Round 4: Landmarks
Title: Landmarks
Team: Canon
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: 2PM
Pairing/Focus: Nichkhun
Summary: There are places in Nichkhun's life where he is faces his own dilemmas.
Notes: This is a vague take on 'Bad Girl, Good Girl' where the sins are 'bad' but they're portrayed in a good, or silly light.
Prompt Used: Miss A - Bad Girl, Good Girl
Acedia (Sloth)
When the sunlight hits his eyelids, he shifts sleepily and reaches out for her. His hands find the gentle curve of her waist, the slit where her shirt and pajamas don't quite meet, and skates along the smooth taut skin. He slowly stretches out in bed, and rests on his elbow to stare down at the person beside him. He presses his lips against her bare shoulder, causing a visible shiver to travel down her spine and her to mumble incoherently. He rests his face in the crook of her neck and feels the slow, delicate beat of her pulse. She coughs a little for the added pressure on her airway as he kisses her, the soft rumbling in her throat prickling his chapped lips.
It's been thirty-two months since they've met each other, twenty-six months since her bluntness captivated him ("Chansung is my favorite 2PM member" "What"), sixteen months since she smashed his face into their actual wedding cake, ten months that they've lived together, and five months since her belly has been steadily swelling. Nichkhun splays his hands across her bump and moves it a little to the right, hoping to feel a kick from the life inside.
"Stop," Victoria's voice is husky as she gently swats his hand away. "That tickles."
"Why do you think I did it?" Nichkhun snuffles his nose into her hair, making her laugh softly and scoot closer to him. "I can't believe it's almost been five months."
"Me either." She slips her hand over his calloused one and guides it to spell Chinese characters on her belly, each a metonym for love. Nichkhun furrows his brow in concentration as he tries to make out the stroke order and pictures it in his head. Victoria turns her head and peeks out from her bangs only to laugh loudly and turn away quickly so her morning breath doesn't hit him.
"What?" Nichkhun pouts and pokes her back with his free hand. "What did I do?" Victoria's body shakes as she tries to compose herself from the face Nichkhun was making as he tries to figure out the characters.
“Nothing, come on, let’s get out of bed.”
“But it’s so comfy here.” Nichkhun watches in amusement as she gets up and waddles to the bathroom. She leaves the door open as she lifts up his dress shirt and pees. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so much more attracted to you then right now as I hear the sound of you peeing, Vic.”
“Shut up.” Her laughter echoes through the bathroom and reaches his ears like an old love song. She appears at the door frame with top buttons of his dress shirt popped open, revealing a creamy valley of curves. “If you’re so comfy there then I guess I’d just have to shower all by myself this morning.”
“No! I’m up, I’m up!” Nichkhun scrambles up as quickly as possible and only trips twice on his way to his beautiful (and naked), gorgeous (and naked), and pretty (and naked) wife.
Avarice (Greed)
Nichkhun has an addiction.
It started when he was just a boy in America (okay, fine, he was seventeen at the time) and he was out looking for the perfect gift for his friend's birthday (that was an excuse -- he just wanted to buy new stuff for himself). He walked around the mall with his (cool) new shag cut when he a certain store sign caught his eye.
Toys R Us.
Nichkhun didn't know why that store caught his particular eye. Maybe it was because of the "30% off on marked items!" sign, maybe it was the lure of Sherleen's favorite stuffed toy gleaming from the display case inside, or maybe it was the lure of adding more items to his collection (it was the latter). He walked timidly into the store, passed the aisles of puppets, dolls, and assortments of board games he didn't know why anyone would buy for their seven year old, and made it to the back; his safe haven. He stared at the shelf upon shelf of tiny pocket sized pets, wide eyed and slightly drooling.
"Should I buy the Royal Family version...or the pedometer version? There’re so many choices!" Nichkhun muttered incoherently to himself. A little boy who passed by quickly sped up his pace not wanting to disturb the Asian man engrossed in his fantasy world. "I'll just take all the ones I don't have yet!" He shoved all the products in his bag comically, and rushed to the checkout counter, wanting to get home as soon as possible.
"That will be forty-five dollars, sir." The cashier smiled superficially. Nichkhun could sense that she was judging him. Hell, he's judging himself by the amount of new friends he's acquired in less than thirty minutes. Nichkhun just smiled politely back and cradled his purchases to his chest, not caring if the whole world judged him because he now held virtual happiness in the palm of his hands.
