083.
For platypus on her extremely belated birthday :) ♥ happy late birthday!
-
"So I heard a little something about a certain someone liking a certain maknae in a certain girl group," Jonghyun says he leisurely drapes himself over Kibum, who's trying to beat Minho at digital tennis, the only sport he sucks at.
Kibum frowns as his body leans left and his player successfully backhands the ball.
"What? Krystal? Unlike you, I have standards."
"What! I have standards thank you very much!" Kibum moves closer to Minho as Jonghyun squeezes his butt onto the seat.
"You have a fat ass. And no, you don't -- you're dating your separated-at-birth fraternal twin."
"I do not have a fat ass -- do I? And don't say that about Amber!" Jonghyun stands up and worriedly looks at his own ass, covering the screen and making Kibum swear.
"Your ass is fine," Taemin says as he comes out of his room, holding an empty cup. "Can you please turn down the volume? Tennis sounds are distracting and annoying."
"You wouldn't have said that if we were watching Harry Potter," Minho says as he pauses and mutes.
"Ohhh, Emma Watson!" Kibum says and shifts over when Jonghyun sits, hands fumbling on the controller as Minho unpauses.
"Don't bully the maknae!" Jinki calls from his bedroom.
"Yeah, don't bully me!" Taemin says as he casually mixes tomato, carrot and apple juice.
"I don't know how you're still alive after drinking that shit, Taemin," Kibum says and crashes into Jonghyun.
"Ow! Bitch."
"No swearing!" Jinki calls out again and Taemin rolls his eyes as he drains the cup.
"Sorry leader," Jonghyun and Kibum say.
"And Amber isn't my twin."
"Right, because incest is so wroooooooong!" Kibum makes a fist of victory when Minho misses the ball, therefore giving Kibum the match. Jonghyun frowns.
"Yes, exactly, incest is wrong. What were we talking about?"
"I dunno, something about how much your life sucks and you wish you were me?"
"Right, yeah, because all I ever wanted to be in life was the Almighty Key!"
"Better than Bling Bling Jonghyun!"
"You're just jealous that I got the better name."
"Because Bling Bling is so much better--"
"No fighting!" Jinki calls out and Kibum sighs as he pauses the game and chucks the controller into Jonghyun's lap.
"Show me what you can do, Bling Bling Jonghyun!"
Kibum actually forgets about the conversation until he and Jonghyun are the only ones left awake, or at least in the apartment. They casually scroll through TV channels, munching on orange slices.
"So I heard you like Seohyun."
Kibum temporarily loses control of his hand and they're left awkwardly staring at a softcore porn ad on TV before he manages to change the channel to a rerun of some old drama.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
Jonghyun shrugs and continues sucking the orange slice dry.
"Just something I heard. Do you, though?"
"Well yeah, like I love all of Girls' Generation -- they're our sunbaes."
Jonghyun gives Kibum A Look, and damn has Kibum taught him well.
"Kibum, come on, you know what I mean."
Kibum can't believe it, but he's flustered. Him, cool, calm, collected, Almighty Key, flustered! He should be in a drama.
He could play it cool and pretend it's nothing and that no, is Jonghyun stupid, of course he doesn't like Seohyun, she's what, like, TEN, or something, so young and innocent and untainted.
"Stop it, you're thinking too much," Jonghyun says as he snaps his fingers in Kibum's face. "Wait, that means that you like her. Wow, you like her, wow, okay, interesting."
Okay, so Kibum likes Seohyun, who is smart, cute, beautiful and so naive and innocent -- but loveably so. What's there not to like? Like, really? Nothing, exactly, she's perfect! And, well, everyone in this industry is aiming for perfection anyway -- Seohyun just doesn't have to try.
"Wow, you're in deep," Jonghyun says, staring at Kibum's carefully blank face. "It's okay, I'm sure I can ask Amber to ask Krystal to ask Jessica what Seohyun likes. Can't be hard."
"No!" Kibum frantically pushes his hand over Jonghyun's mouth. "No one must know."
Jonghyun raises his eyebrows.
"Wow, I can't believe you like Seohyun," Amber says slowly, completely blocking the doorway with her slouch.
