Untitled // EXO
The catalyst for this... I'm almost tempted to call this stream-of-consciousness because there is SO LITTLE POINT AND FLOW urgh this does not even count as fic. And it doesn't deserve a title.
Xiumin/Luhan
G, ~800w, futurefic
Twenty years down the line, their relationship gets leaked to the press.
Lu Han worries at the scar tissue on his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, a childhood habit he'd given up for stardom and picked up again in recent years. Under the table, he feels Minseok's hand move to grasp his fingers more firmly, the gesture like an anchor in its familiarity.
So much around them has changed.
There aren't so many crazy fans following them around anymore, for one thing. In fact Lu Han counts it a good day if more than a handful of girls-women, nowadays, with children of their own in strollers and front-facing carriers-recognize them in the streets. (If Minseok quirks a private smile at how Lu Han's gone back full circle to wanting to be recognized instead of loathing it, he doesn't voice his thoughts out loud.) There are no more camera lenses gaping hungrily at them either, or red lights blinking eerily at them, no more silent countdowns to On-Air behind glassy, impersonal walls. They don't have to suffer the invasion of the probing public anymore, or worse, voluntarily put their lives on pedestals to be displayed.
They've changed too, maybe even more than their circumstances.
Minseok has retained the round curves on his face, but his arms are sinewy and his stomach is flat and he's more prone to wearing a polo shirt or button-up that fits snugly around his shoulders and biceps than the two-sizes-too-big sweaters he used to swim in. They're more suitable to his age, he laughs self-deprecatingly behind his hand, and it's true that there's a little more real estate on his forehead and he's not so spry on his feet anymore thanks to multiple knee and muscle injuries in his legs.
Lu Han's aged a little less gracefully. His hair, without the monthly touch-ups he religiously gives it ("because the roots are showing"), would be heavily speckled with gray. His nose that used to be cute in his fresh, youthful face looks stubby now above thin, fading lips, and his laugh lines have deepened into ever-present crows feet that make the corners of his laughing half-moon eyes sag. There's more depth to his face now, however, more thoughtfulness in his expressive eyes. It's a face that drama directors are dying to cast these days, because it has so much character.
The thing that hasn't changed is the way they sit with their thighs touching and two fingers linked together discreetly under the table in a swanky new conference room inside the newly-built SM building in Shenzhen. They lean on each other as much as they've ever done, physically and metaphorically. Lu Han still looks at Minseok as if for confirmation first before he speaks his opinion, and Minseok still stays quiet, agreeing with Lu Han's every statement and grinning with open fondness whenever Lu Han talks himself into a corner.
Today, however, Lu Han isn't talking and Minseok isn't smiling. Instead they're both staring in open-mouthed shock as a PR person, a young woman they've never met, scrolls through a seemingly endless slide of support messages from fans in response to the recently leaked news of their relationship of 20 odd years.
It's not the support itself that's shocking. Times have changed, after all, and there have been other top idols who have come out before them who have paved the way to acceptance. No, it's the history, the memories that get dug up, so many moments shared between the two of them that have been retained by the fans in such minute detail.
Not everything is legitimate. Much of it had been manufactured: coffee dates that had been pre-planned by management, matching outfits that happened out of pure coincidence, cute nicknames and petting that had been highlighted upon and choreographed to draw attention.
But just as much of it was real. An intensity in Lu Han's gaze, a softness in the curve of Minseok's smile. So many moments captured and claimed by the fans, moments they'd been unable to retain for themselves thanks to the dizzying swirl of fame. So, so many memories that had slipped from their grasps, lost between the rush of schedules and the ponderous wave of time.
It's equal parts incredible and frightening that their love has been documented so thoroughly.
(And then the SM rep scrolls to a comment on a Naver article that reads 'didn't we know this already?' followed by 10 photos of Lu Han's hand on Minseok's ass at 10 different events, and things take a turn for the ridiculous. Lu Han closes his eyes in embarrassment, and pretends he can't hear Minseok's quiet snicker next to him.)
