Stairway to the Stars
Fandom: SS501
Rating: PG PG-13 if you squint really hard.
Genre: Romance
Pairing: HyunJoong/KyuJong
Word Count: 1690
Summary: HyunJoong is a peculiar alien, but KyuJong doesn’t mind.
Author's Note: Writing exercise; trying to get my writing mojo back. This somehow turned into something ridiculous Will never stop making alien references toward Leader, no siree.
HyunJoong had seen the cosmos, and it was quite lovely. He had chased after shooting stars, heading to all unknown parts of this massive universe, leaving his mark wherever he went. As he traveled from planet to planet, making note to tuck a memory away for safekeeping, he knew there was still one thing-or rather, person-that made his space odyssey seemed lonesome, and even rather pointless.
“How irritating,” he mumbled as he skated around Saturn’s rings, but the annoyance in his voice couldn’t keep the smile from appearing on his face. He spun in place for a moment before coming to a complete stop. As he stared off into the dark oblivion, he let out a sigh that quickly turned into a chuckle.
“Haven’t been to Earth in a while,” he thought aloud. “Maybe it’s time for a visit.”
KyuJong’s life followed a perfect routine: wake up to enjoy a simple breakfast consisting of toasts and two eggs, sunny side up; walk to work (unless it’s raining-then he would ride the bus); go through the rest of the day with a cheerful smile before finally heading home to have dinner and go to sleep. The routine was set, and it made his life easy, so-to KyuJong-there didn’t seem to be any reason to revise it. Of course some things were out of his control-like the occasional visits from that strange alien-and consequently his perfect routine would wound up being thrown aside completely, much to his dismay.
“Yo!”
Surprise, confusion, and finally horror flashed across KyuJong’s face in a matter of a nanosecond. “H-hi, HyunJoong…hyung…” KyuJong stared at the alien sitting cross-legged in front of his apartment door.
“Do you have any of that ramyeon thing lying around?”
KyuJong nodded politely, but in his mind, his perfect routine was crumbling all around him. Again.
KyuJong cupped his face with two hands, watching with childlike fascination as his alien companion slurped up the last of the noodles in the small yellow pot. His earlier worries had dispersed almost completely while he was watching HyunJoong eat. There was something intriguing about watching an alien eat, since after all, this wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence that one could brag to people about.
Too bad I can’t tell anyone that I’m harboring a weird alien in my apartment, KyuJong thought to himself dejectedly.
“I heard that.”
KyuJong dropped his hands, and stared at HyunJoong, surprised. “Y-You can read my thoughts? Since when can you read my thoughts?”
HyunJoong took a few slurps of the soup, a satisfied smile made its way to his face. He responded to KyuJong’s bewildered face with his own amused smile. “I’ve always been able to do that,” he stated simply. When KyuJong continued to stare back at him in confusion, HyunJoong continued explaining, “You’ve never asked before.”
KyuJong’s bemused stare remained. After a moment of awkward silence, KyuJong got up from his seat, stating loudly that he was going to bed.
HyunJoong grinned, running after him without a moment’s thought, “Let’s sleep together!”
KyuJong tripped after hearing HyunJoong’s eager suggestion.
(“Why can’t we sleep together?”
“It’s weird for men to share beds together when there’s a second spare bed in the next room.”
“Technically I’m asexual.”
“…It’s weird, hyung!”
“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t, Kyu.”
“Stop wagging your eyebrows, hyung!”)
“See, isn’t this nice, sleeping next to each other like this, Kyu?”
KyuJong turned away from HyunJoong, making sure his back was facing the alien lying next to him. He was a pushover, and there was no point in denying it. His inability to say no to people had often led him into many uncomfortable situations, but this time, it was just downright ridiculous. KyuJong made a mental note to work on refusing most people’s requests, particularly the absurd ones.
“I don’t think you’re a pushover, Kyu.”
KyuJong stiffened. “Are you reading my thoughts again?”
“…Maybe.”
KyuJong yanked his cover closer to himself. “Good night, hyung.”
“Good night, KyuJong!”
