(no subject)
100 fic challenge [#037.] Rotation, Hankyung/Kyuhyun
Title: This is rotation
Length: 1959
Author: shieldkitten
Rating: PG (some crude humour)
Summary: ELF's worst nightmare comes true, and seven years down the road, Kyuhyun is the last one left.
Hankyung's mother has brought him up well. Hankyung's father too, of course, but there's no denying that Hankyung is his mother's child. She's taught him to be polite, to be generous, to be humble, to be diligent, and to never, ever take anything for granted.
But children are children, and children forget, so although Hankyung remembers more than most, he slips and starts to believe that the things he has in life, he will have forever.
Not so.
Six years have passed since the release of the second album, and Kyuhyun is now one of the oldest members of Super Junior, with only Ryeowook above him. They made him the leader, the way people always expected it to be ever since They rotated Kangin out six months after Eeteuk declined to renew his contract with SM Entertainment in twenty-eleven. So much has changed in six years, and sometimes Kyuhyun wakes up not remembering which members comprise Super Junior anymore. Still, he does his best, even if he can't always remember the name of the newest addition.
"It's Wonseung," Ryeowook whispers to him during one of their weekly group meetings which Yehsung, the leader before him, instituted. The younger members voted to keep them going, since the group is so busy they rarely have chances to gather like this anymore.
"Thanks," Kyuhyun whispers back before clearing his throat. "So how are you coping, Wonseung?"
"Has Jungsok groped you yet?" Hoon asks. "You know you're not officially part of Suju until Jungsok touches you inappropriately."
"Hey!" Jungsok throws his sock at Hoon. "There's nothing wrong with how I choose to express my affection!"
Wonseung giggles nervously. "I'm just excited about debuting."
"I know you've been working extra hard to learn the choreography," Kyuhyun says encouragingly. "It's unfortunate that we don't have more time before the comeback, but everyone will help you out, right guys?"
"No worries, no worries," Peter, their Australian-Korean member, says, clapping Wonseung on the back with gusto. There is chaos for a moment as the other members decide it is prime time to declare every English phrase they know at the top of their lungs, despite the fact that Henry always wins at this game. Kyuhyun smiles fondly at them before realising that it is Eeteuk's motherly smile echoed on his face. He promised himself after Sungmin left that he wouldn't try to be someone for anyone anymore. He can really only be himself
This is rotation, and this is how Kyuhyun figures rotation works: They decide that one of the trainees is ready for debut, then They decide which of the older members can afford to leave for greener pastures, and then They thrust the new member into the warm and loving centre that is the squishy, never ending group hug of Super Junior.
"You have to promise to be kind," Eeteuk said the first time they were told Hankyung would be replaced with a Japanese trainee named Jun. "No matter what happens, we're loved because we love, nothing will ever change that."
Jun never really replaced Hankyung, but he found his own place within the group sandwiched between Donghae and Eunhyuk during TV nights, and he eventually led Super Junior-Nippon to a stunning debut in Japan. It was shortly after that that Kibum came into the eleventh floor dormitory and told them that he was leaving to concentrate on his acting.
And then, it seemed like only a matter of time before all the actors were exchanged for more singers and dancers, even though Siwon had insisted that he could juggle both careers at once. Then, They decided that Donghae, older and more mature, would do better in a new band of ballad singers.
In the year that followed, Eunhyuk tried really hard to be happy go lucky, to be Yehsung's right hand man for as long as he could, taking care of the dongsaengs, teaching them the old dances and coming up with new ones, but even the newest member at the time, Jaedong, could tell how glad Eunhyuk was to finally be asked to leave. Kyuhyun didn't blame him - Eunhyuk is the sort of man who rolls up memories and packs them in his heart and after a while there were just too many old ones to make room for anything new.
Kyuhyun knows the day is coming when either he or Ryeowook will be asked to leave. One of the older trainees - a seventeen year old with an amazing vocal range - is at that stage in his training when he is just about ready to join Super Junior. Sometimes They put a new member in without taking an older one out, but at 20 members, Super Junior is pretty much at its limit for full-strength stage performances, especially now that Korean fans seem more interested in solo artistes than big ensembles. Selfishly, Kyuhyun hopes that Ryeowook won't be asked first, because people have begun to say things like 'technically, Ryeowook's the only original Super Junior member left'.
