six drabbles! [exo]
six exo drabbles ~inspired by their recent photoshoot for the celebrity.
lapslock because i'm lazy, heh. the pictures are linked in the descriptions.
ready or not
178w. g. chanyeol/tao. inspired by this.
“you don’t think this is too much?” chanyeol asks, voice weary as he peeks around zitao to try and catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror. the younger boy scoffs and tightens his grip on the older’s chin. he’s done this for a lot of people, but chanyeol is the first to be so...restless. it’s hard to get him to sit still.
“of course not,” zitao assures his friend. he runs the eyeliner pen along the bottom of chanyeol’s eyelid one last time before sitting back to admire his work. “you look hot.”
chanyeol squints at his reflection. the boy peering back with his gelled up hair and dark smokey eyes and bedazzled jacket is hardly recognizable, but zitao is right - he does look pretty hot. he grins.
“yeah?” he asks, smoothing over his sideburns. “you think this will get me lots of groupies?”
zitao smiles and claps chanyeol on the shoulders. “oh, yeah.” he leans forward slightly to whisper in chanyeol’s big, dopey ear. “knock ‘em dead, pretty boy.”
chanyeol’s eyes gleam.
sweet serenade
345w. g. xiumin/d.o. inspired by this.
minseok doesn’t go out very often. he much prefers sitting around in his boxers watching bad reality television to surrounding himself with a bunch of drunk idiots. not that he hasn’t had his own fair share of being a drunk idiot, himself - he certainly has - he just likes to think that he’s gotten a little too old for that by now. he has better things to do with his time, anyway, like read comic books and sleep in until noon. yeah, he’s definitely too mature for night clubs.
bars, however, are different - or so luhan says when he drags him out for a “boy’s night.” the atmosphere is light and enjoyable, but there’s only so much social interaction minseok can take at a time. he excuses himself from their booth to take a breath of fresh air outside.
he’s leaning against the wall of the building when someone else stumbles out the door, cursing to themselves under their breath. minseok recognizes the stranger as the boy who had been singing on the bar stage just a few minutes ago. luhan had told him he was a regular performer. minseok thinks his voice is spectacular.
“bad day?” he asks, startling the other out of his reverie.
the singer’s cheeks tinge red in embarrassment; he hadn’t noticed there was another person in the alleyway until minseok had spoken up. “ah, you could say so, yeah,” he answers meekly.
“i’m sorry to hear that,” minseok responds. he pauses for a moment before continuing. “your voice,” he says, “it’s...nice. relaxing, even. i was having a pretty bad day myself until i heard you sing.”
the stranger seems startled by this sentiment, but he offers minseok a shy smile, anyway. “thank you,” he says, moving to lean against the wall next to his companion. “i’m kyungsoo, by the way.” he holds out a hand.
“minseok.” kyungsoo’s palm feels soft and small in his, and minseok feels his stomach start to churn at the prospect of a new friendship. “anytime,” he says with a smile.
a matter of tradition
377w. g. suho/chen. inspired by this.
“so...what are we doing here again?” baekhyun asks, tugging uncomfortably at his robe. “and why do we have to be dressed like this?”
jongdae shrugs. “i don’t know. it’s part of the whole traditional theme, i guess,” he says, eyes skimming the crowds. “and we’re here because junmyeon asked us to come. look, there he is! come on.”
the older boy groans and allows his best friend to drag him around until they are met face to face with the school’s cultural committee president. jongdae has no idea what a cultural committee even does, but the title of president certainly fits someone like junmyeon. it sounds hot, he thinks, and junmyeon is definitely hot. even if he is into lame things like traditional music festivals. but jongdae figures that bit can be forgiven.
“hi, hyung!” he chirps, a full fledged grin already surfacing on his face. baekhyun rolls his eyes. junmyeon, however, returns the smile with one of his own.
“jongdae! hey,” he says. “i’m glad you came. it’s really vital for everyone to learn and appreciate the importance of traditional music in our culture, you know?”
jongdae actually thinks this is all pretty boring, but hell if he’s going to admit that to his crush. “totally,” he says, nodding enthusiastically. “but hyung, do you know what’s even more vital?”
junmyeon’s brow furrows in confusion. “...what?” he asks.
