Challenge #1 -- Entry 9
Title: Korea, Population: 2
Pairing: Ji Yong & Seungri
Rating: PG
Summary: Ji Yong writes songs and Seungri watches. Mental Hospital AU.
Song(s) used for inspiration: Both, played back to back
Korea, Population: 2
Ji Yong is drunk or maybe he’s just dreaming again, but it looks like the new boy has cute, shaggy hair and an awkward smile. Ji Yong sits up straighter in his bed and licks his fingertips and uses them to spike up the ends of his hair. The doctors lead the new boy to his bed and they use their shiny clipboards to wave at certain things throughout the room. They point at Ji Yong and whisper something in new boy’s ear and Ji Yong wonders if they’re whispering all of his secrets. He begins to get nervous when the new boy’s pretty smile falters and he’s about to just go ahead and make it clear that he, personally, isn’t crazy at all, but they tap the new boy’s forehead and leave the room. Ji Yong slumps down again and steals tiny, hesitant glances of the boy.
“What’s your name?”
The boy’s hand clutches around his heart and his eyes are bigger than Ji Yong thought.
“S-Seungri.”
Ji Yong’s lips involuntarily twist up at the edges as he repeats the name, “Seungri.”
“What are you in for?”
“They say I have something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but what do they know anyways?”
“What does that mean?”
“That I have a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. But, I don’t believe it. There could never be anything wrong with me.”
Ji Yong smiles, “You should meet my friends.”
**
“Hey, guys, meet Seungri. That’s Seunghyun, but we call him T.O.P. because he sometimes blows his top when he becomes really angry. They say he’s got Bipolar Disorder, but we think he’s just a regular bitch.”
Seunghyun puts up two fingers and nods as a way of greeting.
“And, that is Yongbae, but we call him Sol, because he’s the kindest ‘soul’ you’ll ever meet. Get it? He has Attachment Disorder so watch out or he might never let you go.”
Yongbae chuckles, his eyes curving in the exact same angle as his lips.
“That over there is Daesung, but we call him D-Lite just because he’s such a delight to have around. He’s a Maniac, as in he has Mania and is prone to frequent bouts of ‘an abnormally elevated mood’. It’s only happened once so we’re not even sure why he’s still here.”
Daesung giggles and pokes Ji Yong’s waist.
“And, last we have me, Ji Yong. I’m not supposed to be here, but circumstances just happened in such a sequence that I had no other choice. But, that’s another story for another time. Let’s get you settled in.”
Ji Yong shows Seungri around and tells him where the bathroom is and how you aren’t allowed to go in there unless you stick out three fingers and get called on. And, there will always be someone with you, or else they think you’ll just go insane and kill everyone, which may or may not be true. They’ve got cameras everywhere and Ji Yong points all of them out, his eyes narrowing each time.
“Why isn’t anyone greeting me?” Seungri asks.
“They must not know how special you are.”
Seungri misses the playful sneer on Ji Yong’s face and cracks his back in an attempt to fully stick out his chest. His legs spread further apart as his walks and Ji Yong wants to laugh at the awkward penguin Seungri seems to have become.
“Tomorrow, I’d like to go outside,” Seungri announces and looks around the room with his nose stuck out as if daring anyone to deny him the right.
Ji Yong’s heart hushes then beats one time before drumming out a stream of erratic pumps and he wonders if Seungri is as innocent as he seems.
**
At night, Ji Yong transforms into a superhero, and only Seungri is there to see the skin peel away from the shoulder blades and see the bones crackle as they stretch out to become wings. He watches in awe and whispers, “Could I touch them please?” Ji Yong shrugs and Seungri leaps forward a little before burying his hands in the feathers. His face almost splits as he grins, but the lights fade quickly.
“How come, how come you have wings and I don’t?”
Ji Yong’s wings droop to the floor and fold back into the ridges.
“There. Now, neither one of us has wings.”
Seungri smiles and Ji Yong thinks there isn't anything special about wings and who wants to be a superhero anyways?
**
The next day, the doctors come in again, this time holding less shiny clipboards. They lock Ji Yong in a room and sit across from him, arms folded and lips pursed.
“Patient… 342 was it? Yes, Patient 342, your reports shows that you’ve gotten worse.”
Ji Yong’s pretty sure his number is 341, but he’s not going to be the first to say it, so he simply shrugs and taps his fingers in tune to his latest musical invention. They stiffen at the melodies and Ji Yong taps harder. One of the doctors, the one with a pretty bun and dirty fingernails, tells Ji Yong to be quiet by pressing a finger perpendicularly to her mouth. He stops immediately and imitates her action.
“You’ll never get me to tell you.”
