Training Wheels
Title: Training Wheels
Pairing: Suho/Kris [various side pairings]
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: "in which Kris always ends up being the third wheel". Hello anonymous, I love you.
a/n: hi
--
Why is it always like this? Wufan watches everyone around him pair off and it's not fair, isn't he the handsome charismatic one-and-only duizhang?
Apparently not.
Whenever the twelve of them are together, he thinks he'll get a break; even if a few pair off, there's a plethora of other boys to bathe in his handsome smile and stunning looks and they should be thankful for that, right?
No.
It's worse when all twelve of them are together. They pair off, they triple off, and if Wufan used to get butthurt whenever a member didn't return a hi-5, this whole 'let's all do our own thing without duizhang!' is really grating on him.
He's sitting on the couch in the main dorm, legs sprawled out and head tipped back against the cushions while everyone buzzes around him. Screams of laughter and tears of pain as everyone wrestles and jostles around -- because time rarely spent together always bubbles over their first night back in Korea -- and he's just hanging out, eyes closed, muffled rap music playing in one of the ear buds in his ear. He was too lazy to put the second one in.
"Wufan! Wufan! H-Help--!" it's Baekhyun screeching as Chanyeol hefts him over his shoulder.
Wufan turns his head the other way and pulls a pillow to his chest.
"Wufan Tao took my lyric book and put it on top of the fridge, can you please get it for me?" Chen whining while Tao does aegyo in the background.
Wufan yawns and covers his mouth lazily.
"H-hyung!!" Sehun's breathless and panting and Wufan knows it's his body colliding with the back of the couch. "Lu-Luhan, no--!"
Wufan scoots to the other side of the couch just as Sehun and Luhan topple onto the cushions.
"Yixing I don't think we should--" there's a mini explosion in the kitchen and Yixing and Minseok are most likely ruining tonight's dinner.
Wufan picks up his phone to start scrolling for a good nearby delivery place.
Kyungsoo and Jongin are nowhere to be heard or seen and frankly, Wufan doesn't want to know.
Through all the commotion (after placing an online order for pizza), Wufan finally stands up from the couch, straightening to his full height, a dark expression on his face. Immediately the aura of the dorm darkens and everyone halts what they're doing, gulping and glancing up at their leader.
"Does no one want to hog me for the night?" Wufan asks stiffly.
Junmyeon perks up from his seat in the recliner, "I--"
"Goodnight." Wufan turns on his heel and stalks off towards his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
He manages to put in the second earbud when he hears Kyungsoo and Jongin on the other side of the wall enjoying themselves.
--
It's a week later and Chanyeol and Baekhyun invite Wufan to go out with them to the store. Which was a great idea in theory, sure; three was a small enough number to get there unnoticed, six hands were enough to carry the groceries. But the plan put into motion just soured Wufan's mood.
Because Chanyeol and Baekhyun were in their own cute little world of play-fighting and bickering and idle cooing and Wufan is pretty sure he's gonna puke. They manage to get all the groceries back to the dorm without incident, if you don't count the toe of Wufan's foot connecting with the heel of Chanyeol's shoe, giving him a flat tire and snickering to himself when the other rapper careened head-first into a bucket of watermelons.
Wufan now hates grocery shopping.
He refuses when Junmyeon asks him to come with him the following week.
--
It's fine and dandy when Sehun and Luhan invite Wufan to bubble tea, because Wufan holed himself up in his room for two days straight after grocery shopping. Luhan is obnoxious about getting Wufan out of the house and he wants to shut him up (and so does Luhan, he's sure), so he accompanies them. It's fine until they get to the bubble tea shop, where Sehun turns into the whiny maknae and is hanging on Luhan and doesn't know what he wants to order, so Luhan takes the liberty of ordering something for them to share and Wufan just ends up getting an iced lemonade, grumbling when they find a seat in the back.
The next hour is spent with Sehun practically in Luhan's lap and once again, Wufan feels nauseous.
He leaves before them and he's sure they don't notice his absence because when they come home later that night they're still wrapped up in each other.
Wufan now hates bubble tea.
He refuses to join Junmyeon for an afternoon stroll the next day.
