screentime
screentime
gen
2063 words
The last thing on screen is the brightness of Jaebum's eyes.
screentime
i'd like to make myself believe
that planet earth turns slowly
- fireflies (owl city)
i.
Wooyoung is talking so softly the camcorder is unable to catch it, but his eyes are bright and his smile is soft. Junho is listening, nodding now and then, fingers tapping a comforting rhythm against Wooyoung's wrist. The video is a little jerky - Taecyeon had filmed this in the van, on the way to one of their schedules -, and the sky is a bright, clear blue behind the two of them.
Somewhere off-screen, Junsu is singing (It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep), and if you squint hard enough, you can spot Nichkhun at the back sleeping with his head lolling against Chansung's shoulder. Jaebum is squashed in between Chansung and the car door, and he makes a face when he sees Taecyeon filming, accompanied with a rude gesture.
Taecyeon laughs, and the video ends.
ii.
Six sweaty boys jostle for screen space, their cheeks red and their grins luminous. In the background, the track for I Hate You is playing - this was one of their breaks during dance practice.
"Junsu screwed up," Wooyoung tells the camcorder, and the camcorder is bobbed up and down in agreement.
"Hey!" Junsu says, a futile protest since he really did screw up. He is half-laughing, though, and Junho punches him on the shoulder affectionately.
The camcorder starts zooming in, and Nichkhun's lips take up the whole screen as he drinks from his bottle. The bottle disappears from Nichkhun's lips, and then Nichkhun is saying, "what the hell are you doing, Taec, you pervert", and Chansung starts laughing in his giddy, high-pitched manner.
"Shut up," Jaebum says, but the smile in his voice is obvious. The video pans to Jaebum, a close-up of his eye, and then zooms out as Jaebum does a backflip just to show off to the camera.
Nichkhun shakes his head, a smile tugging his lips upwards, and Junho is laughing as he lounges against the wall. Wooyoung is sitting on the ground, eyes bright as he observes Jaebum's ridiculousness (he'd always sort of worshiped Jay, even if he tried his best to hide it).
Someone announces that they have to get back to practice, and the camera is tilted back towards Taecyeon. "Bye," he whispers, does a peace sign, then turns it off.
iii.
Two boys, huddled together on a bed. One of them is hugging a pillow to his chest, while the other is hastily grabbing for a hat to hide his messy hair.
"Welcome to the bedroom of Taec and Jun.k," Taecyeon says, offering a cheerful wave to the camcorder, which is sitting on his desk. Beside him, Junsu pulls his hat low, flashes a smile, and wiggles his fingers.
"Um," Taecyeon says, glancing around him. "This is my bed. And I don't know why Junsu is sitting on it -"
"What? You sit on my bed all the time, too -"
Taecyeon waves him off. "Just ignore Junsu," he says. "He's being ridiculous."
Junsu makes a disapproving noise, and the grin brightening Taecyeon's face widens.
"Okay," Taecyeon continues. "And that's the closet. Which has a lot of clothes, mostly which are Junsu's."
"And of course, Taecyeon's fashion-terrorist outfits," Junsu adds.
"And Junsu's hidden porn collection."
"And... Wait, what the hell did you say?"
Taecyeon dashes for the door, flinging it open and running out. Junsu sits on the bed frozen for a moment, then he is chasing after Taecyeon, screaming obscenities and protests after him. For twenty-one more minutes, there is nothing interesting on-screen except the bed and some loud outbursts from somewhere further away. Finally, Taecyeon stalks back in, breathless and grinning, to shut it off.
iv.
They are all eating dinner, talking about random happenings of the day when Jaebum happens to glance up and notice the camcorder. "Jeez, Taec," Jaebum complains. "Can you, like, not film every second of the day?"
"This is only the first time today, ignore him." Taecyeon's voice.
Jaebum huffs, then continues digging into his mountain of rice. Beside him, Chansung's chopsticks are moving at a speed somewhat close to lightning, alternating between the plates on the table and his mouth.
Wooyoung looks up, then grins with his mouth full, his cheeks even rounder than usual. Junho just smiles, then goes back to drinking his spoonful of soup. Nichkhun pushes his chair back, his empty bowl and cutlery in his hands. "I'm done," he says, then strides into the kitchen.
"Is he eating less or has his eating speed increased?" Junsu wonders. After a minute of pondering (no one bothered to answer his question), he shrugs and continues eating.
"Hyung," Junho says. "Everyone's going to be done before you. Then you'll have to wash all the dishes."
