60 Seconds
60 Seconds
1395w; PG
sehun/kai
Summary: 60 seconds, Sehun decides, is all he needs for this story.
A/N: for rochellephoon. this is your retribution for giving me feels from Sunggyu's 60 Seconds ;;
He sees the pair of limited edition Converse shoes approaching him before he hears his voice, which hasn't changed a single bit since the first day, two years ago.
"Sehun-sshi? It's nice to meet you!"
Sehun forces his eyes up from the ground and he manages a smile at Jongin, before gripping his hand and letting Jongin shake it firmly. He ignores the way his heart clenches slightly, pretends that the brightness in Jongin's smile is filled with courtesy and not the happiness that he had given up on in the past.
Beside Jongin, Jinri shifts slightly and gives Sehun an apologetic smile with a bow of her head, although Sehun sees the hand on Jongin's arm tightening slightly.
That's right, Sehun remembers bitterly. In this life, he's in love with Jinri. In this life, his hand's supposed to be around Jinri's waist, it's not supposed to be a perfect fit in the curve of yours.
Sehun remembers the way Yixing ran fingers through his hair when he had said that maybe, just maybe, things were better this way. He remembers the way Lu Han had held him, eyes laced with sympathy and regret, unwilling to let go even when Sehun had insisted that he was fine, forcing out the tears that Sehun had been fighting.
Next to him, Soojung finds his hand under the table and gives it a tight squeeze as Jongin slides into the seat opposite Sehun.
It's okay, I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you from this point, Sehun. He remembers the look on Soojung's face when she showed up on his doorstep, the day after Jongin's operation. He remembers the lavender perfume she was wearing and the apologies that kept falling from her lips on Jinri's behalf as she pulled his lifeless body into a hug. I'll keep the promise that Jongin couldn't.
"Jinri told me you guys are good friends but she never told me how you met," Jongin says, successfully snapping Sehun out of his thoughts, while he flips through the menu absentmindedly.
"I thought I'll leave Sehun the honors of telling the story," Jinri supplies quietly, her eyes not meeting Soojung's piercing ones.
"Jongin is a law undergraduate. He has never been part of that stupid troop with you or any of those guys, do you understand? He doesn't need this association with the people who landed him in this state."
"Jinri and I are high school classmates and I introduced Sehun to her," Soojung finishes on behalf of Sehun, annoyance tinging her voice, unsaid accusations hanging densely in the air between the three of them.
Jongin looks intrigued and blissfully unaware of the present situation as he shifts in his seat. Sehun's eyes momentarily fall to the ring on Jongin's right hand, before he hurriedly shoves his own hand under the table. He clears his throat, and interrupts Jinri mid-sentence, "Where did you get that ring?"
"That's pretty," Sehun comments, pulling Jongin to a halt at a cheap roadside store.
Jongin makes a face and grumbles, "That's for girls, god."
"I like pretty things, is that a sin," Sehun deadpans, as he twirls the little silver ring between his thumb and his pointer finger.
"Ahjumma, do you have two of those?"
Sehun looks at Jongin in bewilderment, as Jongin grabs the rings and pulls Sehun away from the stall. They round a corner and Jongin uncurls his fingers, takes one of the rings and shoves it to Sehun, while he slides the other onto his ring finger, red tinging his cheeks slightly. "Just like those stupid girl movies that you like to watch right?"
Jongin blinks slightly before he looks down and smiles up at Sehun. "Oh this? It was on my bed side table after the operation and somehow when I put it on, it made me feel calm despite the situation I was in. Weird isn't it?"
Sehun manages a smile and looks out of the window to his left instead, blinking furiously as he slips the matching ring on his own finger into his pocket.
"Promise me never to take it off."
Sehun stares at Jongin questioningly as he slaps more lotion onto Jongin's back and Jongin winces slightly.
"It'll protect you in my place, no matter where you are."
A dull silence falls upon the four of them, before Jinri stammers, "Jongin, why don't you help us order our drinks?"
"Sure," Jongin says brightly as he stands up.
"Ice Lemon Tea," Sehun says, without looking away from the window.
He hears an amused laugh, before Jongin answers, "That's my favourite drink too! I think we'll be great friends, Sehun-sshi."
Sehun doesn't respond, although he feels Soojung's hand rubbing comforting circles into his thigh. You're the reason I fell in love with that drink.
It isn't until Jongin's out of earshot that Soojung loses it entirely and she hisses, "Jinri, you can't do this. You can't possibly play along with this insanity. I won't allow you to. He doesn't love you, he's in the delusion that he does!"
"But I love him," Jinri nearly shrieks and this forces Sehun's attention onto her.
Soojung runs fingers through her curls and throws a sidelong glance at Jongin, who simply smiles and waves at them. "Jinri, this just isn't right. You don't have the right to dictate Jongin's life for him. You don't have the right to deprive him of true love."
