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quokkacore · 3 years

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with great power I [lee jeno]

summary: there are two things jeno loves most about his life. one being spiderman, the other being you, his best friend. there’s just one issue: after your father’s death, you decide you hate both spiderman and yourself.

pairing: lee jeno x reader

genre: superhero au, high school au, coming of age, best friends to strangers(ish) to lovers, fluff, ANGST, minor crack

warnings (for this chapter): language, violence, gun violence, the mafia, parental death, police presence, sexual references, bullying (ily san im sorry), the dreamies being dicks to each other, police corruption, towards the end jeno experiences something similar to sensory overload, americanized names, pop culture references, VERY jeno centric

song rec: we go up - nct dream // any song - zico // 21 questions - waterparks // talk (remix feat. megan thee stallion & yo gotti) - khalid // sunrise - ateez // i really like you - carly rae jepsen // dare - gorillaz // stray kids - the tortoise and the hare

word count: 10.5k

a/n: this is so late...... i blame attack on titan. but hey!! better late than never :] a huge thanks to @doderyscoffee for beta reading <3

main masterlist // story masterlist

chapter one: jeno and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Jeno despised Tuesdays. He was pretty sure that Tuesdays despised Jeno as well because all of his worst days just so happen to be Tuesdays. He was 96% sure that, if there was a god, his day off was on Tuesdays, or that the planets aligned in such a manner on Tuesdays that it caused universal despair and misery. If he was to take Donghyuck's word for it, his chakra attracted negative energy the most on Tuesdays.

When Jeno was 5, his goldfish Pippin had died on a Tuesday. When he had his ass handed to him on the playground by San Choi in the third grade, it was a Tuesday. And in the seventh grade, he'd failed his Spanish test, missed his bus and walked home in the rain only to find out that his Aunt Sunny was at work, he'd left his keys in his locker and that had to wait an hour before she got home to unlock it for him, all on a Tuesday.

And wouldn't you know it, here he was, late for the first day of senior year, which was, of all days, a godforsaken Tuesday.

In his eternal wisdom, he'd stayed up gaming with Renjun until two in the morning, and because of it, slept through his three alarms, one set at six-thirty, the other at 6:45, the last one at 7:00.

He'd woken up at 7:17, to the sound of his elderly neighbor's pet chihuahua barking at a pigeon, checked the time, immediately panicked, sped into the shower, gotten dressed in a haste, grabbed a few granola bars from the pantry, and ran out the door while trying to jam his backpack closed, and managed to catch the train at 7:40, which took about twenty minutes to get to his stop, plus a ten-minute walk to school, and class started at 8:10. Not to mention he’d have to stop by the office and pick up his schedule. At best, he’d be five minutes late to his first class. But tardies were tardies, regardless, and the last thing he needed was to lose his perfect attendance streak.

He fished out his phone while standing on the train, waiting for his stop, scrolling through Instagram, and liking random pictures. A ping! from his phone caught his attention, then two, then a third. He smiled softly when your name popped up on his screen.

[7:48 AM]

y/n: pssst

y/n: shithead

y/n: where r u ????

[7:49 AM]

y/n: i can sEE u online on ig u know

jeno: …… i'm on the train

jeno: woke up late

y/n: YOURE GONNA BE LATR

y/n: LATE*

y/n: ON THE FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR

[7:50]

jeno: probably, yeah

jeno: it's the school district's fault, why would they make the first day of school on a fkn TUESDAY

y/n: ohhh yeahh its terrible tuesday

y/n: [sent an attachment!]

[7:51 AM]

jeno: SHUT UP

jeno: you're not funny >:(

jeno: how dare you laugh at my misfortune

y/n: au contraire im hilarious

jeno: meanie :(

jeno: im gonna be late i hate it here

jeno: it'll end up on my permanent record and i'm not gonna get into college and then i'm gonna die,,,

[7:52 AM]

y/n: sometimes ur worse than hyuck i swear

y/n: FIRST OF ALL permanent records dont even exist !!!!!! its propaganda duh

y/n: also ur literally never late

y/n: im sure o n e tardy wont do anything chill

y/n: dont be stupid youll be fine

Don’t be stupid. Too little, too late, he thought, already having got off the train at a previous stop. Now, he was looking for an unoccupied street or alleyway, which, for once, was easy, taking a deep breath before he did the exact opposite of what you’d told him not to do. Don’t be stupid.

The buildings are low, he thought to himself, it’ll be easier to see me.

Don’t be stupid.

Too late!

Thwip!

Jeno didn’t hesitate to use the web fluid to pull himself up onto the wall, climbing in a haste, before running and jumping onto the next building. He quickly built up a quick pace, using the web fluid occasionally to swing onto a building slightly out of jumping range.

Signs in English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish flew past him as he seemingly flew over the Queens traffic, leaving Flushing behind and crossing quickly into College Point quicker than he would if he took the train. He glanced to his left and caught a view of the bay, and far across it, the LaGuardia airport watchtower.

Jeno had lived in New York City his entire life. He knew Queens like the back of his hand, knew every dingy alleyway, every sketchy street, which restaurants to avoid if you didn’t want to get food poisoning, which convenience store aunties were the nicest and didn’t pinch his cheeks too hard. It was his home, and most likely would be for the rest of his life.

But seeing it like this, flying past him below as he glided with ease from building to building would never cease to be a sight to him. It was like watching from the perspective of an outsider, seeing people in their cars, walking along the street gave him a brand new perspective. A Jeno’s eye view, he called it, since he was pretty sure he was the only one in New York City.

Another noise from his phone brought him back to reality. He shook his head, stopping briefly to catch his breath and fish out his phone briefly.

[7:57 AM]

y/n: let me know when u get here !!!

No time to respond, he put away the phone and continued his trek to school. He had less than ten minutes to get there. But he knew he was already at least five minutes away, much quicker than he would be if he had decided to stick to the train. He smiled a bit to himself, feeling ever so slightly smug.

The hustle and bustle of the city definitely proved challenging to find a place to land without many eyes, but he figured it out eventually, landing behind a dumpster in an alleyway behind a restaurant that he knew was about three or four blocks from the school. He figured it would be a lot better to take it on foot from here. The notebooks he was carrying in his backpack bounced up and down with every step he took.

After what seemed like forever, the gates to the school appeared in his view, and Jeno felt a joy in his heaving chest, something he would have never thought would happen upon seeing the absolute hellhole that was Samuel Morse High School.

[8:06 AM]

jeno: just did >:D

Picking up his schedule was both quick and insanely long. He couldn’t stop himself from tapping his left foot while the secretary found his schedule and handed it to him. “Kibum, please hurry,” He muttered, and Kibum raised an eyebrow at him, but his gaze was teasing. “That’s Mr. Kim to you, in school at least.”

He handed Jeno his schedule a few seconds later. “Tell your Aunt to come pick up her casserole dish, by the way. She left it at my house after my last viewing party.”

“The Bachelor?”

“Please. We’re too classy for that. Drag Race.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Jeno,” Kibum said, staring up at him from his desk, his gaze now much more serious, “Get to class. Happy first day of senior year.”

“Thanks, Mr. Kim.”

He managed to make it to chemistry class at 8:09 with seconds to spare. His eyes quickly scanned the room upon entering, hoping his friends were in the class with him. He caught a few familiar faces, most of which, like San Choi's, he wished to avoid. No one paid him any mind. Everyone was still speaking to the people next to them, no doubt exchanging stories of summer vacation.

A hand shot up towards the back, waving at him. A smile stretched across his face as he registered your face, feet not hesitating to carry him towards the empty seat next to you. His heart skipped a beat at seeing your smile, and he tried his best to ignore it.

“Hey,” You greeted, “That was fast. I thought you said you were gonna be late.”

Jeno shrugged, eyes landing on the dark shade of the lab table. “The train was a lot faster than I expected, apparently.”

You wrinkled your nose. “Why do you smell so bad?”

“I, uh… ran a little.”

You grimaced, and Jeno tried to casually sniff at his slightly sweaty clothes. It’s not that bad. “I still don’t understand why you won’t let me drive you to school. You’re literally next door.”

“I don’t know,” He answered, rolling his eyes, “Maybe it’s because when it comes to that truck, you are absolutely insane. You won’t even let me drink water in that thing.”

The truck in question, a faded red 1998 Chevrolet S-10, had been your gift to yourself for your 17th birthday. You’d spent two summers saving up to buy yourself a truck, and that was what you were able to get for what you had. To say it was a huge piece of junk on wheels was an understatement.

The thing smelled like mothballs no matter how many air fresheners you bought it, the engine sounded like an old man having a coughing fit, and there was a very suspicious stain in the backseat that wouldn’t go away no matter how many times you scrubbed it. But for some reason, you treated it like it was your own baby. The amount of times you’d yelled at Jaemin for trying to put his feet on the dashboard was too high to count.

You mirrored his movement, eyes rolling as you sighed. “At least let me drive you home after school today. Maybe you can stay and we can finally watch Blade Runner.”

You’d been trying to get him to watch the film for almost a month now, begging and pleading because you insisted that he’d love it. He offered an awkward stare, before opening his backpack and pulling out a notebook. “Can’t,” He mumbled, “I’m headed into Manhattan. I have my internship afterwards.”

“Oh, yeah,” You said nonchalantly, eyebrows shooting up as you remembered, “Park Industries.”

He was about to reply when Mrs. Baker, the chemistry teacher, finally entered. She’d been working at SMHS for 30 years and had never, apparently, been nice, if his Aunt Sunny’s stories were anything to go by. However, she had apparently always spoken as if she smoked two packs a day. She was rambling about the importance of making the most of senior year academically, adult responsibilities, college, and whatnot. You and Jeno exchanged glances often throughout the monologue, hoping it would end soon.

“Enough of that,” She said after what seemed like an eternity, “Everyone quiet down, I’m going to call roll.”

Names were quickly called, and Jeno was ready to pull out a pencil and start working with you until Mrs Baker demanded a switch in seats, beginning to call on random names in an effort to deter everyone from speaking.

"Please not with Choi, please not with Choi," Jeno muttered under his breath, glancing warily at San, who was staring ahead, looking bored.

San had had it out for Jeno ever since day one, in first grade. For some reason, everything Jeno did seemed to annoy the other boy. He wasn't funny enough, or too nerdy, or too quiet. Jeno was always too much or too little for him.

You touched his forearm, and he looked towards you.

“You’ll be fine,” You said softly, trying not to alert the teacher, “You’re not gonna get paired up with him, and you can take it to the office if you need to.” “Yeah, because I’m sure Coach Peralta would be thrilled if someone tried to get his precious midfielder in trouble.”

“Choi, San,” Mrs Baker’s voice rang throughout the room, and Jeno braced himself for the worst, eyebrows furrowing with worry.

“You’ll be sitting with… L/N, Y/N.”

Jeno’s shoulders slumped, but your face remained impassive. You picked up your stuff, and pouted silently at Jeno in apology, before making your way to the front.

“Lee, Jeno,” Mrs Baker called a few minutes later, “You’ll be sitting with Jang, Yeeun.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief. Yeeun is nice, Jeno thought to himself, I could sit with Yeeun. She wasn’t part of his main friend group, but he had tutored her in math during sophomore year in exchange for her helping him with Spanish, and they’d been pretty friendly ever since.

“Hey,” Yeeun greeted as Jeno sat down, and Jeno smiled at her.

“Remember, these will be your assigned lab partners for the rest of the semester. No changes, no exceptions.” Mrs. Baker sat down at her desk, before beginning to talk about something Jeno didn’t really pay attention to.

You exchanged glances with Jeno, and he gave you a look of sympathy as you gestured at San with your eyes. San was talking to you about something—probably bragging about some soccer achievement—but you weren’t paying him much attention. Jeno swallowed something growing in his throat as he looked at how your hair looked today.

It was nothing relatively new, the same hairstyle you used on most days. But still, there was a bit of a shine to it. He wondered vaguely if you had changed your shampoo, the other day you’d been complaining about how itchy your normal shampoo made your scalp—

“You still haven’t told her about how you feel?” Yeeun asked quietly, and Jeno’s head snapped back to look at her, eyes wide.

“W-what? Me. Like Y/N…” He laughed nervously, trying to keep his voice down. He scratched the back of his head, avoiding Yeeun’s accusatory stare. “You’re hilarious, Yeeun. Tell another one.”

Yeeun shook her head. “You’d better hurry before someone else snatches her up, Jen. She’s not gonna wait around for you forever.”

“I don’t like her, Yeeun.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Hey! Jeno Lee!”

“Hey! Jaemin Na! What do you want!” Jeno answered as he sat down, mimicking Jaemin’s tone next to him.

“Well, for starters, a million dollars, and second, a date with Yiren Wang, but I doubt you can help me with either of those, so...”

Jeno glanced at the rest of the table. Along with Jaemin, Mark, Renjun, Donghyuck, and you were watching the interaction between the pair. “Where are the munchkins?” Jeno asked, noticing Chenle and Jisung’s absence. No one could really call them munchkins anymore. That nickname dated back to middle school, before the two underclassmen had gone through growth spurts.

“Eh, they should be here soon,” Renjun said, chewing on a french fry, “How’s your day been?”

“Pretty good so far, I guess. I got AP Calc with Mr. Washington later, though. That man wants me dead.”

You rolled your eyes. “He doesn’t want you dead. I’m telling you, you and Hyuck have been spending way too much time together. You’re being more dramatic than usual and Hyuck’s being more… weird than usual.”

“And just what is so weird about being enthusiastic about senior year, Y/N?” Donghyuck asked, shaking his head, “It’s our last year in this hellhole, I’m excited that we’re finally getting out of here. And besides—”

“Please don’t bring up the fact that you’re abandoning us next year.” Chenle seemingly appeared out of nowhere, sitting next to Renjun, Jisung following quickly behind him.

“Hi, Sungie,” You said with a smile, and Jisung smiled back. “Hi, Y/N.”

“What were you saying, Hyuck?” Jaemin looked at Donghyuck, who had taken the quick interaction as an opportunity to take a bite of his sandwich. His wide eyes darted to the slim boy, cheeks stuffed with chicken.

“Oh,” He replied after swallowing, “This is gonna be my year. I’m getting male lead for the winter musical and no one is gonna stop me.”

“Do you even know what musical you guys are doing yet?” Mark asked, “What if it’s like… Shrek?”

Jisung made a face. “There’s a Shrek musical?”

Mark nodded, and Renjun laughed.

“I don’t know about male lead, if it’s Shrek. You should try out for Donkey,” The Chinese boy joked, “With those front teeth, you’re a shoo-in.”

The entire table was silent for a moment, before snorts and chortles started pouring out from everyone except Donghyuck.

“Fuck you, Huang.”

Renjun flashed the friendliest smile he could muster. “Not if you paid me a million dollars.”

The subject remained on extracurriculars, everyone in your group except for Chenle and Jisung now wary of college applications. Donghyuck had been in theater ever since middle school, Renjun was in the robotics club and the debate team with Jaemin, who was also in the student council. Mark was on the math team with Jeno, and you had founded the film club.

"You're not gonna believe who asked to sign up for film," You huffed, looking kind of confused. The rest of the table looked at you expectantly, and you pursed your lips, almost as if you were trying not to laugh.

"San Choi."

Renjun scoffed. Jaemin raised his eyebrows before letting out a single, humorless laugh. Jeno made a face, poking his plastic fork at you.

"What is San Choi doing asking to sign up for film?"

"Fuck if I know. He said he needed one more extracurricular if he wanted to get into some college in Florida and he liked going to the movies, so he wanted to try out film."

Mark rolled his eyes. "I swear there's nothing in that guy's head but hot gas. It blows my mind."

"He's a dick," Chenle grumbled, "I'm still not over how he and Wooyoung taped Jisung to the flagpole last year."

Jisung scowled. "I thought we agreed to never bring that up again."

“Do you think they’ll finally calm the fuck down this year?” Jaemin wondered, looking wistful.

You took a sip of your coke and shook your head. “Doubt it. They’re not the hateful eight for a reason.”

The mood at the table turned tense, until Jaemin frowned at his french fries, before sighing and clapping his hands together dramatically. “I would like to hear,” He mused, “About the nuance that theatre gives the cinematic masterpiece that is Shrek when converted into musical form.”

Donghyuck beamed. “Oh, it’s amazing. You see…”

If it was difficult to get Donghyuck to stop talking in general, it was impossible when it was about theater.

The conversation continued on until the bell rang, and the eight of you had to go your separate ways. Jaemin and Jeno had the same class, so they both walked together down a relatively calm hallway. Jaemin looked both ways, before finally lowering his voice.

“So, you’re going to see Mr. Park today?”

Jeno nodded, looking down at his shoes. “He said he wanted to give me an assignment. Says there’s something big going on.”

Jaemin’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Did he say what kind of something?”

Jeno shook his head, pouting slightly. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Once school was out, Jeno was getting ready to get onto the subway once again, this time heading towards Midtown. It was only day one and, as Jeno had predicted, Mr. Washington probably was out to get him, because he’d swamped the class with homework.

As he left the school, he spotted you in the parking lot, leaning against your car door, texting someone. He glanced at his phone. He still had plenty of time, he figured. He walked over to you, and when you looked up, you smiled.

“Hey!” Your voice had that signature tone of enthusiasm to it, and Jeno smiled back immediately.

