

The rest of the match was a blur. He chose to forget what happened next, at least. The mere thought of coming so close to beating Minho for the French title was enough to send him to the deepest pits of regret, after all, and no way in hell was he going to allow himself to go back to his old, regretful self.

He came to this year's French Open with only one thing in mind — regain his number one status and beat Choi Minho in the finals — and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Fancy seeing you here, Jonghyun!"

He came to the courts relatively early to set his mood, but he didn't expect to find Jinki here. Jinki, now seeded first in the tournament and second in the world, was one of his longstanding rivals prior to meeting Minho. Jinki was a good man — he was fair, a pretty good drinker and a quiet practice buddy. The only thing Jonghyun didn't like about Jinki was that he beat him in the Australian Open a couple of months back.

"Hey," Jonghyun said, offering a small smile. He gave Jinki a pat on the back. "Why are you here? Your match isn't until tomorrow, right?"

Jinki nodded. "Yeah, but I thought I'd check out some matches. I mean, I miss seeing you on clay." Jinki's voice drifted off, and he fixed his gaze on the ground. It was amusing, Jonghyun thought, how Jinki could be so blunt yet so mindful of what he says. It was also crazy, to a certain extent.

"Creeper," Jonghyun sneered, then let out a chuckle. Jinki shook his head, a smile slowly surfacing on his lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a creeper, alright."

There were three more hours until the match began, so Jonghyun invited Jinki for coffee. Just one cup, Jinki reminded him, because they shouldn't be drinking too much coffee before a match. Jonghyun shook his head and chuckled. If he said anything else, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Old habits die hard
Heechul/Jay; 567 words; PG. Heechul has a few habits he might be willing to break.

It's that time of the month again — Heechul comes home, drunk to the bone and looking more dreadful than ever. "Tea. On the rocks. Now," he calls out, voice drawling, and Jay follows mindlessly without even so much as a question as to why Heechul's been drinking again.

It's been a habit of Heechul's, going out on the third Friday of the month. He goes to that bar not too far away and has a few drinks with what he considers friends, tries to grab the attention of that cute bartender named Hangeng but ends up throwing up on the counter and in front of the latter. It's the same old story every month, and until now Jay almost forgets that Heechul doesn't like his 'tea on the rocks' with sugar.

"It's sweet. I don't like my tea sweet. Make a new one."

"Shut up, you're drinking this." Jay takes the glass from Heechul and forces him to drink it. Heechul coughs a lot once he's done, and punches Jay lightly on the arm.

"He's got a girlfriend. A Chinese one. Why did I even think I stood a chance with him? I—"

Jay takes Heechul in his arms and pulls him close, the hug effectively silencing the latter. It always works — the ice cold tea, the hug, and then the kiss that soon follows. Jay allows himself to indulge a little this time as he pushes Heechul down on the couch. If he's lucky enough, Heechul will let him.

"What the fuck are you doing," Heechul asks. Jay chuckles.

"I don't know."

Heechul doesn't move so Jay takes it as a go signal. He kisses Heechul on the lips, neck, on his shoulders. It shouldn't mean anything, when Heechul gasps and bites on his lip. Everybody knows it's Hangeng he's thinking about.

Especially him.

It's the fourth consecutive day since the breakdown. Heechul comes home with a box of brownies in one hand and Chinese take out in the other. "I know. Chinese again. Don't ask why." Jay shrugs because this is what he does best — stay silent when Heechul doesn't need a scolding.

"I've decided," Heechul begins, when they're finally having dinner at nine in the evening. "I've got to move on."

"Took you long enough," Jay replies, then fixes his eyes on the noodles in front of him. He takes a good amount of it in his chopsticks and proceeds to eat it, watching Heechul as he chews his food. "Well, it is about time."

"I'll need all the help I can get." A tentative pause, and then, "Especially from you." Jay looks up from his food and notices the shy flush of Heechul's face. "I mean, if you don't mind. You know how helpless I am. I'll need a job, if that makes things clearer."

"Oh. A job. Right." Jay nods. It's easy to get his feelings all mixed up when Heechul's vulnerable and asking for help. "We can use some janitors in the coffeeshop."

Heechul frowns. "Hey, that's foul."

"I'm just helping out, okay!" Jay chuckles. "Besides, can't be choosey. Or would you prefer the opening for the waiter?"

"I actually like that better."

"Awesome." Jay sinks in his seat, chewing what seems to be his third brownie tonight. He looks up at the ceiling and thinks, yeah, that's a great deal of help for Heechul, alright. But definitely not for him.

Clumsily; Kangin/Heechul

2011-09-23T09:04:35Z

Clumsily
1034 words. PG-13.
— Super Junior; Kangin/Heechul.

author onew.
summary Youngwoon isn't accustomed to hearing confessions, especially from Heechul.
notes Set to the mood of (Minagawa Junko) Echizen Ryoma's Futari (lyrics). There's a huge jump between sections 1 and 2, which makes this look more like a WIP than a real fic, haha. Enjoy, nonetheless!

You'd probably laugh
if I told you how I felt
My stirring heart sways
As I search for an answer

It would've sounded different if it came from someone else, but it just had to come from Heechul.

They were cramped in the library, and Yongwoon was looking for this particular book as fast as he could because he couldn't stand the scent of old books for more than five minutes. Looking for the book proved to be extremely difficult, and the next thing he knew it had already been thiry minutes since the start of the search.

"The library suits you, you know," Heechul said from beside him. They'd been friends since Heechul rescued Youngwoon from getting bullied when he was in third grade. Heechul was in fifth grade then, and kids Youngwoon's age were naturally scared of those older than them. Besides, Heechul was much taller than any boy in their class, and he often used this to his advantage (one of them being scaring people off for Youngwoon).

"You're joking, right?" Youngwoon chuckled.

Heechul shrugged. "No, not really."

"Okay, spill. You're acting really weird, so just say what you have to say and get it done and over with." Youngwoon didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that Heechul was visibly troubled or maybe even the slightest bit under the weather. From the corner of his eye, he saw Heechul move closer to him. He paused in his tracks for a while and shot Heechul a glance. "So?"

"I like you."

Youngwoon almost laughed to himself. These things only happen in movies, he thought, and TV series too. He remembered seeing something like this once, and for a minute it got him wondering if there was a hidden camera somewhere, anywhere. He waited for Heechul's cue, but none of it — Heechul's lips were pressed tightly against each other, and the shy grip on his wrist had turned into a much more tense one.

"I've always liked you, since that… thing back in fifth grade."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Youngwoon before he was able to say, "Uh." Nothing followed, and they sat there in tense yet somehow companionable silence until the bell rang.

Heechul quickly stood from where he was, smiled a little and said, "I have to go."

It was the fifth of December, and the breeze was blowing harder than usual. On any other day, Heechul would stay in the library until the closing time because he hated getting his hair in a mess, but there Heechul was, grabbing his bag and walking away quickly. Youngwoon would normally follow, but today he stayed rooted in his spot until a book fell on his head.

He picked it up and checked the cover. It was the book he'd been looking for for the past thirty or so minutes.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself, almost an afterthought, and he leaned back against the shelves as he clutched the book close to his chest.

"What the hell am I doing?"

---

It had been exactly five years since the day Heechul went up to him and confessed his feelings for him. A lot had changed — they wore their long now, and Heechul's was messily tied in what seemed to be a mash of a bun and a ponytail. "It's style, okay," Heechul would tell anyone who asked him about it. Youngwoon would just shrug, laugh a little, then run soon after because he knew Heechul was going to have his head if and when he saw him laughing.

Tonight, they were stargazing. Heechul had this crazy idea of going a little sentimental. Heechul was finally graduating from college, after all, so Youngwoon thought he'd indulge the former a little. Besides, he could use some 'getting back in touch with nature', or something of that sort. It didn't look like it, but he was quite the health-conscious and Earth-loving person.

"So, any plans after grad?"

Heechul heaved a sigh. "Rest for a while, maybe? Teach kids, publish a children's book series." A pause, then another sigh. "An answer from you, hopefully."

"What?"

"You never said anything when I said I liked you."

"Oh." Youngwoon sat up from where he was. "Well, I—"

He was about to gather words for a 'thank you', or maybe some kind of apology that says, hey, I'm sorry, I don't think I can ever fall in love with you except I might be, but then Heechul grabbed him by the wrist and it's like five years back all over again, except this time their lips hovered each other and there was hardly any breathing space. "The offer still stands, if it matters," Heechul then said, and in a breath of life Heechul kissed him on the lips. They sat there still, and Youngwoon didn't even think of pushing Heechul away.

And then Heechul pulled away.

"Hey, stop it. You're not getting that for free. Either you like me back or you're just using me to get free kisses. You have to choose, y'know."

Youngwoon laughed, the words that had been pushed to the back of his throat finally finding their way back to the surface, out in the open. "Take a hint, Kim," he replied, still laughing, and let his head fall on Heechul's shoulder as they watched the stars again.

("Christ, you get a boner from stargazing?" Heechul asked him all of a sudden. His gaze flitted from the sky to his pants, and he slapped Heechul on the arm when he realized Heechul had been playing with him.

"I don't, but you can try giving me one."

"Eew. Eew! You did not just say that!" Heechul moved away from him, laughter soon coming to his lips as he did so. "But that's a pretty interesting challenge..."

Youngwoon shook his head. Heechul took things as random as this way too seriously. Maybe he should, too, so he leaned in close, stopping just a few centimeters from Heechul. He'd never live this down.

"Do it."

Heechul ruffled his hair, then pushed him back to the grass. "Shut up. We're still waiting for the shooting star." So they laid there in companionable silence, finding comfort in the lack of conversation and just fingers slightly brushing against each other for the first time.)

We are who we want to be; Jaejoong/Yoochun

2011-08-23T15:26:50Z

We are who we want to be
2052 words. PG-13.
— DBSK; Jaejoong/Yoochun.

author onew.
summary Yoochun gets a big break as a lead actor in an adult movie. Jaejoong shows him a few tricks up his sleeve.
notes Written for kpop_olymfics with Orange Caramel's A~ing in mind. To the victims of my surprise request to beta, thank you, and to the whole team for always being there. You guys are the best ♥

"That was weird."

The director has just called 'cut' and Yoochun's breathing heavily against Jaejoong's neck. "That was really weird," he repeats, because in all the times they've acted a scene like this they've never done the real thing. He sits upright as the make up artists flock them and do touch ups on their make up. It covers the scars really well.

"You're right. It's weird." Jaejoong laughs a little, then coughs when he inhales too much powder. "I'm sorry."

Yoochun just shrugs because he knows it shouldn't mean much, but the peculiar curve of Jaejoong's lips tells him otherwise.

i. Yoochun lands a job as an adult movie actor. It's his first big role in a while, and while it's not the best project out there, it's definitely something he's interested in doing. Not that he has a choice; his manager has so enthusiastically signed him up for the role and there's no way out.

"You'll be working with Kim Jaejoong," says the director, moving to his side as he introduces Yoochun's co-actor. "I expect you've read the script?"

Yoochun nods and smiles mutedly. Jaejoong just smiles a little.

They don't get to talk much, but Jaejoong does take a liking to shooting him the occasional glance over his shoulder, asking him if he's doing just fine and is this too invasive? It's the first shooting day and they're already filming intimate scenes; it's hard not to get a bit thrown off and look as if his privacy has just been breached.

Jaejoong's lips linger long after the director calls "Cut!".

"Okay, let's call it a day. Good job, everyone!" It's the best thing Yoochun hears all day, second only to the pat on the back Jaejoong gives him and the compliment Jaejoong whispers in his ear — "You were awesome." Yoochun doesn't take any of it to heart, but there's no denying he's taken a bit more pride in his kissing skills.

He almost laughs to himself. Jaejoong hasn't seen anything yet.

ii. In this movie, they're the best of friends.

Best friends with benefits, to be more specific, Yoochun tells himself as he runs through his lines a second time. They're childhood enemies turned best friends after a cookie dough fight when they're twelve. Jaejoong uses him as his test subject for a lot of things — classroom experiments, a confession to this girl he's long been pining after, a kiss. Yoochun seems to be unrelenting at first, but then he figures, "We're best friends, anyway, so what's wrong with that?" Yoochun tries things out with Jaejoong, too — a sorry opponent for fencing practices.

Jaejoong likes cross-stitching, and Yoochun is supposed to be enamoured with extreme sports. In reality, though, biking is as extreme as Yoochun can get.

"To tell you the truth, I hate needles," Jaejoong whispers from behind him halfway through their practice. There is soft laughter playing on his lips for a while until he finds himself laughing heartily, with Jaejoong hitting him mindlessly on the arm for laughing too hard.

They do not know this, but the cameraman films them. "Production value," the director says. They can always use more fill in shots, after all.

iii. Jaejoong doesn't show up for a week.

The staff lose contact with him. Even his manager doesn't know where he is. This pisses Yoochun off because he's finally accepted to himself that waking up at five in the morning is a part of life, especially the one he leads, but to a certain extent he can't help but feel disturbed and concerned. So when Jaejoong calls him at two in the morning and asks him to meet him at a coffee shop nearby, he pushes himself away from his desk (he's been trying to compose for hours, but to no avail) without any hesitation.

Thirty minutes after, Jaejoong has already explained everything and they're halfway through their fifth cigarette stick.

"I had to take a break. I couldn't crack the line, so I had to go looking for inspiration somewhere," Jaejoong says faintly. He's blowing puffs into his hands, trying to catch some warmth. "I don't even know why my manager panicked. I told her about this."

Yoochun frowns. "Well apparently, you didn't tell her where you were going."

