[fic; 30emo] Encounter in Kyoto
Title: Encounter in Kyoto
Chapter: #3 of The Long Chain Cycle
Author: Cross (xmachina_writes)
Band/Pairing: DBSK, w-inds.
30emotions Prompt: #12: Excitement
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1822
Summary: It was real. A real letter with a real ticket. And a real chance to meet the real people behind the music he loved.
Rewind: Long Chain - Fanboy
Comments: Did I say I'd be posting more regularly? Whoops. Though in my defense, my own computer's ethernet card up and died in the middle of me trying to get her online the other day when I'd intended to post this and it's taken a couple days for me to get everything settled so I could post with my roommate's laptop.
I know people want the pr0ns and these have been low-rating fics so far, but a couple more comments here and there would help me feel like I'm not tossing this stuff into the ether. Yes, these fics are gen, but hell, some of these prompts really don't lend themselves to smut. And, you know, it's called The Long Chain Cycle for a reason. ;) There will be higher ratings eventually, I swear! XD
And now that I've been completely out of character for a paragraph ... on with the fic~!
~*~*~
Changmin was pretty sure the postcard had been one of those staff-sent things, especially since he was almost positive the 'signature' had actually been a rubberstamp copy of the real thing. The letter, on the other hand ... that had been real. Real words written with real ink on real paper and capped with a real signature. And enclosed with a real fanclub membership packet and a real ticket to a real fanclub-only event.
And it had required Changmin to barter a real piece of his soul to Yunho and their management to be allowed to go.
~*~*~
Alone. Just him, no one else, because there had only been one ticket, and considering he hadn't even been looking for that, it had seemed ungrateful to try to beg/plead/whine/offer sex for another one. Not that such arguments had stopped Yunho from looking utterly crushed. Promises to bring back something extra special had only modified their leader's expression to slightly depressed. As tempting as it had been to point out that this was why Yunho should have written his own fanmail, Changmin resisted. For one thing, he rather liked breathing and intended to keep doing it for many more years to come.
It was the first time he had been in Kyoto by himself and it was a bit overwhelming. Getting from the airport to the hotel had been easy enough - hotel shuttle service was a beautiful thing - but he had several hours yet before the concert and really wasn't sure what to do with himself. To be honest, he had been a little afraid to try doing too much on his own, afraid he'd be recognized and mobbed by fangirls. And he was without security escort, so.... Safer to stay in his hotel room ... but boring.
So he'd taken extra care in making himself look unremarkable. But from the moment he had stepped away from the hotel, he had been feeling the size of the city around him, and his insignificance to it. His hotel was in a business district and the local traffic reflected that. Perhaps he should have stopped at the conceirge's desk for suggestions on what to do. As many times as they had been to Kyoto, they really hadn't spent much time just doing things around town. Nights out to the clubs, but that almost didn't count. Changmin had some idea of where to go for shopping, but he wasn't really in the mood for that, either. Maybe he'd just walk around, find a park or maybe a shrine, and just ... relax for a bit. That might be good, he could already feel the tensions of the city getting to him. Just a matter of getting a map and figuring out the best way to get to where he wanted to go. How hard could it be?
Sitting in the park, watching people and clouds passing by, he almost lost track of time completely. Until his stomach informed him that it had been entirely too long since he'd eaten anything of substance. A little less than an hour before the concert, so he headed for the venue, then looked around there for someplace to eat. A bowl of noodles and some fresh takoyaki later, he was ready to take his chances in the line for the fanclub-only event. Not easy to handle - he could feel the eyes of dozens of fangirls watching him, sizing him up and trying to decide if he really was who he looked like he was and how that couldn't be possible because this event was only for fanclub members and he couldn't be a member and on and on. He was just starting to think that maybe he should try his luck with the doors, see if he couldn't get in early, when someone wearing a backstage pass and a w-inds. tour shirt asked to see his ticket. Now he was getting even more attention he didn't want and the tour staff member was tugging at his sleeve, insisting he come with him. Changmin followed patiently, but he couldn't help feeling nerves souring his excitement.