"Kyuhyunnie," Ryeowook says one day, coming into their shared bedroom and sitting him down with gentle hands on his shoulders, and Kyuhyun knows that an era has ended.
This is rotation, and this is how the dictionary defines rotation:
Rotation (n.) A single complete cycle of the act or process of turning around a centre or axis.
"Get in there!" Kyuhyun calls above the hubbub of boyish voices, and he must have finally perfected the Leader-ssi tone of absolute command because the members stop horsing around and file obediently into the dance studio. Kyuhyun counts them as they go in and finds one missing.
"Cheolsu said he'd be back soon," Daesung says upon noticing Kyuhyun's questioning look.
"Which means he's flirting with the girl trainees," Kyuhyun sighs. "I'll just go retrieve him. Henry, will you...?"
"Yep! Take your places, guys," Henry says, walking to the front of the group and beginning the warm up routine.
"God, Woong, stop touching yourself."
"I was just adjusting my pants!"
"Henry-hyung, can't we put on some better music?"
"Don't listen to him, Hen, his idea of 'music' is some blue coloured guys banging on pipes."
Kyuhyun fights the urge to step back into the room to handle the situation. Henry will have to learn to take the reins sooner or later, and if he doesn't, then Zhoumi will.
He starts down the stairs, trying to remember the schedules of the female trainees since wherever they go, Cheolsu is sure to follow. But they prove exceptionally hard to find, and somehow Kyuhyun winds up on the ground floor, asking the receptionist where he can find the girls and trying to convince her that he isn't a pervy oppa.
"Second floor, seminar room B," the receptionist finally says, caving in when Kyuhyun starts ranting about how he has left 17 very rambunctious boys with 1 rather easily persuaded Canadian in charge and how that never leads to anything but broken furniture.
"Thank you," Kyuhyun says, running to the elevator and hitting the button impatiently. He is thinking about how he hopes he won't find Cheolsu making out with a minor, of all things, when suddenly the doors slide open, and he hears his own name.
"Kyuhyun?" And Kyuhyun would have recognised that accent anywhere in the world.
"Hyung," he says, staring at Hankyung. "You..."
The doors start to slide shut, and Kyuhyun dashes in, nearly losing a shoe in the process.
"Which floor?" Hankyung asks, as if meeting Kyuhyun in the elevator seven years since they've last met is perfectly ordinary.
"Um." Kyuhyun blinks. "The top one." The longest elevator ride you can manage, please.
"You look good. Busy." Hankyung smiles. "I hear you're the leader now."
"Y-yeah."
The silence seems to fill his mouth, wrapping round his tongue and making it impossible for him to say the things he wants to say, so he stands awkwardly against the wall, tracing the light reflecting off of Hankyung's shiny black shoes with his eyes.
"We're here," Hankyung says, startling Kyuhyun out of his reverie.
"What?"
"Top floor?"
Kyuhyun brushes his hair back and nods, but makes no move to leave the elevator. Let Cheolsu get in trouble with the law. Let the others wreck another dance studio. Seven years have passed, but if Kyuhyun stands perfectly still with his gaze fixed on Hankyung's shoes he can pretend they haven't passed at all.
"Do they still have those benches on the roof?" Hankyung asks, finally.
"Yeah."
"You want to..."
"Yeah."
"Kyuhyun." Kyuhyun finally meets Hankyung's eyes. "It's really me."
He almost smiles. "Yeah, hyung, I know."
The roof is empty - it is really too hot to be out there - but Hankyung sits on a weathered bench and Kyuhyun sits with him, looking out at a view that really hasn't changed at all.
"It's quiet," Hankyung says, and Kyuhyun knows that Hankyung is thinking of how the whole band used to come up here when a studio wasn't enough to contain all of their energy - when they were nervous or panicked about a performance and needed somewhere open to stampede about for a bit.
"People don't really come up here anymore."
"You should bring your members here. Young men like these sorts of places."
"You talk like you're old."