Taecyeon makes an indignant noise. "Okay, okay," he retorts, and then the video is cut off.
v.
Jaebum is smiling widely, but his fists are clenched so tightly his knuckles are white. He tilts his head to the left slightly, then looks upwards, sighs, and looks back at the camcorder.
"Hey," he says, and his voice is shaky. "First of all, I'm sorry. I really am."
There is a knock on the door, and Jaebum jumps a little. "Your turn for the bathroom," Junsu's voice calls, and Jaebum yells back, "Okay, just a while more."
When he turns back, his eyes are watery, and when he breathes, his body shudders. "You know," he says. "You know I don't want to leave. You know if it was because of anything else, I wouldn't run away. You know I would love to stay here with you guys, you know I want to release our next album together and travel the world with you all, but."
His voice is getting more and more choked up, and he scrapes the back of his hand roughly against his eyes. "Junsu, you'll be the oldest without me. Take care of them, okay? Make sure they don't get into trouble - okay, too much trouble - and listen to Minjae-hyung. And stop screwing up your dance moves."
"Khun," Jaebum says, and he smiles that special smile he's always reserved for Nichkhun. "I trust you. You've always been the most responsible, more responsible than me, even, and you have to make sure they're nice and good and don't fool around too much during practice. Work them so hard your comeback will be the most-talked-about issue for an entire month. Work them so hard people stop talking about me, and about the six of you."
Through a crack in the curtains, there is a flash of lightning, and then a rumble of thunder. "Taec," Jaebum continues. "Thanks for everything, for listening to me when I needed help and helping me out whenever you could. Help Junsu and Khun too, okay? Two people aren't enough for you bunch of monkeys."
Jaebum is silent for a while, shutting his eyes and breathing out through his mouth. When he opens his eyes again, he says Wooyoungie, and his voice turns into something gentler, something warmer and lighter and more concerned. "Judging by how well I know you, you'll probably take it the hardest. I know even if I tell you to stay strong, you won't, so I'm telling you to take as little time to adjust as you can. For the rest of the group, for the fans, for me. Okay? Don't cry too much, Woodong-ah, you know how swollen your eyes will get the next morning."
There is the sound of raindrops splattering against the window, and muffled shouting from somewhere outside the room. "Junho, why are you making so much noise right now," Jaebum says, then laughs a little, sniffling as he does so. "I know how hardworking you are, I know how responsible you are. I'm counting on you to help out with the group, but don't work too hard, okay? Don't go overboard with practice - careful of your injuries when you're doing acrobatics, yeah? - and remember to take breaks. Sometimes you're a little scary when you go on without stopping, and it's unhealthy, you know what the doctors said."
"Chansung," Jaebum says next. "Maknae, don't be too childish all the time. Oh, and don't clear out the food too quickly or Taec will yell at you again, and this time I won't be around to save you. And I've told you a hundred times, don't bug me for mangoes, it's expensive to send them over by mail. And remember to work harder on your rapping, keep practicing the way I taught you, okay?"
This time the knocking is much louder. "How long are you going to take?" Taecyeon whines, hitting the door for emphasis. "It's my turn after you, and you've been in there for eternity!"
"Okay, okay!" Jaebum answers, then flashes a brief smile at the camera. "Bye," he says, and reaches over to shut the camcorder off. The last thing on screen is the brightness of Jaebum's eyes.
vi.
"Hi," Nichkhun says. "We're filming this for Jay."
They are all sitting on the couch, the clock on the wall behind them announcing that it is currently 4:47A.M.
Junsu clears his throat. "I'll start," he says, then gives the camcorder a watery smile. "Hey, Jay. Uh, I really miss you. We all do. But we understand you need some time, so just, take all the time you need, okay? We'll wait for you. And no, I'm not gay for you. Seriously."
Taecyeon snorts, nudging Junsu in the ribs. "Okay, my turn," he says. "Yo Jay, hope you're having crazy fun over there. Say hi to your bro and friends for me, yeah? And you better work on your singing while you're away, I think Wooyoung is getting as good as you already."
"I'm already as good as," Wooyoung corrects, a small grin on his face. "Or maybe better."
Chansung rolls his eyes and pulls a face, and Wooyoung whacks him - so hard there is a loud thwack sound - on the shoulder. The next moment, Chansung is laughing and Wooyoung is wincing, grabbing his fingers as he mutters about freaking rock-hard shoulders, damn it.
