Rising Sons (Flashfic Challenge 75: In My Arms)
Title: Rising Sons
Author: dentedsky
Word count: 1,000
Concrit?: Yes
Pairing: HoMin
Beta: hondae ♥
When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
My worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
- Hold You In My Arms - Ray LaMontagne
*
When Changmin first met Yunho he hated him, with his stupid undercut parted-down-the-middle hair style and his baggy clothes and his incessant bad boy posing. “Hey you, come with me,” Yunho had said, striding straight into the bedroom without knocking. Changmin put down his earphones and rolled off his floor mattress and followed Yunho out with a muttered, “Yes hyung,” and privately thought, I’m dead.
Yunho shoved a video tape into the player and pressed play on the remote control, before turning around and grabbing Changmin’s shoulders, manoeuvring him awkwardly to sit on their threadbare couch. It was a live recording of a performance by Dana. “Wait for it,” Yunho said, standing to the side and jiggling his leg restlessly, “my bit’s coming up - there!” The Yunho on screen started rapping into the mic and at the camera, one hand gesticulating b-boy style. He threw Changmin a glance.
Changmin realised Yunho was looking for a response. “Looks good,” looks awful, “very professional, hyung,” why am I even here?
Yunho nodded, satisfied with this response. He pointed to the screen. “This is what you get when you work hard at something, if you’re truly dedicated.” His stare was level, his gaze hard and eyes boring into his. “If you’re not dedicated, Changmin, you may as well leave.”
*
Nine Years Later
Coming out of the hotel bathroom and Changmin couldn’t be bothered with sleep pants- just underwear and a t-shirt would do. The weather was warming up and - walking down past the single beds and the dressers - were his legs always this weak... no, of course not. “God I’m tired,” he muttered at the wall. The wall did not respond.
He followed the sound of the television to the sitting room and flopped down on the sofa next to Yunho, limbs splayed. He whimpered, head lolling on the couch back. Yunho groaned in reply.
“What’re’you watching?” Changmin asked.
It took a while for Yunho to respond. “I don’t know,” he said. He picked up the remote and switched it off.
A pause and then, “It’s over,” Changmin said with a sigh, eyes closing. Their Tone tour - all those long months on stage - completed. “A shower felt so good,” he added in a lower note, “almost felt like I was drowning in my own sweat there for a moment.”
No response from Yunho. Then, quietly, “Changminnie.”
“Mmm?” Changmin’s eyes fluttered open and he looked to the side. Yunho’s eyes were closed, but he was frowning, a small line down the middle of his eyebrows just visible.
“That kiss,” Yunho said.
“It wasn’t a real one,” Changmin told him hastily, snapping his teeth together and closing his eyes once again. “You needn’t... worry.”
Yunho sounded a little sad when he said, “I am worried - “
“You don’t - “
“What if we did it again?” Yunho asked, audibly swallowing. Changmin opened his eyes and looked at him.
Changmin shook his head, the back of his neck rubbing against the couch. “Tour’s over. No point.”
Yunho finally opened his own eyes and looked at him side-along, eyes heavy-lidded with fatigue and something else. Changmin lifted a hand and fiddled with his own wet fringe; it was a dark hairstyle this time, the part usually to the side but it sometimes gravitated to the middle after a shower. A shuffle, and Yunho was moving around on the couch until he was on his side facing Changmin. “We may have to do it again, later... And that kiss tonight, Changminnie, it took me by surprise.”
Changmin blinked at him. “It wasn’t even a proper kiss.”
Yunho raised his eyebrows. “And later?”
“I don’t -“ understand, he’d meant to say, but he bit the word off, because feigning ignorance would be pointless, and he did understand. The beginning of their tour had them nervous and unknowing of what the future would bring; the Bibari & Rui skit itself was so new and so frightening at first, and then after that it had sort of... run away with them, until it was nothing but energy and fun and much, much easier.
