#24 [SUPER JUNIOR/SNSD. HYUKJAE/TAEYEON]
Fandom: Super Junior/SNSD
Title: Meddling 101
Rating: PG
Pairing: Hyukjae/Taeyeon
Length: 4 258
Summary: That conversation was the start of it all; now all that's left is for them to get together -- says Super Junior.
Notes: Thank you to my beta, you know who you are ♥ To my remixee: I hope you like it! :)
Remixee author: bollywoodrecord
Title of work you remixed: Singing and Dancing
Link to work you remixed: http://bollywoodrecord.livejournal.com/29164.html
"You were stuck awfully close to Taeyeon tonight," Jungsu says in the van on the way home, head tipped back and eyes closed. Hyukjae shakes himself into consciousness.
"Didn't leave her side all night," Donghae contributes, headphones plugged in and turned all the way up. Hyukjae wonders how he can still hear.
"Like a puppy," Sungmin says cheerfully and stretches out so his head is on Hyukjae's shoulder.
"Was not," Hyukjae murmurs.
"Does someone have a cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush," Shindong says, the jibe automatic as he starts falling asleep.
"I don't! I do not have a crush on Taeyeon!"
"It's okay," Ryeowook says sleepily and reaches up to pat Hyukjae's head. "She's nice. We approve."
They're all asleep by the time Hyukjae wakes up enough to formulate a comeback.
so when will our date be? kekeke~ is the message Hyukjae gets when he opens his phone later that night. He doesn't even remember exchanging phone numbers -- all he remembers is chatting with her and laughing so hard his cheeks and stomach hurt. Wow, this is a bad sign.
"Tomorrow!" Donghae yells right into Hyukjae's ear, hanging over his shoulder, and Hyukjae winces.
"Tomorrow we're in the recording studio the whole day," Sungmin says as he comes over and looks at the message. His eyes widen. "No, wait, I totally meant the day after. Your tomorrow is completely free, Hyukjae, completely and totally one hundred percent free to go on your date."
"Tomorrow we're recording--" Shindong starts before looking at Sungmin, who frantically shakes his head. He coughs. "Did I say something? I meant nothing, nothing's on tomorrow. Free schedule."
Hyukjae purses his lips together and stuffs his phone into his pocket. "I'll reply later."
i'm really sorry oppa but we're going to japan next week /)_(\!!!!!! reschedule?? ^^? is the text he gets just as he's about to open a new message. He tells himself that the relieved part of him outweighs the disappointed portion.
thats ok!!! reschedule when you get back ^^!!! good luck dongsaeng!
thank you oppa ^^!! i promise i'll make it up to you!
snsd hwaiting!!!
"So when's your date," Donghae asks expectantly the next morning, bouncing on his bed. Hyukjae is long past trying to figure out how Donghae gets into their dorm early in the morning, before anyone else is awake.
"She's in Japan -- going, to Japan," Hyukjae says, groaning, and the door to his bedroom opens.
"Schedule waits for no one," Jungsu says as he throws a dirty shirt from the floor and hits Donghae.
"I'll wait outside," Donghae says kindly and disappears. Hyukjae groans as the door closes and takes out his phone.
have a good day, oppa ^^!!
He hides his smile into his pillow.
you too ^^!
They text on and off for the whole day, asking each other mundane things like what their schedule is like and what they ate, and remember to drink lots of water! He finds himself smiling unawares more than once as he types in an answer on his phone during a break on a variety program or during practice, and Sungmin manages to snatch his phone off him during the ride home.
"Who you texting?" Sungmin asks curiously as he pokes Hyukjae's phone tentatively. "You've been stuck to your phone all day."
"No one," Hyukjae mumbles and makes a half-hearted grab for his phone. Why can't he ever just sleep during the ride home?
"Is it Taeyeon? I bet it's Taeyeon," Donghae says from beside Sungmin.
"No, it's... Junsu. Junsu's been texting me because he's, um, worried about, um, his voice, because of, um, all that secondhand smoke he's been getting from Jaejoong and Yoochun all the time. Yeah."
"Do you know his code?" Sungmin asks Donghae, completely ignoring Hyukjae, and Hyukjae groans.
"Leave my phone alone," he whines as they continue trying to key in the code before they get locked out.
"Unlock your phone!" Sungmin demands, holding it out, but Hyukjae just takes it and stuffs it into his pocket.
"Some of us are trying to sleep," Kyuhyun snaps, and Sungmin and Donghae share a look.
"Yeah Hyukjae--"
"God Hyukjae, why won't you be more considerate--"
"Of everyone sleeping in the van--"
"And just unlock your phone--"
"And stop making such a fuss about it--"
"Jeez Hyukjae, be more considerate of the people around you!"
"Yeah Hyukjae, aren't we your friends?"
"Yeah, why aren't you being nice to us!"
"God Hyukjae--"
"GOD YOU GUYS, JUST SHUT UP!" Yesung yells from his seat. "WE'RE ALMOST HOME CAN YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL WE'RE THERE AND BUG HIM IN HIS ROOM OR SOMETHING WHILE THE REST OF US SLEEP?"
"Or you could just unlock your phone," Sungmin says sweetly, and Hyukjae blearily opens an eye, recognising the convenience store on the corner. There's at least a good fifteen minutes to go, and he doesn't know if he can take this -- he just wants to sleep.
He groans and pulls out his out his phone, unlocks it and throws it at Sungmin's head.
"Goodnight," he says sullenly.
"Goodnight," they chirp and start wrecking havoc on Hyukjae's life.
Ryeowook shakes him awake when the van pulls into the dorm's carpark, and Hyukjae rubs his eyes and yawns. It was a good sleep, and as he stands, he automatically checks his pockets.
He looks around for his phone, but Sungmin just hands it over with a self-satisfied smile.