Jaejoong rolls his eyes. "I was only gone for a few days. It's not as if—"

Jaejoong holds his breath when their eyes meet, a stream of smoke escaping his lips in a slow and steady manner. Yoochun blinks. They sit in companionable silence until Yoochun mumbles, "It's rude to stare," and if Jaejoong even replies he only ever chuckles.

iv. The particular scene Jaejoong has been having a hard time with is the one where he realizes he's been in love with Yoochun all this time.

It's Yoochun's favorite part — Jaejoong is struggling to tell Yoochun about his feelings, trying to look for an opening, but all Yoochun ever does is to go on about how unbelievably attractive law school sounds, how much he'd like to go trekking sometime and, "Sasha, remember her?" It's not scripted, Jaejoong rolling his eyes and looking completely pissed off, but Yoochun passes this off as an adlib. He goes on with his lines until the director calls, "Cut! That was good. We should consider including that in the final edit," and Yoochun wonders briefly if Jaejoong is a man of surprises.

v. They're filming their first real love scene.

"Just relax," the director calls out. "Get used to your bodies being all over each other. There will be more of this in the days to come!" The members of the staff laugh and so does Jaejoong, and Yoochun just shakes his head and smiles a little.

He's still not so sold on the idea of doing 'the deed' in front of a camera.

"I'll be gentle, don't worry." Jaejoong offers a soft smile, then a pat on the back.

There's a pause before the director calls out, "Action!" Jaejoong motions Yoochun to lean against the headboard, guides him throughout the entire process. When Jaejoong touches, it's feather-light, like Jaejoong's always afraid to press any further that Yoochun might break. Yoochun tries to fight Jaejoong off; he stays true to his character, and this makes him feel proud for a while until Jaejoong captures his lips in a kiss in a moment of surprise.

When Jaejoong pulls away, Yoochun's lips are trembling. Jaejoong goes back to what he was doing and they proceed with what the script tells them to do.

They only ever grind against each other and the director calls 'cut' even before they can reach their peak, but the entire scene leaves Yoochun shaking inside.

Jaejoong gets up from the bed as soon as the call is made and excuses himself to go the bathroom. Yoochun lies flat on his back and closes his eyes.

vi. "I love you."

Jaejoong's character finally admits his feelings for Yoochun's in the most untimely moment — after managing to get away from the librarian who caught them taking pictures of some of the pages of a book whose title they've already forgotten (apparently, it's illegal to take pictures of books on this side of the world). They're giggling so hard, backs pressed so firmly against the wall, noses barely inches from each other. "Oh God, I'm glad we lost her!" Yoochun says all at once in a mix of words and laughter. Jaejoong's laughter draws to a crescendo, then comes to an abrupt halt when Yoochun's nose clumsily bumps against his.

"I love you."

Yoochun's eyes widen. His fingers go cold and his muscles go stiff. Jaejoong furrows his eyebrows a little as if asking, are you alright, and it takes the director's call to snap Yoochun out of his reverie.

"Cut, cut! Let's just start from the laughing scene. And Yoochun, please don't forget your lines. This is a one-take scene."

Yoochun nods blindly.

"First confession jitters?" Jaejoong asks from behind. There's a lapse before Yoochun laughs a little and replies with a faint, 'Yeah'.

They shuffle back to their places. Yoochun thinks to himself, be professional. This is just a movie and we're following a script and— Then Jaejoong catches his hand and squeezes it for a brief moment, promptly letting go when the director calls, 'Action!'

Jaejoong's fingers are cold, too.

vii. Yoochun realizes that there's more of Jaejoong in him than there is of himself.

The realization dawns upon him on their last day of filming. They're doing another love scene and by this time Yoochun has gotten used to the whole concept of rubbing against each other already, except this time Jaejoong presses his knee against Yoochun's crotch. Yoochun's thoughts go frantic when he realizes what Jaejoong's planning to do, but before he can even react and ask Jaejoong, Why, Jaejoong thrusts inside him. Soon, they're riding in a rhythm set to Jaejoong's favorite song — The Panics' Don't Fight It.

Yoochun closes his eyes, sings the song in his head and punctuates every other beat with Jaejoong's usual facial expressions as the latter sings the song, the small 'o' that surfaces on Jaejoong's mouth when he realizes Yoochun's been laughing at him silly for a while already, the small sound of defeat that escapes his lips as he tackles Yoochun to the ground (or sometimes, the bed). Everything dissolves from there and Yoochun opens his eyes wide as he comes, a single thought running through his mind as Jaejoong takes him in his arms and pulls him close.

It can't be.

"Cut!"

Yoochun's frozen in his position for a while. "That was weird," he says, breathing laboured against Jaejoong's neck. He feels Jaejoong's fingers stiffen for a while when he repeats, "That was really weird." There's a cold sensation on the part where Jaejoong's fingers barely graze his skin, and they sit upright when the make up artists start flocking them for touch ups.

Jaejoong shifts in his position rather uneasily. "You're right. It's weird." Jaejoong laughs a little, then coughs when he inhales too much powder. "I'm sorry."

Yoochun smiles a little, visibly forced, and he shrugs because it shouldn't mean anything, not even when there's the thought of being a little too fond of Jaejoong tucked at the very back of his mind. He shakes both the feeling and the idea off, but something about the way Jaejoong bites his lower lip that tells him Jaejoong's not sorry about anything at all.

Yoochun wakes up and everything is a dream.

His face is buried in what seems like fur and there's a mix of perfume and fatigue tingling his senses. "Ah, you're awake," comes Jaejoong's remark, and only then does Yoochun realize that Jaejoong's carrying him on his back.

"Is this too invasive? I mean, we've just met and all but I'm carrying you and—" Jaejoong pauses for a sharp intake of breath, then continues, "But then you looked so tired and we didn't want to wake you up—"

Yoochun parts his lips tentatively. The Jaejoong carrying him right now doesn't sound like the Jaejoong he has been working with for the past twelve hours, doesn't sound like the Jaejoong he's seen in his dream or the Jaejoong who kissed him just moments ago. If anything, Jaejoong can be some stranger who has volunteered to carry him from the set to the parking lot, quite a long distance considering they've been filming for twelve hours straight.

"No, this is okay." A heartbeat, and then, "Thanks."

Yoochun makes an attempt at landing safely, but promptly loses his balance when he tries getting off Jaejoong's back. "Careful!" Jaejoong's chuckling when he assists Yoochun back on his feet.

"I'm sorry, this is weird," Jaejoong says in between giggles. "But you really looked funny."

Jaejoong's laugher sounds real, too real, in fact, that it tugs at the corner of Yoochun's lips hard and rough. Yoochun doesn't try to resist, even when Jaejoong offers to hold him by the arms on their way back to the car. He'll need the support now more than ever, and Jaejoong's silly smile (he still hasn't gotten over the slip) as a boost of energy.

It is a bit weird, he thinks, that he's warmed up to Jaejoong so quickly, but he doesn't need to wonder why.

The day the Earth stood still; Jonghyun/Onew

2011-08-23T15:18:33Z

The day the Earth stood still
6655 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Jonghyun/Onew.

author onew.
summary For Lee Jinki, stopping time wasn't such a big deal, but for the world, it seemed to be key to salvation.
notes Written for kpop_olymfics with 4Minute's Huh and the first supplementary prompt in mind. Much thanks to Serena redlungs, for the support and honest opinion, thank you, always. To my sister, yumeyana, for never getting tired of listening to me go on about this, thank you. And to my ausome team for never ever losing faith, thank you so much. You guys are the best ♥ P.S. I'll probably explain what the hell The Code is, but it'll be in a separate post.

Jinki had taken a liking to doing this these past few days — he'd stop time smack in the middle of lunch or while taking a bath, sometimes just before the stock market closed or right after his mother had left the house to go to a party. Kibum had reminded him before never to exploit his uncanny ability especially since The Academy monitored all of their activities, but Jinki couldn't help it. He didn't care if he would get caught; all he wanted was to be truly alone.

He loved the stillness and silence of things, which was why he was good friends with Minho.

Minho didn't talk much. Kibum said he was telepathic, but Jinki believed Minho just wasn't the type who'd talk a lot. He chimed in conversations occasionally, though, and the most they'd gotten out of Minho was something pertaining to how loud Kibum was. This sent them laughing their hearts out, and Jinki hearing Minho's voice for the first time.

So whenever he wanted and needed silence, he stuck with Minho.

It wasn't too long when he had been introduced to Taemin. Taemin could teleport from one place to another. It was convenient when they were running late or just trying to get out of trouble (quite literally). Kibum had taken it upon himself to watch Taemin as with all of his friends. It didn't help that Kibum could see through people and into their minds with just one touch.

It made everyone a lousy liar, even Jinki who barely had a reason to hide things from anyone.

And then came Jonghyun.

Jonghyun was different. He didn't have the power to summon things or make them move — he had the ability to negate abilities, which was why he didn't make good friends with Kibum at first. Kibum didn't appreciate the fact that he was useless before Jonghyun.

"Helpless, aren't you, Kibum?" Minho had said out of the blue. Kibum hit him hard in his side. Minho didn't budge, but only because Minho knew the 'I hate you' Kibum was muttering again and again actually meant the opposite.

Jonghyun always wore these semi-permeable gloves. He said The Academy had explicitly instructed him to never take it off for fear of not being able to control his abilities. "It's a fashion statement," Jonghyun rushed when Jinki and Minho wore worried looks on their faces.

Kibum scoffed. "It's atrocious."

Jonghyun made it a point to never let a day pass without making fun of Kibum after that.

They were paired off during the latter part of their academic years — Minho with Kibum since their abilities were pretty much aligned, Taemin with one of the immobiles so that their abilities aided each other. Jinki was paired off with Jonghyun and they were given the name 'wild cards', but everyone knew they didn't do much and wouldn't be used unless there wasn't any choice. Their abilities didn't allow for much action; what would one even do with someone who could stop time and space and someone who could stop everything else?

"So it's just you and me now," Jonghyun mumbled when they were sent out for their very first mission. It was in Japan; they had a war to stop.

Jinki nodded. "Just you and me."

The war was just about to begin. There were tanks everywhere, and people from the elementals team were positioned in strategic places. They were given a blueprint of the battle area and were briefed on what was to happen. Not that it meant much; Jinki just had to stand in one place and shut his eyes tight, then wish hard enough for everything to stop.

And it did.

"So this is where I come in?" Jonghyun asked. He'd discovered earlier that not only could he negate abilities but he could also nullify emotions. Jinki nodded in his general direction and watched at Jonghyun laid his hand on each and every person's chest, sending them down to their knees and eventually lying on the ground. It took them around ten minutes to round everything up, and by the time Jinki had released his hold on time everybody barely had any idea what was going on.

You were supposed to kill each other, Jinki wanted to say, but Jonghyun was quick to grab him by the wrist and shake his head as if motioning, no, no. Let's just walk away and pretend this never happened. And so they did, slowly making their way back to their dispatch vehicle with a silly grin on their faces.

"Good job, partner," Jonghyun whispered, beaming at Jinki. Jinki made an effort to remember that he shouldn't make any form of contact with Jonghyun so he just smiled right back and whispered to the wind, "Yeah. Partner."

Kibum and Minho were sent to Japan soon after. The Academy had said something about having to survey the area and determine the real reason behind the war. "Minho said something about settling political disputes and stuff. I couldn't make out what he was thinking about," Kibum explained when Jonghyun asked him what the Academy meant by 'retrieving the source code'.

"They — the government and the civilians — were at 'war'," Minho paused to do that quote-unquote gesture, "because the prime minister was found to know something about a source code. Our researchers say the code is so complex that if it's loaded onto different... I don't know, servers or databases, there will be a huge blackout and the economy of many different countries will go down."

"And only Japan will survive the crash?" Jinki asked. Minho took a deep breath and shrugged.

"Maybe. Possibly." Minho frowned a little. "Data travels fast. Even with tight security, Japan's servers could go down."

"And kapoof goes the world."

There was silence for a while until Jonghyun turned to Minho sharply, eyes squinted and a question written on the curve of his mouth. "So what do we do with the code once we get it?" he asked. "What gives?"

Kibum laughed for a while until Minho nudged him in his side. "We destroy it, of course! We bring it to The Academy for the elementals to destroy, and we complete the mission. As simple as that!"

Jinki moved closer to the group. "Are you sure they'll really destroy it? I mean, we don't even know what the code actually is. For all we know, it's some kind of family secret or something."

Jonghyun nodded. "You actually have a point."

They sat in companionable silence for a while until Kibum turned to Minho and pointed out that whatever Minho said earlier was the most they'd heard from him in these many years that they've known him. "I'm really liking the change," Kibum even said. Minho looked as if he wanted to retort but he bit the inside of his cheek, instead, and shook his head. Beside Jinki, Jonghyun laughed, and Jinki took a deep breath and closed his eyes, summoning all of his strength in a single drag of breath.

When he opened his eyes, time had stopped and Kibum and Minho were looking at each other silly, and Jonghyun was still laughing beside him and hitting him on the arm repeatedly, saying, "Will you look at that!"

Jinki leaned back a little and took a gander at the scene. It was a sight to behold, indeed.

It was convenient having Taemin as a friend. They'd asked him to fly them to Lebanon one time just in time to stop a death sentence from pushing through, and to Romania to fend off some dragons. Jonghyun had to fly by plane and Jinki had to stop time on both occasions so they'd make it to the locations with perfect timing. Jinki was much too amazed at first, though, when they encountered the dragons that he almost forgot that he was supposed to stop time; good thing Jonghyun was there to remind that they were supposed to be sealing off the dragons in a chamber and leaving the rest to the elementals, not ogling them.