"Hello, my new little friends. You're going to a loving home today." Nichkhun sat at the bus stop, took out a package and ripped it open, and started naming his new pets.
"Khun, I think that you have an obsession that you need to address." Sherleen looked at her brother, concerned as he switches from one toy to another.
"I don't have a problem!" Nichkhun doesn't look at her as he feeds 'Curry' an apple.
"Um." She walks over and pats his back in a non threatening way, making sure to avoid getting her hands in the vicinity of the object. "Sure." She walks out and gives a silent prayer to save her brother from the dark place he has ventured to.
Because Nichkhun had an addiction.
A Tamagotchi addiction.
Ira (Wrath)
There is one thing that you never do to Nichkhun.
You never steal his Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion.
Nichkhun rolls around his bed, tangling himself in his sheets and spirals into more depression. He cannot believe that his stuff got stolen. By Junho no less, someone who he'd never thought would take anything from him and who now grudges him over a stupid scarf.
“So, what you’re telling me is that because Junsu stole all your lotion you're not getting out of bed.” Wooyoung leans against the door frame as he watches the Nichkhun lump on the bed move in response.
"IT WAS MY FAVOURITE SCENT." His arms shoot out and flail above his head, his face lost in the graham grandpa pattern.
"I cannot lose this battle with a future thief!"
"You are really eccentric right now, do you realize this?"
"I refuse to move out of this bed! MY WILL IS BEING TESTED."
"You know if you just said sorry that you accidentally threw out his favorite scarf that you mistook for ugly fabric he wouldn't touch your stuff again."
"I AM BEING TESTED. T-E-S-T-E-D."
"I think you should admit defeat before Minjae comes in with a crowbar and claws your body out of bed."
"Never!"
Superbia (Pride)
Junsu wants to fill the world with color. He desires to inspire and paint the world with his music. He wants his instruments to be the paint brush and his voice to be the palette. Junsu wants to fill in every corner, every space, and every monochromatic object in this world with the color of his voice. Junsu wants to paint the world with melodies.
Nichkhun didn’t think that it was possible.
When Junsu tells him his dreams and aspirations of how he wants to bring light and darkness back to the world, Nichkhun thinks he’s crazy. A voice cannot color like a crayon; a melody can’t fill the world with prismatic light.
Nichkhun thinks that until he hears Junsu sing.
When he hears Junsu sing, he swears he can see a cataclysmic burst of light behind his eyes. He swears he can see the twining and curling of colors, meshing and exploding like the dying seconds of a supernova. When Nichkhun opens his eyes again, the world is a little brighter, a little sharper, and ordinary objects are born new again. Something inside of him swells to his ribcage, barely contained under his skin and scarcely breaking free.
Gula (Gluttony)
"Nichkhun, what happened to all of the food I left here?" Chansung turned to him, a pout poised on lips. "There were about ten servings of samgyupsal; we were going to eat it as a big family!"
"Ierno." Nichkhun tried to iterate through the mouthful of meat.
"YOU ATE EVERYTHING?"
"..."
"First Junsu eats my birthday meat and then you eat the whole eight pounds of meat I got for everyone?! I was just gone for an hour!"
"Imf sorqy…"
"No you're not! You're still chewing and looking at the fridge for more food!" Chansung glares at Nichkhun who quickly averted his eyes from the fridge.
"I'll buq yuv he net one."
"No Nichkhun, no. You owe me. You are in debt to me now. I own you." Chansung whispers the last part in his ear and walked away.
Invidia (Envy)
Smacking his lips lazily he ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth, tasting the remnants of the ice cream he finished eating five minutes ago. Nichkhun opens a box of Twizzler sticks (courtesy of Ian, the egotistic but American food bringing twitter buddy) and makes obnoxious chewing noises. It was his day off, and he had nothing better to do but just spread himself on the couch and eat junk food all day. After all, he did need to gain weight and what better way to do that then to eat junk food?