"Have a good sleep?" he asks innocently, and Hyukjae eyes them before slipping his phone into his pocket. Donghae rubs his eyes and yawns, but gives Hyukjae a thumbs up when Hyukjae looks at him.
"Better get some rest," he says brightly. "Big day tomorrow!"
Hyukjae's almost too scared to check his phone, but he supposes it's better to know than not to know. So after his shower and a snack, he falls onto his bed and grabs his phone. He considers the lock screen for a moment, watching the message icon flash, before he sighs and unlocks it.
oppa, can we talk?
That is the worst thing he could ever read, and he swallows as he opens his Sent messages box.
Which is empty, the evil, conniving bastards.
He leaps up and runs to Sungmin's room, throws open the door and finds Sungmin fast asleep in bed, and Kyuhyun at his desk, his laptop open. He slips off his headphones and looks up, pausing his game.
"Hyung?" he says softly, and Hyukjae's eyes flicker to Sungmin's peaceful face, his body curled around a soft toy, and Hyukjae scowls.
"Don't worry Kyuhyun. 'Night."
Kyuhyun slips his headphones back on. "'Night hung."
When Hyukjae's gone, Sungmin's opens his eyes and he and Kyuhyun exchange a quick high five.
"I don't even want to know what happened," Kyuhyun says as he unpauses his game, and Sungmin closes his eyes again. He smiles.
"You'll see."
The next morning, the dorm phone rings at exactly 6AM, when half the members are already out and the other half are still fast asleep. Ryeowook blearily staggers to the phone and picks it up, voice perfectly pitched like he's been awake for hours, but face looking like death.
"Hello? Super Junior dorm, Ryeowook speaking."
Sungmin's already out, as are Yesung and Shindong, which only leaves Hyukjae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun still in the apartment. Hyukjae pokes his head through the doorway to his bedroom while the other doors remain firmly shut.
"Yours," Ryeowook says, holding the phone out to Hyukjae, stifling a yawn. Hyukjae takes it with wary hands. He licks his lips.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Oppa?" Taeyeon's voice comes out tinny and small through the phone, and a chill spreads through Hyukjae's body.
"Tae-Taeyeon. Um, before-- before you start, let me apologise for last night's texts. I'm really sorry, Sungmin and Donghae took my phone and I don't know what they did with it. I'm really sorry if they sent anything inappropriate, and I apologise for their behaviour."
"Oppa," she says, and it takes him a moment to realise she's laughing. "Oppa, don't worry about it, it was nothing. I'll show you what they sent, if you want, next time we see each other."
Next time. He puts a hand to his chest and makes sure he isn't smiling too hard. That would be embarrassing.
"What did they send?"
Her laugh is adorable, he thinks. Adorable and perfect, just like her.
"Oh, nothing bad. I could tell it was them, so don't worry about it."
"Oh, well, that's good. I guess."
Taeyeon laughs again, and Hyukjae quickly sits on the couch before lying down and getting comfortable.
"Oppa, I just wanted to call to let you know we're leaving for Japan later today, so we won't be able to go on our date for a while! Wish me a safe trip?"
The words rush out of his mouth before he can help it, and he stutters, again.
"Of-of course! Have a sa- have a safe trip, Taeyeon! Good luck in Japan!"
Her giggles are so cute, he thinks, and he can just imagine her making a fist and smiling into the phone.
"Super Junior hwaiting!"
"SNSD hwaiting!"
There's kind of a radio silence for about two weeks after the phone call, even though he checked with management and confirmed that their flight left in the evening, and he made sure to text her again before that. When Sungmin comes home from schedule (Hyukjae had checked in the other apartment and Donghae was Missing, which meant he was probably just in the dance studios), Hyukjae is just leaving for his, so he doesn't get to grill Sungmin about the text messages. Sungmin gives him a quick hug as he exits anyway, and a sweet, angelic smile.
"Have fun!" Sungmin says brightly before he bursts into his own room and drags Kyuhyun out to attend to his daily business.
If Hyukjae's honest, he'd admit that the silence is a bit worrying, since he knows that international calls and texts are nothing to management, in the grand scheme of things. But of course, Taeyeon's probably too busy with her new schedule to find time to reply to an irrelevant text, and if Hyukjae was in her position, he'd rather sleep than text back.
Still, he does find his gaze straying to his phone more than once during those two weeks, fiddling with his phone and checking that there aren't any new messages.
"Stop it," Jungsu hisses out of the corner of his mouth when they're on Sukira, still smiling brightly. "I will chuck your phone out of the window if you check it one more time while we're on air."
"But what if it's an emergency!" Hyukjae whines, not even bothering to pretend, and Jungsu turns to him and shoots him a predatory smile.
"I will turn this into an emergency if you don't stop checking it while we're on schedule! As long as the camera and mic is on, no phones!"
Jungsu grabs Hyukjae's phone, throws it to their manager, and then smiles brightly for the camera as the ON AIR light flicks back on. Hyukjae wants to cry, and possibly leap across to table to grab his phone back from where their manager is dangling it above the bin.
"Now that spring's coming, it's finally getting warmer and you know what that means!" Jungsu says brightly into the mic, and nudges Hyukjae.
"That's right! It means it's almost time to hit the beach!" Hyukjae glares at Jungsu. This is how the rest of the show goes.
When Hyukjae finally gives up checking his phone every two seconds -- actually, Donghae steals it and Hyukjae doesn't see it for a few days, and it's returned with a few extra scratches and one more charm -- he gets a message from Taeyeon. It's short and simple.
oppa! we're back in korea! when's our date ^^?
He doesn't know how to reply, so he goes to the local love guru for help. Aka the band's romantic.