"Jay," Nichkhun says, pointedly ignoring Wooyoung and Chansung's childish scuffle. "I hope you're doing okay. No, I know you're doing okay, because you are great and you can do well anywhere you are. So bring that awesomeness back to Korea, okay? We miss you, leadja."
"Me, me," Wooyoung demands, raising an arm up high. "I assume we're going by age?"
Junsu gives him a look. "Just say whatever you want, Wooyoung."
"Besides, it's not like Taec-hyung and Khun-hyung went by age order," Junho adds.
Nichkhun makes an irritated face. "Don't confuse this any further, Junho," he says. "Just go for it, Wooyoung."
"Fine," Wooyoung says, disgruntled. "Hyung, I miss you like crazy. Life sucks without you here. Oh yeah, did you hear about the blood letters everyone's been getting? It's sick, man, seriously. Taec-hyung's face was priceless when he saw it -"
"Shut up, Wooyoung, this is not about you or me, this is about Jay."
Wooyoung ignores him. "It was I'm-going-to-pee-in-my-pants level of scared, hyung, you should have seen it! I bet you -"
Taecyeon's figure is getting bigger and bigger as he moves closer to the camcorder. "Seriously," Taecyeon mutters, and his large hand covers the lenses. Everything is dark.
A shout from Junho: "Hey, I haven't gotten my turn yet, what the -"
The video ends abruptly (when Jaebum watches this a few days later, he just shakes his head and goes, "Knew they'd be screwed up without me. Jeez." From somewhere further away, Jehan hides a smile behind his hand and pretends there aren't tears in his brother's eyes.)
vii.
Nichkhun walks out of the toilet, holding Taecyeon's camcorder with one hand as he uses his other hand to brush wet hair out of his face. "Taec, why the hell did you put this in the bathroom?" Nichkhun demands. "With the camera lens turned towards the shower, to be exact."
Taecyeon blinks, edging away from Nichkhun and his scowl. "It was an accident?" Taecyeon tries hopefully.
"Accident, your ass," Nichkhun snaps. "Of all the perverse, disgusting, uncouth, sick things, Taec, this takes the cake."
He turns, arms crossed, and ends up staring straight into another camcorder. On-screen, Nichkhun's mouth falls open as he points a shaky finger towards the person behind the camcorder.
"Chansung, what the... are you filming this? Where did you even get this from, you -"
The end.
gen
2063 words
The last thing on screen is the brightness of Jaebum's eyes.
screentime
i'd like to make myself believe
that planet earth turns slowly
- fireflies (owl city)
i.
Wooyoung is talking so softly the camcorder is unable to catch it, but his eyes are bright and his smile is soft. Junho is listening, nodding now and then, fingers tapping a comforting rhythm against Wooyoung's wrist. The video is a little jerky - Taecyeon had filmed this in the van, on the way to one of their schedules -, and the sky is a bright, clear blue behind the two of them.
Somewhere off-screen, Junsu is singing (It's hard to say I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep), and if you squint hard enough, you can spot Nichkhun at the back sleeping with his head lolling against Chansung's shoulder. Jaebum is squashed in between Chansung and the car door, and he makes a face when he sees Taecyeon filming, accompanied with a rude gesture.
Taecyeon laughs, and the video ends.
ii.
Six sweaty boys jostle for screen space, their cheeks red and their grins luminous. In the background, the track for I Hate You is playing - this was one of their breaks during dance practice.
"Junsu screwed up," Wooyoung tells the camcorder, and the camcorder is bobbed up and down in agreement.
"Hey!" Junsu says, a futile protest since he really did screw up. He is half-laughing, though, and Junho punches him on the shoulder affectionately.
The camcorder starts zooming in, and Nichkhun's lips take up the whole screen as he drinks from his bottle. The bottle disappears from Nichkhun's lips, and then Nichkhun is saying, "what the hell are you doing, Taec, you pervert", and Chansung starts laughing in his giddy, high-pitched manner.
"Shut up," Jaebum says, but the smile in his voice is obvious. The video pans to Jaebum, a close-up of his eye, and then zooms out as Jaebum does a backflip just to show off to the camera.
Nichkhun shakes his head, a smile tugging his lips upwards, and Junho is laughing as he lounges against the wall. Wooyoung is sitting on the ground, eyes bright as he observes Jaebum's ridiculousness (he'd always sort of worshiped Jay, even if he tried his best to hide it).
Someone announces that they have to get back to practice, and the camera is tilted back towards Taecyeon. "Bye," he whispers, does a peace sign, then turns it off.
iii.
