prefers happy endings (tablo, seunghyun/bom)
Prefers Happy Endings
Tablo-centric, Seunghyun/Bom
Felt like YG Family fic. Inspired by Tablo's album commentary, Strong Heart, and how wonderful he is in general.
Seunghyun has problems, and Tablo has priorities.
prefers happy endings
Everybody makes mistakes and misunderstands
Get your mind right, go straight, balance yourself.
Tablo; Thank you for breathing
Music likes to take its own sweet time.
Tablo taps his fingers against the black of the couch, the leather still new enough to stink up the recording studio. He isn’t supposed to come in today-not after last night’s disastrous noraebang session with the Family that saw Psy inebriated on Dongwook’s lap and Seungri throwing up on Dara’s special edition Adidas shoes-but he almost has it, that melody aching to be released from the tip of his tongue, his fingertips. Tablo knows better than to push; he coaxes the sounds floating about in the back of his mind, a gentle persuasion for the music to thread itself into a string of notes that he will eventually catch.
His focus is broken by the creak of the heavy studio door. Seunghyun stands there, his nervousness unapparent until Tablo sees him shuffle from foot to foot. A tic Tablo himself developed over the past few years, where knots of uncertainty had eaten away any ability to stay still and be.
“Hyung,” says Seunghyun, an odd smile flitting past his lips, “wanna go for a smoke?”
They end up on the rooftop garden. The sunshine peeks from behind silver clouds as Tablo raises his eyes to meet the sky. He doesn’t smoke-not anymore, at least, since his daughter-but he does sit beside his hoobae as the latter lights up a Lucky Strike. Hardly his first choice, he explains to Tablo a moment later, but he was out, and Chaerin was the only other smoker in the vicinity willing to let him bum. They sit in companionable silence for a good ten minutes, Tablo letting the warmth of the summer’s day slowly douse his skin of the chill that comes with hanging out too often in enclosed production studios.
He studies Seunghyun absently as the other rapper drops the cigarette and puts it out under his Dr Martens. Seunghyun is a handsome man, the kind of good-looking that even other males fail to find fault with. It’s difficult to fathom anyone like Seunghyun having any sort of problems-but, Tablo thinks wryly, it would be a terrible assumption to make. Everyone in YG has had their fair share of pain, and none of them are excused from the crippling insecurity that comes with the constant scrutiny of the general public.
Somehow Tablo feels at home here. With this odd bunch of stud-wearing, leather-loving misfits who deal with their problems and low self-esteem issues with increasingly eclectic songwriting.
“Been a while, hasn’t it,” Seunghyun is saying. “Yanggoon was talking about your third year anniversary with the company. Wants to hold a party for you and Hyejung-noona or something.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Tablo quips, and they hum with laughter.
“He favours you,” Seunghyun retorts good-naturedly. “You won’t see him holding an anniversary party for us anytime soon. Aish.”
“After all the recent scandals?” Tablo deadpans. “No.”
Seunghyun grins. The latest hoohaa to blow up in the papers had been about Seungri. A model had sold her story to the media, a dramatic tale about her meeting with Seungri at an aftershow party that lead to a string of one night stands. Tablo’s never asked Seungri about it-to be fair, it isn’t exactly his business, and even if any of it were true, Seungri‘s a growing boy and, in Tablo’s opinion, should be allowed to make his own mistakes. Tablo says as much to Seunghyun, who snorts in agreement.
“It is what it is,” he says with a sigh. “Interesting how people think that as idols we don’t make the same stupid mistakes. Or feel the same shit. We’re only human, aren’t we.”
Somehow, Tablo feels that they’re inching towards the crux of why Seunghyun had asked his non-smoking hyung for a smoking session in the first place. He resists asking outright, only studies Seunghyun carefully-sees the strain that keeps the corners of Seunghyun’s mouth where a handsome smile used to sit instead. “Something bugging you, Seunghyun?”
A pause. Seunghyun is still, the nervous fidget stopping briefly before it returns in his fingers, a disturbed rhythm tapping on his knees. “I was thinking,” he says at last, voice faltering, “about you and Hyejung-noona.”
