the space between two worlds
rating: g - r
pairings: keo with a guest appearance by rabin
wc: 1527
more one sentence whatever i feel like per genre for a pairing. apologies to kyungri, i actually ship her and ken pretty hard.
1. angst
It's a nice story, the one they tell at all the interviews about Jaehwan's ex; the kind of bittersweet, socially acceptable romance the media adores. And it's fine, really -- it's easy -- for Jaehwan to bow his head and smile nostalgically and talk about how hard it was to give up what he had for the sake of chasing his dream, and if Taekwoon seems a little colder than usual on camera then that's fine too. It's still easier than the truth, that those words -- when our music succeeds, when everything goes well, I'll give you everything I couldn't give you now -- were promises whispered across pillows and shy, threaded fingers long before they were lyrics.
The song was never about her.
2. au
"Hyung, look out!"
Taekwoon throws himself to the floor just in time to avoid the bathtub that goes crashing through the living room wall.
"Sorry," Jaehwan says for what must be the fiftieth time now, as if it makes a difference to the bruises Taekwoon is already sporting. He's going to kill Hakyeon for making him play this stupid game in the first place, then kill the other members for leaving him with Jaehwan as his server player -- reverse age order his ass -- and finally, kill Jaehwan himself for being, Taekwoon is sure, the single least helpful entity in the history of SBURB. Assuming Jaehwan doesn't accidentally crush him first.
...Their dorm doesn't even have a bathtub.
"Yah! Where did you get that from?"
3. crack/humor
Taekwoon is pissed and it's sort of Jaehwan's fault, but also Wonshik's and a lot Sanghyuk's. They've been practicing all morning for Wonshik's birthday event, and even though Taekwoon can do the body rolls and hip thrusts and booty pops (as Wonshik won't stop calling them), they keep having to stop on account of the fact that Sanghyuk won't stop snickering every time he looks in Taekwoon's direction.
"I'm sorry," the maknae says, not even trying to hide his grin. "But are you seeing the face hyung is making?"
By the time they get to the part of the choreography with the levels, Sanghyuk is having a full blown meltdown on the floor and Wonshik is starting to throw a tantrum ("Hyung, you're ruining my birthday present to the fans!"). Before Taekwoon can get his hands on either of them, Hakyeon grabs him and shoves him out into the hall along with Jaehwan.
"Help him," he orders-slash-begs the younger vocalist, before slamming the door on them and rushing back to where Sanghyuk is slowly turning purple.
"Okay!" Jaehwan shouts enthusiastically, clapping a hand on Taekwoon's shoulder and ignoring the glare he gets in return. "Let's start from 'bameul saedo mojara dada.'" He widens his stance, bends at the waist, and places his hands on his cheeks. "For this part I like to do an expression called 'duck lips.' Whenever you're ready, hy-- hey! Don't hit your head on the wall. If your face gets even less cute, we'll never finish practicing!"
4. dark fic
There's something intensely satisfying about the burn in his arms and the elastic, crunching sensation between his fingers the more he tightens them. It's a pretty neck -- Kyungri is a very, very pretty girl overall, Taekwoon has no problem admitting that. Pretty and talented and not so good at listening, but Taekwoon leans in close to make sure she can hear him now, even over the wet, desperate gurgling.
"I told you to stay away from him."
5. first time
"Is it gonna hurt?"
"You've asked that a dozen times now," Taekwoon grumbles, but he softens his tone immediately when he sees Jaehwan's eyes start to gleam. "A little bit, when it first goes in," he admits. "But only for a second." He takes his hand and squeezes. "Ready?"
Jaehwan takes a deep, nervous breath and nods.
Half an hour later, they're back in the van and Jaehwan won't stop leaning over the front seat to look at himself in the rearview mirror, turning his head side to side as he admires the shiny new silver studs in his ears.
"Waaah, so chic! Hyung, look, they sparkle when I go like this. Hyung. Hyung. Leo-hyung. Hyung, you aren't looking! Oh, let's stop in Dongdaemun, I wanna shop for earrings. We can get matching sets!"