Two boys, huddled together on a bed. One of them is hugging a pillow to his chest, while the other is hastily grabbing for a hat to hide his messy hair.
"Welcome to the bedroom of Taec and Jun.k," Taecyeon says, offering a cheerful wave to the camcorder, which is sitting on his desk. Beside him, Junsu pulls his hat low, flashes a smile, and wiggles his fingers.
"Um," Taecyeon says, glancing around him. "This is my bed. And I don't know why Junsu is sitting on it -"
"What? You sit on my bed all the time, too -"
Taecyeon waves him off. "Just ignore Junsu," he says. "He's being ridiculous."
Junsu makes a disapproving noise, and the grin brightening Taecyeon's face widens.
"Okay," Taecyeon continues. "And that's the closet. Which has a lot of clothes, mostly which are Junsu's."
"And of course, Taecyeon's fashion-terrorist outfits," Junsu adds.
"And Junsu's hidden porn collection."
"And... Wait, what the hell did you say?"
Taecyeon dashes for the door, flinging it open and running out. Junsu sits on the bed frozen for a moment, then he is chasing after Taecyeon, screaming obscenities and protests after him. For twenty-one more minutes, there is nothing interesting on-screen except the bed and some loud outbursts from somewhere further away. Finally, Taecyeon stalks back in, breathless and grinning, to shut it off.
iv.
They are all eating dinner, talking about random happenings of the day when Jaebum happens to glance up and notice the camcorder. "Jeez, Taec," Jaebum complains. "Can you, like, not film every second of the day?"
"This is only the first time today, ignore him." Taecyeon's voice.
Jaebum huffs, then continues digging into his mountain of rice. Beside him, Chansung's chopsticks are moving at a speed somewhat close to lightning, alternating between the plates on the table and his mouth.
Wooyoung looks up, then grins with his mouth full, his cheeks even rounder than usual. Junho just smiles, then goes back to drinking his spoonful of soup. Nichkhun pushes his chair back, his empty bowl and cutlery in his hands. "I'm done," he says, then strides into the kitchen.
"Is he eating less or has his eating speed increased?" Junsu wonders. After a minute of pondering (no one bothered to answer his question), he shrugs and continues eating.
"Hyung," Junho says. "Everyone's going to be done before you. Then you'll have to wash all the dishes."
Taecyeon makes an indignant noise. "Okay, okay," he retorts, and then the video is cut off.
v.
Jaebum is smiling widely, but his fists are clenched so tightly his knuckles are white. He tilts his head to the left slightly, then looks upwards, sighs, and looks back at the camcorder.
"Hey," he says, and his voice is shaky. "First of all, I'm sorry. I really am."
There is a knock on the door, and Jaebum jumps a little. "Your turn for the bathroom," Junsu's voice calls, and Jaebum yells back, "Okay, just a while more."
When he turns back, his eyes are watery, and when he breathes, his body shudders. "You know," he says. "You know I don't want to leave. You know if it was because of anything else, I wouldn't run away. You know I would love to stay here with you guys, you know I want to release our next album together and travel the world with you all, but."
His voice is getting more and more choked up, and he scrapes the back of his hand roughly against his eyes. "Junsu, you'll be the oldest without me. Take care of them, okay? Make sure they don't get into trouble - okay, too much trouble - and listen to Minjae-hyung. And stop screwing up your dance moves."
"Khun," Jaebum says, and he smiles that special smile he's always reserved for Nichkhun. "I trust you. You've always been the most responsible, more responsible than me, even, and you have to make sure they're nice and good and don't fool around too much during practice. Work them so hard your comeback will be the most-talked-about issue for an entire month. Work them so hard people stop talking about me, and about the six of you."
Through a crack in the curtains, there is a flash of lightning, and then a rumble of thunder. "Taec," Jaebum continues. "Thanks for everything, for listening to me when I needed help and helping me out whenever you could. Help Junsu and Khun too, okay? Two people aren't enough for you bunch of monkeys."
Jaebum is silent for a while, shutting his eyes and breathing out through his mouth. When he opens his eyes again, he says Wooyoungie, and his voice turns into something gentler, something warmer and lighter and more concerned. "Judging by how well I know you, you'll probably take it the hardest. I know even if I tell you to stay strong, you won't, so I'm telling you to take as little time to adjust as you can. For the rest of the group, for the fans, for me. Okay? Don't cry too much, Woodong-ah, you know how swollen your eyes will get the next morning."