It isn’t quite what Tablo expects. Seunghyun chuckles awkwardly, a half-shrug sitting in his shoulders. “I mean.” He clears his throat, shifting a bit in his seat. “I’ve asked Dongwook-hyung about this, but I guess I just wanted… I just wanted…”
He trails off. The sun disappears behind the clouds, colouring the vicinity a slate grey. Tablo watches Seunghyun not quite meet his eyes, puts two and two together. “Is this about Bom?”
It’s a wondrous thing, the way Seunghyun glances up at him, lips parted as though he isn’t quite sure what to say. Tablo has never been particularly close to Seunghyun, not the way he’s bonded with Youngbae, for sure, but he understands him-the man is almost as fiercely private as Tablo is. So he knows, instinctively, that it’s rather something to have Seunghyun unravel before him in a manner than seems almost uncharacteristic of him… and for a reason that Tablo had only so much as suspected.
It’s one of those subjects that simply doesn’t come up, not during their barbecue sessions or noraebang nights, even if Tablo isn’t blind to the lingering bouts of affection that sometimes escape Seunghyun’s reserved manner after one too many rounds of soju. It comes so naturally that it’s easy to miss it altogether-Seunghyun’s closeness to a certain redheaded noona, or the endearing way she seemed to close up around him, her usually open and vivacious personality peeling away whenever she was around Seunghyun. No, they’re not obvious, and yet when Tablo pauses to think about it, he can’t possibly understand how nobody else has ever pointed it out before.
“You know, hyung?” Seunghyun looks mildly mortified, his cheekbones reddening. “I thought-I thought we were keeping it under the radar.”
“You were.” Tablo gives him a wry smile. “It just became obvious to me a moment ago.” Then, because he can no longer curb his curiosity-“how long has it been?”
The answer surprises him. Three years, Seunghyun mumbles, barely audible. Tablo wonders how they’ve all missed this for so long. A date here and there, Seunghyun explains awkwardly, as if putting the situation in words would make all of this somehow real-“And sometimes she’d give up, you know? All the sneaking, it’s not for her. Then we’d date other people and it's feels like shit all over again.”
"So stop sneaking around.”
Seunghyun looks at Tablo, a vague surprise in his troubled gaze. Tablo shrugs then, a helpless smile on his lips. “What exactly are you afraid of losing, Seunghyun?”
It always happens with the young ones. You see the red carpet galas and flashing cameras and all the shiny things you think you worked so hard for. Tablo knows the temptation of these temporary pleasures; the texture of a designer jacket and fragrance of custom perfume.
Always the young ones, who have trouble letting go of these things.
“Dongwook-hyung,” Seunghyun says then, his words halting. “I was there, when the fiasco with Hanbyul-noona happened. He lost so much.” He lowers his eyes. “He could have been bigger than what he is now, had he kept everything a secret. It’s the reality, hyung. And I…” A pause. “I’m not sure I can deal with that.”
“You’re afraid of a scandal,” Tablo says bluntly. Seunghyun flinches, but Tablo doesn’t back down, honesty no longer holding any sting for him. “You got to ask yourself what have you got to lose. All of these things-“ he tugs gently at Seunghyun’s diamond cufflinks, and Seunghyun blushes uncomfortably, “-what are they worth? We seek the approval of people who mean absolutely nothing to us, Seunghyun. If you don’t have this handsome jacket tomorrow, you’re not going to be any less than what you are. But to live a lie at the expense of who you are most yourself with… that’s a pity.” He patted Seunghyun gently on the shoulder. “You wanted my advice. I can tell you I never regretted Hyejung.”
Seunghyun’s smile comes slow, a hint of a curve in the corner of his lips. “…You’re lucky, hyung. To have someone like her.”
“Because I love her. Honestly.” Even now, speaking of his wife warms Tablo in the chest, and he can’t help his affection from creeping into his voice. “When the stupid scandal about my education came about, I only cared about two things.” He put up two fingers. “My family. My music. Not the studded leather pants you guys have taken a liking to lately.”