“Hello,” He sing-songed. “So, I was thinking… are you free on Friday night?”

You looked somewhere above his head, furrowing your eyebrows before you perked up again and nodded. “Yep! Why?”

“I’m free after nine. Maybe then I could come over to your house? So I can finally get you to stop harassing me about Blade Runner.”

You grinned, pumping your fists enthusiastically. “Hell yes,” You answered, “Do you want me to get like, some frozen pizzas or something?”

“Pizza sounds good,” He said. “Who are you even waiting for?”

You made a face that made it seem as if you’d just gotten a whiff of rotten milk. “Well—”

Your response was interrupted when the school doors slammed open, and eight figures poured out, carrying themselves with confidence Jeno both envied and despised. He frowned, trying not to react at their loud whooping and laughing. The Hateful Eight.

“Oh.” Jeno averted his gaze, meeting your eyes again.

“Yeah. If you don’t hear from me later it’s because I jumped out of my truck because I don’t wanna work with—”

“Well, hello, gorgeous!” San’s voice filled the parking lot, and Jeno took a deep breath. Your mouth stretched into a tight-lipped smile at the unwanted ‘compliment’.

“Hey, San.” Your friendly passive aggressive tone almost made Jeno smile. “I’ve been waiting here for like, fifteen minutes. You could have just given me your number and asked me to send you pictures of my notes, you know.”

He shrugged, turning his body so that his back was turned to Jeno. “Sorry, babe. Coach wanted to talk to us about the upcoming season. When he gets going, it’s hard to get him to stop. And besides, where’s the fun in just asking for pictures when I could come here, talk to you, and take the pictures myself?”

You didn’t respond, but rather pulled out your backpack and began digging through it. When you pulled out your notebook, you handed it to San, who flashed a wink at you. You barely held back a gag.

“Thanks, Y/N. I’ll just be a minute.”

He walked over to the hood of your truck, and just as you were about to continue your conversation, two figures slung their arms around both of Jeno’s shoulders, causing him to flinch.

Out of the fifteen soccer players on the team, San and his best friends—seven of them, to be precise—were the worst. The others were pretty nice. But right now, seeing two of those seven surround your best friend made you uneasy.

Wooyoung was loud. He was also a temperamental brat. His dad owned three used car dealerships over in Brooklyn, so naturally, he thought he owned the entire world. He wasn’t someone who would get too physical in fights, like San, or Jongho, or Yeosang. But when he was angry, he could easily get you to jump into the stratosphere by yelling at you once. Over the years, he’d made several teaching assistants and substitute teachers cry, only getting let off with a slap on the wrist every time.

Yunho was terrifying for completely different reasons. He was friendly, but a little too friendly to the people he wanted to control. He could read people like books and could easily manipulate whoever he wanted. But he wasn’t afraid of getting physical either, especially not when he was built like a goddamn Power Rangers Megazord.

All in all, they definitely weren't anyone you wanted near you, near your friends. Especially considering how much they had it out for your friends.

"Hey, buddy," Yunho said, looking down at Jeno with a wide smile. "How was summer vacation?"

Jeno gnawed on the side of his cheek as he considered his answer. "Um, it was okay." He looked at you to catch your eyes darting between San, Yunho and Wooyoung, like you were analyzing the situation. "I kinda stayed in and played video games most of the t—"

"Cool, cool," Yunho answered, carding his free hand through his bleach blond hair. "What about you, Woo?"

"Oh, dude, it was so cool," He bragged, "I went to Brazil for like, a month. I went clubbing with Instagram models and shit, it was wild."

You stared at him as he patted Jeno on the back rather aggressively. "Where did you go? Have you ever even left New York?"

You knew the answer. Only a few times when the debate team went to compete in different states. Jeno spoke up again. "Well, yeah a few t—"

"Doubt it," Yunho scoffed. He craned his head back. "San, you done yet?"

"Almost!" San answered. Yunho turned to face you, and for some reason his smile seemed genuinely kind. “What about you, Y/N?”

You never understood why it was that the soccer team hated your entire friend group, but seemed to tolerate you. It made no sense.

So you shrugged. “Not a lot, I guess. Did my summer reading. Hung out with my friends.” You flashed a reassuring smile at Jeno. “Right, Jen?”

Immediately, he relaxed a little bit. “Yeah.”

San appeared from behind Yunho, Jeno and Wooyoung. “Thanks, Y/N. I owe you one.”

You waved your hand, wanting them to get rid of them quickly. “Don’t mention it. But next time, just text me for my notes. I have to get to work, so…”

“Oh! My bad,” He answered with fake remorse, before unlocking his phone and handing it over to you. “Here. For next time.”

You stifled a deep sigh, punching in the numbers hesitantly. “Just for homework, got it?”

San took his phone back, holding a hand over his heart and raised his head. “On a gentleman's honor,” He declared, and you bit back a laugh. Jeno looked like he was going to hurl.

“San!” The team captain—Hongjoong—called from a few feet away, “Are you guys done yet or what?”

“Coming!” San yelled back.

“Alright, we’ll let you go,” Wooyoung said, patting Jeno on the back again, a bit too harsh for comfort. “Bye, Y/N! See you around.”

The three of them stalked off, leaving you and a very frazzled Jeno. “Dicks,” You muttered once they were out of earshot. “You good?”

Jeno shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll be fine.”

You tilted your head, frowning. “Jeno—”

“I gotta go,” He said quickly. “I’ll see you later?”

You nodded, offering a lopsided smile. “Yeah. Be careful!”

Jeno offered a deep bow, fluttering his eyelashes. “On a gentleman’s honor,” He sighed, adding a very bad British accent to it. You burst out laughing, eyes squeezing shut.

You didn’t catch the way Jeno’s shoulders relaxed at the sound.

I want you to know now

Baby, it could go down

I don’t wanna talk about it

Baby, let’s just go now

The train ride into Midtown didn’t take too long. He spent it digging through his backpack for his Park Industries lanyard, listening to music and thinking about you.

When you talk right to me

You gon’ have to do me

Every time you think you’re leaving

You running back to me

You’d met Jeno when you were six. Truth be told, he didn’t really remember. For him it was like you weren’t there at one point and by the time you were, you were thicker than thieves. It was a difficult time for him. He had just lost both of his parents, and was moving in with his Aunt Sunny and his Uncle Jinki, who were barely out of college at the time. He’d had to move to a new school and basically restart his entire life. You were the first sense of stability in his life for months.

Your mom lived next to his aunt and uncle. So naturally, you went to the same school and went on the same bus. And somewhere along the way, you two clicked. You’d introduced him to Renjun, Jaemin and Donghyuck. You were there to comfort him whenever he got pushed off the slide by San or Wooyoung.

He was there for you when your stepdad and stepbrother moved in when you were nine and you weren’t sure how to deal with it. He was there when your mom died when you were thirteen. He’d introduced you and your friends to Mark, Chenle and Jisung.

And you were there when his Uncle Jinki got killed when he was fifteen. And because fate had an especially cruel sense of irony, it had happened on a Tuesday. You didn’t know, but at the time, he had just gotten his powers. Your comfort and words unknowingly had a secondary effect: he made the decision to use them for good, and… well. The rest was history.

Can we just talk? Can we just talk?

Talk about where we're goin'

Before we get lost, lend me your thoughts

Can't get what we want without knowin'

Just like when he met you, he didn’t recall an exact moment where he realized he’d fallen in love with you. He knew there was a world where he loved you, but wasn’t in love with you. And he knew that there was a world here he’d fallen in love with you—he was living in that world now. He realized he was living in that world maybe when he was sixteen, and had been stuck in it ever since.

You were it for him. He’d had crushes before. But never something like this, where he was so aware of your presence around him. It wasn’t the way he was hyper aware of someone like San, or like Yunho or Jongho. It wasn’t out of anxiety or fear, where a shift in mood activated his fight or flight. He was aware of you in a way that only people who truly know each other do, where he could pick up on subtle changes in your behavior, but not out of fear. Rather, out of a desire to take care of you and to not have you worry about anything.

I've never felt like this before

I apologize if I'm movin' too far

Can we just talk? Can we just talk?

Figure out where we're goin'...

As the train rolled into the station that was a fifteen minute walk from Park Tower, Jeno put away his headphones and took a deep breath.

The “Jeno Tingle” as his Aunt Sunny called it—Jeno hated the term—had taken him a few years to gain control of. And while he could never truly turn it off, he could at least tune it out enough to be more at ease. The only time he did so was at school or when he was studying, just because he wanted to feel normal, and because being aware of everything going on around him really messed with his concentration.

Jaemin didn’t understand. “If I was able to tell whenever Seonghwa was behind me because he wanted to scare me into doing his chemistry homework, I’d never turn that shit off,” He’d said once. But truthfully, Jeno didn’t really care. Because while yes, he was still slightly scared of the “hateful eight”, he knew damn well that if things got to be too much, he could kick their asses if he wanted to.

It was his friends he worried about. He couldn’t be around them 24/7. You, not so much. He knew you knew how to fight. Even worse, he knew that San had the hots for you so you were off limits to the rest of them, be it bullying or flirting. But for everyone else… Well. He couldn’t hover over them like some guardian angel.

Now that the “Jeno Tingle” was on, it allowed him to sense everyone within a certain range around him. He could zero in on certain sounds with ease, and his reflexes became heightened. Halfway on his walk up Park Avenue, he jumped away from a chihuahua on its leash a second before it started barking at him.

When he entered the first floor lobby of the Park Building, he scoured the crowd of employees and visitors until he landed on one familiar face.

He'd met Doyoung about a year after his dad started dating your mom. Things between your parents were starting to get serious, and Doyoung was four years older than you were. When they moved into your house, Doyoung as your new stepbrother became the de facto chaperone and babysitter. If you wanted to go to the mall with Jeno, he had to take you. Every time you dragged Jeno to the movies, Doyoung had to go also.

To an extent, it wasn't that bad. Doyoung was cool, and he was smart—he was the one who got Jeno interested in computers and chemistry. He graduated high school at 16, and finished his bachelor's degree at 19. He'd also interned at Park Industries, and secured a job there almost immediately after college.

To an extent, he was the whole reason Mr. Park knew who he was, because of one incident. It was relatively soon after he started the whole vigilante thing. Jeno, still figuring out how to maneuver on the webs that shot out of his wrists, had accidentally crashed into your backyard late at night, when only Doyoung was awake. He was standing in the back door while he was waiting for his dog to finish peeing.

Initially, the older boy had freaked out, thinking that it was a burglar or something. When he yelled out that his dad was a cop and was asleep in the house, Jeno panicked, and pulled off his mask, holding up his hands.

“Woah, woahwoahwoah! Doyoung! It’s me, it’s me!”

Doyoung’s eyes had widened to the size of saucers, paying no mind to the dog as it sauntered up to Jeno, before turning onto its back in a request for belly rubs.

"You're the spider guy everyone's been talking about!?"

"Spider man," Jeno had answered, voice cracking as he dusted himself off. He cringed at the sound of his voice. "...and yes."

Of course, his cover was blown, and he'd begged Doyoung not to tell anyone, especially not you. And while Doyoung had promised not to tell you, it didn't stop him from telling his boss.

That had been almost three years ago now. The rest was history, and after that Jeno didn’t have to run around in bright red sweatpants and dollar store swimming goggles. Now, he had a nanotech suit that allowed him to activate protocols of the suit through voice commands using something top-secret Mr. Park called D.R.E.A.M technology. Direct Response Engaged As Machine—yeah, Jeno didn’t get it either.

Doyoung offered Jeno a smile as he escorted Jeno past security, showing them his employee clearance pass. "Hey. How have you been?"

Jeno shrugged, recounting his day in minor detail as he was led into an elevator labeled authorized personnel only.

This elevator only went up to the 35th floor, seeing as everything past that was only cleared for a certain list of people approved by Mr. Park and his security team, and everything past the 90th floor were Mr. Park's private living quarters.

Now, as Doyoung led him to another elevator to head up to the 85th floor, which was always where Jeno got to meet with Mr. Park—which wasn't often, maybe once or twice a year—he wondered where he would be if he hadn’t surprised Doyoung that night. He would probably still be using those ugly red sweatpants as part of his disguise.

"How's Y/N?" Doyoung asked.

"Oh, she seems okay. That guy who hates me keeps coming onto her though. He's a huge douchebag."

Doyoung frowned. "He's not harassing her, is he? Because if he is—"

"He just won't stop flirting, even though she clearly isn't interested," Jeno said bitterly, "He isn't physical or anything. Trust me, it wouldn't end well for him if he was."

Doyoung wasn't quite sure how to respond to the younger boy's dark tone. He looked down, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“So… how’s the apartment?” Jeno asked. Doyoung perked up instantly.

“Oh, now that Taeyong’s moved in and did his interior design thing, it looks great. He’s really done a great job at it.”

“When am I gonna meet this guy? He sounds cool.”

“He’s really cool,” Doyoung hummed, cheeks heating up. “Things are getting really serious.”

Jeno smiled at how flustered Doyoung, who was normally so level headed and calm, became at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You guys sound like a really good couple,” He said. Doyoung chuckled, waving his hand. “Oh, well—”

The elevator dinged, and Doyoung sighed. “I’ll tell you later. C’mon.”

The hallway it opened up to was lined with pictures of the company's history, starting from pictures of black and white of people in vintage clothing, to pictures in sepia tones to finally pictures of the current CEO at locations around the world: Chanyeol Park.

Jeno walked behind Doyoung as he led him down the hallway, before stopping in front of a door, and a friendly looking man in a suit.

Junmyeon was a part of Chanyeol’s Security and Intelligence team, and often sat in on these meetings with Jeno. The chain of contact also included him. If Jeno couldn’t contact Doyoung (which rarely happened), he’d contact Junmyeon. And if he couldn’t contact either of them, or it was an emergency, only then could he contact Chanyeol. So far, that had only happened once.

"Hey, Junmyeon," Doyoung said, "Mr. Park's 4:30 is here."

Junmyeon nodded, before smiling at Jeno and giving him a wave. "Hey, kid."

Jeno offered an awkward grin. "Hi, Mr. Kim."

Junmyeon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Kid, you're making me feel ancient. I've told you a million times, just call me Junmyeon."

Jeno shuffled awkwardly, before nodding at the older man, watching as he pressed a button on his earpiece. "Hey, Yeol. Jeno's here."

The muffled response was barely heard, but Jeno automatically understood what Mr. Park said. Junmyeon turned to open the door, and let the pair inside. The “office”—if it could even be called that—opened up to more of a lounge, than anything. A wall of glass overlooked the Manhattan skyline, but Jeno knew that from the outside it looked only like a wall, due to camouflage technology developed by Mr. Park himself. As Doyoung and Junmyeon stayed back, closer to the door, Jeno took a few steps toward the man in question.

Chanyeol was standing a few feet in front of the glass window, working on a holographic model of a new piece of tech. His face was turned downward in a concentrated frown. He barely spared the teenager a glance as he said fondly, “Hey, kid.”

Jeno was used to this. Chanyeol wasn’t cold per se, but he wasn’t warm at all. He knew that Chanyeol cared about him, even if he didn’t really show it in a conventional way. Chanyeol was a very… eccentric man, so he had his own way of saying and doing things.

“Hi, Mr. Park. Um… you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yep! Needed some help from the friendly neighborhood Spiderman… A little birdie told me about something going on in Queens.”

“Queens?” Jeno asked, gripping the straps of his backpack. “You mean, other than the usual stuff?”

“Other than the usual stuff,” Chanyeol repeated, nodding. With a wave of his hand, the hologram disappeared, and another one appeared in its place. This time, instead of a 3D model, a few pictures and another, smaller 3D model appeared. Chanyeol turned to face him, frown deepening. He pointed at the model—a long, shiny oval-shaped purple stone. It reminded Jeno of an amethyst, but instead of turning white at the base, it turned to an iridescent jade tone. “You know what this is, right?”

Jeno nodded, remembering seeing the rocks all over the news when he was a kid. “That’s… that’s a Chitauri stone. From the invasion a few years back.”

Chanyeol nodded, standing up straight. “These stones have the potential to power weapons with no need to recharge, or change them out. They’re an infinite, extremely strong power source, Jeno, and in the wrong hands can be very dangerous.”

Jeno took a deep breath, feeling his stomach sink slowly. Chanyeol sighed. “Cleanup of the city after the invasion was long, and difficult, and obviously the government and the company weren’t able to get everything. It caused a black market to pop up. Now, the NYPD has been investigating it for years, but they have their limits… that’s where you come in.”

“M-me, Mr. Park?”

Chanyeol gave him a crooked, reassuring smile. He pointed at one of the pictures, which was of a man who most likely didn’t know he was photographed. He was walking somewhere, face looking angry and stern.

“You don’t know who this is, right?”

Jeno shook his head, and Chanyeol turned his head to nod at Junmyeon. “You’re up, tough guy.”

Junmyeon huffed, before walking up to Jeno. He put his hand on Jeno’s shoulder as if he could tell that he was growing anxious.

“Jeno, that’s Henry Duke. From what we understand on the intel team, he’s one of the cornerstones of the alien tech black market. He’s one of the top dogs. From what we understand, he likes to be present for all major negotiations that his group makes. A source of ours told us that there’s going to be a negotiation on Friday night not too far away from LaGuardia. We want you to go out there and just get a feel of what’s going on.”

