suju, bandfic, idek
Normality will return once the ride is over
mostly gen, vaguely Siwon/Donghae, PG, 1900 words, humor
reposting that shihae fic here :|
a
"This isn't right," says Siwon. "Morally, spiritually, financially..."
Donghae adjusts his nearly translucent, billowing white shirt and smiles for the camera. "Every time that fan spins back toward me I swallow a bug."
"These shoes are made of gold," Ryeowook says pathetically. "I can't lift my feet."
"I don't understand why I'm wearing wings," says Hyukjae, repositioning himself to account for the heavy weight of the feathered wings. There's a moment where he begins to teeter backwards, and looks about to fall, but he's able to center his gravity and drape himself against Sungmin's side, smearing the opalescent body paint liberally applied to Sungmin's skin in the process. "I think I saw a unicorn earlier, too," he adds.
Sungmin pouts and tries to look artistic as he's been instructed to do. "Really," he says, "what is the concept for this photoshoot?"
"It's-" Siwon hesitates. They're on a beach where sometime earlier that morning someone had actually come and sprinkled glitter over the sand, and where hundreds of white roses are scattered around the area. There are randomly placed curtains that match Donghae's shirt and sway in the artificial light breeze created by the industrial sized fans brought in to make everything a bit more wind-swept. "I think-"
"He doesn't know," says Donghae. "No one does."
One of the flowers that's been tied into Siwon's hair comes loose.
There's a shriek from further down the beach and Siwon turns in time to see Heechul topple into the ocean. Kangin follows shortly after, unable to keep his balance any longer on the golden, clam-shaped raft they had been forced onto. A mild fight breaks out as they try to drown each other under the surf, and Yesung floats by on his back, heedless of his surroundings, until one of the many strings of pearls he's covered in snags in Heechul's hair. Yesung's battle cry is is quite impressive, once he finally rises to the surface again.
"Maybe there's a hidden camera and any minute now we'll get to go home," suggests Ryeowook, falsely optimistic.
Sungmin scratches at his neck. "I think I'm allergic to this body paint."
Eeteuk rides by on a horse with a glittering horn strapped to its head, screaming for his life.
"I told you I saw a unicorn," says Hyukjae.
b
"For the record," says Kyuhyun, "I hate all of you."
"Hey!" Donghae stops knocking the tin cup he found under a bench, against the metal bars of the jail cell. "It's Henry's fault, blame him."
Henry lifts his head, uncurling himself from his small, guarded position. "My fault? You stole a car!"
"Two cars," says Siwon distractedly. "He stole two cars."
"And started the high-speed chase," Kyuhyun adds.
"Because Henry told me to!"
"I didn't say let's try to outrun the cops, I said oh God, oh God, we're all going to die."
Donghae shrugs. "Same idea."
At that Siwon sits up. The metal bench has been digging into his back painfully and ruining his attempts at meditating himself into a happy place where he is not stuck in a damp jail cell that's smells of old socks and things he doesn't want to think about. "How is that the same idea?"
"You know," Donghae waves a hand vaguely. "Anyway, getting arrested builds character. We can use this to do some soul searching, maybe build some strong, brotherly bonds."
"We could have done that without a criminal record," Siwon points out.
"I don't want to bond with any of you," says Kyuhyun. He's gotten up to try to pick the lock on the door using what looks to be an old finger bone. "Brotherly or otherwise."
Henry sniffs pitifully. "I don't want to become anyone's prison girlfriend."
c
"Heechul found a sword," Hyukjae says, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun so he can see one of the other towers. "And so has Kyuhyun."
"That can't end well," says Siwon.
"Is anyone surprised this happened?" asks Shindong. "At all?"
Donghae peers over the edge of the turret and takes a picture of the gathering crowd of people far down below. "I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened before."