Until he realized he was having a backstage pass pressed into his hands and he was being escorted to where w-inds. and their dancers were waiting for all the pre-opening stuff to be finished.
“Changmin-kun!”
It felt completely weird to have Tachibana Keita, someone whose talent he admired and respected, glomping onto him as if they were childhood friends.
“He's like that with everyone,” Ryohei was saying, earning himself a backhanded swat from the singer that was still half clinging to Changmin.
“Told you he'd come, Ryuryu.”
“Hey, I wasn't the one who was arguing the point,” Ryuichi called out, popping up from behind the couch with a decidedly impish grin. “Nice to meet you, Changmin-san. Oh, and you owe me -.”
“Nothing. You owe him nothing,” Ryohei insisted, his hand covering Ryuichi's mouth. “You came all this way by yourself? Without even security?”
“Well ... yeah. I mean, none of us are members of the fanclub, so it's not like anyone else could get a ticket and coming all this way to stay at the hotel while I was here wouldn't have been much fun. Management was kinda already not so happy about the whole thing and since I was trying not to be conspicuous....”
“Eh? Really?” Keita seemed almost scandalized by this, even going so far as to drop his arm. “Don't you have a Tokyo apartment? I'd think you'd just use that, get memberships for all of you....”
“Ah, well, um....” Changmin could feel himself getting flushed and flustered. Dammit, why hadn't he thought of that? Well, no, he knew why, but why hadn't the others thought of it themselves? Seventeen fanboys, you'd think at least one of them would have been able to think of something so obvious.
“I guess I personally hadn't thought about it that much, between work and school and all. I don't know what their excuses are.”
“Ah, well, I guess that makes sense,” Keita said, latching onto his arm again. “Anyway, I'm really glad you came. I've really been wanting to meet you ever since Ryo-kun read your letter to us.”
“Ehh? Really?” The very idea that these three would care at all about meeting him was just something he couldn't quite manage to grasp. Sure, Tohoshinki was famous in Korea and Japan both, but ... that didn't mean anything. And why should his letter have had anything to do with it? Maybe the part where he'd mentioned the argument that had gotten him saddled with writing the letter in the first place....
Of course. I almost wrote you a letter back myself, but then I wasn't sure it would be appropriate and then Ryu told me about the packet Ryo had sent to you and I figured I'd just wait, since I didn't want the letter to miss you or something silly like that. But next time you're not getting out of it so easily!” the vocalist declared, practically bouncing at Changmin's side. “And you're definitely not getting out of joining us for dinner tonight.”
“Fifteen minutes! Places people!”
“Eep! Oi, oi! Sora-san! Can you show Changmin-kun where the VIP box is from here? Thank you! See you after the concert, Changmin-kun!”
Ryohei and Ryuichi were very obviously amused by their bandmate's energy, Ryohei pausing to offer his own thank you before trailing after the other two towards the stage. Now that he was being shown to a more secure place for watching the concert, Changmin could feel his earlier excitement returning in full force. It was just a shame he didn't have anyone else to share in it with him.
~*~*~
By the end of the concert, he was charged up and ready for more. Unsurprisingly, the three singers known as w-inds were not in any such shape, sprawled across couch and floor. A familiar sight and he certainly didn't blame them for feeling that way. If he had been the one on stage like they had been for the last hour and a half, he'd probably be looking about the same. So he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself while staff buzzed about, offering cool drinks and ice packs and towels and just generally getting started with closing out the venue. He wanted to help, but this was a professional, experienced, coordinated team and he didn't want to be getting in the way. So Changmin settled himself in a corner and waited for his hosts to return to normal. Or, well, as normal as they ever were, he supposed.
“Hey, do we know yet where we're going for dinner?” Keita asked, pushing himself into a seated position instead of sprawled across the couch.
“Someplace with lots of food?” Ryuichi suggested, rolling over onto his back.