“Just watch them, right?” Jeno looked at Junmyeon, who patted his back reassuringly. “Just watch. Don’t engage unless you absolutely have to.”

“You can do that, right?” Chanyeol said quietly, crossing his arms. “Because if not, then it’s totally—”

“Yeah, of course I can! Friday—shit, Friday. At what time are they supposed to be meeting up?”

Junmyeon furrowed his eyebrows, before answering, “Around eight or nine.”

Jeno bit his lip, thinking about the promise he’d made to you. It would just have to wait, he supposed. Chanyeol rarely asked anything this big of him.

“Alright,” Jeno agreed, “I’ll do it.”

Chanyeol grinned, clapping his hands together.

“Perfect.”

They discussed logistics briefly after. Doyoung would be on call with Jeno, his custom made suit allowing them to communicate, letting Doyoung see everything Jeno was seeing via a video feed coming from the ultra thin lenses placed in the white eye sockets of the mask. Doyoung would then report to Junmyeon, who would report to Chanyeol, who would probably report to the FBI. Jeno was only to engage if absolutely necessary.

After that, he set out on patrol. He usually found some discreet place to hide his backpack, and then went all over Queens looking for trouble, quite literally. Around five thirty, he stopped a robbery in Murray Hill. Then, around seven, he stopped a man from stealing a woman’s purse in Elmhurst. Nothing too much.

Around eight, he finally headed home, this time dressed normally, using the train and not web fluid. He walked home, tired, knowing that he’d immediately have to do that cursed AP calc homework. When he got home, he opened his backpack pocket to look for his keys, rummaging between his notebooks and other things.

Shuffling through his stuff, he furrowed his eyebrows as he couldn’t find them. Thinking back, he remembered this morning, when he’d left in a rush… and had very obviously left his keys on his desk.

“Shit,” He muttered to himself. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, remembering that Aunt Sunny had said she’d be working overtime tonight. He could very easily sneak in through his window, but he was pretty sure he’d locked it the night before, and it was too early. People’s lights were still on—anyone could see him if they just looked up, and then he would be screwed.

Huffing and zipping his backpack up, he marched up to your house, before ringing the doorbell. He shifted his weight back and forth, from his heels to the balls of his feet, until the door opened up. A familiar man with a face just like Doyoung's, but older, with graying hair and arms scarred and muscled from years of working on the police force stood in the doorway.

“Jeno?” Your dad offered him a warm smile. “Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

“Hi, Mr. Kim,” Jeno said, smiling back. He shifted nervously. “I, um… I left my keys in my room this morning, and my aunt’s working late, so… could I… maybe wait here? Y/N’s home, right?”

The man nodded. “Of course, of course. Come in!”

Your dad had always been super friendly, even from the day Jeno had first met him. You'd told Jeno once that he was the only real father figure you'd ever had. Once everything settled after him and your mom got married, you started calling him dad altogether. And since you and Jeno were practically glued at the hip, he got along with your dad almost as well as you did.

“Okay.” Jeno stepped in and set down his backpack at the base of the coat rack next to the door, as he’d done a million times before. Jeno stepped into the living room, and sat down on the couch. He folded his hands in his lap and looked up at your dad.

"I think Y/N's in the shower, but she should be done soon. You can just wait here if you want… have you eaten anything yet?”

“Uh, I had a granola bar on the train, but that’s it.”

“We have some leftover pasta here, if you want—”

“Thanks, Mr. Kim, really! I’m fine.”

Your dad nodded, sitting down on his recliner. “So, have you started your college list, yet? Y/N said you wanted to stay here in New York.”

Jeno nodded, pushing some hair out of his face. “Well, yeah. It would make things a lot easier, I think. I might want to apply to NYU, but I think I’ll just go to community college, or something.”

Your dad shook his head. “You’re a pretty smart kid, Jeno. I think you could get into Columbia if you set out to. Plus, Chanyeol Park doesn’t give out internships to anybody. That’s your secret weapon.”

Jeno smiled. “Well, you’ve got a point.”

Your dad gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Come on, trying won’t hurt!” Your dad made a face, and then rubbed his knuckles. “Have you been working out? Those muscles weren’t there the last time I did that.”

Jeno laughed, trying to think of an excuse. “Oh, a little bit? The house needed some fixing up over the summer, and I wanted to help Aunt Sunny, so…”

“Jeno?”

He turned immediately, eyes landing on you at the base of the staircase. You’d changed into an old t-shirt and pajama pants. Your hair was slightly damp. “What are you doing here?” You asked, with a curious smile.

His shoulders slumped, and he grinned sheepishly. “Terrible Tuesday strikes again. I forgot my keys.”

You grimaced. “Brutal, dude. You wanna come up?” Your eyes moved to your dad. “Or am I interrupting guy time?”

“Oh, definitely,” Jeno answered, playing along. He took a cocky tone as he rested his hands on the back of his neck. “Your dad was just telling me about how much the NYPD needs me.”

You stifled a laugh. You dad seemed to be holding back a laugh too. "Hey, you're joking, but if you keep working out like that, and if by some impossible chance, the college thing doesn't work out… We might just be able to catch Spiderman if we finally got some brain cells on the force."

"Ugh, dad," You groaned, unaware of Jeno's gut twisting, "Not again."

"Yeah, Mr. Kim," Jeno said, scratching the back of his head, "He's not that bad."

Your dad shook his head. "Look, I don't hate the guy. In all honesty, crime rates have dropped since he started doing his thing. But he thinks he's above the law, and his methods can be a bit… unorthodox sometimes. He’s been undermining us for years and his tech is state of the art. Makes me wonder about what we should do to modernize the force."

Jeno looked downward, wondering what would happen if your dad knew the truth.

"Well, I guess we may just never find out. Jeno'd make a horrible cop. He couldn't hurt a fly if you paid him a million dollars."

But you came to the rescue as you grabbed his backpack, and soon enough he was up the stairs with you, heading into your bedroom, laughing to yourselves when you heard your dad jokingly call out, "Fifteen inch distance, you two! Door stays open!"

He sat on your desk chair while you lay on your bed, limbs splaying out.

"So you left your keys."

Jeno groaned. "Don't remind me. I was in such a rush to leave, that I… I forgot. I'm so stupid."

You rolled your eyes, rolling over onto your stomach to look at him. "You're not stupid, Jen. You made an honest mistake because you were in a hurry."

Standing up, you walked over to him and leaned against the desk. "Seriously, Jeno. What's gotten into you, lately? You freak out about every little thing. It's starting to worry me."

Jeno shook his head. "I don't know," He admitted. "I think I'm just scared about how after this year, everything changes. Renjun’s headed upstate. Jaemin’s going to Boston. You want to go to LA. I think Hyuck and I are the only ones who want to stay here. I just… I don't want things to change."

Your expression turned sad as he continued. "Everyone is expecting great things from me. You're smart, Jeno. You can get into an Ivy. Or, you have a Park internship, you'll be fine. What if I don't want things to be fine? What if I want them to just stay the same?"

You stayed silent for a few moments, trying to think of what to say. Jeno was relatively level headed for someone your age, but even he had moments of doubt and panic. It made moments like these difficult. You sighed before grabbing him by the hand. Wordlessly, you tugged him over to the bed, sitting him down and leaning your head on his shoulder. He could feel the dampness in your hair seeping slowly into his shirt.

"I guess I understand what you mean," You mumbled, trying to reason with him, "But come on. You wouldn't really want everything to stay the same. You can't tell me you want to keep getting AP calc homework. And I definitely doubt that you'd want to have your ass kicked by San for the rest of your life."

Jeno looked at the floor. "You're right. But you know that's not what I mean—"

"I know," You huffed, "I'm just saying. Change… it's inevitable. The longer you fight it, the harder it is."

Jeno nodded. "This sucks."

"It does," You agreed, taking his hand in yours. "But at least we have each other's backs, y'know?"

Something of a smile appeared on his face. You were so close to him, leaning on him, stroking his knuckles with your thumb. He hoped you couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest.

"We really do, huh?" His voice turned quiet, with a bit of a sleepy lull to it. He allowed his head to rest on yours. "You're so comfortable. Can I like, use you as a pillow for the rest of my life?"

You giggled. "I'll consider it on two conditions."

"Oh, you'll consider. How generous of you."

"Yes, I'll consider. Now, do you wanna hear my terms or not?"

Jeno raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead," He said, before putting on his best Marlon Brando voice, "Make me an offer I can't refuse."

Snorting, you lifted your head off of his. "Okay. One, you finish your calculus homework here before Sunny gets home."

He pursed his lips. "Okay, I could probably do that. What's the other one?"

"Let me drive you to school for the rest of the year."

Jeno stared at you, and you nodded, eyes wide. "Trust me, Jen. You wouldn't need to wake up so early! And plus, you can't text the guy manning the subway asking him to give you five minutes because you need to find your keys."

Jeno gnawed on the inside of his cheek. You did have a point, and to be honest, he could probably refrain from putting his feet up on your dashboard.

"Deal."

You grinned. "Awesome," You answered, before nodding towards his backpack. "Now get to work, Einstein."

The rest of the week wasn't that bad. Yes, you were absolutely batshit insane about your truck in the morning, but he soon realized he didn't really mind. Not when it allowed you both to spend some twenty extra minutes together in the mornings, and they were spent joking around and listening to your extremely varied playlist.

On the other hand, he was saddled with more and more homework, greater and greater expectations. The looming threat of Friday's mission rolled around, and it made Jeno feel like time was passing much too slowly but also way too quickly. There was so much on his mind. He had chemistry with you on Thursdays in the afternoon, which also meant that San was there. Which also meant that sometimes, his heightened senses would pick up on San dropping a tacky pick up line which made Jeno want to punch him in the jaw.

Finally, finally, Friday afternoon rolled around. As he bid you goodbye and promised to see you later, he tried to ignore the feeling in his stomach. The feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong. He went out on patrol, ready for Doyoung to set up the call and tell him where he needed to go. It didn’t help that there wasn’t a lot for him to do that day. Crime had seemed to slow down altogether.

When the time finally came, and the sun was beginning to set, Doyoung rang in at about 7, telling him the location. An old warehouse near LaGuardia airport, hidden from prying eyes. Jeno made his way to the place, avoiding security cameras Doyoung warned him about, and found a place to hide. There was a hole in the warehouse roof, which allowed him to peer right into the building without being seen. It was about thirty feet from the ground.

“Why is it always old, abandoned warehouses?” Jeno grumbled. He heard Doyoung laugh quietly.

“Beats me,” Doyoung sighed.

And so they waited. Jeno wondered vaguely if you were still working. He wasn’t sure. They made time talking quietly, until a black SUV rolled into the warehouse. “Woah, Doyoung,” He murmured, “Hold up.”

Jeno leaned forward, but quickly realized he probably wouldn’t be able to hear what was being said. “D.R.E.A.M, activate Heightened Intelligence Protocol.”

Activating Heightened Intelligence Protocol.

The protocol allowed Jeno to use the lenses over his eyes to zoom in on specific targets, as well as use a microphone embedded in the suit to pick up audio from far away and feed it directly into his ears.

He watched as three figures got out of the car, a fourth remaining in the driver’s seat. The trio stood in front of the car, and Jeno recognized the man in the middle as the man Junmyeon had been talking about.

“Alright, there’s Henry Duke,” He said, “The one in the middle.”

“Got it,” Doyoung replied, sounding satisfied. “Now all we have to do is wait for the other party.”

“Did Junmyeon’s sources say anything about who it would be?”

“No. They weren’t able to find that out. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Jeno’s eyes never left the man. “Do you think it’s something international?”

Doyoung sighed. “I’m not sure. If it is international, then you need to be even more careful.”

“Got it. I think—Wait, here they come.”

A second vehicle, this one another black SUV, rolled up not too far away from the first car. The lights turned off and the engine sputtered to a stop, and four men stepped out of the vehicle.

Jeno’s stomach dropped, and of its own accord, his mouth let loose a quiet, “What the fuck,” as he registered the person leading them.

“What?” Doyoung asked, before realizing what—who—he was looking at. “...Is that my dad?”

“I think it is,” Jeno whispered, fingertips suddenly numb. Who was he kidding? They both knew who it was.

“So,” One of the men next to your dad said, “You show us yours, we’ll show you ours?”

Henry Duke clapped his hands together with an impish grin. “I suppose. Reagan, get the case.”

One of the two men standing beside him started off toward the trunk of the car. “It caught me off guard when I heard that the force wanted to purchase these. Almost made me wonder if this was your attempt at a sting operation.”

“What made you change your mind?” Your dad asked. Jeno swallowed at how cold he sounded. This wasn’t your dad, and it didn’t seem like Officer Kim either. This was someone Jeno had never met before.

“Honestly, Kim?” Duke raised an eyebrow, shrugging. “It was you. Your cooperativeness and willing to feed us information, as well as your… insurance agreement. And besides, you made a very interesting point when you said that the Avengers Initiative and Park’s alum Spiderman is ruining the way the law operates around here. That type of bitterness… hard to fake.”

Your dad huffed. “We’re fucking tired of it.”

The man leaning against the car your dad had stepped out of scoffed. “If this helps us catch the little asshole, then so be it.”

Jeno frowned. “I’m not little—”

“Jeno, shut up!” Doyoung snapped.

“—Alright, then.” The man holding the briefcase—Reagan—clicked it open, as if it were a prize reveal on The Price is Right. Five guns, all modified to hold glowing Chitauri stones were placed carefully together side by side.

“You know the basics. No radiation. Keep it away from security scanners and x-rays. They will blow up. And second of all, these are at half the price, along with the promise from the chief of police that my business won’t be touched, and will only be distributed to officers in on the operation and have agreed to turn off their body cameras when they decide to use these weapons. Should this not be a sting operation, we’ll be back here to negotiate.”

Jeno leaned forward, watching anxiously.

“Yes, sir,” Your dad answered, nodding. “We have the money here.”

“Hand it over, then.”

That was when Jeno made his mistake. He leaned forward too much, and proceeded to fall right through the hole, bringing down some scraps of the roof with him. As he tumbled through the air, the zoom on his lenses caused him to grow dizzy as he had no idea what he was looking at. He caught himself before he could fall, clumsily commanding D.R.E.A.M to go back to turn off the current protocol. His vision returned to normal, and he swung up onto a rafter holding the warehouse up.

“So, we have company.” Duke didn’t sound as amused as he had before. His face turned into a sneer. “Get him.”

In less than a second, before Jeno could say anything, five guns were pointed directly at him. He managed to swing away before any bullets could hit him.

“Jeno, get out of there now,” Doyoung ordered.

“What about the guns?” Jeno asked, swinging to another rafter. “They know I’m here, I might as well get them before I go—”

“No! Jeno, listen to what I’m telling you. You’ve done more than enough, and you need to let it g—”

Your dad aimed, and a bullet fired right at Jeno’s chest. For a second, he forgot that the chest area of the suit was lined with bulletproof material. While it didn’t shoot into his chest, it ricocheted right off him, and since he was in motion, it somehow caused the bullet to bounce back in the direction in which it came.

The wind was knocked out of Jeno, but it was nothing compared to watching the bullet land in the middle of your father’s chest. On the other line, he heard Doyoung yell, followed by the sound of something falling. And then, as he made his way back towards the hole he’d fallen out of, he couldn’t rip his eyes away from the body as it crumpled to the ground.

The others around him scrambled to get back into their respective cars. Jeno was back on the roof now, trying not to hyperventilate. “I’m sorry,” He gasped, “Do—Doyoung, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t want to—”

“Jeno, you need to get out of there, now,” Doyoung said, voice raspy. “GO!”

So he did, and Doyoung cut off the call once he was out of the vicinity. Jeno didn’t blame him. He swung across buildings, feeling numb as he looked for the apartment complex roof where he’d decided to hide his backpack.

When he finally did, he changed in a hurry, before slumping against the wall and forcing himself to take deep breaths.

Doyoung’s dad—your dad—was dead. And it was all his fault.

He cried on the way down the staircase. He cried on his way to the subway. The entire time, he ignored people’s stares. Suddenly everything was too loud, and if he met someone in the eyes he’d just about break down in the middle of the station.

As he got onto the train, Jeno thought about all of the things your dad had done for you, and for Jeno. All the times he'd taken you both to Coney Island in the summer when you were younger. The year Pokemon Go came out he took the both of you driving around in his car so you and Jeno could catch as many Pokemon as you could.

He’d formally adopted you when you were thirteen. You were his daughter in nearly every sense of the word, regardless of blood. And now he was dead, because of a stupid mistake that Jeno had made.

What would you say if you knew? He didn’t want to know. Checking the time on his phone, he saw he’d gotten a message from you just three minutes ago.

[8:36 PM]

y/n: lemme know when ur outside!! :)

“Fuck,” He murmured, wiping his eyes. He knew he needed to stop crying before he got to your house, and he had about ten minutes before he got to his stop, and then another five minute walk to the neighborhood. He focused on taking deep breaths and taking long swigs from his water bottle in the meantime, trying to tune out the sound of other people talking and the sound of the train on the rails.

The walk was the longest five minute walk he’d ever taken. The flashing lights of convenience stores did nothing to calm him down. As the stores in his peripheral vision began transitioning into suburban homes, he felt his heart speed up again. The constant movement as he walked meant he missed his phone vibrating in his backpack as you rang his number.