What Kibum can't believe is how he ended up at the doorway to their apartment, following Jonghyun on an emergency toothpaste run.
"We shouldn't be here," he hisses at Jonghyun, who waves a hand and opens his mouth for Amber's toast.
"Aw, come on!"
"Come in, you can get your own slice." She kicks the door open and beckons them in.
"So," Luna says, wiggling her eyebrows over her toast. "Seohyun, huh?"
"Does everyone know?" Kibum collapses in a chair and reaches for toast.
"It's okay, Luna likes Jinki anyway," Jonghyun says casually, buttering his toast.
There's silence as Luna turns to him.
"How do you know?"
He bites his toast and shrugs. Luna turns to Amber.
"You weren't supposed to tell!" Amber cringes.
"Sorry! It kind of just... came up." Luna looks at her and Amber shrinks.
"Well, it's not like I told him about Vic and Nichkhun--"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah," Krystal says, coming into the kitchen. She completely ignores Jonghyun but waves a friendly hello at Kibum. "Pretty sure I didn't want to hear what you were about to say, Amber." Amber cringes again.
"What, they're married on TV, could it get worse?" Jonghyun asks, and the three girls look at each other before awkwardly looking away.
"So," Amber says loudly in Jonghyun's ear. "What's up!"
"My ear drums are being burst," Jonghyun replies and covers an ear before biting into the toast again.
"So," Krystal says and pulls out a chair, sitting opposite Kibum. "Seohyun, huh?"
Kibum groans. "Do you have to phrase it like that?"
Krystal looks at him before standing and patting his shoulder. "It's okay, I'll ask Jessica to see what Seohyun likes, don't you worry. We'll help you -- you're here with us now."
"Seohyun, huh," Jessica says and Kibum's uncomfortably reminded of his own crush on Jessica back when he had first entered the company.
"Is it that surprising?" he asks as they wait to go on stage.
Jessica shrugs elegantly. "Guess not, but I always thought your type would be like, Amber or Krystal, not... Seohyun."
"Uh, thanks?"
She pats his shoulder in the same manner her sister did.
"It's good to be unpredictable." One perky smile and she's gone.
After their stage, Minho and Jinki wander off in the direction of Super Junior's dressing room while Jonghyun says he's going to go to f(x)'s with Taemin.
"Hey, I'll come," Kibum says, but Jonghyun frowns.
"Ew, no, go back to our dressing room, your eyeliner smudged everywhere and you look like you got punched in the eye." Kibum swipes a finger under his eyes and it comes away black and sparkly. He frowns at it.
"Black eye?"
"Like you got beaten to a pulp," Jonghyun says seriously before dragging Taemin away.
Kibum's still rubbing at his eyes, his fingers coming away disgusting and gross that he doesn't even notice someone else sitting in their dressing room.
"Kibum-sshi," a quiet voice says, and Kibum looks up.
His jaw drops, because who else would it be but Seohyun, already out of her stage clothes and in loose pants and a singlet, an open book on her lap with her phone.
"Oh, hello Seohyun-sshi," he tries to say, but his voice cracks along with his dignity.
"You were really good today," Seohyun says, smiling a little, and Kibum flushes.
"You were too," he says, as if he doesn't obsessively watch every performance of theirs.
"Thank you," she says politely, before indicating a seat. "You must be tired, why don't you sit?"
He carefully sits in the chair, one incidentally close to her, and she passes him a bottle of water. He takes it happily.
"Thanks."
They sit in silence comfortably as Kibum takes in Seohyun's sweet face and innocent smile, Seohyun looking back calmly.
"Sica-unnie says you like me," she says, and Kibum jerks so that the water soaks his pants - his stage pants. Coordis are going to kill him.
"Oh, really," Kibum says intelligently as the tips of his ears turn red, looking into his lap and avoiding her.
"I thought she was lying at first," Seohyun continues almost absent-mindedly, "since she already knew I liked you."
"Wait, what?" It feels like the hand clenching his heart is slowly slackening.
"I like you too," she says, matter-of-fact, and yeah, his heart is definitely singing, a smile crawling its way onto his face involuntarily.