--
It's a bit more tolerable, to be out with Kyungsoo and Jongin, because they're at least mindful of Wufan's presence. They lay off the skinship, they actively engage him in conversation and he doesn't feel like such a third wheel. Such. He still feels it when their hands find each other, when they share glances and yeah, Wufan's starting to feel it deep in his core.
He's lonely.
But he doesn't hate hanging out with Kyungsoo and Jongin.
He watches a movie on the couch with Junmyeon and falls asleep, drooling on the other's shoulder.
--
He avoids pretty much everyone for a while. Why does everyone approach him in pairs? Why can't anyone come to him for one-on-one time, or maybe three-on-one time? It's dampening his whole affect and he hates that he feels like that, he doesn't want to blame the members but none of them really see what's happening. Which is stupid.
He knows better, though. Knows that if he took a second to talk it out with at least one of the members, the grapevine would flood with information and he'd have eleven sorry boys at his feet. He doesn't want that though. He wants someone to cater to him.
Maybe with upcoming comeback schedules he'll get distracted.
--
He doesn't get distracted.
--
He's back on the couch, slumped over and uncaring of the commotion. They're back in China now and it's quieter without everyone around, five boys are easier to handle than eleven. It lets his mind (and heart) calm down a bit.
The phone in his pocket vibrates and he lifts it up, glancing at the screen.
Incoming video call from Junmyeon.
He ignores it.
His phone rings every ten minutes for the next two hours. When he picks it up to shut it off he accidentally answers the call and he's got a phone-screen filled with an irritated Junmyeon; Wufan snorts, rolling his eyes.
"You're really persistent," he says.
"So are you," the other leader retorts.
Zitao and Minseok are sitting on the floor and they glance up, curious at their leaders' testy tones. Wufan chooses then to finally get up off of the couch, shuffling towards his bedroom, kicking a confused Jongdae out and shutting the door.
"You need to get yourself together," Junmyeon admonishes and really, what gives him the right? "You've been moping for a month straight. Everyone's really worried about you, Kris."
He lays out on his bed and he can't stand the concerned expression on Junmyeon's face so he sets his phone down on the pillow, giving the other a nice view of the ceiling. "There's no reason to be worried."
"Everyone is!" Junmyeon bursts. "What's wrong with you? Everyone's trying to include you in on things and you just come out of it angrier than before, no one knows why--"
"Because I'm lonely, Junmyeon," he says quietly, choosing to confide in the other.
Junmyeon falls quiet, and Wufan falls quiet, and they're both just silent for a few minutes, the only sound between them the bit of white noise through the phone.
"You have eleven people that love you more than anything else, Wufan," Junmyeon finally says.
Wufan sighs, running his hand down his face. They're quiet again and it's about five minutes before he hears activity on Junmyeon's end.
"Yah," the other says. "Look at me."
Rolling over, Wufan picks up his phone to look at the screen -- and then promptly spits all over it with laughter, roaring and rolling around on the bed.
On the other end, Junmyeon wiggles the rabbit whiskers on his nose, white ears flopping a bit as he glares. "Yah!"
"J-Junmyeon-- what--" Wufan tries to calm himself down by fanning his face, but tears are forming in the corners of his eyes and nope, no way, Exo-K's leader is not wearing bunny ears and whiskers. He's not. Wufan glances at the screen again and -- yes, he is.
"It's about time you laughed," Junmyeon grumbles. "Really living up to your bitch-face reputation."
Wufan sniggers, covering his mouth with his hand, before shaking his head and collecting his breath. "Ok, I'm sorry. ... You look ridiculous."
Of course he wouldn't be able to totally tell Junmyeon his problems, about how he's jealous that everyone's paired off with each other, whether it's just friendship or something more, he can't really tell Junmyeon specifically what bothers him at all.
"Good," Junmyeon says, rolling his eyes. "I don't know what exactly is up with you, but please, remember that we love you and really hate seeing you like this. You made Zitao cry the other day, you know?"
Wufan blinks.
"He called me sobbing the other night because you sat on his Gucci wallet."
"I didn't see it!" Wufan defends himself.
"You sat heavier and then farted on it," Junmyeon whispers.