"You know, that sounds disgusting." Taecyeon carrying his laptop in one hand with its power cord in his other hand. "You are a disgusting person." He pushes Nichkhun's legs off the couch and sat down, made sure his butt was in a comfy position (which reminds him oddly of a dog going around in circles before it lays down to sleep, but it's his ass rubbing circles into the couch) and burps so loud Nichkhun swears it echoes off the walls.
"I think I'm finding more reasons to love you everyday, Taec." Nichkhun swings his long gazelle legs back on the couch, presses his feet onto Taecyeon's side, and wriggles his toes.
"Eugh, get off- I don't want your athlete's foot tainting my Hermione." Taecyeon moved his precious laptop away from the offending appendages currently massaging his sides.
"Taecyeon," Nichkhun pulls himself up, and puts his hand firmly on his deranged friend. "That is called a laptop. It cannot be a substitute for a magical sixteen-year-old girl who will take you to a mythical place to fight twenty foot tall tarantulas."
"Esqueeze me Nichkhun I think I happen to know more about Hermione's magical internet witch powers more than you do." Taecyeon stares at Nichkhun like he was crazy. "Furthermore, she's twenty-one. ABOVE THE LEGAL AGE THANK YOU VERY MUCH."
"I thought you were supposed to have a lot to do today." Nichkhun says, trying to not make it obvious that he's changing the subject.
"No, Master of Great Segue ways, I am here to make your life be more fulfilled then it already is, if you know what I'm sayin'." Taecyeon waggles his eyebrows, making his owl glasses hang precariously on the perch of his nose. He shoves Nichkhun's feet off again and settles Hermione onto the arm of the couch. Nichkhun stares at Taecyeon (while judging his choices in life) and turns on the TV.
"Jay Park releases his new album and is the number one searched person on Naver."
"Looks like Jay is doing well for himself." Nichkhun nods to the TV. Taecyeon starts to type on his laptop and shows no indication that he is listening to Nichkhun.
"His sales record has exceeded expectations and he is planning to have a comeback on Inkigayo on the 17th of May."
"He's lucky to have that much freedom now." It comes out more bitter then Nichkhun intended. Taecyeon remains silent, though his finger still on the keys briefly before starting again. "He still is as naked as ever though." He ruefully smiles at the screen.
Even though they publicly said they held no ill feelings towards Jaebeom, there ultimately was. Nichkhun stares at their former friend, memories prickling his consciousness like shards of glass. He can’t say that he holds grudges like Junho or turns indifferent like Wooyoung when Jay's name is mentioned, but his stance isn't all animosity either. He does feel regretful, however. He feels regretful and lost. But of course no one knows but him.
"You know I feel the same way about him as you," Nichkhun continues. "I'm kind of jealous, though. He gets to have so much freedom to create music, do tours, and all on his own, too…I think that-"
"You're jealous of him? And you think you know how I feel?" Taecyeon's voice sounds calm but has a steel edge to it.
"Well…" Nichkhun knows he’s stepped on a landmine. "Youu know we're going to see him one day since Seoul is so small-"
"Yeah, I know." Taecyeon's fingers click steadily against his laptop.
"We are going to see him again Taec."
Taecyeon stops typing on his keyboard. "Yeah, I know." Nichkhun watches as he stands up and pops his back, heading toward the kitchen.
"You know, maybe I'm jealous of him too," Nichkhun barely hears him say. "I'm envious that we're not the ones to support his dreams anymore."
"Me, too.”
Nichkhun knew that their support lay with Jay in every way he could think of (and probably plenty that he couldn't ponder in a single lifetime). His members needed no material evidence to prove that they would walk beside him the whole way, as a separate but close set of footprints beside his on the road of life. And one day, near the end of his life, he would undoubtedly look back, see the low points in his life where there was only a mass of unrecognizable sets of footprints, and then realize those were the points at which they carried him on their shoulders, singing 10 Out of 10 all the way through.
Luxuria (Lust)
There are times when Nichkhun is a capable, kind, humble, human being. He opens doors for women, fetches water and food for the other members when they're feeling bad, provides limitless support for his group members, and is overall a nice guy. Nice guys are quiet, complacent, agreeable, and just nice. There are times when Nichkhun is nice.
This is not one of those times.
"Hey Seulong, I think-I think-I love you so much man. Like you, YOU, you. Just YOU man. Your head is beautiful." Nichkhun beamed what he thinks is his lady-killer smile.
