Safe Place
Title: Safe Place
Pairing: Jongtae
Length: 2,245 words
Rating: PG-15
Genre: romance, friendship, fluff, idk
Summary: Jonghyun's room was just across the grassy patch whenever Taemin needed him.
The sound of voices down the hall grew louder and louder, booming over the quiet music from small speakers.
Taemin sighed, the slow sound juxtaposed to the hurried way he shut off his music and hopped off his chair.
He'd been hoping for one day, just one, that this wouldn't happen. A single day of peace, of serenity, of relative normality. A day to pretend that his parents weren't constantly on the verge of divorce and both loathed each other's guts.
Just one day.
It looked like that hope was shot.
The fifteen-year-old crossed to his window and slid it open. He could see that the window just across from his was shut, curtains closed, and he almost gave up on his idea, though it was more like routine by now, because he didn't want to be a bother. Not for the twelfth time just that week alone.
Glass shattered from down the hall.
Without further reservation, Taemin picked a marble out of the cup on his windowsill and tossed it across the grassy patch between the houses.
The marble gave a ping! against the glass and Taemin watched anxiously for the curtains to pull back or the glass to slide open or for any reaction at all.
Nothing.
Feeling antsy, heart beginning to clench as the voices grew louder still, Taemin picked up another marble and threw it a bit harder than the last.
Thankfully, Taemin breathing heavily in relief, the window opened this time and Jonghyun's comfortingly familiar face appeared in place of the curtains.
"I'm coming over," Taemin said, vaguely noting that Jonghyun's straight brown bangs were sticking up in odd directions and his eyes were half-lidded.
Jonghyun rubbed at his eye and nodded, stepping out of the way and bending sideways to reach into the mini-fridge Taemin knew was there right by the window.
Taemin climbed out his window, careful not to knock over his marbles, and shut it again, effectively silencing the horrible screams and crashes from within. Out here it was quieter, safer. And he was still only halfway to his real safe spot.
He hastily crossed the patch of grass between their houses. He could see into Jonghyun's room and, oddly enough, the lights here off inside.
"What are you doing in here?" Taemin asked as he expertly folded himself through the small opening.
"Napping," Jonghyun mumbled, wiping at his eyes again.
Taemin felt a pang of guilt for waking him, but when he heard a bang against his window that he could tell very nearly broke the glass, he still landed himself in Jonghyun's room and shut the window again.
"Here." Jonghyun held out a chilled red can of Coke for Taemin as soon as the younger turned to face his ever-messy bedroom.
Taemin smiled gratefully, taking the dripping can. "Thank you."
Jonghyun murmured halfheartedly and fell heavily back onto his bed.
Taemin cracked open the top of the can and lifted it to his lips; the familiar burn of carbonation and sweetness of his favorite drink instantly calmed his nerves. Jonghyun knew that the everyday beverage had such an effect on him, which was why the fridge between the window and the bed was always stocked with cans upon cans of it, even though Jonghyun himself didn't much care for the soda.
"What time did you go to bed last night?" The younger asked with amusement, lips poised to slurp excess liquid from the ridge of the soda can.
Jonghyun hummed in thought, face half-buried in his pillow. "Four?"
He grinned. "What were you doing until four?"
"Call of Duty."
This time, the younger couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Jonghyun smiled into his flower-print pillowcase ("It's my sister's, I swear, I'm just borrowing it while mine is in the laundry.") but then grew more serious, brows nearly meeting in the middle. "Are they fighting again?"
Taemin looked down at the carpet, which was actually free of most clutter and dirty t-shirts, pants, and underwear for once. "Yeah."
The older rolled onto his side, one arm tucked under his head and the blanket lifted up by the other, all without opening his eyes. "Come here. Be my teddy bear."
Taemin wrinkled his nose. "I'm not a teddy bear. I'm fifteen already, you know," he said, just to point out the fact that he was pretty much a grown man by now, much too old to admit to being anything as demeaning as a stuffed children's toy.
"Yeah sure, just come here."