"What's so hard about setting a date for a date?" Donghae asks, eyebrows furrowed together as he measures out equal amounts of chocolate powder and milk.
"But it's so hard matching up our schedules together! I mean when she's always got Girls' Generation stuff going on and I've got Super Junior stuff going on and then what if she doesn't want to meet me? What if it was only a joke? What if she doesn't even like me?"
"So you admit you like her," Donghae says as he stirs his chocolate milk, nonchalant, and Hyukjae freezes.
"I mean, of course I like her, she's pretty and talented and the leader of Girl's Generation, what's there to not like! And she's so funny and nice and funny and pretty and she likes... to talk. With me." Hyukjae's heart twists at the words.
"Oh Hyukkie," Donghae says, smiling pitifully. "Just ask when she's free and set a date. It isn't hard. You've gone out on dates before."
Yes, but not with Taeyeon, Hyukjae doesn't say. It seems too significant, almost, and Hyukjae bites his lip.
"Of course," he says, delayed, and Donghae's eyes meet his from over the glass. "Thanks anyway, Donghae."
"Of course." They fist bump.
when are you free? ^^
Hyukjae despairs. Should he add a heart? Would that be too forward? Should he apologise for his radio silence? Should he ask about her silence? Maybe he should ask how Japan was. Or mention that he watched her while they were over there and they were terrific, and that he loves their new song and can't get it out of his head, especially Taeyeon's lines. Taeyeon's perfect singing and perfect voice and perfect, well, everything.
"What're you doing?" Sungmin asks as he flops onto the bed beside Hyukjae, reading over his shoulder.
"Nothing! Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing-- aren't you meant to be out on schedule?" Hyukjae quickly hides his phone under his pillow.
"Photoshoot ended early," Sungmin says brightly before he pries Hyukjae's phone away from him. "Oh, why don't you send it?" And he does just that.
Hyukjae moans and buries his head under his pillow.
They schedule a Tuesday when neither of them are completely bombarded with work, and agree to meet up. It doesn't feel like a date in the traditional sense of the word -- they don't go out to the movies or a theme park or out to a fancy restaurant to eat -- and in some ways, Hyukjae likes this better. It feels more normal and manageable, and he doesn't really have to try to impress her with fancy clothes or food. It feels good.
They meet in the lobby of the company building, dressed rather attractively in sweatpants and hoodies, both sporting caps and sunnies because their hair looks ridiculous unstyled and who wants to sit in a styling chair for an hour on a day off? Their eye bags are under the same consideration.
"Taeyeon-sshi," Hyukjae says as a greeting, shifting his backpack nervously, and Taeyeon gives him a hug.
"Why do you sound so formal, oppa?" she asks, pulling back and taking off her sunnies. Hyukjae is temporarily blinded by the brightness of her smile. "Let's go then," she says and links arms.
Hyukjae swallows, and matches her step for step.
"Lead the way!"
They go to the dance studio first because Hyukjae would rather impress her before embarrassing himself. He quickly takes off his hoodie, left in a tank top and sweatpants, and goes to the sound system, fiddling with music.
"What do you want to dance?" he asks, not looking away, and Taeyeon humms.
"I don't mind. Why don't you teach me something? I'm sure we're sick enough of our own routines by now."
Hyukjae isn't great on the fly -- that's more Shindong or Hyoyeon -- so he digs through his memory and scrolls through his music, pausing on some RnB and yeah, why not?
Taeyeon... isn't terrible. She isn't as bad as she made herself sound, and Hyukjae is a bit amused because she's pretty good considering she doesn't breathe dance -- her life and soul is reserved for singing.
"Why'd you make it sound like you were so bad?" Hyukjae asks, mock angry, and Taeyeon laughs, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Because I am! When I see your dancing, it makes me feel horrible! I'm nothing compared to you."
Hyukjae pouts. "That's unfair. You can't compare yourself to someone who's danced since they were small, before I could even walk properly!"
Taeyeon's eyes go wide before she grins, so wide that her cheeks must be hurting and her eyes go all crinkled.
"I can just imagine it, that would've been adorable," she says as she puts her hands to her cheeks, and Hyukjae sighs, but smiles.
"Why yes, I am adorable, thank you."
Taeyeon giggles.
They take a small break for lunch, grabbing some packed lunches from the convenience store and downing them with canned energy drinks. It isn't healthy, nor should they be doing it, but it feels like the trainee life all over again and it reminds Hyukjae of how he was back then. More innocent and optimistic; less jaded. Young. Naive.
Taeyeon sees the look in his eyes and lightly taps her can against his, waking him.
"To us," she says, smiling, and he returns it. "To debuting, and to Super Junior and Girls' Generation."
"To us," he agrees, and clinks their cans together.
Taeyeon chooses the music, and Hyukjae looks up when he recognises the first few notes.
"'Why I Like You'?" he asks, and she smiles bashfully.
"One of my favourites," she confesses, and walks over to hand over sheet music. "I don't suppose you'd need this?"
"Been a while; better to have it in case," he says, and holds on as her fingers brush over his. She doesn't react, so neither does he, but the heat lingers.
"Sing whichever part you want," Taeyeon says as she walks back over to the controls. "I just want to hear your voice."
The beginning plays again, so familiar, and Hyukjae can feel the familiar words roll off his tongue, a bit awkward, used to hearing them from someone else. But he's heard it enough times that he can sing it in his sleep, and barely looks at the sheet music, going from memory instead.
Taeyeon stops the music after the first chorus, and Hyukjae looks up, mouth still hanging open.
"Oppa," Taeyeon says, as if surprised. "You're not horrible! You sound great."
He tries really hard not to, but blushes anyway. "No, no, compared to you, I'm nothing."
"Well, compared to you and your dancing, I'm nothing," Taeyeon counters, but she's laughing, hand braced lightly on the wall. Hyukjae cracks a grin.
