[advent 2013] fic: Learning Curve
Title: Learning Curve
Rating: PG
Pairing: Kris/Lay for a min.
Warnings: N/A
Notes: Advent day 3 for anonymous~ I'm sorry this has taken so long!! Slowly but surely... I will do all the days even if it kills me >__< 1362 words. Again: advent calendar or cop-out ending calendar, who knows u__u
Shindong's been doing this for a long time. It's cute that there are people who can still get excited about it.
Of course Shindong knows them. SMTown is one big happy family, isn't it? And then there are the obvious parallels between Super Junior and these kids, which is exactly what they still are - young, eager, and collectively good-looking enough that it makes PR a little lazy, breeding a habit of cutting corners when it comes to making fans love them just because they can. Then again, that's probably better than a car crash. Hey, it's been years. Shindong can stand to joke about it now.
It was hard to miss them when they were trainees and always getting underfoot, even if there were so many of those he always joked that no one would notice if just a few went missing. Ryeowook didn't like these jokes very much, but Ryeowook, for better or for worse, took to most kids who came in, wanted to give them all a chance.
So, yes, Shindong knows them. They're good kids. He's quite fond of some of them, even.
As for the rest, well. What are his options again? Could he pick, for example, Zhang Yixing out of a lineup? Probably. Chinese kid, dimple, right?
*
Even now, when they five-member boyband is almost an anomaly, having to juggle twelve kids is a fucking nightmare, no matter the size of the studio. By the time number eight, Kris, is filing in through the door, Shindong's headache is out in full force. Radio's hard enough as is. Certainly most of their audience is watching for the visual stream, but radio has a way of stripping you bare, leaving only your voice and the shine of your personality for you to stand on. Shindong knows he's good at it, always has been, and that not many people are.
EXO, well, EXO does their best. Well enough that it lets Shindong do his job. There's not much more he can ask for. Some of them will be good in time, and some of them never will. For all of them, a year of waiting made them more eager, more determined. In boyband years, a year is the sound of your marketability clock ticking, even if he and everyone else knew management had sunk too much money into EXO for them to be anything but a success.
A few end up surprising him. He's always been fond of Jongdae, Chanyeol, but Shindong finds himself unexpectedly pleased by Kyungsoo's grave deadpan, by Sehun's shameless brattiness. He constantly circles back to the question of whether he wants to give Tao a noogie or better Korean lessons, and comes up with a different answer each time. After it's over, Kyungsoo and Kris stick around to clear up, while Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Baekhyun swarm him, giving him the distinct feeling of being surrounded by a pack of very enthusiastic dogs.
Once they've moved on, Zhang Yixing steps up, phone in hand. "I'm trying to get better at radio," he says by way of explanation, dimpling at him in earnest. "Um, if you don't mind exchanging numbers with me, hyung."
Shindong accidentally laughs in his face, taken aback. Yixing, determined, stands his ground.
"Okay, yeah," he says, taking Yixing's proffered phone once he's collected himself. "Sure. Just as long as you promise to delete Ryeowook's."
Shindong means it as a joke, but Yixing responds seriously, tripping slightly over his words. "Oh, I didn't ask Ryeowook-hyung. Thank you, hyung." He pockets the phone with a slight bow, ducking his head with practiced ease when Kris comes up behind him, reaching up a hand to palm at the back of his neck.
The ease of affection, parlayed into the second nature of fanservice. The red, sign of a good reaction, spreading reluctantly over Yixing's neck. Kris' face folded in a laugh as he pushes on Yixing's back so they can catch up to the others. The complexity of the emotion that shutters in and out of Yixing's face. These things, Shindong remembers too.
*
Shindong discovers that Yixing is a good kid but a terrible texter, constantly misspelling and misplacing words. The first time Yixing texts him, he spends two minutes trying to decipher it before giving up. Luckily, Donghae is around and nosy, eager to offer his services at the prospect of practicing his deteriorating Chinese. Whatever Donghae comes up with must be right enough, because it signs Shindong up for the Indecipherable Encouraging Morning Revelation of the Day text service, courtesy of Zhang Yixing. It's endearing, sure, but forget radio - Yixing's going right into the noogie and Korean cram school camp along with Tao.