He can't find words and slowly looks up into Seohyun's eyes.
"You're so cool and charismatic on stage sometimes," she says slowly as she toys with her book, dropping her gaze. "And you're so smart and handsome."
Well, he never thought he'd hear those words from her mouth, and he flushes again.
"Really?" he asks, soft, and she nods at her lap.
"I wouldn't lie," she says, and that's one of the things he loves about her, that brutal honesty.
In the bright lighting, he knows his stage make up looks overdone and unappealing, his outfit gaudy and too out there, but in her simple top and pants, face free of make up, she looks perfect. She is perfect, as far as Kibum is concerned, practically an angel.
"You like me," he repeats, still disbelieving, and she looks up and smiles.
"I do," she says, and reaches over to tangle their hands together.
A week later at another music show and they can't find a moment alone together, Kibum pulling Seohyun along the cramped hallways, fingers still tangled together.
"Get a room!" Jonghyun calls out, and Amber gives them a loud wolf whistle.
"Why don't you!" Kibum yells back and Seohyun giggles into her free hand, making Kibum's heart skip worryingly fast.
"You guys are so cute," Taeyeon says as they pass her, the rest of Girls' Generation sighing happily.
"Disgustingly so," Taemin contributes helpfully, Krystal rolling her eyes from next to him.
"So cute," Luna says, and Kibum covers his face, groaning at their label mates, still dragging Seohyun along and hoping for a bit of quiet time.
"Here?" Seohyun asks quietly, breath tickling his neck as she points to f(x)'s change room. Kibum pokes his head in, the room surprisingly empty, and they both walk in.
"Better?" she asks as she sits in a make up chair and he nods.
"Much," he replies and walks over to enfold her in a hug.
She smiles up at him in the darkness of his arms and stretches up for a kiss before he pulls away slightly.
"It feels wrong to kiss you," he confesses, "like I'm tainting something pure."
"Kibum," she says, laughing, and even the sound of his name from his voice makes him ridiculously happy. "I've kissed before--"
"Oh, well, in that case," he says, smiling, and leans down to kiss her.
-
"So I heard a little something about a certain someone liking a certain maknae in a certain girl group," Jonghyun says he leisurely drapes himself over Kibum, who's trying to beat Minho at digital tennis, the only sport he sucks at.
Kibum frowns as his body leans left and his player successfully backhands the ball.
"What? Krystal? Unlike you, I have standards."
"What! I have standards thank you very much!" Kibum moves closer to Minho as Jonghyun squeezes his butt onto the seat.
"You have a fat ass. And no, you don't -- you're dating your separated-at-birth fraternal twin."
"I do not have a fat ass -- do I? And don't say that about Amber!" Jonghyun stands up and worriedly looks at his own ass, covering the screen and making Kibum swear.
"Your ass is fine," Taemin says as he comes out of his room, holding an empty cup. "Can you please turn down the volume? Tennis sounds are distracting and annoying."
"You wouldn't have said that if we were watching Harry Potter," Minho says as he pauses and mutes.
"Ohhh, Emma Watson!" Kibum says and shifts over when Jonghyun sits, hands fumbling on the controller as Minho unpauses.
"Don't bully the maknae!" Jinki calls from his bedroom.
"Yeah, don't bully me!" Taemin says as he casually mixes tomato, carrot and apple juice.
"I don't know how you're still alive after drinking that shit, Taemin," Kibum says and crashes into Jonghyun.
"Ow! Bitch."
"No swearing!" Jinki calls out again and Taemin rolls his eyes as he drains the cup.
"Sorry leader," Jonghyun and Kibum say.
"And Amber isn't my twin."
"Right, because incest is so wroooooooong!" Kibum makes a fist of victory when Minho misses the ball, therefore giving Kibum the match. Jonghyun frowns.
"Yes, exactly, incest is wrong. What were we talking about?"
"I dunno, something about how much your life sucks and you wish you were me?"
"Right, yeah, because all I ever wanted to be in life was the Almighty Key!"
"Better than Bling Bling Jonghyun!"
"You're just jealous that I got the better name."