There is the sound of raindrops splattering against the window, and muffled shouting from somewhere outside the room. "Junho, why are you making so much noise right now," Jaebum says, then laughs a little, sniffling as he does so. "I know how hardworking you are, I know how responsible you are. I'm counting on you to help out with the group, but don't work too hard, okay? Don't go overboard with practice - careful of your injuries when you're doing acrobatics, yeah? - and remember to take breaks. Sometimes you're a little scary when you go on without stopping, and it's unhealthy, you know what the doctors said."
"Chansung," Jaebum says next. "Maknae, don't be too childish all the time. Oh, and don't clear out the food too quickly or Taec will yell at you again, and this time I won't be around to save you. And I've told you a hundred times, don't bug me for mangoes, it's expensive to send them over by mail. And remember to work harder on your rapping, keep practicing the way I taught you, okay?"
This time the knocking is much louder. "How long are you going to take?" Taecyeon whines, hitting the door for emphasis. "It's my turn after you, and you've been in there for eternity!"
"Okay, okay!" Jaebum answers, then flashes a brief smile at the camera. "Bye," he says, and reaches over to shut the camcorder off. The last thing on screen is the brightness of Jaebum's eyes.
vi.
"Hi," Nichkhun says. "We're filming this for Jay."
They are all sitting on the couch, the clock on the wall behind them announcing that it is currently 4:47A.M.
Junsu clears his throat. "I'll start," he says, then gives the camcorder a watery smile. "Hey, Jay. Uh, I really miss you. We all do. But we understand you need some time, so just, take all the time you need, okay? We'll wait for you. And no, I'm not gay for you. Seriously."
Taecyeon snorts, nudging Junsu in the ribs. "Okay, my turn," he says. "Yo Jay, hope you're having crazy fun over there. Say hi to your bro and friends for me, yeah? And you better work on your singing while you're away, I think Wooyoung is getting as good as you already."
"I'm already as good as," Wooyoung corrects, a small grin on his face. "Or maybe better."
Chansung rolls his eyes and pulls a face, and Wooyoung whacks him - so hard there is a loud thwack sound - on the shoulder. The next moment, Chansung is laughing and Wooyoung is wincing, grabbing his fingers as he mutters about freaking rock-hard shoulders, damn it.
"Jay," Nichkhun says, pointedly ignoring Wooyoung and Chansung's childish scuffle. "I hope you're doing okay. No, I know you're doing okay, because you are great and you can do well anywhere you are. So bring that awesomeness back to Korea, okay? We miss you, leadja."
"Me, me," Wooyoung demands, raising an arm up high. "I assume we're going by age?"
Junsu gives him a look. "Just say whatever you want, Wooyoung."
"Besides, it's not like Taec-hyung and Khun-hyung went by age order," Junho adds.
Nichkhun makes an irritated face. "Don't confuse this any further, Junho," he says. "Just go for it, Wooyoung."
"Fine," Wooyoung says, disgruntled. "Hyung, I miss you like crazy. Life sucks without you here. Oh yeah, did you hear about the blood letters everyone's been getting? It's sick, man, seriously. Taec-hyung's face was priceless when he saw it -"
"Shut up, Wooyoung, this is not about you or me, this is about Jay."
Wooyoung ignores him. "It was I'm-going-to-pee-in-my-pants level of scared, hyung, you should have seen it! I bet you -"
Taecyeon's figure is getting bigger and bigger as he moves closer to the camcorder. "Seriously," Taecyeon mutters, and his large hand covers the lenses. Everything is dark.
A shout from Junho: "Hey, I haven't gotten my turn yet, what the -"
The video ends abruptly (when Jaebum watches this a few days later, he just shakes his head and goes, "Knew they'd be screwed up without me. Jeez." From somewhere further away, Jehan hides a smile behind his hand and pretends there aren't tears in his brother's eyes.)
vii.
Nichkhun walks out of the toilet, holding Taecyeon's camcorder with one hand as he uses his other hand to brush wet hair out of his face. "Taec, why the hell did you put this in the bathroom?" Nichkhun demands. "With the camera lens turned towards the shower, to be exact."
Taecyeon blinks, edging away from Nichkhun and his scowl. "It was an accident?" Taecyeon tries hopefully.
"Accident, your ass," Nichkhun snaps. "Of all the perverse, disgusting, uncouth, sick things, Taec, this takes the cake."
He turns, arms crossed, and ends up staring straight into another camcorder. On-screen, Nichkhun's mouth falls open as he points a shaky finger towards the person behind the camcorder.
"Chansung, what the... are you filming this? Where did you even get this from, you -"
The end.