fic: new steps
New Steps
1419w; g
Jonghyun/Taemin
Step. Step. Turn. Pop. Hold it. 1-2-3
Taemin liked to think of himself as a blank slate. A canvas stretched tight across a wooden frame ready for pigment.
Spin. Clap. Bend. Don't forget to extend the fingers
He was a chameleon, able to be perfectly choreographed in every area of his life.
Smile. No, wider. Why don't you forget this line? It will look cute
Sometimes, under layers of darkness and sheets when it was all stripped away, Taemin wondered who he really was. Then he would wake up and morph into what was needed all over again.
If he was a sketch, constantly erased and redrawn, Taemin figured Kibum was a paint splatter. He got envious sometimes, with how comfortable Kibum was with just being Kibum even when he was Key.
Minho and Jinki were his magic markers. Fun and bright and easy to play with but never dangerous, washable. Serious when they had to be, there when he needed help.
Jonghyun though, he was spilled ink. Running over everything and everyone obliviously. Taemin often watched Jonghyun curiously, head tilted to the side in a rare unpracticed movement. Jonghyun would always eventually make his way over, smothering him in his arms and words and Taemin would leave the encounter more confused than ever before.
He was a blank slate, but he couldn't figure out how Jonghyun wanted to paint him. What was he supposed to be around him?
After observing his interactions with everyone else, Taemin thought it best to act like each of the other members. It didn't work, he was no closer to figuring out what Jonghyun wanted from him. Plus, he felt a little weird and uncomfortable, this wasn't for the cameras, this was someone he saw everyday. Still, he persevered. The perfectionist in him wouldn't let anything go unfinished.
"...and then the chicken hits the bartender." Jonghyun ended his joke triumphantly. Taemin immediately guffawed, slapping Jonghyuns shoulder and then hanging onto it as he laughed towards the ground.
"Taemin?"
His giggles came to an abrupt halt. "What?"
"What are you doing?" Jonghyun had the gall to look worried. Didn't he know Taemin was trying to be a person he could fully appreciate?
"Laughing at your joke, hyung. I don't get what you mean."
"Don't pull that with me, it wasn't that funny. It wasn't funny at all really." Taemin almost asked why he told the joke in the first place then, but he had a better idea. In the face of failure, the direct approach always worked.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to act around you."
He'd never seen Jonghyun's eyes stretch open that wide before. It was fascinating. "What is that supposed to mean? We've been in the same group, under the same roof, for how many years now?"
"Don't sound so hurt. I just mean..." Taemin looked down at his feet, shoestrings were the eighth wonder of the world. "I don't know what you want from me."
"Yah." Taemin winced at the sudden pain flaring on the top of his head. "I just want you to be yourself."
Rubbing his head, Taemin shot back, frustrated "thats the problem. I don't know how to be myself."
That look drifted over Jonghyun's face, the same look he got when he saw a stray puppy. Taemin didn't appreciate it. "Then we'll just have to find you."
Minho tapped a spatula against the table to get everyone's attention. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to find Taemin." Their subject groaned and buried his head in his arms as the rest of them dissolved into giggles. Of course Jonghyun had to make it a group effort.
Of course.
A poster board sat propped up on a chair, written on it in Kibum's neat print were things like 'favorite food, favorite color, favorite movie, favorite hobby'. Jonghyun had provided drawings for special effect.
Minho tapped the spatula again. "Order, order. This is serious. Now Taemin, can you answer any of the questions on the board?"
"Why is this happening to me?"
"Come on Taemin, we want to help you." Jinki gave him small encouraging smile.
He put on his best sheepish smile "I can't, at least not without saying something I've been given for interviews." Everyone stared at him.
"You can't be serious." Kibum rolled his eyes, standing to walk to the board. "Didn't you say your favorite color was white?"
He had. It hadn't been a color drawn from a hat of possible answers, but it was still a lie. It was the color he hated most because it was him. White, blank.
He pouted. "Hyung, people change their favorite colors all the time, especially you."
"That look stopped working two hundred hip thrusts ago. Quit it."
Jonghyun stole Minho's spatula and swatted Kibum's thigh. "That's enough. The only way to solve this is for Taemin to try everything. Colors, food, everything, and find the one he really truly likes." He grinned, "so who is free of schedules next week? We'll start with food. We can take turns going to different food stalls and restaurants." Jonghyun steamrolled everyone with his babbling as per usual.
Jinki raised his hand "No can do, I have schedules all week."
"Me too." Minho and Kibum announced in unison.
Taemin blinked "I have-"
"Your attendance is not optional. Guess its just you and me Taemin-ah."
"Don't I get a say-" He stopped protesting at the chorus of 'no's', sighed, and resigned himself to his fate.
After a month in the immediate company of the whirlwind that was Jonghyun, Taemin had collected quite an extensive list of favorites. Their search for his favorite food had gotten them put on strict diets for two weeks. The search for favorite animal got them kicked out of the zoo when Jonghyun tried to climb into the red panda cage to coax one closer. Finding Taemin's favorite candy made them sick, while the hunt for his favorite movie left them in a slumbering heap on the couch surrounded by DVDs.
