untying sashes
Title: untying sashes
Pairing: hinted!Mino/Taehyun
Genre: slice of life
Length: 1292w
Summary: Life throws Mino a curveball, but he thinks he’s going to be okay.
May, 2010
He tells them on a night when the moon hangs in a luminous crescent backed by endless midnight blue, on a night when the stars seem to drift away from their largest companion. Sparks of life still shoot through the streets of Seoul, people dragging tired bodies home from a too-heavy day of work, streetlights lining the darker corners of the city that their neon counterparts don’t reach.
Mino glances around the scene before him - they’re all here, all of the boys, some of the staff, some of the dance crew. Money’s been tight, lately - but it’s a special occasion, one that calls for celebration, and Mino smiles as someone passes him a plate of barbequed bulgogi.
It’s going to be so hard to leave.
He’s about to stuff his face with food, try his best to swallow his guilt - and the tones of sorrow that aren’t separate from it - along with his beef when Jiho claps his hands together several times, grabs everyone’s attention like the leader he is. ‘I’d like to make a toast!’ he announces, picking up the bulky beer glass he’d only been allowed to fill with Coke.
The whole table falls silent, train their eyes on Jiho alone. Mino sets his chopsticks down, licks his lips and lays his hands in his lap.
Jiho clears his throat, a little louder than necessary, his dramatic side pulling laughter from the people around him. He gives them all a good natured smile and some time to fall silent, and then he begins to speak.
‘Tonight, we celebrate a triumph,’ he begins, and this is one of the things Mino’s going to miss most - how Jiho was crude and light-hearted most of the time, but was blessed with the gift of language and used it when it matters most. ‘All these years, all that blood, sweat and tears we shed - it’s all come down to this. This night, with all of you, is what I’ve been dreaming of for years.
‘We know this is probably just another dinner for some of you, and for others, it’s a night that marks the first sentence in a new chapter of our lives, one we look forward to writing together. But… For one of our number - well, this night probably tastes bittersweet for him, and because of that - because we consider him our brother - because of that, it’s bittersweet for us too.’
The atmosphere shifts. Mino’s vision blurs. Jiho licks his lips.
This is it.
‘I just wanted to say - to Mino, it was an honour to have been on such a meaningful journey with you over these past few years. You are so, so talented and it hurts so much to see you go. But your health is worth more to us than any stage - and as much as we want to continue sharing our journey with you, we want, even more, for you to be healthy.’
Mino presses his lips together, accepts the tissue Jihoon hands him. He’d known that this was going to hurt, he’d known that it wasn’t going to be easy, but… Well. He didn’t think it would be this hard.
Jihoon puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a light squeeze. There’s a comforting smile on his face - in fact, there’s one on each and every face at the table right then, and the love, the sheer kindness of it all makes Mino feel like he’s breaking apart.
This is what he’ll have to leave.
This is what he’ll never be part of again.
‘Thank you,’ he says, somewhat brokenly when his vocal cords finally decide to work again and the whole table just smiles encouragingly at him. ‘Thank you.’ he says again, more calmly this time, and the look on Jiho’s face - the look that Jihoon, and Jaehyo, and Minhyuk and Yukwon and Taeil and Kyung are all giving him - gives him strength enough to wipe the last stray tears off his face, gives him strength enough to smile again.
We love you, says the curve of Jihoon’s lips, we’re here for you, says the gleam in Minhyuk’s eye.
We’re always behind you, says the crooked smile on Jiho’s face, and Mino knows.
‘I’ll be okay,’ he says.
He hopes, with all of his heart, that it’ll turn out to be true.
He’ll be okay.
He’ll make sure of it.
August, 2014
His heart is hammering where it sits inside his ribcage, angry thumps against a tired body and Mino wishes he could just drift off into an endless sleep or something, wake up when the day is over. They’re backstage now, and there are people with clipboards and headsets shouting for group after group after group, others still armed with brushes and tissues, dabbing sweat off people’s faces and painting perfection in its place.
There are people in the crowd already screaming for them, he can hear them even backstage - and he doesn’t know if he can do this. He’s been on so many different stages leading up to this point, performed in front of audiences far larger than the one waiting for him behind the stage setup - but this is different, somehow.
This is his debut.
