simplify
title: simplify
pairing(s): ontae
rating: g
wordcount: ~1090
summary: "Hyung, if you had to describe me in one word, what would it be?"
a/n: I must have written this during wss promotions.. i dunno what i wanted from this (drabble?) man I DUNNO
It starts when Taemin is wracking his brain for the wording of a text to Jongin.
My manager yelled at me for something dumb, Minho stepped on my toe, Jonghyun's lines are too hard, and my stomach feels
He stares at his phone for a moment, then turns to Jinki, who's sitting next to him in the van.
"Hyung, you know that feeling when your stomach hurts and you think you're hungry because there's these sharp pangs, but you know that once you eat something you're gonna regret it because it'll just make you feel worse?"
Jinki nods absently. "Yeah."
"If you had to describe that feeling in one word, what would it be?"
Jinki considers this for a moment. "Icky."
"Perfect," Taemin says, typing it in and hitting send. "Thanks."
When reply comes back (dude, all i said was what's up, i didn't ask for your life story), Taemin doesn't even read it; he's discovered a new distraction. His fingers find Jinki's soft thigh as he thinks of another question.
"Hyung," he says. "If you had to describe flying in an airplane in one word, what would it be?"
"Peanuts," Jinki says promptly.
"All you think about is food," Kibum says, rolling his eyes from the other side of Jinki. "Flying on airplanes is nothing but hassle."
"Hassle, that's a good one," Taemin remarks.
"I know," Kibum says flippantly.
"So if you had to describe van rides in one word, what would it be?" Taemin asks next.
"Uncomfortable," Kibum says.
"Long," Jinki adds, yawning.
"Annoying," Minho says without turning around from the middle row. "Especially when the kids in the backseat are trying to play dumb word games."
"No one asked you," Taemin says sourly.
"I would describe van rides as, shut up," Jonghyun puts in. Kibum throws a sock at him.
"That's two words," Taemin points out.
But in spite of their initial negative reactions, even Minho and Jonghyun quickly come around to Taemin's game as a way to kill time between performances. Given five extra minutes before they have to be on stage, Kibum will point his finger covertly and say, "If you had to describe that new girl group in one word."
"Glittery."
"Catchy."
"Eyeliner."
"Ass."
Jinki claps his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide, as though he didn't mean to let the crude word slip from his lips, but that doesn't stop the others from hooting and making fun of him until they're all trooping onto the bright stage in well-practiced formation. Tightly wound nerves stopped being a major problem a while ago, but this is just a new way they keep themselves loose.
Sometimes, though, it bleeds into their personal lives.
Such as: when Minho and Kibum are having a typically trivial confrontation, and Kibum is trying not to blow up at Minho as he explains to him why he's upset.
"It's just, you always do this, Minho," he says. "Like, I'm okay with letting you do whatever with my phone. Honestly, I am. But when you read my texts as they come in, then how am I supposed to know I've gotten a new text? I have to remember to go look through my conversations, and fuck if I can just keep doing that every time I look at my phone. This is like the tenth time I've missed a text from Woohyun because you read it first, and it's getting kind of frustrating because he thinks I'm mad at him or some bullshit. I don't care if you read my texts, but you have to tell me, okay?"
Minho nods solemnly, his gaze locked intently on Kibum's. "So, if you had to summarize that argument in one word - "
"Fuck you!" Kibum huffs shrilly, and then storms off.
"Two words," Taemin says, popping his head into the living room. "That was two words."
Such as:
When Taemin and Jinki are the only two left in the dorm and they're scrunched next to each other on Jinki's narrow bed, foreheads bumping and just breathing each other's air. Jinki's mouth smells like peppermint. Taemin wonders if Jinki had been chewing gum earlier, anticipating that the two of them would get this time alone.
"The way you're feeling right now," he says, pushing back so that he can look Jinki in the eyes, "describe it in one word."
"Like I wanna make out with you," Jinki mumbles, looking sleepy and adorable.
"That's more than one - " Taemin begins, but then Jinki's minty lips are closing over his own, and the conversation more or less ends there.
