Title: Three Times Yesung Misunderstood and the One Time of Perfect Clarity
Pairing: Yesung/Henry
Genre: Crack/Friendship
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Even in my dreams, they own me.
Summary: Having language barriers isn't supposed to be this hard.
A/N: An incredibly overdue birthday gift for
kendayawind. I'm sorry it took so long! :( Partly inspired by
this.
One.
Yesung was busy scouring the internet for a birthday gift for Donghae.
Even though it was late July.
But then again, considering that promotions for their second album was starting soon, he wanted to use as much of his limited time to catch up on much-needed rest. Better to shop earlier and have a few options than a last-minute cliche gift from the dollar shop.
Speaking of second album promotion, Yesung was reminded of the 17 years old who was currently living at the dorms with them. Yesung felt a little bad for the boy since he had to live with the craziness that was Super Junior, on top of the general stress of the entertainment industry. But he pushed the thoughts aside because he knew despite the insanity of it all, it was good exposure for the star trainee of the company.
Straining his ears, he could make out the faint musical notes of the violin outside his room. Huh. So the kid didn't go out for training today. He wondered if he skipped it or was allowed a short break. Probably the former. Teenagers were teenagers after all.
After a split second decision, Yesung had gathered up his laptop and made his way out of his room. Following the music notes, he found himself leaning against the door to Donghae and Sungmin's shared room, watching as the boy got caught up playing his own music.
"Hey Henli."
"Henry," He said automatically as he turned to face Yesung, eyes wide. Surprised or frightened he couldn't tell. Probably a bit of both.
Yesung chuckled at the response. He had repeated his name so often when someone mispronounced it that it seemed almost like a reflex now.
"No schedule?"
Yesung shook his head. "Henli-ah. When is your birthday?" He asked as he propped his shoulder more comfortably against the door, flicking through pages of gift ideas. If he missed Henry's birthday, he'll get one for Christmas.
"....Birthday?"
"Yes."
"....No birthday."
"Eh? Everyone has a birthday Henli-ah. When is yours?"
"Henry. Birthday. No. Noooo," Henry insisted, shaking his head vehemently as he formed a "X" with his arms.
Yesung mentally sighed. Forget living with Super Junior. The language barrier itself was enough to drive anyone crazy. Time to change his tactics. If he asked for his horoscope, he could narrow down the dates much more effectively and work from there.
"Ok. Let's try this again. Henli-ah, what is your horoscope?"
At this, Henry perked up. "By your side hyung!"
"W H A T."
Two.
"This is ridiculous maknae. He's lost. LOST. Leeteuk-hyung is going to kill us. The question is whether he would do it before OR after he finds Henry's carcass."
Kibum patted his shoulder sympathetically. At least, he hoped it was sympathy but knowing Kibum, he was probably just doing it for show. Yesung groaned at the helplessness of the situation.
"Relax hyung. I'm sure Henry is fine. Have you tried calling him yet?" Kyuhyun asked from the side.
Yesung wanted to retort but remembered that their second youngest was only discharged from the hospital only a month and a half ago, he merely heaved a deep sigh. "Yes I did. But it didn't get through. I'm not sure if Henli even has my number. Or if he is the type to ignore unknown callers." Yesung starting rubbing his temples. He thought he felt a nerve snapping somewhere inside.
Kibum took his phone out of his jacket pocket and starting flicking through his phone.
"When was the last time you spoke to Henry?"
Kyuhyun pursed his lips in concentration. "I think it was this morning before we left for the recording studio. He said something about Korean lessons and homework. You think he got lost looking for us?"
Kibum shook his head as he absent-mindedly thumbed through his phone. "I don't think so. I picked this spot because I took Henry here before in between schedules."
Yesung felt a moment of fleeting relief before it was completely crushed by Kibum's next sentence. "But then again, I didn't managed to find out if he was the type with zero sense of direction. He was talking a mile a minute about everything. It was hard to ask or understand him."
Yesung smacked his head hard as the two started snickering. Can't these two understand that people's lives were at stake here? Or was he blind towards their heartlessness all these years?
"Hey hyung. Maybe you should try calling him again. It's not like we have all day to stand around and wait."