“Jiyong’s idea,” Seunghyun protests, and Tablo smiles.
“When the circus is no longer on our side, who cares. They can have the studded leather pants. We have each other.”
Seunghyun laughs, so abruptly it’s almost a bark. The little frown the younger man had been wearing has melted into a softness, his gaze downcast and pensive.
“I guess I could do without the studded leather pants,” he says at last.
“You could give them to me,” Tablo says matter-of-factly.
“They’re leather pants, hyung.”
“I gave you advice. Now give me your pants. Or was the family talk all bullshit?”
Seunghyun is laughing so hard he’s snorting. He picks up another cigarette, and Tablo throws his head back, looks at the ribbons of pink and gold that has stretched beyond the clouds.
"I think Dongwook's happy," he says, after a moment. "Don't you?"
Seunghyun blows out another wisp of smoke, turning to smile at Tablo before he ducks his head.
“...Yeah.”
A month later, Seunghyun and Bom go public with their relationship.
Apart from the chaos outside the company gates, the cutting netizen commentary and drop in official fan numbers, life goes on per normal. They roll their eyes when they read about the hoopla on their blinged up gadgets, and Dara blogs a picture of herself with rabbit ears to calm her fans down. Seungri and Chaerin are still arguing about everything and nothing, and Tablo joins them for noraebang. They almost don’t notice Seunghyun’s hand slip into Bom’s when Jiyong screams ACDC into the microphone-it’s Youngbae, of course, who gives in and teases them. Daesung and Gummy make it their responsibility to drag a drunken Psy out of the building at the end of the night. Tablo and Hyejung split the bill and the kids, then carts everyone back into sedans.
“Drive safe, hyung,” Seunghyun says, when Tablo drops him home. His eyes light up when Bom follows him out of the car, a shy little grin on her face. Maybe it’s the soju, Tablo thinks, but everyone seems a little happier tonight. Psy gurgles from the backseat, and Daesung rolls down the car window.
Hyejung falls asleep beside him on the couch when they get home. Tablo stays awake till dawn to catch that elusive string of notes. Music continues to take its own sweet time, and nothing has changed.
Tablo-centric, Seunghyun/Bom
Felt like YG Family fic. Inspired by Tablo's album commentary, Strong Heart, and how wonderful he is in general.
Seunghyun has problems, and Tablo has priorities.
prefers happy endings
Everybody makes mistakes and misunderstands
Get your mind right, go straight, balance yourself.
Tablo; Thank you for breathing
Music likes to take its own sweet time.
Tablo taps his fingers against the black of the couch, the leather still new enough to stink up the recording studio. He isn’t supposed to come in today-not after last night’s disastrous noraebang session with the Family that saw Psy inebriated on Dongwook’s lap and Seungri throwing up on Dara’s special edition Adidas shoes-but he almost has it, that melody aching to be released from the tip of his tongue, his fingertips. Tablo knows better than to push; he coaxes the sounds floating about in the back of his mind, a gentle persuasion for the music to thread itself into a string of notes that he will eventually catch.
His focus is broken by the creak of the heavy studio door. Seunghyun stands there, his nervousness unapparent until Tablo sees him shuffle from foot to foot. A tic Tablo himself developed over the past few years, where knots of uncertainty had eaten away any ability to stay still and be.
“Hyung,” says Seunghyun, an odd smile flitting past his lips, “wanna go for a smoke?”
They end up on the rooftop garden. The sunshine peeks from behind silver clouds as Tablo raises his eyes to meet the sky. He doesn’t smoke-not anymore, at least, since his daughter-but he does sit beside his hoobae as the latter lights up a Lucky Strike. Hardly his first choice, he explains to Tablo a moment later, but he was out, and Chaerin was the only other smoker in the vicinity willing to let him bum. They sit in companionable silence for a good ten minutes, Tablo letting the warmth of the summer’s day slowly douse his skin of the chill that comes with hanging out too often in enclosed production studios.