"Because Bling Bling is so much better--"
"No fighting!" Jinki calls out and Kibum sighs as he pauses the game and chucks the controller into Jonghyun's lap.
"Show me what you can do, Bling Bling Jonghyun!"
Kibum actually forgets about the conversation until he and Jonghyun are the only ones left awake, or at least in the apartment. They casually scroll through TV channels, munching on orange slices.
"So I heard you like Seohyun."
Kibum temporarily loses control of his hand and they're left awkwardly staring at a softcore porn ad on TV before he manages to change the channel to a rerun of some old drama.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
Jonghyun shrugs and continues sucking the orange slice dry.
"Just something I heard. Do you, though?"
"Well yeah, like I love all of Girls' Generation -- they're our sunbaes."
Jonghyun gives Kibum A Look, and damn has Kibum taught him well.
"Kibum, come on, you know what I mean."
Kibum can't believe it, but he's flustered. Him, cool, calm, collected, Almighty Key, flustered! He should be in a drama.
He could play it cool and pretend it's nothing and that no, is Jonghyun stupid, of course he doesn't like Seohyun, she's what, like, TEN, or something, so young and innocent and untainted.
"Stop it, you're thinking too much," Jonghyun says as he snaps his fingers in Kibum's face. "Wait, that means that you like her. Wow, you like her, wow, okay, interesting."
Okay, so Kibum likes Seohyun, who is smart, cute, beautiful and so naive and innocent -- but loveably so. What's there not to like? Like, really? Nothing, exactly, she's perfect! And, well, everyone in this industry is aiming for perfection anyway -- Seohyun just doesn't have to try.
"Wow, you're in deep," Jonghyun says, staring at Kibum's carefully blank face. "It's okay, I'm sure I can ask Amber to ask Krystal to ask Jessica what Seohyun likes. Can't be hard."
"No!" Kibum frantically pushes his hand over Jonghyun's mouth. "No one must know."
Jonghyun raises his eyebrows.
"Wow, I can't believe you like Seohyun," Amber says slowly, completely blocking the doorway with her slouch.
What Kibum can't believe is how he ended up at the doorway to their apartment, following Jonghyun on an emergency toothpaste run.
"We shouldn't be here," he hisses at Jonghyun, who waves a hand and opens his mouth for Amber's toast.
"Aw, come on!"
"Come in, you can get your own slice." She kicks the door open and beckons them in.
"So," Luna says, wiggling her eyebrows over her toast. "Seohyun, huh?"
"Does everyone know?" Kibum collapses in a chair and reaches for toast.
"It's okay, Luna likes Jinki anyway," Jonghyun says casually, buttering his toast.
There's silence as Luna turns to him.
"How do you know?"
He bites his toast and shrugs. Luna turns to Amber.
"You weren't supposed to tell!" Amber cringes.
"Sorry! It kind of just... came up." Luna looks at her and Amber shrinks.
"Well, it's not like I told him about Vic and Nichkhun--"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah," Krystal says, coming into the kitchen. She completely ignores Jonghyun but waves a friendly hello at Kibum. "Pretty sure I didn't want to hear what you were about to say, Amber." Amber cringes again.
"What, they're married on TV, could it get worse?" Jonghyun asks, and the three girls look at each other before awkwardly looking away.
"So," Amber says loudly in Jonghyun's ear. "What's up!"
"My ear drums are being burst," Jonghyun replies and covers an ear before biting into the toast again.
"So," Krystal says and pulls out a chair, sitting opposite Kibum. "Seohyun, huh?"
Kibum groans. "Do you have to phrase it like that?"
Krystal looks at him before standing and patting his shoulder. "It's okay, I'll ask Jessica to see what Seohyun likes, don't you worry. We'll help you -- you're here with us now."
"Seohyun, huh," Jessica says and Kibum's uncomfortably reminded of his own crush on Jessica back when he had first entered the company.
"Is it that surprising?" he asks as they wait to go on stage.
Jessica shrugs elegantly. "Guess not, but I always thought your type would be like, Amber or Krystal, not... Seohyun."
"Uh, thanks?"
She pats his shoulder in the same manner her sister did.
