[fic] taemin/sulli: my baby, she's crazy

[spinningchairs]

title: my baby, she's crazy
pairing: taemin/sulli
genre: romance
rating: r
word count: 4,866 w
summary: soojung left a month before summer came to an end. jongin went after her not even a week later. that leaves jinri and taemin. (roommates au)


i.

"is this it?"

they're standing in the cramped doorway of their new place, a small apartment in downtown seoul. she squeezes past him first, and he follows her to the living room.

jinri thinks it's not too bad. it's neater than she thought, at least. she puts her bag on top of the counter and checks the cabinets, that to no one's surprise, turns out to be empty. taemin lets her check the rest of the furniture that came with the place while he carries the rest of their luggage inside.

"so, what do you think?" she asks him, closing the bathroom door behind her. there's only one bathroom in this apartment so they'll have to share.

"i don't really have an opinion about it." taemin looks around absently. there’s a glass door leading to a rather small balcony. if both he and jinri stood on it, there wouldn’t be room for much else. so much for the great outdoors.

he turns back towards jinri.

"how's the tap?"

"takes a while to heat up, but otherwise it's okay."

taemin nods. "so, this is it."

"this is it," jinri repeats.

they share a look. taemin breaks into a smile first.

"rock paper scissors for who gets the bigger room?"

as it turns out, taemin won rock paper scissors, but he immediately feels guilty about it and offers jinri to take the room instead. she turns it down, saying, "i wanted the smaller room anyway, it's easier to manage."

"but i don't have that many stuff."

"really, it's fine," jinri says with a laugh.

"if you say so."

they spend the next two hours in their respective rooms, unpacking and decorating. the mover truck arrives in the middle of that, so taemin goes downstairs to take the flat screen jinri's parents gave them and his boxes of books and records. jinri's brought a lot of cushions to put on their living room sofa.

it's already dark outside when they come out. jinri offers to order pizza while taemin sets up the tv.

"we need to go grocery shopping," jinri declares. she's bent backwards over the sofa, feet dangling over the back.

"stock up on snacks and booze," taemin agrees. "let's go now before the pizza arrives so we can have a proper housewarming party."

they manage to fill the cabinets with instant ramyun and the fridge with six-packs and fruit sojus from just one grocery store trip. there's also some cooking and cleaning appliances, and other miscellaneous things jinri thinks they might need.

after the so-called "housewarming party" with just the two of them clinking cans after cans of beer together and sharing a box of pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, they spent their first night passed out on the couch together.

ii.

this was not the plan, at first.

all four of them were accepted at seoul university, thanks to jinri's tutorage and jongin for always letting them use his place to study. all four of them had their plans laid out: jinri and soojung were going to get an apartment together near campus and taemin and jongin were going to room together in the school's dormitory.

but in the middle of summer, soojung suddenly decided that she'd been away from home for too long. she confessed to having secretly applied for college in her hometown of san francisco, and had been accepted. she said something about how she just wanted to start fresh and how she'd always call them.

jinri didn't stop her. how could she? soojung's always had bigger dreams, is destined for bigger things. she couldn't possibly keep her from that.

soojung left a month before summer came to an end. jongin went after her not even a week later. that leaves jinri and taemin.

jinri couldn't afford the apartment on her own, and taemin didn't think he wanted to room with a random stranger in college, so he offered to share the rent. jinri's grateful. also, she could use the company. she and taemin have been friends for years anyway, she can't see anything going wrong.

so they live together like that.

they take the bus to campus together every morning and go their separate ways towards their respective buildings when they arrive. after school, jinri works part-time at a coffee shop while taemin takes the afternoon shift at a hardware store. he isn't particularly well-versed in the art of DIY but he knows a thing or two about how money works, and he needs to pay his half of the rent.

it took them about two weeks to settle in: getting the wi-fi set up, jinri completing all the utensils and appliances she needs for cooking, tinkering the broken furnitures, and figuring out how to do laundry. it also takes as much time for taemin to get used to long hair in the shower drain and for jinri to make taemin put the seat down after using the toilet. it's new and different, but they make it work.

taemin always comes home to find jinri in the same state; sitting cross-legged on the couch, laptop on her lap, and the tv on. dramas on weekdays, gag-shows on weekends. today it's drama.