After what seemed like an eternity, two familiar houses came into his line of vision, and his shoulders slumped as he spotted you on your porch, looking small and teary, curled up into a little ball. In one hand, you were clutching your phone.

His stomach twisted as he put on a confused tone, even though he knew damn well that you knew. “...Y/N?”

You stood up, running to him and burying yourself into his chest, crumpling into his arms. You would have fell over if Jeno hadn’t held both of you up.

“Jeno,” You sobbed, “You’re n-not go-onna believe it.”

He brought a hand up to caress your hair, holding back tears of his own as he asked a question he already knew the answer to.

“Y/N, what happened?”

taglist: @decembermoonskz @itsapapisongo @lenaluvs @crescentjen

#kwritersworldnet #nct angst #nct x reader #jeno x reader #jeno angst #jeno fluff #nct au #jeno au #kpop scenarios #kpop angst #kpop imagines #nct dream x reader #lee jeno x reader #my writing

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stayarmytinyzenmoa-l · 2 years

Text

The Warden's Notes [10110]

TW: Mentions of Murder, Unsettling Themes, Terminal Illness, Descriptions of Insanity

Notes: Going more into detail with these guys...

Recommended to read this after [Chapter 3]

Word Count: 2.9K

(2/?) [Previous] | [Next]

[Main Masterlist] | [Zemblanity Masterlist]

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

[10110] - Liu Yangyang

Timeline: K-09

Crime: Murder of the 2nd Degree, Opened a Written Letter containing both a letter and a flyer for the treatment of an otherwise terminal illness from a future correspondent

Sentence Duration: 15 March 2721 - Lifetime

Cell: Concrete Room (02 - 10110)

Special Containment Condition(s):

Keep entertained, he causes less problems.

Keep far away from Inmate 1000.

If all else fails, call Inmate 1011, he always listens to him.

Monthly Observations:

(3/15/2721) Another day, another inmate. The detectives who brought him in told me to keep him locked up, and to never let him out. Strange, I know what he’s in here for, really, but this is a bit much, isn’t it? I looked over what I had of his file and, as much as I hate to say it, i sympathize with him. He seems like a decent kid… Kid, yeah, he looks around the same age as (Y/N), actually. He keeps to himself, doesn't say much. We'll have to see how our interrogation goes.

(4/2/2721) Moonsight. The kid has moonsight. I saw it in our interrogation, the beginning stages, he shouldn't have gotten it so soon though. He's going to face a slow and painful death now and I don't know how to break it to him. I didn't think he was too rowdy at first, until 1011 fucking murdered someone in the cafeteria, turns out 10110 had a field day with that one. It was like a switch flipped for him, suddenly he was instigating an entire fight and... god, it was a domino effect of bull shit. I guess it's technically not his fault, but this piece of shit almost killed an inmate himself. The weirdest part? As soon as I walked in, he stopped. He stopped and said that 1011 started it. Doesn't matter, no free hours for the next week for him. Is it the moonsight?

(5/5/2721) It has come to my attention that 10110 has an interesting hobby of stealing things. Just earlier he tried to swipe (Y/N)'s locket from my pocket, she would've gotten so upset about that. She treasures this locket like it was a part of her. When I explained that to 10110 to get it back, all he did was glare at me before returning it. I also ended up finding all three of Officer Suh's badges that he'd lost. Note to self, check 10110's cell first before ordering a new badge, this could be a serious breach of security. Moonsight is coming along at a slow pace, but as more of the blonde hairs appear, I get more anxious.

(6/7/2721) I was talking to Dr. Kim Kibum earlier, inmate 10110′s main psychiatrist, he recommended for me to provide some other form of entertainment for the inmate, supposed to distract him from developing anything too severe while he sits in his room and, hopefully, slow the effects of Moonsight. This is probably to avoid repeating what happened to 1011, so I did just that. I asked 10110 what kinds of things he's interested in, then I ended up ordering cans of spray paint and markers and left them in his cell. I was surprised to see all the things he drew, but I was more concerned about the many times he repeated my daughter’s name. Maybe it's just my old eyes, there's no way he could know that. I hope it's not just the denial, but some of his drawings are... concerning.

(7/8/2721) Last month we admitted inmate 1000 into the Sector. Both of us learned very quickly that 10110 literally hates him. As soon as 10110 saw 1000 he jumped at him. Mind you, this was in the cafeteria, the kid grabbed a tray and bashed it over 1000's head twenty times. It took me and 1011 to pull him off, and even then, we had to call in Officer Lee and Officer Suh to properly restrain him. Up until this point, 10110 had been pretty mild save for the even with 1011 killing someone, but never did I expect him to lash out like that. 1000 says he's fine, maybe a little shaken, but still. Note to self, keep these two far away from each other. The moonsight is undeniable now, I've ordered hair dye for him at his request, when the moonsight episodes finally end and he relaxes again he's still the same scared kid who came in. He doesn't want anyone to know.

(8/2/2721) This kid… I know it's the moonsight, but fuck what’s up with him? I just can't believe the illness got him so quickly. He's having an episode right now, won't do much and won't cause trouble at least. I don’t understand him at all. Some days he just spouts nonstop bullshit, asking me about shit I don't even remember. Can't blame him, maybe we did know each other in his last timeline or something, but he has to understand that we're not the same. Just today, he walked up to my office during Free Hours with a huge smile on his face and asked me if I was planning anything important. I was, (Y/N)'s birthday, actually. I always seem to be busy on that day so I planned ahead for once. Then, and this freaked me out a little, he told me to get (Y/N) Mariogold flowers for her birthday. How did he even know I was planning for it? I'll have to double-check the locks in this office.

(9/6/2721) Inmate 10110 keeps talking about her… it’s scaring the hell out of me. How do these inmates know about (Y/N)? I don’t let her anywhere near this damn place, I'm too scared that she's going to hear something and get curious and come in here. Her curiosity will be the death of her, I swear, Ten's having a hard enough time keeping her busy. Shit, I should revise this, 10110's telling me things about her. Her favorite color, her favorite food, favorite book, everything. And when I go back home to her and ask her about these things… it turns out he’s right. Maybe my theory that he knew us in his timeline is right, but it's interesting how these things carry over. I need to ask him how he knows us. My main concern is that one or both of us have something to do with his crime.

(10/15/2721) Inmate 10110 has been acting out so much more lately, lashing out at the other inmates and whatnot. We've long established that he hates inmate 1000, to an unhealthy degree actually, I was watching them through the cameras and the first thing I saw was 10110 hurling a syringe towards 1000. Note to self, remind nurses to keep sharp objects locked. I removed inmate 10110′s free hours for the month. I can’t risk any of the other inmates possibly getting killed by him, it’s not safe for them or for myself. Ever since 1000 got admitted here, 10110 has gotten more and more dangerous. It's like he has no care in the world. Not to mention the kid can be fucking unhinged sometimes, I think he made Officer Lee cry, for god's sake. Really knows where to hit it where it hurts.

(11/5/2721) I had to break up a fight between inmate 10110 and inmate 1000 again. I just don’t understand why they hate each other, when I talk to 10110 he’s always so cryptic about it, mumbling something along the lines of ‘he hurt her’ but what the blazes is that supposed to mean? 1000 has no clue either, I questioned him about it. This kid might be the death of me. He keeps finding different ways into the office, this is the one place I'm supposed to be safe from these fuckers, and this kid keeps finding a way in. No matter how often I change the locks, he finds a way in. It's only a matter of time before he finds a way out. 10110's much smarter than he lets on, apparently.

(12/8/2721) Inmate 1000 almost killed 10110. I was monitoring in my office when 10110 broke a glass bottle next to 1000 (Note to self, change supplier, glass bottles are too dangerous, metal bottles are the only other alternative that will last long enough and in this pressure). I don’t even know how he got the bottle, it should have been locked in the mess hall. But, interestingly enough, was the fact that 1000 reacted this way at all. Up until now, he'd been defensive (understandably so) around 10110, but this was the first time I saw him react this way and, of course, 10110 responded in kind. At this rate, it's like 10110 is purposefully looking for a reason to kill 1000.

(1/1/2722) This month was strange for Inmate 10110. I’ve seen his depressive episodes before, but they’ve never lasted this long. He's been like this for two weeks now, and I hate to admit it, but it's really freaking me out that he's not bouncing off the walls. I even saw 1000 come to try to provoke him, but 10110 just stared at him and went back to drawing circles on the wall. Every time I tried to talk to him, he wouldn't respond. Until just yesterday. He broke into the office (of course), and he just waited for me to come in. Once I did, he just asked if (Y/N) was doing alright. When I asked why he would ask that, he looked up at me and said 'you know she's worried about you, that's what she does, she worries. She worries, and she worries, and once she worries too much she acts. She acts, and then that's how she dies.' I still have chills thinking about it, and that was weeks ago. (Y/N) is fine. She'll be fine. She has Ten to keep her out of trouble, at the very least.

(2/27/2722) Man, fuck Yangyang. My first day in this hell hole couldn't have been any worse. It's already hard enough that I have to sit in this office that's just surrounded by things reminding me of him, I can't even get the time to grieve with this little shit here. The first thing he did to me was steal all of my damn keys and throw them around Sector V. If Kun didn’t yell at him to give them all back to me I’d still be searching for them. So this is the problem inmate I was warned about by Johnny, god, this kid’s going to make me hate my job, I already know it.

(3/4/2722) I was reading the last Warden’s Notes and going through the tapes from the interrogations too, but I still can’t understand what’s going on in Yangyang’s head, it’s like he has his own world in there. I get he has Moonsight, poor guy, but I never knew it to do this. Maybe it's an effect of having it for so long. He keeps telling me that he has this big plan for when he gets out, but I don’t know. He’s not all there, I think, not anymore at least. Maybe Dejun hit him in the head too hard while trying to not get killed, but Yangyang can be a mischievous shit sometimes, he likes to try to get into places he doesn't belong and he likes to rile people up until they lose their patience then he gets hurt and makes more work for everyone, geez.

(4/2/2722) I can see why Hyunjun just straight up gave up on figuring out what’s between Dejun and Yangyang. These two are just never going to see eye to eye, and Yangyang keeps droning on about shit that Dejun has apparently done, but when I bring it up to him he has no clue. It's all one-sided. Yangyang wants Dejun dead and Dejun wants to not die. It's not like Yangyang doesn't get along with other inmates, he just happens to hate Dejun with every fiber of his being.

(5/4/2722) I was doing my regular inspections of the cells when I found something… eerie, I think the word is. Underneath Yangyang’s stash of paint supplies I found (Y/N)’s locket, the silver one I got her for her sixteenth birthday, actually. I remembered her telling me that she gave it to her dad to have it cleaned. Why’s it in here? Actually, why does Yangyang have it? No, wait, I swear I saw (Y/N) wearing it today? Maybe this was a spare that Hyunjun got in case he lost it while he was in here. Either way, Yangyang insisted that it was his and literally wouldn't stop throwing things at me until I put it back. I'll just see if (Y/N) is wearing it tomorrow to confirm.

(6/10/2722) Hyunjun mentioned it in previous posts, but Yangyang's weirdly good at getting through locked doors. Every time we try to change the locks, he figures out the mechanism and breaks it open anyway. The only one he hasn't broken through is the one to his cell, thank god.

(7/2/2722) I was going through his cell again, the locket thing bothered me so much. I was right in that (Y/N) was wearing hers, so what was this one? Yangyang still insists that it's his and that I "keep my grubby little hands off of it" but still, it's kind of freaking me out. Not to mention, maybe I was just imagining it, but I swear I saw (Y/N)'s name in that cell, all over the place, actually. Nah, no way, I'm imagining it, I am. I've been working so much overtime maybe it's just me missing my best friend.

(8/5/2722) Yangyang's having what me and the others have titled a "low month." The cells opened up for free hours and he stayed put. He gets like this sometimes, and apparently always on January and August. He's just inconsolable around these times. He won't talk to us, he won't say anything, and he won't even make a sound. Even Dejun can't bother him. Yangyang just stares at him and shakes his head. Maybe we're going crazy, but it sounded like Yangyang even apologized to him. If he did, no one heard it clear enough.

(9/2/2722) And he's back to his trigger-happy self. Breaking shit left and right. First a medicine cabinet, then Dejun's arm, and next a spray paint can. All in one day, I'm actually impressed. It's like the entirety of last month just didn't happen for him. I asked him about it and he just avoided the question, I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with his last timeline then, or something.

(10/10/2722) How do I start this? Yangyang just doesn't give a shit about the fact that he's here. If anything, it's like he prefers it here or something. Despite clearly having the abilities to probably break out, he choses not to. He just likes to rub it into my face and everyone else that he probably could if he wanted to. I'll install more steps to the process, just in case. Looks like Hyunjun put in the appeal a while ago, I'll follow up with it too then.

(11/5/2722) I know Hyunjun wrote about it in previous entries, but I never really heard Yangyang talk about (Y/N) until now. He says that sometimes he can hear her voice, it talks to him, it, and I kid you not he said this, it "comforts" him. Yeah, he's officially lost it. I'm just trying to remember if there was a point where (Y/N) could've been close enough for him to know her. I asked if he knew her in his last timeline, and he said yes. That explains a lot of things, actually. It doesn't look like he knows about my (Y/N). Let's keep it that way.

(12/7/2722) Yangyang ranted to me about Dejun again, but what's new? It's just weird that he did it for a month straight. Every day something new and every day some other thing to nitpick him on. Recently, the first thing Yangyang has been asking when he comes (breaks) into the office is "Hi, Ten! Which one am I talking to today? Good cop or bad cop?" I understand what he means, especially when we do interrogations, I have to be more stern, versus when we're out of that room and can be more casual.

(1/3/2723) Yangyang's still ranting on Dejun, he's relentless. But, the fact that Kun's been telling me to keep an eye on Dejun too, maybe they're both on to something. I wonder if they're working together, but nothing seems to have changed on Dejun's part. I wonder what the hell Yangyang's on sometimes.

(2/9/2723) This shit is more fucked than I could imagine… I think I’m losing my mind and it’s not just because of Yangyang, what the hell is going on in here?! And if what Yangyang told me was true… Can I even trust myself?

General Tag List: @vickylamore @chxngyunie @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lune1897 @gaiyofanfiction @jaeminsespresso @umbralhelwolf @morningsunandnightsky

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @eggoyu

Zemblanity: @leesalts @hoshitaro @beefchippp @watersvn @yukine-smx @chelsea-smiile-x3 @fruityutas @rikitual @sophie-rebecca17 @hearts4yang @oofimdumb @haechans-sunflower @shyshybabyy @moonji-v @mellowmarigolds @nichobins @jonggdae @pukupukupawpau

Unable to be Tagged: @mizzdivagirl7-blog @elwiwiwi

If you want to be added to either tag list just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

#my writings #the warden's notes #zemblanity

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ultrakdramamama · 2 years

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I posted 5,043 times in 2021

1818 posts created (36%)

3225 posts reblogged (64%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.8 posts.

I added 17,064 tags in 2021

#shinee - 4640 posts

#key - 2000 posts

#taemin - 1912 posts

#onew - 1847 posts

#minho - 1596 posts

#q ~ maybe i'm here-maybe i'm not~who knows - 1142 posts

#kim kibum - 1019 posts

#kibum - 1017 posts

#keybangs' smooshy - 994 posts

#lee taemin - 897 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#well i know why...money. they can’t tour and have concerts now so they want him to go and get it over with while they can’t do that stuff..u

My Top Posts in 2021

It’s funny, because IT’S TRUE 🤣

cr: @forleejinki

409 notes • Posted 2021-03-03 07:01:34 GMT

See the full post

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See the full post

455 notes • Posted 2021-03-09 11:27:04 GMT

Don’t Call Me is out there kicking ass and taking names

cr: @shineecharts

783 notes • Posted 2021-03-04 11:47:48 GMT

tumblr_video

😭😭😭😭😭

cr: @sunshinejinki

3351 notes • Posted 2021-02-28 07:51:51 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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alwayshinee · 2 years

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I posted 6,396 times in 2021

2198 posts created (34%)

4198 posts reblogged (66%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.9 posts.

I added 3,881 tags in 2021

#taemin - 714 posts

#jinki - 698 posts

#kibum - 694 posts

#shinee - 585 posts

#minho - 556 posts

#jonghyun - 441 posts

#anon - 61 posts

#fav - 51 posts

#pink - 46 posts

#jams - 35 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and im thinking. about doing a whatever-you-want fic event thing but they've gotta prove they streamed... actually i should just make it a--

My Top Posts in 2021

list of videos that i personally think babywols should watch as they’ve brought me endless joy:

jongho magic girl cover

shinee girls mini drama

the mexicana chicken commercials

compilation of kibum dancing to girl groups that i once watched like 20 times in a single day

2min salsa. the original video i saw it on was taken down so i had to find one on google drive lol.

jjong’s cover of as long as you love me

DANG DANG DANG

The Infamous JongKey Pocky. you guys know what i’m talking about.

energy song

jinki voice crack compilation because i always thought it was really cute

jinki’s jonghyun impersonation

jinki singing how deep is your love

jinki dropping his mic

jinki dropping his mic again and minho smiling like a little shit

jinki falling down a bunch of steps

jinki talking about “onew ache” (ok i’ll admit i used to watch a lot of jinki videos lmao)

minho’s video of his trip during one fine day

@forever5hines requested the addition of the “except this onew” song of which i totally forgot about, so thank you!