Changmin frowned. Yunho said, “Let’s practice for next time, get it over and done with. If we can get it right here and now with just the two of us, then if we do it on stage it won’t be so weird.”
Sleep was pushing in insistently, making his limbs heavy and his mind hazy. Yunho’s logic seemed without flaw, though there was a nagging feeling that he was missing something...
Oh well, he supposed that if he couldn’t figure it out, it must not be important. “Fine,” he sighed, adjusting himself so he was facing Yunho better, “go ahead. But you’re doing all the work.”
Yunho grunted in amusement as Changmin’s eyes fluttered closed and he puckered his lips slightly. He heard Yunho shuffle closer on the couch, felt it dip, then there was hesitation and... breath, warm and mint-sweet, and then -
Nothing.
Changmin’s eyes opened. He caught Yunho’s a couple of inches from his own and lifted his eyebrows in question.
Yunho’s mouth twisted. “You’re lips are all...” He gestured, fingers flicking into Changmin’s line of sight before disappearing. “Just relax.”
“Fine,” said Changmin lowly, sighing once again in exasperation as he closed his eyes and tried to relax his lips. They parted naturally and he hoped that was ok with Yunho - and it seemed to be, because he was moving again - and then Yunho’s soft, warm lips were on Changmin’s, and they were kissing chastely, hesitantly. Changmin did kiss back, just a little. Yunho pressed a little closer, fingers coming up to lightly graze Changmin’s jaw. Then Yunho moved away, and Changmin kept his eyes closed.
A minute passed and then, “Are you ok?” Yunho whispered.
“Tired,” said Changmin, voice raspy. He willed his heart to slow.
Two hours later Changmin awoke on the couch with his feet freezing and chest warm and his arms full of Yunho. Red-blonde hair in his face made him snuffle, and Yunho stirred, waking with a moaned, “What...” and Changmin shushed him.
He held him a little tighter and Yunho shuffled back a little to press himself closer. They commanded sleep, and sleep came once again and took them away.
End.
Author: dentedsky
Word count: 1,000
Concrit?: Yes
Pairing: HoMin
Beta: hondae ♥
When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
My worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
- Hold You In My Arms - Ray LaMontagne
*
When Changmin first met Yunho he hated him, with his stupid undercut parted-down-the-middle hair style and his baggy clothes and his incessant bad boy posing. “Hey you, come with me,” Yunho had said, striding straight into the bedroom without knocking. Changmin put down his earphones and rolled off his floor mattress and followed Yunho out with a muttered, “Yes hyung,” and privately thought, I’m dead.
Yunho shoved a video tape into the player and pressed play on the remote control, before turning around and grabbing Changmin’s shoulders, manoeuvring him awkwardly to sit on their threadbare couch. It was a live recording of a performance by Dana. “Wait for it,” Yunho said, standing to the side and jiggling his leg restlessly, “my bit’s coming up - there!” The Yunho on screen started rapping into the mic and at the camera, one hand gesticulating b-boy style. He threw Changmin a glance.
Changmin realised Yunho was looking for a response. “Looks good,” looks awful, “very professional, hyung,” why am I even here?
Yunho nodded, satisfied with this response. He pointed to the screen. “This is what you get when you work hard at something, if you’re truly dedicated.” His stare was level, his gaze hard and eyes boring into his. “If you’re not dedicated, Changmin, you may as well leave.”
*
Nine Years Later
Coming out of the hotel bathroom and Changmin couldn’t be bothered with sleep pants- just underwear and a t-shirt would do. The weather was warming up and - walking down past the single beds and the dressers - were his legs always this weak... no, of course not. “God I’m tired,” he muttered at the wall. The wall did not respond.
He followed the sound of the television to the sitting room and flopped down on the sofa next to Yunho, limbs splayed. He whimpered, head lolling on the couch back. Yunho groaned in reply.
“What’re’you watching?” Changmin asked.