His words must have more power than he thought because they put him back in his room right away. Seungri scoots closer to Ji Yong and asks him what they said. Ji Yong doesn’t answer because he can’t really remember and he tells Seungri that he’s tired and would like to sleep if that’s alright. He can hear Seungri’s bed creak as the boy climbs onto it and he wonders what sort of dreams Seungri has and if they ever involve secrets like his always do.
**
Seungri talks to himself a lot, Ji Yong notes as the boy pumped his fist into the air while mumbling a self-encouraging chant. He thinks that Seungri looks a little bit silly when he does that, but he doesn’t say anything since everyone deserves realities of their own.
**
They take him to a bright room with pretty lights and Ji Yong misses Seungri just a little bit.
“Who do you talk to?”
The question is more direct than anticipated and Ji Yong stutters, “W-What?”
The Doctor sighs an incredibly long sigh like he’s sick and tired of asking questions and would like to give answers for once in his life. And, it looks like he’s about to do just that but the other Doctor puts her hand on his shoulder and he simply sulks, looking a lot smaller than he actually is.
“We’re asking who you talk to?”
“I talk to my friends.”
“Can you name them?”
“Why?”
“Please, just answer my question.”
He looks around him and his heart sinks in when his eyes fail to find a single exit out of this bright room.
“Th-There’s D-Lite, a-and Sol. And, also, T.O.P.”
“And who else?”
“Seungri.”
“Who is he?”
Ji Yong frowns, “My friend.”
“There is no such person as Seungri in this ward.”
“But he sleeps next to me.”
“Seunghyun sleeps next to you. Seungri doesn’t exist.”
Ji Yong laughs but it’s short and halts at a higher note than it should have. The doctors ask him if he’s been talking the medication and he shakes his head and tells them that it messes up the way he writes his songs. They hand write down a new prescription and send him back to his room. Seungri is there waiting for and Ji Yong smiles. If only they knew.
“Hey, you never told me what your disorder is.”
“They say I’m paranoid schizophrenic, but isn’t that too long of a word for someone that just likes you better than all of the real things?”
Seungri shrugs and touches Ji Yong’s shoulder blades, running a finger above and below the grooves.
“Hey,” he whispers, “tonight, want to, want to be a superhero again?”
Ji Yong mirrors the glint in Seungri’s eyes and whispers back, “Hell yes.”
Their muffled laughter reaches the stars and the sky beyond but they remain on the ground, growing wings and creating realities amidst broken toys and aimless songs.
End.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all.
- Oscar Wilde
Pairing: Ji Yong & Seungri
Rating: PG
Summary: Ji Yong writes songs and Seungri watches. Mental Hospital AU.
Song(s) used for inspiration: Both, played back to back
Korea, Population: 2
Ji Yong is drunk or maybe he’s just dreaming again, but it looks like the new boy has cute, shaggy hair and an awkward smile. Ji Yong sits up straighter in his bed and licks his fingertips and uses them to spike up the ends of his hair. The doctors lead the new boy to his bed and they use their shiny clipboards to wave at certain things throughout the room. They point at Ji Yong and whisper something in new boy’s ear and Ji Yong wonders if they’re whispering all of his secrets. He begins to get nervous when the new boy’s pretty smile falters and he’s about to just go ahead and make it clear that he, personally, isn’t crazy at all, but they tap the new boy’s forehead and leave the room. Ji Yong slumps down again and steals tiny, hesitant glances of the boy.
“What’s your name?”
The boy’s hand clutches around his heart and his eyes are bigger than Ji Yong thought.
“S-Seungri.”
Ji Yong’s lips involuntarily twist up at the edges as he repeats the name, “Seungri.”
“What are you in for?”
“They say I have something called Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but what do they know anyways?”
“What does that mean?”
“That I have a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. But, I don’t believe it. There could never be anything wrong with me.”
Ji Yong smiles, “You should meet my friends.”
**
“Hey, guys, meet Seungri. That’s Seunghyun, but we call him T.O.P. because he sometimes blows his top when he becomes really angry. They say he’s got Bipolar Disorder, but we think he’s just a regular bitch.”
Seunghyun puts up two fingers and nods as a way of greeting.
“And, that is Yongbae, but we call him Sol, because he’s the kindest ‘soul’ you’ll ever meet. Get it? He has Attachment Disorder so watch out or he might never let you go.”
Yongbae chuckles, his eyes curving in the exact same angle as his lips.
“That over there is Daesung, but we call him D-Lite just because he’s such a delight to have around. He’s a Maniac, as in he has Mania and is prone to frequent bouts of ‘an abnormally elevated mood’. It’s only happened once so we’re not even sure why he’s still here.”
Daesung giggles and pokes Ji Yong’s waist.
“And, last we have me, Ji Yong. I’m not supposed to be here, but circumstances just happened in such a sequence that I had no other choice. But, that’s another story for another time. Let’s get you settled in.”