‘Hey,’ says a voice, and it’s one Mino’s learned to relax at. The owner puts his hand on Mino’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze, offers him a smile of comfort even though his fingers are trembling from nerves. ‘You ready to do this?’
‘Yeah,’ says Mino, finding it easy, for some reason, to return the smile Taehyun’s giving him. ‘Let’s do this,’ he says, and the five of them - his four new brothers, his four band members - gather in a circle, put their hands in the middle of it and close their eyes.
‘This is it, guys,’ says Seungyoon, the calming timbre of his voice soothing Mino somewhat, the shaking in his hand reducing when he realises that it’s Seungyoon’s hand that’s right under his - it’s Seungyoon’s hand that makes the foundation of their little tower, and he isn’t shaking at all.
‘It all comes down to this. After today, everything’s changing. Let’s give it our best. Let’s go!’
They give a collective shout to bring up their energy, to shake off the last of their nerves and then they’re being pushed into line to head onstage, and the next thing he knows, Mino is actually on stage, staring out at a crowd that’s screaming his name, that’s there to watch him.
It’s about to overwhelm him again, the sheer amount of attention that he’s being given, and he’s got half a mind to rip his earpiece off and run backstage -
And then he sees them.
There, tucked in the middle of the first row of screaming fans, there - he sees them.
Seven familiar faces, all of them smiling up at him, all of them wearing that same expression of encouragement they had on all those years ago.
Tonight we celebrate a triumph, echoes somewhere in the recesses of the flurry of activity in his mind, and Mino can’t help the grin that breaks out across his face. Jiho and Jihoon are seated next to each other, clapping along with the crowd when they see that they’ve caught his eye.
Jiho stops clapping. Instead, he lets his hand form a fist, gives Mino the thumbs up he used to back when they were training together.
I’ll be okay
The music begins to fill the room, and the crowd begins to fall silent.
Mino closes his eyes.
He sings.
Author’s Note: 5000% Shila’s fault she is so rude wow how dare she send me photos of That Person hoW DARE SHE
first time writing for a non-exo fandom in like what almost two years???? Woweee
Bravo my life
ask.fm
Pairing: hinted!Mino/Taehyun
Genre: slice of life
Length: 1292w
Summary: Life throws Mino a curveball, but he thinks he’s going to be okay.
May, 2010
He tells them on a night when the moon hangs in a luminous crescent backed by endless midnight blue, on a night when the stars seem to drift away from their largest companion. Sparks of life still shoot through the streets of Seoul, people dragging tired bodies home from a too-heavy day of work, streetlights lining the darker corners of the city that their neon counterparts don’t reach.
Mino glances around the scene before him - they’re all here, all of the boys, some of the staff, some of the dance crew. Money’s been tight, lately - but it’s a special occasion, one that calls for celebration, and Mino smiles as someone passes him a plate of barbequed bulgogi.
It’s going to be so hard to leave.
He’s about to stuff his face with food, try his best to swallow his guilt - and the tones of sorrow that aren’t separate from it - along with his beef when Jiho claps his hands together several times, grabs everyone’s attention like the leader he is. ‘I’d like to make a toast!’ he announces, picking up the bulky beer glass he’d only been allowed to fill with Coke.
The whole table falls silent, train their eyes on Jiho alone. Mino sets his chopsticks down, licks his lips and lays his hands in his lap.
Jiho clears his throat, a little louder than necessary, his dramatic side pulling laughter from the people around him. He gives them all a good natured smile and some time to fall silent, and then he begins to speak.
‘Tonight, we celebrate a triumph,’ he begins, and this is one of the things Mino’s going to miss most - how Jiho was crude and light-hearted most of the time, but was blessed with the gift of language and used it when it matters most. ‘All these years, all that blood, sweat and tears we shed - it’s all come down to this. This night, with all of you, is what I’ve been dreaming of for years.
‘We know this is probably just another dinner for some of you, and for others, it’s a night that marks the first sentence in a new chapter of our lives, one we look forward to writing together. But… For one of our number - well, this night probably tastes bittersweet for him, and because of that - because we consider him our brother - because of that, it’s bittersweet for us too.’
The atmosphere shifts. Mino’s vision blurs. Jiho licks his lips.