It took a while for Yunho to respond. “I don’t know,” he said. He picked up the remote and switched it off.
A pause and then, “It’s over,” Changmin said with a sigh, eyes closing. Their Tone tour - all those long months on stage - completed. “A shower felt so good,” he added in a lower note, “almost felt like I was drowning in my own sweat there for a moment.”
No response from Yunho. Then, quietly, “Changminnie.”
“Mmm?” Changmin’s eyes fluttered open and he looked to the side. Yunho’s eyes were closed, but he was frowning, a small line down the middle of his eyebrows just visible.
“That kiss,” Yunho said.
“It wasn’t a real one,” Changmin told him hastily, snapping his teeth together and closing his eyes once again. “You needn’t... worry.”
Yunho sounded a little sad when he said, “I am worried - “
“You don’t - “
“What if we did it again?” Yunho asked, audibly swallowing. Changmin opened his eyes and looked at him.
Changmin shook his head, the back of his neck rubbing against the couch. “Tour’s over. No point.”
Yunho finally opened his own eyes and looked at him side-along, eyes heavy-lidded with fatigue and something else. Changmin lifted a hand and fiddled with his own wet fringe; it was a dark hairstyle this time, the part usually to the side but it sometimes gravitated to the middle after a shower. A shuffle, and Yunho was moving around on the couch until he was on his side facing Changmin. “We may have to do it again, later... And that kiss tonight, Changminnie, it took me by surprise.”
Changmin blinked at him. “It wasn’t even a proper kiss.”
Yunho raised his eyebrows. “And later?”
“I don’t -“ understand, he’d meant to say, but he bit the word off, because feigning ignorance would be pointless, and he did understand. The beginning of their tour had them nervous and unknowing of what the future would bring; the Bibari & Rui skit itself was so new and so frightening at first, and then after that it had sort of... run away with them, until it was nothing but energy and fun and much, much easier.
Changmin frowned. Yunho said, “Let’s practice for next time, get it over and done with. If we can get it right here and now with just the two of us, then if we do it on stage it won’t be so weird.”
Sleep was pushing in insistently, making his limbs heavy and his mind hazy. Yunho’s logic seemed without flaw, though there was a nagging feeling that he was missing something...
Oh well, he supposed that if he couldn’t figure it out, it must not be important. “Fine,” he sighed, adjusting himself so he was facing Yunho better, “go ahead. But you’re doing all the work.”
Yunho grunted in amusement as Changmin’s eyes fluttered closed and he puckered his lips slightly. He heard Yunho shuffle closer on the couch, felt it dip, then there was hesitation and... breath, warm and mint-sweet, and then -
Nothing.
Changmin’s eyes opened. He caught Yunho’s a couple of inches from his own and lifted his eyebrows in question.
Yunho’s mouth twisted. “You’re lips are all...” He gestured, fingers flicking into Changmin’s line of sight before disappearing. “Just relax.”
“Fine,” said Changmin lowly, sighing once again in exasperation as he closed his eyes and tried to relax his lips. They parted naturally and he hoped that was ok with Yunho - and it seemed to be, because he was moving again - and then Yunho’s soft, warm lips were on Changmin’s, and they were kissing chastely, hesitantly. Changmin did kiss back, just a little. Yunho pressed a little closer, fingers coming up to lightly graze Changmin’s jaw. Then Yunho moved away, and Changmin kept his eyes closed.
A minute passed and then, “Are you ok?” Yunho whispered.
“Tired,” said Changmin, voice raspy. He willed his heart to slow.
Two hours later Changmin awoke on the couch with his feet freezing and chest warm and his arms full of Yunho. Red-blonde hair in his face made him snuffle, and Yunho stirred, waking with a moaned, “What...” and Changmin shushed him.
He held him a little tighter and Yunho shuffled back a little to press himself closer. They commanded sleep, and sleep came once again and took them away.
End.