[TC/011] No Good News [Henry/Xiumin, PG-13]
Title: No Good News
Pairing: Henry/Xiumin
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, General/Romance
Length: one-shot
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, SME does. Plot is mine.
Summary: Deductions don't really take them anywhere. The rain does. Trains do, too. But not deductions.
Warning: UNBETA'D. First Henry/Xiumin. Lost inspiration and just filled in the ending with no real purpose but to finish.
Henry can’t be entirely certain, but at the present moment he feels as though rainy days are perhaps one of the worst types of days one can experience when you’re a computer nerd, constantly nestled up in the comfort of a dark room with only the light reflecting off of the monitor screen to keep you company.
His deduction is further supported when he ducks into a copy office for shelter, and all he hears are mumbles and mutters; people speaking into other peoples ears all around him.
Well, damn if he isn’t a lonely camper.
A group of guys, possibly no older than himself, slip in and instantly the small shop has decreased at least half in size and Henry feels himself becoming a bit claustrophobic.
The humidity is god awful and Henry does not appreciate the forced skinship he is having with the world-or what’s left of it in this cramped space, anyways.
He knew he should have taken up on Donghae’s offer to get a cup of coffee before dragging his lone self to the college campus to meet with a professor, who is always conveniently late.
“Not to annoy you or anything,” a voice suddenly speaks to him.
As doubtful as he is, Henry reluctantly raises his scowl from the ground to the face looking straight into his own. Well, would you look at that? A bad-boy. “Yes?”
“Your laptop is sticking out of your backpack.”
Henry would have reacted violently, thrashing around to save his poor computer, but he remembers very clearly that he is holding his laptop carrier in his arms, hugging it for dear life. “Nice try.” He grumbles, shifting on his feet so he can look aside.
The kid’s lips bubble, a smirk forming. Henry calls him a kid because he can, and because the kid is admittedly a little shorter than himself; not because he actually knows that the kid is a kid.
Said kid leans forward, poking Henry on the arm. “You go to school around here?”
“Do I look like I’m still in school?” Henry retorts.
The kid has a totally serious expression when he says, “yes.”
Henry resists the urge to punch the kid in the face. Nerds don’t do that. “No, I don’t.”
“Oh. Well, hi, I’m Xiumin. Nice to meet you?”
Raising a single brow under his glasses, Henry purses his lips and really considers his options. Either he shakes the hand that has been extended to him and not piss the kid and his group of friends off, thereby leaving in one piece, or he doesn’t shake the hand and blatantly ignore them, possibly leaving in one swollen and bruised piece.
Neither sound very attractive to him right now.
“The rain’s stopped!” Someone sighs in bliss.
One only has so many chances in his life-Henry thinks this is his. He shrinks into the crowd of people rushing out of the shop and slips into the street, hoping he wasn’t seen by the kid and his group of friends, and disappears into a tunnel leading to the subway.
He takes all of about a few steps onto the train when he hears his name being called.
“What are you doing here?” Henry grumbles.
Donghae pouts. “Well, it’s nice seeing you too, Mr. Grumpy.”
Henry chews on his cheek, shoves his laptop into Donghae’s arms, and pops his backpack off his shoulders. The zipper is indeed open, and something is sticking out of it. It doesn’t belong to him, though.
“What happened to you?” Donghae asks. “You don’t seem too happy today.”
“I’m not-“
Donghae interrupts him. “Wait, I take that back. You’re never happy. Today, though, you just feel different. C’mon, tell your big brother what happened.”
The younger boy rolls his eyes. “Donghae, shut up.”
“Were you bullied?” Donghae frowns. “Who was it?”
Unfortunately, there is only so little space and so many people on a train. It’s the only thing keeping Henry from either stomping on Donghae’s foot or chucking him in the abs-his nonexistent ones, that is. “If you could have grown up this big without being bullied, I really don’t find it necessary to worry about issues of that nature myself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Donghae narrows his eyes.
Henry grins. “Everything you think it does.”
