ISS 2012: for oxygenbubble
Title just like you
Pairing/Focus woogyu
Rating pg-13
Word count: 1587
Summary: sunggyu hates woohyun, woohyun can't stand losing and both of them are so immersed into their little power struggle that they fail to notice how similar they really are.
To: oxygenbubble
From: Your Secret Santa
woohyun wasn’t so sure why sunggyu hated him so much.
he could swear the moment they met - the moment he was introduced to the older male as the new member of their team, the potential main vocal - sunggyu’s gaze turned darker, fiercer, and the whole room suddenly felt uncomfortable. even though the air was thick with awkwardness, woohyun tried to smile softly at his future bandmate.
“he better be just as good as you say or i’ll do everything to get him kicked out.”
the smile died on his lips and he was left hanging, not knowing how to react to such malicious words as the older boy turned his back on him and left the room without any further ado.
only when he heard someone calling him softly - dongwoo, was it? - did he start breathing again.
clenching his fists tightly, he silently promised to himself that he’ll show everyone that he’s truly worth being here, standing on stage, singing - because he knew he was good. and he’ll prove that to a certain kim sunggyu.
(and honestly, sunggyu did not hate him, not really; he was just afraid of being second, of being worse than the pretty black-haired boy with a nice smile and charcoal eyes, the boy whom everyone seemed to befriend so easily. he couldn’t stop thinking how they were so similar and not-similar at the same time, and how woohyun seemed to be everything sunggyu could only dream to be.)
∞
woohyun realized he wanted to be better than sunggyu.
truth to be told, he has never worked so hard before, not even when he was preparing for the auditions. he knew he was good, heck, if he wasn’t he wouldn’t get accepted. he might not be the best dancer - like howon or dongwoo, the two of them danced as naturally, as easily as they breathed - but after some practice he managed to memorize the steps just correctly. moreover, it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t proud of his voice.
damn, he was.
yet when sunggyu was around he never felt good enough in anything.
no doubt the older boy has always been strict with everyone, with himself as well - and the moment he had been chosen as the leader of their soon-to-debut, still nameless group, he only became worse. their practices were already exhausting but the oldest of them made them practice until their limbs felt numb and they had problems with remembering what their names were.
everything had to be perfect, be it their movements, their smiles or their voices.
and when it came to woohyun, everyone, except for the narrow-eyed leader, praised him for being excellent in each of these fields - but compared to sunggyu he always felt he wasn’t good enough.
so every time he witnessed sunggyu’s mistakes - cracked voice, wrong dance move, anything - he never failed to point it out even more viciously than he should.
(and woohyun was so immersed in his victories over sunggyu he didn’t notice the older boy’s distressed expression, all the self-consciousness and self-loathing written clearly on his face.)
∞
woohyun wasn’t so sure why he hated sunggyu so much.
it began somewhere between their dance practice and vocal training, the older male’s nagging and merciless remarks cutting deep into his soul.
he knew he normally wouldn’t take it too personally; ‘normally’ meaning if it was someone else saying all these things. critique was a normal thing when it came to idols, after all. they were criticized on a daily basis by their trainers, managers, ceo, everyone - but they just took it in without a word because it was meant to help them improve. when it came to sunggyu, however, something about him and his comments made woohyun so utterly furious he just snapped.
“stop it,” he growled, his voice all low and dangerous. “stop it, for fuck’s sake.”
sunggyu halted abruptly, his eyes narrowing. “what did you just say?”
“i told you to stop being such a fucking asshole,” woohyun answered, trying to keep his voice calm - even though his clenched fists and tensed form were indicating he was anything but. “you keep on shoving into my face how many mistakes i still make and how i should improve, and even though you haven’t said that out loud you surely believe i’m useless, right?” he grabbed the other male’s collar, bringing their faces together. “and you, have you ever thought about how useless you are?”
sunggyu seemed unfazed as he replied slowly: “i know i still have a long way to go.” (and he knew, oh how well he was aware of his own shortcomings.) he pushed woohyun away and took a deep breath, not sure whether he should say the next words. (but it was tempting, tempting to hurt the other just like he had hurt him, tempting to be vicious and merciless and everything woohyun accused him of being.) “but unlike some people here, i am at least making an effort to improve.”
the sound of woohyun’s fist colliding with sunggyu’s jaw resounded loudly in the empty corridor.
