homecoming; [donghae/kyuhyun]
homecoming
donghae/kyuhyun; g/pg
1,359 words
Summary: Snippets of their relationship through Donghae's mother's eyes. Short piece before I move on to finishing the chaptered story. Hope you guys find it to your liking! :)
The first time her youngest son (her precious superstar, her baby) brings someone new home to Mokpo, it isn't who she expects. There are the usual suspects like the ever rowdy Sungmin and Hyukjae (darling boys, but really, did they have to be so loud all the time?), well-mannered Jungsu (who always helped in the kitchen, and didn't look too much like a boy when he smiled a certain way) or polite Yunho (if she were any younger, she would have swooned - the boy was just too handsome), but their new guest is both none of these things and everything, and it's... different, to say the least.
"Hello," he says, bowing low. He's tall, thin and a bit awkward on his feet, like he hasn't grown into his limbs yet.
"Hello," she says. She hopes her smile isn't as strained as she feels it is.
"Mom!" He bounds up to her, a suitcase in each hand, face alight, and suddenly his arms are around her shoulders. "I missed you! How are you?"
"Donghae." She laughs, arms coming around tight on his back. "It's good to see you, sweetheart."
"Aw, mom," he whines, making a face as he unwinds himself from her grasp. "Not in front of Kyuhyunnie!"
The other boy is looking at them silently with an unusually blank expression. She smiles awkwardly and looks him in the eye. "Do introduce your friend, dear."
"Oh." Donghae blinks, looking lost for a moment. She almost giggles; her son tended to have a short attention span as a child, and she didn't really know if it carried on until today. He was away from home so much that she didn't know the degree of change, if any, that had occurred. "Mom, this is my friend, Cho Kyuhyun."
"It's nice to meet you," he says softly. His voice is mellow and deep, with a tinge of uneasiness.
She looks over to Donghae, who has his hand on the small of the other boy's back. She recognizes it; it's the same way her husband held her as she stuttered in front of her parents, saying that she was getting married to the man she loved. Funnily enough, it's the same way Donghwa held his first girlfriend as she fiddled with her fingers in the living room, telling her of how she and Donghwa met.
She takes Kyuhyun's hands between her own. A pleasant feeling bubbles its way up to her chest when he blinks in surprise, then gives her a half-smile. It's the same way as his stance - unsure, but he gives it his all.
"It's very nice to meet you, too."
-
The second time Donghae brings him home, she notices the change. He's grown into his looks, though he didn't look too bad the first time she saw him either. The tension that used to be in his shoulders all the time (visible even on television where she'd watch their performances, chest swelling with pride for her son and his friends) has eased into steady calm.
Then she remembers how he almost died. It was all over the news for close to a week. She doesn't know if he knows, but she called Donghae several times to ask how everyone was, how he was. She remembers holding onto Donghwa when she hears that he had become incapable of speaking, how he had fallen comatose, how he sustained all the life-threatening injuries. She remembers listening to Donghae cry at night over the phone, all the walls of pretense crumbling around them as he told her of his nightmares, how he was afraid, so afraid, how it felt exactly like this when his father died, how he wanted him to please wake up, oh god, mom, what if he doesn't wake up?
"Mom, he's okay," Donghae calls to tell her one afternoon as she's preparing stew, "he's okay. Mom, he's okay."
She releases a shuddering breath, almost collapses onto the tiles. She doesn't even know this boy, but it's as if she's been holding her breath for years.
"Mom, hyung's home, we can eat now," Donghae calls from the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she sees Kyuhyun hunched over and slowly stirring the soup, humming to himself.
She smiles and rises to her feet. "I'll be right over, dear."
-
Donghae doesn't come home for nearly a year, and when he does, he has Kyuhyun tagging along. He's not all who tagged along, though.
"Mrs. Lee!" Sungmin greets her with a hug, followed by Hyukjae. She laughs and embraces back; she's missed them so and how they've all grown.
Except for their hair styles, nothing has changed, she notes. Sungmin, Hyukjae and her son still share the same easy camaraderie, only now Kyuhyun is thrown into the mix. She's always thought of him as a little cold around people, but this is quickly disproven when she sees how he laughs with them as if they've always known each other.
Nothing is different, except how now, Donghae's hand wraps around Kyuhyun's a little tighter than the last time she'd seen it. It always occurs during dinner; Donghae's hand would leave its proper place on his knee and creep into Kyuhyun's, and he would put his hand over Donghae's while he silently ate his meat and vegetables. Donghae's laugh would be a little louder, a little brighter, his teasing a little more playful.