@its-a-shawol-world requested the IMMORTAL vine of minho walking to gasolina (i could only find it as a yt video as the actual vine won’t play for me anymore :()

jongho kiss during jojo

@theshawolkingdom requested the vine of kibum dancing to 321 and jjong going “HA HA HA” while he was doing so. the actual vine itself, like the minho gasolina one, would not play for me anymore so i can’t link it but i was able to find a youtube video that had the 321 dance cut! it starts at 0:14

@professorjjong requested the clip of jjong singing a self-composed song during one fine day. i couldn’t find an actual clip, but for the jonghyun cut of one fine day, it starts at ~1:26:30

@seilon came in clutch with multiple requests: shinee acting out “story of chunyang” during hello baby, kibum’s solo of “my first kiss” ft. taemin, the f(shinee) collab stage for the 2012 korean music festival, and taemin covering “get up” by korn.

jonghyun push ups during the encore for dream girl.

i’ll update this post as i think of more and, as always, feel free to add on!

313 notes • Posted 2021-04-25 07:29:59 GMT

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1437 notes • Posted 2021-03-03 23:14:09 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #for the fic thing it was for my yh.#*uh. my uh. comics fic blog. lmao.

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imbicuriousyeah · 2 years

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I posted 57 times in 2021

31 posts created (54%)

26 posts reblogged (46%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.8 posts.

I added 165 tags in 2021

#incorrect kpop quotes - 27 posts

#kpop incorrect quotes - 27 posts

#ikq - 26 posts

#incorrect shinee - 14 posts

#incorrect shinee quotes - 14 posts

#shinee incorrect quotes - 14 posts

#lee taemin - 13 posts

#kim kibum - 12 posts

#shinee crack - 9 posts

#source: ??? - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 73 characters

#i will be back to bother you again when i queue my next wave of quotes 😂

My Top Posts in 2021

Onew, talking in front of a camera: Yeah, so SHINee is all back together again! I think after two years we really needed a break to recollect and find ourselves individually. It really helped us open ourselves up to each other’s differences a lot :)

Key, walking into the kitchen in the background: WHO THE FUCK ATE ALL THE GODDAMN HOT POCKETS

Jonghyun, shoving the entire last, fully cooked hot pocket into his pants pocket: whatcha gonna do about it?

Key: *screams*

Jonghyun: *steps on top of a stool and screams louder to assert dominance*

Onew: Ahh, it really feels like home whenever we’re around each other :)

78 notes • Posted 2021-05-19 00:01:57 GMT

Yangyang: a reminder that the earth is a hot, molten core surrounded by a solid crust, and is therefore a ravioli

Kun: i’m begging you to stop

Hendery, taking notes: no, no, let him finish

82 notes • Posted 2021-09-22 00:39:12 GMT

Baekhyun: so if 'k' is short for 'ok', and sometimes you call your grandpa 'pop', in reality k-pop equals 'ok boomer'

Suho: please stop it’s 3am

Chanyeol: he’s got a point tho

94 notes • Posted 2021-05-11 00:01:20 GMT

Internet: “25 things you didn’t know about Jung Hoseok”

Yoongi: HA

Yoongi: try me bitch

111 notes • Posted 2021-05-17 00:01:07 GMT

Onew: we all have our demons

Onew: *puts his hand on Taemin’s head*

Onew: this one's mine

Taemin: :)

125 notes • Posted 2021-06-04 00:01:16 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #hahah this is kinda cute

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flamingdiva · 2 years

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I posted 19,860 times in 2021

1231 posts created (6%)

18629 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 15.1 posts.

I added 6,399 tags in 2021

#choi minho is bae - 1484 posts

#cutie key - 1002 posts

#shinee - 957 posts

#jjong - 520 posts

#miraculous ladybug - 517 posts

#lee taemin aka chaos king - 474 posts

#most precious leader - 455 posts

#ml spoilers - 426 posts

#cats are the best - 289 posts

#doctor who - 275 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My Top Posts in 2021

My brain at 2am

211 notes • Posted 2021-07-18 23:11:08 GMT

memes inspired by a recent event why is it so hard to find things dealing with adhd issues for the person with adhd

See the full post

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SHINee trending above other groups and the SMTown concert during a concert they didn’t perform in has the same energy as Kibum winning best costume when he sent a cardboard standee with Jinki because he couldn’t go to the halloween party

727 notes • Posted 2021-01-01 08:29:46 GMT

More adhd memes

See the full post

929 notes • Posted 2021-07-18 23:29:18 GMT

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#I finally got it!#the difference between my top two tags #no theres no bias there....#the longest tag lol #I can't remember exactly what that was for #maybe bad love?

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ohmuqueen · 1 year

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#I love this era of Kim Kibum SO MUCH #shinee #key shinee #shinee key #key #kim kibum #shinee ring ding dong #shinee rdd #kibum 09 #I wish 18 year old me would’ve known…#minho #choi minho #minkey

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dlstmxkakwldrlarchive · 10 months

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(throwback) 090912 Music Core — SHINee 'Scar'

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fallsouthwinter · 2 years

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I posted 682 times in 2021

34 posts created (5%)

648 posts reblogged (95%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 19.1 posts.

I added 1,151 tags in 2021

#shinee - 416 posts

#kim kibum - 117 posts

#key - 108 posts

#onew - 97 posts

#lee jinki - 95 posts

#lee taemin - 95 posts

#kim jonghyun - 77 posts

#ot5 - 61 posts

#art - 49 posts

#choi minho - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#others i didnt count because id eat them if i were able (anything with egg and grapefruit) others i eat a type of happily (sweet pickles)

My Top Posts in 2021

i was tagged by @gaykey to post my lock screen, last song listened to, and last photo taken :D

7 notes • Posted 2021-06-16 15:56:12 GMT

I was tagged by @shawolnoonabri

Rules - we’re snooping on your playlist. put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first ten songs and then choose 10 victims.

8 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 03:04:39 GMT

I kind of wish Onew would grow his hair out again. I think it suited his face really well

8 notes • Posted 2021-03-03 06:09:02 GMT

list seven comfort movies then tag seven people

9 notes • Posted 2021-04-19 05:06:08 GMT

What's A Bad Love?

Okay, so.

50 notes • Posted 2021-11-12 19:56:23 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #tungle dot hell #i like how all but one tag is all SHINee #about me

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likeaplayfulfox · 2 years

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I posted 2,917 times in 2021

16 posts created (1%)

2901 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 181.3 posts.

I added 4,299 tags in 2021

#shinee - 1846 posts

#jonghyun - 566 posts

#kibum - 543 posts

#taemin - 496 posts

#jinki - 339 posts

#minho - 216 posts

#bad love - 94 posts

#pretty in pink - 78 posts

#red velvet - 74 posts

#sea of hope - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 56 characters

#🥰💖💖💖🥰🥰🥰💗💗💗💗💝💝💝💝💘💘💘💘💘❣️❣️❣️♥️💖💖💖💖

My Top Posts in 2021

The Genius annotation saying Judy Jetson is gonna take Key to Kwangya. 🤣🤣🤣

3 notes • Posted 2021-10-01 19:26:12 GMT

love hearing Euisoo's laugh in the back of every shinee video ever ♥

3 notes • Posted 2021-09-29 11:33:46 GMT

youtube

What' up with Zimzalabim's form? - Classical Composer breaks down the K.

3 notes • Posted 2021-08-21 11:30:00 GMT

I don't care but I loved the Sticker video. Loved the space cowboy thing ~

4 notes • Posted 2021-09-17 12:14:42 GMT

just realized there's no singing in the first chorus of IDEA and that's why that beat drop hits so heavily

4 notes • Posted 2021-08-25 14:53:24 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Youtube #my longest tag is just hearts #and gosh i reblog so much!!! more than anything i do in my main blog #nice for a sideblog i only made this year

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dmukcs · 3 years

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Super Junior (슈퍼주니어) - SORRY, SORRY (쏘리 쏘리)

This week’s rec is one of my absolute favourites: Super Junior’s SORRY, SORRY!

Quick ramble before we get into this: when this song released back in 2009, it was the first time I ever listened to a ‘kpop’ song. I’m not even kidding when I say that this song and entire album was a game changer for me. This was my stepping stone into kpop and, consequently, Korean culture and it really does mean a lot for me! Like, bruh can you even believe that March 2021 will mark me down for being a fan of Korean music for over 12 YEARS. This is honestly such a classic kpop song, as well as being one of the most well known in my opinion.

Anyhow! Back to the point:

watch the MV here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QA3m58DQw&ab_channel=SMTOWN

SORRY, SORRY was released March 3rd, 2009 as a digital single before coming the title track of their 3rd studio album of the same name. The song was their comeback as a complete group since their activities as subgroup in Mainland China and South Korea in 2008. It was Super Junior’s most successful single on the music charts and won them a sum total of 10 recognitions throughout their promoting period.

SORRY, SORRY was a new style for Super Junior, a dance song stimulated with heavy electronic beats in the genre known as ‘urban minimal funky’, and unlike their previous releases. It’s a ‘polished and trendy’ dance song, with an exciting beat and earworm chorus, with influences of American funk and contemporary R&B.

This song was an international hit, though not as we may know it today. Rather, it became the best selling k-pop album in Taiwan, Thailand, China and the Philippines, where they credited Sorry, Sorry to have been the first k-pop album to reach number one in the music charts from the country. It was an instant hit, and stayed number one in Taiwan for an astounding 37-weeks in their k-pop singles chart. Sorry, Sorry achieved both national and international success and this has been their best-selling single in South Korea since.

For fans too, who had been waiting for a return of all 13 members, this was an exciting (if not bittersweet) moment for them, as this marked the last time they came together as a full group again before two members, Hangeng and Kibum, left the group.

Outside of South Korea, SORRY, SORRY, was heavily promoted in other Asian communities. Over 51 subway trains in Taipei were covered in Sorry, Sorry advertisements from April 17th through to May 7th, to promote the Taiwanese release which came out on April 17th. Among these trains was one called the Super Junior Train, which was entirely covered with Super Junior posters.

Not only that, but this song had a big cultural impact, the dance having been covered many times not just by idols, but professional sports players as well. In April 2009, volleyball player Kim Yeonkoung from Heungdeuk Life stated if her team won the 2008-09 NH Nonghyup professional volleyball championship, they would perform the routine. They won and performed this at the award ceremony. Football player Kim Seungyong danced to Sorry, Sorry after scoring a goal against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the 2009 K League. Basketball players have danced to it at the Dongbu Promy Professional Basketball season awards ceremony too, an event which marked the end of the season in professional basketball league.

The honour guard of the South Korean Air Force has danced to Sorry, Sorry (alongside Gee by SNSD) ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony of Airforce Museum at Sanjicheon, Jeju City. Employees of Korean Air created a parody group called 직장인 슈퍼주니어 (jikjjangin super junior) which literally translates to Office Workers Super Juniors, and performed the choreography at an in-house concert held at the Korean Air HQ.

Finally, in the Philippines, a video of inmates known as the CPDRC Dancing Inmates, from the Cebu Provinvial Detention and Rehabilitation Centre, dancing to the song went viral after being uploaded to YouTube.

members, left to right. back row: Ryeowook, Eunhyuk, Kangin, Donghae, Yesung. middle row: Heechul, Sungmin, Kibum, Shindong. front row: Hangeng, Leeteuk, Siwon, Kyuhyun.

Super Junior was originally a 12-member group formed under SM Entertainment in November 2005. They debuted with their single Twins (Knock Out). They later became a 13-member group when their youngest, Cho Kyuhyun, was added in May 2006, in line with their release U. Known by other nicknames such as SJ or SuJu, Super Junior have been dubbed by the media and the Korean Music Awards as the Kings of the Hallyu Wave due to their prominent contributions in the Korean wave.

With the release of Sorry, Sorry, their best-selling single, they launched into international recognition. Throughout the years of their career, they have been divided into smaller groups, being able to target different music industries and audiences at the same time. The members have all individually branched out into other Entertainment Industry roles such as hosting, presenting and acting. Due to their success and popularity as all-rounded entertainers, they have led other Korean entertainment companies to begin training their groups in other aspects of the entertainment industry, rather than just singing, dancing and rapping.

These other groups included: Super Junior-M, their Chinese sub-unit. Super Junior-T, their Trot sub-unit, Super Junior-H, their ‘Happy’ sub-unit. Two other more recent sub-units are Super Junior K.R.Y - Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung, their ballad sub-unit, and finally - my personal favourite - Super Junior D&E, comprised of Donghae & Eunhyuk, main dancers and best friends within the group, who cover a myriad of genres in comparison.

Super Junior was the best-selling k-pop artist for four years in a row. They have earned 13 music awards from MAMA, 19 from the Golden Disc Awards, are the second singing group to win Favourite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after jtL in 2003. 2012: they were nominated ‘Best Asian Act’ in MTV Europe Music Awards. 2015: they won the ‘International Artist’ and ‘Best Fandom’ awards at the Teen Choice Awards. March 2020, Super Junior broke their own record topping the Korean Album Chart of Taiwan’s KKBOX for a jaw-dropping 122 consecutive weeks since 2017, with their 8th album Play, the 8th album repackage REPLAY in 2018, the 9th album Time_Slip from 2019 and the 9th album repackage Timeless, 2020.

As it stands right now, Super Junior have only 9 active members left in their group. In 2009, Hangeng filed a lawsuit against SM, which saw him stop promoting until he finally left the company in 2011. Kibum also took a step back from the group in 2009, opting to focus more on his acting career through a temporary hiatus. Though he appeared in the MV for Sorry, Sorry, and was featured in promotional adverts for their upcoming concert Super Show 2, he did not attend. His contract ended with SM in 2015. Kangin left in 2019, following another DUI incident.

Though Sungmin has not been classified as left and his contract with SM is still active, he has been on hiatus since 2015.

Super Junior’s fandom name is E.L.F, standing for Everlasting Friend and their fandom colour is Pearl Sapphire Blue.

Other songs I would recommend are (it’s long): the entire SORRY, SORRY album, It’s You, Bonamana, Boom, 2YA2YAO!, the entire Sexy, Free & Single album/repackage, A-CHA, Oops!! ft f(x), 라라라라 Be My Girl, Opera, Lo Siento, Black Suit, SUPER Clap, Scene Stealer, Good Day for a Good Day, Magic, Devil, This is Love, MAMACITA, Evanesce, SUPERMAN, Mr. Simple, Twins (Knock Out) and honestly so so so SO much more than I can remember right now!

I don’t listen to their sub-units as often, considering M, T & H are pretty much disbanded at this point.

But recs for D&E are as followed: OPPA OPPA, Danger, ‘Bout You, 너는 나만큼 (Growing Pains), I Wanna Dance (사네), 촉이 와 (Can You Feel It?), 아직도 난 (Still You), B.A.D, Skeleton.

members left to right: Shindong, Kyuhyun, Leeteuk, Donghae, Heechul, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Ryeowook and Yesung.

photo references:

https://www.hellokpop.com/kpop/super-junior-sorry-sorry-ten-years/ https://www.last.fm/music/Super+Junior/SORRY,+SORRY/+images/2549839ddfec45aa8e928b374cf3df2d https://kprofiles.com/super-junior-profile/

references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry,_Sorry_(Super_Junior_song) https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/117/0002009158 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Junior https://kprofiles.com/super-junior-profile/

#dmu #dmukcs #dmu korean culture society #sorry sorry #super junior #super junior sorry sorry #old kpop #music recommendation #kpop recommendation #old kpop recommendation #written by tt #the biggest ELF in the world #슈퍼주니어 #쏘리 쏘리

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minhoinator-writes · 5 years

Text

Pairing: Kim Kibum/Choi Minho (side: Kim Jonghyun/Lee Taemin)

Rating: G

Word Count: 10,803

Links: AO3 // AFF

Summary: Five friends decide to escape their responsibilities for some fun in the sun...just for the weekend.

A/N: inspired by the View music video, and this particular moment

Tagging: @lockandminkey, @untangle-my-heart, @anna-watermelon, @minhosglasses

Friday

2:09 // we're going to Jeju...wanna come?

2:23 // will you kidnap me and take me anyway if I say no?

2:25 // first of all why would you say no? 2:25 // and secondly maybe I would

2:25 // ㅋㅋㅋ

2:26 // does that scare you?

2:26 // hmm 2:27 // I'd rather not say

2:32 // ㅋㅋ…..so?

2:32 // yeah, I'll be there 2:33 // when do we leave?

...

Saturday

A wave of humidity washed over Kibum as he followed the others out of the Jeju International Airport. Jinki had forged ahead, running to catch a taxi for them so they could drop off their meager luggage at the hotel before they went off in search of food. The wheels of Jonghyun’s suitcase rattled loudly in the lobby, but he didn’t seem to notice. His conversation with Taemin was too riveting, it seemed. Kibum smirked, then glanced behind him.

“Hey! What’s taking you so long?” Minho looked up at him from where he was tying his shoelaces, his eyes wide. “Come on, you can do that on the way!” He smiled and went back to tying his shoes, and Kibum rolled his eyes as he jogged to catch up with the others.

