Not Just Any
To most people, Anyband seems to demand Tablo/Boa!fic. I, however, have been listening to Rainy Day on repeat and thereby solidifying Junsu's spot as The Favorite, and so I wrote this. Beta once again by the unparalleled nhaca_writes.
Not Just Any
pairing: Junsu/Boa
Even as a trainee Boa had never been one of them, had been somehow apart, and then she debuted and suddenly she was Boa-sunbaenim, the pride of Korea, the princess of Asian pop. She was untouchable behind the glass of the TV screen, unreachable across the sea in Japan. She had become a star: beautiful but distant, light without heat.
Junsu had always imagined that her touch would be as cold as her image, so he is surprised by how warm her hands feel on his face, how warm her lips feel pressed to his, how warm her breasts feel under his fingers. It is overwhelming-all of it: her warmth, the creaking of the bed, the muted sound of Portuguese drifting up from the street below-so overwhelming that he is about to pull away, about to open his mouth to ask her why, when she bites down on his lip and opens her legs and pulls him in, and then everything is lost in gasps and rustling sheets.
It is only after, as they lay face up on the bed, eyes closed, listening to the frantic whirring of the overhead fan and feeling the tepid air wash over them in waves, that he is able to speak.
"What just happened?" It comes out as a squeak, and he expects her to laugh, or sneer, but when he opens his eyes she is leaning over him and smiling.
"Let's go out dancing tonight," she says, and Junsu nods dumbly and wonders if he is imagining the sadness in the corners of her eyes.
***
Dancing with Boa is like dancing with Jaejoong, Junsu thinks, except that it is not, not at all. He has never danced with Jaejoong in a packed, sweaty club in Rio, never been this drunk with Jaejoong in his life, never kissed Jaejoong like this. He feels free, anonymous, and it is easy to get lost in the strobe lights and the vibrating bass and the softness of Boa's skin and just dance like he never could on stage.
They are the last people to leave the club, and the sky is already stained in sunrise pinks and reds when they walk out the door. Junsu looks at his watch.
"We have a photoshoot in an hour," he says faintly.
Boa smiles. "I'll buy you a coffee."
***
Bora says nothing when they kiss between takes. When Tablo raises an eyebrow Boa looks at him severely and says in accented English, "It's a secret, ok?" Junsu quietly asks the photographer for a proof of the next picture, one of them all doubled over in laughter, when the photoshoot is finished.
***
When they are done for the day, or during breaks, or sometimes when they are neither technically done nor on break, Boa takes Junsu's hand and rushes outside of the building and they walk down narrow side streets and talk. She tells him things that he is sure she has never told anyone before, and so he tells her things too-he tells her about the time Changmin had quit the group for three days, about Jaejoong's eating disorder, about him and Yoochun. He likes to watch her expressions-now smiling, now cocking her head to the side, now furrowing her brow-as he talks, and he soon realizes that no matter what her expression, that little bit of sadness is always there, in the corner of her eyes. He finds that it is only when he tells jokes that it goes away; his jokes make her throw back her head and laugh in a way that reminds him of Yoochun, a way that says you're ridiculous and I'm embarassed for you and I can't think of any place I'd rather be than with you, right here, right now.
Junsu tells a lot of jokes.
***
On the plane back to Seoul, Junsu is seated next to Tablo and falls asleep immediately; when he wakes up, Boa is sitting next to him.
"I came to visit," she says.
He smiles, and then perhaps because his mind is still fogged in sleep he asks her, "What happened?"
He can tell she knows what he means, but there is a pause before she responds. "I was always jealous of you guys, you know. You've always had each other, and I'm...well, it's just me." Now she smiles. "But I realized recently that even if it's just me, even if I'm alone, that doesn't mean I have to be lonely. God, I wasted so much time being lonely." Her smile fades, and for a moment she seems lost in thought. Then her eyes catch his. "You don't know why you were chosen to go to Brazil, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
She smiles softly, fondly. "Just remember what I said about being lonely, alright?" She slips a piece of paper into his hand. "And call me sometime, ok? Promise. And say hi to the boys for me."
Junsu doesn't understand, but he nods anyway, and she kisses his cheek and slips out of the seat.
***
Junsu doesn't call her until months and months later, when their fourth Korean album hasn't sold as well as expected and their Japanese singles have fallen off the Oricon Top 10. He finds the piece of paper with her phone number on it crumpled in the bottom of his travel bag, dials the number, and when she picks up he tells her everything. SM has offered him a solo contract, and Avex has offered Jaejoong a contract in Japan, and Yunho and Changmin and Yoochun might stay on with SM as trainers, but they're not sure.
There is a pause when he finishes. Then she says, "Let's go out dancing tonight, Junsu."