"But this is how things are supposed to be!" Jinri exclaims as she leans forward and glares at Soojung. "If Jongin had never given up his law spot and joined that stupid dance troop, he would have never injured his waist. He would never have fallen off stage during one of those practices and he would never have needed that stupid surgery or lost his memory!"
"He doesn't remember anything. This is our chance for a clean slate."
Sehun leans against the wall of the hospital silently, eyes fixed on the white walls closing in on him.
Jongin's father's eyes are emotionless as he finishes, "This is our chance to create a life for Jongin all over again. One that doesn't involve you."
Her voice drops to a whisper as she stares at Sehun accusingly. "And he would have never fallen in love with you or broken my initial engagement with him for you."
Sehun stares back at her blankly, before he notices the glimmer of silver as Jinri tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. He reaches across the table and grabs her hand, his voice flat as he asks, "What is that?"
Jinri's eyes flicker away from his and she yanks her hand out of his grip, her voice dropping to a whisper, "We're getting married in three months."
Behind her, Jongin appears with their drinks and laughs. "And here you told me it would be rude to tell your friends about our engagement on the first meeting."
Sehun stares incredulously at them, ignoring everything that Soojung is saying in a hushed voice beside him.
He's getting married.
And it's not to you.
He reaches into his pocket and slides the ring onto the table. "Have a good life," he manages, before he reaches for his bag and strides out of the cafe.
Sehun picks up his pace, trying desperately to forget the sheer look of confusion that had flashed across Jongin's features briefly as he looked down at his own ring, and the look of panic as Jinri reaches for the ring, failing to grab it before Jongin.
He pushes forward, ignoring the light tinkling of the bells behind him as he hears Soojung struggling to keep up with his pace, all the while calling out to him.
"What about your parents?"
"It's my life, I think I know better who I want to spend it with," Jongin responds defiantly, as he curls his fingers around Sehun's and gives his hand a tight squeeze.
Only then does Sehun let his tears fall. Only then does Sehun start running.
Maybe somewhere, in an alternate universe, homosexuality would stop being a reason to separate two people.
Maybe in that universe, Sehun would be a girl.
Maybe in that universe, they are together.
"Sehun!" Soojung yells, as Sehun hails a cab and boards it, slamming the door shut behind him. "Sehun, wait!"
Maybe, in that alternate universe, Sehun would finally stop hurting.
-
this is loosely based off the story in Sunggyu's 60 Seconds mv and also slightly based off this taiwanese drama that i watched a couple of years back.
once again, thank you to hoaegi for beta-ing this and for giving me the green light to post it!
p.s. i hope your heart broke into 10 million glass shards, rochellephoon n____n
1395w; PG
sehun/kai
Summary: 60 seconds, Sehun decides, is all he needs for this story.
A/N: for rochellephoon. this is your retribution for giving me feels from Sunggyu's 60 Seconds ;;
He sees the pair of limited edition Converse shoes approaching him before he hears his voice, which hasn't changed a single bit since the first day, two years ago.
"Sehun-sshi? It's nice to meet you!"
Sehun forces his eyes up from the ground and he manages a smile at Jongin, before gripping his hand and letting Jongin shake it firmly. He ignores the way his heart clenches slightly, pretends that the brightness in Jongin's smile is filled with courtesy and not the happiness that he had given up on in the past.
Beside Jongin, Jinri shifts slightly and gives Sehun an apologetic smile with a bow of her head, although Sehun sees the hand on Jongin's arm tightening slightly.
That's right, Sehun remembers bitterly. In this life, he's in love with Jinri. In this life, his hand's supposed to be around Jinri's waist, it's not supposed to be a perfect fit in the curve of yours.
Sehun remembers the way Yixing ran fingers through his hair when he had said that maybe, just maybe, things were better this way. He remembers the way Lu Han had held him, eyes laced with sympathy and regret, unwilling to let go even when Sehun had insisted that he was fine, forcing out the tears that Sehun had been fighting.
Next to him, Soojung finds his hand under the table and gives it a tight squeeze as Jongin slides into the seat opposite Sehun.
It's okay, I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you from this point, Sehun. He remembers the look on Soojung's face when she showed up on his doorstep, the day after Jongin's operation. He remembers the lavender perfume she was wearing and the apologies that kept falling from her lips on Jinri's behalf as she pulled his lifeless body into a hug. I'll keep the promise that Jongin couldn't.
"Jinri told me you guys are good friends but she never told me how you met," Jongin says, successfully snapping Sehun out of his thoughts, while he flips through the menu absentmindedly.
"I thought I'll leave Sehun the honors of telling the story," Jinri supplies quietly, her eyes not meeting Soojung's piercing ones.
"Jongin is a law undergraduate. He has never been part of that stupid troop with you or any of those guys, do you understand? He doesn't need this association with the people who landed him in this state."
"Jinri and I are high school classmates and I introduced Sehun to her," Soojung finishes on behalf of Sehun, annoyance tinging her voice, unsaid accusations hanging densely in the air between the three of them.