“that you eat three meals a day,” jongdae answers simply. “have you eaten dinner yet?”
“uh...” it’s clear that junmyeon has been caught off guard by the question. “well no, it’s only four pm?” he points out. jongdae merely nods, as if he knew this would be his answer from the start.
“right, of course,” he continues to nod. “that works out perfectly, then. what do you say? you, me, dinner? my treat.” off to the side, baekhyun snorts. junmyeon merely stares for a moment before stuttering back a reponse.
“u-uh, okay?” he more so asks than answers, but it seems to be good enough for jongdae, who smiles so bright that junmyeon thinks he might go blind.
“awesome!” he exclaims. “it’s a date.”
junmyeon’s face heats up until it is a darker red than jongdae’s robes. baekhyun pretends to vomit into the nearest trash can.
ooh la la
547w. g. baekhyun/sehun. inspired by this.
sometimes, while they work, baekhyun and sehun like to play a game. it will start when one of them points out an interesting person in the room, most likely some drunk teenager there to dance their cares away. the challenge, then, is this: to find that person’s theme song amidst the hundreds of records at their disposal and play it for the entire club to hear.
baekhyun, who has been working as a dj for quite a bit longer than the barely legal sehun, usually emerges victorious whenever they play. not that there’s really a specific way to “win” or anything - but his choices are almost always faster, funnier, and more fitting than sehun’s. the younger also has the tendency to keep using girls’ generation’s ooh la la! as a descriptor for every single hot girl or boy that walks in, and as a result, they’ve played more bubblegum pop than any other club in the city. baekhyun blames sehun’s slow wit. sehun blames his older sister.
they’re in the middle of cackling over a very aptly assigned colorful by shinee (not only one, but two dudes with rainbow hair had just walked in) when sehun points out another “victim.” this time its a girl, with long dark hair and a deep frown on her face that sets her apart from her many happy peers. baekhyun wipes his eyes and calms himself before taking a closer look.
“hmmm,” he says, stroking his chin in thought. “i’d say a slower song. maybe a ballad of some sort. but forget her, i know of someone much more interesting. it’s your turn, remember?”
sehun seems confused, but shrugs anyway. “alright, who? i’ll try not to pick the same songs that i always do, this time,” he laughs.
baekhyun holds out a finger, ready to unveil his chosen target. “me,” he says, pointing at his own chest, a mischievous gleam in his eye. “pick a song that reminds you of me.”
sehun is surprised by this challenge but doesn’t back down. instead, he steps aside for a moment, trying his very hardest to think of the perfect song to describe baekhyun and how he feels about him. after a few moments of contemplation, he thinks he’s just about got it.
he puts on you are the one by super junior 05.
baekhyun listens for about five seconds before breaking out into chuckles, snorting at how utterly cheesy sehun’s choice is. however, there’s a smile on his face that refuses to go away, and he feels his heart start to flutter as the song plays on.
“you’re so gross,” he jokes, lightly shoving at sehun’s shoulder. the younger boy blushes, wondering if he’d taken it to far. he hadn’t exactly told his friend that he maybe likes him, after all. he’s just about to start panicking when baekhyun picks up on his apprehension and lightly squeezes his arm. “but it’s sweet. thanks,” he adds.
sehun smiles, cheeks still hot from embarrassment. “now do one for me!” he demands childishly, trying his best to hide his nervousness. baekhyun laughs.
it’s only a matter of mere seconds before the opening notes of ooh la la begin to ring throughout the club.
speak easy
506w. g. kai/kris. inspired by this.
jongin doesn’t know how or why, but somehow, he ends up landing a temporary gig as part of a jazz band at a speakeasy. he’s played the trumpet for years, but it has always been more of a hobby to him than anything else - something he took up in elementary school because “all well-rounded children need to learn to play an instrument” and that he never really let go of. he had never intended to make a living out of it, but here he is, shaking hands with the band’s “leader,” a tall, intimidating man named wu fan.
wu fan plays the saxophone, and he starts off his introduction by handing jongin some clothes and a rather large, rather ugly hat. “here’s your uniform for tonight,” he says with a smile. “go ahead and get changed in the back. and welcome to the team.”