He studies Seunghyun absently as the other rapper drops the cigarette and puts it out under his Dr Martens. Seunghyun is a handsome man, the kind of good-looking that even other males fail to find fault with. It’s difficult to fathom anyone like Seunghyun having any sort of problems-but, Tablo thinks wryly, it would be a terrible assumption to make. Everyone in YG has had their fair share of pain, and none of them are excused from the crippling insecurity that comes with the constant scrutiny of the general public.
Somehow Tablo feels at home here. With this odd bunch of stud-wearing, leather-loving misfits who deal with their problems and low self-esteem issues with increasingly eclectic songwriting.
“Been a while, hasn’t it,” Seunghyun is saying. “Yanggoon was talking about your third year anniversary with the company. Wants to hold a party for you and Hyejung-noona or something.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Tablo quips, and they hum with laughter.
“He favours you,” Seunghyun retorts good-naturedly. “You won’t see him holding an anniversary party for us anytime soon. Aish.”
“After all the recent scandals?” Tablo deadpans. “No.”
Seunghyun grins. The latest hoohaa to blow up in the papers had been about Seungri. A model had sold her story to the media, a dramatic tale about her meeting with Seungri at an aftershow party that lead to a string of one night stands. Tablo’s never asked Seungri about it-to be fair, it isn’t exactly his business, and even if any of it were true, Seungri‘s a growing boy and, in Tablo’s opinion, should be allowed to make his own mistakes. Tablo says as much to Seunghyun, who snorts in agreement.
“It is what it is,” he says with a sigh. “Interesting how people think that as idols we don’t make the same stupid mistakes. Or feel the same shit. We’re only human, aren’t we.”
Somehow, Tablo feels that they’re inching towards the crux of why Seunghyun had asked his non-smoking hyung for a smoking session in the first place. He resists asking outright, only studies Seunghyun carefully-sees the strain that keeps the corners of Seunghyun’s mouth where a handsome smile used to sit instead. “Something bugging you, Seunghyun?”
A pause. Seunghyun is still, the nervous fidget stopping briefly before it returns in his fingers, a disturbed rhythm tapping on his knees. “I was thinking,” he says at last, voice faltering, “about you and Hyejung-noona.”
It isn’t quite what Tablo expects. Seunghyun chuckles awkwardly, a half-shrug sitting in his shoulders. “I mean.” He clears his throat, shifting a bit in his seat. “I’ve asked Dongwook-hyung about this, but I guess I just wanted… I just wanted…”
He trails off. The sun disappears behind the clouds, colouring the vicinity a slate grey. Tablo watches Seunghyun not quite meet his eyes, puts two and two together. “Is this about Bom?”
It’s a wondrous thing, the way Seunghyun glances up at him, lips parted as though he isn’t quite sure what to say. Tablo has never been particularly close to Seunghyun, not the way he’s bonded with Youngbae, for sure, but he understands him-the man is almost as fiercely private as Tablo is. So he knows, instinctively, that it’s rather something to have Seunghyun unravel before him in a manner than seems almost uncharacteristic of him… and for a reason that Tablo had only so much as suspected.
It’s one of those subjects that simply doesn’t come up, not during their barbecue sessions or noraebang nights, even if Tablo isn’t blind to the lingering bouts of affection that sometimes escape Seunghyun’s reserved manner after one too many rounds of soju. It comes so naturally that it’s easy to miss it altogether-Seunghyun’s closeness to a certain redheaded noona, or the endearing way she seemed to close up around him, her usually open and vivacious personality peeling away whenever she was around Seunghyun. No, they’re not obvious, and yet when Tablo pauses to think about it, he can’t possibly understand how nobody else has ever pointed it out before.
“You know, hyung?” Seunghyun looks mildly mortified, his cheekbones reddening. “I thought-I thought we were keeping it under the radar.”
“You were.” Tablo gives him a wry smile. “It just became obvious to me a moment ago.” Then, because he can no longer curb his curiosity-“how long has it been?”
The answer surprises him. Three years, Seunghyun mumbles, barely audible. Tablo wonders how they’ve all missed this for so long. A date here and there, Seunghyun explains awkwardly, as if putting the situation in words would make all of this somehow real-“And sometimes she’d give up, you know? All the sneaking, it’s not for her. Then we’d date other people and it's feels like shit all over again.”