They both fall silent, the buzzing of the train through the station becoming the only shield for their ears against the constant chit chats occurring around them. Comfort settles in them both when Donghae leans against Henry’s side, protecting him from the mass of people entering the already too crowded transportation vehicle.
It’s been years since they’ve met, Henry being that genius child who skipped many grades to land in the same class as Donghae.
To Henry, Donghae really was an older brother.
Sometimes, to them both, the world consists of nothing but rain, clouds, a computer and too many technical terms too remember late into the night. Aside from each other, there were no others who understood amongst them.
And then Donghae met Sungmin.
Nothing seemed to have changed, honestly. The older man would still invade his personal space; nagging at him and annoying him to no end. Henry would still sit at his computer desk, glaring and fuming and arguing back-he always argues back-and it’s as though nothing changed between them.
“Get off of me,” Henry mutters, nudging Donghae away with his shoulders.
Donghae gets a laugh out of it but falls right back against Henry. This is how the world is, Henry supposes. There are only so many people you can rely on, and even less that you will allow to rely on you.
The ride to work for them is both long and exhausting. Henry gets off the train a few stops down, because that’s where he needs to be for the afternoon today, and Donghae is left alone for the rest of the ride.
“Boyfriend?”
Henry jumps out of his skin. When he turns around, it’s that familiar face-short, spiked hair, round eyes, puffy cheeks (not much different from his very own, he muses to himself). “Maybe.”
“Interesting.” The kid says. Henry makes a point of not remembering his name. “So you do go to school here.”
“I’m here for work.” Henry clarifies.
Kid nods, lips pursed together with hands shoved in his tight jean pockets. His black jacket clings to his arms and Henry tries not to stare at how tight everything looks on the kid. He prefers a comfortable sense of fashion-this kid, obviously, does not. “I go to school here.”
“You go to school?” Henry scoffs.
The kid smirks and Henry swallows nervously at how only one side of his lip raises against the other. Maybe he should be wary of this kid. “Why, yes, I do.”
He tries to scurry off, but his arms suddenly feel empty. Very empty. “Damn it!”
Kid’s eyes widen. “What?”
“Nothing.” Henry grumbles. “Stupid Donghae!”
“Your name is Donghae?” The kid asks.
Henry rolls his eyes. “No, not me, my frien-,“ he starts, but then stops himself, schooling his expression. “None of your business.”
The kid shrugs nonchalantly, turning his head away. Henry catches the vague smile.
Proceeding to take out his cell phone from his backpack, Henry dials that familiar number (one of the only numbers, really) and sighs long and hard into the speaker. “Donghae, I need you to come back.”
Donghae scoffs. “I need to get to work.”
“You have my laptop!” Henry retorts.
True enough, Donghae is still hugging Henry’s laptop. “You shoved it at me.”
“I know, I know. I need it.” Henry frowns to himself. “Bring it back? You’re at most two stations away from me right now.”
The man on the other line laughs. “What do I get?”
“Why don’t you just meet up with him halfway or something?” The kid suggests. Henry hadn’t even noticed he was still there. “Compromise.”
Donghae gasps. “Is that… Is that another human being speaking to you?”
“Shut up, Donghae.” Henry scowls.
“I need to meet him. Who is he? You never told me you made a new friend!” Donghae continues. “Wait, where are you right now? Are you still at the station? I’ll be right there!”
“Dongh-“
The line goes silent before Henry can prevent the chaos. He sighs. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see the kid still staring at him.
“Do you need something?” Henry asks.
The kid smiles. “Can I see your phone real quick?”
“What? No-“
Obviously, no one likes to listen to Henry complete his sentences. The kid steals the phone from him in what seems like lightning speed, turning around as he, Henry guesses, browses the expensive mechanism.
Henry gives up. This morning has just been too much.
“You’re not fighting anymore?” The kid grins cheekily. After what feels like hours, but is in reality only seconds, he hands the cellular back to its rightful owner.