"hey, you're home," she greets him. jinri takes off her glasses and sets it down on the coffee table, rubbing her eyes. "i made donkatsu for dinner. do you want to eat now or later?"

taemin dumps his backpack next to her on the sofa and waddles towards the kitchen. "i'm starving."

"thought so."

jinri joins him in the dinner table and helps herself to a bowl of rice. taemin's already digging in.

"this is really good," he says through stuffed mouth. "you sure you didn’t buy this?"

jinri kicks him under the table. "i'm still learning, so don't expect too much, alright?"

"well, you set the bar pretty high the first time."

jinri smiles. "you're overreacting," she says. "but thanks."

taemin swears he’s not lying to make her feel good, but still finds it hard to believe that jinri can cook this well. he guesses, in the years that they’d known each other, there weren’t that many chances for her to show off this hidden skill of hers. then again, taemin thinks, they never really hung out with just the two of them.

jongin is going to be so jealous, taemin snorts at his own thought. soojung can’t cook for shit.

jinri comes out of the shower to a record playing in the living room and taemin lying on the sofa, eyes closed.

she pokes him in between his eyebrows. "you awake?"

taemin's whole face scrunches up in displeasure. he swats her hands away from his face. "i was listening to the music."

jinri shrugs and proceeds to dry the ends of her hair with a towel. she lifts taemin's legs up from the couch and replaces it with her butt, tucking her feet under it. "this is a good record," she tells him. "what is this?"

"the beach boys," taemin replies. he can't help but stare at the outline of jinri's breasts under her t-shirt. she's not wearing a bra, he realizes. taemin can feel his face heat up. he hasn't got used to this yet.

jinri's humming along to the song snaps taemin out of his trance. he redirects his gaze back to her face.

"uh. you like it?"

"yeah. i didn't know you liked this kind of music."

"what kind of music did you think i like, then?"

"dance music, i guess. the stuff you and jongin perform to."

"you can dance to all kinds of music, you know," says taemin. he does a little jig to the tune playing, making jinri giggle. "right? come on."

jinri does a silly imitation of taemin's moves, making taemin laugh in turn.

"wow. that's great, jinri," he mock-praises her.

jinri kicks him again. she has a habit of doing so, taemin realizes. so he catches one leg and tickles the sole of her foot, sending jinri's nerves into a frenzy of impulse and she, involuntarily, kicks him in the face.

"oh my god! i'm so sorry!" jinri crawls towards taemin, who's covering his face with his hands. "holy shit, are you ok?”

"i'm fine," taemin groans, still holding his nose.

"do you need me to get you an icepack or something?"

taemin shakes his head, but jinri's already got up and gone to the fridge. "we haven’t bought icepacks yet, shit-wait. try this, maybe this'll work-"

jinri hands taemin a bag of frozen peas.

"are you fucking kidding me."

"hey! it's better than nothing!"

taemin gives up and presses the bag against his nose. he winces.

jinri chuckles next to him. "you're an idiot."

"thanks."

iii.

it's morning on a saturday, which means both of them have the day off. taemin comes out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth and sees jinri on the balcony, tending to her houseplants while also doing the laundry.

"jinri, do you want some coffee?" he yells from the kitchen.