With a grudging grimace (he really couldn't deny Jonghyun anything, and that was his major downfall), Taemin set his can on the desk among many other empty ones of Jonghyun's choice energy drink and cautiously laid at the very edge of the bed, stomach twisting nervously at the sudden proximity.
"You suck at being a teddy bear," Jonghyun grumbled, but there was far more amusement in his tone than there was malice.
Taemin furrowed his brow. A snide retort was just at the tip of his tongue-
It died there once Jonghyun reached for his shoulder and pulled him closer-way too close-so he was almost chest-to-chest with the older.
"Better," Jonghyun said, a smile barely curving his lips.
"Hyung," Taemin protested, pushing at his sturdy (too sturdy for a seventeen-year-old, really) chest, "let me go."
Jonghyun pointedly ignored him, tightening the hold on his waist and only embarrassing him further when he began to idly rub circles on the small of his back.
"Hyung," his voice was starting to shake, heart racing, and he really just couldn't lay there so close to Jonghyun like that, he really couldn't, "you lay here and I'll just go on your computer or some-"
"Noo..." Jonghyun all-but whined, shifting even closer. "Stay here. You're warm."
Taemin didn't know how to react to that, but his cheeks burned of their own accord. "Wake up, would you?" He felt like he was speaking too loudly for Jonghyun to be this close, but dammit, his aim was to not be that close in the first place.
Jonghyun's eyes cracked open and an impish grin spread on his lips. "I'm awake."
Taemin puffed up his cheeks and tried to shove him again.
"Quit moving, would you?" Jonghyun's brows knitted together once his eyes shut again, and he was too strong for Taemin to really fight properly, so holding him right there wasn't a problem for the older.
The younger sighed, dissatisfied at having to give up.
"Stop with the pout, Taemin-ah." Jonghyun grinned again, eyes open but hooded.
Taemin ignored his command.
The older took the silence as reason to change the subject... Or at least go back to the original subject. "Did they say anything to you?" He asked worriedly, voice lowering to near a whisper.
Taemin shook his head. "I left before they could get to my room."
Jonghyun moved his hand from Taemin's back to comb his hair out of his eyes where it'd fallen down. "That's good."
Taemin shivered just slightly and he couldn't tell if it was because he was really uncomfortable or because it felt nice to have Jonghyun running a hand through his hair.
The older's lids fell shut. "Do you know what it was about this time?"
Taemin thought bitterly back to the abruptness of the shouting and his haste to get out before it got worse. "No clue."
Jonghyun hummed contemplatively, brows knitting slightly, hand still moving over the back of the younger's head.
"Maybe it's me again," he began, voice low and dark, stomach feeling a bit queasy, heart heavy, "Maybe my mom finally agrees with my dad that I'm just a usel-"
"Stop."
Taemin was startled into silence, Jonghyun's eyes now open and narrow and serious, lips pressed into a thin line.
"You're not useless. Don't listen to him, or her, or anyone but me, okay?" he said, an urgent edge to his voice.
The younger stayed quiet, eyes moving down to avoid Jonghyun's. "I just think things would be better if I just-"
"Taemin."
The older tilted his chin up with his knuckles, looking at him with the utmost solemn expression. "Don't even say it. Things are the best the way they are right now."
Taemin scoffed, feeling belligerent. "They're the best when my parents are screaming at each other and breaking things and coming into my room to tell me I'm a waste of space?"
"No," Jonghyun began, slow and measured, "things are best right now." He looked meaningfully between them, from the hand on the back of Taemin's head to the blanket covering both of their bodies and then back up to Taemin's eyes.
"Yeah, well," Taemin huffed, "I can't be a teddy bear all the time, hyung." As soon as he realized what he said, he felt his face heat up.
Jonghyun bit his bottom lip, stretched out in a wide smile.
"I just meant-" His words died on his tongue, looking embarrassedly at anything but Jonghyun's face.
The older waved him off with a good-natured chuckle and a gentle combing of his fingers in his hair.