"It's good to be unpredictable." One perky smile and she's gone.
After their stage, Minho and Jinki wander off in the direction of Super Junior's dressing room while Jonghyun says he's going to go to f(x)'s with Taemin.
"Hey, I'll come," Kibum says, but Jonghyun frowns.
"Ew, no, go back to our dressing room, your eyeliner smudged everywhere and you look like you got punched in the eye." Kibum swipes a finger under his eyes and it comes away black and sparkly. He frowns at it.
"Black eye?"
"Like you got beaten to a pulp," Jonghyun says seriously before dragging Taemin away.
Kibum's still rubbing at his eyes, his fingers coming away disgusting and gross that he doesn't even notice someone else sitting in their dressing room.
"Kibum-sshi," a quiet voice says, and Kibum looks up.
His jaw drops, because who else would it be but Seohyun, already out of her stage clothes and in loose pants and a singlet, an open book on her lap with her phone.
"Oh, hello Seohyun-sshi," he tries to say, but his voice cracks along with his dignity.
"You were really good today," Seohyun says, smiling a little, and Kibum flushes.
"You were too," he says, as if he doesn't obsessively watch every performance of theirs.
"Thank you," she says politely, before indicating a seat. "You must be tired, why don't you sit?"
He carefully sits in the chair, one incidentally close to her, and she passes him a bottle of water. He takes it happily.
"Thanks."
They sit in silence comfortably as Kibum takes in Seohyun's sweet face and innocent smile, Seohyun looking back calmly.
"Sica-unnie says you like me," she says, and Kibum jerks so that the water soaks his pants - his stage pants. Coordis are going to kill him.
"Oh, really," Kibum says intelligently as the tips of his ears turn red, looking into his lap and avoiding her.
"I thought she was lying at first," Seohyun continues almost absent-mindedly, "since she already knew I liked you."
"Wait, what?" It feels like the hand clenching his heart is slowly slackening.
"I like you too," she says, matter-of-fact, and yeah, his heart is definitely singing, a smile crawling its way onto his face involuntarily.
He can't find words and slowly looks up into Seohyun's eyes.
"You're so cool and charismatic on stage sometimes," she says slowly as she toys with her book, dropping her gaze. "And you're so smart and handsome."
Well, he never thought he'd hear those words from her mouth, and he flushes again.
"Really?" he asks, soft, and she nods at her lap.
"I wouldn't lie," she says, and that's one of the things he loves about her, that brutal honesty.
In the bright lighting, he knows his stage make up looks overdone and unappealing, his outfit gaudy and too out there, but in her simple top and pants, face free of make up, she looks perfect. She is perfect, as far as Kibum is concerned, practically an angel.
"You like me," he repeats, still disbelieving, and she looks up and smiles.
"I do," she says, and reaches over to tangle their hands together.
A week later at another music show and they can't find a moment alone together, Kibum pulling Seohyun along the cramped hallways, fingers still tangled together.
"Get a room!" Jonghyun calls out, and Amber gives them a loud wolf whistle.
"Why don't you!" Kibum yells back and Seohyun giggles into her free hand, making Kibum's heart skip worryingly fast.
"You guys are so cute," Taeyeon says as they pass her, the rest of Girls' Generation sighing happily.
"Disgustingly so," Taemin contributes helpfully, Krystal rolling her eyes from next to him.
"So cute," Luna says, and Kibum covers his face, groaning at their label mates, still dragging Seohyun along and hoping for a bit of quiet time.
"Here?" Seohyun asks quietly, breath tickling his neck as she points to f(x)'s change room. Kibum pokes his head in, the room surprisingly empty, and they both walk in.
"Better?" she asks as she sits in a make up chair and he nods.
"Much," he replies and walks over to enfold her in a hug.
She smiles up at him in the darkness of his arms and stretches up for a kiss before he pulls away slightly.
"It feels wrong to kiss you," he confesses, "like I'm tainting something pure."
"Kibum," she says, laughing, and even the sound of his name from his voice makes him ridiculously happy. "I've kissed before--"
"Oh, well, in that case," he says, smiling, and leans down to kiss her.