Such as:
"If you had to describe gay couples in one word," Taemin says.
"Don't even think about it," their manager pipes up from the driver's seat.
"Don't even think about what?"
"That's my description, my answer," their manager says. "So I hope you're not trying to come out right now."
"Of course not," Taemin says. But he looks shaken, and bites his lip, lost in thought the rest of the ride. He leans into Jinki, the seam where their sides press together comfortingly warm despite the strange chill claiming his fingertips.
"It was more than one word," Jinki says softly, "but don't worry. He'll figure it out."
"The game, or us, do you mean?" Taemin asks.
"I meant the game," Jinki says, his voice now a low whisper. "I'm not giving us up just yet."
Inevitably it comes:
"Hyung, if you had to descibe me in one word," Taemin says as they wait to get into the radio booth. "What would it be?"
His question is directed at Jinki, but Kibum gets to it first.
"Snark."
"You're mean and I hate you," Taemin says automatically, hardly paying Kibum any attention. "Hyung?"
"Dumb," Jonghyun says.
"I didn't ask you to describe yourself," Taemin says sweetly.
"This what I was talking about, the snark," Kibum says, nodding.
"Lips," Minho suggests.
They all stare at him.
"What?" he says defensively. "Taemin's got really distracting lips."
They spend the rest of the day discussing the pros and cons of Taemin's big lips, and Jinki doesn't answer the question until much later.
Taemin is brushing his teeth, watching his reflection with a critical eye, glaring at the spit foaming in the corners of his lips. Who is Minho to say that his lips are too thick, anyhow? Just then Jinki appears, coming up behind him and locking his arms around Taemin's skinny waist.
"Mine," he says quietly.
"Huh?"
"If I had to describe you in one word," Jinki says, "it would be: mine."
notes
i just have this habit of saying things like.. "wow that was the most incredibly awful thing i have ever experienced..if i had to describe it in one word, it would be, terrible." ya know. things like that, 'if i had to describe it in one word….it'd be x.' so i guess that's where this dumbshit came from.
pairing(s): ontae
rating: g
wordcount: ~1090
summary: "Hyung, if you had to describe me in one word, what would it be?"
a/n: I must have written this during wss promotions.. i dunno what i wanted from this (drabble?) man I DUNNO
It starts when Taemin is wracking his brain for the wording of a text to Jongin.
My manager yelled at me for something dumb, Minho stepped on my toe, Jonghyun's lines are too hard, and my stomach feels
He stares at his phone for a moment, then turns to Jinki, who's sitting next to him in the van.
"Hyung, you know that feeling when your stomach hurts and you think you're hungry because there's these sharp pangs, but you know that once you eat something you're gonna regret it because it'll just make you feel worse?"
Jinki nods absently. "Yeah."
"If you had to describe that feeling in one word, what would it be?"
Jinki considers this for a moment. "Icky."
"Perfect," Taemin says, typing it in and hitting send. "Thanks."
When reply comes back (dude, all i said was what's up, i didn't ask for your life story), Taemin doesn't even read it; he's discovered a new distraction. His fingers find Jinki's soft thigh as he thinks of another question.
"Hyung," he says. "If you had to describe flying in an airplane in one word, what would it be?"
"Peanuts," Jinki says promptly.
"All you think about is food," Kibum says, rolling his eyes from the other side of Jinki. "Flying on airplanes is nothing but hassle."
"Hassle, that's a good one," Taemin remarks.
"I know," Kibum says flippantly.
"So if you had to describe van rides in one word, what would it be?" Taemin asks next.
"Uncomfortable," Kibum says.
"Long," Jinki adds, yawning.
"Annoying," Minho says without turning around from the middle row. "Especially when the kids in the backseat are trying to play dumb word games."
"No one asked you," Taemin says sourly.
"I would describe van rides as, shut up," Jonghyun puts in. Kibum throws a sock at him.
"That's two words," Taemin points out.