"Aw, come on Taeyeon!" Hyukjae says and pounces to smother her in a hug. She struggles, squealing and laughing before they collapse on the floor and he lets go, bracing himself to make sure she doesn't get hurt.
It feels like a scene from a drama as Taeyeon shakes her head and lifts herself up, bracing herself on her hands on either side of Hyukjae's head. She opens her eyes and looks down slowly, eyes widening and mouth forming a perfect 'o'. Her legs are on either side of Hyukjae's waist. He tries not to think about that.
Hyukjae laughs weakly to try to break the tension, but Taeyeon just stays poised in that position, perfectly so.
"Oppa," she says, breath fanning across his face, and he stills, too.
"Yeah?"
There's no sound in the room at all, the music having stopped long ago, and all Hyukjae can hear is his own heart beat, and maybe even Taeyeon's. Is she as nervous as he is?"
"Oppa," she says again, and drops down an inch, hair tickling Hyukjae's cheeks and nose, and her eyes flicker down to his lips. He doesn't want to move -- can't move. "You know I like you, right?"
His body takes that moment to sneeze, violently, and he jerks, bashing his head against the floor and Taeyeon freezes before she collapses in laughter, lying on Hyukjae's chest and clutching at his shirt, wheezing.
"You have perfect timing," she says, and he wipes his nose with his sleeve.
"Hey," he protests weakly. "I do okay, perfect timing and all that."
She looks up at him, grinning so wide and honestly that her eyes are practically crescents, a tiny dimple on her cheek, her bangs messy and messed up, and Hyukjae can't deny it. He likes her. A lot.
"I like you too, you know," he says, and kisses her.
"There's something going on with them," Tiffany says, eyes narrowed as Siwon bends a little so they're at the same eye level.
"With who?"
"Hyukjae and Taeyeon," Sooyoung says, appearing on Siwon's other side, and he shifts and flashes her a friendly smile.
"Really," he says quietly, and sips his champagne.
It's another one of those parties that SM seems to like, mixing all the groups together along with the staffs and some promising trainees, topped off with a huge mound of food. Just like before, Hyukjae and Taeyeon are at the food table, chatting and laughing with each other, but something's different. The very atmosphere is different.
"Hmmm," Sungmin says from Sooyoung's right, eyes narrowed as Hyukjae places a hand on Taeyeon's waist, and she smiles at him.
"This is very suspicious," Sunny contributes, holding a small plate of food that Sooyoung immediately steals.
"Something's going on," Donghae says, hanging onto Sunny as Taeyeon laughs brightly and feeds Hyukjae a grape with her bare fingers.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say they were dat--" Yesung starts to say before he's cute off by Ryeowook thumping him on the back and exclaiming about how nice it is to see him and what fantastic weather it is!
"It's night time," Yesung says,turning around with his eyebrows raised. "And we're inside. There aren't even any windows -- Ryeowook, are you sure you're okay? Do you want some food? Water? Maybe you should get some rest..."
"You're welcome," Ryeowook hisses as he stands next to Yesung piling a plate high with fruit and red meat. Hyukjae startles as he jerks out of his happy bubble with Taeyeon, turning around with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh," Taeyeon says, and places a hand on Hyukjae's sleeve as she looks somewhere past his left shoulder. He bends a little so she can whisper into his ear. "Look near the entrance."
When he turns, expecting maybe a giant spider or a dinosaur, he sees fellow labelmates and band members, hastily turning to the person next to them and talking really loudly. Hyukjae stares at them.
"...NICE WEATHER!" Donghae's voice echoes. Hyukjae is the first to laugh, and Taeyeon quickly dissolves after.
"Very suspicious," Sungmin agrees softly, and somewhere behind him, Leeteuk puts his head in his hands.
"I did not deserve this."
Later when they're on the roof, far away from the party with only the skyscape of the night and the cityscape of Seoul before them, Hyukjae leans down to kiss Taeyeon, away from prying eyes. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand on the nape of her neck, and feels her shiver.
"Are you cold?"
"No, no, I'm fine, oppa," she says, weakly protesting as he takes off his blazer and hands it to her.
"You're going to freeze," he says, securely pulling it over her shoulders, and she pouts.
"You don't have to worry about--"
They're interrupted by Hyukjae's phone beeping, and he blushes and fumbles as he takes it out of his pocket.
u go u playa!!! go hyukkie!!!!!!!! ^^ says Donghae's number, quickly followed by, make sure you use protection, from Jungsu and then, from Sungmin, come find me if you need anything. ANYTHING!!!!
He quickly stuffs his phone back into his pocket before Taeyeon can see it, and wills his blush away.
"Show me!" she says, and pulls on his arm. "Who's it from?"
"No one important," he mutters, hand curled tightly around his phone in his pocket. He doesn't budge, refuses to.
"Oppa! Come on," she says, and her own phone beeps. She lets go as she fumbles for her phone, and Hyukjae breathes a sigh of relief. She instantly goes red as she reads her own text and hides her phone away.
"What was it?" he asks, and pokes her. "Who was it? What did they say? Come on, Taeyeon, show me!"
"You don't want to see it," she says, and lets out a high pitched giggle when he tickles her.
"I do! Come on Taeyeonnnnnnn, come onnnnnnnn! Or--" he says, pausing in his tickling, and she breathes, "show me what Sungmin and Donghae sent you."
"Oh," Taeyeon says a bit breathlessly, but grinning as she quickly goes through her phone. "That I can show you."
She hands her phone over, and Hyukjae reads the little characters, feeling a thousand things at once but basically settling on not killing them just yet.
"That was nice of them," he says, and she smiles, giving him a hug.