This impromptu vacation had been his idea, wholly and completely. He was so completely bored -- having been at the same job for over two years now, it had grown to be quite monotonous -- and he knew that his college buddies were probably feeling the same way.

It was quite by chance that they had come together, all those years ago. Kibum always thought it was kind of lucky that they all happened to meet in the theatre club -- Kibum, Minho, and Jinki wanted to act, Taemin wanted to be in the chorus, and Jonghyun wanted to compose his own plays. Unfortunately, for them, they were too late and the club was already at its full capacity. They, at Taemin’s suggestion, decided to drown their sorrows in pizza and beer, and by the end of the night, they were inseparable.

They still were, even now that they had left college. Sure, Kibum had returned to Daegu, Minho to Incheon, Jinki to Gwangmyeong, while Jonghyun and Taemin stayed in Seoul, but that didn’t mean they didn’t text or call each other as often as their schedules would allow.

The drudgery of everyday life had taken its toll on Kibum, though, which is why he decided to reach out, to see if any of the others wanted to escape for a little while. To remember what it was like to feel...to feel alive with the myriad of possibilities available to them.

He texted Jonghyun first, a strategic move. Jonghyun would be able to convince anyone to do anything, if he really, really wanted to. He skipped Taemin altogether since he knew that Jonghyun would take it upon himself to get Taemin to agree, and went straight to Jinki. It didn’t take much to get him on board -- the promise of all the cold beer and food he could want while laying on the beach was more than enough.

While he knew Minho would be easy to convince -- he missed everybody just as much as Kibum did -- he couldn’t help but hesitate. Kibum opened their messages, starting a text, only to backspace and try again. It took hours before he finally decided on we’re going to Jeju...wanna come? even though he wasn't quite sure why.

Well, that wasn't quite true...but, they were here now, all of them. Kibum stopped for a second in the automatic doorway, taking a deep breath of the warm, summer air. He smiled to himself, satisfied with the start of their weekend getaway.

“Kibum, come on!” Jinki called, taking Kibum out of his reverie. The door to a taxi was open, and Jonghyun was throwing his and Taemin’s luggage inside the trunk.

Minho, who had surpassed him now, looked back. His eyes were twinkling as he grinned. “Yeah, what’s taking you so long?” What a little shit. Kibum slowly returned his grin before Minho turned back around and picked up his pace, jogging to toss his backpack in the trunk before he slipped inside.

He stuffed his duffle bag beside Minho’s backpack and closed the trunk, squeezing into the backseat next to Minho. Jinki closed the door and hopped into the front. “Where are we going?” the taxi driver asked, and Kibum leaned into Minho as he reached into his back pocket for his phone, rattling off the address for the hotel.

Jonghyun stretched his legs out from where he was sitting on Taemin’s lap, resting his ankles across Kibum’s thighs. He closed his eyes and leaned back, his freshly-dyed -- as far as Kibum could tell -- platinum blond hair ruffling in the breeze of the open window. “Don’t you even think about it, Choi,” he said without looking up.

Minho’s hands froze over the rips in the knees of Jonghyun’s knees. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Mhm.”

Taemin and Kibum shared a look before Taemin reached out, slipping his hand beneath Minho’s, and tickling Jonghyun’s exposed skin. He pulled his hand back before Jonghyun sat up and Kibum pursed his lips to keep from laughing, looking out his window as Jonghyun started yelling at Minho, despite his protests.

The line of shops they were driving past came to an end, revealing the sea beyond. Blue, as far as the eye could see. The ocean melted into the distant horizon. Little puffy clouds were scattered like popcorn across the sky, casting their shadows on the calm sea and the beach and the roads. Kibum rolled down his window and leaned against the door. Behind him, Minho sighed.

“Thanks for doing this, Bummie,” he said, softly enough so only Kibum could hear him.

“Yeah, no problem.”

… … …

He was staring; he knew he was.

In his defense, it had been nearly six months since he had last seen Kibum and he was still so...so beautiful. Not that he was expecting him to change all that drastically in their time apart, but… His hair was longer now, the breeze toying with the many-colored strands. Minho worried his bottom lip as Kibum brushed it out of his eyes, his gaze not leaving the sea now that it was in view, and he looked away.

Jonghyun reached out, a smile in his eyes as he ruffled Minho’s hair. “So, when you’d do that?”

“Hm?” His eyes flicked up to Minho’s honey-blond hair and then back to meet his gaze, smiling fully now. Minho knew without having to check in the rearview mirror that his face was coloring. “A couple of weeks ago.”

“It’s a bold choice for you.” Taemin snorted, carding his fingers through his lavender hair. “What, it is!” Jonghyun said, smacking Taemin’s chest with a laugh. “I never thought he’d go this light!”

“I think it looks good,” Kibum said, still without looking away from the window.

Minho’s eyes widened, and he made the mistake of meeting Jonghyun’s knowing, slightly pitiful gaze. He lowered his eyes, smiling to himself. Of course, Jonghyun knew. “Thanks.” His hand found Minho’s thigh, and he patted it gently before he withdrew.

“I like how we all decided -- without telling each other -- that we’d dye our hair.”

“It just proves that we’re on the same wavelength, no matter how far away we are from each other,” Jinki said, turning around with a smile. “So, where do we want to eat?”

“I’ll look up some places,” Taemin said, reaching into Jonghyun’s pocket and pulling out his phone.

“What happened to yours?” he asked as Taemin typed in the pin, unlocking it.

“I forgot it at home, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Minho started when Kibum grabbed his shoulder, pulling him close. He leaned into him, closing his eyes as Kibum’s breath tickled his ear. “Could they be any more obvious?” Minho bit back a smile, shaking his head when Kibum pulled away to look him in the eye. Kibum leaned back in. “Do you think they’ve told each other yet?”

He hummed in thought, turning his head to whisper in Kibum’s ear. “I mean, they live together, so…”

Kibum snorted softly. “That doesn’t mean anything, though.”

“I guess.”

“What are you two gossiping about?” Jonghyun asked, Minho looking his way with guiltily wide eyes.

Kibum’s hand slid off of Minho’s shoulder and down his arm, slowly pulling away at his elbow. “Nothing,” he said with a nonchalant shrug. “I was thinking we’d go to Hwaro Hyang, and I was just telling Minho what I read about it online.” Minho’s eyebrows shot up and he looked back at Kibum, whose eyes were twinkling as he avoided meeting his gaze.

He was always so quick on his feet -- it got them out of so much trouble during college. Kibum unlocked his phone, pulling up the restaurant website and passing it to Jonghyun. His eyes flicked to Minho’s -- he had been staring again -- and his cheeks dimpled with a small smile.

The rest of the ride to the hotel was fairly quiet. Jinki and the driver chatted about things to do while they were -- as if he’d be anywhere but their hotel or the beach -- while Taemin watched Jonghyun play a game on his phone, pointing at the screen when he thought he should make a move. Kibum went back to staring out the window, and Minho folded his hands in his lap, tapping his thumbs together as he stared blankly at the ocean.

“So, what’d you want to do today?” Kibum asked, leaning his head against the door and looking back at Minho. He blinked, refocusing, and searched Kibum’s expression. “We’ve got all day.”

“Just us two?”

Kibum shrugged, squinting when the sun shone in his eyes. “We can bring the others along if you want.”

Odds were that Jonghyun and Taemin would be lounging around today and would only want to leave the hotel once the bars were open. Jinki had been talking about napping ever since they met up at the Incheon airport this morning, so it would probably just be them this afternoon.

Not that Minho was complaining, of course.

“No, I’m good with that.” Kibum smiled, turning to look out the window again. “What’d you have in mind?”

… … …

“What floor?”

Kibum’s eyes followed Minho as he leaned across him to press the button of the elevator. Fifth floor. He tapped their room key against his palm, glancing over Minho’s shoulder at the others. “Are you sure you guys are fine with me having the single room?” Jinki asked, his hands wringing around the handle of his carry-on bag.

“You asked for it,” Kibum said, snorting.

Jinki sighed. “I know, but -- “

Jonghyun cleared his throat. “I mean, Taemin and I are roommates, so this isn’t new for us.”

“Yeah, and you know how hyper Kibum and I can get," Minho said as he slung his arm over Kibum's shoulder, pulling him snug against him. "We wouldn't want to bother an old man like you with our bullshit."

Jinki cocked his head with a glare, feigning exasperation. "Really? We're already starting with the old man jokes?"

Jonghyun covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing and turned to Taemin to hide his amusement when the elevator stopped. The door opened and a family of white tourists coming on. Americans, it sounded like, based on their accent. They huddled in the middle, and Minho moved him and Kibum to the wall, while Jonghyun, Taemin, and Jinki did the same on the opposite side. Jinki covered his mouth with his fist, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

"Should I tell them we're not laughing at them?" Kibum whispered to Minho when the mother kept giving them weird looks.

"It's up to you."

He couldn't decide by the time they reached the fifth floor, and Minho swept him away and into the hallway, the other three following them. Minho dropped his arm from Kibum’s shoulder, and Kibum let out an almost sigh, already missing the weight of his arm. “523...52 -- This way!” Jinki said, turning around and leading the four of them down the long, beige hallway.

Kibum glanced around at the prints hanging on the walls, unsurprised to find picture after picture of the ocean or waves. His gaze fell to the royal blue carpet, and he smirked, leaning toward Minho. “I wonder where they got their inspiration for the decor.”

Minho took a quick cursory glance around, his eyes lighting with amusement before he looked Kibum’s way. “It’s unclear.”

“Mm. Maybe...just maybe...it has something to do with the sea.”

He hummed thoughtfully, stopping in front of their door as Kibum fiddled with the key card. “It’s possible. Or perhaps the ocean.”

“I see where you’re coming from. But I think it’s more from the sea.”

“But this is Ocean Suites, so…” His voice trailed off with a sarcastic lilt, and Jonghyun scoffed as he unlocked his and Taemin’s door on the other side of the hallway, letting Taemin head inside first.

“Text us when you want to eat,” he said to no one in particular, the door closing behind him.

“All I’m saying is that the ocean is more likely as a source of inspiration than -- “ Jinki sighed, his door slamming shut and making them both jump. “See, I told you you wouldn’t want to share a room with us!” Minho called out, and they leaned toward the door, waiting for Jinki’s laugh. When it came, Kibum grinned and slid their card into the slot and pushed the door open.

A blast of cool air caressed him as he walked inside, Minho closing the door behind him. “Right or left?” he asked when Minho followed him into the main room.

“Bummie, they’re separate beds.”

“Yeah, but -- “ Minho tossed his backpack on the left bed, leaving the one closest to the window for Kibum. “Thanks, you’re a total sweetheart.”

Minho blinked sarcastically. “Aren’t I just?”

Kibum shoved him, and Minho went limp as he fell onto his bed. He smiled then, dazzling as ever, and Kibum’s heart fluttered like it always did. He swallowed thickly, crossing his arms over his stomach as he sat on his own bed, facing Minho’s. “So, how have you been? It’s been a while.”

He rolled over onto his side, propping his cheek up on his fist. “We talk literally every day.”

“Not in person. It’s different.”

“Yeah.” Minho watched him for a second, his stare wandering until he blinked and met Kibum’s eyes again. “I’ve been okay. You?”

“Just okay?” Minho nodded, shrugging with one shoulder. “I’ve been fine.”

“Just fine?” Minho asked, mimicking Kibum’s tone. Smiling, Kibum nodded. A silent better, now that I’m with you hung in the air, waiting to be spoken. But some things were better left unsaid.

Back in college, Minho had been his almost, and there were moments -- like this -- where Kibum thought he might be aware of that fact. He had considered it, telling Minho how he felt, but when Minho said that his dad wanted him to come back to Incheon and work under him as his assistant coach… Kibum knew better than to interfere, knew better than to try his luck on a “what if.”

“I’m here if you need to talk about it,” Minho said, bringing Kibum back to the present. He shook the cobwebs of his college memories out of his head with a small smile.

“Thanks. Maybe later.” Minho started to sit up. "Did you eat breakfast?"

He nodded. "I mean, I could eat again, if you're hungry."

“Let’s go, then!”

… … …

“So, then you two broke up?” Minho asked, passing Kibum the cup of peach ice cream they were sharing. He nodded and Minho grinned, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “Is that why you dyed this, then? Emotional distress?”

Kibum scoffed, moving away from Minho and shaking his head, trying to get his hair back to its original style. “No, I just did this because I wanted to.” When he moved back to stand beside him, Minho reached over and brushed Kibum's fringe off his forehead. He smiled to himself as he took another spoonful of ice cream then passed it back to Minho. “I knew you’d tease me about my hair.”

“I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you, then.”

A sigh, and then Kibum reached for the ice cream, his fingers covering Minho’s as he took another spoonful. “But really, she and I just weren’t compatible. We were really only dating because our parents set us up.”

“Yeah, same.”

“Oh right, you broke up with Seulgi too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but that was months ago.”

Seulgi was one of the female soccer players that practiced after his dad’s team did. She had been wearing an oversized Park Jisung ManU jersey, and Minho had stopped to chat with her until both his dad and her coach were yelling at them to move on. The next time they saw each other was at a sports bar in town, and she drank him under the table. Their conversation slurred as the night went on, but when they made it back to her apartment, she had sobered up enough to push Minho out of her space, as they had been leaning on each other to be able to walk.

“Please don’t get the wrong impression,” she said as she fumbled with her keys. “I like you, but I’m not interested in you.”

Minho had been about to blurt out that he wasn’t interested in her either, when the door swung open, to reveal another woman, whose wide eyes met Minho’s when Seulgi’s inhibitions lowered enough for her to coo “Jagi-ya” at her as she stumbled in the house. Minho blinked, the term of endearment settling into his alcohol-addled. He smiled, his brow furrowing as he pressed his finger to his lips and nodded, and staggered off the porch and away.

“So, my parents want me to ‘find a nice boy and make him date me’,” Seulgi said once she pulled him aside before her practice started. A tired smile lifted her features. “Which is, you know, great for me.”

“Of course. I’m sure Joohyun is thrilled.”

Seulgi snorted. “So, listen...I was thinking…” Minho’s eyebrows raised and he glanced her way, already guessing where this was going. “Since I’ve got a girlfriend, and you’re still hung up on that Kibum guy…And since you’re the only nice guy I’ve ever met, I thought we could help each other get our parents off our backs.”

“As long as Joohyun is okay with it, sure.”

“Really?”

“We can date for as long as you need to, I don’t mind.”

She let out a sigh as she pulled him into a quick, tight hug. “You’re the best!” she called out over her shoulder, blowing him a kiss before she joined her team. Minho rolled his eyes with a smile.

Kibum snapped his fingers in front of Minho’s face, bringing him out of his memories. “Thought I lost you for a second.”

“Aww, were you worried you’d have to go on without me?” Kibum scoffed, his face coloring as he took the ice cream out of Minho’s hands. Minho grinned. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” Kibum said in a droll monotone. “Every moment that passes without you is a waste. Every second that you’re not beside me, I yearn for you.”

He grabbed Kibum’s arm, stopping him in the middle of the street, his expression one of faux agony. “I long for you with every breath that we're apart,” Minho said, finishing the lines from the play they had auditioned for, all those years ago. Kibum’s face scrunched up as he laughed and pushed Minho away, and Minho broke character, laughing with him. “God, what was that play?”

“The writers were just trying to invoke emotion.”

“At what cost?”

“Our sanity?” Kibum’s eyes met Minho’s then, and they both broke into a fit of giggles. He leaned on Minho to keep his balance. Once he had regained most of his composure, Kibum tossed the empty cup into the nearest garbage can, his spoon clattering onto the pavement. He bent over to grab it, and Minho put his own spoon into the garbage.

They started walking again, their shoulders bumping together. “I’m glad we decided to do this,” Kibum eventually said, his voice quiet. “To come here, I mean.”

Minho nodded. He had been surprised to get that text from Kibum that early in the morning. He had just been crawling into bed after playing video games until he was struggling to keep his eyes open. Truth be told, he had been relieved that Kibum finally texted him. It was strange to go almost a whole day without them really texting much, and he had been unsettled all day...until that moment. He sunk into bed, making himself comfortable before texting him back.

“Yeah, I really missed...you guys.” He gulped, glancing over to see if Kibum had caught his almost slip-up. “Honestly, we should do this more often.”

“I’m the only one who lives so far away, though. You four can still see each other more often,” Kibum said with an overly dramatic sigh. He grinned when Minho shoved him.

“Daejoon is probably the halfway point between us.” Not that he had looked that up or anything. Or checked out the restaurants there. Of course not. “We could always head there for the weekend. Or, you know, whatever works for you.”

Kibum looked at him, searching his expression with a suspicious twinkle in his eye. Oh shit, did he catch onto him? Before Minho could think of an excuse or explanation, Kibum’s phone chimed and he pulled it out. “Ah, Jjong is awake.” He texted him back, watching his screen until another message popped up. “They’re ready to eat.”

Minho glanced up, looking across the street to see Hwaro Hyang. He tapped Kibum’s arm and pointed at it, and Kibum nodded.

“Okay,” he said, Minho following him as he started to cross the street. “They’ll meet us there. We’ll get a table for us.”

When they said they needed a table for five, the hostess led them out onto the patio, bringing a chair over from one of the tables. “Your server will be right with you!”

“Thanks!”