He thinks back to Brazil, to her laugh and her touch. He thinks back to the sadness in the corners of her eyes. When he realizes that it was not for her but for him, he smiles for the first time in days.
Not Just Any
pairing: Junsu/Boa
Even as a trainee Boa had never been one of them, had been somehow apart, and then she debuted and suddenly she was Boa-sunbaenim, the pride of Korea, the princess of Asian pop. She was untouchable behind the glass of the TV screen, unreachable across the sea in Japan. She had become a star: beautiful but distant, light without heat.
Junsu had always imagined that her touch would be as cold as her image, so he is surprised by how warm her hands feel on his face, how warm her lips feel pressed to his, how warm her breasts feel under his fingers. It is overwhelming-all of it: her warmth, the creaking of the bed, the muted sound of Portuguese drifting up from the street below-so overwhelming that he is about to pull away, about to open his mouth to ask her why, when she bites down on his lip and opens her legs and pulls him in, and then everything is lost in gasps and rustling sheets.
It is only after, as they lay face up on the bed, eyes closed, listening to the frantic whirring of the overhead fan and feeling the tepid air wash over them in waves, that he is able to speak.
"What just happened?" It comes out as a squeak, and he expects her to laugh, or sneer, but when he opens his eyes she is leaning over him and smiling.
"Let's go out dancing tonight," she says, and Junsu nods dumbly and wonders if he is imagining the sadness in the corners of her eyes.
***
Dancing with Boa is like dancing with Jaejoong, Junsu thinks, except that it is not, not at all. He has never danced with Jaejoong in a packed, sweaty club in Rio, never been this drunk with Jaejoong in his life, never kissed Jaejoong like this. He feels free, anonymous, and it is easy to get lost in the strobe lights and the vibrating bass and the softness of Boa's skin and just dance like he never could on stage.
They are the last people to leave the club, and the sky is already stained in sunrise pinks and reds when they walk out the door. Junsu looks at his watch.
"We have a photoshoot in an hour," he says faintly.
Boa smiles. "I'll buy you a coffee."
***
Bora says nothing when they kiss between takes. When Tablo raises an eyebrow Boa looks at him severely and says in accented English, "It's a secret, ok?" Junsu quietly asks the photographer for a proof of the next picture, one of them all doubled over in laughter, when the photoshoot is finished.
***
When they are done for the day, or during breaks, or sometimes when they are neither technically done nor on break, Boa takes Junsu's hand and rushes outside of the building and they walk down narrow side streets and talk. She tells him things that he is sure she has never told anyone before, and so he tells her things too-he tells her about the time Changmin had quit the group for three days, about Jaejoong's eating disorder, about him and Yoochun. He likes to watch her expressions-now smiling, now cocking her head to the side, now furrowing her brow-as he talks, and he soon realizes that no matter what her expression, that little bit of sadness is always there, in the corner of her eyes. He finds that it is only when he tells jokes that it goes away; his jokes make her throw back her head and laugh in a way that reminds him of Yoochun, a way that says you're ridiculous and I'm embarassed for you and I can't think of any place I'd rather be than with you, right here, right now.
Junsu tells a lot of jokes.
***
On the plane back to Seoul, Junsu is seated next to Tablo and falls asleep immediately; when he wakes up, Boa is sitting next to him.
"I came to visit," she says.
He smiles, and then perhaps because his mind is still fogged in sleep he asks her, "What happened?"
He can tell she knows what he means, but there is a pause before she responds. "I was always jealous of you guys, you know. You've always had each other, and I'm...well, it's just me." Now she smiles. "But I realized recently that even if it's just me, even if I'm alone, that doesn't mean I have to be lonely. God, I wasted so much time being lonely." Her smile fades, and for a moment she seems lost in thought. Then her eyes catch his. "You don't know why you were chosen to go to Brazil, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
She smiles softly, fondly. "Just remember what I said about being lonely, alright?" She slips a piece of paper into his hand. "And call me sometime, ok? Promise. And say hi to the boys for me."
Junsu doesn't understand, but he nods anyway, and she kisses his cheek and slips out of the seat.
***
Junsu doesn't call her until months and months later, when their fourth Korean album hasn't sold as well as expected and their Japanese singles have fallen off the Oricon Top 10. He finds the piece of paper with her phone number on it crumpled in the bottom of his travel bag, dials the number, and when she picks up he tells her everything. SM has offered him a solo contract, and Avex has offered Jaejoong a contract in Japan, and Yunho and Changmin and Yoochun might stay on with SM as trainers, but they're not sure.
There is a pause when he finishes. Then she says, "Let's go out dancing tonight, Junsu."
He thinks back to Brazil, to her laugh and her touch. He thinks back to the sadness in the corners of her eyes. When he realizes that it was not for her but for him, he smiles for the first time in days.