She wants to tell Donghae off sometimes (because though she's open to these sorts of things, she still had a sense of propriety), but decides against it when she sees how Kyuhyun simply glows with these small touches.
-
Donghae's schedule is tighter now, shuttling from Korea to China to Thailand to Japan - it makes her head ache just thinking about it. Knowing this, she doesn't pressure him into coming home on his father's death anniversary, but he does anyway. He and Kyuhyun stay for less than a day, and the company van picks them up obscenely early; it is barely a few hours before dawn.
"I'm sorry, mom. Sorry that we have to go so soon." His voice cracks as he whispers into her shoulder. His arms are a little bigger now from months of training, but his eyes had all manner of unsightly bags and she can tell he hasn't been sleeping well at all. If she could, she'd give Lee Soo Man a good beating for treating her boy like this, but it just couldn't be done. "I miss you, mom. I love you."
"I love you, too, dear," she says, and she blinks the coming tears away. "You and Kyuhyun take care of each other, okay?"
He pulls back, surprised. She only kisses his cheek and turns to Kyuhyun, and her heart clenches at the sight of the boy's face - without the make-up the paleness of his skin is even starker. She takes him into her arms, and he feels cold. She wants to say that he better try his best to wipe the bags off Donghae's eyes, the whiteness off his face, but instead she says, "Get some sleep on the van ride to Seoul. You both need it."
-
She's a little lonely now; when Donghwa married he moved out of the house and into a bigger place a few blocks away. He visits sometimes, but it's not nearly enough. So when Donghae comes home after the final stop of their tour, Kyuhyun in tow just as always, she has to reacquaint herself with the feeling of having more than one or two guests at a time.
"Eomeoni," Kyuhyun greets, warm and affectionate, kissing her on the cheek. His smile is wide and lovely and just like his sister's, and a little bit like his mother's and father's as well.
"Cho Ara. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," the young lady intones pleasantly, holding out her hand. The rest of the family follow suit, and soon the air is filled with laughter.
She spies a glance at Donghae, entertaining everyone seated in the living room with family stories, Kyuhyun laughing the loudest.
She ducks her head inside the kitchen, feeling strangely more serene than she had been ever been in months, and prepares to make tea.
donghae/kyuhyun; g/pg
1,359 words
Summary: Snippets of their relationship through Donghae's mother's eyes. Short piece before I move on to finishing the chaptered story. Hope you guys find it to your liking! :)
The first time her youngest son (her precious superstar, her baby) brings someone new home to Mokpo, it isn't who she expects. There are the usual suspects like the ever rowdy Sungmin and Hyukjae (darling boys, but really, did they have to be so loud all the time?), well-mannered Jungsu (who always helped in the kitchen, and didn't look too much like a boy when he smiled a certain way) or polite Yunho (if she were any younger, she would have swooned - the boy was just too handsome), but their new guest is both none of these things and everything, and it's... different, to say the least.
"Hello," he says, bowing low. He's tall, thin and a bit awkward on his feet, like he hasn't grown into his limbs yet.
"Hello," she says. She hopes her smile isn't as strained as she feels it is.
"Mom!" He bounds up to her, a suitcase in each hand, face alight, and suddenly his arms are around her shoulders. "I missed you! How are you?"
"Donghae." She laughs, arms coming around tight on his back. "It's good to see you, sweetheart."
"Aw, mom," he whines, making a face as he unwinds himself from her grasp. "Not in front of Kyuhyunnie!"
The other boy is looking at them silently with an unusually blank expression. She smiles awkwardly and looks him in the eye. "Do introduce your friend, dear."
"Oh." Donghae blinks, looking lost for a moment. She almost giggles; her son tended to have a short attention span as a child, and she didn't really know if it carried on until today. He was away from home so much that she didn't know the degree of change, if any, that had occurred. "Mom, this is my friend, Cho Kyuhyun."
"It's nice to meet you," he says softly. His voice is mellow and deep, with a tinge of uneasiness.
She looks over to Donghae, who has his hand on the small of the other boy's back. She recognizes it; it's the same way her husband held her as she stuttered in front of her parents, saying that she was getting married to the man she loved. Funnily enough, it's the same way Donghwa held his first girlfriend as she fiddled with her fingers in the living room, telling her of how she and Donghwa met.
She takes Kyuhyun's hands between her own. A pleasant feeling bubbles its way up to her chest when he blinks in surprise, then gives her a half-smile. It's the same way as his stance - unsure, but he gives it his all.