"So stop sneaking around.”
Seunghyun looks at Tablo, a vague surprise in his troubled gaze. Tablo shrugs then, a helpless smile on his lips. “What exactly are you afraid of losing, Seunghyun?”
It always happens with the young ones. You see the red carpet galas and flashing cameras and all the shiny things you think you worked so hard for. Tablo knows the temptation of these temporary pleasures; the texture of a designer jacket and fragrance of custom perfume.
Always the young ones, who have trouble letting go of these things.
“Dongwook-hyung,” Seunghyun says then, his words halting. “I was there, when the fiasco with Hanbyul-noona happened. He lost so much.” He lowers his eyes. “He could have been bigger than what he is now, had he kept everything a secret. It’s the reality, hyung. And I…” A pause. “I’m not sure I can deal with that.”
“You’re afraid of a scandal,” Tablo says bluntly. Seunghyun flinches, but Tablo doesn’t back down, honesty no longer holding any sting for him. “You got to ask yourself what have you got to lose. All of these things-“ he tugs gently at Seunghyun’s diamond cufflinks, and Seunghyun blushes uncomfortably, “-what are they worth? We seek the approval of people who mean absolutely nothing to us, Seunghyun. If you don’t have this handsome jacket tomorrow, you’re not going to be any less than what you are. But to live a lie at the expense of who you are most yourself with… that’s a pity.” He patted Seunghyun gently on the shoulder. “You wanted my advice. I can tell you I never regretted Hyejung.”
Seunghyun’s smile comes slow, a hint of a curve in the corner of his lips. “…You’re lucky, hyung. To have someone like her.”
“Because I love her. Honestly.” Even now, speaking of his wife warms Tablo in the chest, and he can’t help his affection from creeping into his voice. “When the stupid scandal about my education came about, I only cared about two things.” He put up two fingers. “My family. My music. Not the studded leather pants you guys have taken a liking to lately.”
“Jiyong’s idea,” Seunghyun protests, and Tablo smiles.
“When the circus is no longer on our side, who cares. They can have the studded leather pants. We have each other.”
Seunghyun laughs, so abruptly it’s almost a bark. The little frown the younger man had been wearing has melted into a softness, his gaze downcast and pensive.
“I guess I could do without the studded leather pants,” he says at last.
“You could give them to me,” Tablo says matter-of-factly.
“They’re leather pants, hyung.”
“I gave you advice. Now give me your pants. Or was the family talk all bullshit?”
Seunghyun is laughing so hard he’s snorting. He picks up another cigarette, and Tablo throws his head back, looks at the ribbons of pink and gold that has stretched beyond the clouds.
"I think Dongwook's happy," he says, after a moment. "Don't you?"
Seunghyun blows out another wisp of smoke, turning to smile at Tablo before he ducks his head.
“...Yeah.”
A month later, Seunghyun and Bom go public with their relationship.
Apart from the chaos outside the company gates, the cutting netizen commentary and drop in official fan numbers, life goes on per normal. They roll their eyes when they read about the hoopla on their blinged up gadgets, and Dara blogs a picture of herself with rabbit ears to calm her fans down. Seungri and Chaerin are still arguing about everything and nothing, and Tablo joins them for noraebang. They almost don’t notice Seunghyun’s hand slip into Bom’s when Jiyong screams ACDC into the microphone-it’s Youngbae, of course, who gives in and teases them. Daesung and Gummy make it their responsibility to drag a drunken Psy out of the building at the end of the night. Tablo and Hyejung split the bill and the kids, then carts everyone back into sedans.
“Drive safe, hyung,” Seunghyun says, when Tablo drops him home. His eyes light up when Bom follows him out of the car, a shy little grin on her face. Maybe it’s the soju, Tablo thinks, but everyone seems a little happier tonight. Psy gurgles from the backseat, and Daesung rolls down the car window.
Hyejung falls asleep beside him on the couch when they get home. Tablo stays awake till dawn to catch that elusive string of notes. Music continues to take its own sweet time, and nothing has changed.