They're in another country, together, and the words vacation! and relaxing! had been thrown around for a while, then promptly ignored before they'd managed to get through a full day. It had been suggested that they visit a castle and of course once the drawbridge had gone up, leaving the them inside and the castle staff outside.
"They think we're plotting a hostile takeover," says Hankyung, joining the lookout group. "The bridge won't go back down. It's stuck."
"We're not going to invade another country," says Shindong.
Hyukjae frowns and looks to Donghae suspiciously. "Right? No one planned this, did they?"
"I wanted to go to the aquarium," says Donghae.
"We need a responsible adult," Siwon says when Heechul and Kyuhyun crash down through the winding staircase that leads from the other tower and end up in the courtyard, accompanied now by Eeteuk who, for some reason, has two swords. They each still posess all of their limbs, but it's likely a betting pool has already started up about how long that will last. "Why don't we ever have one of those?"
From their vantage point, they can see over most of the castle and into the surrounding areas. In the courtyard Yesung stands as sentry before one of the arched passageways, dressed entirely in plate armour, except that Ryeowook is the one wearing the helmet instead. Somehow they've managed to acquire their own weaponry, if the wheelbarrow full of gift shop replicas is anything to go by.
"There was a time in my life when days like this would upset me," Hyukjae says casually.
A man at the edge of the mote holds up a sign welcoming their new boyband overlords.
Donghae snaps one last photo of the news vans in the visitor parking lot. "I forgot how much I like castles. We should do this again next year."
"We're not going to be allowed back next year," says Siwon, then rapidly blinks his eyes when the flash of Donghae's camera goes off.
"Then we'll find a new castle."
Hankyung briefly looks away from the impressive swordsmanship being displayed by their friends and says, "Wasn't there a catapult down there before?"
d
"This doesn't look anything like the picture," says Zhou Mi. "It's all lopsided."
Donghae holds up the image they'd been using for reference, then tilts it to the side when there is no similarity between the picture and reality. "I think we built it upside down."
Siwon stands back and squints his eyes. "Did anyone remember to add the floors?"
"It's not a house," says Kyuhyun, "it's a death trap."
"Maybe it's not as bad inside," says Ryeowook.
No one moves even a fraction to actually go inside and test that theory. They've built a house for a reality program without any assistance whatsoever. The roof is rounded at the top and then half way down turns into sharp lines that cross every which way and overlap multiple times. Even so, it is the least of their worries when a gust of wind knocks the front door completely off its hinges. There's a loud groan followed by the sound of wood snapping in two and the house begins to sink into the Earth.
"There's something crawling up the back of my leg," says Henry. "I think it wants to eat me. Help."
"Anyone else notice that we're alone out here?" asks Hankyung, propping himself up with his broken shovel.
"Now that you mention it..." Ryeowook trails off at the moment a small bird lands on top of the roof. The entire frame shudders and creaks, then plummets another few feet down into the mud. "Huh."
Zhou Mi taps a finger to his chin while he thinks. "Actually, it doesn't look so bad now that we can only see half of it."
Siwon glances around the clearing, face tight with concern. "Where's Donghae?"
"So, I don't think these are meant to be eaten," Donghae says, walking out from the surrounding woods holding up a handful of bright red berries. His mouth is smeared red and his eyes are a little too wide. "I can smell the universe."
e
"On the one hand," Yesung says, sitting down in the corner, and drawing his knees up toward his chest, "We're probably not going to die. But on the other hand, we might."
"That's the spirit," says Donghae, joining him on the floor. The basket rocks back and forth after Sungmin pulls random levers in an attempt to make the hot air balloon descend back onto solid ground. Instead they rise up higher into the air. "You may have a point, though," he amends.
Siwon smooths out the crinkles in the instruction manual that he'd found crumpled up in the wicker basket full empty soda cans and magazine cutouts of different foods. "It's only pictures," he says in confusion.
Donghae shifts until he can see the instructions for himself. "Is that a hand? That looks a little like a finger, maybe."