"yes, please!" jinri hollers back over the rackety sound of the old spin-dryer.

taemin pulls out two mugs from the cabinet and waits for the coffeemaker to finish brewing their coffee. while waiting, he pours himself a bowl of cornflakes. he likes his coffee black, while jinri fancies herself a couple spoonfuls of milk.

taemin finishes his cereal and brings jinri her coffee on the balcony. the steam rising from the mug is visible in the cold morning air. "here you go."

jinri, who's in the middle of watering her wax plant, quickly puts down her watering can and takes a seat on top of the dryer. "thanks," she says, taking her mug of coffee. she lets the warmth seep into her skin before taking a sip.

taemin observes the pots of succulents lined up by the railing, and the layer of water droplets covering them. he then looks up at jinri, who's looking out towards the street. they don't exactly have the best view. in fact, the fading gray facade of the building next door and the street below. at least the air's nice.

it's been well over a month since they moved in, and taemin likes how things are coming together. jinri's been a wonderful roommate, and company in general. taemin for one realizes how much he's missed out on getting to know jinri over the last few years. they're so used to being a quartet, there was never really much room for a one-on-one.

other than jinri's knack for home cooking, taemin's only recently discovered that jinri is particularly skilled at folding clean laundry in record time. meanwhile, jinri's also finds out that taemin is an expert at changing a lightbulb and fruit-peeling.

they spend most of their days at school and working separate from each other, so their evenings and days off become some sort of a quality time between them. so instead of retreating to their respective rooms after dinner, taemin and jinri developed their own shared habits and rituals. such as this one.

"you going anywhere today?" jinri asks him.

taemin shakes his head. "you?"

"no. but you know what we should do? we should go to the grocery store."

"why? have we ran out of something?"

"eggs, basil, and those mini yoghurts that you like," jinri replies. "but i also need to get a couple of things to make dinner. i'm thinking... seafood pasta?"

taemin instantly agrees at the mention of food. "we can go in the afternoon, then."

"great!" jinri exclaims, hopping off the dryer.

she mimics taemin, who's leaning over the railings, coffee mug in hand, their shoulders pressed together. with her plants taking up space, there's only so much room for the two of them on the balcony.

"let's do something before we go," taemin proposes.

"oh! you promised you'd watch Coco with me."

"but i found this really cool film that i want to watch-"

"is it another obscure european flick?"

"...maybe?"

"you know my brain's too tired to watch those kind of movies on a day off!" jinri protests, shoving taemin with her shoulders. "we watched your pick last time, remember? it's my turn to pick the movie."

taemin sighs. "okay, Coco it is then."

"yes!"

taemin chuckles at jinri's apparent joy. he leans his head against hers, and jinri reciprocates by bumping her hips against his. taemin returns it, hard, and almost knocks jinri's mug out of her hands and down onto the street below, if it weren't for her quick reflexes.

they both gasp.

a horrified jinri hits his shoulder while taemin laughs his lungs out. yep, he thinks, he'd pick this over rooming with strangers on a university dormitory any day.

iv.

"happy birthday, taemin! happy birthday, taemin! happy birthday, lee taemin, happy birthday to you!”

“wha-”

taemin opens his eyes to jinri, standing over him on his bed in her pajamas: a band tee so big it passes as a night gown.

she's holding up a fat stack of pancakes covered in whip cream and blueberry sauce and slices of fruit, and on the top stack, a candle. taemin finds himself already smiling before his eyes are fully open.

he sits up against the headboard. jinri bends down, holding the plate before him.

taemin blows his candles out. jinri whoops.

"happy birthday, asshole," she so affectionately congratulates him as she hands him the plate of pancakes. "i made you seaweed soup too, so you should probably eat that first."

taemin joins her in their dining table, where she's already prepared a full-course birthday breakfast of seaweed soup complete with side dishes. there's a tall glass of orange juice next to it. he notices jinri's eating only one pancake with syrup for her breakfast.

"i didn't have time to make more, sorry," she apologizes. "but i'll make something nice for dinner, promise. now eat up!"

taemin stares blankly at the bowl of seaweed soup. it’s the first time he's ever had someone other than his family cook a special meal for him on his birthday. and it's jinri. jinri, whom he's known for years and celebrated a number of birthdays with, but there used to be jongin and soojung as well, and yes, they threw him surprise parties and gave him presents, but none was quite like this one.

