stuttering 3
stuttering
[part 3]
Jaejoong/Changmin, Yunho/everyone, Yoochun/Junsu, etcetera; rated PG for now; drama, romance, angst, general. ghost!universe! \o/
It's odd, but Changmin gets used to living with a ghost far too easily for his liking.
Prepare to face my writing in all it's unedited, twelve A.M. glory. Also, warnings for cliches etc. I'll redeem myself soon, promise.
For trolleys.
- [1] [2]-
It's odd, but Changmin gets used to living with a ghost far too easily for his liking. It's as though his mind still doesn't really comprehend that his impromptu roommate isn't all there; it's only when Changmin sees sunlight filtering through Jaejoong's body when it's too bright or too cold (he always just notices when it's too bright or too cold) that he remembers that Jaejoong's not alive.
"Oh, get off," Changmin says to Jaejoong, who is lying upside-down on the couch (Changmin's couch) and reading a magazine at the same time. Jaejoong doesn't budge, unsurprisingly. Changmin is a little annoyed at him, and he decides to let Jaejoong know by sitting through him and sprawling himself all over the couch. Jaejoong yelps and jumps off it, straight through Changmin's body, his magazine disappearing. Changmin doesn't even feel a whisper of air when he moves.
Jaejoong glares and pouts at Changmin and Changmin tries to cover every inch of the couch. He's never really liked unreasonable people, but it's alright if it's him.
"I don't like it when you do that." Jaejoong makes his eyes tear up a little and tries to look as cute as possible.
Changmin is impervious. "I know."
"It feels weird." Jaejoong's back to glaring.
"I didn't know you could still feel." Changmin's distracted because he's trying to figure out how Jaejoong could read upside-down and still be comfortable. He feels that if he looks at Jaejoong now, he will see him sticking his tongue out at Changmin.
"Shut up. This is my apartment, too."
"I'm the one paying rent." Changmin turns on the television as though he's going to watch it. Jaejoong (is an attention-seeking brat) never lets him.
"It was mine when I was alive. You can't pull that card."
"Aren't you just trying to guilt me into giving you the couch?"
"Maybe I am. Why can't you share?" Jaejoong flits around Changmin, as if looking at him from different angles will change how indifferent Changmin is.
"Get out of my house," Changmin says lazily, ignoring Jaejoong completely. They've had this conversation before.
"You don't mean that at all," Jaejoong says, and Changmin grunts, noncommittal. (He doesn't, not really.) "And would you really do that to me? Would you just abandon me like that?" Jaejoong's eyes fill Changmin's view, and Changmin stops, for a second, before he sees the sunlight glowing from the mischievous curve of Jaejoong's lips and remembers.
Changmin wishes he could push Jaejoong away. He turns the other way. "Yes," he says resolutely. Jaejoong follows him, doe eyes in place, and Changmin's infuriated to find they are working. He grudgingly shifts over.
Jaejoong flops down, all bright sunshine and daisies. Changmin wants to hit him. Kind of.
His stomach rumbles first. Jaejoong snickers. "Is it okay if I call you the black hole?" Changmin doesn't dignify that with a response and Jaejoong takes it as assent. (He would even if Changmin said no, Changmin thinks.) Jaejoong's still bright when he says, "Want me to teach you how to cook? You can't cook to save your life and I'm not letting you eat instant noodles again."
"No. I like ramen just fine."
"No more ramen. You're cooking and I'm telling you how." Changmin rolls his eyes and doesn't move.
The doorbell rings. Once, twice. It's when it rings the third time that Changmin realizes that it's not just Jaejoong trying to be 'spooky' again, and that there's actually someone at the door. He goes to get it and pointedly ignores how Jaejoong sprawls himself all over the couch after Changmin gets up.
It's Yunho, who lives next door. Yunho, who Changmin hasn't talked to since that last time, almost a month ago (and it's strange that it's only now that he's remembering that picture on the wall of those four boys, only now that he's remembering that one with bright eyes in the middle that is dead but living - living! - in his apartment). Yunho, who's staring down at the ground now, almost shy, and saying, "Hi, Changmin. I haven't seen you around a lot lately and I was just wondering how you were." Changmin snaps out of the trance-like state he is in and smiles at Yunho, distracted. (Jaejoong and Yunho knew each other. Jaejoong's dead. Jaejoong's in Changmin's living room. Jaejoong and Changmin are almost friends.)