Xiumin/Luhan
G, ~800w, futurefic
Twenty years down the line, their relationship gets leaked to the press.
Lu Han worries at the scar tissue on his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, a childhood habit he'd given up for stardom and picked up again in recent years. Under the table, he feels Minseok's hand move to grasp his fingers more firmly, the gesture like an anchor in its familiarity.
So much around them has changed.
There aren't so many crazy fans following them around anymore, for one thing. In fact Lu Han counts it a good day if more than a handful of girls-women, nowadays, with children of their own in strollers and front-facing carriers-recognize them in the streets. (If Minseok quirks a private smile at how Lu Han's gone back full circle to wanting to be recognized instead of loathing it, he doesn't voice his thoughts out loud.) There are no more camera lenses gaping hungrily at them either, or red lights blinking eerily at them, no more silent countdowns to On-Air behind glassy, impersonal walls. They don't have to suffer the invasion of the probing public anymore, or worse, voluntarily put their lives on pedestals to be displayed.
They've changed too, maybe even more than their circumstances.
Minseok has retained the round curves on his face, but his arms are sinewy and his stomach is flat and he's more prone to wearing a polo shirt or button-up that fits snugly around his shoulders and biceps than the two-sizes-too-big sweaters he used to swim in. They're more suitable to his age, he laughs self-deprecatingly behind his hand, and it's true that there's a little more real estate on his forehead and he's not so spry on his feet anymore thanks to multiple knee and muscle injuries in his legs.
Lu Han's aged a little less gracefully. His hair, without the monthly touch-ups he religiously gives it ("because the roots are showing"), would be heavily speckled with gray. His nose that used to be cute in his fresh, youthful face looks stubby now above thin, fading lips, and his laugh lines have deepened into ever-present crows feet that make the corners of his laughing half-moon eyes sag. There's more depth to his face now, however, more thoughtfulness in his expressive eyes. It's a face that drama directors are dying to cast these days, because it has so much character.
The thing that hasn't changed is the way they sit with their thighs touching and two fingers linked together discreetly under the table in a swanky new conference room inside the newly-built SM building in Shenzhen. They lean on each other as much as they've ever done, physically and metaphorically. Lu Han still looks at Minseok as if for confirmation first before he speaks his opinion, and Minseok still stays quiet, agreeing with Lu Han's every statement and grinning with open fondness whenever Lu Han talks himself into a corner.
Today, however, Lu Han isn't talking and Minseok isn't smiling. Instead they're both staring in open-mouthed shock as a PR person, a young woman they've never met, scrolls through a seemingly endless slide of support messages from fans in response to the recently leaked news of their relationship of 20 odd years.
It's not the support itself that's shocking. Times have changed, after all, and there have been other top idols who have come out before them who have paved the way to acceptance. No, it's the history, the memories that get dug up, so many moments shared between the two of them that have been retained by the fans in such minute detail.
Not everything is legitimate. Much of it had been manufactured: coffee dates that had been pre-planned by management, matching outfits that happened out of pure coincidence, cute nicknames and petting that had been highlighted upon and choreographed to draw attention.
But just as much of it was real. An intensity in Lu Han's gaze, a softness in the curve of Minseok's smile. So many moments captured and claimed by the fans, moments they'd been unable to retain for themselves thanks to the dizzying swirl of fame. So, so many memories that had slipped from their grasps, lost between the rush of schedules and the ponderous wave of time.
It's equal parts incredible and frightening that their love has been documented so thoroughly.
(And then the SM rep scrolls to a comment on a Naver article that reads 'didn't we know this already?' followed by 10 photos of Lu Han's hand on Minseok's ass at 10 different events, and things take a turn for the ridiculous. Lu Han closes his eyes in embarrassment, and pretends he can't hear Minseok's quiet snicker next to him.)