"What?" asks Sungmin. "Hands?"
"The manual," says Siwon, turning it around so Sungmin can see.
Yesung leans forward and frowns. "I think it's a bear."
"What?"
"The second image is clearly a rope," says Donghae. "Oh, but it's on fire."
With a cry of frustration, Sungmin tugs on the cord that's swinging in front of his face. It comes loose and one end drops down beside his feet and they all grow quiet, waiting for something to happen. Instead, the balloon continues on its current course, drifting aimlessly above the countryside.
"At least there's no fire," Donghae points out, when Sungmin sits down with the rest of them.
"I wonder if I can see my house from here," Yesung comments idly.
f
It's early in the morning, though the sun won't be up for another hour or so, but Siwon is only beginning to fall asleep, when he hears someone walking down the hallway, getting closer to his bedroom. There's a light knocking on the door, and before he can do or say anything it opens with an almost inaudible squeak from the hinges.
"Siwon?" Donghae whispers, padding over to the bed, dressed in his pajamas.
Siwon rolls over and watches as Donghae climbs into his bed and tries to make himself comfortable. Finally, they're face to face and sharing a pillow. "What are you doing here?" he asks, speaking softly into the space between them.
"Couldn't sleep," says Donghae. "And Hyukjae installed new locks on his door."
Siwon narrows his eyes. "Did you break into my house?"
Donghae clears his throat and looks to the side, trying not to smile. "Lately I've had these ideas," he says.
"Such as breaking into my house?"
"No," says Donghae. "Well, yes, but not just that. Other things with you and me and everyone else."
Siwon yawns, lifting the blankets so Donghae can crawl under. "What kind of other things?" he grins and tries to resist the feeling of his eyelids growing heavier.
Donghae shrugs a shoulder and says, "Nothing too exciting."
"So you came all the way over here to tell me this now?" Siwon asks, though the answer is obvious.
"Of course."
"I'm glad you did," Siwon says before he shuts his eyes and allows himself to drift back towards sleep.
mostly gen, vaguely Siwon/Donghae, PG, 1900 words, humor
reposting that shihae fic here :|
a
"This isn't right," says Siwon. "Morally, spiritually, financially..."
Donghae adjusts his nearly translucent, billowing white shirt and smiles for the camera. "Every time that fan spins back toward me I swallow a bug."
"These shoes are made of gold," Ryeowook says pathetically. "I can't lift my feet."
"I don't understand why I'm wearing wings," says Hyukjae, repositioning himself to account for the heavy weight of the feathered wings. There's a moment where he begins to teeter backwards, and looks about to fall, but he's able to center his gravity and drape himself against Sungmin's side, smearing the opalescent body paint liberally applied to Sungmin's skin in the process. "I think I saw a unicorn earlier, too," he adds.
Sungmin pouts and tries to look artistic as he's been instructed to do. "Really," he says, "what is the concept for this photoshoot?"
"It's-" Siwon hesitates. They're on a beach where sometime earlier that morning someone had actually come and sprinkled glitter over the sand, and where hundreds of white roses are scattered around the area. There are randomly placed curtains that match Donghae's shirt and sway in the artificial light breeze created by the industrial sized fans brought in to make everything a bit more wind-swept. "I think-"
"He doesn't know," says Donghae. "No one does."
One of the flowers that's been tied into Siwon's hair comes loose.
There's a shriek from further down the beach and Siwon turns in time to see Heechul topple into the ocean. Kangin follows shortly after, unable to keep his balance any longer on the golden, clam-shaped raft they had been forced onto. A mild fight breaks out as they try to drown each other under the surf, and Yesung floats by on his back, heedless of his surroundings, until one of the many strings of pearls he's covered in snags in Heechul's hair. Yesung's battle cry is is quite impressive, once he finally rises to the surface again.
"Maybe there's a hidden camera and any minute now we'll get to go home," suggests Ryeowook, falsely optimistic.