"I think you're kind of plastered right now, Nichkhun."
"I think- I think- I think- you're speaking nonsense, Mr. Attractive…nonsense…you." Nichkhun leers at Seulong like an old man and tries to drape his arm over Seulong's broad shoulders in what is supposed to be a slick way.
"Oh-kay. That's enough of that soju." Seulong motioned to the waitress to get their receipt. "Nichkhun, do you think you'll be able to walk?"
"You, Seulong." Nichkhun gets uncomfortably near his face and does, in his opinion, alluring breathing sounds. "I don't know why no one wouldn't like you. My main man! Seulong!" He claps Seulong's back in camaraderie.
"People don't like me?" Momentarily deterred, Seulong forgets why he tried to get up in the first place. "People love me."
"Seulong, I love you." Nichkhun's drunk, alcohol-drenched breath nearly topples him over. "I-I-I don't care if no one loves you or they're afraid of your small alien-like head-"
"People get creeped out by my head?"
"-that just means that I have you all to myself…hehehe." Nichkhun means to give Seulong a hug, but because of his inebriated state he awkwardly snuggles the side of his neck instead.
"Okay, that's crossing a little too much of the just friends territory. Up you go, Mr. Drunkard." Seulong wriggles out of Nichkhun's man love for him and stood up trying not to topple Nichkhun. He hooks his arms under Nichkhun's arm pits and easily sets him up on his feet. Nichkhun teeters from slightly left to right and looks like he‘s about to fall until Seulong reaches out an arm to steady him. He tries to guide Nichkhun out of the restaurant as nonchalantly as possible, but it proves to be difficult as Nichkhun's lips try to find a purchase on Seulong's neck.
"Gross, why do I even go drinking with you if you get loose lips…" Seulong mutters under his breath as he maneuvers his face away from Nichkhun's incessant affection.
"Seulong...your stubble...it grows so fast." Seulong thinks that if Nichkhun was a cat he would be purring rubbing his face against his chin.
"Nichkhun, why do you do this…" Seulong finally gets Nichkhun out of the restaurant and attempts to pry his phone out with one hand, the other trying to defend himself away from Nichkhun.
"SEULOOOOOOOOOONG!!" Nichkhun wraps his arms around the man and barely passes for dry humping him. "I love your body, man."
"Um." When Seulong finally gets his cell phone in his hand, Nichkhun decides to show him more affection than he wants.
"Not that I don't like the compliments to my body but can you, uh, get off me; I need to call Minjae to pick us up." He tries to break free, but Nichkhun's arms are like steel cables wrapped around him.
"You know what glorious pick up line I would use if I had your beautiful body Seulong?”
“Yeah, we’re in Itaewon right now. At the usual place - yep.” Seulong presses his hand against Nichkhun’s face in an attempt to calm him down as he balances his phone on his right ear. “Yeah, you know how Nichkhun is, he’s very clingy right now and-“
“Hey baby, my name is Im Seulong and trust me, that name doesn’t exaggerate because it really is true that I’m so long. HAAAAAAAAAAAAA.” Nichkhun bursts into a fit of giggles that turns into slobbering on his shoulders. He could feel Seulong’s body physically cringing at the pun at his name.
“Ugh, Nichkhun, get off me.” Seulong hangs up and holds Nichkhun at arm’s length, before he smiles sloppily and leans toward Seulong again.
“I’m-So-Long, are you gonna use that pick-up line on girls now? HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH ARE YOUUUUUUUUU.” Nichkhun looks up at Seulong dreamily. “IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII’M-SOOOOOOOOO-LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.”
To Seulong’s immense relief, a black van drives up and screeches to a halt in front of the two of them. “Look Nichkhun, Minjae is here! At record time too! Let’s get your drunk self out of here.” Seulong practically carries Nichkhun to the black van, barely escaping Nichkhun’s groping hands.
“But I’m-So-Long - I LOVE YOU. Let me show my appreciation of your body a little more!”
“No.” Seulong throws Nichkhun in the back seat across a bewildered Junho’s lap. “He’s your problem now.”
Nichkhun slowly turned to face the person he was sprawled on and accidentally bumped his nose into Junho's crotch before correcting himself.
“Have I ever told you that I loved you?”
