Laugh
Everything is a blur right now...
Title: Laugh
Genre: Angst
Rating: G
Pairing: OT5, Yoosu (if you squint)
Length: Drabble (379 words)
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The tension was thick and it was hard to breathe. The stress was suffocating and it was impossible to smile.
It was so difficult to smile these days. Because no one wanted to smile.
They sat in the living room again. Changmin on one end of the couch, trying to concentrate on reading his thick book. Yunho on the other end, trying to memorize lyrics. Jaejoong sitting on the ground, in between the two, trying to conjure musical notes. Junsu lying on his side in front of the television, trying to find distraction.
Yoochun standing there, trying to figure out why they were all ‘trying’ to do so much…yet no one would ‘try’ to smile.
No one wanted to smile.
Were they really once the best of friends, the inseparable group of five? What happened to those nights of choosing to sit together and talk about nothing, rather than gathering just because they were a band created by SM?
Junsu flipped another channel and stopped pressing on the button. Changmin stopped trying to read, Yunho stopped trying to memorize, Jaejoong stopped trying to write. Yoochun joined them in staring at the television.
It was a rerun of their first live performance. Yoochun had to wonder if the others remembered all the details that he would never forget: the date, the time, the song, the reason, the love…
Junsu pushed himself up into a sitting position and had his legs curled up to his chest. He was hugging his legs and his head was lowered.
Yoochun saw the other three staring at Junsu’s back. He made the move to walk over to his love and hug the trembling younger man. Jaejoong joined next, followed by the leader and the magnae.
The performance on the television ended and Yoochun commented, “We all looked like dorks.”
Junsu laughed through the tears and the others joined. The sound of their laughter, five different resonances, blended into a melody. The sound was better than any song they’ve ever sung.
Yoochun leaned his head against Junsu’s forehead, enjoying the feeling of being stuck in the middle of the group hug. He remembered why they used to be one, the inseparable group of five.
They could make each other laugh even when no one wanted to smile.
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...the best you can do is Laugh through it.