Henry retrieves the phone with a snap. “I figured it was pointless. A nerd and a mobster; I’m not exactly at an advantage here.”
“Mobster?” The other laughs. “My name is Xiumin.”
“Sure. Yeah. That.” Henry takes a deep breath. “Look, I’d love to entertain you further but I’m sort of flustered and worried and nervous and I’m just not in the mood for this.”
Xiumin shrugs, his jacket crinkling in the gesture. Henry notices how it shines under the underground subway station lighting, illuminating the subtle darkness surrounding them. To be honest, Xiumin sticks out like a sore thumb and Henry isn’t exactly enjoying the extra attention they are garnering.
Gazing around, Henry shoves his phone back into his pocket and kicks the ground beneath him. Everything surrounding them suddenly sounds muffled when he feels Xiumin's hand against his ear, the other boy leaning forward with a hushed voice.
"Stop sulking." Xiumin whispers.
“Okay, this is going to sound really weird but why are you hitting on me?” Henry wonders aloud, rubbing his reddening ears, brows knit tightly over his narrowed eyes.
Xiumin laughs. “Homophobic?”
“What? No, that’s no-“
“Alright then, there’s nothing for you to worry about.” Xiumin cuts him off. He looks beyond Henry and recognizes the man that is walking towards them. (Donghae, he deduces.) Quickly, he reaches over and ruffles Henry’s hair roughly. “I’m gonna be late for class. Catch you later!”
Irritably, Henry swats the kids hand away and waves him off. He feels a pat on his shoulder and has never been so delighted to see Donghae in his life. “Laptop?”
Donghae tosses it into Henry’s arms. “Who’s that?”
“Some kid.” Henry says, but he files the face away into his memory-the smirk, the voice, the way his fingers felt on his hair. “Annoying.”
“You’ve always had a soft spot for annoying people.” Donghae comments lightly.
Henry rolls his eyes. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Donghae shrugs. “You owe me dinner tonight.”
“Don’t you have to get to work?” Henry asks. “You better leave now, or you’ll be late.”
Donghae hisses through his teeth. “Dinner. Tonight. I’ll text you the place and time. I want all the details.”
“Stop being such a girl.” Henry groans. “I’ll try to make time.”
As Donghae leaves, he scrunches up his nose and sticks out his tongue at Henry. The younger boy makes a face back, but turns and starts walking towards the campus. He can only afford to be so late when he meets with a client.
Halfway across the university entrance, he feels his phone vibrate against his thigh.
The cellular tells him he’s received a message, but he doesn’t recognize the number. It’s when he reads the text that he realizes why.
It’s Xiumin.
Look up.
Looking up, it takes him a moment to spot the kid squatting with a group of youngsters that Henry cannot recognize (unsurprising, he figures). Xiumin is grinning back at him, saluting him with that slit eyed smirk that Henry has tucked away somewhere in his memory. The group of youngsters look his way, and slowly a twisted smile of sorts branch on their faces, too.
He decides not to wave back. Xiumin bites down on his lips, rising from his squatting position so that he’s standing erect in the center of the field. He circles his hands around his mouth and shouts, as loud as he can,
“Henry! Why aren’t you acknowledging me?!”
Henry wants to die.
He ducks his head and rushes through the Commons area, aiming directly for the front doors, and sighs as subtly as he can. If one were to ask him, he would have said he called it-bad boys are never good news.
END
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Read Nyx's version of Henry/Xiumin [Whispers] here.
-
[ [TC/010]: Donghae/Sungmin [Rain] ] ♦ [ [TC/012]: Lay/Chen [Fog] ]
-
A/N: The Song Fest that SJ-M and EXO-M both participated in at Shanghai inspired this couple. Gifs and pics of Henry and Xiumin whispering/talking/interacting and stuff made this possible. (The Xiumin I imagine in this fic is him from that one teaser he's in with Kai, where they are running from cars/headlights or something?) And I really wanted to expand Henry's character from the Haemin, so I kind of consider this a sequel-ish to Secret Eaves? Anyhow, enjoy!