It was nearly two in the morning, and HyunJoong had been watching KyuJong sleep for the past four hours. He had spent his time making sure KyuJong was well covered, and chasing away the tiny little insects that snuck into the room, and on occasions, peeking into KyuJong’s dreams.
“You dream about brushing your teeth?” HyunJoong asked the sleeping man next to him incredulously. HyunJoong shook his head in disappointment. “You need a different dream, Kyu,” HyunJoong whispered, placing a hand over KyuJong’s forehead. “Perhaps seeing Saturn’s rings would be a pleasant dream to have.”
HyunJoong fell asleep after seeing KyuJong’s smile.
“Hyung,” KyuJong started the next morning, stopping to take a quick bite into his toast, “What is it like-up there, I mean?”
HyunJoong slurped on his ramyeon, chewing noisily as he pondered over KyuJong’s question. “It’s nice, why?”
“N-no reason.” KyuJong took another bite, and quickly buried his head behind a newspaper to hide his flustered face.
HyunJoong smiled knowingly before resuming his own meal.
(“Aliens don’t really need to eat, right?”
“No, not really.”
“So why are you always eating ramyeon?”
“Because there aren’t any ramyeon in space.”
“Oh…”)
Later that night, HyunJoong let KyuJong see the Milky Way in his dreamscape.
As he played with KyuJong’s hair, he noticed that this was the closest the two of them could see his world together.
Maybe someday you could be reincarnated as an alien.
KyuJong couldn’t understand the dreams he had been having recently, but they were much nicer than the ones he usually had, so he supposed there wasn’t really any reason to question them too much.
One morning, KyuJong was determined to make HyunJoong eat something other than ramyeon, an act which he was quickly rebuked for by his alien guest.
“You have your own routine, and this is mine: eating ramyeon all of the time.”
KyuJong frowned. “F-fine, I’ll break my breakfast routine today if you’ll break yours.”
HyunJoong raised a brow.
“This is jajangmyeon. S-see, it’s kind of like ramyeon…except without the soup, and it is mostly black and-”
HyunJoong decided aloud that he liked jajangmyeon; KyuJong smiled in satisfaction.
(“Can I have ramyeon for lunch and dinner?”)
After watching a science-fiction movie together, KyuJong started eyeing HyunJoong suspiciously. HyunJoong couldn’t stop shaking the uneasy feelings away.
(“What’s your real name, hyung?”
“My what?”
“Your name. Your real name. 'HyunJoong' is a Korean name, so you can’t expect me to believe that this is the name you use with your people.”
“That’s a secret, Kyu.”
“…what’s your real appearance then?”
“This is my real appearance!”
“Oh, so I suppose all aliens look like Koreans?”
“…Maybe.”
“Hyung!”)
On the tenth night of HyunJoong’s stay, he realized that he was starting to miss his home as he let KyuJong dream about wayward shooting stars. He rubbed KyuJong’s head soothingly, wondering if the man next to him was making any wishes on the falling stars.
I have to go back.
KyuJong looked up, startled. His head turned in different directions, trying to locate the source of this voice he had heard. He looked around his room, finding not a soul in sight. He scratched his head, slightly befuddled. Was he hearing things then?
No, you’re not, Kyu.
“Hyung?” KyuJong walked out of his bedroom, trying to locate the alien. “Where are you? And why are you communicating this-this way…” KyuJong stopped walking when he found HyunJoong curled up on his living room couch. He touched HyunJoong’s shoulder gently. “Hyung?”
I don’t want to talk, so I’m communicating to you telepathically instead.
KyuJong blinked, dumbfounded. HyunJoong’s voice sounded a little irritated. “A-are you mad at me?”
No…but I have to go back.
KyuJong sat down next to HyunJoong. “Why? You stayed longer last time, and-”
You’ve been working a lot, and I don’t like being by myself too long here.
“Sorry, but I need to make money to buy more ramyeon for you,” KyuJong tried to joke to cheer up HyunJoong, but his attempt was fairly weak and futile. He looked at HyunJoong’s face, searching for any sign of the alien’s usual amusement. “Do you miss being up there?”
