016. This Quiet House, Part 1
100 fic challenge [#016.] Quiet Places, Yehsung/Ryeowook, implied one-sided!Henry/Ryeowook
Title: This quiet house
Length: 1,205 words
Author: shieldkitten
Rating: PG (severe angst, character death)
Summary: With everyone in the 11th floor dorm busy working/overseas, Yehsung is left alone with just his thoughts and his nostalgia.
Author's note: I need to stop doubling up on my fic challenges or I'll never finish -.-'' But I wanted to write this since I read the word 'window ledge' in another fic the other day. The fic references this video of SJ-M on 越策越开心, as well as the song Somewhere Out There.
Original post: link
It's too quiet, Yehsung thinks, this house is too quiet.
He counts the empty beds and marks off another day on the calendar. He trails his hand along the coffee table and leaves his fingerprints smudged on the glass. Ryeowook will scold him when Ryeowook gets back, but Yehsung won't mind because it would mean that Ryeowook is back, that Kyuhyun is back, that this house will be quiet because the people in it are quiet, not quiet because there aren't any people in it at all.
He turns his two radios on, each dialed to different channels, and Sungmin talks, and Eunhyuk talks, but they're not talking to each other and neither of them are talking to him.
His phone rings.
"Hello?" comes from the other side, from another country, from another place where it isn't too quiet, where he is sure he can hear Siwon saying something in another language and loud laughter in response. "Hyung? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can hear you, Wookie."
"I just have a few minutes before we have to go. Henry, don't, I'm on the phone-" the volume dips and Yehsung hears shuffling, a giggle, a burst of laughter, and he can hear the smile in Ryeowook's voice when he comes back. "Sorry, hyung, I'll call you back."
"Okay."
"Hyung, I-- Henry! That's not what you use a loofa for, put it down!"
Yehsung puts the phone down. He turns the radios up. He turns on the television, the computers, the stereo, the air-conditioning, the microwave, the coffee maker, the vacuum cleaner, the faucets, and he sits in the middle of the living room floor with his ears ringing and thinks it's too quiet.
Hyung, stop it, I'm trying to concentrate.
Concentrate on me.
Don't be a big baby. Go sit quietly, I'll be done in a few minutes.
Wookie, look. Look, Wookie, look, look.
Hyung, that's not where you wear moisture socks.
The house is full of pictures, but Yehsung thinks they seem like mirrors. He stares at them and sees himself, still blank, still unchanged, his hair still falling in the same way over his eyes. Everyone else has changed - some more than others - but he's still here, static, frozen in a packet of time when everyone else is moving, working, changing.
"You're shrinking," Yehsung tells Ryeowook.
"I'm not. It only looks like I am because everyone else is bigger than me."
"Are you eating enough?"
"Yes, don't worry. Henry makes me eat all this really horrible western fast food."
"I heard my name!"
"I was just telling Yehsung-hyung you've been force-feeding me, Henry," Ryeowook laughs.
"Yeah! Don't worry, Yehsung-hyung, I'm taking good care of Lixu-ge."
"See? You don't have to worry, hyung, Henry's taking care of me now. Go away Henry, you're always disturbing me when I'm on the phone."
"But Hangeng-gege says we need to go practice. We should go before his head explodes from the stress."
"But I'm on the phone... Okay, okay, you don't have to drag me by the foot. Hyung?"
"I heard. You should go before Hankyung-hyung's head explodes from the stress."
"I'll call you again. I-"
"GEGE."
"Okay, okay, okay. Bye, hyung."
Yehsung looks in a mirror and gathers a lock of hair in his hand and he cuts it with a penknife. He only manages one side before his hand starts shaking too much and he can't continue while all the pictures are watching him, haunting him.
Don't cry, Wookie.
Why are they doing it? They keep shouting that stupid phrase like it means something. Don't they see how much it's hurting Henry? He acts stronger than he is but I've seen him crying.
I'll say something about it. Don't worry.
I just... He's so young, hyung. It makes me want to take care of him.
But who's going to take care of you?
You?
Well then, you'll take care of Henry and I'll take care of you, and it'll all work out. Only, Kyu might get jealous.
Let him get jealous then.
So heartless, Ryeowookie.
There is music everywhere he turns, like a reminder of who he is, why he's needed. People sing to him, encouraging him to sing back, and he does. Like a songbird in a cage he sings when he's asked to and sometimes when he isn't because if he's singing then he can pretend he can't hear his phone ringing, muffled beneath his mattress.