Pairing: Henry/Xiumin
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, General/Romance
Length: one-shot
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, SME does. Plot is mine.
Summary: Deductions don't really take them anywhere. The rain does. Trains do, too. But not deductions.
Warning: UNBETA'D. First Henry/Xiumin. Lost inspiration and just filled in the ending with no real purpose but to finish.
Henry can’t be entirely certain, but at the present moment he feels as though rainy days are perhaps one of the worst types of days one can experience when you’re a computer nerd, constantly nestled up in the comfort of a dark room with only the light reflecting off of the monitor screen to keep you company.
His deduction is further supported when he ducks into a copy office for shelter, and all he hears are mumbles and mutters; people speaking into other peoples ears all around him.
Well, damn if he isn’t a lonely camper.
A group of guys, possibly no older than himself, slip in and instantly the small shop has decreased at least half in size and Henry feels himself becoming a bit claustrophobic.
The humidity is god awful and Henry does not appreciate the forced skinship he is having with the world-or what’s left of it in this cramped space, anyways.
He knew he should have taken up on Donghae’s offer to get a cup of coffee before dragging his lone self to the college campus to meet with a professor, who is always conveniently late.
“Not to annoy you or anything,” a voice suddenly speaks to him.
As doubtful as he is, Henry reluctantly raises his scowl from the ground to the face looking straight into his own. Well, would you look at that? A bad-boy. “Yes?”
“Your laptop is sticking out of your backpack.”
Henry would have reacted violently, thrashing around to save his poor computer, but he remembers very clearly that he is holding his laptop carrier in his arms, hugging it for dear life. “Nice try.” He grumbles, shifting on his feet so he can look aside.
The kid’s lips bubble, a smirk forming. Henry calls him a kid because he can, and because the kid is admittedly a little shorter than himself; not because he actually knows that the kid is a kid.
Said kid leans forward, poking Henry on the arm. “You go to school around here?”
“Do I look like I’m still in school?” Henry retorts.
The kid has a totally serious expression when he says, “yes.”
Henry resists the urge to punch the kid in the face. Nerds don’t do that. “No, I don’t.”
“Oh. Well, hi, I’m Xiumin. Nice to meet you?”
Raising a single brow under his glasses, Henry purses his lips and really considers his options. Either he shakes the hand that has been extended to him and not piss the kid and his group of friends off, thereby leaving in one piece, or he doesn’t shake the hand and blatantly ignore them, possibly leaving in one swollen and bruised piece.
Neither sound very attractive to him right now.
“The rain’s stopped!” Someone sighs in bliss.
One only has so many chances in his life-Henry thinks this is his. He shrinks into the crowd of people rushing out of the shop and slips into the street, hoping he wasn’t seen by the kid and his group of friends, and disappears into a tunnel leading to the subway.
He takes all of about a few steps onto the train when he hears his name being called.
“What are you doing here?” Henry grumbles.
Donghae pouts. “Well, it’s nice seeing you too, Mr. Grumpy.”
Henry chews on his cheek, shoves his laptop into Donghae’s arms, and pops his backpack off his shoulders. The zipper is indeed open, and something is sticking out of it. It doesn’t belong to him, though.
“What happened to you?” Donghae asks. “You don’t seem too happy today.”
“I’m not-“
Donghae interrupts him. “Wait, I take that back. You’re never happy. Today, though, you just feel different. C’mon, tell your big brother what happened.”
The younger boy rolls his eyes. “Donghae, shut up.”
“Were you bullied?” Donghae frowns. “Who was it?”
Unfortunately, there is only so little space and so many people on a train. It’s the only thing keeping Henry from either stomping on Donghae’s foot or chucking him in the abs-his nonexistent ones, that is. “If you could have grown up this big without being bullied, I really don’t find it necessary to worry about issues of that nature myself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Donghae narrows his eyes.
Henry grins. “Everything you think it does.”