"thanks, jinri," he whispers.

jinri nudges his shin softly. "if you're really thankful, eat it while it's still hot."

taemin does, and he thinks that, as he takes a sip of the seaweed soup, he doesn’t mind waking up to this for like, every birthday for the rest of his life.

iv.

they're both lying in taemin’s bed; his head next to jinri’s feet, and vice versa. taemin doesn’t mind. he's used to having jinri in his personal space by now, anyway. jinri was delivering clean clothes to his room and they got to talking. but the conversation's died down a while ago and now they're lying there in silence, safe from the faint murmur of the record playing in the living room.

“hey," jinri opens, “how do you think it would have been if soojung hadn’t gone to america?”

"i never really thought about it.” it's true. he's gotten so used to living with jinri he forgot how it began. it's like they've always lived like this.

"well, this would have been her room, and it would be her instead of you in this bed with me right now."

"yeah, and i'll be rooming with jongin in a smelly all-boys dormitory, getting into trouble every other night." taemin snorts, now thinking about what could have been. the room goes back to quiet.

"do you hate her? soojung, i mean."

"for leaving? a little," jinri confesses.

"i fucking hate jongin," taemin says. "i mean, at first i did. but i don’t know, i mean, i guess if i loved someone that much, i probably would do the same thing.”

jinri hums. outside, the record fades to an end. she sits up.

"tell me something," jinri bids. "have you ever liked soojung?"

"like, as in...?"

"like, as in like-like."

taemin doesn't think so. soojung has always been the fiercer and more outspoken one out of the two, and they did talk more than he did with jinri in high school, but only because soojung talks more in general. of course taemin likes soojung, because she is perfectly likeable, but he's never thought of her as more than a friend. and taemin feeling nothing other than happy and just a little bit lost when jongin and soojung got together in sophomore year, only confirmed that.

"i mean, it's okay if you do," jinri adds. "everyone does. i mean, she's obviously very pretty, and more attractive than i'll ever be. you know, she's got that air of challenge to her that makes boys come back for more. while me, i'm just jinri. plain old jinri whose face cannot hide her heart." jinri sighs. "jongin's lucky, isn't he?"

sure, taemin thinks, but jongin's never seen jinri, hair wet, fresh out of the shower, smelling like a flower garden. he's never seen her bent over the kitchen counter, flour on her cheek, fully concentrated as she tries to follow a recipe from a cookbook. he's never seen her sleep with her mouth slightly open, one leg always managing to escape the covers. no, taemin has, and he thinks she’s beautiful.

but, to taemin, jinri looks the most beautiful right now, when she's sitting cross-legged on his bed, slouching, in his old t-shirt that she’d stolen from the dryer. and if it wasn't for the slight wetness on her cheeks, taemin would have kissed her by now.

instead, he sits up against the headboard and stretches out a hand towards jinri, who takes it. he gently pulls her on top of him, so that her head fits snugly against the crook of his neck. jinri wordlessly complies, tracing circles into taemin’s chest while taemin runs a hand through her hair, stopping at the small of her back.

“nah,” he finally says. “i’m the lucky one.”

v.

taemin is climbing the stairs up to their apartment, his steps lighter than usual. he normally gets off work at 6, but the store closed early today for an inspection and the manager told them all to go home. so here he was, at 5.40, fumbling with his keys in front of the apartment.

“i’m home-”

taemin is welcomed by a sight of jinri, hunched over in front of their glass balcony door, a lit cigarette between her lips, nail polish wand in her right hand, the orange sun setting behind her. her toenails, freshly painted in glittery black polish, seems to be reflecting its light. her left hand gently tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

suddenly, taemin finds himself out of breath.