Taemin tucked his chin into his chest, embarrassed beyond words. "I'm not a teddy bear. I'm fifteen and a man."
"I know you are." He slid his hand down his neck, over his arm, and back to the dip of his waist. "But it's not that bad, is it?"
"What isn't?" He wanted to clarify before he said something incredibly embarrassing again.
"Being here with me," Jonghyun said with a nonchalant sort of half-shrug. "I mean, when things get bad at home, you always have me to come to, right?"
"You're not my babysitter, hyung," he grumbled.
"No, I'm your neighbor, and your hyung, and your friend. I want to be here for you, Taemin."
Taemin really wasn't good at the whole sharing-feelings thing. He felt his stomach tumbling and his heart was stuttering with Jonghyun's sincere words.
"Hell," he started up again, humor in his tone, "I woke up from a nap today just to let you in. If that doesn't show dedication, then I don't know what will."
The younger smiled.
"There," Jonghyun's voice softened again, eyes doing the same. He gently brushed Taemin's cheek with his thumb. "See? You can smile here with me, so you don't have to go anywhere else, okay?"
Taemin's heart was swelling past its capacity. He didn't know what to say, how to properly thank Jonghyun for the constant care that he really didn't have to give him but always had since the first time Taemin had tried to escape through his window (at which time Jonghyun intercepted him by inviting him into his room with promises of Coke and Street Fighter), for his compassion and his friendship.
So he just nodded. Nodded and willed himself not to tear up where Jonghyun could see.
"Now come here." Jonghyun puckered his lips exaggeratedly and started to lean in.
"What?" Taemin moved back reflexively, pushing at Jonghyun's chest, "Hyung, what-?!"
"Come here, I want to kiss your cheek!" Jonghyun tried to pull him back in.
Taemin burst into laughter and used all of his strength to scream "No!" and kick at the older so he couldn't come any closer.
"Just once Taemin, oh my god! Stop being so dramatic or I'll kiss you on the mouth. Don't think I won't!"
"Hyung-AHHH!" Taemin's momentum caused him to tumble right off the side of the bed, landing with a graceless THUNK! on Jonghyun's carpet, pulling his half of the blanket with him, tangled up and in shock.
Jonghyun took advantage of his stillness and leaned over the edge of the bed to plant his lips firmly, chastely, on top of Taemin's head.
Taemin felt warmth trail from that spot down through his fingertips and he couldn't hold back a shiver that went through his spine, shaking his shoulders.
"Can you give me my blanket back? I was trying to sleep," Jonghyun yanked at the half of the blanket still on the bed.
Taemin was grinning as he untangled himself from the thick comforter and laid it back on top of the bed.
"Are you coming back up here or do I have to pick you up like I did when you were twelve?" Jonghyun had a threatening tone to his playful words.
Taemin decided it was best not to argue. He simply stood back up and slid under the covers, moving in just as close as he knew Jonghyun wanted. He didn't even bother protesting when Jonghyun gently guided his head to bow comfortably against his chest or when he draped that same arm over his waist.
It was comfortable, whether he would admit it aloud or not.
He wondered what was happening across the grassy gap between their houses. He wondered if his parents were still fighting, or if the neighbors on the other side had called the police yet, like they did every time it escalated badly. He wondered if they even knew he was gone, if they even knew that his peaceful haven was only a meter and half away from his personal Hell. He wondered if they even cared if they did know.
Taemin's eyelids were drooping in the quiet, time counted by the sound of Jonghyun's steady breathing and heartbeat marked in double-time.
Things were the best right now, Jonghyun had said.
Now that he understood what the older meant, Taemin didn't dare disagree.
A/N - short a/n because my keyboard is broken OTL
this was another one of the things that I wrote at school.. 'cause I kinda have a thing for Taemin having abusive parents shhhhhhh and it kinda sorta related a little bit in a weird way to something I was going through a while back.. not the abusive parents thing, but.. yeah. ^^
jongtae is forever cute and I will forever ship them, whether it's bromance or romance. CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP.
uhmmm I hope you liked it ;w;
Kat
mikssi
[masterlist]
Pairing: Jongtae
Length: 2,245 words
Rating: PG-15
Genre: romance, friendship, fluff, idk
Summary: Jonghyun's room was just across the grassy patch whenever Taemin needed him.