Poll Round 4: Landmarks
Team: Canon
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: 2PM
Pairing/Focus: Nichkhun
Summary: There are places in Nichkhun's life where he is faces his own dilemmas.
Notes: This is a vague take on 'Bad Girl, Good Girl' where the sins are 'bad' but they're portrayed in a good, or silly light.
Prompt Used: Miss A - Bad Girl, Good Girl
Acedia (Sloth)
When the sunlight hits his eyelids, he shifts sleepily and reaches out for her. His hands find the gentle curve of her waist, the slit where her shirt and pajamas don't quite meet, and skates along the smooth taut skin. He slowly stretches out in bed, and rests on his elbow to stare down at the person beside him. He presses his lips against her bare shoulder, causing a visible shiver to travel down her spine and her to mumble incoherently. He rests his face in the crook of her neck and feels the slow, delicate beat of her pulse. She coughs a little for the added pressure on her airway as he kisses her, the soft rumbling in her throat prickling his chapped lips.
It's been thirty-two months since they've met each other, twenty-six months since her bluntness captivated him ("Chansung is my favorite 2PM member" "What"), sixteen months since she smashed his face into their actual wedding cake, ten months that they've lived together, and five months since her belly has been steadily swelling. Nichkhun splays his hands across her bump and moves it a little to the right, hoping to feel a kick from the life inside.
"Stop," Victoria's voice is husky as she gently swats his hand away. "That tickles."
"Why do you think I did it?" Nichkhun snuffles his nose into her hair, making her laugh softly and scoot closer to him. "I can't believe it's almost been five months."
"Me either." She slips her hand over his calloused one and guides it to spell Chinese characters on her belly, each a metonym for love. Nichkhun furrows his brow in concentration as he tries to make out the stroke order and pictures it in his head. Victoria turns her head and peeks out from her bangs only to laugh loudly and turn away quickly so her morning breath doesn't hit him.
"What?" Nichkhun pouts and pokes her back with his free hand. "What did I do?" Victoria's body shakes as she tries to compose herself from the face Nichkhun was making as he tries to figure out the characters.
“Nothing, come on, let’s get out of bed.”
“But it’s so comfy here.” Nichkhun watches in amusement as she gets up and waddles to the bathroom. She leaves the door open as she lifts up his dress shirt and pees. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so much more attracted to you then right now as I hear the sound of you peeing, Vic.”
“Shut up.” Her laughter echoes through the bathroom and reaches his ears like an old love song. She appears at the door frame with top buttons of his dress shirt popped open, revealing a creamy valley of curves. “If you’re so comfy there then I guess I’d just have to shower all by myself this morning.”
“No! I’m up, I’m up!” Nichkhun scrambles up as quickly as possible and only trips twice on his way to his beautiful (and naked), gorgeous (and naked), and pretty (and naked) wife.
Avarice (Greed)
Nichkhun has an addiction.
It started when he was just a boy in America (okay, fine, he was seventeen at the time) and he was out looking for the perfect gift for his friend's birthday (that was an excuse -- he just wanted to buy new stuff for himself). He walked around the mall with his (cool) new shag cut when he a certain store sign caught his eye.
Toys R Us.
Nichkhun didn't know why that store caught his particular eye. Maybe it was because of the "30% off on marked items!" sign, maybe it was the lure of Sherleen's favorite stuffed toy gleaming from the display case inside, or maybe it was the lure of adding more items to his collection (it was the latter). He walked timidly into the store, passed the aisles of puppets, dolls, and assortments of board games he didn't know why anyone would buy for their seven year old, and made it to the back; his safe haven. He stared at the shelf upon shelf of tiny pocket sized pets, wide eyed and slightly drooling.
"Should I buy the Royal Family version...or the pedometer version? There’re so many choices!" Nichkhun muttered incoherently to himself. A little boy who passed by quickly sped up his pace not wanting to disturb the Asian man engrossed in his fantasy world. "I'll just take all the ones I don't have yet!" He shoved all the products in his bag comically, and rushed to the checkout counter, wanting to get home as soon as possible.
"That will be forty-five dollars, sir." The cashier smiled superficially. Nichkhun could sense that she was judging him. Hell, he's judging himself by the amount of new friends he's acquired in less than thirty minutes. Nichkhun just smiled politely back and cradled his purchases to his chest, not caring if the whole world judged him because he now held virtual happiness in the palm of his hands.