jongin thinks this whole thing atmosphere is sort of weird (why are there uniforms? is there something wrong with his own slacks and dress shirt?) but he doesn’t question it. instead, he merely slips on the suit and atrocious hat and meets the rest of the band members on stage before sound check.
he notices almost immediately that he is the only one being forced to wear a hat (he really hates to look stupid, alright, and the hat is very stupid), but he doesn’t say anything. he figures that he’s new and has no right to complain, especially since wu fan probably just thinks the hat is nice or whatever. so he wears the stupid thing all night long, and all through the next night, and the next night, and the next night.
over the next few weeks, the set lists and the outfits change slightly, but the hat is there every night without fail. its always jongin, too, who has to wear it - much to his dismay. he even tries to pawn it off on jongdae, once, but wu fan notices and gives him this dejected look that makes jongin put it right back on his own head. he has no idea why the saxophone player insists that he of all people wear it, but he does, and jongin doesn’t dare disappoint.
(he later finds out, quite casually, that wu fan only wants him to wear it because his “dazzling good looks are threatening the rest of us and our average faces” and that he thinks the ugly accessory takes him down a few pegs on the hotness scale. jongin’s initial reaction is to be totally scandalized, but then he realizes that wu fan has just called him hot and grins.
“you know, usually when people are attracted to someone else, they want them to wear less, not more,” he teases.
wu fan reddens slightly before regaining his composure and rolling his eyes. “don’t get cocky, kid,” he says. “now put on your ugly hat. show’s starting in five.”
jongin laughs, but does as he’s told. he doesn’t complain about his uniform any longer.)
long way to the top
544w. g. luhan/lay. inspired by this.
“perfect. gorgeous. just a few more.”
another flash and another pose, and finally lu han is given a break. he’s been modeling for nearly an hour now, and he hasn’t eaten in ages. he’s starving and tired and a little frustrated from being told time and time again that he needs to look “more model and less pop star,” so he’s thankful for the short pause in his work. almost immediately, he walks over to yixing, who has just wrapped up the first part of his individual shoot, as well.
“this is exhausting,” lu han whines, resting his forehead on his best friend’s shoulder. yixing gives him a warm smile and a pat on the back, smoothing over the wrinkles in his funky designer jacket.
“you’ll get used to it,” he says, voice calm and patient as always. lu han merely sighs, but he’s thankful for yixing’s sweet words of encouragement. “this is what we wanted, right? to have our faces in magazines...our names in lights...it’s all coming true now. so just stick it out for a little while longer, okay?”
lu han knows that yixing makes a good point. but still, there’s a part of him that misses the simpler times, times when they would spend their saturday mornings sleeping in and watching cartoons rather than putting on uncomfortable clothes and trying to “look pretty.” he never fully understood the phrase be careful what you wish for until it was too late.
“yeah, i guess,” he shrugs, lifting his head with a frown. “but these photographers,” lu han lowers his voice to a whisper, “they’re absolutely insane. what do you mean, stop posing like a pop star? i am a pop star! it’s infuriating.”
yixing laughs, and lu han revels in the sound. “you’re getting too worked up, lu,” he says with a smile. “just a few more hours of this, and then you can go back to your singing and i can go back to my dancing. modeling is only a small part of the job; you just have to remember that.”
another sigh and lu han is stepping forward to give the other boy a hug. “i know. thanks. you’re the best,” he says, squeezing tightly.
the moment is interrupted as the directors call them back to their stations. pouting, lu han reluctantly lets go, completely unwilling to continue shooting. what kind of a break was that? he didn’t even have time to grab something to quell his rumbling stomach.
yixing gives him two thumbs up before taking the few steps back to his side of the set. “you’ll do great,” he says. “don’t worry!”
as soon as the photographer turns his camera back on, lu han’s heart sinks a bit. however, yixing’s words keep him going through every demand of “think model,” and there’s a warm feeling settled in the pit of his stomach that refuses to wane away.
yixing was right, of course. he had wanted this for as long as he could remember, and although it may prove to be hard at times, he could get through it. as long as his best friend was by his side, lu han felt like he could conquer anything.
lapslock because i'm lazy, heh. the pictures are linked in the descriptions.
ready or not
178w. g. chanyeol/tao. inspired by this.