"I think so too!"
hyukkie likes you~ dont tell him we told you that!!! we love you too taeyeonnie ^^ -donghae,sungmin
Title: Meddling 101
Rating: PG
Pairing: Hyukjae/Taeyeon
Length: 4 258
Summary: That conversation was the start of it all; now all that's left is for them to get together -- says Super Junior.
Notes: Thank you to my beta, you know who you are ♥ To my remixee: I hope you like it! :)
Remixee author: bollywoodrecord
Title of work you remixed: Singing and Dancing
Link to work you remixed: http://bollywoodrecord.livejournal.com/29164.html
"You were stuck awfully close to Taeyeon tonight," Jungsu says in the van on the way home, head tipped back and eyes closed. Hyukjae shakes himself into consciousness.
"Didn't leave her side all night," Donghae contributes, headphones plugged in and turned all the way up. Hyukjae wonders how he can still hear.
"Like a puppy," Sungmin says cheerfully and stretches out so his head is on Hyukjae's shoulder.
"Was not," Hyukjae murmurs.
"Does someone have a cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush," Shindong says, the jibe automatic as he starts falling asleep.
"I don't! I do not have a crush on Taeyeon!"
"It's okay," Ryeowook says sleepily and reaches up to pat Hyukjae's head. "She's nice. We approve."
They're all asleep by the time Hyukjae wakes up enough to formulate a comeback.
so when will our date be? kekeke~ is the message Hyukjae gets when he opens his phone later that night. He doesn't even remember exchanging phone numbers -- all he remembers is chatting with her and laughing so hard his cheeks and stomach hurt. Wow, this is a bad sign.
"Tomorrow!" Donghae yells right into Hyukjae's ear, hanging over his shoulder, and Hyukjae winces.
"Tomorrow we're in the recording studio the whole day," Sungmin says as he comes over and looks at the message. His eyes widen. "No, wait, I totally meant the day after. Your tomorrow is completely free, Hyukjae, completely and totally one hundred percent free to go on your date."
"Tomorrow we're recording--" Shindong starts before looking at Sungmin, who frantically shakes his head. He coughs. "Did I say something? I meant nothing, nothing's on tomorrow. Free schedule."
Hyukjae purses his lips together and stuffs his phone into his pocket. "I'll reply later."
i'm really sorry oppa but we're going to japan next week /)_(\!!!!!! reschedule?? ^^? is the text he gets just as he's about to open a new message. He tells himself that the relieved part of him outweighs the disappointed portion.
thats ok!!! reschedule when you get back ^^!!! good luck dongsaeng!
thank you oppa ^^!! i promise i'll make it up to you!
snsd hwaiting!!!
"So when's your date," Donghae asks expectantly the next morning, bouncing on his bed. Hyukjae is long past trying to figure out how Donghae gets into their dorm early in the morning, before anyone else is awake.
"She's in Japan -- going, to Japan," Hyukjae says, groaning, and the door to his bedroom opens.
"Schedule waits for no one," Jungsu says as he throws a dirty shirt from the floor and hits Donghae.
"I'll wait outside," Donghae says kindly and disappears. Hyukjae groans as the door closes and takes out his phone.
have a good day, oppa ^^!!
He hides his smile into his pillow.
you too ^^!
They text on and off for the whole day, asking each other mundane things like what their schedule is like and what they ate, and remember to drink lots of water! He finds himself smiling unawares more than once as he types in an answer on his phone during a break on a variety program or during practice, and Sungmin manages to snatch his phone off him during the ride home.
"Who you texting?" Sungmin asks curiously as he pokes Hyukjae's phone tentatively. "You've been stuck to your phone all day."
"No one," Hyukjae mumbles and makes a half-hearted grab for his phone. Why can't he ever just sleep during the ride home?
"Is it Taeyeon? I bet it's Taeyeon," Donghae says from beside Sungmin.
"No, it's... Junsu. Junsu's been texting me because he's, um, worried about, um, his voice, because of, um, all that secondhand smoke he's been getting from Jaejoong and Yoochun all the time. Yeah."
"Do you know his code?" Sungmin asks Donghae, completely ignoring Hyukjae, and Hyukjae groans.
"Leave my phone alone," he whines as they continue trying to key in the code before they get locked out.
"Unlock your phone!" Sungmin demands, holding it out, but Hyukjae just takes it and stuffs it into his pocket.
"Some of us are trying to sleep," Kyuhyun snaps, and Sungmin and Donghae share a look.
"Yeah Hyukjae--"
"God Hyukjae, why won't you be more considerate--"
"Of everyone sleeping in the van--"
"And just unlock your phone--"
"And stop making such a fuss about it--"
"Jeez Hyukjae, be more considerate of the people around you!"
"Yeah Hyukjae, aren't we your friends?"
"Yeah, why aren't you being nice to us!"
"God Hyukjae--"
"GOD YOU GUYS, JUST SHUT UP!" Yesung yells from his seat. "WE'RE ALMOST HOME CAN YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL WE'RE THERE AND BUG HIM IN HIS ROOM OR SOMETHING WHILE THE REST OF US SLEEP?"
"Or you could just unlock your phone," Sungmin says sweetly, and Hyukjae blearily opens an eye, recognising the convenience store on the corner. There's at least a good fifteen minutes to go, and he doesn't know if he can take this -- he just wants to sleep.
He groans and pulls out his out his phone, unlocks it and throws it at Sungmin's head.
"Goodnight," he says sullenly.
"Goodnight," they chirp and start wrecking havoc on Hyukjae's life.
Ryeowook shakes him awake when the van pulls into the dorm's carpark, and Hyukjae rubs his eyes and yawns. It was a good sleep, and as he stands, he automatically checks his pockets.
He looks around for his phone, but Sungmin just hands it over with a self-satisfied smile.