But in spite of their initial negative reactions, even Minho and Jonghyun quickly come around to Taemin's game as a way to kill time between performances. Given five extra minutes before they have to be on stage, Kibum will point his finger covertly and say, "If you had to describe that new girl group in one word."
"Glittery."
"Catchy."
"Eyeliner."
"Ass."
Jinki claps his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide, as though he didn't mean to let the crude word slip from his lips, but that doesn't stop the others from hooting and making fun of him until they're all trooping onto the bright stage in well-practiced formation. Tightly wound nerves stopped being a major problem a while ago, but this is just a new way they keep themselves loose.
Sometimes, though, it bleeds into their personal lives.
Such as: when Minho and Kibum are having a typically trivial confrontation, and Kibum is trying not to blow up at Minho as he explains to him why he's upset.
"It's just, you always do this, Minho," he says. "Like, I'm okay with letting you do whatever with my phone. Honestly, I am. But when you read my texts as they come in, then how am I supposed to know I've gotten a new text? I have to remember to go look through my conversations, and fuck if I can just keep doing that every time I look at my phone. This is like the tenth time I've missed a text from Woohyun because you read it first, and it's getting kind of frustrating because he thinks I'm mad at him or some bullshit. I don't care if you read my texts, but you have to tell me, okay?"
Minho nods solemnly, his gaze locked intently on Kibum's. "So, if you had to summarize that argument in one word - "
"Fuck you!" Kibum huffs shrilly, and then storms off.
"Two words," Taemin says, popping his head into the living room. "That was two words."
Such as:
When Taemin and Jinki are the only two left in the dorm and they're scrunched next to each other on Jinki's narrow bed, foreheads bumping and just breathing each other's air. Jinki's mouth smells like peppermint. Taemin wonders if Jinki had been chewing gum earlier, anticipating that the two of them would get this time alone.
"The way you're feeling right now," he says, pushing back so that he can look Jinki in the eyes, "describe it in one word."
"Like I wanna make out with you," Jinki mumbles, looking sleepy and adorable.
"That's more than one - " Taemin begins, but then Jinki's minty lips are closing over his own, and the conversation more or less ends there.
Such as:
"If you had to describe gay couples in one word," Taemin says.
"Don't even think about it," their manager pipes up from the driver's seat.
"Don't even think about what?"
"That's my description, my answer," their manager says. "So I hope you're not trying to come out right now."
"Of course not," Taemin says. But he looks shaken, and bites his lip, lost in thought the rest of the ride. He leans into Jinki, the seam where their sides press together comfortingly warm despite the strange chill claiming his fingertips.
"It was more than one word," Jinki says softly, "but don't worry. He'll figure it out."
"The game, or us, do you mean?" Taemin asks.
"I meant the game," Jinki says, his voice now a low whisper. "I'm not giving us up just yet."
Inevitably it comes:
"Hyung, if you had to descibe me in one word," Taemin says as they wait to get into the radio booth. "What would it be?"
His question is directed at Jinki, but Kibum gets to it first.
"Snark."
"You're mean and I hate you," Taemin says automatically, hardly paying Kibum any attention. "Hyung?"
"Dumb," Jonghyun says.
"I didn't ask you to describe yourself," Taemin says sweetly.
"This what I was talking about, the snark," Kibum says, nodding.
"Lips," Minho suggests.
They all stare at him.
"What?" he says defensively. "Taemin's got really distracting lips."
They spend the rest of the day discussing the pros and cons of Taemin's big lips, and Jinki doesn't answer the question until much later.
Taemin is brushing his teeth, watching his reflection with a critical eye, glaring at the spit foaming in the corners of his lips. Who is Minho to say that his lips are too thick, anyhow? Just then Jinki appears, coming up behind him and locking his arms around Taemin's skinny waist.
"Mine," he says quietly.
"Huh?"
"If I had to describe you in one word," Jinki says, "it would be: mine."
notes
i just have this habit of saying things like.. "wow that was the most incredibly awful thing i have ever experienced..if i had to describe it in one word, it would be, terrible." ya know. things like that, 'if i had to describe it in one word….it'd be x.' so i guess that's where this dumbshit came from.