They both fall silent, the buzzing of the train through the station becoming the only shield for their ears against the constant chit chats occurring around them. Comfort settles in them both when Donghae leans against Henry’s side, protecting him from the mass of people entering the already too crowded transportation vehicle.
It’s been years since they’ve met, Henry being that genius child who skipped many grades to land in the same class as Donghae.
To Henry, Donghae really was an older brother.
Sometimes, to them both, the world consists of nothing but rain, clouds, a computer and too many technical terms too remember late into the night. Aside from each other, there were no others who understood amongst them.
And then Donghae met Sungmin.
Nothing seemed to have changed, honestly. The older man would still invade his personal space; nagging at him and annoying him to no end. Henry would still sit at his computer desk, glaring and fuming and arguing back-he always argues back-and it’s as though nothing changed between them.
“Get off of me,” Henry mutters, nudging Donghae away with his shoulders.
Donghae gets a laugh out of it but falls right back against Henry. This is how the world is, Henry supposes. There are only so many people you can rely on, and even less that you will allow to rely on you.
The ride to work for them is both long and exhausting. Henry gets off the train a few stops down, because that’s where he needs to be for the afternoon today, and Donghae is left alone for the rest of the ride.
“Boyfriend?”
Henry jumps out of his skin. When he turns around, it’s that familiar face-short, spiked hair, round eyes, puffy cheeks (not much different from his very own, he muses to himself). “Maybe.”
“Interesting.” The kid says. Henry makes a point of not remembering his name. “So you do go to school here.”
“I’m here for work.” Henry clarifies.
Kid nods, lips pursed together with hands shoved in his tight jean pockets. His black jacket clings to his arms and Henry tries not to stare at how tight everything looks on the kid. He prefers a comfortable sense of fashion-this kid, obviously, does not. “I go to school here.”
“You go to school?” Henry scoffs.
The kid smirks and Henry swallows nervously at how only one side of his lip raises against the other. Maybe he should be wary of this kid. “Why, yes, I do.”
He tries to scurry off, but his arms suddenly feel empty. Very empty. “Damn it!”
Kid’s eyes widen. “What?”
“Nothing.” Henry grumbles. “Stupid Donghae!”
“Your name is Donghae?” The kid asks.
Henry rolls his eyes. “No, not me, my frien-,“ he starts, but then stops himself, schooling his expression. “None of your business.”
The kid shrugs nonchalantly, turning his head away. Henry catches the vague smile.
Proceeding to take out his cell phone from his backpack, Henry dials that familiar number (one of the only numbers, really) and sighs long and hard into the speaker. “Donghae, I need you to come back.”
Donghae scoffs. “I need to get to work.”
“You have my laptop!” Henry retorts.
True enough, Donghae is still hugging Henry’s laptop. “You shoved it at me.”
“I know, I know. I need it.” Henry frowns to himself. “Bring it back? You’re at most two stations away from me right now.”
The man on the other line laughs. “What do I get?”
“Why don’t you just meet up with him halfway or something?” The kid suggests. Henry hadn’t even noticed he was still there. “Compromise.”
Donghae gasps. “Is that… Is that another human being speaking to you?”
“Shut up, Donghae.” Henry scowls.
“I need to meet him. Who is he? You never told me you made a new friend!” Donghae continues. “Wait, where are you right now? Are you still at the station? I’ll be right there!”
“Dongh-“
The line goes silent before Henry can prevent the chaos. He sighs. Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see the kid still staring at him.
“Do you need something?” Henry asks.
The kid smiles. “Can I see your phone real quick?”
“What? No-“
Obviously, no one likes to listen to Henry complete his sentences. The kid steals the phone from him in what seems like lightning speed, turning around as he, Henry guesses, browses the expensive mechanism.
Henry gives up. This morning has just been too much.
“You’re not fighting anymore?” The kid grins cheekily. After what feels like hours, but is in reality only seconds, he hands the cellular back to its rightful owner.
Henry retrieves the phone with a snap. “I figured it was pointless. A nerd and a mobster; I’m not exactly at an advantage here.”
