fifteen minute challenges
I'll organize these better when I've actually had sleep. T_T
don't look back (let nothing remind you)
"Sometimes, two people will regard each other over a gulf too wide to ever be bridged, and know immediately what could have happened, and that it never will." - Roger Ebert
There are rare moments when Kibum and Jonghyun are doing that best friend thing they do, the silent communication and proclamations of love, that make Jinki wonder whether things could have been different if he was different. If, during those first crucial months of knowing each other, he’d been less awkward around Kibum, less wary of such a strange being, could he have been a part of that?
They’re at it again, and Jinki’s the only one watching. Minho is in the kitchen looking for microwavable popcorn for the movie, and Taemin is hogging the couch, paying none of them any attention. Looks are exchanged and a general noise of agreement is made.
Jinki can see what’s about to happen seconds before it does, and by then it’s too late to stop them pouncing on Taemin. The three of them wrestle for a few minutes, and someone’s foot nearly comes in contact with Jinki’s face, but then Minho comes back with the popcorn and they settle down.
Jonghyun and Key have gained spots on the couch, while Minho sits with Jinki on the floor, their backs to the couch. Jinki looks back to make sure everyone’s completely settled before he plays the movie and he catches Kibum’s eye. He gets a thumbs up and returns it, nearly knocking the bowl of popcorn over. Kibum scoffs and rolls his eyes in Jonghyun’s direction, and Jinki plays the movie, figuring it’s too late to try for anything near that calibre of closeness.
you come and go
Sungmin starts his day with a ride on the subway. He’s a TA for a broadcasting class at the university, and it requires early morning trips. The station closest to his apartment is the beginning of the line, so it’s usually quite empty when he gets on. Today, someone else boards with him.
He looks like a college student, or maybe it’s just the book he’s so deeply immersed in that gives that impression. Sungmin reads the title on the cover, and when he looks up the stranger is watching him.
“Is it very interesting?” Sungmin asks in lieu of being embarrassed.
“I just started it.” He speaks quietly, and the train tilts back and forth in time with the tapping of his foot, rocking the few passengers aboard. “It’s for a class, but I’m not really supposed to read ahead.”
“Oh. That seems odd.” At the other man’s questioning look, Sungmin clarifies, “To restrict you like that. Reading seems to happen at its own pace, don’t you think?” He gets a smile in response, but nothing else, so he believes the conversation to be over.
As the train gets more and more crowded, the other man is blocked from view, but they end up getting off at the same stop.
“What class is it for?” Sungmin asks.
“Early literature, or something like that. I’m not all that interested in anything but the reading.” He smiles again, putting the book away.
life in technicolour
Movie night is sort of an unofficial thing with them, but none of the members have missed it so far. Generally, it happens like this: Junhyung steals the remote from whoever has it at the moment, and switches it to a movie that just happens to be starting, and they watch it.
Doojoon is pretty sure Junhyung plans it ahead of time because there is no way that he’d know all those channels off the top of his head. Usually nobody questions him, except for the odd occasion when Yoseob thinks it’s time for Junhyung to be put in his place and hits him in the face with a pillow, later claiming it was out of love.
thousands of ghosts in the daylight
When Kyuhyun rents the apartment, it’s only because he needs a place to crash after his part-time job. The landlord helpfully informs him that there are weird stories about the apartment. Unexplainable stuff.
“You mean the stains on the couch? I’m pretty sure I know where those came from, and I didn’t even know the people who lived here before.” There is no other offered explanation, just a creepy warning about being careful, and then he’s left to his own devices.
To pass the time, he begins unpacking, but he keeps hearing noises. It’s the landlords fault, he reasons. The warning put Kyuhyun on edge and the last few days haven’t been particularly kind to his nerves. He decides a shower is in order.
He’s just working the shampoo into his hair when it happens.
“Isn’t strawberry a little bit girly?” someone asks. Kyuhyun jumps, slips on the floor and barely manages to catch himself before he hit his head or something. He pulls the shower curtain back, making sure that he’s decently covered, and is further shocked by a translucent man sitting on the counter.
“Wha- ghost...?”
“Oh my god, really?” the apparition, because Kyuhyun is unsure what else to call it, says sarcastically. “I’m your new roommate. You can call me Heechul.” He looks positively delighted.
It takes some time adjusting to a roommate who appears at the most inopportune times, like when Kyuhyun’s just about to complete a raid, Heechul appears over his shoulder and starts dictating his next move. He’s also surprisingly knowledgeable and often corrects Kyuhyun’s homework.