"So, having fun with Jonghyun?" Kibum passed him a banana milk (they'd found this favorite almost immediately).
Taemin took a sip, knocking the tiny straw around the rim of the bottle with his tongue. "I guess. I don't feel weird around him anymore."
They were interrupted by Jonghyun skidding in, a guitar strapped on his back. "Taemin lets go, mission favorite hobby."
"Kibum-hyung, save me."
"Sorry." Taemin swore when Kibum smiled like that he looked like the cheshire cat. "Schedule."
"Taemin!"
"Have fun." Kibum waved, still smiling as Jonghyun dragged Taemin away.
"I thought we were going to find me a hobby?" They were on a park bench, a soothing breeze sifting through Taemins hair as he watched Jonghyun tune his guitar.
"We are, eventually. But I want to share one of mine." Jonghyun looked over to him, half grin on his face. " I know this is going to sound really weird but just watch how I look. Then think of something you like to do that makes you feel that way."
Taemin folded his legs under himself, facing Jonghyun full on so he didn't miss anything. "Feel what way?"
Jonghyun just shook his head "shhh, listen." He began to play, then he began to sing, and Taemin was in awe of how he seemed to leave this world. He felt his heart flutter. He knew his favorite thing to do, the thing that made everything else disappear and he didn't have to worry about being everything, or anything at all.
"Taemin?"
He hadn't even heard the song end. "Jonghyun." Taemin smiled, unguarded, unrehearsed, him. "I know what my favorite thing is. Come on."
Jonghyun glanced around, a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips, when they arrive at the practice room. " You like to practice?" He teases.
"No." Taemin is completely serious. "I like to dance. I love to dance. Thats why I came here in the first place. How could..." .
Jonghyun slipped his hand in his. "How could you what?"
"How could I not think that was me?"
"Maybe the pressure got to you, it got to all of us." Jonghyun shrugged, pulling Taemin into a hug. "But look! You've finally passed."
Taemin laughed, untangling himself. "It's all because of you. Thank you."
"I had to, I missed you too much." Taemin felt his heart flutter again. It looked like he had another favorite thing.
He reached out his hand, "Hyung..."
"Whaaat?"
"Dance with me."
Step. Turn. Fall
A/N: I said I would never write a SHINee fic. I am a liar ):
I don't have a beta so if you see any mistakes please point them out. :3
1419w; g
Jonghyun/Taemin
Step. Step. Turn. Pop. Hold it. 1-2-3
Taemin liked to think of himself as a blank slate. A canvas stretched tight across a wooden frame ready for pigment.
Spin. Clap. Bend. Don't forget to extend the fingers
He was a chameleon, able to be perfectly choreographed in every area of his life.
Smile. No, wider. Why don't you forget this line? It will look cute
Sometimes, under layers of darkness and sheets when it was all stripped away, Taemin wondered who he really was. Then he would wake up and morph into what was needed all over again.
If he was a sketch, constantly erased and redrawn, Taemin figured Kibum was a paint splatter. He got envious sometimes, with how comfortable Kibum was with just being Kibum even when he was Key.
Minho and Jinki were his magic markers. Fun and bright and easy to play with but never dangerous, washable. Serious when they had to be, there when he needed help.
Jonghyun though, he was spilled ink. Running over everything and everyone obliviously. Taemin often watched Jonghyun curiously, head tilted to the side in a rare unpracticed movement. Jonghyun would always eventually make his way over, smothering him in his arms and words and Taemin would leave the encounter more confused than ever before.
He was a blank slate, but he couldn't figure out how Jonghyun wanted to paint him. What was he supposed to be around him?
After observing his interactions with everyone else, Taemin thought it best to act like each of the other members. It didn't work, he was no closer to figuring out what Jonghyun wanted from him. Plus, he felt a little weird and uncomfortable, this wasn't for the cameras, this was someone he saw everyday. Still, he persevered. The perfectionist in him wouldn't let anything go unfinished.
"...and then the chicken hits the bartender." Jonghyun ended his joke triumphantly. Taemin immediately guffawed, slapping Jonghyuns shoulder and then hanging onto it as he laughed towards the ground.
"Taemin?"
His giggles came to an abrupt halt. "What?"
"What are you doing?" Jonghyun had the gall to look worried. Didn't he know Taemin was trying to be a person he could fully appreciate?
"Laughing at your joke, hyung. I don't get what you mean."
"Don't pull that with me, it wasn't that funny. It wasn't funny at all really." Taemin almost asked why he told the joke in the first place then, but he had a better idea. In the face of failure, the direct approach always worked.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to act around you."
He'd never seen Jonghyun's eyes stretch open that wide before. It was fascinating. "What is that supposed to mean? We've been in the same group, under the same roof, for how many years now?"