"Maybe you should learn Chinese, hyung," Eunhyuk says once, interrupting Yehsung while he's singing the ballad of Seo Dong. "K.R.Z. just isn't as catchy."
"What are you talking about?" Yehsung asks. His throat burns when he swallows but he clears it irritably.
Eunhyuk shows him what he's talking about.
Oh, Yehsung thinks, I see.
Hyung, come on, come on...
Just sing it with Kyu, I'm working on something.
It's not the same without you. Come on, sing it with us. K.R.Y.! K.R.Y.!
You don't even know what the song means.
Yes I do. Kibum translated it for me. It means that even though two people are apart, as long as they're looking up at the same night sky and wishing on the same star, they can be together.
That's just sappy.
But it's beautiful, come on! I wrote out your harmony and everything.
You giant sap.
It's too quiet, Yehsung thinks, this house is too quiet.
He sits on the window ledge, legs inside, staring at the night sky. Space is a vacuum, devoid of all sound, and Yehsung thinks space must have invaded this house, and filled the rooms, and filled his ears, and filled his heart, and he can't hear anything, or feel anything, or want anything. He tilts his head back, as far back as he can, searching for a star bright enough to matter, bright enough to be seen all the way in China, where there is smoke and dust obscuring the sky.
The phone rings.
Somewhere out there.
It rings again.
Someone's thinking of me.
It rings again.
And loving me.
There is a beep as the answering machine picks up.
"Hyung, it's Ryeowook. Are you busy? You don't pick up anymore."
"Lixu-ge, are you done yet? The others are waiting."
How very far apart we are.
"In a minute, Henry, wait outside."
"But the others..."
"Just one minute, okay? This is important."
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.
"Hyung, I know I've been really busy lately, and things keep happening so I can't be there for you, but hyung..."
Space is a vacuum, devoid of all sound, but Yehsung hears one last thing as he leans out too far and loses his balance.
"I love you so much, hyung."
Oh, Yehsung thinks, as he falls, I see.
I'll be back.
Of course you will.
You won't be too lonely, right? You can hang out with everyone else?
Of course.
I'll call you everyday.
Tsch, as if I have time to sit around and listen to you complain about how homesick you are. I'm a busy man, you know.
I'll see you when I get back.
Not if I see you first~
Bye, hyung.
Bye, Wookie.
It's too quiet. This house is too quiet.
Part 2
Title: This quiet house
Length: 1,205 words
Author: shieldkitten
Rating: PG (severe angst, character death)
Summary: With everyone in the 11th floor dorm busy working/overseas, Yehsung is left alone with just his thoughts and his nostalgia.
Author's note: I need to stop doubling up on my fic challenges or I'll never finish -.-'' But I wanted to write this since I read the word 'window ledge' in another fic the other day. The fic references this video of SJ-M on 越策越开心, as well as the song Somewhere Out There.
Original post: link
It's too quiet, Yehsung thinks, this house is too quiet.
He counts the empty beds and marks off another day on the calendar. He trails his hand along the coffee table and leaves his fingerprints smudged on the glass. Ryeowook will scold him when Ryeowook gets back, but Yehsung won't mind because it would mean that Ryeowook is back, that Kyuhyun is back, that this house will be quiet because the people in it are quiet, not quiet because there aren't any people in it at all.
He turns his two radios on, each dialed to different channels, and Sungmin talks, and Eunhyuk talks, but they're not talking to each other and neither of them are talking to him.
His phone rings.
"Hello?" comes from the other side, from another country, from another place where it isn't too quiet, where he is sure he can hear Siwon saying something in another language and loud laughter in response. "Hyung? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can hear you, Wookie."
"I just have a few minutes before we have to go. Henry, don't, I'm on the phone-" the volume dips and Yehsung hears shuffling, a giggle, a burst of laughter, and he can hear the smile in Ryeowook's voice when he comes back. "Sorry, hyung, I'll call you back."
"Okay."
"Hyung, I-- Henry! That's not what you use a loofa for, put it down!"
Yehsung puts the phone down. He turns the radios up. He turns on the television, the computers, the stereo, the air-conditioning, the microwave, the coffee maker, the vacuum cleaner, the faucets, and he sits in the middle of the living room floor with his ears ringing and thinks it's too quiet.
Hyung, stop it, I'm trying to concentrate.
Concentrate on me.
Don't be a big baby. Go sit quietly, I'll be done in a few minutes.
Wookie, look. Look, Wookie, look, look.
Hyung, that's not where you wear moisture socks.