"I've got another mission in 10, you guys! Be quick!" Taemin called out from behind the bushes, and Jinki rushed to where the dragons were. He shut his eyes tight and the dragons stopped moving. Jonghyun had come from behind Jinki by then and tucked his chin on Jinki's shoulder.

Jinki flinched a little. That felt a little... weird.

"I negate powers at will, Jinki. Don't worry, the dragons won't come back to life just because we're getting all chummy," Jonghyun whispered in his ear, and chuckled in his ear soon after that it sent all these weird and fancy tingles to his toes.

He called having cramps when Jonghyun asked why he was having a hard time walking. He'd never admit to feeling all tingly when Jonghyun came too close for the first time since they'd met. If Jonghyun found out, he'd never let on.

It was a good thing Jonghyun wasn't telepathic.

It was definitely even better that Minho never talked to anyone about it.

They'd already gone around the world by the time they were able to determine the real story behind the war.

Everything started with the election of the new prime minister of Japan. Many said the votes were manipulated so that they were in favor of the opposing candidate at first, but the opposition was bribed with the chance to obtain the source code so he stepped down. The code was given to the opposition, but stolen the very night of the proclamation. The death of the opposing candidate followed, and this had remained a hush-hush conversation topic for the past eight months.

And the code was actually called 'The Charles Babbage Project'.

"The Charles Babbage Project? Jesus Christ, that's as bad as calling your first son Abacus or something!"

"Abacus is a rather respectable name," Minho quipped and shot Kibum a glare. "Clearly, you should reevaluate your taste in names. I mean, Kim Kibum? Really?"

"Are you questioning my mother's choice in names?" Kibum had an eyebrow raised, his hands on his hips.

Minho chuckled. "I didn't say anything."

Kibum tackled Minho to the floor and what ensued a few seconds after was an all-out tickling match. Jinki watched in pure amusement as Minho laughed his heart out, and beside him Jonghyun laughed lightly. He'd have almost forgotten that they were supposed to decode the code when Jonghyun grabbed him by the wrist.

"Leave the love birds there. We have a code to crack."

Jinki nodded and followed in mute obedience. He normally wasn't the type to blindly follow, but Jonghyun was leading him so steadily to the next room and there was a seat conveniently positioned nearby. That, and the number of times Jonghyun had initiated contact was increasing at an alarming rate. Jinki tried not to read into things; maybe this was Jonghyun's way of saying that he was fine with Jinki being his parter.

Yeah, that's right. They were a really solid team.

"Hey Jinki, are you even paying attention? I've been going on about Charles Babbage for at least five minutes already!"

There was irritation in the trace of Jonghyun's features, but something about the curve of Jonghyun's mouth told him Jonghyun was concerned about him zoning out more than anything else. He shunned the thought away and nodded lightly, offering a small smile, saying, "Ah, yes, the project, right? It holds all the secrets of the world?"

Jonghyun grinned. "You were listening after all."

Jonghyun had replaced the semi-permeable gloves with spray-on ones one day. Jinki walked in on him applying them, and it was quite the awkward event. It wasn't like walking in on Jonghyun naked — no, not at all — but the way Jonghyun almost jumped from the floor to the bed and dropped the can was enough to leave a weird and sinking feeling in Jinki's stomach.

"I'm just preparing for battle!" Jonghyun defended.

Jinki's eyes darted from his bare chest to his unzipped pants, and eventually to his spray-stained hands (they had an unusual glow; the effect of the spray was hard to miss). "Mhmm. Right."

Jonghyun slapped him on his arm. "Asshole. Go away, I'm getting ready. I'll be out in five."

Jinki chuckled. "You're such a girl."

It took Jonghyun another five minutes to get ready. When he'd come out of the room, he said something about doubling the application for the spray-on gloves and, "Silly abilities." Jinki laughed to himself because he knew better than to poke fun at Jonghyun and have his abilities suppressed until the end of the day.

He laughed a second time, this time nervously, when Jonghyun put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "You don't tell anyone about our little secret," Jonghyun whispered in his ear. He held his breath and nodded.

"Yes. Our little secret."

There was another civil war in Japan, and this time they weren't able to prevent it.

Minho had called it out too late, but then it wasn't entirely his fault since he was in another country, doing another mission that The Academy deemed more important that time. Kibum was shouting into the receiver when Jinki took the call, saying, "Whoa, whoa, slow down! The line's choppy!"

"War," Kibum began. There was some static before he continued, "Japan. Now. Too many civilians dead. You've got to get there quickly! You—"

Some more static, and the call was cut off.

Jinki closed his eyes quickly and stopped time.

The children running around them were frozen in their tracks. There were balls of paper hanging in the air. Jonghyun walked a few steps closer to him. "I can drive the chopper," he said. "I mean, I'm not trained for it but I'm sure we won't crash." There wasn't any other way to get back to Japan as quickly as possible (good thing they'd gone back to the headquarters — Myungdeong wasn't too far a cry from Tokyo), after all.

When they arrived at Tokyo, Jinki couldn't help but take a step back.

There were wounded people all around them, each one having a distinct mark on their napes. They'd have passed it off as nothing at first had they not seen the intricacy of the patterns that it was so hard to mistake it for a random bruise or cut.

Jinki inched closer to the bodies. "These four— When you put the characters together, you'll get the ancient inscription for 'code'." Jinki took out his phone and took a picture of the characters. "It's weird. Anyone who must have done this knows about the ancient language and the code."

"And these people might have known about it, too." Jonghyun took a deep breath. "I mean, why would they be killed if they didn't have anything to do with it?" Jonghyun turned one of the bodies over. There were scribbles on the body that neither of them couldn't make out.

"Looks like we'll have to send this over." Jinki took a few more pictures and sent them to The Academy for processing. "And err, Jonghyun, your, um, glow. It's wearing off."

Jonghyun looked at his hands. "Aw, shit."

It wasn't supposed to be funny, but the worry written all over Jonghyun's face was hilarious enough to send Jinki chuckling, then giggling, then laughing his heart out when Jonghyun had assaulted him with tickles. There was a slap on his arm, maybe even two, and only thirty minutes after, when Jinki had released time and they were making their way back to Myungdeong did he realize that Jonghyun hit him with his bare hands earlier.

And time still stood still.

They'd been working overtime recently, and Jonghyun's fascination for coffee had just gone three notches higher. The usual two cups of coffee a day had become five, and by the time they were back to their normal and rather manageable working routine Jonghyun had a hard time reverting to the good 'ol two cups. "You need a shrink," Jinki commented flatly, and Jonghyun glared at him hard.

"I just love coffee this much, okay," Jonghyun said through gritted teeth. "And shut up, you're no different from me when it comes to lollipops."

Jinki swiftly removed the lollipop he'd been licking for the past ten minutes (his third one in an hour) and threw it away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Their tirade lasted until Jinki's phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished for it, and Minho's name was flashing on the screen. "Oh, hey, what's the—"

"No matter what, Jinki—" Minho's voice was choked and choppy. There was a pause, a long one, and Jinki held his breath in anticipation as Minho's breathing became more ragged with each passing second.

"—don't turn in the code."

Jonghyun had been contacting Kibum and Minho for the past hour and a half but to no avail; the two weren't answering calls and texts, and they couldn't even be located via GPS.

"They're not on the map anymore," Yoochun, one of the best retrievers of The Academy, said. "Either they've sealed their abilities off completely or they're dead. There's nothing we can do about the latter."

Jinki gulped down hard. "They can't be dead. I can still feel them, somehow."

Yoochun shrugged. "Then maybe they aren't."

Jonghyun took a few steps forward. "Would you have any idea what they were doing before we lost contact with them?"

Yoochun shook his head and said nothing further, then excused himself as he had 'more important matters to attend to'. It was just strange, Jinki thought, that they received the news that Kibum and Minho were missing shortly after that strange phone call from Minho. "Don't turn in the code..." Jinki mumbled, and Jonghyun turned to him sharply with curiosity in his eyes.

"What did you say?"

"The last phone call, Minho said not to turn in the code no matter what. What did they find out about the code?" Jinki worried his lower lip. "More importantly, how did they find out what they found out?"

"Simple. Telepathy."

Jonghyun and Jinki quickly turned on their heels and saw Taemin who had Kibum and Minho on either side of him. Minho was visibly wounded, and Kibum was fashioning a look of shock and horror combined. "They were there already — at the parliament. Not too far away from here, really. They got the code, but for some reason the elementals shot them down the moment they laid their hands on it. I'm guessing Kibum saw something even before he got hit with the beam. They must've been freaked out when they realized Kibum could read and see through things with just one touch." Taemin laughed lightly and shook his head. "He won't talk, though. We need Minho to know what exactly happened."

Jonghyun frowned as he looked at Kibum and Minho from head to toe, then leaned in to check their bruises. "They'll need tending first, though. We should bring them to the hospital."

"No, it's too dangerous," Taemin rushed. He laid Minho and Kibum near Jonghyun. "Stay here; I'll fly someone in. Just need to go to Romania..."

It took Taemin no less than five minutes to return with a woman — is that Jinri, Jinki asked in his mind — and with their fingers intertwined, even. When Jonghyun gave Taemin that look, Taemin was quick to defend himself with, "Close contact with someone is most helpful in teleportation, you know that." Jonghyun smiled, a teasing curve in the corner of his mouth.

"Anyway, this is Choi Jinri. She's one of the healers. You can trust her."

"I can see that," Jonghyun quipped, still eyeing their hands. Taemin snarled at him. "How can we be so sure, though?" Jonghyun rushed. Jinki nodded fervently beside him.

"Let's just say she almost got killed by The Academy after she turned in part of the restored document where the code is written on."

"Restored?" Jinki quickly turned to Taemin. "You mean her healing isn't only for life regeneration? It's also for restoring things?"

"Mhmm. Pretty useful, I'm telling you." Taemin took a deep breath. "The Academy exploited her abilities, they did. Had her restore more than twenty documents once, all pertaining to the code."

Jinki's features lit up. "Then you must know about it, somehow!"

There was a bitter smile on Jinri's lips as she took a deep breath and looked up at them . "I would if they didn't purge my memories every time I finished restoring a document." When she ended, she was smiling almost wistfully, and this made Jinki wonder what exactly happened.

"So, um." Jonghyun cleared his throat. "Minho and Kibum are dying."

"Ah, yes!" Jinri quickly crouched beside the two and extended her hands over them. She closed her eyes tight, and Jinki wondered for a moment if that was how he looked like whenever he tried stopping time.

"The only thing I know about the code is that it's long and impossible to memorize."

After tending to Kibum and Minho's wounds, Jinri told them anything and everything she was able to remember about the code. Among the key points of her narration was the part where the document about the code was immediately snatched from her the moment it was fully restored, and she was sent to a reclusion chamber and locked in for two months until she swore she couldn't remember anything about what she'd just restored.

"I mean, what's so important about knowing about the history of computers and servers? It was boring and irrelevant. At least, that's what I can remember from reading the title. 'The Charles Babbage Project', that's what they called it. Said the Abacus was a powerful tool and was the key to everything."

"It's the key, alright. They had the elementals kill us right after we figured out how to use the Abacus for the code," Kibum mumbled. He'd managed to regain his senses shortly after receiving treatment from Jinri. "They were smart to purge that part, though. That's about everything I can remember. The rest is a blur."

"Quite literally," Minho quipped. He winced lightly as he stood from his seat and moved closer to the group. "The blinding light made you pass out. Good thing I was there to save you."

"I do not need saving, Choi. You should've just left me there."

Minho chuckled. "Yeah. And you'd be dead right now if I did. Show some gratitude, will you?"

Jinki watched as Minho and Kibum went on with their friendly banter (but not quite). He'd grown accustomed to this already, but something about the faint smile on Minho's lips, that very subtle curve of the mouth that told him something was up.

And if Jinki squinted hard enough, he'd see Kibum smiling a little despite the furrowed eyebrows too.

"It's rude to stare," Jonghyun whispered in his ear. He swore he almost jumped in his seat, but he was quick to hold back and just turn his head in Jonghyun's direction. It wasn't the best of moves as they were now much closer, Jonghyun's lips just barely a centimeter away. He held his breath.

"Especially if it's not in the right direction."

They had decided to set out on their journey to retrieve the code tomorrow. "We need to prepare for this," Jonghyun had reminded them, and Kibum and Minho blindly agreed since they needed more rest than necessary, after all. Taemin and Jinri had tucked themselves somewhere near, excusing themselves to go research about the code, but everyone knew they were just going to go on a date for what would seem the last time, if ever they wouldn't survive the battle tomorrow.

Jinki gulped down hard, then heaved a sigh. He definitely needed more time to prepare.

"Hey."

Jinki turned around quickly, almost abruptly that he almost fell off the ledge. They were staying at one of the abandoned houses for the night, and he was well sure that everyone already went to bed, but there Jonghyun was, slowly and steadily walking towards him with a silly grin on his face. "Pretty deep in thought, huh? Worried about tomorrow's battle?"

Jinki shrugged. "Maybe. Probably."

"Y'know, I've been dreaming about this my whole life." Jonghyun was wearing that soft and almost dreamy smile that Jinki found so interesting one too many times. "Going into a really big battle, saving the world and all that crap." Jonghyun chuckled, then continued, "When it comes from me, it's really hard to take seriously, but trust me when I say it's my lifelong dream."