The two of them are sitting on the couch watching a soccer game for lack of anything else to do, when Sungmin walks in with a cheap bottle of wine; it is then that Kyuhyun remembers about the housewarming that his friends insisted on holding.
“Um.” Sungmin says, leaning against the wall for support. Donghae follows him through the open door.
“Oh cool, you got a haunted apartment? I want one.” Once the initial shock wears off, Heechul gets along surprisingly well with Kyuhyun’s friends. He’s especially fond of Jay.
like a heartbeat
There’s an old abandoned house in Junhyung’s neighbourhood, and even though nobody comes right out and says it, it is to be avoided at all times. The grass is growing long and the windows are all boarded up. It looks like the kind of house used in horror movies.
Junhyung doesn’t avoid it purposefully, but the only time he ever has to walk by it is when he’s walking his dog and she won’t go anywhere near it. She pulls at her leash until they’re on the opposite side of the street, and Junhyung sees her cowering until it’s out of site.
This house is, as Yoseob says, the scariest fucking place ever. And that’s why they should break in. Yoseob’s ideas are not always the best, but somehow he makes them sound so awesome that there are six of them lurking on the sidewalk at the appointed time.
Hyunseung looks bored, Doojoon looks like he wants to go home, and Dongwoon just looks like he was dragged there by force. Kikwang is on Yoseob’s side, which nobody expected, but they attribute it to the strange power he holds over them.
Before they try breaking in through the windows, Dongwoon says they should try the door, just in case. It actually opens, and Junhyung finds himself relieved. The inner hallway seems to stretch back into darkness, but since the layout on all the houses on the street are the same, Junhyung knows it leads to the living room.
They all make Yoseob lead the way, since it was his idea, and he does so fearlessly until the floorboards start creaking; they push Junhyung to the front then. The living room is almost completely dark, and the curtains are faded and moth-eaten, but somehow a breeze still manages to disturb them.
“Okay, this could have been a bad idea.” Yoseob says. Junhyung turns around to glare at him, and finds that Doojoon is doing the same, but Dongwoon is still back in the hallway, staring blankly at the wall.
“We should leave.” He says, looking at them with that same blank stare before he disappears without another sound.
don't look back (let nothing remind you)
"Sometimes, two people will regard each other over a gulf too wide to ever be bridged, and know immediately what could have happened, and that it never will." - Roger Ebert
There are rare moments when Kibum and Jonghyun are doing that best friend thing they do, the silent communication and proclamations of love, that make Jinki wonder whether things could have been different if he was different. If, during those first crucial months of knowing each other, he’d been less awkward around Kibum, less wary of such a strange being, could he have been a part of that?
They’re at it again, and Jinki’s the only one watching. Minho is in the kitchen looking for microwavable popcorn for the movie, and Taemin is hogging the couch, paying none of them any attention. Looks are exchanged and a general noise of agreement is made.
Jinki can see what’s about to happen seconds before it does, and by then it’s too late to stop them pouncing on Taemin. The three of them wrestle for a few minutes, and someone’s foot nearly comes in contact with Jinki’s face, but then Minho comes back with the popcorn and they settle down.
Jonghyun and Key have gained spots on the couch, while Minho sits with Jinki on the floor, their backs to the couch. Jinki looks back to make sure everyone’s completely settled before he plays the movie and he catches Kibum’s eye. He gets a thumbs up and returns it, nearly knocking the bowl of popcorn over. Kibum scoffs and rolls his eyes in Jonghyun’s direction, and Jinki plays the movie, figuring it’s too late to try for anything near that calibre of closeness.
you come and go
Sungmin starts his day with a ride on the subway. He’s a TA for a broadcasting class at the university, and it requires early morning trips. The station closest to his apartment is the beginning of the line, so it’s usually quite empty when he gets on. Today, someone else boards with him.
He looks like a college student, or maybe it’s just the book he’s so deeply immersed in that gives that impression. Sungmin reads the title on the cover, and when he looks up the stranger is watching him.
“Is it very interesting?” Sungmin asks in lieu of being embarrassed.
“I just started it.” He speaks quietly, and the train tilts back and forth in time with the tapping of his foot, rocking the few passengers aboard. “It’s for a class, but I’m not really supposed to read ahead.”
“Oh. That seems odd.” At the other man’s questioning look, Sungmin clarifies, “To restrict you like that. Reading seems to happen at its own pace, don’t you think?” He gets a smile in response, but nothing else, so he believes the conversation to be over.