“You always say that,” Ryohei teased, nudging him with one foot. “What about you, Changmin-kun? Any suggestions?”
“Um, well, I'm not too familiar with Kyoto, and I'm not really all that picky, either, so ... whatever sounds good to you guys, I guess?”
“Hopeless. They're both completely hopeless. You'd think the walking stomaches would be the ones to have opinions,” Ryohei mock-groused to Keita.
“I guess that's what we get for asking people who'll eat anything - everything sounds good to them.”
“Hmm, point. All right, bird-boy, what do YOU want to eat?”
“I don't know ... roomservice?”
Ryohei actually facepalmed at that before turning and giving Changmin a world-weary sort of look. “And now you see why I'm leader - those two can't make decisions for beans. Does Yunho-kun have these troubles, too?”
“Yeah. Worse, really, cuz there's four of us to his one. But if you want something more helpful for dinner ideas ... think we might still be able to find Italian? Maybe call ahead to a place and have take-out sent to the hotel, since it's getting kind of late?”
“It's not that late,” Ryuichi teased, poking at his shin. “Come on guys, showers are waiting, besides, I'm sure Changmin-kun is sick of smelling our sweat.”
A shared laugh and the three performers disappeared to shower and change. Changmin felt a little uncomfortable just hanging around, waiting for them, but while he was earning curious looks from various staffers, no one was telling him to leave, probably because of the backstage pass still hanging around his neck.
“All right, Changmin-kun, ready for food?”
“Always, Keita-san.”
“So formal!” Keita half-whined, half scoffed. “We're all friends here, isn't that right, Ryuryu!”
“He's got a point. Drop the 'san's, ne? It's not like we're even that much older than you anyway, right?”
“Ah, well, um, I suppose that's true.”
“So cute when he blushes~” Keita cooed, glomping onto him again. That was even more embarrassing, sending an even stronger blush to his cheeks. If they were going to insist on keeping him with them through at least dinner, it was going to be a long night. But he wouldn't regret it.
Chapter: #3 of The Long Chain Cycle
Author: Cross (xmachina_writes)
Band/Pairing: DBSK, w-inds.
30emotions Prompt: #12: Excitement
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 1822
Summary: It was real. A real letter with a real ticket. And a real chance to meet the real people behind the music he loved.
Rewind: Long Chain - Fanboy
Comments: Did I say I'd be posting more regularly? Whoops. Though in my defense, my own computer's ethernet card up and died in the middle of me trying to get her online the other day when I'd intended to post this and it's taken a couple days for me to get everything settled so I could post with my roommate's laptop.
I know people want the pr0ns and these have been low-rating fics so far, but a couple more comments here and there would help me feel like I'm not tossing this stuff into the ether. Yes, these fics are gen, but hell, some of these prompts really don't lend themselves to smut. And, you know, it's called The Long Chain Cycle for a reason. ;) There will be higher ratings eventually, I swear! XD
And now that I've been completely out of character for a paragraph ... on with the fic~!
~*~*~
Changmin was pretty sure the postcard had been one of those staff-sent things, especially since he was almost positive the 'signature' had actually been a rubberstamp copy of the real thing. The letter, on the other hand ... that had been real. Real words written with real ink on real paper and capped with a real signature. And enclosed with a real fanclub membership packet and a real ticket to a real fanclub-only event.
And it had required Changmin to barter a real piece of his soul to Yunho and their management to be allowed to go.
~*~*~
Alone. Just him, no one else, because there had only been one ticket, and considering he hadn't even been looking for that, it had seemed ungrateful to try to beg/plead/whine/offer sex for another one. Not that such arguments had stopped Yunho from looking utterly crushed. Promises to bring back something extra special had only modified their leader's expression to slightly depressed. As tempting as it had been to point out that this was why Yunho should have written his own fanmail, Changmin resisted. For one thing, he rather liked breathing and intended to keep doing it for many more years to come.