Jinki nodded. "I can see that," he said, then laughed a little. "I can definitely see that."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, with Jonghyun's lips slightly parted as if he was trying to say something. Jinki's eyes were fixed on the sky, but from the corner of his eye he watched as Jonghyun fumbled with the hem of his shirt, then worried his lip, and finally said, "Tomorrow, after the battle—"

"We'll emerge as victors, and the whole world will call us heroes." Jinki turned to Jonghyun and smiled. "And we'll save the day."

There was uncertainty in Jonghyun's features for a while until he found himself smiling and saying, "Yeah, heroes." He liked how it sounded coming from Jonghyun, because Jonghyun had just come from a moment of confusion yet didn't sound quite like it; there was always confidence at the tip of Jonghyun's tongue that anything that rolled off it seemed so believable and real. "You and me, Jinki. We're partners, right?"

Jinki took a deep breath, then nodded, then ignored that undertone in Jonghyun's voice that said 'I can't do it without you'. "Partners," Jinki whispered as he high-fived with Jonghyun. "You and I both, saving the world.

Together.

They shouldn't have expected to make it alive the following day, but it was a rather nice thought to have in mind when they tucked themselves in at three in the morning.

It was around six in the morning when Jinki woke up to the sound of a blast nearby. He bolted, quickly got to his feet and took a look at what had just happened from the window nearby. There were no tanks, nor guns and the like. There were people — around fifty of them — all soldiers who had fallen in a trance, face void of emotion.

These were people they had worked with before. Friends, not foe.

"Wake up, guys! Wake up!" Jinki quickly rounded everyone up, careful not to trip on their legs. Kibum was the first to get up, followed by Jonghyun and Taemin. Minho shifted in his position for a while, but snuggled back into the blankets soon after. Jinri slowly got up, a small frown on her lips.

"We're... under attack."

It wasn't the best way to wake up someone or anyone, especially Minho, but it was effective enough to have Minho open his eyes sharply and everyone get to their feet and into their battle gear (something decent because they can't go battling in their jammies). Minho took a look outside and heaved a sigh, which Kibum's eyebrows furrowed at the sight of the army of ability-wielders heading towards them.

"We don't have to kill them, do we?" Kibum asked, worry evident as he choked on the last bit.

Jinki shrugged. They wouldn't if they could. "Maybe, maybe not."

"No time for drama now, guys! They're fast approaching!"

Minho and Kibum rushed outside the house, prepared to take the initial blow. They agreed to save the time-stopping for later, when they were sure they had closed in on the enemy already since stopping time would mean everyone but Jinki and Jonghyun being immobilized. Minho raised his hands in the air, making several gestures as he controlled the materials all around him and launched them onto the enemies. Kibum stayed rooted in a spot, eyes narrowed as he probed into the minds of the soldiers, convincing them to stop. They were successful for a while, until the soldiers started regenerating themselves and coming back to life.

"What the actual fuck— Did we just waste our powers on these blokes?" Kibum face was framed with beads of sweat, and his breathing was heavy and ragged. Minho was clutching at his knees, his arms giving away a little. "Seriously, this is all a joke!"

"Wait," Taemin quipped, then looked around him. "Have you guys seen Jinri? She—"

There was another explosion and Kibum and Minho didn't have much time to shield themselves from the blast, but Taemin was quick to get them out of the way. "Jesus Christ," Taemin said, voice drifting off as they rose higher into the sky, the entire picture of the war they were in becoming much clearer and frightening. "Jesus Christ, where is Jinri when you need her? Jinri!" He looked around; it was much easier looking for people from the sky. "Jinri, where are you?"

"Taemin, look out!"

Jinki's warning was a far and distant cry, but for some reason it resonated louder than all the other sounds Taemin heard at the moment. A few seconds after, all Taemin felt was that he was crashing to the ground with Kibum and Minho on either side of him and Jonghyun and Jinki's shrill and resounding 'no' ringing in his ears.

Jinki closed his eyes tightly one moment, and the next thing he knew time had already stopped.

It wasn't entirely on purpose as they had agreed to not stop time until they found the code or whatever it was that could unlock the code, but he just couldn't bear to see Taemin, Kibum and Minho falling to the ground and him not doing anything about it. Beside him, Jonghyun's breathing was heavy and his eyes were wide open, horror in the trace of his features.

"Oh God, that was intense! You ever think of holding back, Jinki, and I swear to God I'm gonna kick your sorry ass!"

Jinki blinked a few times, his vision finally coming into full focus. Jonghyun was still talking, but it was silent everywhere else.

He successfully stopped time.

"I... don't know what to do."

Jinki's head was hung low, but he could see Jonghyun from the corner of his eye, the surprised look on his companion's face imprinting itself in his mind. Jonghyun, who had always been so confident and happy about leading him and enabling him to do things, looked so shocked and almost aghast at his sudden loss of knowledge on what to do. Jinki had always been the strategist, the problem-solver; Jonghyun was the cheerleader, and Jinki needed Jonghyun's words to encourage him now more than ever.

"What do you mean you don't know what to do? You always know what to do! You—"

"Things didn't go as planned!" Jinki was now facing Jonghyun. "You have Taemin, Minho and Kibum hanging in the air, Jinri disappearing, all our friends turning into soldiers — I wasn't prepared for this, Jonghyun. I didn't sign up for this!"

Jonghyun's hands fell to his sides.

"I'm sorry. I'm being selfish. I guess I'm just not prepared for a lot of things, even if I can very well stop time to figure things out." Jinki laughed, bitterness in its aftertaste. "I'm sorry."

Jonghyun walked closer to him, and they were now a few centimeters apart, Jonghyun's heavy breathing prickling his skin. "I'm not a genius at strategies, but I'm an expert at stopping everything, even stopping you from going all emo at a time like this." Jonghyun offered a small smile, then punched him on the arm lightly, and a few seconds after Jinki saw clarity in his thoughts, the steady grip on his hand lending him a bit of balance. "And if it makes you feel better, I don't know what to do, too."

"I can't even warn Taemin properly..."

Jonghyun put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, you stopped him good. The only problem is getting them down safely."

Jinki almost laughed at Jonghyun's poor excuse for a joke. He shook his head; they shouldn't be joking around right now, especially in the middle of a war.

Yes, that's right. They were in the middle of a war.

"I just had the weirdest idea," Jonghyun said out of the blue. "What if we just erase everything, pretend that this didn't even happen? It solves the problem, right? No more wars, no abilities to begin with. It's a win-win situation."

"How can we be sure this won't happen ever again, though?" Jinki frowned, then looked over his shoulder, out into the vast destruction they've caused. "Besides, we shouldn't tamper with the past. First rule of time suspension."

Jonghyun's eyes lit up. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, and this was enough to send Jinki wondering.

"They were right about putting us in one team."

Jinki narrowed his eyes a bit, careful not to overdo it because Jonghyun hated people being overly critical of him, even if it was purely unintentional. "You said we can't tamper with the past. That doesn't mean we can't tweak the future, does it? We can change things from this point on. I mean," Jonghyun paused, shook his head. There was a moment of silence before Jonghyun continued.

"It's all so simple."

Jonghyun started walking in circles. "You stop time, I 'nullify' everything a.k.a. save Taemin and the lovebirds from falling and make people forget why they're even fighting, people wake up without a clue as to why their houses are even wrecked in the first place. On top of that, we get to save these soldiers who are just being used! Profit! It's fool-proof!"

"And the code?"

"We don't even know what it really is, and we never will. It's like starting anew."

"At what cost?"

"Jesus Christ, Jinki! Don't you have faith in people?" Jonghyun's fists were now shaking and his teeth were clenched. "You're always so afraid to take risks. Can't you just do something without thinking?"

I can't, Jinki wanted to say, but instead he bit the inside of his cheek. Jonghyun was right — he had so many fears and he always thought he'd get past them through careful planning and strategizing, but there were some things that he simply couldn't get through by carefully planning his moves. This was one of them — not all superheroes acted on logic, after all.

"Okay, so I hold time as much as I can while you erase everything. What's next?"

Jonghyun smirked. "Who knows?"

Jinki shook his head as Jonghyun gave him one last pat on the shoulder before they executed the plan. Jinki took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and felt a surge of energy travel to his fingertips. He stretched out his arms, palms facing the ground, and the next thing he heard was a battle cry from Jonghyun.

"Let's do this!"

The ground started shaking. There was a flash of light and a high pitched sound, the one you hear when rockets are being launched. Jinki tried hard to keep his stance, but the tremors were so strong that he eventually fell on his knees. He felt something pierce his skin — rocks, they must be rocks. And the excessive movement proved that his hold on time was slowly wearing off.

"Just a little more!"

Jinki clenched his fists and cried out, surrendering everything that he had to time. In a flash of light, one more blinding than the first, the tremors were calmed, and silence filled the air.

And Jinki passed out.

---

Jinki had taken a liking to doing this these past few days — he'd stare at any moving object and if he concentrated hard enough, it would stop moving. He'd only been able to stop an object from moving for five seconds, though, and even such a small feat amused him so much. His mother told him not to get a hang of it, though, because it was weird and kids his age — he'd just turned six — wouldn't want to play with someone who could stop something from moving.

"You want to stop your playmates from going down the slide, dear? Or stop their swing from swinging?"

Jinki, a bit hesitant, frowned. "No, umma. Of course I don't want to."

His mother gave him a light pat on the head and a rather stern smile. "That's my boy! Now, head back to the house in ten minutes, okay? The cookies are almost done!"

He nodded and smiled a little, enough to convince his mother that he was going to do as he was told. It wasn't as if he'd disobey his mother completely; he was just going to test out his so called 'powers' some more, and then go back inside the house.

He focused hard on the bicycle passing by. He squinted his eyes, and by now his fists were balled. There was a sharp flash of light, and the next thing he knew the bicycle had stopped, and that the person riding it didn't seem to be breathing.

"That's really creepy," a voice came from behind. Jinki jumped in his position, and the bicycle started moving again.

"You ruined my moment! I made that bike stop!" Jinki frowned, eyebrows furrowed at the person who had just come in. "Go away, I don't like you. I don't like to be your playmate."

The child scoffs. "Who even said I wanted to play with you? And you made the bike stop?"

Jinki nodded enthusiastically, a trace of pride in the way he cocked his head. "Mhmm! Do you want to see how I did it?"

The child nodded. "Sure."

Jinki did his routine — he focused hard on something, and this time his victim was a bouncing ball. He clenched his fists, his lips pressing tight against each other, but to no avail — the ball was still bouncing, this time away from them. The child laughed lightly beside him, and he'd have almost stomped away if the child hadn't called him back.

"Hey, what's your name?" The child called out. "I still want to see you stop that ball."

Jinki didn't want to tell him his name at first, but then he figured he could use a new friend since all his other friends found him too weird and never even showed the slightest interest in his 'ability'. "Jinki. Lee Jinki. My mom baked cookies. You want to try them?"

"Mm, sure! And I'm Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun. Bet your mom's cookies aren't better than my mom's!"

Jinki chased Jonghyun across the street and back. It was weird how the wind didn't blow against his hair when he ran, or how only Jonghyun's shadow moved when they moved around. He'd have made more observations, but then Jonghyun grabbed him from behind and tackled him to the ground, and the next thing Jinki knew they were laughing and Jonghyun was helping them up and they were walking to Jinki's house.

("You're ogling the kids, Jinki. It's creepy."

"Hey," Jinki began, "It's not everyday you get to see your six year-old self from behind a tree trunk, okay. Besides, we still have time until the next time warp."

"How much time?"

"Thirty seconds tops."

Jonghyun scowled. "Damn, I hate time traveling. The price you have to pay for interfering with time."

Jinki chuckled and put a hand on Jonghyun's shoulder. "Think about it this way: we get to see many mini me's in our short life. It's like watching ourselves in a movie!"

"Whatever, Jinki." Jonghyun was smiling now, though. "Whatever."

A ball of light had appeared in front of them, and Jonghyun was the first to step inside it. "Come on, Jinki, before it closes! You can't get stuck here forever!" Jinki took a deep breath, looked over his shoulder to see little Jonghyun and Jinki for one last time, and stepped inside the ball of light.)

And the wind started blowing once more.

You, me, coffee and tea; Jay/Heechul

2011-08-13T11:02:35Z

You, me, coffee and tea
663 words. PG.
— Super Junior/Trax; Jay/Heechul.

author onew.
summary Heechul takes time to learn about the secrets of the world, living a weird life, and Jay.
notes Originally posted HERE.

-- Something about yourself

Heechul's signature dance moves are known to be oozing of boredom, but this time he tries to prove people wrong. His moves are snappy, energetic, full of life, and before he even knows it the concert is over and his energy has been sapped, taken away from him, and he simply cannot act like a kid who's been deprived or lollipop.

"Can you pass that beer?" he calls out to Jay, instead, and ends with, "Or maybe two. Yeah. Thanks."

Jay hands him two cans, albeit grudgingly, and says, "Lucky you I'm always here to pick up after you."

Later, when he's already downed more beer than he's supposed to, he'll be laughing his heart out and clinging to Jay and telling him a lot of things, most of them about future plans and insecurities. Jay runs his hands through his hair, rubs circles on his back when he throws up and does his monologue on why he should never drink again. But everyone knows he'll end up drinking, anyway.

Maybe Jay thinks he's mildly sober, because Jay's saying a lot of weird things right now and he couldn't be bothered to tell him off. He doesn't understand half of them, but he nods for effect and because he knows Jay only means one thing — you're fucking lucky you have me, Kim Heechul.

-- Something about the people you love

Heechul knows Jay best when they're in bed. No, they don't engage in mind-blowing sex, but they do cuddle up to each other and whisper sweet nothings to each other — if 'shut up, just kiss me' and 'if you don't stop kicking me, i'll kick you' count as sweet and romantic, at least. But yes, Heechul does know Jay best when they're in bed, because when Jay sleeps he talks a lot. And Jay never lies.