"Hey, Yunho," Changmin says, finally looking at Yunho properly. He's just a little shorter than Changmin, but he's got a presence, sometimes, that makes him feel much taller. Changmin respects him. "I'm good, thanks. I've just... been busy lately." Yunho can see the way Changmin's drifting away from him and then back, lost in thought, and he frowns.
"Have you been eating? You look thinner than before." Yunho feels Changmin's forehead in a gesture that's unusually forward. Changmin lets him, mainly because he's too surprised to do anything else.
Changmin grins weakly. "I can't cook," he says, by way of explanation.
Yunho rolls his eyes a little. (Like they’re friends.) “Instant noodles?”
“How did you know?”
“Yoochun’s got the same problem. Except he’s usually on a coffee diet, too. Or either one of the two.”
Changmin grimaces in understanding, and he doesn’t really know when, but Yunho is suddenly inside his apartment and closing the door behind him. “I’ll help you cook something up,” he says, generous. “I’m not bad.” Changmin doesn’t really know what to say, and in the back of his mind, a little voice is wondering whether he learned from Jaejoong.
Changmin leads him to the kitchen, and as they walk, they pass the living room. Changmin catches sight of Jaejoong's upside-down face, the slight widening of his eyes and the way a certain paleness creeps into it. Jaejoong sits upright and Changmin is about to call out to him before he remembers that Jaejoong isn't real and Yunho would wonder, and question, and talk. Changmin doesn't say anything.
That doesn’t stop Jaejoong. “Holy crap,” says Jaejoong. “How do you know him?”
Changmin, of course, doesn’t reply. He thinks he’s the one who should be asking the questions, but Yunho’s still not going anywhere. He’s looking around the kitchen, now, sizing it up, and Jaejoong’s trailed in behind them.
Changmin’s a bit too loud when he says, “This is the fridge. This is the cupboard with the cutlery. This is -” Yunho looks amused. Changmin stops, suddenly self-conscious. This is odd, because he is not one who gets self-conscious.
Yunho’s saying, “It’s okay, I’ll figure things out,” when he’s leaning past Changmin to reach for something, his breath too close to Changmin’s ear, his voice soft and strange. Changmin doesn’t know what to do. He’s thinking that no, this probably wasn’t - Jaejoong is here -
“Holy crap,” says Jaejoong. “I think my old boyfriend is trying to flirt with you.”
2008-08-18
[part 3]
Jaejoong/Changmin, Yunho/everyone, Yoochun/Junsu, etcetera; rated PG for now; drama, romance, angst, general. ghost!universe! \o/
It's odd, but Changmin gets used to living with a ghost far too easily for his liking.
Prepare to face my writing in all it's unedited, twelve A.M. glory. Also, warnings for cliches etc. I'll redeem myself soon, promise.
For trolleys.
- [1] [2]-
It's odd, but Changmin gets used to living with a ghost far too easily for his liking. It's as though his mind still doesn't really comprehend that his impromptu roommate isn't all there; it's only when Changmin sees sunlight filtering through Jaejoong's body when it's too bright or too cold (he always just notices when it's too bright or too cold) that he remembers that Jaejoong's not alive.
"Oh, get off," Changmin says to Jaejoong, who is lying upside-down on the couch (Changmin's couch) and reading a magazine at the same time. Jaejoong doesn't budge, unsurprisingly. Changmin is a little annoyed at him, and he decides to let Jaejoong know by sitting through him and sprawling himself all over the couch. Jaejoong yelps and jumps off it, straight through Changmin's body, his magazine disappearing. Changmin doesn't even feel a whisper of air when he moves.
Jaejoong glares and pouts at Changmin and Changmin tries to cover every inch of the couch. He's never really liked unreasonable people, but it's alright if it's him.
"I don't like it when you do that." Jaejoong makes his eyes tear up a little and tries to look as cute as possible.
Changmin is impervious. "I know."
"It feels weird." Jaejoong's back to glaring.
"I didn't know you could still feel." Changmin's distracted because he's trying to figure out how Jaejoong could read upside-down and still be comfortable. He feels that if he looks at Jaejoong now, he will see him sticking his tongue out at Changmin.
"Shut up. This is my apartment, too."
"I'm the one paying rent." Changmin turns on the television as though he's going to watch it. Jaejoong (is an attention-seeking brat) never lets him.
"It was mine when I was alive. You can't pull that card."
"Aren't you just trying to guilt me into giving you the couch?"
"Maybe I am. Why can't you share?" Jaejoong flits around Changmin, as if looking at him from different angles will change how indifferent Changmin is.