Sungmin scratches at his neck. "I think I'm allergic to this body paint."
Eeteuk rides by on a horse with a glittering horn strapped to its head, screaming for his life.
"I told you I saw a unicorn," says Hyukjae.
b
"For the record," says Kyuhyun, "I hate all of you."
"Hey!" Donghae stops knocking the tin cup he found under a bench, against the metal bars of the jail cell. "It's Henry's fault, blame him."
Henry lifts his head, uncurling himself from his small, guarded position. "My fault? You stole a car!"
"Two cars," says Siwon distractedly. "He stole two cars."
"And started the high-speed chase," Kyuhyun adds.
"Because Henry told me to!"
"I didn't say let's try to outrun the cops, I said oh God, oh God, we're all going to die."
Donghae shrugs. "Same idea."
At that Siwon sits up. The metal bench has been digging into his back painfully and ruining his attempts at meditating himself into a happy place where he is not stuck in a damp jail cell that's smells of old socks and things he doesn't want to think about. "How is that the same idea?"
"You know," Donghae waves a hand vaguely. "Anyway, getting arrested builds character. We can use this to do some soul searching, maybe build some strong, brotherly bonds."
"We could have done that without a criminal record," Siwon points out.
"I don't want to bond with any of you," says Kyuhyun. He's gotten up to try to pick the lock on the door using what looks to be an old finger bone. "Brotherly or otherwise."
Henry sniffs pitifully. "I don't want to become anyone's prison girlfriend."
c
"Heechul found a sword," Hyukjae says, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun so he can see one of the other towers. "And so has Kyuhyun."
"That can't end well," says Siwon.
"Is anyone surprised this happened?" asks Shindong. "At all?"
Donghae peers over the edge of the turret and takes a picture of the gathering crowd of people far down below. "I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened before."
They're in another country, together, and the words vacation! and relaxing! had been thrown around for a while, then promptly ignored before they'd managed to get through a full day. It had been suggested that they visit a castle and of course once the drawbridge had gone up, leaving the them inside and the castle staff outside.
"They think we're plotting a hostile takeover," says Hankyung, joining the lookout group. "The bridge won't go back down. It's stuck."
"We're not going to invade another country," says Shindong.
Hyukjae frowns and looks to Donghae suspiciously. "Right? No one planned this, did they?"
"I wanted to go to the aquarium," says Donghae.
"We need a responsible adult," Siwon says when Heechul and Kyuhyun crash down through the winding staircase that leads from the other tower and end up in the courtyard, accompanied now by Eeteuk who, for some reason, has two swords. They each still posess all of their limbs, but it's likely a betting pool has already started up about how long that will last. "Why don't we ever have one of those?"
From their vantage point, they can see over most of the castle and into the surrounding areas. In the courtyard Yesung stands as sentry before one of the arched passageways, dressed entirely in plate armour, except that Ryeowook is the one wearing the helmet instead. Somehow they've managed to acquire their own weaponry, if the wheelbarrow full of gift shop replicas is anything to go by.
"There was a time in my life when days like this would upset me," Hyukjae says casually.
A man at the edge of the mote holds up a sign welcoming their new boyband overlords.
Donghae snaps one last photo of the news vans in the visitor parking lot. "I forgot how much I like castles. We should do this again next year."
"We're not going to be allowed back next year," says Siwon, then rapidly blinks his eyes when the flash of Donghae's camera goes off.
"Then we'll find a new castle."
Hankyung briefly looks away from the impressive swordsmanship being displayed by their friends and says, "Wasn't there a catapult down there before?"
d
"This doesn't look anything like the picture," says Zhou Mi. "It's all lopsided."
Donghae holds up the image they'd been using for reference, then tilts it to the side when there is no similarity between the picture and reality. "I think we built it upside down."
Siwon stands back and squints his eyes. "Did anyone remember to add the floors?"