"It's very nice to meet you, too."
-
The second time Donghae brings him home, she notices the change. He's grown into his looks, though he didn't look too bad the first time she saw him either. The tension that used to be in his shoulders all the time (visible even on television where she'd watch their performances, chest swelling with pride for her son and his friends) has eased into steady calm.
Then she remembers how he almost died. It was all over the news for close to a week. She doesn't know if he knows, but she called Donghae several times to ask how everyone was, how he was. She remembers holding onto Donghwa when she hears that he had become incapable of speaking, how he had fallen comatose, how he sustained all the life-threatening injuries. She remembers listening to Donghae cry at night over the phone, all the walls of pretense crumbling around them as he told her of his nightmares, how he was afraid, so afraid, how it felt exactly like this when his father died, how he wanted him to please wake up, oh god, mom, what if he doesn't wake up?
"Mom, he's okay," Donghae calls to tell her one afternoon as she's preparing stew, "he's okay. Mom, he's okay."
She releases a shuddering breath, almost collapses onto the tiles. She doesn't even know this boy, but it's as if she's been holding her breath for years.
"Mom, hyung's home, we can eat now," Donghae calls from the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she sees Kyuhyun hunched over and slowly stirring the soup, humming to himself.
She smiles and rises to her feet. "I'll be right over, dear."
-
Donghae doesn't come home for nearly a year, and when he does, he has Kyuhyun tagging along. He's not all who tagged along, though.
"Mrs. Lee!" Sungmin greets her with a hug, followed by Hyukjae. She laughs and embraces back; she's missed them so and how they've all grown.
Except for their hair styles, nothing has changed, she notes. Sungmin, Hyukjae and her son still share the same easy camaraderie, only now Kyuhyun is thrown into the mix. She's always thought of him as a little cold around people, but this is quickly disproven when she sees how he laughs with them as if they've always known each other.
Nothing is different, except how now, Donghae's hand wraps around Kyuhyun's a little tighter than the last time she'd seen it. It always occurs during dinner; Donghae's hand would leave its proper place on his knee and creep into Kyuhyun's, and he would put his hand over Donghae's while he silently ate his meat and vegetables. Donghae's laugh would be a little louder, a little brighter, his teasing a little more playful.
She wants to tell Donghae off sometimes (because though she's open to these sorts of things, she still had a sense of propriety), but decides against it when she sees how Kyuhyun simply glows with these small touches.
-
Donghae's schedule is tighter now, shuttling from Korea to China to Thailand to Japan - it makes her head ache just thinking about it. Knowing this, she doesn't pressure him into coming home on his father's death anniversary, but he does anyway. He and Kyuhyun stay for less than a day, and the company van picks them up obscenely early; it is barely a few hours before dawn.
"I'm sorry, mom. Sorry that we have to go so soon." His voice cracks as he whispers into her shoulder. His arms are a little bigger now from months of training, but his eyes had all manner of unsightly bags and she can tell he hasn't been sleeping well at all. If she could, she'd give Lee Soo Man a good beating for treating her boy like this, but it just couldn't be done. "I miss you, mom. I love you."
"I love you, too, dear," she says, and she blinks the coming tears away. "You and Kyuhyun take care of each other, okay?"
He pulls back, surprised. She only kisses his cheek and turns to Kyuhyun, and her heart clenches at the sight of the boy's face - without the make-up the paleness of his skin is even starker. She takes him into her arms, and he feels cold. She wants to say that he better try his best to wipe the bags off Donghae's eyes, the whiteness off his face, but instead she says, "Get some sleep on the van ride to Seoul. You both need it."
-
She's a little lonely now; when Donghwa married he moved out of the house and into a bigger place a few blocks away. He visits sometimes, but it's not nearly enough. So when Donghae comes home after the final stop of their tour, Kyuhyun in tow just as always, she has to reacquaint herself with the feeling of having more than one or two guests at a time.
"Eomeoni," Kyuhyun greets, warm and affectionate, kissing her on the cheek. His smile is wide and lovely and just like his sister's, and a little bit like his mother's and father's as well.
"Cho Ara. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," the young lady intones pleasantly, holding out her hand. The rest of the family follow suit, and soon the air is filled with laughter.
She spies a glance at Donghae, entertaining everyone seated in the living room with family stories, Kyuhyun laughing the loudest.
She ducks her head inside the kitchen, feeling strangely more serene than she had been ever been in months, and prepares to make tea.