Ji Yong shows Seungri around and tells him where the bathroom is and how you aren’t allowed to go in there unless you stick out three fingers and get called on. And, there will always be someone with you, or else they think you’ll just go insane and kill everyone, which may or may not be true. They’ve got cameras everywhere and Ji Yong points all of them out, his eyes narrowing each time.
“Why isn’t anyone greeting me?” Seungri asks.
“They must not know how special you are.”
Seungri misses the playful sneer on Ji Yong’s face and cracks his back in an attempt to fully stick out his chest. His legs spread further apart as his walks and Ji Yong wants to laugh at the awkward penguin Seungri seems to have become.
“Tomorrow, I’d like to go outside,” Seungri announces and looks around the room with his nose stuck out as if daring anyone to deny him the right.
Ji Yong’s heart hushes then beats one time before drumming out a stream of erratic pumps and he wonders if Seungri is as innocent as he seems.
**
At night, Ji Yong transforms into a superhero, and only Seungri is there to see the skin peel away from the shoulder blades and see the bones crackle as they stretch out to become wings. He watches in awe and whispers, “Could I touch them please?” Ji Yong shrugs and Seungri leaps forward a little before burying his hands in the feathers. His face almost splits as he grins, but the lights fade quickly.
“How come, how come you have wings and I don’t?”
Ji Yong’s wings droop to the floor and fold back into the ridges.
“There. Now, neither one of us has wings.”
Seungri smiles and Ji Yong thinks there isn't anything special about wings and who wants to be a superhero anyways?
**
The next day, the doctors come in again, this time holding less shiny clipboards. They lock Ji Yong in a room and sit across from him, arms folded and lips pursed.
“Patient… 342 was it? Yes, Patient 342, your reports shows that you’ve gotten worse.”
Ji Yong’s pretty sure his number is 341, but he’s not going to be the first to say it, so he simply shrugs and taps his fingers in tune to his latest musical invention. They stiffen at the melodies and Ji Yong taps harder. One of the doctors, the one with a pretty bun and dirty fingernails, tells Ji Yong to be quiet by pressing a finger perpendicularly to her mouth. He stops immediately and imitates her action.
“You’ll never get me to tell you.”
His words must have more power than he thought because they put him back in his room right away. Seungri scoots closer to Ji Yong and asks him what they said. Ji Yong doesn’t answer because he can’t really remember and he tells Seungri that he’s tired and would like to sleep if that’s alright. He can hear Seungri’s bed creak as the boy climbs onto it and he wonders what sort of dreams Seungri has and if they ever involve secrets like his always do.
**
Seungri talks to himself a lot, Ji Yong notes as the boy pumped his fist into the air while mumbling a self-encouraging chant. He thinks that Seungri looks a little bit silly when he does that, but he doesn’t say anything since everyone deserves realities of their own.
**
They take him to a bright room with pretty lights and Ji Yong misses Seungri just a little bit.
“Who do you talk to?”
The question is more direct than anticipated and Ji Yong stutters, “W-What?”
The Doctor sighs an incredibly long sigh like he’s sick and tired of asking questions and would like to give answers for once in his life. And, it looks like he’s about to do just that but the other Doctor puts her hand on his shoulder and he simply sulks, looking a lot smaller than he actually is.
“We’re asking who you talk to?”
“I talk to my friends.”
“Can you name them?”
“Why?”
“Please, just answer my question.”
He looks around him and his heart sinks in when his eyes fail to find a single exit out of this bright room.
“Th-There’s D-Lite, a-and Sol. And, also, T.O.P.”
“And who else?”
“Seungri.”
“Who is he?”
Ji Yong frowns, “My friend.”
“There is no such person as Seungri in this ward.”
“But he sleeps next to me.”
“Seunghyun sleeps next to you. Seungri doesn’t exist.”
Ji Yong laughs but it’s short and halts at a higher note than it should have. The doctors ask him if he’s been talking the medication and he shakes his head and tells them that it messes up the way he writes his songs. They hand write down a new prescription and send him back to his room. Seungri is there waiting for and Ji Yong smiles. If only they knew.
“Hey, you never told me what your disorder is.”
“They say I’m paranoid schizophrenic, but isn’t that too long of a word for someone that just likes you better than all of the real things?”
Seungri shrugs and touches Ji Yong’s shoulder blades, running a finger above and below the grooves.
“Hey,” he whispers, “tonight, want to, want to be a superhero again?”
Ji Yong mirrors the glint in Seungri’s eyes and whispers back, “Hell yes.”
Their muffled laughter reaches the stars and the sky beyond but they remain on the ground, growing wings and creating realities amidst broken toys and aimless songs.
End.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all.
- Oscar Wilde