Boy Meets Girl (Onew/Taeyeon)
Boy Meets Girl
Onew/Taeyeon
G; Character study, slight romance.
Two times where Jinki fails (and Taeyeon doesn't), and two times where he doesn't (but she does). SME gets in the way, as usual.
The first meeting of Boy and Girl can’t exactly be described as fireworks. But it’s not a royal disaster, and this could actually be classified as a miracle on the boy’s behalf except for the fact that he is far too nervous about his first day at SM Academy to mark it down in his memory. As for the girl, she’s too busy grappling with the fact that she has been named leader of her training group (Eleven girls, eleven! What is management doing, trying to make the new Super Junior?!) and manages to crash into the leader of said band while doing so.
Boy promptly forgets spacing-out Girl he bowed to in the training room and the Girl can hardly remember anything that day besides her own panic; and so, the day passes without incident.
To be honest, neither Boy nor Girl can remember their second, third, fourth meeting either. Girl likes the smooth-voiced boy who’s just been placed in a group and always seems to be singing with Jonghyun but she’s busy singing too- and that means too busy to learn New Boy’s name. He knows that she sings miles and miles above the rest of the trainees, but that’s to be expected because she’s the leader of a group and that might as well mean she’s already a singer.
So he works hard for his dream and she tries to work even harder for hers and their meetings occur more and more often because they both seem to be living in the training rooms. But she’s just that girl and he’s just that boy who one day, shows up in her vocal class.
“You’re good,” she tells him; he gives her a bright sunny smile that shows all his teeth and mumbles a bashful “Thank you,” After that, Leader Girl becomes Kim Taeyeon and that Boy with that voice is Lee Jinki. They comfortably slip in and out of each others’ lives during singing lessons, Chinese lessons, social interaction lessons (“Less teeth, Jinki! And laugh more quietly, Taeyeon”). It’s nonintrusive, like the first forgotten meeting, and then it progresses to friendly, then comfortable and maybe even comforting.
Fast forward a few months and Jinki has been ordered to grow his hair longer so he has to brush it out of his eyes during dance practice and one day when he lingers behind after class, Taeyeon looks smaller and thinner. He tells her so and she gives him a look, then bursts out into laughter (the kind where she doubles over and slaps the closest surface repeatedly- the kind they tell her to stop doing) and says “I am skinnier,” Then she unfolds her body to look him straight in the eyes and the laughter on her face disappears. “Management wants us to debut this summer,”
He’s not sure why, but he suddenly wants to do anything he can to banish her funereal expression. So he flashes that grin of his that he knows is his one non-fail attribute (he won’t go as far as to say it’s a success because Jonghyun and Kibum still claim it’s more cute and awkward than charismatic) and pats her on the head. “That’s great news! Now all you have to do is grow a few more centimetres and you’ll be set, leader-sshi,” He’s waiting for her reply, then notices that the harsh lights of the practice room are hitting the crown of her head in a way that really reminds him of the lights onstage at the showcase and he knows she’s going to become a star when she debuts.
“They cut Stella, you know,” she says finally. Her voice is oddly flat and echoes in the now empty classroom. “And Soyeon too. She left the practice room that day and I haven’t seen her since,” Extending her arms in front of her, she begins swinging her feet- left, right, left, right, higher and higher until one of them kicks a hand and she stops. “Jinki-ah. What am I going to do when we debut?”
Suddenly, he finds that he likes looking at her looking at her shoes looking really lost next to him right here, right now. So he waits for her to look up and smiles hard and soft and warm and bright and says “You’re going to sing, and dance, and become a star. And be an amazing leader,” She glares balefully at him even as her mouth is fighting to twitch into a smile and he knows he’s done his job. “Yah, get going. You’re going to miss the dorm curfew and then Fany and Ri In are going to have my butt,” He walks with her all the way downstairs (he does not, however, walk her downstairs, because that would be an entirely different thing) and watches her back disappear down the dark street, then walks back up seven flights of stairs to collect his things and clean up. If he hurries, he can run for half an hour before he has to get home.
The cameramen follow her to Han River at the end of the first day of filming for MTV. “Sorry for the intrusion,” One of the PD’s says to her embarrassedly, “We just need to get a short clip and we’ll be done,”. Taeyeon just smiles and bows (“Ah, it’s no problem at all,”) because she’s supposed to be the responsible leader who knows exactly what to do and it’s time that she at least acts the part.