The sound of voices down the hall grew louder and louder, booming over the quiet music from small speakers.
Taemin sighed, the slow sound juxtaposed to the hurried way he shut off his music and hopped off his chair.
He'd been hoping for one day, just one, that this wouldn't happen. A single day of peace, of serenity, of relative normality. A day to pretend that his parents weren't constantly on the verge of divorce and both loathed each other's guts.
Just one day.
It looked like that hope was shot.
The fifteen-year-old crossed to his window and slid it open. He could see that the window just across from his was shut, curtains closed, and he almost gave up on his idea, though it was more like routine by now, because he didn't want to be a bother. Not for the twelfth time just that week alone.
Glass shattered from down the hall.
Without further reservation, Taemin picked a marble out of the cup on his windowsill and tossed it across the grassy patch between the houses.
The marble gave a ping! against the glass and Taemin watched anxiously for the curtains to pull back or the glass to slide open or for any reaction at all.
Nothing.
Feeling antsy, heart beginning to clench as the voices grew louder still, Taemin picked up another marble and threw it a bit harder than the last.
Thankfully, Taemin breathing heavily in relief, the window opened this time and Jonghyun's comfortingly familiar face appeared in place of the curtains.
"I'm coming over," Taemin said, vaguely noting that Jonghyun's straight brown bangs were sticking up in odd directions and his eyes were half-lidded.
Jonghyun rubbed at his eye and nodded, stepping out of the way and bending sideways to reach into the mini-fridge Taemin knew was there right by the window.
Taemin climbed out his window, careful not to knock over his marbles, and shut it again, effectively silencing the horrible screams and crashes from within. Out here it was quieter, safer. And he was still only halfway to his real safe spot.
He hastily crossed the patch of grass between their houses. He could see into Jonghyun's room and, oddly enough, the lights here off inside.
"What are you doing in here?" Taemin asked as he expertly folded himself through the small opening.
"Napping," Jonghyun mumbled, wiping at his eyes again.
Taemin felt a pang of guilt for waking him, but when he heard a bang against his window that he could tell very nearly broke the glass, he still landed himself in Jonghyun's room and shut the window again.
"Here." Jonghyun held out a chilled red can of Coke for Taemin as soon as the younger turned to face his ever-messy bedroom.
Taemin smiled gratefully, taking the dripping can. "Thank you."
Jonghyun murmured halfheartedly and fell heavily back onto his bed.
Taemin cracked open the top of the can and lifted it to his lips; the familiar burn of carbonation and sweetness of his favorite drink instantly calmed his nerves. Jonghyun knew that the everyday beverage had such an effect on him, which was why the fridge between the window and the bed was always stocked with cans upon cans of it, even though Jonghyun himself didn't much care for the soda.
"What time did you go to bed last night?" The younger asked with amusement, lips poised to slurp excess liquid from the ridge of the soda can.
Jonghyun hummed in thought, face half-buried in his pillow. "Four?"
He grinned. "What were you doing until four?"
"Call of Duty."
This time, the younger couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Jonghyun smiled into his flower-print pillowcase ("It's my sister's, I swear, I'm just borrowing it while mine is in the laundry.") but then grew more serious, brows nearly meeting in the middle. "Are they fighting again?"
Taemin looked down at the carpet, which was actually free of most clutter and dirty t-shirts, pants, and underwear for once. "Yeah."
The older rolled onto his side, one arm tucked under his head and the blanket lifted up by the other, all without opening his eyes. "Come here. Be my teddy bear."
Taemin wrinkled his nose. "I'm not a teddy bear. I'm fifteen already, you know," he said, just to point out the fact that he was pretty much a grown man by now, much too old to admit to being anything as demeaning as a stuffed children's toy.
"Yeah sure, just come here."