"Hello, my new little friends. You're going to a loving home today." Nichkhun sat at the bus stop, took out a package and ripped it open, and started naming his new pets.
"Khun, I think that you have an obsession that you need to address." Sherleen looked at her brother, concerned as he switches from one toy to another.
"I don't have a problem!" Nichkhun doesn't look at her as he feeds 'Curry' an apple.
"Um." She walks over and pats his back in a non threatening way, making sure to avoid getting her hands in the vicinity of the object. "Sure." She walks out and gives a silent prayer to save her brother from the dark place he has ventured to.
Because Nichkhun had an addiction.
A Tamagotchi addiction.
Ira (Wrath)
There is one thing that you never do to Nichkhun.
You never steal his Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion.
Nichkhun rolls around his bed, tangling himself in his sheets and spirals into more depression. He cannot believe that his stuff got stolen. By Junho no less, someone who he'd never thought would take anything from him and who now grudges him over a stupid scarf.
“So, what you’re telling me is that because Junsu stole all your lotion you're not getting out of bed.” Wooyoung leans against the door frame as he watches the Nichkhun lump on the bed move in response.
"IT WAS MY FAVOURITE SCENT." His arms shoot out and flail above his head, his face lost in the graham grandpa pattern.
"I cannot lose this battle with a future thief!"
"You are really eccentric right now, do you realize this?"
"I refuse to move out of this bed! MY WILL IS BEING TESTED."
"You know if you just said sorry that you accidentally threw out his favorite scarf that you mistook for ugly fabric he wouldn't touch your stuff again."
"I AM BEING TESTED. T-E-S-T-E-D."
"I think you should admit defeat before Minjae comes in with a crowbar and claws your body out of bed."
"Never!"
Superbia (Pride)
Junsu wants to fill the world with color. He desires to inspire and paint the world with his music. He wants his instruments to be the paint brush and his voice to be the palette. Junsu wants to fill in every corner, every space, and every monochromatic object in this world with the color of his voice. Junsu wants to paint the world with melodies.
Nichkhun didn’t think that it was possible.
When Junsu tells him his dreams and aspirations of how he wants to bring light and darkness back to the world, Nichkhun thinks he’s crazy. A voice cannot color like a crayon; a melody can’t fill the world with prismatic light.
Nichkhun thinks that until he hears Junsu sing.
When he hears Junsu sing, he swears he can see a cataclysmic burst of light behind his eyes. He swears he can see the twining and curling of colors, meshing and exploding like the dying seconds of a supernova. When Nichkhun opens his eyes again, the world is a little brighter, a little sharper, and ordinary objects are born new again. Something inside of him swells to his ribcage, barely contained under his skin and scarcely breaking free.
Gula (Gluttony)
"Nichkhun, what happened to all of the food I left here?" Chansung turned to him, a pout poised on lips. "There were about ten servings of samgyupsal; we were going to eat it as a big family!"
"Ierno." Nichkhun tried to iterate through the mouthful of meat.
"YOU ATE EVERYTHING?"
"..."
"First Junsu eats my birthday meat and then you eat the whole eight pounds of meat I got for everyone?! I was just gone for an hour!"
"Imf sorqy…"
"No you're not! You're still chewing and looking at the fridge for more food!" Chansung glares at Nichkhun who quickly averted his eyes from the fridge.
"I'll buq yuv he net one."
"No Nichkhun, no. You owe me. You are in debt to me now. I own you." Chansung whispers the last part in his ear and walked away.
Invidia (Envy)
Smacking his lips lazily he ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth, tasting the remnants of the ice cream he finished eating five minutes ago. Nichkhun opens a box of Twizzler sticks (courtesy of Ian, the egotistic but American food bringing twitter buddy) and makes obnoxious chewing noises. It was his day off, and he had nothing better to do but just spread himself on the couch and eat junk food all day. After all, he did need to gain weight and what better way to do that then to eat junk food?
"You know, that sounds disgusting." Taecyeon carrying his laptop in one hand with its power cord in his other hand. "You are a disgusting person." He pushes Nichkhun's legs off the couch and sat down, made sure his butt was in a comfy position (which reminds him oddly of a dog going around in circles before it lays down to sleep, but it's his ass rubbing circles into the couch) and burps so loud Nichkhun swears it echoes off the walls.