Yesung's mind stopped mid-pace before he fully processed Kibum's words.
"You mean you weren't trying to contact him at all in the last 20 minutes?!"
"No. I was checking through my messages. Heechul-hyung is being erratic lately with his calls. You know how prickly he gets if I don't answer his or Donghae-hyung's calls," Kibum shrugged.
Yesung felt like yanking out his hair in frustration. Or maybe punch Kibum in the eye for not being helpful at all.
"Fine," Yesung groused as he flipped open his phone harder than he was supposed to. "You better hope that Henry picks up this time. Or I'm using the two of you as a human shield against Teukie-hyung's wrath."
"Hello?"
Yesung's eyes widened in surprised. He really didn't expect the call to connect at all. Guess it was 20th time lucky.
"Henli-ah. It's Yesung-hyung. Where are you?"
"Oh Yesung-hyung! Hi!"
"Oh Henli. Where are you?" Yesung repeated.
"The second exit in your heart hyung!" Henry replied cheerily.
"W H A T."
"The second exit in your heart!" Henry repeated slowly this time, as if he was the one who had problems with the Korean language.
"What did he say? Where is he? And why do you look so scandalized?" Kyuhyun asked while poking Yesung in his side.
"Oh for God's sake," Kibum rolled his eyes as he snatched Yesung's phone out of his hand and began speaking in English to Henry.
"Yesung-hyung, are you okay?" Kyuhyun asked, this time poking at his cheek.
Yesung snapped out of his reverie before glaring at Kyuhyun. He was about to demand the identity of Henry's mysterious Korean teacher (because there was no way in hell that it was a Korean teacher who has been teaching Henry these things.) when Kibum walked over and told them where Henry was.
"He's at the second exit of Cheongdam Station. Probably be here in a few minutes."
"He told me he was at the second exit in my heart!" Yesung bellowed.
Kyuhyun and Kibum stared at each other before bursting into laughter, holding onto each other for support when it became too much.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't mean your aorta hyung. He's not your blood type," Kibum said in between gasping for air.
"I think he meant the pulmonary vein Bummie. Since you know blood leaves the aorta first. Goes back in through the vena cava. Then leaving for the lungs through the pulmonary vein," Kyuhyun corrected, finally regaining back some form of composure.
Before he knew it, Yesung was caught between two kids arguing fiercely about biology in the middle of a busy street, waiting for a foreign child who probably had lost his way again while looking for them.
Oh joy.
Three.
Yesung was feeling a little light-headed from the celebration.
Super Junior has just released their second album and within hours of its release, they had dominated the music charts and the search engines. So everyone decided to throw an impromptu celebration party as well as to mark the beginning of their album promotion.
He staggered through the raucous crowd clustered in the middle of their living room. While he was happy to celebrate, he thought that some people might have gone overboard with the drinking. He could already predict the fit Heechul was going to throw the next day about his hangover. Especially since he just spied Kibum and Kyuhyun sneakily filling up his cup with more soju every time he downed the drink.
Finally stumbling into the narrow kitchen, Yesung started rummaging through the fridge for some good old fashioned beer. Soju might be a Korean drink but having a few shots of that blasted drink was only so much he could take. He prefer working his way up to drunkenness, not fall headfirst into it.
Grimacing at the line of soju bottles scattered over the kitchen counter top, he drank the beer, snickering at the antics of his drunk band mates. Over Kangin's booming voice, he heard a soft sigh coming from his left side and found Henry looking forlornly at the rest of the members.
Nudging Henry's shoulder, he asked. "Why do you look so sad?"
"I want to drink too hyung! But Teukie hyung and Donghae hyung gave me this," Henry pouted, pointing at the carton of milk tucked inconspicuously in the dark corner of the kitchen counter top.
Yesung laughed as he took another swig of beer. "You're too young to drink alcohol Henli-ah. It's for your own good."
"I've been drinking since I was fifteen! I can handle a little bit of alcohol!" Henry said indignantly.
Yesung laughed. Funny how he got more eloquently when he was being upset about not being to join in the drinking. Yesung thought about it and quickly made up his mind.
"Fine. I'll get you a bottle," Henry perked up. "But only one bottle alright? I don't want Leeteuk-hyung to kill me if he sees this."