"That was an accident!" Wufan buries his face in the pillow.
"Just lighten up a bit, ok?" Junmyeon sighs a little and Wufuan knows that if the other leader were here, he'd be carding his fingers comfortingly through Wufan's short hair, rubbing his back gently.
"Ok," Wufan's voice is muffled in the pillow.
"And for the record," Junmyeon's voice is light, airy, and too cheery. "I would love to hog you for the night, next time you're here. Just me and you."
Wufan's happy his face is hidden in the pillow because his cheeks are starting to hurt a little with his smile. "Fine," his voice is borderline bored, almost as if he's settling on the fact he'll be stuck with Junmyeon. One on one. Just him and Junmyeon. No third wheel.
"We'll see you soon, ok? Goodnight Kris."
The phone disconnects after Wufan mumbles a 'goodnight', and as he settles into the silence of the room, he hears the boys in the living room screaming over something or another.
No third wheel.
He's ready.
--
He's not ready.
Junmyeon looks dashing and he's smiling and his new hair cut is -- wow -- and he holds a hand out towards Wufan, who's shuffling awkwardly in the entryway, and Junmyeon is clearly expecting for them to go out and have a good time.
Wufan looks over Junmyeon once -- Junmyeon's smile turns a little stiff, clearly confused as to why Wufan is hesitating -- and then Wufan feels his stomach churn over. He boulders past a confused Junmyeon and runs to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and Junmyeon blinks at the empty space in front of him.
"What..."
"Oh," Jongdae happens to saunter by. "Didn't you know? Wufan's never had a first date before, apparently they scare the shit out of him." The singer snickers and goes to flop over on the couch.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Junmyeon deadpans.
Kyungsoo holds up a glass jar, "Five-hundred won to the curse jar, please."
Junmyeon throws his whole wallet at Kyungsoo and stomps off to his room, muttering under his breath.
"First date phobia, really?" Baekhyun tilts his head.
Jongdae shrugs, "I dunno, I just made it up. I actually think Wufan is a closet homosexual."
Everyone nods contemplatively.
The sound of Wufan puking gets drowned out when Chanyeol turns up the tv.
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Pairing: Suho/Kris [various side pairings]
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: "in which Kris always ends up being the third wheel". Hello anonymous, I love you.
a/n: hi
--
Why is it always like this? Wufan watches everyone around him pair off and it's not fair, isn't he the handsome charismatic one-and-only duizhang?
Apparently not.
Whenever the twelve of them are together, he thinks he'll get a break; even if a few pair off, there's a plethora of other boys to bathe in his handsome smile and stunning looks and they should be thankful for that, right?
No.
It's worse when all twelve of them are together. They pair off, they triple off, and if Wufan used to get butthurt whenever a member didn't return a hi-5, this whole 'let's all do our own thing without duizhang!' is really grating on him.
He's sitting on the couch in the main dorm, legs sprawled out and head tipped back against the cushions while everyone buzzes around him. Screams of laughter and tears of pain as everyone wrestles and jostles around -- because time rarely spent together always bubbles over their first night back in Korea -- and he's just hanging out, eyes closed, muffled rap music playing in one of the ear buds in his ear. He was too lazy to put the second one in.
"Wufan! Wufan! H-Help--!" it's Baekhyun screeching as Chanyeol hefts him over his shoulder.
Wufan turns his head the other way and pulls a pillow to his chest.
"Wufan Tao took my lyric book and put it on top of the fridge, can you please get it for me?" Chen whining while Tao does aegyo in the background.
Wufan yawns and covers his mouth lazily.
"H-hyung!!" Sehun's breathless and panting and Wufan knows it's his body colliding with the back of the couch. "Lu-Luhan, no--!"
Wufan scoots to the other side of the couch just as Sehun and Luhan topple onto the cushions.
"Yixing I don't think we should--" there's a mini explosion in the kitchen and Yixing and Minseok are most likely ruining tonight's dinner.
Wufan picks up his phone to start scrolling for a good nearby delivery place.
Kyungsoo and Jongin are nowhere to be heard or seen and frankly, Wufan doesn't want to know.