As the train gets more and more crowded, the other man is blocked from view, but they end up getting off at the same stop.
“What class is it for?” Sungmin asks.
“Early literature, or something like that. I’m not all that interested in anything but the reading.” He smiles again, putting the book away.
life in technicolour
Movie night is sort of an unofficial thing with them, but none of the members have missed it so far. Generally, it happens like this: Junhyung steals the remote from whoever has it at the moment, and switches it to a movie that just happens to be starting, and they watch it.
Doojoon is pretty sure Junhyung plans it ahead of time because there is no way that he’d know all those channels off the top of his head. Usually nobody questions him, except for the odd occasion when Yoseob thinks it’s time for Junhyung to be put in his place and hits him in the face with a pillow, later claiming it was out of love.
thousands of ghosts in the daylight
When Kyuhyun rents the apartment, it’s only because he needs a place to crash after his part-time job. The landlord helpfully informs him that there are weird stories about the apartment. Unexplainable stuff.
“You mean the stains on the couch? I’m pretty sure I know where those came from, and I didn’t even know the people who lived here before.” There is no other offered explanation, just a creepy warning about being careful, and then he’s left to his own devices.
To pass the time, he begins unpacking, but he keeps hearing noises. It’s the landlords fault, he reasons. The warning put Kyuhyun on edge and the last few days haven’t been particularly kind to his nerves. He decides a shower is in order.
He’s just working the shampoo into his hair when it happens.
“Isn’t strawberry a little bit girly?” someone asks. Kyuhyun jumps, slips on the floor and barely manages to catch himself before he hit his head or something. He pulls the shower curtain back, making sure that he’s decently covered, and is further shocked by a translucent man sitting on the counter.
“Wha- ghost...?”
“Oh my god, really?” the apparition, because Kyuhyun is unsure what else to call it, says sarcastically. “I’m your new roommate. You can call me Heechul.” He looks positively delighted.
It takes some time adjusting to a roommate who appears at the most inopportune times, like when Kyuhyun’s just about to complete a raid, Heechul appears over his shoulder and starts dictating his next move. He’s also surprisingly knowledgeable and often corrects Kyuhyun’s homework.
The two of them are sitting on the couch watching a soccer game for lack of anything else to do, when Sungmin walks in with a cheap bottle of wine; it is then that Kyuhyun remembers about the housewarming that his friends insisted on holding.
“Um.” Sungmin says, leaning against the wall for support. Donghae follows him through the open door.
“Oh cool, you got a haunted apartment? I want one.” Once the initial shock wears off, Heechul gets along surprisingly well with Kyuhyun’s friends. He’s especially fond of Jay.
like a heartbeat
There’s an old abandoned house in Junhyung’s neighbourhood, and even though nobody comes right out and says it, it is to be avoided at all times. The grass is growing long and the windows are all boarded up. It looks like the kind of house used in horror movies.
Junhyung doesn’t avoid it purposefully, but the only time he ever has to walk by it is when he’s walking his dog and she won’t go anywhere near it. She pulls at her leash until they’re on the opposite side of the street, and Junhyung sees her cowering until it’s out of site.
This house is, as Yoseob says, the scariest fucking place ever. And that’s why they should break in. Yoseob’s ideas are not always the best, but somehow he makes them sound so awesome that there are six of them lurking on the sidewalk at the appointed time.
Hyunseung looks bored, Doojoon looks like he wants to go home, and Dongwoon just looks like he was dragged there by force. Kikwang is on Yoseob’s side, which nobody expected, but they attribute it to the strange power he holds over them.
Before they try breaking in through the windows, Dongwoon says they should try the door, just in case. It actually opens, and Junhyung finds himself relieved. The inner hallway seems to stretch back into darkness, but since the layout on all the houses on the street are the same, Junhyung knows it leads to the living room.
They all make Yoseob lead the way, since it was his idea, and he does so fearlessly until the floorboards start creaking; they push Junhyung to the front then. The living room is almost completely dark, and the curtains are faded and moth-eaten, but somehow a breeze still manages to disturb them.
“Okay, this could have been a bad idea.” Yoseob says. Junhyung turns around to glare at him, and finds that Doojoon is doing the same, but Dongwoon is still back in the hallway, staring blankly at the wall.
“We should leave.” He says, looking at them with that same blank stare before he disappears without another sound.