When the staff and cameras are gone, she sits down hard on the sidewalk underneath a street lamp, back to the concrete and watches the cars flash by. She thinks she must look lonely and a little bit odd, and she has a terrible urge to turn up at the company tomorrow and foist the leadership off on Jessica or Sooyoung. She decides to call Tiffany and complain; her finger is hovering over the ‘call’ button before she realizes that she is the Leader now and Eeteuk once told her that Leaders don’t complain.
He sounds uncharacteristically out of breath when he answers the phone and she feels guilty for bothering him so late when she hasn’t actually seen him for weeks. It only lasts for a second though, because she wants to be selfish for once before having to be selfless tomorrow and many, many days after. His voice doesn’t sound sleepy at all so she babbles on and on about her day and moving into the dorm and everything she can think of, in an attempt to keep him on the phone for as long as he can.
And she must have spaced out for one second too long, because he goes “Where are you?” and she goes, “Huh?” in a very uncharacteristic way. He laughs, she can practically hear him smiling, and then he repeats himself. “By Han River,” she says airily, listening to his sudden intake of breath. She pretends it’s entirely normal for her to be here at 1:00 at night, and continues, “On that bridge, you know, right past the street with the vintage looking ice cream shop-” He cuts her off and she’s speechless because that is very unlike him.
“I know the one. I’m coming now, just stay there okay?” She nods before remembering they’re on the phone and replies “Okay,” It must have sounded a little bit surly because now he’s the one blabbering, “I mean, unless you get cold or get a cramp or there’s a robber or something, then you can move,” and she laughs at him. Now it’s him telling her about Taemin dancing, how shy Minho is, how Jonghyun is sure that Kibum has some form of male PMS, but then Kibum said Jonghyun was just jealous his voice was more manly than him and then they had to clean up the water from the practice room afterwards and she laughs at the stories and his voice while watching the cars pass.
Then the line drops, the sidewalk turns from orange-gray to black and Jinki’s standing there above her holding his phone and smiling widely. It could be like a scene out of those really cliché dramas, where the Boy comes to the Girl’s rescue when she’s all down and out.
"You look like a hobo,” Or not. The back of her throat grows tight at the fondness in his voice, because it’s been so long since anyone sounded that gentle with her and she can’t speak.
“Get out of my light, you idiot,” are the only words she can muster while he sits down beside her. She isn’t sure if they are exactly the right thing to say, but he digs in his bag and drops her favourite yanggaeng in her lap anyway. “I can’t eat it,” she blurts out automatically, cringing as she realizes how tactless she sounds. He turns to smile, it’s okay, at her and his smile is still the same, but the elbow he plants lightly in her side is bonier than before.
The cars have mostly disappeared now, and she catches tendons rippling underneath skin when he stretches out contentedly. Realization strikes her, and catches her off guard so her voice sounds sharper than usual, almost accusing when she says, “You’ve been exercising, and you lost weight,”
Shrugging, he flicks his head lightly and brushes his bangs away; the motion is new and quite unlike the Jinki she remembers, but he makes it look completely unplanned and not conceited and just a little bit charming. She’s feels a little twinge of jealousy that she hasn’t been there to watch him change like that, even if she likes the way he peeks at her from under his bangs.
“Hair’s even longer now,” he says carelessly, looking away. Then, “They finalized our group,” There’s little nervous smile dancing on his face. “SHINee. We’re going to debut next year,”
“Oh,” He’s still waiting for something more, and she opens her mouth without thinking, “Make sure to do better than me, alright?” The smile is still on his face as his gaze flicks over her but his eyes tighten a bit at the corners and then he stands up abruptly and his voice is quiet, calm and certain.
“Let me walk you home,” He doesn’t know what has suddenly possessed him, but his heartbeat rings in his ears and he’s faintly aware of the river gurgling beneath them. The streetlight shines on the top of her head softly in a way that is not reminiscent of stage lights at all and she doesn’t seem quite so far away yet.
Months later, she receives a text at 1:00 in the morning. ‘Wait for me, okay? Go check our Iple.’. Something tugs at her inside and she wants to call him and cry and yell and laugh but Instead, she does what he says.
Leader, it says under his name, and she saves all the pictures with Jinki (Onew) onto her phone. They've cut his hair a bit but it's still in his eyes and she can't get over how thin he is now, but this is the first time he’s felt so close since forever.