Taekwoon sighs and turns up the volume on his iPad, but doesn't argue; he figures he can afford a few pairs of earrings on top of the piercing fee.
It's their first anniversary, after all.
6. fluff
"Stop talking."
Jaehwan pouts and throws himself dramatically across Taekwoon's lap. "You always tell me to shut up," he whines.
Taekwoon boops his nose. "Aniyo," he says, because Jaehwan is wrong -- it's true that he can only stand so much incessant chatter, but he's never once told him to shut up. If he did that, Jaehwan wouldn't sing, and Taekwoon wants to listen to him sing forever.
7. future fic
Wonshik arrives home from the studio to find Hongbin in the living room, phone to his ear and a very concerned look on his face.
"Who is it," he asks.
Hongbin turns to him and furrows his brow harder. "It's Kenjumma."
"Jaehwannie?"
"No, I mean Kenjumma." He sets the phone to speaker mode and hits playback.
"Yah! What's your son doing hanging around my precious Chayeonnie? Taking her to cafes after school, buying her sodas, who said that was okay, huh? He looks like a delinquent! De-lin-quent. Blonde hair at that age, what does he think he is, an idol? And piercings, he has too many piercings and bracelets and, and muscles! Ravi-goon, was that you? Did you raise him to have muscles like that? Haaah? I didn't give my permission for this! My daughter is too pretty and smart and talented and cute and pure for this kind of scandal, you brats, you delinquents, you, you, y--"
There's a familiar, long-suffering sigh in the background before the message abruptly cuts off. Wonshik and Hongbin exchange looks.
"Uh... maybe we should have a talk with Hyunsik-ah when he gets home today?"
"Yeah..."
8. hurt/comfort
They gave him the bed by the window after all, Jaehwan notices; he'd lost count of how many times Hakyeon had called the nurses' station with his demands. Taekwoon has the back of it propped up and is staring out at the rain, grey light washing over him and making him look colder and paler than ever. He doesn't turn as Jaehwan quietly approaches, but Jaehwan can see him tense as he settles on the edge of the stiff mattress.
"Hyung," he whispers, and immediately swallows because even that seems like too much. Too cruel. He reaches out slowly, fingers brushing.
He's not ready (he would never be ready) when Taekwoon bares his teeth, convulsing with the force of his own sob. He turns and buries his face against Jaehwan's chest, shoulders heaving with frustration and despair and more ragged sentiments than words could possibly hold. Jaehwan wants to cover his ears because he can hear all of them, too loud and too painful and every last one screams it's not fair it's not fair it's not fair, the scar on his throat is so small.
But Jaehwan is just as helpless, can only hold him as they cry in the silent room. For once, he can't think of anything to say, and Taekwoon has never wanted to speak so badly in his life.
9. smut
Taekwoon is a terrible drinker.
For as big as he is he really ought to be able to hold his liquor better, but Jaehwan's been matching him shot for shot the entire night (which only makes Taekwoon drink more, because everything is a competition with him) and Jaehwan knows Taekwoon is gone when he starts pressing sloppy kisses against his neck, moaning soft, drunken endearments in his ear as he drags him into the empty alley behind the bar. Jaehwan's going to have a hell of a time trying to explain this away to the makeup noonas -- the scrape of brick wall and blunt nails and teeth on his skin -- but Taekwoon's on his knees now and even though he's not wasted, Jaehwan's also not nearly sober enough to care.
10. ust (unresolved sexual tension)
Jaehwan does this... thing with his mouth. Taekwoon's not quite sure how to describe it -- some combination (sequence?) of a lip bite and a pout and a flash of tongue (that hot, talented tongue) in a way that leaves everything wet and glistening and completely fucking frustrating because he does it all the time, or at least whenever Taekwoon happens to be looking (which is pretty much all the time).
But the worst part, Taekwoon learns one day -- staring past the camera at him during a photoshoot, watching him do the thing when suddenly Jaehwan locks eyes with him, mouths something obscene that goes straight to Taekwoon's cock, sucking on his bottom lip (don't) so that Taekwoon understands it's not a suggestion, but a promise -- the worst part is that he's absolutely, one hundred percent doing it on purpose.
pairings: keo with a guest appearance by rabin
wc: 1527
more one sentence whatever i feel like per genre for a pairing. apologies to kyungri, i actually ship her and ken pretty hard.