"I am, a bit," Hankyung smiles. He reaches for his wallet. "Want to see pictures of my kids?"
It is all getting too much for Kyuhyun, too much like playing pretend. For all that is going on they could be acquaintances, having a cup of coffee after bumping into each other on a random street somewhere, gossiping about children and mutual friends. Kyuhyun gets to his feet and paces, trying to form his thoughts into coherent sentences, into calm, poised words that don't reveal his true emotions because he is twenty seven now, dammit, and not a magnae crying into Eeteuk's pillow.
"Why did you abandon us?" he asks, almost yells. "Why did you just leave? Why didn't you fight it and get us to fight with you? Why didn't you say goodbye or call to tell us where you were? We had to find out about your Chinese album from the fan cafes! We were supposed to be... Brothers."
He finishes lamely, hands in limp fists by his sides, because Hankyung is looking at him with so much anguish that it looks like it must be hard to even breathe.
"It was all my fault," he says, voice breaking mid word. "I didn't do enough. Didn't learn enough Korean. My visa... They said it was better to concentrate on China. They said... I was so ashamed."
Kyuhyun buries Hankyung's hiccupping sobs in his hug, and they both weep, the first to leave and the last one left.
Kyuhyun watches TV in his free time, when he has time off from work, and he likes to watch the performances on Inkigayo, to reminisce and keep in touch with what sort of music is currently popular.
There is a soloist performing when Kyuhyun turns on the television one Sunday night, but he has missed the introduction. Her voice is pleasant, but Kyuhyun likes his female voices with a little bit more oomph, so he leaves the television on and wanders off to make himself a bowl of ramen.
When he comes back and sets the bowl on his coffee table, the hosts are introducing Super Junior, performing the title song of their twenty ninth single.
His phone buzzes.
Have time for supper? - a message from Shindong. Before Kyuhyun can navigate through the commands to send a reply, the phone buzzes again.
Shindong-hyung just invited us for supper. Come along? ♥ Eunhae
Kyuhyun smiles and glances up at the television. 13 boys dance in sync.
Someone invite Heechul-hyung and make him treat us.
He tosses the rest of his ramen in the trash and grabs his coat.
Title: This is rotation
Length: 1959
Author: shieldkitten
Rating: PG (some crude humour)
Summary: ELF's worst nightmare comes true, and seven years down the road, Kyuhyun is the last one left.
Hankyung's mother has brought him up well. Hankyung's father too, of course, but there's no denying that Hankyung is his mother's child. She's taught him to be polite, to be generous, to be humble, to be diligent, and to never, ever take anything for granted.
But children are children, and children forget, so although Hankyung remembers more than most, he slips and starts to believe that the things he has in life, he will have forever.
Not so.
Six years have passed since the release of the second album, and Kyuhyun is now one of the oldest members of Super Junior, with only Ryeowook above him. They made him the leader, the way people always expected it to be ever since They rotated Kangin out six months after Eeteuk declined to renew his contract with SM Entertainment in twenty-eleven. So much has changed in six years, and sometimes Kyuhyun wakes up not remembering which members comprise Super Junior anymore. Still, he does his best, even if he can't always remember the name of the newest addition.
"It's Wonseung," Ryeowook whispers to him during one of their weekly group meetings which Yehsung, the leader before him, instituted. The younger members voted to keep them going, since the group is so busy they rarely have chances to gather like this anymore.
"Thanks," Kyuhyun whispers back before clearing his throat. "So how are you coping, Wonseung?"
"Has Jungsok groped you yet?" Hoon asks. "You know you're not officially part of Suju until Jungsok touches you inappropriately."
"Hey!" Jungsok throws his sock at Hoon. "There's nothing wrong with how I choose to express my affection!"
Wonseung giggles nervously. "I'm just excited about debuting."
"I know you've been working extra hard to learn the choreography," Kyuhyun says encouragingly. "It's unfortunate that we don't have more time before the comeback, but everyone will help you out, right guys?"