"So last night, you told me I was pretty." Heechul quips. Jay stares at him blankly as if asking for a follow-up. "Of course you meant that."

"You're pretty when I'm asleep. Deal with it."

Heechul shakes his head and proceeds to tackling Jay to the floor, the wall, the bed — anything that can provide him with balance, because he swears he feels a tingle in his toes and he just can't keep himself from falling.

-- Something about the world

Heechul loves talking to Jay about things, even if they've just met. Twenty minutes into Jay's introduction, Heechul realizes a lot of things — they have a lot of common interests, Jay's hair is really nice, and that they're meant to be really good friends.

The world has a twisted way of bringing people together, he thinks, so he just goes with the flow and asks more questions about this new friend of his.

-- Something about a stranger

Heechul feels something weird at the pit of his stomach when he first sees Jay, too busy with getting himself a couple of drinks from the vending machine. Normally, he'll laugh at the person silly and then help him out, but this time he just stops and stares and takes in all the small details — the warm glow of the moon behind Jay, the brand of the drink he wants to buy, his untied shoelaces.

"Hey, need some help?" he offers. Jay shrugs, smiles, then manages to make the machine work.

There's something in the way this person moves that makes Heechul think he's known him from a different time and space, but then Heechul doesn't believe in all that. So when they see each other again, this time in the park, and Jay's having a hard time eating his popsicle really quick, Heechul doesn't think of it as deja vu.

"Need some help," he asks, and Jay offers the same smile in reply.

"No, not really." Jay pauses, then gestures for the man selling ice cream. He buys a popsicle much like his, then gives it to Heechul. Heechul grins.

"Not at all."

Various drabbles/fics @ kpfw

2011-08-09T15:44:17Z

I forgot I had these to post, lol. Wrote these fic for a request thread at kpfw 10.0. Enjoy :)

The point of no return
Changmin/Minho; 401 words; PG. Maybe Minho idolizes Changmin too much. Changmin doesn't have a problem with it, though. (inspired by Sekaiichi Hatsukoi)

It was a quiet day in the library as usual. No one frequented this part of the school, and it was for the same reason that Changmin took refuge in it. That, and he had this intense love for books that even the slightest mention of it made his senses tingle and brought a small smile to his lips.

Most people would call him a lunatic, but he didn't care. He rather liked the company of his books, thank you very much, especially at a time when his parents were going through have a divorce.

His grip on the spine of the book he just got from the shelf tightened. He shouldn't be thinking about these kinds of things, especially since he was still at school.

A light squeak and a suppressed scream brought him back to his senses, and he turned his head sharply only to find a young man on his knees, scrambling to gather all the books on the floor. He furrowed his eyebrows a little — the titles looked awfully familiar, but that might just be because he had already read half of the books in the library, possibly even more.

"Aa, S-Shim-sunbae!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you," he asked flatly. He watched as the young man worried his lip a bit too much, then parted his lips as if he was supposed to say something. "And why do you know me?" he said a few seconds after. He made sure to keep his profile low; he didn't like having a lot of people around him.

"B-because sunbae is my idol."

Changmin chuckled. He could see that — the boy had way too many books in his arms, and all the titles were those that he had already read. He took the book on top of the pile, checked the library card and mumbled, "Choi Minho, huh." He returned the book to the young man — now with an identity, Choi Minho — and turned on his heel.

Choi Minho, he repeated, this time in his head. The name sounded awfully familiar, like he'd seen it many times before. He didn't have much time to think about it, so he tucked himself back in his favorite spot and opened the book he's just gotten, but checked the library card before he even read the first line.

'Choi Minho' was the person who borrowed the book before he did.

A favorable response
Myungsoo/Sungyeol; 177 words; PG-13. Sungyeol might just be a bit too selfless for his sanity.

Often people would find them acting awkwardly around each other, making weird movements and exchanging weird gestures whenever they talked or walked side by side, but Sungyeol knew better than to read too much into things, even when Myungsoo would sneak in a kiss in between breaks, slip an arm around his waist to pull him close and whisper all these weird promises in his ear, because he knew that Myungsoo's mind was set on Sungjong even as they collide like this, all flesh and limbs on each other, on Sungjong's bed for no one else to hear.

"Why do you keep letting me do this to you," Myungsoo would ask. Sungyeol would shrug, then chuckle, then bury his face in the crook of Myungsoo's neck.

"Because I'm stupid."

The next day, they'd emerge from the room unscathed, as if nothing happened. Myungsoo would shoot him a look from across the table at breakfast, but Sungyeol knew better than to assume anything. Sungjong was just beside him, or maybe Myungsoo just wanted him to pass the bread.

You and me and Paris
Amber/Key; 257 words; PG. It was easy to get lost in Paris, especially with Key.

It was funny how Kibum easily got lost in the wonder that was Paris. Right after the staff had announced that they had the rest of the day to themselves after practice, Kibum grabbed Amber by the arm and dragged him to Lord knew where. He had a lot of plans — shopping, food tripping, sight-seeing, just plain hanging out and around in the streets of Paris. Kibum was easy to please.

It's 8 p.m. and they'd finally reached the Eiffel Tower. Kibum had excused himself to contact the manager and Jinki; they'd have his head if he didn't tell them where he was going. "Just a minute!" Kibum said, smiling rather childishly, his gold hairband glimmering in the night. The Parisian streetlamps cast a soft glow on him.

Amber smiled a little. This was perfect.

She took out her phone, held it in front of her, framing Kibum in a picture. Behind him was the Eiffel tower, a perfect testament of their visit here. Her hands shook a little; it wasn't as if she hadn't taken a picture of Kibum before, and it shouldn't be any different now.

So she pressed on the clicker and captured the scene in a flash.

"Hey, no taking pics of me when I'm not ready!" Kibum stormed in her direction, his lips poised in a half-smile, half-chuckle. "And no flash, please. It's so unflattering."

Amber just stuck out her tongue, slipped her phone back in her pocket and sat back as she watched Kibum frown at her and slap her arm.

(I am) The girl who can't be moved
Amber/Henry; 184 words; PG. Amber declines the best Poutine in the world. Henry thinks Amber's actions should be rectified.

"I am not going to eat that."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! It's just your regular fries and, well, more!" He frowned as Amber's face contorted a little, a look of something akin to fear surfacing on her features. "You're not going to die with a little fat! Sheesh. And well, we both know you can't resist cheese..."

Amber furrowed her eyebrows. "I can! As a matter of fact, I'm resisting it right now!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really!"

"Then I'd have to resort to drastic measures."

Henry slipped his hand behind Amber's neck and pulled her close until their lips were only a few centimeters apart. "What are you—" Amber's words hung loosely in the air, and Henry held his breath and he took a fry and stuffed it in Amber's mouth while her lips were still parted open.

"What the fuck, man!" Amber managed to say, her speech garbled as she chewed on the fry. "That was sneaky!"

Henry shrugged, a grin on his lips. He loved the taste of victory, but he loved the taste of Poutine all the more.

Summer lovin' happens too fast
Krystal/Amber; 502 words; PG. Amber recounts the many times she and Krystal have met and impresses each moment in her memory like the birth of something special.

1. It's summer when they first meet. Krystal's got her hair tied up in a bun and she's wearing something flimsy for an evening dress. She's blond, and she's anything but an ice princess with her bright and warm smile.

Amber takes a deep breath, fixes her attention back to the chocolate fountain that she's supposed to be operating and smiles at the people asking if they can take a dip.

They don't exactly get to introduce themselves to each other, but Krystal's eyes get caught in Amber's own in a brief moment of surprise. Amber looks away, then there's a relapse when she smiles at a little girl tiptoeing to get some marshmallows and she sees Krystal looking from the corner of her eye. She convinces herself not to look again, but her body acts against her will and soon after she finds herself looking at Krystal for the nth time that night.

And Krystal is looking away.

2. They're rivals the next time they meet. Krystal is the lead singer of this rising rock band, and Amber is the lead singer and bassist of the opposing band. Amber doesn't deny the fact that Krystal is a good singer, possibly way better than her, but they have better music. That, and from what Amber has heard Krystal can be a total bitch. She can see where people are coming from.

All these ill thoughts conveniently get lost at the back of her head when Krystal stars singing, eyes closed just lightly, head titled to the side. The spotlight is harsh on her skin and paints her a sickly glow, but Amber holds her breath in awe and pure admiration.

There's a sick feeling settling at the pit of Amber's stomach, but she ignores this. It's just nervousness, she tells herself. It can't be anything else. This is what she leads herself to believe until the end of the song, when Krystal's got her gasping for air and clutching at her chest.

3. They're both normal people this time around. No titles, no distinctions, just two people sitting on opposite ends of the table in a common friend's gathering. Amber furrows her eyebrows because she can't shake off the feeling that they've met before. Krystal shoots her a weird look because she thinks all the staring is getting creepy.

Halfway through the party and a couple of bottles of beer after, they're both sitting on the couch, obviously wasted to the core but still a bit awake. They're sitting too close for people who don't even know each other, but they can always shrug this off as something that drunk people do. Amber can't even be bothered to shift in her position now that she's comfortable, and because Krystal's head is snug on her shoulder, and the steady rise and fall of Krystal's chest (the tiny 'o' of her lips, the tousled hair framing her face just perfectly) is a bit too amusing to watch.

... And enough to lull her into a very comfortable sleep.

Debacles
Krystal/Minho; 920 words; PG. Minho seeks answers; Krystal offers more questions.

Amber has so bluntly put it out there for Krystal to digest — if she and Minho aren't together, then they must be complete and total sluts for each other.

"I mean, just look at you two, smiling at each other and touching and doing all those lovey-dovey stuff..." Amber's voice drifts off as a weird look surfaces on her features. She cringes a little. "Look, if Minho oppa isn't asking you to be his girlfriend, then he just wants to get into your pants.

"I don't think he's that kind of guy." Krystal frowns, then fumbles with the hem of her shirt. "Besides, I don't even wear pants."

Amber rolls her eyes. "And of course you lose your sense of logic."

Amber walks away, excusing herself to grab a cup of coffee and some sanity. Krystal leans back against the couch, sinking in it and letting the pillows engulf her. She then reaches for her phone, looks for Minho in her contacts and texts, 'What are we?'

"What are we?"

"Uh well, we're friends. At least I think we are." Kibum gestures for Minho to pass the popcorn and soda. It's almost six and he's eating as much as he can; he doesn't even know why he's been snacking on popcorn these past few days. "Unless we're more? I don't know. You always act weird around me that I get the feeling that you like me."

"Shut up, Kibum. I was reading a text out loud." Minho lets out a sigh, then takes a handful of popcorn. "And just so we're clear, I don't like you. In fact, you're the last person I'll ever fall in love with."

"Don't say that, Choi. You might just fall in love with me." Kibum winks, and Minho slaps him hard on the arm.

Minho scowls. "Fuck off!"

"No sex on my couch, please!" Jonghyun shoves the two aside and plops on whatever space is left on the couch. Jinki settles on the floor and uses Jonghyun's legs as his backrest and eyes Minho curiously.

"Girlfriend issues?" Jinki asks. Minho smiles for the first time since the start of the conversation and nods. Finally, someone who understands, he thinks, and shoves his phone in Jinki's direction.

Jinki shakes his head.

"Shit just got real, bro."

Minho gets to send the 'date initiation text' at eight in the evening, after much quarreling and rephrasing (thanks to Jonghyun, who they have now deemed as the 'expert at killing people softly'). "I'll see you at 9, in practice room 1," it says, and it sounds overly cheesy even for someone like Minho.

"You think you can do this?" Jinki asks on their way to the SM building. Jinki's driving tonight, because Jonghyun's apparent lack of sense of direction when he's excited cannot be of use right now. "Why didn't you even do this sooner?"

"I am not answering that question. Thanks for the ride, hyung."

He plants a soft kiss on Jinki's forehead to shut up the elder, and it proves to be effective. He runs up the steps, into the building and to the elevator.

He's never been so nervous his entire life.

Krystal's there early, as expected. Maybe Minho should've come here earlier knowing that, but then Jinki wasn't such a good driver when he was interrogating Minho. "Hey. Hi," Minho begins, and small but awkward smile on his lips. "You came."

"What are we? No really, Minho, what are we?"

Minho's sharp intake of breath is cut by Krystal's statement. His lips are slightly parted, a thin sheet of air passing through them, and he finds it hard to breathe. There's something bottling up in his chest, like at any moment he'll explode if he doesn't press his lips tightly against each other. But then he doesn't have much time — a confession escapes his lips, raw and real.

"Girlfriend. You're my girlfriend. I thought this was clear already."

"You never said anything!" Krystal shakes her head, a wry smile on her lips. "We do all these crazy stuff but you've never made anything clear and I'm forever left wondering if we actually..." Krystal worries her lower lips. "... are an item."

Minho chuckles. "Well, if it isn't clear enough, let me tell you this: you're my girlfriend. If it can't be you, it can't be anyone else. It has to be you."

Krystal scoffs. "Cheesy as always, Choi." She punches Minho lightly on the arm. "But always so honest."

Minho stands still as Krystal rushes to him, their bodies colliding in an embrace. His fists unclench, his tongue gets untangled, and he finally finds the perfect words for a long overdue confession.

"You're cute," he opts to say, because Krystal will have his head for being so cheesy. Krystal chuckles and this sends fancy tingles down Minho's spine, down to his toes, and to his lips to form a crooked smile.