With a grudging grimace (he really couldn't deny Jonghyun anything, and that was his major downfall), Taemin set his can on the desk among many other empty ones of Jonghyun's choice energy drink and cautiously laid at the very edge of the bed, stomach twisting nervously at the sudden proximity.
"You suck at being a teddy bear," Jonghyun grumbled, but there was far more amusement in his tone than there was malice.
Taemin furrowed his brow. A snide retort was just at the tip of his tongue-
It died there once Jonghyun reached for his shoulder and pulled him closer-way too close-so he was almost chest-to-chest with the older.
"Better," Jonghyun said, a smile barely curving his lips.
"Hyung," Taemin protested, pushing at his sturdy (too sturdy for a seventeen-year-old, really) chest, "let me go."
Jonghyun pointedly ignored him, tightening the hold on his waist and only embarrassing him further when he began to idly rub circles on the small of his back.
"Hyung," his voice was starting to shake, heart racing, and he really just couldn't lay there so close to Jonghyun like that, he really couldn't, "you lay here and I'll just go on your computer or some-"
"Noo..." Jonghyun all-but whined, shifting even closer. "Stay here. You're warm."
Taemin didn't know how to react to that, but his cheeks burned of their own accord. "Wake up, would you?" He felt like he was speaking too loudly for Jonghyun to be this close, but dammit, his aim was to not be that close in the first place.
Jonghyun's eyes cracked open and an impish grin spread on his lips. "I'm awake."
Taemin puffed up his cheeks and tried to shove him again.
"Quit moving, would you?" Jonghyun's brows knitted together once his eyes shut again, and he was too strong for Taemin to really fight properly, so holding him right there wasn't a problem for the older.
The younger sighed, dissatisfied at having to give up.
"Stop with the pout, Taemin-ah." Jonghyun grinned again, eyes open but hooded.
Taemin ignored his command.
The older took the silence as reason to change the subject... Or at least go back to the original subject. "Did they say anything to you?" He asked worriedly, voice lowering to near a whisper.
Taemin shook his head. "I left before they could get to my room."
Jonghyun moved his hand from Taemin's back to comb his hair out of his eyes where it'd fallen down. "That's good."
Taemin shivered just slightly and he couldn't tell if it was because he was really uncomfortable or because it felt nice to have Jonghyun running a hand through his hair.
The older's lids fell shut. "Do you know what it was about this time?"
Taemin thought bitterly back to the abruptness of the shouting and his haste to get out before it got worse. "No clue."
Jonghyun hummed contemplatively, brows knitting slightly, hand still moving over the back of the younger's head.
"Maybe it's me again," he began, voice low and dark, stomach feeling a bit queasy, heart heavy, "Maybe my mom finally agrees with my dad that I'm just a usel-"
"Stop."
Taemin was startled into silence, Jonghyun's eyes now open and narrow and serious, lips pressed into a thin line.
"You're not useless. Don't listen to him, or her, or anyone but me, okay?" he said, an urgent edge to his voice.
The younger stayed quiet, eyes moving down to avoid Jonghyun's. "I just think things would be better if I just-"
"Taemin."
The older tilted his chin up with his knuckles, looking at him with the utmost solemn expression. "Don't even say it. Things are the best the way they are right now."
Taemin scoffed, feeling belligerent. "They're the best when my parents are screaming at each other and breaking things and coming into my room to tell me I'm a waste of space?"
"No," Jonghyun began, slow and measured, "things are best right now." He looked meaningfully between them, from the hand on the back of Taemin's head to the blanket covering both of their bodies and then back up to Taemin's eyes.
"Yeah, well," Taemin huffed, "I can't be a teddy bear all the time, hyung." As soon as he realized what he said, he felt his face heat up.
Jonghyun bit his bottom lip, stretched out in a wide smile.
"I just meant-" His words died on his tongue, looking embarrassedly at anything but Jonghyun's face.
The older waved him off with a good-natured chuckle and a gentle combing of his fingers in his hair.
Taemin tucked his chin into his chest, embarrassed beyond words. "I'm not a teddy bear. I'm fifteen and a man."