∞
woohyun was quite thankful that the only consequence of him starting a fight was an additional training in the morning.
for a month he had to wake up around 6 am, one hour before the rest of the members, and undergo a ‘special training’ because, as their ceo stated, he still had too much energy for his own good, if bruising his fellow member’s face was anything to go by.
even though it meant having one precious hour less for sleep in his already sleep-deprived schedule, he was glad it ended just like that.
he just couldn’t understand why he felt so disappointed when sunggyu not only stopped his nagging but started avoiding woohyun in general. like he didn’t exist.
(and sunggyu didn’t know what to do, didn’t understand it either, how they became like this. he needed time to comprehend it, needed some space to think calmly about the whole situation and how to make everything better. but it wasn’t until dongwoo approached him, with his soft smile, warm hands and accurate observations, and suddenly everything became so much clearer.)
∞
woohyun couldn’t believe it.
after the first week of his ‘special training’ - and sunggyu’s silent treatment - he started noticing things.
how the bottle of water he was sure he forgot to bring from the dorm suddenly appeared next to his bag.
how his favourite sneakers that he damaged during the training turned out to have been repaired the next day.
how he kept on finding small candies in his pockets every morning when he woke up.
and then at the beginning of the second week, there was sunggyu.
he was already stretching when woohyun came into their practice room for his morning training.
“what-“
sunggyu shoved a candy into his mouth, successfully shutting him up.
“come, let’s practice together.”
woohyun almost choked on the sweet treat he got from the older boy.
(and sunggyu could’t believe how easy it was to smile at the stupid but still handsome face the other boy was making.)
∞
woohyun never knew sharing the number one spot with someone would make him so happy.
“i’m sorry,” sunggyu says softly two weeks later, voice steady and honest; the only thing that indicates his nervousness is his habit to avoid looking at woohyun, something that the younger boy noticed recently. as these simple words leave leader’s mouth woohyun is left speechless - because it’s sunggyu and sunggyu is never sorry, especially to him. never.
why would he be when, no matter how much admitting to it makes the younger singer cringe, everything he does, he does perfectly.
“it’s my fault you had to do this.” sunggyu is fiddling with the other’s dorm keys, guilt and anxiousness written all over his face; and the raven-haired boy can’t even pretend he’s angry, not while the always composed and straightforward leader is acting like this, all vulnerable and diffident. it is the moment when woohyun rememberes how stupidly blind he had been all this time, how he had managed to misunderstand each and every action of his roommate. sunggyu is so easy to read, almost like an open book - you just need to understand the code he’s written in.
after a few seconds woohyun feels his lips curving into a warm smile, a soft “it’s okay” and “i’m sorry as well” slipping from his lips almost way too easily for his own liking.
but then the older boy stands up, murmuring something about time and their practice, and how they should probably go back to their dorm now. even though he tries to cover it, woohyun still manages to catch the glimpse of his cheeks, tainted with a delicate pink blush, the sight so adorable and cute he almost misses something else-
his heart skips a beat.
his keys lie there, just beside him, adorned with a simple, golden key chain that wasn’t there before.
infinity.
he knows the same keychain, but silver, is attached to sunggyu’s keys.
it’s okay, he repeats to himself as he takes his keys carefully, like he is afraid they are going to disappear the moment he touches them, it really is. as long as he has sunggyu beside him, everything will be okay.
sunggyu calls him from afar, telling him to hurry up - and when their eyes met he smiles so brightly the younger boy can't help but smile back.
for the first time in months, woohyun can breathe again.