“you don’t think this is too much?” chanyeol asks, voice weary as he peeks around zitao to try and catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror. the younger boy scoffs and tightens his grip on the older’s chin. he’s done this for a lot of people, but chanyeol is the first to be so...restless. it’s hard to get him to sit still.
“of course not,” zitao assures his friend. he runs the eyeliner pen along the bottom of chanyeol’s eyelid one last time before sitting back to admire his work. “you look hot.”
chanyeol squints at his reflection. the boy peering back with his gelled up hair and dark smokey eyes and bedazzled jacket is hardly recognizable, but zitao is right - he does look pretty hot. he grins.
“yeah?” he asks, smoothing over his sideburns. “you think this will get me lots of groupies?”
zitao smiles and claps chanyeol on the shoulders. “oh, yeah.” he leans forward slightly to whisper in chanyeol’s big, dopey ear. “knock ‘em dead, pretty boy.”
chanyeol’s eyes gleam.
sweet serenade
345w. g. xiumin/d.o. inspired by this.
minseok doesn’t go out very often. he much prefers sitting around in his boxers watching bad reality television to surrounding himself with a bunch of drunk idiots. not that he hasn’t had his own fair share of being a drunk idiot, himself - he certainly has - he just likes to think that he’s gotten a little too old for that by now. he has better things to do with his time, anyway, like read comic books and sleep in until noon. yeah, he’s definitely too mature for night clubs.
bars, however, are different - or so luhan says when he drags him out for a “boy’s night.” the atmosphere is light and enjoyable, but there’s only so much social interaction minseok can take at a time. he excuses himself from their booth to take a breath of fresh air outside.
he’s leaning against the wall of the building when someone else stumbles out the door, cursing to themselves under their breath. minseok recognizes the stranger as the boy who had been singing on the bar stage just a few minutes ago. luhan had told him he was a regular performer. minseok thinks his voice is spectacular.
“bad day?” he asks, startling the other out of his reverie.
the singer’s cheeks tinge red in embarrassment; he hadn’t noticed there was another person in the alleyway until minseok had spoken up. “ah, you could say so, yeah,” he answers meekly.
“i’m sorry to hear that,” minseok responds. he pauses for a moment before continuing. “your voice,” he says, “it’s...nice. relaxing, even. i was having a pretty bad day myself until i heard you sing.”
the stranger seems startled by this sentiment, but he offers minseok a shy smile, anyway. “thank you,” he says, moving to lean against the wall next to his companion. “i’m kyungsoo, by the way.” he holds out a hand.
“minseok.” kyungsoo’s palm feels soft and small in his, and minseok feels his stomach start to churn at the prospect of a new friendship. “anytime,” he says with a smile.
a matter of tradition
377w. g. suho/chen. inspired by this.
“so...what are we doing here again?” baekhyun asks, tugging uncomfortably at his robe. “and why do we have to be dressed like this?”
jongdae shrugs. “i don’t know. it’s part of the whole traditional theme, i guess,” he says, eyes skimming the crowds. “and we’re here because junmyeon asked us to come. look, there he is! come on.”
the older boy groans and allows his best friend to drag him around until they are met face to face with the school’s cultural committee president. jongdae has no idea what a cultural committee even does, but the title of president certainly fits someone like junmyeon. it sounds hot, he thinks, and junmyeon is definitely hot. even if he is into lame things like traditional music festivals. but jongdae figures that bit can be forgiven.
“hi, hyung!” he chirps, a full fledged grin already surfacing on his face. baekhyun rolls his eyes. junmyeon, however, returns the smile with one of his own.
“jongdae! hey,” he says. “i’m glad you came. it’s really vital for everyone to learn and appreciate the importance of traditional music in our culture, you know?”
jongdae actually thinks this is all pretty boring, but hell if he’s going to admit that to his crush. “totally,” he says, nodding enthusiastically. “but hyung, do you know what’s even more vital?”
junmyeon’s brow furrows in confusion. “...what?” he asks.