"No worries, no worries," Peter, their Australian-Korean member, says, clapping Wonseung on the back with gusto. There is chaos for a moment as the other members decide it is prime time to declare every English phrase they know at the top of their lungs, despite the fact that Henry always wins at this game. Kyuhyun smiles fondly at them before realising that it is Eeteuk's motherly smile echoed on his face. He promised himself after Sungmin left that he wouldn't try to be someone for anyone anymore. He can really only be himself
This is rotation, and this is how Kyuhyun figures rotation works: They decide that one of the trainees is ready for debut, then They decide which of the older members can afford to leave for greener pastures, and then They thrust the new member into the warm and loving centre that is the squishy, never ending group hug of Super Junior.
"You have to promise to be kind," Eeteuk said the first time they were told Hankyung would be replaced with a Japanese trainee named Jun. "No matter what happens, we're loved because we love, nothing will ever change that."
Jun never really replaced Hankyung, but he found his own place within the group sandwiched between Donghae and Eunhyuk during TV nights, and he eventually led Super Junior-Nippon to a stunning debut in Japan. It was shortly after that that Kibum came into the eleventh floor dormitory and told them that he was leaving to concentrate on his acting.
And then, it seemed like only a matter of time before all the actors were exchanged for more singers and dancers, even though Siwon had insisted that he could juggle both careers at once. Then, They decided that Donghae, older and more mature, would do better in a new band of ballad singers.
In the year that followed, Eunhyuk tried really hard to be happy go lucky, to be Yehsung's right hand man for as long as he could, taking care of the dongsaengs, teaching them the old dances and coming up with new ones, but even the newest member at the time, Jaedong, could tell how glad Eunhyuk was to finally be asked to leave. Kyuhyun didn't blame him - Eunhyuk is the sort of man who rolls up memories and packs them in his heart and after a while there were just too many old ones to make room for anything new.
Kyuhyun knows the day is coming when either he or Ryeowook will be asked to leave. One of the older trainees - a seventeen year old with an amazing vocal range - is at that stage in his training when he is just about ready to join Super Junior. Sometimes They put a new member in without taking an older one out, but at 20 members, Super Junior is pretty much at its limit for full-strength stage performances, especially now that Korean fans seem more interested in solo artistes than big ensembles. Selfishly, Kyuhyun hopes that Ryeowook won't be asked first, because people have begun to say things like 'technically, Ryeowook's the only original Super Junior member left'.
"Kyuhyunnie," Ryeowook says one day, coming into their shared bedroom and sitting him down with gentle hands on his shoulders, and Kyuhyun knows that an era has ended.
This is rotation, and this is how the dictionary defines rotation:
Rotation (n.) A single complete cycle of the act or process of turning around a centre or axis.
"Get in there!" Kyuhyun calls above the hubbub of boyish voices, and he must have finally perfected the Leader-ssi tone of absolute command because the members stop horsing around and file obediently into the dance studio. Kyuhyun counts them as they go in and finds one missing.
"Cheolsu said he'd be back soon," Daesung says upon noticing Kyuhyun's questioning look.
"Which means he's flirting with the girl trainees," Kyuhyun sighs. "I'll just go retrieve him. Henry, will you...?"
"Yep! Take your places, guys," Henry says, walking to the front of the group and beginning the warm up routine.
"God, Woong, stop touching yourself."
"I was just adjusting my pants!"
"Henry-hyung, can't we put on some better music?"
"Don't listen to him, Hen, his idea of 'music' is some blue coloured guys banging on pipes."
Kyuhyun fights the urge to step back into the room to handle the situation. Henry will have to learn to take the reins sooner or later, and if he doesn't, then Zhoumi will.
He starts down the stairs, trying to remember the schedules of the female trainees since wherever they go, Cheolsu is sure to follow. But they prove exceptionally hard to find, and somehow Kyuhyun winds up on the ground floor, asking the receptionist where he can find the girls and trying to convince her that he isn't a pervy oppa.
"Second floor, seminar room B," the receptionist finally says, caving in when Kyuhyun starts ranting about how he has left 17 very rambunctious boys with 1 rather easily persuaded Canadian in charge and how that never leads to anything but broken furniture.
"Thank you," Kyuhyun says, running to the elevator and hitting the button impatiently. He is thinking about how he hopes he won't find Cheolsu making out with a minor, of all things, when suddenly the doors slide open, and he hears his own name.