Pairing/Focus woogyu
Rating pg-13
Word count: 1587
Summary: sunggyu hates woohyun, woohyun can't stand losing and both of them are so immersed into their little power struggle that they fail to notice how similar they really are.
To: oxygenbubble
From: Your Secret Santa
woohyun wasn’t so sure why sunggyu hated him so much.
he could swear the moment they met - the moment he was introduced to the older male as the new member of their team, the potential main vocal - sunggyu’s gaze turned darker, fiercer, and the whole room suddenly felt uncomfortable. even though the air was thick with awkwardness, woohyun tried to smile softly at his future bandmate.
“he better be just as good as you say or i’ll do everything to get him kicked out.”
the smile died on his lips and he was left hanging, not knowing how to react to such malicious words as the older boy turned his back on him and left the room without any further ado.
only when he heard someone calling him softly - dongwoo, was it? - did he start breathing again.
clenching his fists tightly, he silently promised to himself that he’ll show everyone that he’s truly worth being here, standing on stage, singing - because he knew he was good. and he’ll prove that to a certain kim sunggyu.
(and honestly, sunggyu did not hate him, not really; he was just afraid of being second, of being worse than the pretty black-haired boy with a nice smile and charcoal eyes, the boy whom everyone seemed to befriend so easily. he couldn’t stop thinking how they were so similar and not-similar at the same time, and how woohyun seemed to be everything sunggyu could only dream to be.)
∞
woohyun realized he wanted to be better than sunggyu.
truth to be told, he has never worked so hard before, not even when he was preparing for the auditions. he knew he was good, heck, if he wasn’t he wouldn’t get accepted. he might not be the best dancer - like howon or dongwoo, the two of them danced as naturally, as easily as they breathed - but after some practice he managed to memorize the steps just correctly. moreover, it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t proud of his voice.
damn, he was.
yet when sunggyu was around he never felt good enough in anything.
no doubt the older boy has always been strict with everyone, with himself as well - and the moment he had been chosen as the leader of their soon-to-debut, still nameless group, he only became worse. their practices were already exhausting but the oldest of them made them practice until their limbs felt numb and they had problems with remembering what their names were.
everything had to be perfect, be it their movements, their smiles or their voices.
and when it came to woohyun, everyone, except for the narrow-eyed leader, praised him for being excellent in each of these fields - but compared to sunggyu he always felt he wasn’t good enough.
so every time he witnessed sunggyu’s mistakes - cracked voice, wrong dance move, anything - he never failed to point it out even more viciously than he should.
(and woohyun was so immersed in his victories over sunggyu he didn’t notice the older boy’s distressed expression, all the self-consciousness and self-loathing written clearly on his face.)
∞
woohyun wasn’t so sure why he hated sunggyu so much.
it began somewhere between their dance practice and vocal training, the older male’s nagging and merciless remarks cutting deep into his soul.
he knew he normally wouldn’t take it too personally; ‘normally’ meaning if it was someone else saying all these things. critique was a normal thing when it came to idols, after all. they were criticized on a daily basis by their trainers, managers, ceo, everyone - but they just took it in without a word because it was meant to help them improve. when it came to sunggyu, however, something about him and his comments made woohyun so utterly furious he just snapped.
“stop it,” he growled, his voice all low and dangerous. “stop it, for fuck’s sake.”
sunggyu halted abruptly, his eyes narrowing. “what did you just say?”
“i told you to stop being such a fucking asshole,” woohyun answered, trying to keep his voice calm - even though his clenched fists and tensed form were indicating he was anything but. “you keep on shoving into my face how many mistakes i still make and how i should improve, and even though you haven’t said that out loud you surely believe i’m useless, right?” he grabbed the other male’s collar, bringing their faces together. “and you, have you ever thought about how useless you are?”
sunggyu seemed unfazed as he replied slowly: “i know i still have a long way to go.” (and he knew, oh how well he was aware of his own shortcomings.) he pushed woohyun away and took a deep breath, not sure whether he should say the next words. (but it was tempting, tempting to hurt the other just like he had hurt him, tempting to be vicious and merciless and everything woohyun accused him of being.) “but unlike some people here, i am at least making an effort to improve.”
the sound of woohyun’s fist colliding with sunggyu’s jaw resounded loudly in the empty corridor.