“that you eat three meals a day,” jongdae answers simply. “have you eaten dinner yet?”
“uh...” it’s clear that junmyeon has been caught off guard by the question. “well no, it’s only four pm?” he points out. jongdae merely nods, as if he knew this would be his answer from the start.
“right, of course,” he continues to nod. “that works out perfectly, then. what do you say? you, me, dinner? my treat.” off to the side, baekhyun snorts. junmyeon merely stares for a moment before stuttering back a reponse.
“u-uh, okay?” he more so asks than answers, but it seems to be good enough for jongdae, who smiles so bright that junmyeon thinks he might go blind.
“awesome!” he exclaims. “it’s a date.”
junmyeon’s face heats up until it is a darker red than jongdae’s robes. baekhyun pretends to vomit into the nearest trash can.
ooh la la
547w. g. baekhyun/sehun. inspired by this.
sometimes, while they work, baekhyun and sehun like to play a game. it will start when one of them points out an interesting person in the room, most likely some drunk teenager there to dance their cares away. the challenge, then, is this: to find that person’s theme song amidst the hundreds of records at their disposal and play it for the entire club to hear.
baekhyun, who has been working as a dj for quite a bit longer than the barely legal sehun, usually emerges victorious whenever they play. not that there’s really a specific way to “win” or anything - but his choices are almost always faster, funnier, and more fitting than sehun’s. the younger also has the tendency to keep using girls’ generation’s ooh la la! as a descriptor for every single hot girl or boy that walks in, and as a result, they’ve played more bubblegum pop than any other club in the city. baekhyun blames sehun’s slow wit. sehun blames his older sister.
they’re in the middle of cackling over a very aptly assigned colorful by shinee (not only one, but two dudes with rainbow hair had just walked in) when sehun points out another “victim.” this time its a girl, with long dark hair and a deep frown on her face that sets her apart from her many happy peers. baekhyun wipes his eyes and calms himself before taking a closer look.
“hmmm,” he says, stroking his chin in thought. “i’d say a slower song. maybe a ballad of some sort. but forget her, i know of someone much more interesting. it’s your turn, remember?”
sehun seems confused, but shrugs anyway. “alright, who? i’ll try not to pick the same songs that i always do, this time,” he laughs.
baekhyun holds out a finger, ready to unveil his chosen target. “me,” he says, pointing at his own chest, a mischievous gleam in his eye. “pick a song that reminds you of me.”
sehun is surprised by this challenge but doesn’t back down. instead, he steps aside for a moment, trying his very hardest to think of the perfect song to describe baekhyun and how he feels about him. after a few moments of contemplation, he thinks he’s just about got it.
he puts on you are the one by super junior 05.
baekhyun listens for about five seconds before breaking out into chuckles, snorting at how utterly cheesy sehun’s choice is. however, there’s a smile on his face that refuses to go away, and he feels his heart start to flutter as the song plays on.
“you’re so gross,” he jokes, lightly shoving at sehun’s shoulder. the younger boy blushes, wondering if he’d taken it to far. he hadn’t exactly told his friend that he maybe likes him, after all. he’s just about to start panicking when baekhyun picks up on his apprehension and lightly squeezes his arm. “but it’s sweet. thanks,” he adds.
sehun smiles, cheeks still hot from embarrassment. “now do one for me!” he demands childishly, trying his best to hide his nervousness. baekhyun laughs.
it’s only a matter of mere seconds before the opening notes of ooh la la begin to ring throughout the club.
speak easy
506w. g. kai/kris. inspired by this.
jongin doesn’t know how or why, but somehow, he ends up landing a temporary gig as part of a jazz band at a speakeasy. he’s played the trumpet for years, but it has always been more of a hobby to him than anything else - something he took up in elementary school because “all well-rounded children need to learn to play an instrument” and that he never really let go of. he had never intended to make a living out of it, but here he is, shaking hands with the band’s “leader,” a tall, intimidating man named wu fan.
wu fan plays the saxophone, and he starts off his introduction by handing jongin some clothes and a rather large, rather ugly hat. “here’s your uniform for tonight,” he says with a smile. “go ahead and get changed in the back. and welcome to the team.”