1. angst
It's a nice story, the one they tell at all the interviews about Jaehwan's ex; the kind of bittersweet, socially acceptable romance the media adores. And it's fine, really -- it's easy -- for Jaehwan to bow his head and smile nostalgically and talk about how hard it was to give up what he had for the sake of chasing his dream, and if Taekwoon seems a little colder than usual on camera then that's fine too. It's still easier than the truth, that those words -- when our music succeeds, when everything goes well, I'll give you everything I couldn't give you now -- were promises whispered across pillows and shy, threaded fingers long before they were lyrics.
The song was never about her.
2. au
"Hyung, look out!"
Taekwoon throws himself to the floor just in time to avoid the bathtub that goes crashing through the living room wall.
"Sorry," Jaehwan says for what must be the fiftieth time now, as if it makes a difference to the bruises Taekwoon is already sporting. He's going to kill Hakyeon for making him play this stupid game in the first place, then kill the other members for leaving him with Jaehwan as his server player -- reverse age order his ass -- and finally, kill Jaehwan himself for being, Taekwoon is sure, the single least helpful entity in the history of SBURB. Assuming Jaehwan doesn't accidentally crush him first.
...Their dorm doesn't even have a bathtub.
"Yah! Where did you get that from?"
3. crack/humor
Taekwoon is pissed and it's sort of Jaehwan's fault, but also Wonshik's and a lot Sanghyuk's. They've been practicing all morning for Wonshik's birthday event, and even though Taekwoon can do the body rolls and hip thrusts and booty pops (as Wonshik won't stop calling them), they keep having to stop on account of the fact that Sanghyuk won't stop snickering every time he looks in Taekwoon's direction.
"I'm sorry," the maknae says, not even trying to hide his grin. "But are you seeing the face hyung is making?"
By the time they get to the part of the choreography with the levels, Sanghyuk is having a full blown meltdown on the floor and Wonshik is starting to throw a tantrum ("Hyung, you're ruining my birthday present to the fans!"). Before Taekwoon can get his hands on either of them, Hakyeon grabs him and shoves him out into the hall along with Jaehwan.
"Help him," he orders-slash-begs the younger vocalist, before slamming the door on them and rushing back to where Sanghyuk is slowly turning purple.
"Okay!" Jaehwan shouts enthusiastically, clapping a hand on Taekwoon's shoulder and ignoring the glare he gets in return. "Let's start from 'bameul saedo mojara dada.'" He widens his stance, bends at the waist, and places his hands on his cheeks. "For this part I like to do an expression called 'duck lips.' Whenever you're ready, hy-- hey! Don't hit your head on the wall. If your face gets even less cute, we'll never finish practicing!"
4. dark fic
There's something intensely satisfying about the burn in his arms and the elastic, crunching sensation between his fingers the more he tightens them. It's a pretty neck -- Kyungri is a very, very pretty girl overall, Taekwoon has no problem admitting that. Pretty and talented and not so good at listening, but Taekwoon leans in close to make sure she can hear him now, even over the wet, desperate gurgling.
"I told you to stay away from him."
5. first time
"Is it gonna hurt?"
"You've asked that a dozen times now," Taekwoon grumbles, but he softens his tone immediately when he sees Jaehwan's eyes start to gleam. "A little bit, when it first goes in," he admits. "But only for a second." He takes his hand and squeezes. "Ready?"
Jaehwan takes a deep, nervous breath and nods.
Half an hour later, they're back in the van and Jaehwan won't stop leaning over the front seat to look at himself in the rearview mirror, turning his head side to side as he admires the shiny new silver studs in his ears.
"Waaah, so chic! Hyung, look, they sparkle when I go like this. Hyung. Hyung. Leo-hyung. Hyung, you aren't looking! Oh, let's stop in Dongdaemun, I wanna shop for earrings. We can get matching sets!"