"Have a good sleep?" he asks innocently, and Hyukjae eyes them before slipping his phone into his pocket. Donghae rubs his eyes and yawns, but gives Hyukjae a thumbs up when Hyukjae looks at him.
"Better get some rest," he says brightly. "Big day tomorrow!"
Hyukjae's almost too scared to check his phone, but he supposes it's better to know than not to know. So after his shower and a snack, he falls onto his bed and grabs his phone. He considers the lock screen for a moment, watching the message icon flash, before he sighs and unlocks it.
oppa, can we talk?
That is the worst thing he could ever read, and he swallows as he opens his Sent messages box.
Which is empty, the evil, conniving bastards.
He leaps up and runs to Sungmin's room, throws open the door and finds Sungmin fast asleep in bed, and Kyuhyun at his desk, his laptop open. He slips off his headphones and looks up, pausing his game.
"Hyung?" he says softly, and Hyukjae's eyes flicker to Sungmin's peaceful face, his body curled around a soft toy, and Hyukjae scowls.
"Don't worry Kyuhyun. 'Night."
Kyuhyun slips his headphones back on. "'Night hung."
When Hyukjae's gone, Sungmin's opens his eyes and he and Kyuhyun exchange a quick high five.
"I don't even want to know what happened," Kyuhyun says as he unpauses his game, and Sungmin closes his eyes again. He smiles.
"You'll see."
The next morning, the dorm phone rings at exactly 6AM, when half the members are already out and the other half are still fast asleep. Ryeowook blearily staggers to the phone and picks it up, voice perfectly pitched like he's been awake for hours, but face looking like death.
"Hello? Super Junior dorm, Ryeowook speaking."
Sungmin's already out, as are Yesung and Shindong, which only leaves Hyukjae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun still in the apartment. Hyukjae pokes his head through the doorway to his bedroom while the other doors remain firmly shut.
"Yours," Ryeowook says, holding the phone out to Hyukjae, stifling a yawn. Hyukjae takes it with wary hands. He licks his lips.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Oppa?" Taeyeon's voice comes out tinny and small through the phone, and a chill spreads through Hyukjae's body.
"Tae-Taeyeon. Um, before-- before you start, let me apologise for last night's texts. I'm really sorry, Sungmin and Donghae took my phone and I don't know what they did with it. I'm really sorry if they sent anything inappropriate, and I apologise for their behaviour."
"Oppa," she says, and it takes him a moment to realise she's laughing. "Oppa, don't worry about it, it was nothing. I'll show you what they sent, if you want, next time we see each other."
Next time. He puts a hand to his chest and makes sure he isn't smiling too hard. That would be embarrassing.
"What did they send?"
Her laugh is adorable, he thinks. Adorable and perfect, just like her.
"Oh, nothing bad. I could tell it was them, so don't worry about it."
"Oh, well, that's good. I guess."
Taeyeon laughs again, and Hyukjae quickly sits on the couch before lying down and getting comfortable.
"Oppa, I just wanted to call to let you know we're leaving for Japan later today, so we won't be able to go on our date for a while! Wish me a safe trip?"
The words rush out of his mouth before he can help it, and he stutters, again.
"Of-of course! Have a sa- have a safe trip, Taeyeon! Good luck in Japan!"
Her giggles are so cute, he thinks, and he can just imagine her making a fist and smiling into the phone.
"Super Junior hwaiting!"
"SNSD hwaiting!"
There's kind of a radio silence for about two weeks after the phone call, even though he checked with management and confirmed that their flight left in the evening, and he made sure to text her again before that. When Sungmin comes home from schedule (Hyukjae had checked in the other apartment and Donghae was Missing, which meant he was probably just in the dance studios), Hyukjae is just leaving for his, so he doesn't get to grill Sungmin about the text messages. Sungmin gives him a quick hug as he exits anyway, and a sweet, angelic smile.
"Have fun!" Sungmin says brightly before he bursts into his own room and drags Kyuhyun out to attend to his daily business.
If Hyukjae's honest, he'd admit that the silence is a bit worrying, since he knows that international calls and texts are nothing to management, in the grand scheme of things. But of course, Taeyeon's probably too busy with her new schedule to find time to reply to an irrelevant text, and if Hyukjae was in her position, he'd rather sleep than text back.
Still, he does find his gaze straying to his phone more than once during those two weeks, fiddling with his phone and checking that there aren't any new messages.
"Stop it," Jungsu hisses out of the corner of his mouth when they're on Sukira, still smiling brightly. "I will chuck your phone out of the window if you check it one more time while we're on air."
"But what if it's an emergency!" Hyukjae whines, not even bothering to pretend, and Jungsu turns to him and shoots him a predatory smile.
"I will turn this into an emergency if you don't stop checking it while we're on schedule! As long as the camera and mic is on, no phones!"
Jungsu grabs Hyukjae's phone, throws it to their manager, and then smiles brightly for the camera as the ON AIR light flicks back on. Hyukjae wants to cry, and possibly leap across to table to grab his phone back from where their manager is dangling it above the bin.
"Now that spring's coming, it's finally getting warmer and you know what that means!" Jungsu says brightly into the mic, and nudges Hyukjae.
"That's right! It means it's almost time to hit the beach!" Hyukjae glares at Jungsu. This is how the rest of the show goes.
When Hyukjae finally gives up checking his phone every two seconds -- actually, Donghae steals it and Hyukjae doesn't see it for a few days, and it's returned with a few extra scratches and one more charm -- he gets a message from Taeyeon. It's short and simple.
oppa! we're back in korea! when's our date ^^?
He doesn't know how to reply, so he goes to the local love guru for help. Aka the band's romantic.
"What's so hard about setting a date for a date?" Donghae asks, eyebrows furrowed together as he measures out equal amounts of chocolate powder and milk.