Previously posted at shinee_replay.
Onew/Taeyeon
G; Character study, slight romance.
Two times where Jinki fails (and Taeyeon doesn't), and two times where he doesn't (but she does). SME gets in the way, as usual.
The first meeting of Boy and Girl can’t exactly be described as fireworks. But it’s not a royal disaster, and this could actually be classified as a miracle on the boy’s behalf except for the fact that he is far too nervous about his first day at SM Academy to mark it down in his memory. As for the girl, she’s too busy grappling with the fact that she has been named leader of her training group (Eleven girls, eleven! What is management doing, trying to make the new Super Junior?!) and manages to crash into the leader of said band while doing so.
Boy promptly forgets spacing-out Girl he bowed to in the training room and the Girl can hardly remember anything that day besides her own panic; and so, the day passes without incident.
To be honest, neither Boy nor Girl can remember their second, third, fourth meeting either. Girl likes the smooth-voiced boy who’s just been placed in a group and always seems to be singing with Jonghyun but she’s busy singing too- and that means too busy to learn New Boy’s name. He knows that she sings miles and miles above the rest of the trainees, but that’s to be expected because she’s the leader of a group and that might as well mean she’s already a singer.
So he works hard for his dream and she tries to work even harder for hers and their meetings occur more and more often because they both seem to be living in the training rooms. But she’s just that girl and he’s just that boy who one day, shows up in her vocal class.
“You’re good,” she tells him; he gives her a bright sunny smile that shows all his teeth and mumbles a bashful “Thank you,” After that, Leader Girl becomes Kim Taeyeon and that Boy with that voice is Lee Jinki. They comfortably slip in and out of each others’ lives during singing lessons, Chinese lessons, social interaction lessons (“Less teeth, Jinki! And laugh more quietly, Taeyeon”). It’s nonintrusive, like the first forgotten meeting, and then it progresses to friendly, then comfortable and maybe even comforting.
Fast forward a few months and Jinki has been ordered to grow his hair longer so he has to brush it out of his eyes during dance practice and one day when he lingers behind after class, Taeyeon looks smaller and thinner. He tells her so and she gives him a look, then bursts out into laughter (the kind where she doubles over and slaps the closest surface repeatedly- the kind they tell her to stop doing) and says “I am skinnier,” Then she unfolds her body to look him straight in the eyes and the laughter on her face disappears. “Management wants us to debut this summer,”
He’s not sure why, but he suddenly wants to do anything he can to banish her funereal expression. So he flashes that grin of his that he knows is his one non-fail attribute (he won’t go as far as to say it’s a success because Jonghyun and Kibum still claim it’s more cute and awkward than charismatic) and pats her on the head. “That’s great news! Now all you have to do is grow a few more centimetres and you’ll be set, leader-sshi,” He’s waiting for her reply, then notices that the harsh lights of the practice room are hitting the crown of her head in a way that really reminds him of the lights onstage at the showcase and he knows she’s going to become a star when she debuts.
“They cut Stella, you know,” she says finally. Her voice is oddly flat and echoes in the now empty classroom. “And Soyeon too. She left the practice room that day and I haven’t seen her since,” Extending her arms in front of her, she begins swinging her feet- left, right, left, right, higher and higher until one of them kicks a hand and she stops. “Jinki-ah. What am I going to do when we debut?”
Suddenly, he finds that he likes looking at her looking at her shoes looking really lost next to him right here, right now. So he waits for her to look up and smiles hard and soft and warm and bright and says “You’re going to sing, and dance, and become a star. And be an amazing leader,” She glares balefully at him even as her mouth is fighting to twitch into a smile and he knows he’s done his job. “Yah, get going. You’re going to miss the dorm curfew and then Fany and Ri In are going to have my butt,” He walks with her all the way downstairs (he does not, however, walk her downstairs, because that would be an entirely different thing) and watches her back disappear down the dark street, then walks back up seven flights of stairs to collect his things and clean up. If he hurries, he can run for half an hour before he has to get home.
The cameramen follow her to Han River at the end of the first day of filming for MTV. “Sorry for the intrusion,” One of the PD’s says to her embarrassedly, “We just need to get a short clip and we’ll be done,”. Taeyeon just smiles and bows (“Ah, it’s no problem at all,”) because she’s supposed to be the responsible leader who knows exactly what to do and it’s time that she at least acts the part.