"I know you are." He slid his hand down his neck, over his arm, and back to the dip of his waist. "But it's not that bad, is it?"
"What isn't?" He wanted to clarify before he said something incredibly embarrassing again.
"Being here with me," Jonghyun said with a nonchalant sort of half-shrug. "I mean, when things get bad at home, you always have me to come to, right?"
"You're not my babysitter, hyung," he grumbled.
"No, I'm your neighbor, and your hyung, and your friend. I want to be here for you, Taemin."
Taemin really wasn't good at the whole sharing-feelings thing. He felt his stomach tumbling and his heart was stuttering with Jonghyun's sincere words.
"Hell," he started up again, humor in his tone, "I woke up from a nap today just to let you in. If that doesn't show dedication, then I don't know what will."
The younger smiled.
"There," Jonghyun's voice softened again, eyes doing the same. He gently brushed Taemin's cheek with his thumb. "See? You can smile here with me, so you don't have to go anywhere else, okay?"
Taemin's heart was swelling past its capacity. He didn't know what to say, how to properly thank Jonghyun for the constant care that he really didn't have to give him but always had since the first time Taemin had tried to escape through his window (at which time Jonghyun intercepted him by inviting him into his room with promises of Coke and Street Fighter), for his compassion and his friendship.
So he just nodded. Nodded and willed himself not to tear up where Jonghyun could see.
"Now come here." Jonghyun puckered his lips exaggeratedly and started to lean in.
"What?" Taemin moved back reflexively, pushing at Jonghyun's chest, "Hyung, what-?!"
"Come here, I want to kiss your cheek!" Jonghyun tried to pull him back in.
Taemin burst into laughter and used all of his strength to scream "No!" and kick at the older so he couldn't come any closer.
"Just once Taemin, oh my god! Stop being so dramatic or I'll kiss you on the mouth. Don't think I won't!"
"Hyung-AHHH!" Taemin's momentum caused him to tumble right off the side of the bed, landing with a graceless THUNK! on Jonghyun's carpet, pulling his half of the blanket with him, tangled up and in shock.
Jonghyun took advantage of his stillness and leaned over the edge of the bed to plant his lips firmly, chastely, on top of Taemin's head.
Taemin felt warmth trail from that spot down through his fingertips and he couldn't hold back a shiver that went through his spine, shaking his shoulders.
"Can you give me my blanket back? I was trying to sleep," Jonghyun yanked at the half of the blanket still on the bed.
Taemin was grinning as he untangled himself from the thick comforter and laid it back on top of the bed.
"Are you coming back up here or do I have to pick you up like I did when you were twelve?" Jonghyun had a threatening tone to his playful words.
Taemin decided it was best not to argue. He simply stood back up and slid under the covers, moving in just as close as he knew Jonghyun wanted. He didn't even bother protesting when Jonghyun gently guided his head to bow comfortably against his chest or when he draped that same arm over his waist.
It was comfortable, whether he would admit it aloud or not.
He wondered what was happening across the grassy gap between their houses. He wondered if his parents were still fighting, or if the neighbors on the other side had called the police yet, like they did every time it escalated badly. He wondered if they even knew he was gone, if they even knew that his peaceful haven was only a meter and half away from his personal Hell. He wondered if they even cared if they did know.
Taemin's eyelids were drooping in the quiet, time counted by the sound of Jonghyun's steady breathing and heartbeat marked in double-time.
Things were the best right now, Jonghyun had said.
Now that he understood what the older meant, Taemin didn't dare disagree.
A/N - short a/n because my keyboard is broken OTL
this was another one of the things that I wrote at school.. 'cause I kinda have a thing for Taemin having abusive parents shhhhhhh and it kinda sorta related a little bit in a weird way to something I was going through a while back.. not the abusive parents thing, but.. yeah. ^^
jongtae is forever cute and I will forever ship them, whether it's bromance or romance. CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP.
uhmmm I hope you liked it ;w;
Kat
mikssi
[masterlist]