…A little
KyuJong was silent as he tried to figure out what to say next. Even though he was always worried when HyunJoong would suddenly show up, KyuJong hated it when the alien left. “You’ll visit me again, rig-” KyuJong stopped midsentence, eyes widened when he felt warm lips against his own.
“I wish I could take you with me,” HyunJoong whispered softly when he pulled away from KyuJong’s lips a little. “You’d like it, everything is so pretty and-”
“I’ve seen it,” KyuJong blurted. He covered his mouth suddenly, embarrassed by his outburst. When HyunJoong pulled his hands away from his mouth, KyuJong continued speaking tentatively, “I think I’ve seen it. In my dreams, they were really nice and-” KyuJong’s eyes widened again, realization finally dawning on him. “You did this. You’re messing with my head again! Stop smiling like that, hyung!”
“You’re an interesting human.” HyunJoong smiled, poking KyuJong’s cheek when he saw a pout forming.
“You’re an odd alien,” KyuJong retorted, attempting to swat the finger away only to be pushed down on the couch instead. He let out a meek squeak when he saw HyunJoong’s mischievous smile, and felt a finger tracing his abdomen.
“How about a goodbye present before I leave?”
KyuJong’s second soft squeak went unnoticed by HyunJoong.
(“I thought you were asexual!”
“…Can we do it again?”
“H-h-hyung!”)
On the last night together, HyunJoong let KyuJong see a golden staircase leading to the heavens. HyunJoong remembered seeing something like this in his prior visits to Earth through a movie (or was it a cartoon? Painting? In any case, it didn’t really matter-he just remembered loving this breathtaking imagery). He stayed with KyuJong for a few hours, engraving every single detail of his human into his memory, before leaving in the middle of the night.
Right before he disappeared back to his world, he could have sworn he heard KyuJong speaking to him: Come back soon, hyung.
Clarifications
[1] Jajangmyeon (자장면) is a Korean dish, derived from a similar Chinese dish. It consists of wheat noodles topped with a black sauce, and often mixed with diced meat and vegetables. I want to eat jajangmyeon now.
[2] I’d like to think HyunJoong’s “real” name is U:ZOOSIN.
Rating: PG PG-13 if you squint really hard.
Genre: Romance
Pairing: HyunJoong/KyuJong
Word Count: 1690
Summary: HyunJoong is a peculiar alien, but KyuJong doesn’t mind.
Author's Note: Writing exercise; trying to get my writing mojo back. This somehow turned into something ridiculous Will never stop making alien references toward Leader, no siree.
HyunJoong had seen the cosmos, and it was quite lovely. He had chased after shooting stars, heading to all unknown parts of this massive universe, leaving his mark wherever he went. As he traveled from planet to planet, making note to tuck a memory away for safekeeping, he knew there was still one thing-or rather, person-that made his space odyssey seemed lonesome, and even rather pointless.
“How irritating,” he mumbled as he skated around Saturn’s rings, but the annoyance in his voice couldn’t keep the smile from appearing on his face. He spun in place for a moment before coming to a complete stop. As he stared off into the dark oblivion, he let out a sigh that quickly turned into a chuckle.
“Haven’t been to Earth in a while,” he thought aloud. “Maybe it’s time for a visit.”
KyuJong’s life followed a perfect routine: wake up to enjoy a simple breakfast consisting of toasts and two eggs, sunny side up; walk to work (unless it’s raining-then he would ride the bus); go through the rest of the day with a cheerful smile before finally heading home to have dinner and go to sleep. The routine was set, and it made his life easy, so-to KyuJong-there didn’t seem to be any reason to revise it. Of course some things were out of his control-like the occasional visits from that strange alien-and consequently his perfect routine would wound up being thrown aside completely, much to his dismay.
“Yo!”
Surprise, confusion, and finally horror flashed across KyuJong’s face in a matter of a nanosecond. “H-hi, HyunJoong…hyung…” KyuJong stared at the alien sitting cross-legged in front of his apartment door.
“Do you have any of that ramyeon thing lying around?”
KyuJong nodded politely, but in his mind, his perfect routine was crumbling all around him. Again.