When the staff and cameras are gone, she sits down hard on the sidewalk underneath a street lamp, back to the concrete and watches the cars flash by. She thinks she must look lonely and a little bit odd, and she has a terrible urge to turn up at the company tomorrow and foist the leadership off on Jessica or Sooyoung. She decides to call Tiffany and complain; her finger is hovering over the ‘call’ button before she realizes that she is the Leader now and Eeteuk once told her that Leaders don’t complain.
He sounds uncharacteristically out of breath when he answers the phone and she feels guilty for bothering him so late when she hasn’t actually seen him for weeks. It only lasts for a second though, because she wants to be selfish for once before having to be selfless tomorrow and many, many days after. His voice doesn’t sound sleepy at all so she babbles on and on about her day and moving into the dorm and everything she can think of, in an attempt to keep him on the phone for as long as he can.
And she must have spaced out for one second too long, because he goes “Where are you?” and she goes, “Huh?” in a very uncharacteristic way. He laughs, she can practically hear him smiling, and then he repeats himself. “By Han River,” she says airily, listening to his sudden intake of breath. She pretends it’s entirely normal for her to be here at 1:00 at night, and continues, “On that bridge, you know, right past the street with the vintage looking ice cream shop-” He cuts her off and she’s speechless because that is very unlike him.
“I know the one. I’m coming now, just stay there okay?” She nods before remembering they’re on the phone and replies “Okay,” It must have sounded a little bit surly because now he’s the one blabbering, “I mean, unless you get cold or get a cramp or there’s a robber or something, then you can move,” and she laughs at him. Now it’s him telling her about Taemin dancing, how shy Minho is, how Jonghyun is sure that Kibum has some form of male PMS, but then Kibum said Jonghyun was just jealous his voice was more manly than him and then they had to clean up the water from the practice room afterwards and she laughs at the stories and his voice while watching the cars pass.
Then the line drops, the sidewalk turns from orange-gray to black and Jinki’s standing there above her holding his phone and smiling widely. It could be like a scene out of those really cliché dramas, where the Boy comes to the Girl’s rescue when she’s all down and out.
"You look like a hobo,” Or not. The back of her throat grows tight at the fondness in his voice, because it’s been so long since anyone sounded that gentle with her and she can’t speak.
“Get out of my light, you idiot,” are the only words she can muster while he sits down beside her. She isn’t sure if they are exactly the right thing to say, but he digs in his bag and drops her favourite yanggaeng in her lap anyway. “I can’t eat it,” she blurts out automatically, cringing as she realizes how tactless she sounds. He turns to smile, it’s okay, at her and his smile is still the same, but the elbow he plants lightly in her side is bonier than before.
The cars have mostly disappeared now, and she catches tendons rippling underneath skin when he stretches out contentedly. Realization strikes her, and catches her off guard so her voice sounds sharper than usual, almost accusing when she says, “You’ve been exercising, and you lost weight,”
Shrugging, he flicks his head lightly and brushes his bangs away; the motion is new and quite unlike the Jinki she remembers, but he makes it look completely unplanned and not conceited and just a little bit charming. She’s feels a little twinge of jealousy that she hasn’t been there to watch him change like that, even if she likes the way he peeks at her from under his bangs.
“Hair’s even longer now,” he says carelessly, looking away. Then, “They finalized our group,” There’s little nervous smile dancing on his face. “SHINee. We’re going to debut next year,”
“Oh,” He’s still waiting for something more, and she opens her mouth without thinking, “Make sure to do better than me, alright?” The smile is still on his face as his gaze flicks over her but his eyes tighten a bit at the corners and then he stands up abruptly and his voice is quiet, calm and certain.
“Let me walk you home,” He doesn’t know what has suddenly possessed him, but his heartbeat rings in his ears and he’s faintly aware of the river gurgling beneath them. The streetlight shines on the top of her head softly in a way that is not reminiscent of stage lights at all and she doesn’t seem quite so far away yet.
Months later, she receives a text at 1:00 in the morning. ‘Wait for me, okay? Go check our Iple.’. Something tugs at her inside and she wants to call him and cry and yell and laugh but Instead, she does what he says.
Leader, it says under his name, and she saves all the pictures with Jinki (Onew) onto her phone. They've cut his hair a bit but it's still in his eyes and she can't get over how thin he is now, but this is the first time he’s felt so close since forever.
Previously posted at shinee_replay.