jongin thinks this whole thing atmosphere is sort of weird (why are there uniforms? is there something wrong with his own slacks and dress shirt?) but he doesn’t question it. instead, he merely slips on the suit and atrocious hat and meets the rest of the band members on stage before sound check.
he notices almost immediately that he is the only one being forced to wear a hat (he really hates to look stupid, alright, and the hat is very stupid), but he doesn’t say anything. he figures that he’s new and has no right to complain, especially since wu fan probably just thinks the hat is nice or whatever. so he wears the stupid thing all night long, and all through the next night, and the next night, and the next night.
over the next few weeks, the set lists and the outfits change slightly, but the hat is there every night without fail. its always jongin, too, who has to wear it - much to his dismay. he even tries to pawn it off on jongdae, once, but wu fan notices and gives him this dejected look that makes jongin put it right back on his own head. he has no idea why the saxophone player insists that he of all people wear it, but he does, and jongin doesn’t dare disappoint.
(he later finds out, quite casually, that wu fan only wants him to wear it because his “dazzling good looks are threatening the rest of us and our average faces” and that he thinks the ugly accessory takes him down a few pegs on the hotness scale. jongin’s initial reaction is to be totally scandalized, but then he realizes that wu fan has just called him hot and grins.
“you know, usually when people are attracted to someone else, they want them to wear less, not more,” he teases.
wu fan reddens slightly before regaining his composure and rolling his eyes. “don’t get cocky, kid,” he says. “now put on your ugly hat. show’s starting in five.”
jongin laughs, but does as he’s told. he doesn’t complain about his uniform any longer.)
long way to the top
544w. g. luhan/lay. inspired by this.
“perfect. gorgeous. just a few more.”
another flash and another pose, and finally lu han is given a break. he’s been modeling for nearly an hour now, and he hasn’t eaten in ages. he’s starving and tired and a little frustrated from being told time and time again that he needs to look “more model and less pop star,” so he’s thankful for the short pause in his work. almost immediately, he walks over to yixing, who has just wrapped up the first part of his individual shoot, as well.
“this is exhausting,” lu han whines, resting his forehead on his best friend’s shoulder. yixing gives him a warm smile and a pat on the back, smoothing over the wrinkles in his funky designer jacket.
“you’ll get used to it,” he says, voice calm and patient as always. lu han merely sighs, but he’s thankful for yixing’s sweet words of encouragement. “this is what we wanted, right? to have our faces in magazines...our names in lights...it’s all coming true now. so just stick it out for a little while longer, okay?”
lu han knows that yixing makes a good point. but still, there’s a part of him that misses the simpler times, times when they would spend their saturday mornings sleeping in and watching cartoons rather than putting on uncomfortable clothes and trying to “look pretty.” he never fully understood the phrase be careful what you wish for until it was too late.
“yeah, i guess,” he shrugs, lifting his head with a frown. “but these photographers,” lu han lowers his voice to a whisper, “they’re absolutely insane. what do you mean, stop posing like a pop star? i am a pop star! it’s infuriating.”
yixing laughs, and lu han revels in the sound. “you’re getting too worked up, lu,” he says with a smile. “just a few more hours of this, and then you can go back to your singing and i can go back to my dancing. modeling is only a small part of the job; you just have to remember that.”
another sigh and lu han is stepping forward to give the other boy a hug. “i know. thanks. you’re the best,” he says, squeezing tightly.
the moment is interrupted as the directors call them back to their stations. pouting, lu han reluctantly lets go, completely unwilling to continue shooting. what kind of a break was that? he didn’t even have time to grab something to quell his rumbling stomach.
yixing gives him two thumbs up before taking the few steps back to his side of the set. “you’ll do great,” he says. “don’t worry!”
as soon as the photographer turns his camera back on, lu han’s heart sinks a bit. however, yixing’s words keep him going through every demand of “think model,” and there’s a warm feeling settled in the pit of his stomach that refuses to wane away.
yixing was right, of course. he had wanted this for as long as he could remember, and although it may prove to be hard at times, he could get through it. as long as his best friend was by his side, lu han felt like he could conquer anything.