It was the first time he had been in Kyoto by himself and it was a bit overwhelming. Getting from the airport to the hotel had been easy enough - hotel shuttle service was a beautiful thing - but he had several hours yet before the concert and really wasn't sure what to do with himself. To be honest, he had been a little afraid to try doing too much on his own, afraid he'd be recognized and mobbed by fangirls. And he was without security escort, so.... Safer to stay in his hotel room ... but boring.
So he'd taken extra care in making himself look unremarkable. But from the moment he had stepped away from the hotel, he had been feeling the size of the city around him, and his insignificance to it. His hotel was in a business district and the local traffic reflected that. Perhaps he should have stopped at the conceirge's desk for suggestions on what to do. As many times as they had been to Kyoto, they really hadn't spent much time just doing things around town. Nights out to the clubs, but that almost didn't count. Changmin had some idea of where to go for shopping, but he wasn't really in the mood for that, either. Maybe he'd just walk around, find a park or maybe a shrine, and just ... relax for a bit. That might be good, he could already feel the tensions of the city getting to him. Just a matter of getting a map and figuring out the best way to get to where he wanted to go. How hard could it be?
Sitting in the park, watching people and clouds passing by, he almost lost track of time completely. Until his stomach informed him that it had been entirely too long since he'd eaten anything of substance. A little less than an hour before the concert, so he headed for the venue, then looked around there for someplace to eat. A bowl of noodles and some fresh takoyaki later, he was ready to take his chances in the line for the fanclub-only event. Not easy to handle - he could feel the eyes of dozens of fangirls watching him, sizing him up and trying to decide if he really was who he looked like he was and how that couldn't be possible because this event was only for fanclub members and he couldn't be a member and on and on. He was just starting to think that maybe he should try his luck with the doors, see if he couldn't get in early, when someone wearing a backstage pass and a w-inds. tour shirt asked to see his ticket. Now he was getting even more attention he didn't want and the tour staff member was tugging at his sleeve, insisting he come with him. Changmin followed patiently, but he couldn't help feeling nerves souring his excitement.
Until he realized he was having a backstage pass pressed into his hands and he was being escorted to where w-inds. and their dancers were waiting for all the pre-opening stuff to be finished.
“Changmin-kun!”
It felt completely weird to have Tachibana Keita, someone whose talent he admired and respected, glomping onto him as if they were childhood friends.
“He's like that with everyone,” Ryohei was saying, earning himself a backhanded swat from the singer that was still half clinging to Changmin.
“Told you he'd come, Ryuryu.”
“Hey, I wasn't the one who was arguing the point,” Ryuichi called out, popping up from behind the couch with a decidedly impish grin. “Nice to meet you, Changmin-san. Oh, and you owe me -.”
“Nothing. You owe him nothing,” Ryohei insisted, his hand covering Ryuichi's mouth. “You came all this way by yourself? Without even security?”
“Well ... yeah. I mean, none of us are members of the fanclub, so it's not like anyone else could get a ticket and coming all this way to stay at the hotel while I was here wouldn't have been much fun. Management was kinda already not so happy about the whole thing and since I was trying not to be conspicuous....”
“Eh? Really?” Keita seemed almost scandalized by this, even going so far as to drop his arm. “Don't you have a Tokyo apartment? I'd think you'd just use that, get memberships for all of you....”
“Ah, well, um....” Changmin could feel himself getting flushed and flustered. Dammit, why hadn't he thought of that? Well, no, he knew why, but why hadn't the others thought of it themselves? Seventeen fanboys, you'd think at least one of them would have been able to think of something so obvious.
“I guess I personally hadn't thought about it that much, between work and school and all. I don't know what their excuses are.”
“Ah, well, I guess that makes sense,” Keita said, latching onto his arm again. “Anyway, I'm really glad you came. I've really been wanting to meet you ever since Ryo-kun read your letter to us.”