The others arrived within a few moments of the bottles of soju and beer being brought to the table, and it wasn’t long before they ordered their fill of barbeque. As day transposed to night, and the comfortable haze of alcohol settled around them, Minho couldn’t help but stare at Kibum. He was dancing to one of f(x)’s older songs, the choreography sloppier than it should have been. He and Taemin and the group of girls who were also on the patio with them were having a great time dancing offbeat to the music blaring through the speakers.

He had asked Minho to dance with him, his fingers teasing down his arms as he reached for his hands. As much as he would have liked to, he was far more content to just sit back and enjoy Kibum’s uninhibited excitement.

He knew he was smiling like a lovestruck fool, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

… … …

“I bet he’ll confess by the end of the weekend.” Jonghyun pulled his beer away from his lips, frowning at Jinki until he nodded across the patio to where Minho was. He smirked then. “₩20,000 if he does,” Jinki said, holding out his hand for a shake of agreement.

Jonghyun took it, shaking it once. “They might not tell us, though.”

“True. But, we should be able to tell, right? They’ve never been great at hiding their feelings.”

“Yeah, to everyone except each other.”

Jinki laughed and took a swig of his soju. “I guess sometimes feelings are just more obvious to the people not wrapped up in them.”

Slowly, Jonghyun brought his beer back up to his mouth, hesitating for a second before he took a drink. His attention shifted from Minho and back to Taemin, his heart fluttering a little when he smiled his way.

… … …

Minho’s buzz had all but worn off by the time he dragged Kibum back to their room. Kibum, however, had had a few more bottles of soju before they left when the restaurant was closing. He was clinging to Minho like his life depended on it as he dug around for the key card in Kibum’s pocket, fishing it out and unlocking the door. It swung shut behind them as Minho maneuvered Kibum into the room and dropped him on his bed. He started to bend down to take off Kibum’s shoes for him when Kibum grabbed his hand, fiddling with his fingers.

“Stay with me,” he said, his slurred words ending with a giggle as Minho wiggled his fingers out of his grip.

“I am.” He pulled off one of Kibum’s shoes, tossing it toward the door. “We’re in the same room, Bummie.”

“No no no no no...no,” he stumbled over the words, shaking his head as he tried to sit up.

“Just lie down.” Minho tossed the other one aside before he stood and helped Kibum find his pillow. He pulled the covers over him, and Kibum grabbed his wrist before he could move away. He released him almost as soon as he grabbed him, but Minho didn’t pull back his hand. Not when Kibum’s fingertips grazed over his palm, a rash of goosebumps blooming across his skin. He laced their fingers together, squeezing his hand before his grip loosened.

But he didn’t let go.

“Stay with me.”

Minho opened his mouth, trying to think of a response.

His thumb brushed over the back of Minho’s hand, and he looked up, the light from the lamp gleaming in his eyes. “Please?”

Minho sighed, squeezing Kibum’s hand before he let go, his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he stepped into the bathroom. Deep breath in; long exhale out. His gaze flickered up, meeting his own eyes in the mirror before he shook his head slightly and grabbed two of the cups, filling them with water. After some digging into the drawers, he found some ibuprofen for when Kibum woke up.

He brought the cups and the pills out into the main room, his shoulders relaxing when he saw that Kibum was fast asleep, his arm stretched out across him. Minho set the cups down, one on each side of the nightstand, and then the pills closer to Kibum’s side. He checked to make sure that Kibum’s blanket was covering him before he turned off the light between them and settled into his own bed.

...

Sunday

Bright sunlight pierced the room, searing Kibum’s eyes as he started to open them. Groaning, Kibum curled up, pulling the covers over his head as he sank further into bed. “I’m never drinking again,” he mumbled to himself, pulling the covers back a fraction so he could see Minho.

Still asleep. Of course.

Kibum smiled despite the pounding of his head, his pained gaze flicking to the water and bottle of pills set out on his side of the nightstand. Slowly, he sat up, his stomach churning at the slight movement. He grabbed the cup of water and took a couple of sips before he picked up the bottle of pills and slid out of bed.

He braced himself on Minho’s bed as he walked past, being careful not to jostle it too much -- even if he knew Minho could sleep through a monsoon. Minho shifted, hugging his pillow a little tighter, and Kibum swayed for a second when he stopped, staring blearily. He smacked his lips in his sleep, his soft snoring continuing as he rolled over onto his back. A light rapping on the door drew his attention away, and Kibum staggered toward it.

Jonghyun grinned at him as the door swung open. “Get any sleep?”

Kibum started to nod but thought better of it. “Yeah.”

“Tae and I are heading down to breakfast, want to join us?”

“In a minute, gotta shower first.”

He let the door close and heading inside the bathroom. After he took his pills and drank the water, he turned on the shower. As much as he wanted to take a quick shower, once he stepped into the warm stream, he wanted to live in it. He sat on the floor of the shower, hugging his knees and closing his eyes as the water massaged his aching head.

How long he sat there, Kibum wasn't sure -- he just knew it felt amazing.

Once he stood, he washed his hair and body quickly and reluctantly vacated the shower. The bathroom was filled with steam, a sort of makeshift sauna. He wiped the mirror clean where his face was and he blow-dried his hair once he was dressed.

The ibuprofen must have taken effect because he felt marginally better as he stepped outside his and Minho's hotel room and started for the breakfast downstairs. He nodded to Jonghyun and Taemin, who were sitting on the same side of one of the tables -- Jonghyun sipping his coffee while Taemin was stuffing his face with a plateful of American food.

That actually...surprisingly...sounded good. He made himself a waffle and loaded up his plate with scrambled eggs and sausage links. He drowned it in syrup before he made his way over to Jonghyun and Taemin.

"Is Minho awake yet?" Taemin asked around his mouthful of food.

Kibum scoffed, cutting off the first bite of his waffle. "I know better than to try to wake him up." He smiled as he chewed, then swallowed. "As...funny as he is when he's grumpy, I'd rather not have that directed at me."

"Right."

"Like he'd ever really be grumpy with you." Kibum frowned mid-bite and looked at Jonghyun, who just laughed. "Forget it."

Jinki stumbled into the room, waving sleepily at them as he passed. “So, what’s the plan for today?” he asked once he sat across from Kibum with his own breakfast

Everyone turned to look at Kibum expectantly. He chewed quickly, swallowing. “Why is this on me?”

“It was your idea to come here?” Taemin said.

“I don’t know. I guess we could go to the beach?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

They ate quietly, Jonghyun picking food off of Taemin’s plate while they whispered back and forth to each other. Kibum watched them for a moment, amused, before he looked up to see if Jinki was paying any attention to them. He wasn’t.

Once Kibum finished eating, he got up to make a plate to take back to the room for Minho. By the time he finished with the waffle, Minho shuffled into the lobby, carding his fingers through his honey-blond hair. He sat in Kibum’s vacated seat, glancing his way with a sleepy smile. Kibum returned the smile and finished fixing him his coffee. He sat in the empty seat, setting Minho’s food in front of him, his smile growing when Minho looked up at him with adorably wide eyes.

“Thanks, Bummie,” he mumbled, picking up his fork and starting to eat. His hair was sticking up on one side, the wrinkles from his pillowcase indented on his cheek. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Not as bad as I was expecting.” Minho nodded, cutting off another bite. “Thanks for setting out that stuff for me.”

Minho smiled, his eyes darting to meet Kibum’s for a second before they fell back to his plate. “Yeah, no problem.” He ate a couple more bites before he asked, “So, what are we doing today?”

… … …

"Ooo, watermelon." Minho glanced in the direction that Kibum was pointing. There was a small kiosk on the edge of the beach selling fresh fruit, ice cream, cold beverages. "That sounds good."

"Hm, it does," Jinki said absently, lifting his sunglasses so he could see better. "There are some empty spots in the shade over there." If Minho had been looking, he would have seen the empty lounge chairs under the umbrellas, but he was still focused on the fruit kiosk.

The others were already making their way over to the shade, quickly so no one else could snatch the vacant spots up, but Minho hung back, digging his wallet out of the pocket in his swimming trunks. Kibum called out to him when he got in line, and Minho waved him on to join the others. He was too far away, but Minho could almost hear Kibum sucking his teeth at him. Smiling, he turned back around, ordering a large platter of cut fruit and a couple of water bottles.

He carried it all carefully over to where Kibum, Jinki, and Taemin were making themselves comfortable, setting it by Jinki’s feet. “Woah, Min, what’s this for?”

Minho shrugged, opening one of the water bottles and passing it to Kibum. “I just thought it would be nice.” He avoided meeting Kibum’s eyes until he passed the water bottle back to him, his expression soft. Minho grabbed the bottle and took a sip, almost coughing it back up when Jonghyun clapped his hand on Minho’s shoulder, crouching beside him.

“Hey, wanna go play volleyball?” He turned and found the group of guys Jonghyun was gesturing at. Jonghyun hooked his arm around Minho’s neck, grinning at him. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve played, but I think we still have it in us.” He patted Minho’s chest before he stood, looking back at the other guys. ��Anyone else want to come?”

Kibum scoffed, shaking his head as he snatched the water bottle from Minho’s hand. “Please, you guys were the dynamic duo.”

“Will you guys watch us?”

“From here,” Jinki said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose.

Jonghyun tugged on the back of Minho's tank top before he started running back across the sand, and Minho pulled off his sandals and sunglasses, setting them by the chair that Kibum was sitting in. “Hey,” he pulled out his wallet and handed it to Kibum who readily took it. “You mind watching this for me?”

“Not at all. Have fun,” he said, his dimples appear when he grinned. Minho started to smile, his drive to go join Jonghyun and the others dwindling. Until Jonghyun called him, that is. He let go of his wallet and jogged out onto the white sand.

… … …

It had been several years since Kibum had had the...opportunity to watch Minho play volleyball.

It was always just a recreational thing, since he played for the basketball and football teams at university. But, he liked to keep active, and it meant that Kibum always had something to do on the weekends because that’s when his games were and he always asked Kibum to come to watch him play.

Volleyball was his and Jonghyun’s game -- they dominated. Jonghyun’s slight stature always threw off new opponents, but he was a threat to be reckoned with. No one had better hustle than him on the court -- not even Minho -- and he could almost always perfectly set Minho up for the attack, no matter where he was on the court. There was a precision and fluidity to their movements that were unrivaled by anyone who dared oppose them.

Kibum’s breath hitched as Jonghyun set the ball up for Minho to attack, both of the guys on the opposite team jumping to block, and Minho tipped it across the net where it fell, untouched, in the sand.

He could hear their celebratory hollering from where he sat across the beach.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” Jinki said, grabbing another strawberry from the platter Minho had bought.

Kibum and Taemin gave unsynchronized hums in response. They had both been paying close attention to the game, but once Minho and Jonghyun's tank tops came off in the middle of the first match, they were both riveted. Not that Jinki minded, of course -- he had brought one of his books to read.

“Do you…” Taemin started to ask, his voice trailing off when Jonghyun moved to serve the ball.

“Do I what?” Kibum asked once the volley started.

“Do you think they need water?”

Oh...probably. It was a hot day and they’d been playing for a while...it’d only make sense. “We’ll be right back,” Kibum said, tapping the arm of Jinki’s chair. He picked up his and Minho’s half-drunk water bottle and Taemin did the same, and they ran out to them, standing on the sidelines. The ball was still in play, the longest volley of the match so far, both teams taking whatever attack the other could make. One, two, three, then over the net again until Jonghyun got the first touch.

For a split second, Jonghyun and Minho made eye contact -- Kibum assumed -- and Minho raced for the ball, lobbing it over on the second touch. It landed in-bounds on the backline of the opposite side, the other two guys scrambling to hit it and missing it by a hair. Taemin clapped loudly and Kibum let out an obnoxious cheer, drawing their attention.

Jonghyun jogged over first, taking the offered water bottle out of Taemin’s hands and taking a couple of quick sips before he drank almost all of it. Minho soon joined him, breathing heavily as he took the water bottle from Kibum.

“I think this is the game point,” he said between drinks. He bent over, grabbing his tank top from where he discarded it and wiped the sweat off of his brow and out of his eyes.

“Getting tired?” Kibum asked, holding out his hand for Minho’s tank top. He nodded, and Jonghyun huffed a laugh. “Are you having fun, at least?”

“Yeah,” Minho said with a small smile, and Kibum lowered his gaze, which locked onto his exposed torso.

“Well,” Taemin cleared his throat, crinkling the empty bottle that Jonghyun passed back to him. “You guys are doing great.”

“Thanks!”

Minho grabbed Kibum’s arm, pulling his attention away from Minho’s abs. “I think I have enough money, could you buy a couple more waters for us?”

“Uh, sure thing.”

Thanks, you’re the best.”

“I really am, aren’t I.”

Minho snorted and pulled Jonghyun’s attention away from Taemin with a pat to his shoulder. “Come on, we’re almost done.” He turned, and Kibum’s gaze lingered until Minho got into his ready position, glancing back over at them at the sidelines. Kibum immediately looked away, clearing his throat and discarding Minho’s tank top by his feet. When he looked back, Minho wore a cocky sort of smirk until Jonghyun served the ball.

Kibum rolled his eyes, huffing, and trudged back across the beach to where Jinki was lounging. “Did they win?”

He picked up Minho’s wallet. “Not yet,” he said, jogging as he ran over to the back of the line at the kiosk.

He opened Minho’s wallet, checking to see how much money he had before it came time to pay. Enough for three more bottles, it looked like. He was about to close it when he spotted a time-worn movie ticket stub. Curious, Kibum pulled it out.

Huh…

It was for Thor, the first one. He checked the date, his smile growing. It was the first movie they had went to together. Just them. The other three had already seen it, but Minho was busy studying when they went to the theater and he had asked Kibum to tag along with him. Afterward, they still didn’t want to head back to the dorm, so they hit the night market, eating as many samples as they came across.

Funny that he kept this…

“Sir?”

Kibum looked up to find that he was the next in line. He stuffed the ticket stub back in and pulled out the won he needed. “Hi, yeah, sorry…Three waters, please.”

… … …

"Good game!" Jonghyun called out to Sungwoo and Minhyuk, their opponents. Minho waved to them before he slipped his tank top back on and followed Jonghyun back to where the others were lounging in the shade. "Well, that was certainly fun," Jonghyun said, grinning up at Minho.

Minho slung his arm over Jonghyun's shoulders, holding him close for a second before releasing him. "I definitely missed playing with you."

"Same." He looked back to where the others were -- Kibum sliding into his seat and looking across the sand at Minho, holding up one of the bottles. Minho quickened his pace slightly, and Jonghyun hurried to keep up with him. "It was fun to show off a little, too."

He glanced down at Jonghyun before looking back at Kibum. "Yeah, it was."

Once they were back with the others, Taemin crossed his legs beneath himself and Jonghyun sat in the space he cleared for him. Kibum tossed Minho the water bottle he was holding. He sank down, sitting on the end of Kibum's lounge chair, his gaze slipping over to Kibum as he took a drink.

"Oh, you guys are back!" Jinki said, putting down his book to grab one of the wedges of watermelon. Minho grabbed the fruit platter, setting it between him and Kibum so everyone could finish it off. There were only a couple pieces left, and when Jonghyun took the last of it, he picked up the platter to return it to the kiosk.

Minho stretched his arms over his head, glancing out over the beach. Another volleyball game had already started -- two couples, it looked like. Seagulls cawed overhead as they searched for any scraps of discarded food. The breeze was warm, blowing through his still-sweaty hair. He turned his head, focusing on the cerulean waves washing ashore and the people chasing after them as they returned to the ocean.

He started to smile when he turned around, his eyes falling on Kibum who cocked his head in silent question. “Those are nice sunglasses,” he said, hoping his smile didn’t give him away.

“...Thanks? I just got them a couple of weeks ago, actually. They’re real Ray-Bans.” Taemin ooo’ed, and Kibum’s smiled at him. Minho held out his hand for them, and Kibum slowly took them off, squinting at Minho as he handed them to him.

His vision darkened when he slipped them on, the glare from the sun immediately going away. “Oh, they’re nice…” he said, flashing Kibum a smile before he jumped to his feet and started to run.

“Hey!”

There was laughter in his voice, and Minho’s smile turned into a grin as he ran through the crowded beach and to the water. The sand grew wet beneath his feet, a cool relief from the warmth of the dry sand, and water splashed around his ankles as he ran into the sea. The water was lapping around his knees before he started to turn around, only to be surprised by a splash drenching him.

"Come on, give them back!" Kibum said with a laugh, kicking more water at him as he turned fully around.

Minho took another step back, his eyebrows raising. "Come get them, then," he taunted, chuckling when huffed. He stepped back again, and again until the ocean reached his mid-thigh. Kibum followed him, raising his chin when he stood before him. For a split second, Minho was worried that Kibum was pissed at him, but it was soon eradicated by the appearance of Kibum’s dimples as he tried not to smile.

He took the sunglasses off, squinting at the sunlight shimmering on the surface of the water, and slipped them gently back onto Kibum’s face. “Better?”

“Yup.” Kibum smiled then, and if he hadn’t been wearing sunglasses now, Minho would have had a warning from the twinkle in his eye. He pushed Minho into the water, his laughter becoming distorted and warbled as Minho submerged. Minho wiped his face clean once he resurfaced and ran after Kibum before he got too far away. “No no no -- “ he chanted as he ran away, and he let out a yelp when Minho grabbed him from behind, picking him up in his arms. “What are you doing?” he yelled when Minho started to twirl him, water splashing around them.