The house is full of pictures, but Yehsung thinks they seem like mirrors. He stares at them and sees himself, still blank, still unchanged, his hair still falling in the same way over his eyes. Everyone else has changed - some more than others - but he's still here, static, frozen in a packet of time when everyone else is moving, working, changing.
"You're shrinking," Yehsung tells Ryeowook.
"I'm not. It only looks like I am because everyone else is bigger than me."
"Are you eating enough?"
"Yes, don't worry. Henry makes me eat all this really horrible western fast food."
"I heard my name!"
"I was just telling Yehsung-hyung you've been force-feeding me, Henry," Ryeowook laughs.
"Yeah! Don't worry, Yehsung-hyung, I'm taking good care of Lixu-ge."
"See? You don't have to worry, hyung, Henry's taking care of me now. Go away Henry, you're always disturbing me when I'm on the phone."
"But Hangeng-gege says we need to go practice. We should go before his head explodes from the stress."
"But I'm on the phone... Okay, okay, you don't have to drag me by the foot. Hyung?"
"I heard. You should go before Hankyung-hyung's head explodes from the stress."
"I'll call you again. I-"
"GEGE."
"Okay, okay, okay. Bye, hyung."
Yehsung looks in a mirror and gathers a lock of hair in his hand and he cuts it with a penknife. He only manages one side before his hand starts shaking too much and he can't continue while all the pictures are watching him, haunting him.
Don't cry, Wookie.
Why are they doing it? They keep shouting that stupid phrase like it means something. Don't they see how much it's hurting Henry? He acts stronger than he is but I've seen him crying.
I'll say something about it. Don't worry.
I just... He's so young, hyung. It makes me want to take care of him.
But who's going to take care of you?
You?
Well then, you'll take care of Henry and I'll take care of you, and it'll all work out. Only, Kyu might get jealous.
Let him get jealous then.
So heartless, Ryeowookie.
There is music everywhere he turns, like a reminder of who he is, why he's needed. People sing to him, encouraging him to sing back, and he does. Like a songbird in a cage he sings when he's asked to and sometimes when he isn't because if he's singing then he can pretend he can't hear his phone ringing, muffled beneath his mattress.
"Maybe you should learn Chinese, hyung," Eunhyuk says once, interrupting Yehsung while he's singing the ballad of Seo Dong. "K.R.Z. just isn't as catchy."
"What are you talking about?" Yehsung asks. His throat burns when he swallows but he clears it irritably.
Eunhyuk shows him what he's talking about.
Oh, Yehsung thinks, I see.
Hyung, come on, come on...
Just sing it with Kyu, I'm working on something.
It's not the same without you. Come on, sing it with us. K.R.Y.! K.R.Y.!
You don't even know what the song means.
Yes I do. Kibum translated it for me. It means that even though two people are apart, as long as they're looking up at the same night sky and wishing on the same star, they can be together.
That's just sappy.
But it's beautiful, come on! I wrote out your harmony and everything.
You giant sap.
It's too quiet, Yehsung thinks, this house is too quiet.
He sits on the window ledge, legs inside, staring at the night sky. Space is a vacuum, devoid of all sound, and Yehsung thinks space must have invaded this house, and filled the rooms, and filled his ears, and filled his heart, and he can't hear anything, or feel anything, or want anything. He tilts his head back, as far back as he can, searching for a star bright enough to matter, bright enough to be seen all the way in China, where there is smoke and dust obscuring the sky.
The phone rings.
Somewhere out there.
It rings again.
Someone's thinking of me.
It rings again.
And loving me.
There is a beep as the answering machine picks up.
"Hyung, it's Ryeowook. Are you busy? You don't pick up anymore."
"Lixu-ge, are you done yet? The others are waiting."
How very far apart we are.
"In a minute, Henry, wait outside."
"But the others..."
"Just one minute, okay? This is important."
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.
"Hyung, I know I've been really busy lately, and things keep happening so I can't be there for you, but hyung..."
Space is a vacuum, devoid of all sound, but Yehsung hears one last thing as he leans out too far and loses his balance.
"I love you so much, hyung."
Oh, Yehsung thinks, as he falls, I see.
I'll be back.
Of course you will.
You won't be too lonely, right? You can hang out with everyone else?
Of course.
I'll call you everyday.
Tsch, as if I have time to sit around and listen to you complain about how homesick you are. I'm a busy man, you know.
I'll see you when I get back.
Not if I see you first~
Bye, hyung.
Bye, Wookie.
It's too quiet. This house is too quiet.
Part 2