"Deal!"
Taking out another bottle of beer, he handed it over to Henry who popped open the bottle with a single smooth motion. Clearly the kid wasn't lying when he said he's been drinking.
"So Henli-ah. What do you like to drink?"
"Your lips," Henry replied as he took a deep gulp.
"W H A T."
"Your lips hyung. Your lips. Did I say it wrongly?" Henry asked worriedly.
Yesung stared incredulously at him. Before turning his head staring at the crowd and found Hyukjae laughing hysterically in their direction.
"YAH. LEE HYUKJAE. YOU ARE SO DEAD."
One.
Yesung slumped into the backseat the moment he got into their van. Another day of long rehearsals and shows and performances. No matter how many times he had done this, Yesung knew that it wasn't something he could get used to or be prepared for anyway.
The sound of the car engine snapped him out of his exhausted reverie. Looking at the passengers sitting in front of him, he sighed. It was during times like these that he wished he had the ability to sleep anywhere. At the rate that he was going, he was only going to get about four hours of sleep if he was lucky before being roused to another day of intense schedules.
In the silence of the van, he heard some shuffling sound and felt someone shifting uncomfortably on his side. Squinting in the semi-darkness, he was able to make out Henry's silhouette. Something about seeing Henry had set off a few alarms in his head and he frowned in frustration trying to piece the mystery together in his exhaustion muddled brain. Fumbling for his phone in his jacket pocket, he realized that it had been two hours since Henry's birthday started.
Yesung suddenly felt more refreshed than he did several minutes ago. Well at least there was some good news despite the late hour and the weariness. Digging through his backpack sitting on the floor, he finally found what he was looking for and smiled triumphantly.
"Henli-ah," Yesung whispered as he poked his cheeks lightly.
"Yes Yesung-hyung?"
"Happy birthday," Yesung grinned as he handed over the birthday present.
Under the pale yellow street lights peeking through the tinted windows of their van, Yesung could see Henry's eyes lighted up with delight. He still caught a small hint of the crestfallen expression as Henry hugged the present closer to his chest, burying his face in darkness.
"Thank you hyung. You didn't really have to. But thank you."
Looking at his slightly curled up position, Yesung was suddenly struck by how small Henry really was compared to the rest of them. He wasn't just a skinny growing 18 years old boy. He was still a frail vulnerable child, one who had crossed the big pond to a place he had never really heard of or cared about. All to follow these little wisps of dreams the company had dangled in front of him. The insurmountable and unfounded hatred had scared all of them. Leeteuk had already expected a certain amount of backlash, experience earned when Kyuhyun first joined the team, but this was completely different from back then.
This. This was a boy trapped in a place where he could have left but never did. And was now suffering the consequences of his choices. Yesung remembered what it was like to be hated and shunned by the people they called fans. They couldn't fight back against them because without them, they wouldn't be able to stand where they were today. So they tried to be better for them, hoping that one day, all those hatred could be turned into intense support and love. But the more they tried, the more they were criticized and shunned. It was a vicious cycle, never ending, its effects still lingering even if you had found a way out.
Yesung knew what it was like. Knew and bonded with that feeling as if it was part of him. Beating along with him. Looking at Henry now, he felt a wave of sympathy and apologies crashing over him. What he felt would never be comparable to how Henry was feeling right now.
Yesung reached out and pulled Henry closer to him, guiding his head until it rested on his shoulder, face tucked into his neck. Caressing his hair softly, he whispered.
"Go to sleep Henli-ah. We're already on our way home," Yesung said fiercely, wishing with all his might that Henry could be loved by everyone just as much as Super Junior loved him.
Henry only shifted closer to him, body fitting in more snugly against his.
"Happy birthday Henry," Yesung whispered once more as he started humming quietly, lulling the boy into the arms of the Sandman.
----
A/N: One thing I learned about writing crack is that after editing it like 1297834th over, it's not going to be funny anymore .___. Also been wanting to write these sorts of fics for a while now. It's kinda fun xD
But regardless, I hope everyone likes this. The pairing is quite special and I hope to write more for them coerced by
amalious of course 8D.
Cross posted at
my_prection.