("That was the cheesiest confession ever," Jonghyun says from outside practice room 1. "He's so vague, I can't even imagine how Krystal manages!"

Jinki looks up from peeking at the crevice of the door. "You said something?"

Jonghyun looks at Jinki for a while, a silly smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He shakes his head and whispers, "Nothing," and watches as Jinki goes back to dutifully watching the two from the small opening of the door.

And Jonghyun just sits there, watching and smiling until Jinki grabs him by the arm to run back to the car — a perfect escape from their nightjob.)

We, the mad souls; various

2011-08-05T18:12:00Z

We, the mad souls
390 words. PG-13.
— f(x); Victoria/Sulli, Krystal/Sulli, Luna/Krystal

author onew.
summary The most important part of a photoshoot is the behind-the-scenes.
notes Written for an anon at kpfm 11.0. Timestamps refer to events in f(x)'s Calvin Klein endorsement video.

(00:01)

They'd been asked to put their heads together for this particular shot, and quite literally so — their foreheads were pressed against each other, and the edge of the hoods of their coats were covering their faces. Sulli was on the verge of laughing. Victoria was on the verge of kissing her to shut up. Not that Victoria ever held back.

Of course, the cameras didn't know that.

(00:28)

Krystal was shooting in the other room. The director said they had something in store for her, something better. She knew better, though; they just had more creative execution ideas for Victoria and Sulli, whose faces were barely inches from each other.

"Make faces!" said the cameraman, and she did as she was told — turned her head, fixed her eyes on Victoria and Sulli, and frowned. If she was going to be asked why she did that, she could always say it was for work.

(00:34)

She felt so light and breezy all over, and it wasn't such a nice feeling; she was probably going to pass out any minute now, even as she was so indiscreetly watching Victoria and Sulli from the camera nearby. She had special privileges; the perks of being Jung Soojung.

"Okay, your turn for the couple shots!" the director called out. Krystal's eyes, ears, senses perked up, and she locked eyes with Sulli for the first time that day.

(00:52)

It wasn't as if Victoria had a hand at things — she had to make the photoshoot different, exciting, so when the director asked her, "What next?" she said, "Maybe we can try couple outfits. Jackets. Them."

And pointed at Krystal and Sulli.

(01:00)

Sulli let her hand brush against Krystal's just lightly before pulling away and walking the opposite direction. The camera wouldn't have caught it, but then she didn't know the director was going for a close-up.

When they leaned back into each other for a break after that take, Krystal didn't let Sulli pull away.

(01:03)

Sulli didn't even bother looking for the right words for an explanation.

(01:13)

All of them were victims in this, Luna thought as she lay flat on the floor for the last take, her hands farther away from Krystal's than the usual.

"Did I miss anything?" Amber asked when they had gotten back from the shoot. Luna shook her head and smiled.

"Not just anything. Everything."

The many, colored ways; Sendoh/Koshino

2011-07-06T15:41:50Z

The many, colored ways
626 words. PG-13.
— Slam Dunk; Sendoh/Koshino.

author onew.
summary When they meet in what might seem their fifth lifetime, Koshino doesn't even bother holding back from asking where he's seen Sendoh before.
notes Just. Take this off my hands ;____; Written in celebration of July 6th, a.k.a. SenKosh Day in the Slam Dunk realm. I can't believe I'm still doing this 8 years after, haha. Heavily inspired by THIS.

They are twenty-five when they first meet. Koshino is a professional basketball player, and Sendoh has just been admitted into the team. The news about Sendoh's being recruited is a hush-hush topic for a while, until his smile breaks through his features and the four corners of the court as he says, "Hi, I'm Sendoh Akira. Glad to be part of your team."

"Glad to have a new talent in our team."

Koshino isn't the type who'd readily approach people, so he observes Sendoh from a distance. He stands at half court and Sendoh's inside the paint, poised for a winning shot. He's leaving to catch the 6 p.m. train and Sendoh's just getting started. They're always at opposite sides of the plane, but Koshino can't help but notice the way their hands fit perfectly when they give each other a high-five after a well-played assist, the way their bodies align.

Koshino looks over his back before he leaves, taking a look at Sendoh for the last time. He nods to himself and thinks, whispers to the wind, yes, glad to have you in the team.

The next time they meet, they're rivals. Koshino is the owner of the largest TV network, a big name in the industry, and Sendoh is the heir to the second largest network. Sendoh has bought his way into the industry with charming smiles and connections, Koshino thinks as he shakes Sendoh's hand and says, "Ah, yes, we finally meet."

He doesn't exactly know how it happens, but the next thing he knows they're the best of friends and they've decided to turn the friendly competition into the next blockbuster hit.

"A movie involving our top stars, that'll be a sure hit!" Sendoh says after his third bottle of beer. "I'll have Uekusa write a story for this and you can have your own little crew of writers and—" Sendoh doesn't get to finish, because his head finds a safe fit on Koshino's shoulder and Koshino doesn't even bother waking Sendoh up to continue the conversation. It's better this way, Koshino thinks, as he gestures for the guards to get Sendoh inside his car so he can drive Sendoh home. It's better without all these weird ideas of Sendoh's.

When he leans back in his seat and turns the key, he finds himself looking at Sendoh for a while and tearing his gaze away quickly when Sendoh snores, then shifts in his position, then giggles. Koshino doesn't stare long enough to notice the peculiar upward curve of Sendoh's lips, or the way Sendoh mouths 'Kosh—' and ends with a bite of the lip.

He certainly doesn't catch Sendoh's eyes fluttering for a while, then opening fully to look at him and offer a smile.

They meet again, and in this lifetime they are kids and are seatmates in their fourth grade English class. Sendoh's looking over his shoulder and he's brushing Sendoh away, swatting his hand when the latter comes a bit too close for comfort. It doesn't take long before Sendoh calls him his best friend, and he doesn't exactly know why he doesn't even dismiss it. Koshino thinks this is all crazy, and that he might really consider seeing a shrink. That, or Sendoh was just too hard to say no to.

There are many other times when they meet, and in all of them Koshino wonders why Sendoh sounds so familiar, feels a little like home. So when Sendoh offers his hand for a handshake (this time, they're business partners), he takes it, shakes it briefly and asks, "Have we met before?"

Sendoh chuckles and takes a deep breath. Koshino furrows his eyebrows and this time, he stays around long enough for an answer.

"We always do."

Almost Boyfriend; Jonghyun/Onew

2011-06-18T07:31:30Z

Almost Boyfriend
615 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Jonghyun/Onew.

author onew.
summary Jonghyun isn't quite sure if he's ready to be in a relationship, moreso with Jinki.
notes For the JongYu chat anons @ kpfm!

They don't realize it until Kibum points it out — they've been living under the same roof for six months and if they aren't going out, they can't be anything else.

Kibum says it rather bluntly one Saturday — "Are you two married or what?" Jinki blinks more than the usual number of times he does and Jonghyun raises an eyebrow. They shrug it off until a few hours after, when they're at the dinner table and eating Chinese for the 4th time that week.

"So, are we going out? I mean, everybody says we are," Jonghyun asks, munching on the noodles. "We don't have to be all exclusive, though. I mean, we can be casually dating and still looking for other options."

Jinki nods thoughtfully. "Well then, I guess we are."

Jinki doesn't give it much thought and tucks the idea at the back of his head. When he goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed, he realizes that the sole toothbrush near the sink has been a constant in their life as housemates and wonders why Jonghyun never bothered to buy his very own toothbrush.

The next day, Jinki asks Jonghyun out.

Only casually, of course, because anything other than that will be absolutely weird and out of place. "I didn't cook today so we might as well grab breakfast outside. Maybe we can go for a walk after that, then catch a movie and some lunch, then go home?"

"Are you trying to woo me?" Jonghyun asks, caution in the undertone of his voice. "Because I hate taking long walks and watching boring movies."

"Of course I know that." Jinki laughs. He fumbles with his car keys and looks over his shoulder when he says, "Come on, I'm driving. Just get your lazy ass in my car so we can eat." He takes quick steps when he feels a smile tugging at the corners of his lips and thinks, what the actual fuck am I doing.

Really.

(They have Subway for breakfast and watch Kung Fu Panda 2. When Jonghyun complains that the movie's too good for his emotional health, Jinki suggests they watch the new Transformers. Jonghyun hits him repeatedly on the arm during the action scenes and leans on his shoulder just a bit when the movie cuts to a new scene and says, almost breathlessly, "That was intense!"

Jinki nods and doesn't say anything, but mumbles when Jonghyun's immersed in the film again, "So were you.")

"So yesterday," Jonghyun begins, then takes a sip of his morning coffee before continuing, "That was really good. We should do it again sometime."

Jinki chuckles. "You should pay this time around. You're unfair; I did all the paying yesterday."

"But you wouldn't let me pay!" Jonghyun shoots an indignant look at Jinki. "Which was weird, by the way. It was almost as if we were on a date and you're my boyfriend and eew." Jonghyun cringes a little. "Just. Eew."

"Eew your ass, Kim. I'm never treating you to Subway again." Jinki frowns. The coffee doesn't taste good today for some reason. Must be because Jonghyun's the one who made it and Jonghyun doesn't know anything about coffee.

"I was kidding, y'know." Jonghyun raises an eyebrow at him. "Can't believe you fell for that."

Jinki doesn't sit well with defeat, so he replies, "Can't believe you fell for that, either."

There's something akin to a realization lighting Jonghyun's features and the next thing Jinki knows, Jonghyun's hitting him on the arm again, each slap harder than the previous. Jinki just laughs because Jonghyun will apologize later, anyway.

That, and Jonghyun's paying for today's lunch and movie. It's a win-win situation.

Every you, every me; Kyuhyun/Donghae

2011-06-18T07:26:01Z

Every you, every me
336 words. PG-13.
— Super Junior; Kyuhyun/Donghae.

author onew.
summary They meet at many a different times and places, each of them memorable. Kyuhyun remembers them all, especially the ones in which Donghae loves him back.
notes For one of the challenges @ kpfm 9.0.

if there are ten thousand people in this world who love you, i am one of those ten thousand. if there is one person in this world who loves you, that one is me. if there is no one in this world who loves you, then that must mean i no longer exist. *

1. In this world, Donghae is a super star and Kyuhyun is his biggest fan. Kyuhyun's proven this to be true — he's been to every concert, every fan meet, every single event that Donghae's been to, even those that are small wherein Donghae doesn't do much. Kyuhyun doesn't know why, but something about Donghae piques him all the time, like there's always something to discover about Donghae. How his lips curl when he smiles, how his cheeks puff up his eye bags when he laughs. The many ways Donghae moves him.

He's only one of his many fans, but he's the best one, and even if Donghae doesn't give him so much as a passing glance, he knows Donghae remembers because Donghae's looking at him from at miles away, from the stage, like he's always known about his presence.

Like he's the only one in the world that matters.

2. This time, they're lovers. Donghae works with his hands, tracing patterns on his skin — a smiley face, polygons, a heart — sometimes just ghosting him, sending shivers down his spine. "Are we going out," Kyuhyun asks because Donghae's never made anything clear, and right now he simply cannot sit and continue with this tirade. "Because you never say anything.

"Do you love me?"

Donghae chuckles, then pins him down on the bed. Kyuhyun doesn't want to interpret things, but he thinks this means 'I do'.

3. It's the end of the world and he's pooled at Donghae's feet. He's limp and lifeless now, and Donghae lets his fingers linger on his lips. I'm still here, Kyuhyun wants to say, but right now he feels his soul being ripped from his body and it hurts more than how Donghae's tears sting his skin.

He leans in to whisper, nonetheless, and Donghae's eyes shoot up, like he's heard something out of the blue. Kyuhyun doesn't read too much into it, but when Donghae grips his hand, he feels a familiar warmth.

Then Donghae turns around, takes a few steps forward, and jumps.

I might as well ditch my dismay; Yoochun/Junsu

2011-05-20T04:25:17Z

I might as well ditch my dismay
694 words. PG-13.
— DBSK; Yoochun/Junsu.

author onew.
summary There are three things to be noted about Yoochun: he has no sense of balance, he is a man of very weak resolve, and he has developed a liking for Junsu.
notes Written for a challenge at kpfw 9.0. I haven't written for DBSK in so long, much less YooSu, so pardon the rustiness. Title taken from Owl City's 'If my heart was a house'.

i like you. a lot. like a lot, a lot. *

So he likes Junsu, a lot. It's nothing alarming, Yoochun thinks, because he likes everybody. It's just that Junsu has something that endears Yoochun more to him. The only problem is that Junsu constantly tries to improve himself, and with each passing day Yoochun finds himself being enamored by Junsu all the more.

It shouldn't be a problem, really, except Yoochun is a man of very weak resolve, but he doesn't think about it too much. If anything, he could just be going through this awkward phase. He'll grow out of it quickly. Hopefully.

Junsu practices the most. On their free days, Junsu spends most of his time in the practice room, trying to perfect their new dance routine or maybe just trying to sharpen his moves all the more, and spends his remaining time locked in their room, going through the short game courses in preparation for his big battle with Changmin. Yoochun admires Junsu's drive and thirst for perfection, so he watches Junsu from the slightly opened door, presses his ears close to it when he feels unfit to be in the same room as Junsu to hear the latter's grunts and cries of joy.

"I wonder if I try too hard sometimes," Junsu says out of the blue, voice dropping to a whisper. "I mean, I practice all the time and do my best in every performance, but I feel as if that's not enough." He chuckles a little, bitterly. "Is it too bad to dream of perfection?"