“Mobster?” The other laughs. “My name is Xiumin.”
“Sure. Yeah. That.” Henry takes a deep breath. “Look, I’d love to entertain you further but I’m sort of flustered and worried and nervous and I’m just not in the mood for this.”
Xiumin shrugs, his jacket crinkling in the gesture. Henry notices how it shines under the underground subway station lighting, illuminating the subtle darkness surrounding them. To be honest, Xiumin sticks out like a sore thumb and Henry isn’t exactly enjoying the extra attention they are garnering.
Gazing around, Henry shoves his phone back into his pocket and kicks the ground beneath him. Everything surrounding them suddenly sounds muffled when he feels Xiumin's hand against his ear, the other boy leaning forward with a hushed voice.
"Stop sulking." Xiumin whispers.
“Okay, this is going to sound really weird but why are you hitting on me?” Henry wonders aloud, rubbing his reddening ears, brows knit tightly over his narrowed eyes.
Xiumin laughs. “Homophobic?”
“What? No, that’s no-“
“Alright then, there’s nothing for you to worry about.” Xiumin cuts him off. He looks beyond Henry and recognizes the man that is walking towards them. (Donghae, he deduces.) Quickly, he reaches over and ruffles Henry’s hair roughly. “I’m gonna be late for class. Catch you later!”
Irritably, Henry swats the kids hand away and waves him off. He feels a pat on his shoulder and has never been so delighted to see Donghae in his life. “Laptop?”
Donghae tosses it into Henry’s arms. “Who’s that?”
“Some kid.” Henry says, but he files the face away into his memory-the smirk, the voice, the way his fingers felt on his hair. “Annoying.”
“You’ve always had a soft spot for annoying people.” Donghae comments lightly.
Henry rolls his eyes. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Donghae shrugs. “You owe me dinner tonight.”
“Don’t you have to get to work?” Henry asks. “You better leave now, or you’ll be late.”
Donghae hisses through his teeth. “Dinner. Tonight. I’ll text you the place and time. I want all the details.”
“Stop being such a girl.” Henry groans. “I’ll try to make time.”
As Donghae leaves, he scrunches up his nose and sticks out his tongue at Henry. The younger boy makes a face back, but turns and starts walking towards the campus. He can only afford to be so late when he meets with a client.
Halfway across the university entrance, he feels his phone vibrate against his thigh.
The cellular tells him he’s received a message, but he doesn’t recognize the number. It’s when he reads the text that he realizes why.
It’s Xiumin.
Look up.
Looking up, it takes him a moment to spot the kid squatting with a group of youngsters that Henry cannot recognize (unsurprising, he figures). Xiumin is grinning back at him, saluting him with that slit eyed smirk that Henry has tucked away somewhere in his memory. The group of youngsters look his way, and slowly a twisted smile of sorts branch on their faces, too.
He decides not to wave back. Xiumin bites down on his lips, rising from his squatting position so that he’s standing erect in the center of the field. He circles his hands around his mouth and shouts, as loud as he can,
“Henry! Why aren’t you acknowledging me?!”
Henry wants to die.
He ducks his head and rushes through the Commons area, aiming directly for the front doors, and sighs as subtly as he can. If one were to ask him, he would have said he called it-bad boys are never good news.
END
-
Read Nyx's version of Henry/Xiumin [Whispers] here.
-
[ [TC/010]: Donghae/Sungmin [Rain] ] ♦ [ [TC/012]: Lay/Chen [Fog] ]
-
A/N: The Song Fest that SJ-M and EXO-M both participated in at Shanghai inspired this couple. Gifs and pics of Henry and Xiumin whispering/talking/interacting and stuff made this possible. (The Xiumin I imagine in this fic is him from that one teaser he's in with Kai, where they are running from cars/headlights or something?) And I really wanted to expand Henry's character from the Haemin, so I kind of consider this a sequel-ish to Secret Eaves? Anyhow, enjoy!