"I think I'm finding more reasons to love you everyday, Taec." Nichkhun swings his long gazelle legs back on the couch, presses his feet onto Taecyeon's side, and wriggles his toes.
"Eugh, get off- I don't want your athlete's foot tainting my Hermione." Taecyeon moved his precious laptop away from the offending appendages currently massaging his sides.
"Taecyeon," Nichkhun pulls himself up, and puts his hand firmly on his deranged friend. "That is called a laptop. It cannot be a substitute for a magical sixteen-year-old girl who will take you to a mythical place to fight twenty foot tall tarantulas."
"Esqueeze me Nichkhun I think I happen to know more about Hermione's magical internet witch powers more than you do." Taecyeon stares at Nichkhun like he was crazy. "Furthermore, she's twenty-one. ABOVE THE LEGAL AGE THANK YOU VERY MUCH."
"I thought you were supposed to have a lot to do today." Nichkhun says, trying to not make it obvious that he's changing the subject.
"No, Master of Great Segue ways, I am here to make your life be more fulfilled then it already is, if you know what I'm sayin'." Taecyeon waggles his eyebrows, making his owl glasses hang precariously on the perch of his nose. He shoves Nichkhun's feet off again and settles Hermione onto the arm of the couch. Nichkhun stares at Taecyeon (while judging his choices in life) and turns on the TV.
"Jay Park releases his new album and is the number one searched person on Naver."
"Looks like Jay is doing well for himself." Nichkhun nods to the TV. Taecyeon starts to type on his laptop and shows no indication that he is listening to Nichkhun.
"His sales record has exceeded expectations and he is planning to have a comeback on Inkigayo on the 17th of May."
"He's lucky to have that much freedom now." It comes out more bitter then Nichkhun intended. Taecyeon remains silent, though his finger still on the keys briefly before starting again. "He still is as naked as ever though." He ruefully smiles at the screen.
Even though they publicly said they held no ill feelings towards Jaebeom, there ultimately was. Nichkhun stares at their former friend, memories prickling his consciousness like shards of glass. He can’t say that he holds grudges like Junho or turns indifferent like Wooyoung when Jay's name is mentioned, but his stance isn't all animosity either. He does feel regretful, however. He feels regretful and lost. But of course no one knows but him.
"You know I feel the same way about him as you," Nichkhun continues. "I'm kind of jealous, though. He gets to have so much freedom to create music, do tours, and all on his own, too…I think that-"
"You're jealous of him? And you think you know how I feel?" Taecyeon's voice sounds calm but has a steel edge to it.
"Well…" Nichkhun knows he’s stepped on a landmine. "Youu know we're going to see him one day since Seoul is so small-"
"Yeah, I know." Taecyeon's fingers click steadily against his laptop.
"We are going to see him again Taec."
Taecyeon stops typing on his keyboard. "Yeah, I know." Nichkhun watches as he stands up and pops his back, heading toward the kitchen.
"You know, maybe I'm jealous of him too," Nichkhun barely hears him say. "I'm envious that we're not the ones to support his dreams anymore."
"Me, too.”
Nichkhun knew that their support lay with Jay in every way he could think of (and probably plenty that he couldn't ponder in a single lifetime). His members needed no material evidence to prove that they would walk beside him the whole way, as a separate but close set of footprints beside his on the road of life. And one day, near the end of his life, he would undoubtedly look back, see the low points in his life where there was only a mass of unrecognizable sets of footprints, and then realize those were the points at which they carried him on their shoulders, singing 10 Out of 10 all the way through.
Luxuria (Lust)
There are times when Nichkhun is a capable, kind, humble, human being. He opens doors for women, fetches water and food for the other members when they're feeling bad, provides limitless support for his group members, and is overall a nice guy. Nice guys are quiet, complacent, agreeable, and just nice. There are times when Nichkhun is nice.
This is not one of those times.
"Hey Seulong, I think-I think-I love you so much man. Like you, YOU, you. Just YOU man. Your head is beautiful." Nichkhun beamed what he thinks is his lady-killer smile.