"What's there to change?" Yoochun replies, brief yet meaningful, and he just looks at Junsu with warm eyes and offers a small smile.

It's Yoochun's turn to do the laundry today, and he frowns at the pool of clothes on the floor especially when he notices that most of the clothes there are Junsu's. He calls Junsu's attention, ordering him to help out in the laundry duty since, "Most of these are yours, anyway." Junsu doesn't even bother retaliating because he knows this is true and the only way to appease Yoochun is by indeed helping out.

Halfway through first rinse, they find themselves playing with the soap suds. It's slippery out here, and Yoochun ends up trapped against the washing machine with Junsu's hands on either side of him. Yoochun's breath hitches when Junsu loses balance and the distance between them is drawn to a mere few centimeters. Junsu's lips hover, and then linger, and when Junsu pulls away Yoochun grips the edge of the washing machine tight for fear of falling.

It's Christmas and it's snowing quite hard outside. Jaejoong's busy in the kitchen and ordering Changmin around, while Yunho's on the phone and catching up with his family a bit. Yoochun and Junsu are out in the fire exit, with a cigarette hanging loosely between Yoochun's lips and Junsu's hands tucked in his pockets.

"We never did talk about the kiss, didn't we," Junsu mumbles, puffs of breath frosted in the air. "I mean, it's not as if it should mean anything, but—" Junsu worries his lips, then takes a deep breath and gulps down hard.

"I like you, if that actually matters."

Junsu is quick to turn his head in Yoochun's direction, and Yoochun swears he catches the abrupt rise of Junsu's chest. "No, really, I like you. But of course that shouldn't change how things are!" Yoochun's laughter sounds stifled and his body is rigid all over, even as Junsu scoots closer and leans in, big warm eyes staring intently at him.

"You look funny when you're embarrassed, did you know?"

Yoochun feels a small smile creeping to his lips as he hits Junsu lightly on the arm, and Junsu gets back at him by sneaking in a kiss, brief and light and warm despite the cool air all around them. They erupt into a lovely peal of laughter soon after.

So he still likes Junsu, only that things are much more complicated and different now. It's not as if Yoochun's complaining; he's just interested in seeing what there is to come, so he continues observing Junsu, this time from such close proximity that their bodies almost align.

Playful Kiss; Sungyeol/Myungsoo

2011-05-20T04:14:31Z

Playful Kiss
440 words. PG-13.
— Infinite; Sungyeol/Myungsoo.

author onew.
summary Myungsoo never kisses people he doesn't like.
notes Written for a challenge @ kpfw 9.0. For Lillypup pikagyu, if she wants it :)

a kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature to stop words when speech becomes superfluous *

Myungsoo is a sly kisser. He sneaks them in smack in the middle of a conversation, when you least expect it. In the bathroom, over the kitchen counter — Myungsoo always finds ways to kiss someone, be it Sunggyu for being a good leader or Woohyun for cooking good-enough ramyeon. "It's just a kiss," Myungsoo mumbles when Sungyeol asks him about being serious about things. "It's not supposed to mean anything."

"But it does."

"Of course it does."

Sungyeol nods thoughtfully and when Myungsoo's sure Sungyeol's too deep in thought to even notice, he takes a deep breath, worries his lip because Sungyeol's right — it does mean something, no matter what kind of kiss it is.

You see, Myungsoo isn't much of a talker so he'd rather express himself through actions. He laughs as he sees fit, wears a vacant expression when he is not amused with how things are going and on all other occasions that do not require him to look happy. The members don't have a problem with this, though, because what's important is that Myungsoo tells them when he isn't feeling well or if he feels like punching someone in the face.

"You should take care of yourself, you know," Sungyeol begins, wiping Myungsoo's forehead. "You know we're as good as gone when one of the members is sick. And we can't bear that, being a rookie group and all."

Myungsoo shuts his eyes tight.

"Are you even listening? You never say anything!" Sungyeol pokes Myungsoo with the hand towel and the cold sensation stings Myungsoo's skin. "Why are you even like this? You're sick and all but you're still stubborn and—"

He doesn't sit well with being scolded, so he grabs Sungyeol by the wrist and pulls him down. Their lips hover each other, and he can feel Sungyeol's ragged breathing on his skin. He lifts himself from the bed just a bit so that their lips touch, and a few seconds after Sungyeol pulls away, eyes wide, disbelief in his features.

"Next time you take care of me when I'm sick, just shut up."

"As if having one member sick isn't enough."

Woohyun puts a cool hand towel on their foreheads. "Seriously, you two. What were you thinking of? We have a comeback in three days and you're both down with a 39-degree fever. Are you crazy?"

Myungsoo chuckles, just lightly because his throat is still sore and his muscles ache all over. Sungyeol doesn't say a word so Myungsoo takes it upon himself to give Woohyun a well-deserved answer, to which Sungyeol just slaps him on the arm — very, very lightly.

"Well, we can be."

His Circumstances; Jonghyun/Onew

2011-05-20T04:06:23Z

His Circumstances
655 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Jonghyun/Onew.

author onew.
summary They meet many times, at many different lifetimes, each of them memorable to Jonghyun.
notes Title inspired by "His and Her Circumstances" (Kareshi kanojo no jijou). Written for a challenge at kpfw 9.0.

I don't know you this time. I don't really want to; I like when there's space to wonder. *

1. He first meets Jinki during the Renaissance. There everyone is, looking at him with such admiration, and if he just had the ability to move he'd be beaming and bowing to everyone for the time they've spent admiring his great beauty. It gets pretty boring after a while, though, just standing there in all his naked glory for everyone to see.

The price you have to pay for being famous.

"He's quite the interesting fellow," Jinki says, voice drifting off as he traces the length of Jonghyun's legs. "Such detail." Jonghyun almost flinches at the contact because he's never been held this way before, and the places where Jinki has touched him oh so lightly burn.

Jonghyun holds his breath and wears the same look he fashions everyday.

"Nice piece of art you have here," Jinki then tells the artist, and excuses himself. Jonghyun stays rooted on his spot, stone cold, frozen to the core.

Jinki moves him in a lot of ways.

2. The next time they meet, Jinki is a cat. Jonghyun knows because the way Jinki purrs is familiar, like a melody in his head, and the way Jinki touches him leaves scars on his skin, the same burning sensation running through his veins. Jonghyun knows because he hears Jinki calling out his name in his sleep, and because he'd like to believe this is Jinki he's touching and not any other cat.

3. Jonghyun's a sailor and he's just set off to conquer another big wave in his quest for something larger than life. His friends say he's suicidal, but he shrugs them all off, saying, "You don't understand." He isn't suicidal at all. If anything, he's just longing for a bit of adventure and the lingering touch of the cool ocean breeze. He knows there's always someone watching him in every expedition he undertakes, in every storm he braves, like an invisible hand helping him maneuver through the tempests and many other adventures.

Like a hovering presence, tipping him to the edge of his most adventurous desires only to reel him back in.

4. Jonghyun feels a bit incomplete like this, when he watches only from the night sky and cannot do anything but oversee things happening in the dark. From the window, he can see Jinki with a girl, undressing her, laying her on his bed, and he closes his eyes, opens them, then closes them again because he feels weird being a witness to this.

Stars aren't even supposed to feel anything at all.

"It's a falling star, Jinki! Make a wish—"

5. "Do I know you? Because I really think we've met before."

Jonghyun resists the urge to lash out at the stranger and say, please stop being a creeper, because you're creeping me out. Besides, he doesn't want to make a scene in the airport. So instead, he shakes his head and offers a small and strained smile. "No, really, I'm sure we haven't met before, because this is my first time in Korea and I've been living in California all my life."

"Oh," comes the stranger's reply. "Well, in that case—"

"You can be my first Korean friend, though?" Jonghyun rushes, awkward and unsure. "My name's Jonghyun. Jonghyun Kim. And well, yeah, it's my first time visiting Korea."

"Well then, I'll be your guide." The stranger laughs a little. "And my name's Jinki. Lee Jinki. Or Jinki Lee, if that's easier for you."

Jonghyun doesn't know why, but there is a familiar warmth in Jinki's touch when they shake hands. this nagging feeling of home in the comfort of Jinki's smile and laughter. He doesn't believe in destiny or coincidences, so he does his best to tuck the feeling at the back of his tongue.

He saves it for a later date, a much more clumsy enunciation. It's this kind of feeling that makes you say crazy things without thinking (and not regret a bit of it at all).

Lucky Pick; Jonghyun/Onew

2011-04-06T01:41:53Z

Lucky Pick
979 words. PG-13.
— SHINee; Jonghyun/Onew.

author onew.
summary Misfortunes come in threes, but luck comes in an even greater number.
notes Written for the happy things challenge @ kpfw 8.0.

-- Forget --

It's been a while since Jonghyun has last downed a couple of bottles of beer, and rightfully so; he's been pretty much contented with his life in general until his girl friend decided to break up with him. As if on cue, he received news that his grandmother passed away. And did he ever mention being laid off from his job being really, really coincidental?

Misfortunes come in threes, people say. Jonghyun hopes that this is true; he can't afford another heartbreak.

"Fuck them all, those fuckers," he mumbles halfway through his fifth bottle of beer. A stranger beside him offers a toast, and he so willingly obliges. He takes some comfort in this because it means he's not alone, and this might spell a probable halt to Misfortune #4.

"I like your choice of words, by the way. Just saying," says the stranger beside him after a while.

Jonghyun chuckles, and he thinks this helps the stranger loosen up a little. "Yeah, thanks. Been having a rough week and now, the only words I know are 'fuck' and 'fucker'." This earns a hearty laugh from the stranger, and slowly Jonghyun finds himself laughing along, the feeling of impending sadness slowly wearing off of him. "Best thing I've heard all day, to be honest. The past few days have been really rough."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

The stranger looks at him for the first time, and Jonghyun sees the kindest pair of eyes behind possibly fake lenses. They're red and smoky, but something about them sends the message that everything will be fine, you can tell me anything. So Jonghyun obliges.

Jonghyun thinks he's just found a new friend.

-- Re-live --

Jonghyun has been developing this insane new habit of drinking on Fridays, thanks to his new friend.

His name is Jinki, Jonghyun discovers when Jinki's ID falls out of his wallet when he pays for their bill. "My treat," he remembers Jinki saying, and the rest is a blur. He'd imagined Jinki walking out on him after that, but the latter stayed with him until he had come back to his senses and had the ability to drive home.

"Who's driving today?" Jinki asks. Jonghyun shrugs.

"Coding. No car. We'd have to get a cab."

"Damn, that's expensive. You know how far my house is from here!"

Jonghyun laughs because Jinki looks so worried about getting some safely. "Well, you can stay at my place until the alcohol wears off," Jonghyun offers. Jinki abruptly turns to him.

"You're serious?" There's surprise in the trace of Jinki's features. Jonghyun nods.

"I'm always serious."

"Oh, wow." Jinki pauses, and silence drags for the next few seconds until Jinki repeats, "Wow!" Excitement soon surfaces on Jinki's features, and Jonghyun notices that distinct quirk of his lips, the upward curve that slowly tugs on Jonghyun's heartstrings.

"So, more beer?"

"Fuck, yeah, more beer!"

The next few hours are spent drinking as much beer as they can, and they stop when Jinki complains about feeling too bloated to even drink water. This time, Jonghyun's the one who makes sure Jinki doesn't throw up all the way to the taxi stand.

When they get home, Jonghyun lays Jinki on his bed. He likes the couch better, anyway.

-- Experience something new --

Jonghyun likes extreme sports and weird things, but none of them is exactly like this.

He's gone out with a few friends from university and dragged Jinki along with him, and now they're playing spin the bottle with some body shots on the side. In all honesty, Jonghyun doesn't even know what they're playing anymore, especially when Jinki finds a comfortable spot beside Taeyeon, Jonghyun's elementary school love (circa Lord knows when).

He becomes aware of what's happening when Kibum nudges him in his side and urges him to spin the bottle. He does as he is told, and surprisingly enough it stops just in front of Jinki. Silence washes over the room for a while, until Minho stands from his seat and starts waving his hands in the air, saying, "Kiss!"

What the actual fuck, Jonghyun wants to say, and he might have done just that if Jinki didn't suddenly appear in front of him, lips hovering his.

"Get ready, Kim. I am going to rock. your. world."

It's an understatement, Jonghyun thinks, because of a few things. For one, he's never kissed a man before, more so kiss him in a manner so intimate and heart-stopping. Also, Jinki has this way of making his breath hitch with every lip movement.

When they pull away, Jonghyun's out of breath and Jinki's smiling silly.

Jonghyun's never been a man of control, so he leans in for a second round.

-- Fall in love --

"He's changed you," Kibum says, a small smile at the corner of his lips. "Not that it's bad, but you know. You're different."

"It's Kibum's way of saying you used to be such a douche, just calling that out," Minho says from behind the kitchen counter. Kibum turns to him, mouthing an affectionate 'fuck you'.

"Oh, you two, you make it sound so monumental. I mean, I've been like this before!"

"But never so sweet!" Kibum quickly retorts. "Never so kind, so romantic, so happy. Jonghyun, he changed you."

Jonghyun would have given in to the urge to point out that Kibum looked so contented, almost like the look he fashions when he watches Bridget Jones' Diaries (or was that another movie), but the realization that has just hit him is much too strong. He shrugs as a reply, biting his lower lip to keep himself from smiling too much. If he doesn't, Kibum will never let on.

"Nah, he didn't." Jonghyun takes a deep breath, and lets the words loose much like a silly confession. "He just brings out the best in me."