He meant to just toss him into the water, really, he did, but Kibum didn’t stop clinging to him, and Minho tumbled into the water with him. Minho pulled them out of the water almost immediately, Kibum sputtering a laugh as he took his hands off from around Minho’s neck. Before he could think better of it, Minho reached out, adjusting Kibum’s sunglasses so they sat straight on the bridge of his nose.

Sighing, he sat back, creating a little bit more distance between them. Neither stood, the small waves rolling past their chests. Kibum stared behind him with a smirk. Minho turned to find Jinki, Jonghyun, and Taemin splashing around in the water a little ways away. “We should all go skiing,” he eventually said, and Minho looked back at him.

“Right now?”

Kibum snorted. “Sometime after Christmas. Don’t you think it’d be fun?”

“Have you ever skied?”

“Just water skiing.” Minho frowned in question, and Kibum smacked his shoulder. “Remember, I told you about that! It was a thing my parents liked to do during the summer.”

“Right...I’ve never skied.”

“You’ll probably be a natural at it, don’t worry.”

The breeze picked up, Kibum’s wet hair blowing into his face and sticking to the lens of his sunglasses. He tried to shake it off, but it wouldn’t budge. So, Minho reached out and brushed it away, fixing his part while he was at it. He couldn’t tell if Kibum was watching him when he dropped his hand -- the lens was quite dark and he couldn’t see his eyes. Minho cleared his throat when Kibum’s lips parted and lowered his gaze to the water between them.

“We should probably head back to the room and shower before we go out tonight.”

Minho’s brow furrowed. “Go out?”

Kibum’s lips curled up in a smile, and his attention turned back to the others. “Yeah, to the bar. Jinki mentioned it when you guys were playing volleyball.”

“Yeah, okay.” Minho pushed himself up, water dripping off of his clothes as he reached out to help Kibum up. Their joined hands lingered a second longer necessary as they made their way out of the water.

… … …

Thunder rumbled overhead, the promise of rain perfuming the air as Kibum and the others hurried into the Bluebird. Minho closed the bright blue door behind them, and they ventured into the main room.

A haze enveloped the room, the scent of old cigarettes clinging to the rafters and the gaudy red chandeliers. Colored lights cut through the haze, shining on the dance floor and the karaoke stage. Tall tables and supporting poles were scattered about the room, patrons roaming between the dance floor, the karaoke stage, and the bar for more drinks. Jonghyun and Kibum both looked at the current singer, cringing at how off-key they were. Minho laughed and pulled them away and toward the bar.

They ordered their drinks, setting up at the counter when Jinki started asking the bartender questions about the whiskey he had ordered. As soon as the last note played, Jonghyun shot up from the bar, abandoning his drink, and hurried to take the mic.

Three drinks later, and Minho had grabbed Kibum's hand, leading him away from the bar. He let go of him and hooked his arm around one of the poles, twirling around a couple of times until Kibum laughed. Then he grinned, stepped away from it, and took Kibum’s hand, letting him take him to the nearest open spot on the dance floor.

Kibum tried not to read too much into it -- they were both a little tipsy and just having fun, after all. But, it was a little hard not to get his hopes up with the way Minho’s hands kept slipping around his waist and pulling him closer. He had always been a tad flirtatious, especially after a few drinks, but...Kibum lost his train of thought when he met Minho’s eyes.

The blue light they were bathed in shifted to purple as Minho’s gaze caressed him, and he opened his mouth, starting to say something, only to clear his throat and look away. A small smile toyed with the corner of his mouth and he nodded to the empty stage. “You wanna?”

Kibum followed him up on stage and scrolled through the song choices. “Oh, they have Boa!”

“Of course they do,” Minho said as he adjusted the mic stand.

“Do you know Dangerous?”

“Just the choreography.” Kibum frowned his way and Minho just laughed. “We got drunk one night and instead of studying you showed me a bunch of live stages and we learned it.” Kibum selected it with a chuckle, the loud techno music booming from the speakers as the song began.

He did his best to sing and do the choreography with Minho, who was giving it his absolute everything. But when Jonghyun ran up to the stage, holding his phone like he was recording them, he couldn’t help but break and laugh. Minho stepped in, singing along slightly off-beat until Kibum could sing again. When the last note played, Minho held up his hand for a high five.

He grinned, tapping the back of his hand against Minho’s palm before he put the mic back on the stand. Kibum braced himself on Minho’s shoulder as they took the steps back down to the dance floor, and he followed him back to the bar through the crowded bar getting separated when a group of guys stepped between them.

Kibum stumbled over someone’s discarded shoe, reaching out to a nearby table to brace himself but accidentally grabbing the arm of one of the nearby patrons. “Sorry,” he said, patting their arm before he let go and started to move away. Only, someone grabbed his arm and whipped him around.

The guy was a little taller than Kibum, and about the same size, bulk-wise. If it came to that, Kibum could probably hold his own against him, as much as he detested the thought. He shrugged the man’s hands off of his arms only for him to grab him again, squeezing a little tighter this time.

“Hey, it was an accident, I didn’t mean to grab you.”

“Me?” The guy shook Kibum. “You touched my fucking girlfriend!”

“And I said I’m sorry?” Kibum batted his hands away again, his brow furrowing. “Obviously, I didn’t mean anything by it, so if you could just fuck off now so we can all move on with our night, that’d be great.”

He grabbed the front of Kibum’s shirt, pulling him a little closer. “No one touches my girlfriend without my say so.”

“I think you mean without her ‘say so.’ It’s her body, dude, not yours.” He tried to push him away, but his fist tightened in Kibum’s shirt.

“Junho, just leave him be,” the guy’s girlfriend said, trying to step between them. “I’m fine, nothing happened.” Junho shoved her away, and she stumbled into the table, catching herself before she fell.

Oh, fuck, the guy was belligerently drunk. Kibum wrenched himself free of his hold and backed away, standing between him and his girlfriend. A pair of hands slipped around Kibum’s waist. He didn’t even have to look up to know that it was Minho turning and guiding him back to the bar. Junho staggered forward, yelling something that Kibum didn’t quite catch.

The crack then tinkling of glass was unmistakable, however, but Kibum didn’t feel the blow. Instead, Minho slumped against his back and Kibum turned, catching him before he fell to the floor. “Min?” His eyes opened slowly, and he stared at the floor beyond Kibum. “Minho?”

The bar bustled to life around them, but Kibum didn’t pay them any mind. He cupped Minho’s face in his free hand, looking into his eyes until Minho focused on him.

“Let’s get you out of here.”

… … …

All was quiet in the bathroom of the bar, except for the dripping of one of the sinks. Minho leaned against the wall and Kibum sat crouched before him, holding the bag of ice he got from the bartender where the bump on the back of his head was. Minho kept his eyes closed, the dim light of the bathroom still too bright for him right now, and focused on the steady, soothing strokes Kibum’s other hand made against his side.

“You’ve gotta keep talking to me, Min,” he said, his voice strained.

He had already thrown up. Twice. Kibum stayed beside him both times, rubbing his back and dabbing the sweat from his brow with a wet paper towel.

“Thanks, Bummie,” he whispered.

He scoffed. “What are you thanking me for? I’m the one who got you hurt…”

“For...making sure I’m okay.” He opened his eyes then, barely, and Kibum immediately met his gaze. “And don’t blame it on yourself. It’s not your fault. Better me than you.”

“Hey, no, that’s not true. You think I like seeing you like this?” Minho sniffed, the need to cry building up and making his headache worse. He closed his eyes again and Kibum sighed, his thumb brushing away the first of Minho's fallen tears. "How are you doing?"

Before he could answer, the bathroom door creaked open and Kibum retracted his hand as quiet footsteps approached. "You doing okay, Minho?" Taemin whispered -- Kibum must have told him to stay quiet.

"Yeah."

"The bartender made you another ice pack and found some tylenol."

"What about the guy?" Kibum asked.

"He got thrown out."

"Okay, thanks, Tae." The door opened and closed once more, and Kibum carded his fingers through Minho's hair, massaging the crown of his head lightly.

"Are you mad at me?" Minho asked with a heavy sigh.

"Of course not. Here." The pills rattled together as Kibum opened the bottle and he grabbed Minho's wrist, opening his palm. "Take these." Minho slightly opened his eyes again, sipping the offered water and taking the pills in his hand.

Kibum leaned forward, pressing Minho's head until his forehead rested on his shoulder. "Just a second," he said, his breath ghosting over the shell of Minho's ear. Something wet splatted off to his right, and the new ice pack was pressed against the back of his head. "Lean back now."

His thumb caressed Minho's cheekbone, and he opened his eyes. Kibum started to pull away but Minho grabbed his hand and rested their joined hands in his lap, lacing their fingers together. "This is probably a weird time to say this but, uh, I'm really glad we got to come here. To Jeju. Together. I’ve been, well, pretty lonely since we all left college, but..." Kibum squeezed his hand, and Minho looked up at him. "This trip has been nice."

"Except for this part," Kibum said with a soft laugh.

Minho smiled then huffed when the throbbing of his head increased for a second. "This part is still nice. Being with you is...is nice."

Kibum searched his expression, his eyes brightening slightly in the dim light. Then, he smirked, looking down at Minho's chest. "I don't think you realize what you're saying."

"Because of my head?" Kibum nodded, his gaze slipping back to meet Minho's. "You're right. Maybe that's why I'm finally saying it, but -- "

"Finally?"

Minho sighed and reached back to adjust his ice pack. "I've missed you. A lot. Ever since I dropped you off at the train station so you could go back to Daegu." A small smile bloomed on Kibum's face. "That's...that's when I knew. For sure."

"Knew what?"

Minho squinted at him then smiled when he saw Kibum’s smirk. “Do I really have to say it?”

He shrugged, squeezing Minho’s hand. “Not if you don’t want to.” Minho’s gaze dropped to Kibum’s lips, just for a second, and when he looked back up he found that Kibum was doing the same. His eyebrows raised in silent question when Kibum’s eyes met his once more. In answer, Kibum’s hands gently cupped Minho’s face, holding his head steady as he leaned in.

The kiss was softer than Minho had expected their first kiss to be.

Perhaps it was because of his probable concussion, but Kibum was being extraordinarily gentle with him. He wanted nothing but to melt into Kibum’s arms, to relish in this moment that he’d wished for. That he’d dreamed of for years. When Kibum started to pull away, Minho reached out with his free hand and grabbed his shirt, pulling him back. Kibum smiled against his lips, deepening this kiss as he leaned as much into Minho as their positions would allow.

He pulled back, leaving Minho a little breathless, but didn’t lean away. Their noses brushed together as Kibum rested his forehead against Minho’s, and there was a smile in his voice when he said, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

The door opened again, and Kibum scooted away from Minho and looked toward whoever it was while Minho adjusted his ice pack again.

"You doing alright?" Jinki asked, his voice echoing slightly.

"Yeah, I think the tylenol is starting to kick in."

"Good. Just say the word and I'll get you a taxi back to the hotel."

Kibum looked back at him with a small smile. "We'll be back in a minute," Minho said and Kibum turned back to Jinki, nodding.

"Okay." Jinki slipped out of the doorway, letting the door creak shut behind him.

… … …

"Are they doing okay?" Jonghyun asked Jinki as he returned to his place beside him at the bar.

Jinki smiled, swirling his beer around in his glass. "Yeah. I think I walked in mid-confession."

"Oh?" Jonghyun sat up, his attention snapping to Jinki. "Are you sure?"

"I mean, they looked like they were about to kiss…Or just kissed..." Jinki shrugged, then, with a bright smile, held out his hand to Jonghyun. Sighing, Jonghyun dug into his pocket for his wallet, fishing out ₩20,000 and passing it over to Jinki. "It's about time, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing over to where Taemin was singing karaoke. "It is." He finished the rest of his beer, pushing away from the bar. "I'll be right back,"

If Kibum and Minho could finally admit their feelings for each other, then so could he…

Taemin smiled at him as he approached the stage, and Jonghyun returned it, stuffing his hands in his pockets while he waited for him to finish singing. When he did, Jonghyun held his hand out and Taemin readily took it, hopping off the stage.

"Hey."

"Hey...can we talk?"

… … …

“Woah…”

Kibum stopped, steading Minho when he swayed once he was standing. “You good?”

“Head rush. I’m fine.” He huffed a laugh. “God, I hate headaches.”

“We can leave as soon as you need to, okay?”

Minho started to nod, but instead said, “Okay.”

He guided him out the door and into the noisy bar, returning him to his spot on the bar. Minho’s hand settled on his thigh as Kibum ordered him a glass of water. Jinki turned to them and Kibum swiveled around on his stool, finding Jonghyun lead Taemin away from the dance floor and out the front door. “Oh, is it finally happening?”

Minho hummed in question and Jinki asked, “What?”

“Nothing.” He swiveled back to face Minho, finding him squinting in the light. “Here.” He took his sunglasses out of his pocket and gingerly put them on Minho. “Better?”

“Much.”

By the time Minho finished sipping his water, Jinki had gotten a taxi for them to head back to the hotel. Jonghyun and Taemin were waiting for them by the curb, both drenched from the drizzle. Both were grinning, though, despite their shivering. Kibum thought about asking them what happened, but the cab arrived. They filed inside and Jinki gave the driver the address and they were off.

Minho leaned his head against the window, wincing when there was a pothole. Kibum touched his arm and Minho looked over. He patted his shoulder and Minho slowly scooted over, resting his head on Kibum’s shoulder with a sigh.

Someone cleared their throat, and Kibum looked over to find Jonghyun watching them. He glanced at Minho then back to him, his eyebrows raising. Kibum nodded and Jonghyun grinned, then Kibum glanced pointedly at Taemin before looking back at Jonghyun. His grin turned to a shy smile, and Taemin leaned closer to him, distracting Jonghyun from his and Kibum’s silent conversation by whispering in his ear.

Kibum looked away, giving them a bit of privacy.

“You still doing okay?” he whispered when the lights from the hotel came into view.

“Yeah.”

“We’re almost there.”

The elevator ride seemed longer than normal, and Kibum helped Minho maintain his balance as they reached their floor. “So I texted Chinri,” Jinki said as they walked down the corridor. “And she said that it’s okay if you sleep with a concussion.”

“Okay,” Kibum answered for him. “Did she give any special instructions?”

“Maybe wake him up every few hours? Make sure he’s still doing okay.” He pulled out his phone, scrolling through the texts between him and his wife. “If you want to, Min, you can head home with me and she can check you out for free after her shift tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that works.”

“Let us know if you need anything, okay?” Jonghyun said once they stopped at their doors. Kibum nodded and unlocked the door, letting Minho go in first.

“Do you want the light on?” Kibum asked once the door closed behind him.

“Uh, I guess.” Kibum flicked it on as Minho walked into the bathroom, wetting his toothbrush.

He brushed his teeth and Kibum went to the main room to change into his sleeping clothes. He turned down Minho’s bed before he crawled into his own. As much as he would like to sleep in the same bed, he wasn’t quite sure if Mino was ready for that. All doubts, however, were eradicated when Minho came back into the main room, glanced at his bed, and walked over to Kibum’s with a question in his expression.

Kibum scooted over, trying very hard not to smile as Minho slipped beneath the covers with him. He curled into him, his arm draping over his stomach as he settled into bed. “Sleepy?”

“No.” He sighed, his breath tickling Kibum’s neck. “Okay, yeah...but I don’t want to sleep. I’d much rather talk with you.”

Kibum stroked Minho’s back, pulling him a little closer and kissing his forehead. “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you in a few hours, and we can talk then, okay?” His eyes fluttered closed when Minho kissed his neck. He could feel his smug smile against his skin, and he shifted away so he could look him in the eye. Kibum brushed his hair off of his forehead, his hand cupping Minho’s cheek. “As much as I want to, you need your rest, right?”

“Yeah. It’s just…” Minho sighed sadly. “We’re going home tomorrow. And who knows how long it’ll be before we see each other again.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He brushed his thumb over the scar on Minho��s cheekbone, his expression softening when Minho leaned into his touch. “We’ll figure something out, alright? Don’t worry.” Kibum closed the distance between them, guiding Minho into a tender kiss that led to another and another. They both sighed when Kibum pulled away, and he leaned over Minho to grab his phone from where it was charging on the nightstand. Quickly, he set a series of alarms and he placed his phone on his side of the bed.

He leaned back over him, flicking off the light and covering them in darkness. “Get some sleep, Min. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Minho wrapped his arm around him again and nuzzled into his neck. “I already can’t wait.”

...

Monday

7:48 // I already miss you how pathetic is that?

7:49 // I would say very but then I’d be calling myself pathetic so

7:49 // you miss yourself? Self-absorbed much? Just look in a fucking mirror and move on with your life

7:51 // ㅋㅋㅋ obviously I was talking about missing you ㅋㅋ

7:51 // oh I know...it’s just nice to hear is all :-)

7:53 // ㅋㅋ you’re cute

7:53 // I’m well aware but thank you for noticing

7:55 // hey I'm boarding now so I’ve gotta go 7:57 // are we still meeting in Daejoon on Friday?

7:57 // yup, I can’t wait

7:58 // me too <3

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