"It's not a house," says Kyuhyun, "it's a death trap."
"Maybe it's not as bad inside," says Ryeowook.
No one moves even a fraction to actually go inside and test that theory. They've built a house for a reality program without any assistance whatsoever. The roof is rounded at the top and then half way down turns into sharp lines that cross every which way and overlap multiple times. Even so, it is the least of their worries when a gust of wind knocks the front door completely off its hinges. There's a loud groan followed by the sound of wood snapping in two and the house begins to sink into the Earth.
"There's something crawling up the back of my leg," says Henry. "I think it wants to eat me. Help."
"Anyone else notice that we're alone out here?" asks Hankyung, propping himself up with his broken shovel.
"Now that you mention it..." Ryeowook trails off at the moment a small bird lands on top of the roof. The entire frame shudders and creaks, then plummets another few feet down into the mud. "Huh."
Zhou Mi taps a finger to his chin while he thinks. "Actually, it doesn't look so bad now that we can only see half of it."
Siwon glances around the clearing, face tight with concern. "Where's Donghae?"
"So, I don't think these are meant to be eaten," Donghae says, walking out from the surrounding woods holding up a handful of bright red berries. His mouth is smeared red and his eyes are a little too wide. "I can smell the universe."
e
"On the one hand," Yesung says, sitting down in the corner, and drawing his knees up toward his chest, "We're probably not going to die. But on the other hand, we might."
"That's the spirit," says Donghae, joining him on the floor. The basket rocks back and forth after Sungmin pulls random levers in an attempt to make the hot air balloon descend back onto solid ground. Instead they rise up higher into the air. "You may have a point, though," he amends.
Siwon smooths out the crinkles in the instruction manual that he'd found crumpled up in the wicker basket full empty soda cans and magazine cutouts of different foods. "It's only pictures," he says in confusion.
Donghae shifts until he can see the instructions for himself. "Is that a hand? That looks a little like a finger, maybe."
"What?" asks Sungmin. "Hands?"
"The manual," says Siwon, turning it around so Sungmin can see.
Yesung leans forward and frowns. "I think it's a bear."
"What?"
"The second image is clearly a rope," says Donghae. "Oh, but it's on fire."
With a cry of frustration, Sungmin tugs on the cord that's swinging in front of his face. It comes loose and one end drops down beside his feet and they all grow quiet, waiting for something to happen. Instead, the balloon continues on its current course, drifting aimlessly above the countryside.
"At least there's no fire," Donghae points out, when Sungmin sits down with the rest of them.
"I wonder if I can see my house from here," Yesung comments idly.
f
It's early in the morning, though the sun won't be up for another hour or so, but Siwon is only beginning to fall asleep, when he hears someone walking down the hallway, getting closer to his bedroom. There's a light knocking on the door, and before he can do or say anything it opens with an almost inaudible squeak from the hinges.
"Siwon?" Donghae whispers, padding over to the bed, dressed in his pajamas.
Siwon rolls over and watches as Donghae climbs into his bed and tries to make himself comfortable. Finally, they're face to face and sharing a pillow. "What are you doing here?" he asks, speaking softly into the space between them.
"Couldn't sleep," says Donghae. "And Hyukjae installed new locks on his door."
Siwon narrows his eyes. "Did you break into my house?"
Donghae clears his throat and looks to the side, trying not to smile. "Lately I've had these ideas," he says.
"Such as breaking into my house?"
"No," says Donghae. "Well, yes, but not just that. Other things with you and me and everyone else."
Siwon yawns, lifting the blankets so Donghae can crawl under. "What kind of other things?" he grins and tries to resist the feeling of his eyelids growing heavier.
Donghae shrugs a shoulder and says, "Nothing too exciting."
"So you came all the way over here to tell me this now?" Siwon asks, though the answer is obvious.
"Of course."
"I'm glad you did," Siwon says before he shuts his eyes and allows himself to drift back towards sleep.