"Don't sound so hurt. I just mean..." Taemin looked down at his feet, shoestrings were the eighth wonder of the world. "I don't know what you want from me."
"Yah." Taemin winced at the sudden pain flaring on the top of his head. "I just want you to be yourself."
Rubbing his head, Taemin shot back, frustrated "thats the problem. I don't know how to be myself."
That look drifted over Jonghyun's face, the same look he got when he saw a stray puppy. Taemin didn't appreciate it. "Then we'll just have to find you."
Minho tapped a spatula against the table to get everyone's attention. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to find Taemin." Their subject groaned and buried his head in his arms as the rest of them dissolved into giggles. Of course Jonghyun had to make it a group effort.
Of course.
A poster board sat propped up on a chair, written on it in Kibum's neat print were things like 'favorite food, favorite color, favorite movie, favorite hobby'. Jonghyun had provided drawings for special effect.
Minho tapped the spatula again. "Order, order. This is serious. Now Taemin, can you answer any of the questions on the board?"
"Why is this happening to me?"
"Come on Taemin, we want to help you." Jinki gave him small encouraging smile.
He put on his best sheepish smile "I can't, at least not without saying something I've been given for interviews." Everyone stared at him.
"You can't be serious." Kibum rolled his eyes, standing to walk to the board. "Didn't you say your favorite color was white?"
He had. It hadn't been a color drawn from a hat of possible answers, but it was still a lie. It was the color he hated most because it was him. White, blank.
He pouted. "Hyung, people change their favorite colors all the time, especially you."
"That look stopped working two hundred hip thrusts ago. Quit it."
Jonghyun stole Minho's spatula and swatted Kibum's thigh. "That's enough. The only way to solve this is for Taemin to try everything. Colors, food, everything, and find the one he really truly likes." He grinned, "so who is free of schedules next week? We'll start with food. We can take turns going to different food stalls and restaurants." Jonghyun steamrolled everyone with his babbling as per usual.
Jinki raised his hand "No can do, I have schedules all week."
"Me too." Minho and Kibum announced in unison.
Taemin blinked "I have-"
"Your attendance is not optional. Guess its just you and me Taemin-ah."
"Don't I get a say-" He stopped protesting at the chorus of 'no's', sighed, and resigned himself to his fate.
After a month in the immediate company of the whirlwind that was Jonghyun, Taemin had collected quite an extensive list of favorites. Their search for his favorite food had gotten them put on strict diets for two weeks. The search for favorite animal got them kicked out of the zoo when Jonghyun tried to climb into the red panda cage to coax one closer. Finding Taemin's favorite candy made them sick, while the hunt for his favorite movie left them in a slumbering heap on the couch surrounded by DVDs.
"So, having fun with Jonghyun?" Kibum passed him a banana milk (they'd found this favorite almost immediately).
Taemin took a sip, knocking the tiny straw around the rim of the bottle with his tongue. "I guess. I don't feel weird around him anymore."
They were interrupted by Jonghyun skidding in, a guitar strapped on his back. "Taemin lets go, mission favorite hobby."
"Kibum-hyung, save me."
"Sorry." Taemin swore when Kibum smiled like that he looked like the cheshire cat. "Schedule."
"Taemin!"
"Have fun." Kibum waved, still smiling as Jonghyun dragged Taemin away.
"I thought we were going to find me a hobby?" They were on a park bench, a soothing breeze sifting through Taemins hair as he watched Jonghyun tune his guitar.
"We are, eventually. But I want to share one of mine." Jonghyun looked over to him, half grin on his face. " I know this is going to sound really weird but just watch how I look. Then think of something you like to do that makes you feel that way."
Taemin folded his legs under himself, facing Jonghyun full on so he didn't miss anything. "Feel what way?"
Jonghyun just shook his head "shhh, listen." He began to play, then he began to sing, and Taemin was in awe of how he seemed to leave this world. He felt his heart flutter. He knew his favorite thing to do, the thing that made everything else disappear and he didn't have to worry about being everything, or anything at all.
"Taemin?"
He hadn't even heard the song end. "Jonghyun." Taemin smiled, unguarded, unrehearsed, him. "I know what my favorite thing is. Come on."
Jonghyun glanced around, a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips, when they arrive at the practice room. " You like to practice?" He teases.
"No." Taemin is completely serious. "I like to dance. I love to dance. Thats why I came here in the first place. How could..." .
Jonghyun slipped his hand in his. "How could you what?"
"How could I not think that was me?"
"Maybe the pressure got to you, it got to all of us." Jonghyun shrugged, pulling Taemin into a hug. "But look! You've finally passed."
Taemin laughed, untangling himself. "It's all because of you. Thank you."
"I had to, I missed you too much." Taemin felt his heart flutter again. It looked like he had another favorite thing.
He reached out his hand, "Hyung..."
"Whaaat?"
"Dance with me."
Step. Turn. Fall
A/N: I said I would never write a SHINee fic. I am a liar ):
I don't have a beta so if you see any mistakes please point them out. :3