This is it.
‘I just wanted to say - to Mino, it was an honour to have been on such a meaningful journey with you over these past few years. You are so, so talented and it hurts so much to see you go. But your health is worth more to us than any stage - and as much as we want to continue sharing our journey with you, we want, even more, for you to be healthy.’
Mino presses his lips together, accepts the tissue Jihoon hands him. He’d known that this was going to hurt, he’d known that it wasn’t going to be easy, but… Well. He didn’t think it would be this hard.
Jihoon puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a light squeeze. There’s a comforting smile on his face - in fact, there’s one on each and every face at the table right then, and the love, the sheer kindness of it all makes Mino feel like he’s breaking apart.
This is what he’ll have to leave.
This is what he’ll never be part of again.
‘Thank you,’ he says, somewhat brokenly when his vocal cords finally decide to work again and the whole table just smiles encouragingly at him. ‘Thank you.’ he says again, more calmly this time, and the look on Jiho’s face - the look that Jihoon, and Jaehyo, and Minhyuk and Yukwon and Taeil and Kyung are all giving him - gives him strength enough to wipe the last stray tears off his face, gives him strength enough to smile again.
We love you, says the curve of Jihoon’s lips, we’re here for you, says the gleam in Minhyuk’s eye.
We’re always behind you, says the crooked smile on Jiho’s face, and Mino knows.
‘I’ll be okay,’ he says.
He hopes, with all of his heart, that it’ll turn out to be true.
He’ll be okay.
He’ll make sure of it.
August, 2014
His heart is hammering where it sits inside his ribcage, angry thumps against a tired body and Mino wishes he could just drift off into an endless sleep or something, wake up when the day is over. They’re backstage now, and there are people with clipboards and headsets shouting for group after group after group, others still armed with brushes and tissues, dabbing sweat off people’s faces and painting perfection in its place.
There are people in the crowd already screaming for them, he can hear them even backstage - and he doesn’t know if he can do this. He’s been on so many different stages leading up to this point, performed in front of audiences far larger than the one waiting for him behind the stage setup - but this is different, somehow.
This is his debut.
‘Hey,’ says a voice, and it’s one Mino’s learned to relax at. The owner puts his hand on Mino’s shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze, offers him a smile of comfort even though his fingers are trembling from nerves. ‘You ready to do this?’
‘Yeah,’ says Mino, finding it easy, for some reason, to return the smile Taehyun’s giving him. ‘Let’s do this,’ he says, and the five of them - his four new brothers, his four band members - gather in a circle, put their hands in the middle of it and close their eyes.
‘This is it, guys,’ says Seungyoon, the calming timbre of his voice soothing Mino somewhat, the shaking in his hand reducing when he realises that it’s Seungyoon’s hand that’s right under his - it’s Seungyoon’s hand that makes the foundation of their little tower, and he isn’t shaking at all.
‘It all comes down to this. After today, everything’s changing. Let’s give it our best. Let’s go!’
They give a collective shout to bring up their energy, to shake off the last of their nerves and then they’re being pushed into line to head onstage, and the next thing he knows, Mino is actually on stage, staring out at a crowd that’s screaming his name, that’s there to watch him.
It’s about to overwhelm him again, the sheer amount of attention that he’s being given, and he’s got half a mind to rip his earpiece off and run backstage -
And then he sees them.
There, tucked in the middle of the first row of screaming fans, there - he sees them.
Seven familiar faces, all of them smiling up at him, all of them wearing that same expression of encouragement they had on all those years ago.
Tonight we celebrate a triumph, echoes somewhere in the recesses of the flurry of activity in his mind, and Mino can’t help the grin that breaks out across his face. Jiho and Jihoon are seated next to each other, clapping along with the crowd when they see that they’ve caught his eye.
Jiho stops clapping. Instead, he lets his hand form a fist, gives Mino the thumbs up he used to back when they were training together.
I’ll be okay
The music begins to fill the room, and the crowd begins to fall silent.
Mino closes his eyes.
He sings.
Author’s Note: 5000% Shila’s fault she is so rude wow how dare she send me photos of That Person hoW DARE SHE
first time writing for a non-exo fandom in like what almost two years???? Woweee
Bravo my life
ask.fm