Through all the commotion (after placing an online order for pizza), Wufan finally stands up from the couch, straightening to his full height, a dark expression on his face. Immediately the aura of the dorm darkens and everyone halts what they're doing, gulping and glancing up at their leader.
"Does no one want to hog me for the night?" Wufan asks stiffly.
Junmyeon perks up from his seat in the recliner, "I--"
"Goodnight." Wufan turns on his heel and stalks off towards his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
He manages to put in the second earbud when he hears Kyungsoo and Jongin on the other side of the wall enjoying themselves.
--
It's a week later and Chanyeol and Baekhyun invite Wufan to go out with them to the store. Which was a great idea in theory, sure; three was a small enough number to get there unnoticed, six hands were enough to carry the groceries. But the plan put into motion just soured Wufan's mood.
Because Chanyeol and Baekhyun were in their own cute little world of play-fighting and bickering and idle cooing and Wufan is pretty sure he's gonna puke. They manage to get all the groceries back to the dorm without incident, if you don't count the toe of Wufan's foot connecting with the heel of Chanyeol's shoe, giving him a flat tire and snickering to himself when the other rapper careened head-first into a bucket of watermelons.
Wufan now hates grocery shopping.
He refuses when Junmyeon asks him to come with him the following week.
--
It's fine and dandy when Sehun and Luhan invite Wufan to bubble tea, because Wufan holed himself up in his room for two days straight after grocery shopping. Luhan is obnoxious about getting Wufan out of the house and he wants to shut him up (and so does Luhan, he's sure), so he accompanies them. It's fine until they get to the bubble tea shop, where Sehun turns into the whiny maknae and is hanging on Luhan and doesn't know what he wants to order, so Luhan takes the liberty of ordering something for them to share and Wufan just ends up getting an iced lemonade, grumbling when they find a seat in the back.
The next hour is spent with Sehun practically in Luhan's lap and once again, Wufan feels nauseous.
He leaves before them and he's sure they don't notice his absence because when they come home later that night they're still wrapped up in each other.
Wufan now hates bubble tea.
He refuses to join Junmyeon for an afternoon stroll the next day.
--
It's a bit more tolerable, to be out with Kyungsoo and Jongin, because they're at least mindful of Wufan's presence. They lay off the skinship, they actively engage him in conversation and he doesn't feel like such a third wheel. Such. He still feels it when their hands find each other, when they share glances and yeah, Wufan's starting to feel it deep in his core.
He's lonely.
But he doesn't hate hanging out with Kyungsoo and Jongin.
He watches a movie on the couch with Junmyeon and falls asleep, drooling on the other's shoulder.
--
He avoids pretty much everyone for a while. Why does everyone approach him in pairs? Why can't anyone come to him for one-on-one time, or maybe three-on-one time? It's dampening his whole affect and he hates that he feels like that, he doesn't want to blame the members but none of them really see what's happening. Which is stupid.
He knows better, though. Knows that if he took a second to talk it out with at least one of the members, the grapevine would flood with information and he'd have eleven sorry boys at his feet. He doesn't want that though. He wants someone to cater to him.
Maybe with upcoming comeback schedules he'll get distracted.
--
He doesn't get distracted.
--
He's back on the couch, slumped over and uncaring of the commotion. They're back in China now and it's quieter without everyone around, five boys are easier to handle than eleven. It lets his mind (and heart) calm down a bit.
The phone in his pocket vibrates and he lifts it up, glancing at the screen.
Incoming video call from Junmyeon.
He ignores it.
His phone rings every ten minutes for the next two hours. When he picks it up to shut it off he accidentally answers the call and he's got a phone-screen filled with an irritated Junmyeon; Wufan snorts, rolling his eyes.
"You're really persistent," he says.
"So are you," the other leader retorts.
Zitao and Minseok are sitting on the floor and they glance up, curious at their leaders' testy tones. Wufan chooses then to finally get up off of the couch, shuffling towards his bedroom, kicking a confused Jongdae out and shutting the door.
"You need to get yourself together," Junmyeon admonishes and really, what gives him the right? "You've been moping for a month straight. Everyone's really worried about you, Kris."
He lays out on his bed and he can't stand the concerned expression on Junmyeon's face so he sets his phone down on the pillow, giving the other a nice view of the ceiling. "There's no reason to be worried."