“oh! you’re home,” jinri exclaims. she puts out her cigarette before discarding it into the planter of their ficus. she penguin-walks over to the couch and sits down, putting her feet up on the coffee table. “hey, you okay? something happened at work?”

taemin, who is still frozen at the door, finally snaps out of his trance. “o-oh, yeah,” he stammers, closing the door behind him. “i’m fine. the manager just let us off early.”

jinri nods. “well, i haven’t cooked yet, so why don’t you take a shower first and i’ll get dinner fixed?”

taemin heads to his room, dumping his backpack on the floor and leaps face first towards the bed. he fights the urge to scream into the pillow. instead, a loud sigh comes out. he can't get that image of jinri out of his head now, and not anytime soon.

when taemin comes out of the shower, towel over his shoulders, jinri has started serving dinner. it’s spinach stuffed chicken breast, and it smells amazing. taemin immediately takes a seat at the dining table as jinri puts a piece on his plate.

it’s unusually silent once dinner started. usually, they’d be talking about their day, what happened with whose friend, or obnoxious customers at work. but none of them seemed keen on starting the conversation first. taemin peeks up at jinri from under wet fringe. she notices.

“what? is the chicken not good?” jinri asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

“no! it’s really good,” taemin quickly answers. “really good.”

they eat the rest of their dinner in silence.

after taemin’s finished washing the dishes, his share of chores, he joins jinri in front of the tv, which was playing a drama rerun. again, it’s silent between them except for the sound from the tv, until jinri decides to be the one to talk first.

“c’mere,” she beckons.

“what?”

“your feet,” she clarifies, gesturing for him to lift his feet up on the sofa.

taemin is confused but does as told, and jinri puts his feet on her lap. she reaches for her bottle of nail polish on the coffee table.

“wait wait wait,” taemin interjects. “you’re going to paint my toenails?”

jinri nods, matter-of-factly.

“does it have to be glittery?”

“i ran out of the plain one, okay!” she waves him off, and proceeds to open the bottle of nail polish. “besides, it looks pretty.”

huffing, taemin gives in. “it better does.”

jinri snickers in victory and starts painting taemin’s right big toe. taemin feels relieved. they’re okay, he thinks, nothing’s going wrong between them. everything's peachy.

“hey,” jinri suddenly says, somewhat absently. “...nevermind.”

“what?”

she groans in despair. “ugh, i usually talk to soojung about this, but it’s like four am in san francisco and i figured, since you’re here...” she’s trying to be nonchalant about it, but taemin can tell she’s hesitating. it’s making him nervous.

“someone asked me out today,” she finally says.

“asked you out? like, on a date?”

she nods. “oh sehun. you know him?”

taemin’s never heard of the guy, but somehow, he can’t stop picturing a tall, handsome, macho guy that’s probably a thousand times better-looking than he’ll ever be. “no,” he replies.

“me neither, until today, when he showed up at the coffee shop and asked me out while i was manning the register, in front of everyone else,” jinri scoffs. “my coworker says he only comes during my shift, and always sits at the same table near the counter, looking my way.”

“that’s kind of creepy, don’t you think?”

“i guess, but he was actually very nice about it,” she says. “he introduced himself, said we share a couple of classes, which is bizarre because i think i would have noticed him, but i didn’t, and then he proceeded to ask me out to dinner this friday.”

taemin is at a loss for words. a stranger, whom taemin has no idea what he looks like and jinri’s only known for a few hours, but somehow sounds suspiciously charming and handsome, is going to take jinri out on a date?

“so what do you think?” jinri asks.

“what do i think about what?”

“like, should i go?”

taemin wants to say no, but can’t find it in himself to. he starts scratching his forearm. “well...” he says, voice little. “do you want to?”

“i guess..." a small smile makes its way to jinri's face. “i mean, it’s been a while since i last went on a date. who knows? it might turn out to be fun, or a complete disaster. i’ll never know if i don’t go.”

taemin presses his lips together, thinking. finally, he sighs. “do you need my help with picking outfits too?”

“damn right i do.” jinri slaps taemin’s shin. taemin hisses in pain. “all done now. careful.”

taemin stretches his leg and carefully places it next to jinri’s on the coffee table.

“see?” she says, gesturing at their feet. “pretty.”

taemin redirects his gaze from their sparkly toenails wiggling together on the table to jinri’s beaming face next to his.