“Ehh? Really?” The very idea that these three would care at all about meeting him was just something he couldn't quite manage to grasp. Sure, Tohoshinki was famous in Korea and Japan both, but ... that didn't mean anything. And why should his letter have had anything to do with it? Maybe the part where he'd mentioned the argument that had gotten him saddled with writing the letter in the first place....
Of course. I almost wrote you a letter back myself, but then I wasn't sure it would be appropriate and then Ryu told me about the packet Ryo had sent to you and I figured I'd just wait, since I didn't want the letter to miss you or something silly like that. But next time you're not getting out of it so easily!” the vocalist declared, practically bouncing at Changmin's side. “And you're definitely not getting out of joining us for dinner tonight.”
“Fifteen minutes! Places people!”
“Eep! Oi, oi! Sora-san! Can you show Changmin-kun where the VIP box is from here? Thank you! See you after the concert, Changmin-kun!”
Ryohei and Ryuichi were very obviously amused by their bandmate's energy, Ryohei pausing to offer his own thank you before trailing after the other two towards the stage. Now that he was being shown to a more secure place for watching the concert, Changmin could feel his earlier excitement returning in full force. It was just a shame he didn't have anyone else to share in it with him.
~*~*~
By the end of the concert, he was charged up and ready for more. Unsurprisingly, the three singers known as w-inds were not in any such shape, sprawled across couch and floor. A familiar sight and he certainly didn't blame them for feeling that way. If he had been the one on stage like they had been for the last hour and a half, he'd probably be looking about the same. So he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself while staff buzzed about, offering cool drinks and ice packs and towels and just generally getting started with closing out the venue. He wanted to help, but this was a professional, experienced, coordinated team and he didn't want to be getting in the way. So Changmin settled himself in a corner and waited for his hosts to return to normal. Or, well, as normal as they ever were, he supposed.
“Hey, do we know yet where we're going for dinner?” Keita asked, pushing himself into a seated position instead of sprawled across the couch.
“Someplace with lots of food?” Ryuichi suggested, rolling over onto his back.
“You always say that,” Ryohei teased, nudging him with one foot. “What about you, Changmin-kun? Any suggestions?”
“Um, well, I'm not too familiar with Kyoto, and I'm not really all that picky, either, so ... whatever sounds good to you guys, I guess?”
“Hopeless. They're both completely hopeless. You'd think the walking stomaches would be the ones to have opinions,” Ryohei mock-groused to Keita.
“I guess that's what we get for asking people who'll eat anything - everything sounds good to them.”
“Hmm, point. All right, bird-boy, what do YOU want to eat?”
“I don't know ... roomservice?”
Ryohei actually facepalmed at that before turning and giving Changmin a world-weary sort of look. “And now you see why I'm leader - those two can't make decisions for beans. Does Yunho-kun have these troubles, too?”
“Yeah. Worse, really, cuz there's four of us to his one. But if you want something more helpful for dinner ideas ... think we might still be able to find Italian? Maybe call ahead to a place and have take-out sent to the hotel, since it's getting kind of late?”
“It's not that late,” Ryuichi teased, poking at his shin. “Come on guys, showers are waiting, besides, I'm sure Changmin-kun is sick of smelling our sweat.”
A shared laugh and the three performers disappeared to shower and change. Changmin felt a little uncomfortable just hanging around, waiting for them, but while he was earning curious looks from various staffers, no one was telling him to leave, probably because of the backstage pass still hanging around his neck.
“All right, Changmin-kun, ready for food?”
“Always, Keita-san.”
“So formal!” Keita half-whined, half scoffed. “We're all friends here, isn't that right, Ryuryu!”
“He's got a point. Drop the 'san's, ne? It's not like we're even that much older than you anyway, right?”
“Ah, well, um, I suppose that's true.”
“So cute when he blushes~” Keita cooed, glomping onto him again. That was even more embarrassing, sending an even stronger blush to his cheeks. If they were going to insist on keeping him with them through at least dinner, it was going to be a long night. But he wouldn't regret it.