∞
woohyun was quite thankful that the only consequence of him starting a fight was an additional training in the morning.
for a month he had to wake up around 6 am, one hour before the rest of the members, and undergo a ‘special training’ because, as their ceo stated, he still had too much energy for his own good, if bruising his fellow member’s face was anything to go by.
even though it meant having one precious hour less for sleep in his already sleep-deprived schedule, he was glad it ended just like that.
he just couldn’t understand why he felt so disappointed when sunggyu not only stopped his nagging but started avoiding woohyun in general. like he didn’t exist.
(and sunggyu didn’t know what to do, didn’t understand it either, how they became like this. he needed time to comprehend it, needed some space to think calmly about the whole situation and how to make everything better. but it wasn’t until dongwoo approached him, with his soft smile, warm hands and accurate observations, and suddenly everything became so much clearer.)
∞
woohyun couldn’t believe it.
after the first week of his ‘special training’ - and sunggyu’s silent treatment - he started noticing things.
how the bottle of water he was sure he forgot to bring from the dorm suddenly appeared next to his bag.
how his favourite sneakers that he damaged during the training turned out to have been repaired the next day.
how he kept on finding small candies in his pockets every morning when he woke up.
and then at the beginning of the second week, there was sunggyu.
he was already stretching when woohyun came into their practice room for his morning training.
“what-“
sunggyu shoved a candy into his mouth, successfully shutting him up.
“come, let’s practice together.”
woohyun almost choked on the sweet treat he got from the older boy.
(and sunggyu could’t believe how easy it was to smile at the stupid but still handsome face the other boy was making.)
∞
woohyun never knew sharing the number one spot with someone would make him so happy.
“i’m sorry,” sunggyu says softly two weeks later, voice steady and honest; the only thing that indicates his nervousness is his habit to avoid looking at woohyun, something that the younger boy noticed recently. as these simple words leave leader’s mouth woohyun is left speechless - because it’s sunggyu and sunggyu is never sorry, especially to him. never.
why would he be when, no matter how much admitting to it makes the younger singer cringe, everything he does, he does perfectly.
“it’s my fault you had to do this.” sunggyu is fiddling with the other’s dorm keys, guilt and anxiousness written all over his face; and the raven-haired boy can’t even pretend he’s angry, not while the always composed and straightforward leader is acting like this, all vulnerable and diffident. it is the moment when woohyun rememberes how stupidly blind he had been all this time, how he had managed to misunderstand each and every action of his roommate. sunggyu is so easy to read, almost like an open book - you just need to understand the code he’s written in.
after a few seconds woohyun feels his lips curving into a warm smile, a soft “it’s okay” and “i’m sorry as well” slipping from his lips almost way too easily for his own liking.
but then the older boy stands up, murmuring something about time and their practice, and how they should probably go back to their dorm now. even though he tries to cover it, woohyun still manages to catch the glimpse of his cheeks, tainted with a delicate pink blush, the sight so adorable and cute he almost misses something else-
his heart skips a beat.
his keys lie there, just beside him, adorned with a simple, golden key chain that wasn’t there before.
infinity.
he knows the same keychain, but silver, is attached to sunggyu’s keys.
it’s okay, he repeats to himself as he takes his keys carefully, like he is afraid they are going to disappear the moment he touches them, it really is. as long as he has sunggyu beside him, everything will be okay.
sunggyu calls him from afar, telling him to hurry up - and when their eyes met he smiles so brightly the younger boy can't help but smile back.
for the first time in months, woohyun can breathe again.