KyuJong cupped his face with two hands, watching with childlike fascination as his alien companion slurped up the last of the noodles in the small yellow pot. His earlier worries had dispersed almost completely while he was watching HyunJoong eat. There was something intriguing about watching an alien eat, since after all, this wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence that one could brag to people about.
Too bad I can’t tell anyone that I’m harboring a weird alien in my apartment, KyuJong thought to himself dejectedly.
“I heard that.”
KyuJong dropped his hands, and stared at HyunJoong, surprised. “Y-You can read my thoughts? Since when can you read my thoughts?”
HyunJoong took a few slurps of the soup, a satisfied smile made its way to his face. He responded to KyuJong’s bewildered face with his own amused smile. “I’ve always been able to do that,” he stated simply. When KyuJong continued to stare back at him in confusion, HyunJoong continued explaining, “You’ve never asked before.”
KyuJong’s bemused stare remained. After a moment of awkward silence, KyuJong got up from his seat, stating loudly that he was going to bed.
HyunJoong grinned, running after him without a moment’s thought, “Let’s sleep together!”
KyuJong tripped after hearing HyunJoong’s eager suggestion.
(“Why can’t we sleep together?”
“It’s weird for men to share beds together when there’s a second spare bed in the next room.”
“Technically I’m asexual.”
“…It’s weird, hyung!”
“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t, Kyu.”
“Stop wagging your eyebrows, hyung!”)
“See, isn’t this nice, sleeping next to each other like this, Kyu?”
KyuJong turned away from HyunJoong, making sure his back was facing the alien lying next to him. He was a pushover, and there was no point in denying it. His inability to say no to people had often led him into many uncomfortable situations, but this time, it was just downright ridiculous. KyuJong made a mental note to work on refusing most people’s requests, particularly the absurd ones.
“I don’t think you’re a pushover, Kyu.”
KyuJong stiffened. “Are you reading my thoughts again?”
“…Maybe.”
KyuJong yanked his cover closer to himself. “Good night, hyung.”
“Good night, KyuJong!”
It was nearly two in the morning, and HyunJoong had been watching KyuJong sleep for the past four hours. He had spent his time making sure KyuJong was well covered, and chasing away the tiny little insects that snuck into the room, and on occasions, peeking into KyuJong’s dreams.
“You dream about brushing your teeth?” HyunJoong asked the sleeping man next to him incredulously. HyunJoong shook his head in disappointment. “You need a different dream, Kyu,” HyunJoong whispered, placing a hand over KyuJong’s forehead. “Perhaps seeing Saturn’s rings would be a pleasant dream to have.”
HyunJoong fell asleep after seeing KyuJong’s smile.
“Hyung,” KyuJong started the next morning, stopping to take a quick bite into his toast, “What is it like-up there, I mean?”
HyunJoong slurped on his ramyeon, chewing noisily as he pondered over KyuJong’s question. “It’s nice, why?”
“N-no reason.” KyuJong took another bite, and quickly buried his head behind a newspaper to hide his flustered face.
HyunJoong smiled knowingly before resuming his own meal.
(“Aliens don’t really need to eat, right?”
“No, not really.”
“So why are you always eating ramyeon?”
“Because there aren’t any ramyeon in space.”
“Oh…”)
Later that night, HyunJoong let KyuJong see the Milky Way in his dreamscape.
As he played with KyuJong’s hair, he noticed that this was the closest the two of them could see his world together.
Maybe someday you could be reincarnated as an alien.
KyuJong couldn’t understand the dreams he had been having recently, but they were much nicer than the ones he usually had, so he supposed there wasn’t really any reason to question them too much.
One morning, KyuJong was determined to make HyunJoong eat something other than ramyeon, an act which he was quickly rebuked for by his alien guest.
“You have your own routine, and this is mine: eating ramyeon all of the time.”
KyuJong frowned. “F-fine, I’ll break my breakfast routine today if you’ll break yours.”
HyunJoong raised a brow.
“This is jajangmyeon. S-see, it’s kind of like ramyeon…except without the soup, and it is mostly black and-”
HyunJoong decided aloud that he liked jajangmyeon; KyuJong smiled in satisfaction.