"Kyuhyun?" And Kyuhyun would have recognised that accent anywhere in the world.
"Hyung," he says, staring at Hankyung. "You..."
The doors start to slide shut, and Kyuhyun dashes in, nearly losing a shoe in the process.
"Which floor?" Hankyung asks, as if meeting Kyuhyun in the elevator seven years since they've last met is perfectly ordinary.
"Um." Kyuhyun blinks. "The top one." The longest elevator ride you can manage, please.
"You look good. Busy." Hankyung smiles. "I hear you're the leader now."
"Y-yeah."
The silence seems to fill his mouth, wrapping round his tongue and making it impossible for him to say the things he wants to say, so he stands awkwardly against the wall, tracing the light reflecting off of Hankyung's shiny black shoes with his eyes.
"We're here," Hankyung says, startling Kyuhyun out of his reverie.
"What?"
"Top floor?"
Kyuhyun brushes his hair back and nods, but makes no move to leave the elevator. Let Cheolsu get in trouble with the law. Let the others wreck another dance studio. Seven years have passed, but if Kyuhyun stands perfectly still with his gaze fixed on Hankyung's shoes he can pretend they haven't passed at all.
"Do they still have those benches on the roof?" Hankyung asks, finally.
"Yeah."
"You want to..."
"Yeah."
"Kyuhyun." Kyuhyun finally meets Hankyung's eyes. "It's really me."
He almost smiles. "Yeah, hyung, I know."
The roof is empty - it is really too hot to be out there - but Hankyung sits on a weathered bench and Kyuhyun sits with him, looking out at a view that really hasn't changed at all.
"It's quiet," Hankyung says, and Kyuhyun knows that Hankyung is thinking of how the whole band used to come up here when a studio wasn't enough to contain all of their energy - when they were nervous or panicked about a performance and needed somewhere open to stampede about for a bit.
"People don't really come up here anymore."
"You should bring your members here. Young men like these sorts of places."
"You talk like you're old."
"I am, a bit," Hankyung smiles. He reaches for his wallet. "Want to see pictures of my kids?"
It is all getting too much for Kyuhyun, too much like playing pretend. For all that is going on they could be acquaintances, having a cup of coffee after bumping into each other on a random street somewhere, gossiping about children and mutual friends. Kyuhyun gets to his feet and paces, trying to form his thoughts into coherent sentences, into calm, poised words that don't reveal his true emotions because he is twenty seven now, dammit, and not a magnae crying into Eeteuk's pillow.
"Why did you abandon us?" he asks, almost yells. "Why did you just leave? Why didn't you fight it and get us to fight with you? Why didn't you say goodbye or call to tell us where you were? We had to find out about your Chinese album from the fan cafes! We were supposed to be... Brothers."
He finishes lamely, hands in limp fists by his sides, because Hankyung is looking at him with so much anguish that it looks like it must be hard to even breathe.
"It was all my fault," he says, voice breaking mid word. "I didn't do enough. Didn't learn enough Korean. My visa... They said it was better to concentrate on China. They said... I was so ashamed."
Kyuhyun buries Hankyung's hiccupping sobs in his hug, and they both weep, the first to leave and the last one left.
Kyuhyun watches TV in his free time, when he has time off from work, and he likes to watch the performances on Inkigayo, to reminisce and keep in touch with what sort of music is currently popular.
There is a soloist performing when Kyuhyun turns on the television one Sunday night, but he has missed the introduction. Her voice is pleasant, but Kyuhyun likes his female voices with a little bit more oomph, so he leaves the television on and wanders off to make himself a bowl of ramen.
When he comes back and sets the bowl on his coffee table, the hosts are introducing Super Junior, performing the title song of their twenty ninth single.
His phone buzzes.
Have time for supper? - a message from Shindong. Before Kyuhyun can navigate through the commands to send a reply, the phone buzzes again.
Shindong-hyung just invited us for supper. Come along? ♥ Eunhae
Kyuhyun smiles and glances up at the television. 13 boys dance in sync.
Someone invite Heechul-hyung and make him treat us.
He tosses the rest of his ramen in the trash and grabs his coat.