"Get out of my house," Changmin says lazily, ignoring Jaejoong completely. They've had this conversation before.
"You don't mean that at all," Jaejoong says, and Changmin grunts, noncommittal. (He doesn't, not really.) "And would you really do that to me? Would you just abandon me like that?" Jaejoong's eyes fill Changmin's view, and Changmin stops, for a second, before he sees the sunlight glowing from the mischievous curve of Jaejoong's lips and remembers.
Changmin wishes he could push Jaejoong away. He turns the other way. "Yes," he says resolutely. Jaejoong follows him, doe eyes in place, and Changmin's infuriated to find they are working. He grudgingly shifts over.
Jaejoong flops down, all bright sunshine and daisies. Changmin wants to hit him. Kind of.
His stomach rumbles first. Jaejoong snickers. "Is it okay if I call you the black hole?" Changmin doesn't dignify that with a response and Jaejoong takes it as assent. (He would even if Changmin said no, Changmin thinks.) Jaejoong's still bright when he says, "Want me to teach you how to cook? You can't cook to save your life and I'm not letting you eat instant noodles again."
"No. I like ramen just fine."
"No more ramen. You're cooking and I'm telling you how." Changmin rolls his eyes and doesn't move.
The doorbell rings. Once, twice. It's when it rings the third time that Changmin realizes that it's not just Jaejoong trying to be 'spooky' again, and that there's actually someone at the door. He goes to get it and pointedly ignores how Jaejoong sprawls himself all over the couch after Changmin gets up.
It's Yunho, who lives next door. Yunho, who Changmin hasn't talked to since that last time, almost a month ago (and it's strange that it's only now that he's remembering that picture on the wall of those four boys, only now that he's remembering that one with bright eyes in the middle that is dead but living - living! - in his apartment). Yunho, who's staring down at the ground now, almost shy, and saying, "Hi, Changmin. I haven't seen you around a lot lately and I was just wondering how you were." Changmin snaps out of the trance-like state he is in and smiles at Yunho, distracted. (Jaejoong and Yunho knew each other. Jaejoong's dead. Jaejoong's in Changmin's living room. Jaejoong and Changmin are almost friends.)
"Hey, Yunho," Changmin says, finally looking at Yunho properly. He's just a little shorter than Changmin, but he's got a presence, sometimes, that makes him feel much taller. Changmin respects him. "I'm good, thanks. I've just... been busy lately." Yunho can see the way Changmin's drifting away from him and then back, lost in thought, and he frowns.
"Have you been eating? You look thinner than before." Yunho feels Changmin's forehead in a gesture that's unusually forward. Changmin lets him, mainly because he's too surprised to do anything else.
Changmin grins weakly. "I can't cook," he says, by way of explanation.
Yunho rolls his eyes a little. (Like they’re friends.) “Instant noodles?”
“How did you know?”
“Yoochun’s got the same problem. Except he’s usually on a coffee diet, too. Or either one of the two.”
Changmin grimaces in understanding, and he doesn’t really know when, but Yunho is suddenly inside his apartment and closing the door behind him. “I’ll help you cook something up,” he says, generous. “I’m not bad.” Changmin doesn’t really know what to say, and in the back of his mind, a little voice is wondering whether he learned from Jaejoong.
Changmin leads him to the kitchen, and as they walk, they pass the living room. Changmin catches sight of Jaejoong's upside-down face, the slight widening of his eyes and the way a certain paleness creeps into it. Jaejoong sits upright and Changmin is about to call out to him before he remembers that Jaejoong isn't real and Yunho would wonder, and question, and talk. Changmin doesn't say anything.
That doesn’t stop Jaejoong. “Holy crap,” says Jaejoong. “How do you know him?”
Changmin, of course, doesn’t reply. He thinks he’s the one who should be asking the questions, but Yunho’s still not going anywhere. He’s looking around the kitchen, now, sizing it up, and Jaejoong’s trailed in behind them.
Changmin’s a bit too loud when he says, “This is the fridge. This is the cupboard with the cutlery. This is -” Yunho looks amused. Changmin stops, suddenly self-conscious. This is odd, because he is not one who gets self-conscious.
Yunho’s saying, “It’s okay, I’ll figure things out,” when he’s leaning past Changmin to reach for something, his breath too close to Changmin’s ear, his voice soft and strange. Changmin doesn’t know what to do. He’s thinking that no, this probably wasn’t - Jaejoong is here -
“Holy crap,” says Jaejoong. “I think my old boyfriend is trying to flirt with you.”
2008-08-18