“yeah," he almost sighs, "pretty.”

vi.

“taemin, i’m ba-oh my god.”

jinri is back from her date and she finds taemin passed out on the couch, a couple of beer cans and one and a half-empty bottle of soju on the table. she quickly closes the door and rushes over to him.

she can hear unintelligible mumbling against the cushions, which means taemin is still conscious. he’s lying face down on the sofa, upper half of his body manages to be on it while the lower half is lying lifelessly on the floor, limbs thrown everywhere.

“jesus, taemin, how much did you drink?”

taemin lifts his head up to see jinri’s face. he practically beams at her. “you’re home,” he utters, sounding somewhat relieved.

“alright, time to go to bed, come on.” jinri puts her purse down on the table, and throws taemin’s arm around her shoulders. she manages to get him to stand up and starts helping him to his room.

“wa-wait wait wait,” taemin slurs, “i need to take a piss.”

“god, really?”

“i need to pee-” taemin tries to break off from jinri’s hold, but he almost falls over, so jinri gives in and hauls him towards the bathroom.

but when they get to the bathroom, instead of peeing, taemin instantly falls onto his knees and vomits into the toilet bowl. jinri winces at the sight, but doesn’t leave, and starts rubbing taemin’s back.

taemin leans againt the porcelain wall, eyes blank. jinri presses flush and kneels down in front of him, kindly wiping the corner of his mouth with a paper towel.

taemin's breath hitched when the tips of jinri's fingers come in contact with his skin as she brushes away the pasty strands of hair away from his glassy eyes.

“why did you have to go on that date.”

jinri’s eyes widen in confusion. “what?”

“did you have a good time? i hope you didn’t. god, i’m such a bad guy aren’t i, why would i say that,” he’s rambling by now. “why did you have to go on that date, jinri?”

“because i wanted to? i mean, it’s not like i needed your permission, but you said i should-”

“i know i did but the truth is i didn’t want you to okay.”

“taemin, what are you saying?”

“look i just...” he’s looking up at her now. he thinks she looks like an angel with the light forming a halo above her head. “i want to spend every friday with you. you'll cook dinner and we'll eat together like we always do, and afterwards we can listen to a record and dance, or watch those obscure european movies that you said i was weird for liking, but it’s not that i like it it’s just that i’m trying to broaden my horizon! i mean we can even watch soaps if you want, point is i just want you to be with me, rather than some strange fucking dude you’ve only known for less than three fucking days.”

jinri is speechless. “taemin-”

“god, jinri,” he groans, sounding almost pained. “you’re so beautiful.”

“what?”

taemin throws up all over jinri’s pair of nice shoes before he passes out on the bathroom floor.

vii.

the next morning, taemin wakes up with the worst headache.

“oh god,” he croaks, pulling the covers over his head like it’ll protect him from the pain, but it doesn’t do any good. he’s trying to remember what happened last night after he’s had a few drinks. did he pass out? did he pass out in the living room? did he manage to carry himself to bed? or was it-

“morning.”

taemin pulls down the cover to see jinri, standing in the doorway with a glass of water in one hand, and in the other, a glass of some beige-colored smoothie-looking thing.

“how are you feeling?”

“like someone’s drilling into my head,” taemin groans, then sits up on the bed.

jinri hands him the glass of water first, and after he’s downed it in one go, hands him the other glass. taemin scrunches up his nose at the visual.

“what’s this?”

“it’s my all-natural hangover cure smoothie.”

“you’re serious.” taemin suspiciously eyes the liquid inside the glass. “does it work?”

“works for me.” jinri giggles at his skepticism. “it doesn’t taste weird, i promise.”

taemin brings the glass to his lips and takes a sip. it’s palatable, he thinks, tastes somewhat sweet with a hint of ginger. he doesn’t dare ask what's actually in it, though. he takes a couple more gulps and puts the glass on his bedside table.