"Everyone is!" Junmyeon bursts. "What's wrong with you? Everyone's trying to include you in on things and you just come out of it angrier than before, no one knows why--"
"Because I'm lonely, Junmyeon," he says quietly, choosing to confide in the other.
Junmyeon falls quiet, and Wufan falls quiet, and they're both just silent for a few minutes, the only sound between them the bit of white noise through the phone.
"You have eleven people that love you more than anything else, Wufan," Junmyeon finally says.
Wufan sighs, running his hand down his face. They're quiet again and it's about five minutes before he hears activity on Junmyeon's end.
"Yah," the other says. "Look at me."
Rolling over, Wufan picks up his phone to look at the screen -- and then promptly spits all over it with laughter, roaring and rolling around on the bed.
On the other end, Junmyeon wiggles the rabbit whiskers on his nose, white ears flopping a bit as he glares. "Yah!"
"J-Junmyeon-- what--" Wufan tries to calm himself down by fanning his face, but tears are forming in the corners of his eyes and nope, no way, Exo-K's leader is not wearing bunny ears and whiskers. He's not. Wufan glances at the screen again and -- yes, he is.
"It's about time you laughed," Junmyeon grumbles. "Really living up to your bitch-face reputation."
Wufan sniggers, covering his mouth with his hand, before shaking his head and collecting his breath. "Ok, I'm sorry. ... You look ridiculous."
Of course he wouldn't be able to totally tell Junmyeon his problems, about how he's jealous that everyone's paired off with each other, whether it's just friendship or something more, he can't really tell Junmyeon specifically what bothers him at all.
"Good," Junmyeon says, rolling his eyes. "I don't know what exactly is up with you, but please, remember that we love you and really hate seeing you like this. You made Zitao cry the other day, you know?"
Wufan blinks.
"He called me sobbing the other night because you sat on his Gucci wallet."
"I didn't see it!" Wufan defends himself.
"You sat heavier and then farted on it," Junmyeon whispers.
"That was an accident!" Wufan buries his face in the pillow.
"Just lighten up a bit, ok?" Junmyeon sighs a little and Wufuan knows that if the other leader were here, he'd be carding his fingers comfortingly through Wufan's short hair, rubbing his back gently.
"Ok," Wufan's voice is muffled in the pillow.
"And for the record," Junmyeon's voice is light, airy, and too cheery. "I would love to hog you for the night, next time you're here. Just me and you."
Wufan's happy his face is hidden in the pillow because his cheeks are starting to hurt a little with his smile. "Fine," his voice is borderline bored, almost as if he's settling on the fact he'll be stuck with Junmyeon. One on one. Just him and Junmyeon. No third wheel.
"We'll see you soon, ok? Goodnight Kris."
The phone disconnects after Wufan mumbles a 'goodnight', and as he settles into the silence of the room, he hears the boys in the living room screaming over something or another.
No third wheel.
He's ready.
--
He's not ready.
Junmyeon looks dashing and he's smiling and his new hair cut is -- wow -- and he holds a hand out towards Wufan, who's shuffling awkwardly in the entryway, and Junmyeon is clearly expecting for them to go out and have a good time.
Wufan looks over Junmyeon once -- Junmyeon's smile turns a little stiff, clearly confused as to why Wufan is hesitating -- and then Wufan feels his stomach churn over. He boulders past a confused Junmyeon and runs to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and Junmyeon blinks at the empty space in front of him.
"What..."
"Oh," Jongdae happens to saunter by. "Didn't you know? Wufan's never had a first date before, apparently they scare the shit out of him." The singer snickers and goes to flop over on the couch.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Junmyeon deadpans.
Kyungsoo holds up a glass jar, "Five-hundred won to the curse jar, please."
Junmyeon throws his whole wallet at Kyungsoo and stomps off to his room, muttering under his breath.
"First date phobia, really?" Baekhyun tilts his head.
Jongdae shrugs, "I dunno, I just made it up. I actually think Wufan is a closet homosexual."
Everyone nods contemplatively.
The sound of Wufan puking gets drowned out when Chanyeol turns up the tv.
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