"I think you're kind of plastered right now, Nichkhun."
"I think- I think- I think- you're speaking nonsense, Mr. Attractive…nonsense…you." Nichkhun leers at Seulong like an old man and tries to drape his arm over Seulong's broad shoulders in what is supposed to be a slick way.
"Oh-kay. That's enough of that soju." Seulong motioned to the waitress to get their receipt. "Nichkhun, do you think you'll be able to walk?"
"You, Seulong." Nichkhun gets uncomfortably near his face and does, in his opinion, alluring breathing sounds. "I don't know why no one wouldn't like you. My main man! Seulong!" He claps Seulong's back in camaraderie.
"People don't like me?" Momentarily deterred, Seulong forgets why he tried to get up in the first place. "People love me."
"Seulong, I love you." Nichkhun's drunk, alcohol-drenched breath nearly topples him over. "I-I-I don't care if no one loves you or they're afraid of your small alien-like head-"
"People get creeped out by my head?"
"-that just means that I have you all to myself…hehehe." Nichkhun means to give Seulong a hug, but because of his inebriated state he awkwardly snuggles the side of his neck instead.
"Okay, that's crossing a little too much of the just friends territory. Up you go, Mr. Drunkard." Seulong wriggles out of Nichkhun's man love for him and stood up trying not to topple Nichkhun. He hooks his arms under Nichkhun's arm pits and easily sets him up on his feet. Nichkhun teeters from slightly left to right and looks like he‘s about to fall until Seulong reaches out an arm to steady him. He tries to guide Nichkhun out of the restaurant as nonchalantly as possible, but it proves to be difficult as Nichkhun's lips try to find a purchase on Seulong's neck.
"Gross, why do I even go drinking with you if you get loose lips…" Seulong mutters under his breath as he maneuvers his face away from Nichkhun's incessant affection.
"Seulong...your stubble...it grows so fast." Seulong thinks that if Nichkhun was a cat he would be purring rubbing his face against his chin.
"Nichkhun, why do you do this…" Seulong finally gets Nichkhun out of the restaurant and attempts to pry his phone out with one hand, the other trying to defend himself away from Nichkhun.
"SEULOOOOOOOOOONG!!" Nichkhun wraps his arms around the man and barely passes for dry humping him. "I love your body, man."
"Um." When Seulong finally gets his cell phone in his hand, Nichkhun decides to show him more affection than he wants.
"Not that I don't like the compliments to my body but can you, uh, get off me; I need to call Minjae to pick us up." He tries to break free, but Nichkhun's arms are like steel cables wrapped around him.
"You know what glorious pick up line I would use if I had your beautiful body Seulong?”
“Yeah, we’re in Itaewon right now. At the usual place - yep.” Seulong presses his hand against Nichkhun’s face in an attempt to calm him down as he balances his phone on his right ear. “Yeah, you know how Nichkhun is, he’s very clingy right now and-“
“Hey baby, my name is Im Seulong and trust me, that name doesn’t exaggerate because it really is true that I’m so long. HAAAAAAAAAAAAA.” Nichkhun bursts into a fit of giggles that turns into slobbering on his shoulders. He could feel Seulong’s body physically cringing at the pun at his name.
“Ugh, Nichkhun, get off me.” Seulong hangs up and holds Nichkhun at arm’s length, before he smiles sloppily and leans toward Seulong again.
“I’m-So-Long, are you gonna use that pick-up line on girls now? HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH ARE YOUUUUUUUUU.” Nichkhun looks up at Seulong dreamily. “IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII’M-SOOOOOOOOO-LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.”
To Seulong’s immense relief, a black van drives up and screeches to a halt in front of the two of them. “Look Nichkhun, Minjae is here! At record time too! Let’s get your drunk self out of here.” Seulong practically carries Nichkhun to the black van, barely escaping Nichkhun’s groping hands.
“But I’m-So-Long - I LOVE YOU. Let me show my appreciation of your body a little more!”
“No.” Seulong throws Nichkhun in the back seat across a bewildered Junho’s lap. “He’s your problem now.”
Nichkhun slowly turned to face the person he was sprawled on and accidentally bumped his nose into Junho's crotch before correcting himself.
“Have I ever told you that I loved you?”
Poll Round 4: Landmarks