(“Can I have ramyeon for lunch and dinner?”)
After watching a science-fiction movie together, KyuJong started eyeing HyunJoong suspiciously. HyunJoong couldn’t stop shaking the uneasy feelings away.
(“What’s your real name, hyung?”
“My what?”
“Your name. Your real name. 'HyunJoong' is a Korean name, so you can’t expect me to believe that this is the name you use with your people.”
“That’s a secret, Kyu.”
“…what’s your real appearance then?”
“This is my real appearance!”
“Oh, so I suppose all aliens look like Koreans?”
“…Maybe.”
“Hyung!”)
On the tenth night of HyunJoong’s stay, he realized that he was starting to miss his home as he let KyuJong dream about wayward shooting stars. He rubbed KyuJong’s head soothingly, wondering if the man next to him was making any wishes on the falling stars.
I have to go back.
KyuJong looked up, startled. His head turned in different directions, trying to locate the source of this voice he had heard. He looked around his room, finding not a soul in sight. He scratched his head, slightly befuddled. Was he hearing things then?
No, you’re not, Kyu.
“Hyung?” KyuJong walked out of his bedroom, trying to locate the alien. “Where are you? And why are you communicating this-this way…” KyuJong stopped walking when he found HyunJoong curled up on his living room couch. He touched HyunJoong’s shoulder gently. “Hyung?”
I don’t want to talk, so I’m communicating to you telepathically instead.
KyuJong blinked, dumbfounded. HyunJoong’s voice sounded a little irritated. “A-are you mad at me?”
No…but I have to go back.
KyuJong sat down next to HyunJoong. “Why? You stayed longer last time, and-”
You’ve been working a lot, and I don’t like being by myself too long here.
“Sorry, but I need to make money to buy more ramyeon for you,” KyuJong tried to joke to cheer up HyunJoong, but his attempt was fairly weak and futile. He looked at HyunJoong’s face, searching for any sign of the alien’s usual amusement. “Do you miss being up there?”
…A little
KyuJong was silent as he tried to figure out what to say next. Even though he was always worried when HyunJoong would suddenly show up, KyuJong hated it when the alien left. “You’ll visit me again, rig-” KyuJong stopped midsentence, eyes widened when he felt warm lips against his own.
“I wish I could take you with me,” HyunJoong whispered softly when he pulled away from KyuJong’s lips a little. “You’d like it, everything is so pretty and-”
“I’ve seen it,” KyuJong blurted. He covered his mouth suddenly, embarrassed by his outburst. When HyunJoong pulled his hands away from his mouth, KyuJong continued speaking tentatively, “I think I’ve seen it. In my dreams, they were really nice and-” KyuJong’s eyes widened again, realization finally dawning on him. “You did this. You’re messing with my head again! Stop smiling like that, hyung!”
“You’re an interesting human.” HyunJoong smiled, poking KyuJong’s cheek when he saw a pout forming.
“You’re an odd alien,” KyuJong retorted, attempting to swat the finger away only to be pushed down on the couch instead. He let out a meek squeak when he saw HyunJoong’s mischievous smile, and felt a finger tracing his abdomen.
“How about a goodbye present before I leave?”
KyuJong’s second soft squeak went unnoticed by HyunJoong.
(“I thought you were asexual!”
“…Can we do it again?”
“H-h-hyung!”)
On the last night together, HyunJoong let KyuJong see a golden staircase leading to the heavens. HyunJoong remembered seeing something like this in his prior visits to Earth through a movie (or was it a cartoon? Painting? In any case, it didn’t really matter-he just remembered loving this breathtaking imagery). He stayed with KyuJong for a few hours, engraving every single detail of his human into his memory, before leaving in the middle of the night.
Right before he disappeared back to his world, he could have sworn he heard KyuJong speaking to him: Come back soon, hyung.
Clarifications
[1] Jajangmyeon (자장면) is a Korean dish, derived from a similar Chinese dish. It consists of wheat noodles topped with a black sauce, and often mixed with diced meat and vegetables. I want to eat jajangmyeon now.
[2] I’d like to think HyunJoong’s “real” name is U:ZOOSIN.