Jongin looks intrigued and blissfully unaware of the present situation as he shifts in his seat. Sehun's eyes momentarily fall to the ring on Jongin's right hand, before he hurriedly shoves his own hand under the table. He clears his throat, and interrupts Jinri mid-sentence, "Where did you get that ring?"
"That's pretty," Sehun comments, pulling Jongin to a halt at a cheap roadside store.
Jongin makes a face and grumbles, "That's for girls, god."
"I like pretty things, is that a sin," Sehun deadpans, as he twirls the little silver ring between his thumb and his pointer finger.
"Ahjumma, do you have two of those?"
Sehun looks at Jongin in bewilderment, as Jongin grabs the rings and pulls Sehun away from the stall. They round a corner and Jongin uncurls his fingers, takes one of the rings and shoves it to Sehun, while he slides the other onto his ring finger, red tinging his cheeks slightly. "Just like those stupid girl movies that you like to watch right?"
Jongin blinks slightly before he looks down and smiles up at Sehun. "Oh this? It was on my bed side table after the operation and somehow when I put it on, it made me feel calm despite the situation I was in. Weird isn't it?"
Sehun manages a smile and looks out of the window to his left instead, blinking furiously as he slips the matching ring on his own finger into his pocket.
"Promise me never to take it off."
Sehun stares at Jongin questioningly as he slaps more lotion onto Jongin's back and Jongin winces slightly.
"It'll protect you in my place, no matter where you are."
A dull silence falls upon the four of them, before Jinri stammers, "Jongin, why don't you help us order our drinks?"
"Sure," Jongin says brightly as he stands up.
"Ice Lemon Tea," Sehun says, without looking away from the window.
He hears an amused laugh, before Jongin answers, "That's my favourite drink too! I think we'll be great friends, Sehun-sshi."
Sehun doesn't respond, although he feels Soojung's hand rubbing comforting circles into his thigh. You're the reason I fell in love with that drink.
It isn't until Jongin's out of earshot that Soojung loses it entirely and she hisses, "Jinri, you can't do this. You can't possibly play along with this insanity. I won't allow you to. He doesn't love you, he's in the delusion that he does!"
"But I love him," Jinri nearly shrieks and this forces Sehun's attention onto her.
Soojung runs fingers through her curls and throws a sidelong glance at Jongin, who simply smiles and waves at them. "Jinri, this just isn't right. You don't have the right to dictate Jongin's life for him. You don't have the right to deprive him of true love."
"But this is how things are supposed to be!" Jinri exclaims as she leans forward and glares at Soojung. "If Jongin had never given up his law spot and joined that stupid dance troop, he would have never injured his waist. He would never have fallen off stage during one of those practices and he would never have needed that stupid surgery or lost his memory!"
"He doesn't remember anything. This is our chance for a clean slate."
Sehun leans against the wall of the hospital silently, eyes fixed on the white walls closing in on him.
Jongin's father's eyes are emotionless as he finishes, "This is our chance to create a life for Jongin all over again. One that doesn't involve you."
Her voice drops to a whisper as she stares at Sehun accusingly. "And he would have never fallen in love with you or broken my initial engagement with him for you."
Sehun stares back at her blankly, before he notices the glimmer of silver as Jinri tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. He reaches across the table and grabs her hand, his voice flat as he asks, "What is that?"
Jinri's eyes flicker away from his and she yanks her hand out of his grip, her voice dropping to a whisper, "We're getting married in three months."
Behind her, Jongin appears with their drinks and laughs. "And here you told me it would be rude to tell your friends about our engagement on the first meeting."
Sehun stares incredulously at them, ignoring everything that Soojung is saying in a hushed voice beside him.
He's getting married.
And it's not to you.
He reaches into his pocket and slides the ring onto the table. "Have a good life," he manages, before he reaches for his bag and strides out of the cafe.
Sehun picks up his pace, trying desperately to forget the sheer look of confusion that had flashed across Jongin's features briefly as he looked down at his own ring, and the look of panic as Jinri reaches for the ring, failing to grab it before Jongin.
He pushes forward, ignoring the light tinkling of the bells behind him as he hears Soojung struggling to keep up with his pace, all the while calling out to him.
"What about your parents?"
"It's my life, I think I know better who I want to spend it with," Jongin responds defiantly, as he curls his fingers around Sehun's and gives his hand a tight squeeze.
Only then does Sehun let his tears fall. Only then does Sehun start running.
Maybe somewhere, in an alternate universe, homosexuality would stop being a reason to separate two people.
Maybe in that universe, Sehun would be a girl.
Maybe in that universe, they are together.
"Sehun!" Soojung yells, as Sehun hails a cab and boards it, slamming the door shut behind him. "Sehun, wait!"
Maybe, in that alternate universe, Sehun would finally stop hurting.
-
this is loosely based off the story in Sunggyu's 60 Seconds mv and also slightly based off this taiwanese drama that i watched a couple of years back.
once again, thank you to hoaegi for beta-ing this and for giving me the green light to post it!
p.s. i hope your heart broke into 10 million glass shards, rochellephoon n____n