Taekwoon sighs and turns up the volume on his iPad, but doesn't argue; he figures he can afford a few pairs of earrings on top of the piercing fee.
It's their first anniversary, after all.
6. fluff
"Stop talking."
Jaehwan pouts and throws himself dramatically across Taekwoon's lap. "You always tell me to shut up," he whines.
Taekwoon boops his nose. "Aniyo," he says, because Jaehwan is wrong -- it's true that he can only stand so much incessant chatter, but he's never once told him to shut up. If he did that, Jaehwan wouldn't sing, and Taekwoon wants to listen to him sing forever.
7. future fic
Wonshik arrives home from the studio to find Hongbin in the living room, phone to his ear and a very concerned look on his face.
"Who is it," he asks.
Hongbin turns to him and furrows his brow harder. "It's Kenjumma."
"Jaehwannie?"
"No, I mean Kenjumma." He sets the phone to speaker mode and hits playback.
"Yah! What's your son doing hanging around my precious Chayeonnie? Taking her to cafes after school, buying her sodas, who said that was okay, huh? He looks like a delinquent! De-lin-quent. Blonde hair at that age, what does he think he is, an idol? And piercings, he has too many piercings and bracelets and, and muscles! Ravi-goon, was that you? Did you raise him to have muscles like that? Haaah? I didn't give my permission for this! My daughter is too pretty and smart and talented and cute and pure for this kind of scandal, you brats, you delinquents, you, you, y--"
There's a familiar, long-suffering sigh in the background before the message abruptly cuts off. Wonshik and Hongbin exchange looks.
"Uh... maybe we should have a talk with Hyunsik-ah when he gets home today?"
"Yeah..."
8. hurt/comfort
They gave him the bed by the window after all, Jaehwan notices; he'd lost count of how many times Hakyeon had called the nurses' station with his demands. Taekwoon has the back of it propped up and is staring out at the rain, grey light washing over him and making him look colder and paler than ever. He doesn't turn as Jaehwan quietly approaches, but Jaehwan can see him tense as he settles on the edge of the stiff mattress.
"Hyung," he whispers, and immediately swallows because even that seems like too much. Too cruel. He reaches out slowly, fingers brushing.
He's not ready (he would never be ready) when Taekwoon bares his teeth, convulsing with the force of his own sob. He turns and buries his face against Jaehwan's chest, shoulders heaving with frustration and despair and more ragged sentiments than words could possibly hold. Jaehwan wants to cover his ears because he can hear all of them, too loud and too painful and every last one screams it's not fair it's not fair it's not fair, the scar on his throat is so small.
But Jaehwan is just as helpless, can only hold him as they cry in the silent room. For once, he can't think of anything to say, and Taekwoon has never wanted to speak so badly in his life.
9. smut
Taekwoon is a terrible drinker.
For as big as he is he really ought to be able to hold his liquor better, but Jaehwan's been matching him shot for shot the entire night (which only makes Taekwoon drink more, because everything is a competition with him) and Jaehwan knows Taekwoon is gone when he starts pressing sloppy kisses against his neck, moaning soft, drunken endearments in his ear as he drags him into the empty alley behind the bar. Jaehwan's going to have a hell of a time trying to explain this away to the makeup noonas -- the scrape of brick wall and blunt nails and teeth on his skin -- but Taekwoon's on his knees now and even though he's not wasted, Jaehwan's also not nearly sober enough to care.
10. ust (unresolved sexual tension)
Jaehwan does this... thing with his mouth. Taekwoon's not quite sure how to describe it -- some combination (sequence?) of a lip bite and a pout and a flash of tongue (that hot, talented tongue) in a way that leaves everything wet and glistening and completely fucking frustrating because he does it all the time, or at least whenever Taekwoon happens to be looking (which is pretty much all the time).
But the worst part, Taekwoon learns one day -- staring past the camera at him during a photoshoot, watching him do the thing when suddenly Jaehwan locks eyes with him, mouths something obscene that goes straight to Taekwoon's cock, sucking on his bottom lip (don't) so that Taekwoon understands it's not a suggestion, but a promise -- the worst part is that he's absolutely, one hundred percent doing it on purpose.