"But it's so hard matching up our schedules together! I mean when she's always got Girls' Generation stuff going on and I've got Super Junior stuff going on and then what if she doesn't want to meet me? What if it was only a joke? What if she doesn't even like me?"
"So you admit you like her," Donghae says as he stirs his chocolate milk, nonchalant, and Hyukjae freezes.
"I mean, of course I like her, she's pretty and talented and the leader of Girl's Generation, what's there to not like! And she's so funny and nice and funny and pretty and she likes... to talk. With me." Hyukjae's heart twists at the words.
"Oh Hyukkie," Donghae says, smiling pitifully. "Just ask when she's free and set a date. It isn't hard. You've gone out on dates before."
Yes, but not with Taeyeon, Hyukjae doesn't say. It seems too significant, almost, and Hyukjae bites his lip.
"Of course," he says, delayed, and Donghae's eyes meet his from over the glass. "Thanks anyway, Donghae."
"Of course." They fist bump.
when are you free? ^^
Hyukjae despairs. Should he add a heart? Would that be too forward? Should he apologise for his radio silence? Should he ask about her silence? Maybe he should ask how Japan was. Or mention that he watched her while they were over there and they were terrific, and that he loves their new song and can't get it out of his head, especially Taeyeon's lines. Taeyeon's perfect singing and perfect voice and perfect, well, everything.
"What're you doing?" Sungmin asks as he flops onto the bed beside Hyukjae, reading over his shoulder.
"Nothing! Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing-- aren't you meant to be out on schedule?" Hyukjae quickly hides his phone under his pillow.
"Photoshoot ended early," Sungmin says brightly before he pries Hyukjae's phone away from him. "Oh, why don't you send it?" And he does just that.
Hyukjae moans and buries his head under his pillow.
They schedule a Tuesday when neither of them are completely bombarded with work, and agree to meet up. It doesn't feel like a date in the traditional sense of the word -- they don't go out to the movies or a theme park or out to a fancy restaurant to eat -- and in some ways, Hyukjae likes this better. It feels more normal and manageable, and he doesn't really have to try to impress her with fancy clothes or food. It feels good.
They meet in the lobby of the company building, dressed rather attractively in sweatpants and hoodies, both sporting caps and sunnies because their hair looks ridiculous unstyled and who wants to sit in a styling chair for an hour on a day off? Their eye bags are under the same consideration.
"Taeyeon-sshi," Hyukjae says as a greeting, shifting his backpack nervously, and Taeyeon gives him a hug.
"Why do you sound so formal, oppa?" she asks, pulling back and taking off her sunnies. Hyukjae is temporarily blinded by the brightness of her smile. "Let's go then," she says and links arms.
Hyukjae swallows, and matches her step for step.
"Lead the way!"
They go to the dance studio first because Hyukjae would rather impress her before embarrassing himself. He quickly takes off his hoodie, left in a tank top and sweatpants, and goes to the sound system, fiddling with music.
"What do you want to dance?" he asks, not looking away, and Taeyeon humms.
"I don't mind. Why don't you teach me something? I'm sure we're sick enough of our own routines by now."
Hyukjae isn't great on the fly -- that's more Shindong or Hyoyeon -- so he digs through his memory and scrolls through his music, pausing on some RnB and yeah, why not?
Taeyeon... isn't terrible. She isn't as bad as she made herself sound, and Hyukjae is a bit amused because she's pretty good considering she doesn't breathe dance -- her life and soul is reserved for singing.
"Why'd you make it sound like you were so bad?" Hyukjae asks, mock angry, and Taeyeon laughs, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Because I am! When I see your dancing, it makes me feel horrible! I'm nothing compared to you."
Hyukjae pouts. "That's unfair. You can't compare yourself to someone who's danced since they were small, before I could even walk properly!"
Taeyeon's eyes go wide before she grins, so wide that her cheeks must be hurting and her eyes go all crinkled.
"I can just imagine it, that would've been adorable," she says as she puts her hands to her cheeks, and Hyukjae sighs, but smiles.
"Why yes, I am adorable, thank you."
Taeyeon giggles.
They take a small break for lunch, grabbing some packed lunches from the convenience store and downing them with canned energy drinks. It isn't healthy, nor should they be doing it, but it feels like the trainee life all over again and it reminds Hyukjae of how he was back then. More innocent and optimistic; less jaded. Young. Naive.
Taeyeon sees the look in his eyes and lightly taps her can against his, waking him.
"To us," she says, smiling, and he returns it. "To debuting, and to Super Junior and Girls' Generation."
"To us," he agrees, and clinks their cans together.
Taeyeon chooses the music, and Hyukjae looks up when he recognises the first few notes.
"'Why I Like You'?" he asks, and she smiles bashfully.
"One of my favourites," she confesses, and walks over to hand over sheet music. "I don't suppose you'd need this?"
"Been a while; better to have it in case," he says, and holds on as her fingers brush over his. She doesn't react, so neither does he, but the heat lingers.
"Sing whichever part you want," Taeyeon says as she walks back over to the controls. "I just want to hear your voice."
The beginning plays again, so familiar, and Hyukjae can feel the familiar words roll off his tongue, a bit awkward, used to hearing them from someone else. But he's heard it enough times that he can sing it in his sleep, and barely looks at the sheet music, going from memory instead.
Taeyeon stops the music after the first chorus, and Hyukjae looks up, mouth still hanging open.
"Oppa," Taeyeon says, as if surprised. "You're not horrible! You sound great."
He tries really hard not to, but blushes anyway. "No, no, compared to you, I'm nothing."
"Well, compared to you and your dancing, I'm nothing," Taeyeon counters, but she's laughing, hand braced lightly on the wall. Hyukjae cracks a grin.