“thanks,” he says to jinri, who nods. “by the way, how did your date go?”

“it... was alright,” she replies, redirecting her gaze towards the floor. “hey,” she says again, turning back towards taemin. “what was last night about?”

“last night?” taemin is clueless.

“you don’t remember?”

“oh god, did i do something wrong?”

“no, you-” jinri stops for a second. “you said i looked beautiful.”

“oh.”

he remembers now. it’s all coming back to him. he takes a mental note to never drink again.

taemin puts his hand on top of jinri’s.

“look, jinri," he begins, "i really like you. i enjoy spending time with you. and i didn’t want you to go home with some random guy-god, why is it even called ‘going home’ with someone anyway-because... this is your home. our home, jinri, and i can’t stand the thought of you ‘going home’ with someone else because... only i get to see you like this.”

“like this?”

“beautiful.”

taemin leans in and plants a kiss on jinri’s lips.

at first, he was unsure of what he was doing, but when he feels jinri reciprocate, her lips melting into his, his whole body relaxes and he deepens the kiss, gently pulling jinri closer by her chin.

when their lips part, and their eyes meet, she’s the one who smiles first.

“okay,” she says.

taemin is confused. “okay?”

“let’s stay in and watch those obscure european movies you were talking about. your pick,” jinri says as she gets up from the bed. “we can have a discussion about the deep philosophical meaning and sociopolitical commentary behind it and i’ll make some of that dip you like so much. how does that sound, mister broaden-my-horizon?”

“...cool.”

“cool. put a shirt on, will you?”

jinri leaves the room, leaving taemin dumbfounded.

it takes him a while to register what had just happened, and then a huge smile finds its way on his face. taemin quickly grabs a clean-looking shirt from a pile on his chair before catching up with jinri in the living room, standing in front of the record player. with a cheeky smile, she gently puts the needle on the vinyl.

the tender melody of don't worry baby by the beach boys fills the room. with a mischievous raise of her eyebrows, jinri stretches out her hand towards taemin, who shakes his head at jinri's antics, but takes it anyway. like that, they start waltzing across the living room.

"you're crazy," taemin tells her.

"hey," she kicks him and taemin happily thinks to himself, there she goes again. "i'm just trying to keep up with you."

jinri spins and taemin catches her in his arms, and as they kiss for the second time, taemin thinks this is what he wants, every day for the rest of his life: jinri and him, together, where it feels like home.

(viii.

jinri is woken up by the sound of her phone ringing. eyes still closed, she grabs around to where she can feel it vibrating somewhere on the bed under her. once she grabs a hold of it, she slides to answer.

“hello?”

“jinri? turn your camera on! what are you doing?”

“soojung, you seriously didn’t check what time it is before calling here-” jinri wipes her eyes, puts the phone in front of her face and presses the video button.

soojung is on screen, standing somewhere that looks like a living room of a studio apartment, all cream walls, seems cozy. she looks at the watch on her wrist.

“it’s 8.13 seoul time, aren’t you usually up by no... oh my god. oh no. jongin, come here, you need to see this!”

jinri scrunches up her face in confusion. “what?”

a sleepy groan next to her answers her question.

jinri can see a head of strawberry blonde hair peeking from under the covers. it slides down slowly, revealing taemin's sleepy face. jinri can feel her whole body heat up. her hand unconsciously rises to her chest, securing the blanket over it.

"oh-ho!" jongin chimes in, tone full of mischief. "someone's got a lot of explaining to do."

"is that-jongin?" taemin croaks, eyes still heavy with sleep. jinri elbows him off-screen and his eyes widen in an instant as he comes to realize the situation. he awkwardly puts his halfway stretched out arm around jinri's bare shoulders. "hey... guys..."

soojung smirks. "it was a good thing i left, wasn't it?"

"shut up." jinri frowns, mortified.)

note: this has been in my drafts for way too long. shinee singing airplane was all i needed to finally post it. if you're like me and you miss f(shinee) as much as i do, i hope you enjoy ^^;