Various drabbles/fics @ kpfw

2011-04-05T07:22:54Z

More kpfw drabbles/fics! These were rather exciting to write, probably because of the very weird topics in the fics. Lol. That said, enjoy!

The Chosen One
Heechul-centric; 178 words; PG. The Rocket executives were chasing them down the road, and Heechul didn't exactly have the leisure of time to rummage through his stuff for the right Pokeball.

The Rocket executives were chasing them down the road, and Heechul didn't exactly have the leisure of time to rummage through his stuff for the right Pokeball. He took a deep breath — if he knew his Pokemon well enough, he'd pick the right ball to toss.

He grabbed the first Pokeball in sight and threw it in front of him. Surely, Pidgeot was the perfect Pokemon to escape with.

"Go, Pidgeot!"

Seconds ticked by and there was still no sight of the Pidgeot who has been with him since day one. The Pokeball shook a little, but nothing was coming out. It was enough to lead Heechul to believe that a) Pidgeot was mad at him, for whatever reason, and b) that was not Pidgeot's Pokeball.

"Dammit," he mumbled under his breath. The executives were already closing in on him, and he just couldn't figure out who it was who was in that Pokeball.

"Argh, dammit! Just get out of that Pokeball, whoever you are!"

Heechul did not expect to take out all the executives with his Feebas.

Oh my Gackt!
Jaejoong/Gackt. 100 words; G. Jaejoong meets Gackt.

The first time they meet, Jaejoong finds it hard to express himself in anything mildly coherent. It's but natural, though — Jaejoong has been a fan of Gackt for the longest time, and having a collaboration with him is beyond his wildest dreams.

"If it makes you feel better, we can talk in Korean," Gackt says, offering Jaejoong a small smile. It comes off as awkward and totally forced, but if anything Jaejoong knows Gackt is really foreign to smiling and expressing anything that can be remotely equated to happiness.

"Um. Yes. Thanks." Jaejoong replies with a smile just as awkward.

Back in the days of Red and Blue
Hoya and Woohyun; 181 words; PG-13. Hoya knew he kept the Master Ball at bay for a good reason.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Hoya looked around him — the cave was darker than expected, and there was a chilly air to it. It wasn't entirely surprising, though; they were at Cerulean city, after all, and if the people there were serious about the cave holding something mysterious in it, then it was just right that it was so eerily chilly.

"I don't really have a choice, you know," Hoya replied flatly. He frowned a little. "And besides, the professor asked for help. And that cute chick Misty said I can definitely handle this, so&dmash;"

"Look out!"

A shower of energy balls came a few meters from them, and they hid behind the rocks for protection. The spheres cast a purple glow on the entire cave, and within seconds the smoke cleared.

Hoya looked over the rock and gulped. He check his bag; if he had the Master ball with him, this should be fairly easy.

"Holy shit!" Hoya clasped his hand over Woohyun's mouth, but Woohyun's scream still echoed, anyway. "It's the legendary genetic Pokemon, Tablo!"

Too old to fight, too young to lose
Jay/Jonghyun; 127 words; PG. No one ever said Jay was too old to have crushes.

He's too old for this already, crushing on people, subtly finding ways to spend more time with said crushes, but the apparent lack of attractive people his age (in his opinion, at least) is daunting.

"At this rate, you'll never get laid," he remembers Heechul telling him. Heechul might just be right for the first time in his entire life.

"Hyung, practice? One more round? Swear this'll be the last." Jonghyun calls out to him, and he just nods and smiles a little. He doesn't give any verbal reply, doesn't even give any other reaction after that little smile he gave Jonghyun. He shouldn't be showing too much emotion when he's around the young ones. If they found out about his little secret, they'd never let on.

Just a bit of self-control
Onew/Minho; 147 words; PG. Onew is stressed. Minho offers a piece of relief.

At times like these, Jinki wished he had a better outlet for stress than writing songs and drowning himself in practice. He leaned against the railing of the balcony. It was way too cold outside, but he preferred thinking about life out here than having Jonghyun and Kibum's constant chattering blasting in his ears.

"Hey, hyung, want a stick?" said Minho who had magically appeared a few feet from him.

He must have been dwelling on things too much for him not to notice Minho disrupting his solitude. He smiled a little and nodded, taking the cigarette from Minho's hands. "Share me some light, will you? It feels more, um," Jinki paused, worrying his lip for a while, then continued, "cozy like this. Yeah."

Minho chuckled. "Mhmm. Cozy."

Minho's face was now less than six inches from his. He tried hard not to bite his lips.

"Right."

Something there that wasn't there before; Jaejoong/Yoochun

2011-04-05T01:42:00Z

Something there that wasn't there before
1587 words. PG-13.
— DBSK; Jaejoong/Yoochun.

author onew.
summary At such a young age, Jaejoong knows he's still got a lot of things to learn, and most of them are from Yoochun.
notes Written for a challenge @ kpfw 8.0. For S pixeltoy, for all the hand-holding and cheering. Thanks ♥

Jaejoong learns how to smoke, thanks to Yoochun's expert guidance.

It's one of those lonely and stressful trainee days, and he and Yoochun are hiding in the fire exit. "They won't find us here, won't they?" Jaejoong asks, timid and unsure, much unlike what he will be years from now. He shivers a little in the chilly December breeze. "Not that they can kick us out if they do, anyway, but y'know what I'm saying."

Yoochun shrugs and takes a long drag from the stick between his lips. He sucks on the stick lightly and says, "Chill. Have a cigarette."

Jaejoong takes the stick absentmindedly, and before he even knows it he's got the cigarette stuck between his lips, begging to be sucked. He takes a deep breath, then a long drag, and when he exhales it's all smoke and Yoochun.

"Feel better?" Yoochun glances at him. How Yoochun can stand leaning against the cold railing, Jaejoong will never really know. How Yoochun has just convinced him to smoke, he surely wouldn't know either.

"Yeah," Jaejoong replies, croaking a little. He coughs, then takes another drag.

It becomes a faithful habit, smoking, Yoochun. After debut, when their schedules become tighter and all the more suffocating, Jaejoong escapes through the back door of the van for a smoke. Yoochun who isn't so stealthy buys time for him, because Yunho is perpetually curious about Jaejoong's whereabouts and only Yoochun's deadpan face can stop him from wondering.

"He's out back, just practicing. You know how hard he can be on himself." Yoochun feels for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. Jaejoong takes it as a sign of good things to come.

Yunho nods slowly after a while. "Yeah, you're right."

Yoochun is right in every possible way, Jaejoong thinks — he is just hiding behind the bushes, playing with the cigarette in his lips, hard at the thought of Yoochun joining him there in a few minutes and possibly doing more. And if Yunho doesn't pry hard enough, they can even do some groping and touching.

Jaejoong takes a deep breath, looks at the bulge in his pants and thinks, he's not even here yet.

"I see you've started." Yoochun's in front of him now, legs apart and eyes flitting from his own to his erection. "I always miss out on the good stuff."

"Shut up, Park. Start working."

Jaejoong thinks everything starts with that, or maybe that's where everything ends.

"Do you want to tell me anything?" Yunho asks one day. He scoots just beside Jaejoong, legs propped close to each other, lips drawn to a tiny upward curve. Jaejoong doesn't have to look for further clues to tell that Yunho's nervous about the entire 'confrontation'. But then it's Yunho and he's perpetually nervous about everything — his outfit for today, what Junsu can possibly be up to in the balcony, Yoochun's eating habits and Changmin smashing the console after losing to Junsu for the nth time.

"No, not at all," Jaejoong replies, straightforward and brief. He throws his head back against the headrest, letting the fatigue sink in faster than the usual. Times like these, he just wishes Yunho isn't so curious about everything. Other times, he wishes Yunho could care a little less.

"You sure? Because y'know, I'm just here if you need to talk."

Jaejoong scoffs. "You won't kill me for this?"

Yunho shrugs. "'Depends. If you smashed my Game Boy then I guess I would, especially since my Dick Tracy game is still—"

"I had sex with Yoochun," Jaejoong quickly says, effectively cutting off Yunho midway through his sentence. He figures it's better to say it like it's the most usual thing in the world than to go through long-winded sentences since this is Yunho, and Yunho likes prompt replies and direct approaches. "Well, I mean, it shouldn't be bad. Just letting you know since you're the band leader and all."

Yunho clears his throat. "There are things that I'm not supposed to know, though, like the color of the underwear you're wearing right now—"

"Green," Jaejoong says matter-of-factly. "It's green."

"Right. Um." Yunho fumbles with the hem of his shirt. "And you banging Yoochun."

"It's for the group's common good, okay; it should be of your concern!"

"And how is it for the common good?"

"He's depressed." Jaejoong pauses. He hangs his head low, and his throat and lips feel so dry. "Been missing his family and ex-girlfriend. Just thought I'd help him feel better."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" There's a definite strain in Yunho's voice when he looks at Jaejoong in the eye for the first time since the start of the conversation. "Being his savior and all."

Jaejoong tries sending a message he can otherwise express in words and exhales abruptly when Yunho blinks at him.

"It's not as if he won't be depressed ever again." Jaejoong sinks deep into the couch, the pillows around his serving as an unintentional first line of defense. "Tell you what, he'll go talking about being sad again in a while."

"Wanna bet on it?"

"You bet, I do."

"But really," Yunho begins, then says after a while, "You'd like that, won't you? Saving him, making him happy. It makes you happy, too."

Jaejoong shrugs. "Nothing's purely altruistic in this world anymore. Get that right, Jung." He punches Yunho lightly in the arm as if saying, hey, thanks, because Jaejoong, expressive as he may be, still feels a bit awkward having to thank Yunho for things as obscene and weird as this. Yunho puts an arm around his shoulder and pulls him close. Jaejoong submits to the gesture fitfully, then eventually relaxes.

It's for the group's common good, nothing more. That's as selfless as he can get.

"You confuse me."

"Hm?" Jaejoong looks up from the magazine he's reading and finds Yoochun in front of him, hair disheveled and all over his face, dark circles under his eyes. This is a look Yoochun sports so fashionably, even with his threadbare shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders. Jaejoong holds back the strangest urge to tug at Yoochun's shirt to further expose his skin.

"I said, you confuse me."

Jaejoong looks straight into Yoochun's eyes, then at Yoochun's hands and curled toes. This is the first time he's ever seen Yoochun like this, so unsure of himself, so frail, and that's saying a lot considering the fact that he knows every inch of Yoochun, every area of the expanse of his skin, every quirk of his lips, every single thing. Yoochun fumbles with the hem of his otherwise tattered shirt, and Jaejoong lets all inhibitions go, quickly grabbing Yoochun's hands and grasping them tight.

He doesn't say anything because he doesn't know where Yoochun is coming from or what he means by his previous statement. Yoochun takes this as a sign and explains, "We can't be fuck buddies forever."

"But we aren't," Jaejoong says, breathless. The furrows his eyebrows and blinks once, twice, taking time to let the realization sink in. "No, we're not fuck buddies at all."

He brings Yoochun's cold hands closer to his chest. This looks like something ripped off a romantic movie, or maybe something from one of Changmin's hidden stash of romance novels. Jaejoong can't really decide, but then he's never been an expert at making decisions or anything remotely related to that, so he does what he feels is right and kisses Yoochun on the lips for the very first time.

Because when Jaejoong kisses, it's always elsewhere — on the forehead, hand, cheek, neck, ear, chest. Never on the lips.

"Mhmm," Yoochun says when they pull away. Jaejoong looks intently at the latter, trying to look for any trace of approval in Yoochun's features, but to no avail — Yoochun's eyes are ice-cold and blank and just staring at him.

"I get it," Yoochun mumbles after a while. "I get what you mean."

A wave of relief washes over Jaejoong and he soon finds himself laughing. Yoochun follows suit.

Jaejoong doesn't plan to fall in love with Yoochun, and he's quite sure Yoochun doesn't plan to fall in love with him, either, but the recent turn of events leads him to believe that he and Yoochun aren't so good with plans and that they might just want to give this a shot.

"How about we go for a new brand?" Yoochun scratches the back of his neck. "I don't know, maybe my cigs are stale already."

Jaejoong grins. "Sounds like a plan."

They try a new brand of cigarettes today. Yoochun isn't fond of taking risks, Jaejoong knows this all too well, so he takes comfort in the fact that he's enthusiastically talking about how good this new brand is. "This might be my new favorite," Yoochun says, speech a bit garbled and features hazy in the smoke.

Jaejoong's an expert at seeing through smoke, so he doesn't have squint to see the small smile at the corner of Yoochun's lips, the distinct sparkle in the gleam of Yoochun's eyes. He takes a long drag from his cigarette and thinks, this is definitely a good new flavor to get hooked on.

Jaejoong learns a lot, thanks to Yoochun's expert guidance, and he's willing to learn a lot more than that. But for now, this — Yoochun's soft laughter on his skin sending tingles down his spine, leaning against the cold railing and not minding the cold for the first time, the taste of smoke on Yoochun's lips — will suffice.

A++ for falling in love.

(MOD) Offering fic at help_japan AND shinee_replay -- Reminder

2011-03-28T05:54:13Z

Just a gentle reminder for those who might be interested in bidding :)

Offering fic at help_japan. Just a little something for my dream country :) Also offering fic for the cause below:

Please support fundraising for relief efforts in Japan
by participating in our SHINee art and fiction auction.
My thread is HERE

(MOD) Offering fic at help_japan AND shinee_replay

2011-03-15T02:31:58Z

Offering fic at help_japan. Just a little something for my dream country :) Also offering fic for the cause below:

Please support fundraising for relief efforts in Japan
by participating in our SHINee art and fiction auction.
My thread is HERE