"Aw, come on Taeyeon!" Hyukjae says and pounces to smother her in a hug. She struggles, squealing and laughing before they collapse on the floor and he lets go, bracing himself to make sure she doesn't get hurt.
It feels like a scene from a drama as Taeyeon shakes her head and lifts herself up, bracing herself on her hands on either side of Hyukjae's head. She opens her eyes and looks down slowly, eyes widening and mouth forming a perfect 'o'. Her legs are on either side of Hyukjae's waist. He tries not to think about that.
Hyukjae laughs weakly to try to break the tension, but Taeyeon just stays poised in that position, perfectly so.
"Oppa," she says, breath fanning across his face, and he stills, too.
"Yeah?"
There's no sound in the room at all, the music having stopped long ago, and all Hyukjae can hear is his own heart beat, and maybe even Taeyeon's. Is she as nervous as he is?"
"Oppa," she says again, and drops down an inch, hair tickling Hyukjae's cheeks and nose, and her eyes flicker down to his lips. He doesn't want to move -- can't move. "You know I like you, right?"
His body takes that moment to sneeze, violently, and he jerks, bashing his head against the floor and Taeyeon freezes before she collapses in laughter, lying on Hyukjae's chest and clutching at his shirt, wheezing.
"You have perfect timing," she says, and he wipes his nose with his sleeve.
"Hey," he protests weakly. "I do okay, perfect timing and all that."
She looks up at him, grinning so wide and honestly that her eyes are practically crescents, a tiny dimple on her cheek, her bangs messy and messed up, and Hyukjae can't deny it. He likes her. A lot.
"I like you too, you know," he says, and kisses her.
"There's something going on with them," Tiffany says, eyes narrowed as Siwon bends a little so they're at the same eye level.
"With who?"
"Hyukjae and Taeyeon," Sooyoung says, appearing on Siwon's other side, and he shifts and flashes her a friendly smile.
"Really," he says quietly, and sips his champagne.
It's another one of those parties that SM seems to like, mixing all the groups together along with the staffs and some promising trainees, topped off with a huge mound of food. Just like before, Hyukjae and Taeyeon are at the food table, chatting and laughing with each other, but something's different. The very atmosphere is different.
"Hmmm," Sungmin says from Sooyoung's right, eyes narrowed as Hyukjae places a hand on Taeyeon's waist, and she smiles at him.
"This is very suspicious," Sunny contributes, holding a small plate of food that Sooyoung immediately steals.
"Something's going on," Donghae says, hanging onto Sunny as Taeyeon laughs brightly and feeds Hyukjae a grape with her bare fingers.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say they were dat--" Yesung starts to say before he's cute off by Ryeowook thumping him on the back and exclaiming about how nice it is to see him and what fantastic weather it is!
"It's night time," Yesung says,turning around with his eyebrows raised. "And we're inside. There aren't even any windows -- Ryeowook, are you sure you're okay? Do you want some food? Water? Maybe you should get some rest..."
"You're welcome," Ryeowook hisses as he stands next to Yesung piling a plate high with fruit and red meat. Hyukjae startles as he jerks out of his happy bubble with Taeyeon, turning around with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh," Taeyeon says, and places a hand on Hyukjae's sleeve as she looks somewhere past his left shoulder. He bends a little so she can whisper into his ear. "Look near the entrance."
When he turns, expecting maybe a giant spider or a dinosaur, he sees fellow labelmates and band members, hastily turning to the person next to them and talking really loudly. Hyukjae stares at them.
"...NICE WEATHER!" Donghae's voice echoes. Hyukjae is the first to laugh, and Taeyeon quickly dissolves after.
"Very suspicious," Sungmin agrees softly, and somewhere behind him, Leeteuk puts his head in his hands.
"I did not deserve this."
Later when they're on the roof, far away from the party with only the skyscape of the night and the cityscape of Seoul before them, Hyukjae leans down to kiss Taeyeon, away from prying eyes. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand on the nape of her neck, and feels her shiver.
"Are you cold?"
"No, no, I'm fine, oppa," she says, weakly protesting as he takes off his blazer and hands it to her.
"You're going to freeze," he says, securely pulling it over her shoulders, and she pouts.
"You don't have to worry about--"
They're interrupted by Hyukjae's phone beeping, and he blushes and fumbles as he takes it out of his pocket.
u go u playa!!! go hyukkie!!!!!!!! ^^ says Donghae's number, quickly followed by, make sure you use protection, from Jungsu and then, from Sungmin, come find me if you need anything. ANYTHING!!!!
He quickly stuffs his phone back into his pocket before Taeyeon can see it, and wills his blush away.
"Show me!" she says, and pulls on his arm. "Who's it from?"
"No one important," he mutters, hand curled tightly around his phone in his pocket. He doesn't budge, refuses to.
"Oppa! Come on," she says, and her own phone beeps. She lets go as she fumbles for her phone, and Hyukjae breathes a sigh of relief. She instantly goes red as she reads her own text and hides her phone away.
"What was it?" he asks, and pokes her. "Who was it? What did they say? Come on, Taeyeon, show me!"
"You don't want to see it," she says, and lets out a high pitched giggle when he tickles her.
"I do! Come on Taeyeonnnnnnn, come onnnnnnnn! Or--" he says, pausing in his tickling, and she breathes, "show me what Sungmin and Donghae sent you."
"Oh," Taeyeon says a bit breathlessly, but grinning as she quickly goes through her phone. "That I can show you."
She hands her phone over, and Hyukjae reads the little characters, feeling a thousand things at once but basically settling on not killing them just yet.
"That was nice of them," he says, and she smiles, giving him a hug.
"I think so too!"
hyukkie likes you~ dont tell him we told you that!!! we love you too taeyeonnie ^^ -donghae,sungmin