Yixing's a funny kid, in the way people genuinely ignorant of their own strangeness usually are. He's spacey whenever they pass each other, and then reacts hilariously, astronomically disproportionate to the situation when Shindong gives him shit about it. Shindong doesn't understand half the things Yixing says to him, though he's not sure if that's a failure of communication on his end or on Yixing's.
A month and a half later, EXO is back on ShimShimTapa, suddenly flush with comebacks and media appearances. They all look a little more tired and over-dyed than they did the last time, but rather fatigue than restlessness. When they file in this time, it's with a newfound swagger. A few triple crowns will do that to you.
They're outside the booth, still waiting to go on, when Yixing sidles up to him. "Hi hyung," he says. "I've been practicing! Sehun's been helping."
The mention of his name attracts the attention of Sehun, who shakes his head, drawing his hand in a monotonous back and forth across his throat from behind Yixing. Well, Shindong figured as much. Besides, he's not sure if, out of EXO, Sehun would've been his first choice radio practice partner.
Yixing's still looking at him hopefully, though, so he slaps Yixing on the back, sending him stumbling. They've really been making them smaller lately.
*
Live performances are the best part of his job - or, at least, they certainly feel that way at the time, which is more than can be said about most aspects of his job. Shindong will never feel more alive than he does performing in front of tens of thousands of people collectively screaming his name. Call him a narcissist, but you can't argue with that kind of affirmation. SMTown Beijing is no exception.
During one of the encores, Shindong is pulling faces for one fan in the fourth row with his face in lights - fewer and fewer each year, he has to cherish them when he gets them - when he feels a slight body crash into him from behind. He stumbles, more from surprise than the weight. It's Yixing, grin so wide his dimple threatens to eclipse his face.
"Hyung," Yixing shouts excitedly in his ear, blinking as the confetti shower hits them. His arms are skinny but firm where he's hanging off Shindong's neck. The shrieking suddenly hits a fever pitch and, when Shindong glances above him, his and Yixing's faces are magnified a hundred times, projected to everyone in the stadium. Well. Shindong's not one to give up a photo op.
"Smile," he advises, bringing Yixing around to his side, pointing him towards the audience.
Yixing does him one better, throwing up a peace sign and dimpling the way they probably taught him to for photo shoots. Taemin from SHINee does something precious on the west stage, and the cameras click away from them, always chasing something better.
Yixing drops the peace sign, spreading his arms instead. "Hyung," he says, spinning in a slow circle as fltter falls around him. "Sometimes, I love this more than anything."
Sometimes. Intentional or not, it's a surprisingly acute observation. Shindong grabs Yixing in a headlock for a vicious noogie, letting him go when he spots Kyuhyun a few feet away, just begging to be pantsed. "Enjoy it," he yells back at Yixing, who throws him a thumbs up, determined.
+ Anon feedback meme.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Kris/Lay for a min.
Warnings: N/A
Notes: Advent day 3 for anonymous~ I'm sorry this has taken so long!! Slowly but surely... I will do all the days even if it kills me >__< 1362 words. Again: advent calendar or cop-out ending calendar, who knows u__u
Shindong's been doing this for a long time. It's cute that there are people who can still get excited about it.
Of course Shindong knows them. SMTown is one big happy family, isn't it? And then there are the obvious parallels between Super Junior and these kids, which is exactly what they still are - young, eager, and collectively good-looking enough that it makes PR a little lazy, breeding a habit of cutting corners when it comes to making fans love them just because they can. Then again, that's probably better than a car crash. Hey, it's been years. Shindong can stand to joke about it now.
It was hard to miss them when they were trainees and always getting underfoot, even if there were so many of those he always joked that no one would notice if just a few went missing. Ryeowook didn't like these jokes very much, but Ryeowook, for better or for worse, took to most kids who came in, wanted to give them all a chance.
So, yes, Shindong knows them. They're good kids. He's quite fond of some of them, even.
As for the rest, well. What are his options again? Could he pick, for example, Zhang Yixing out of a lineup? Probably. Chinese kid, dimple, right?
*
Even now, when they five-member boyband is almost an anomaly, having to juggle twelve kids is a fucking nightmare, no matter the size of the studio. By the time number eight, Kris, is filing in through the door, Shindong's headache is out in full force. Radio's hard enough as is. Certainly most of their audience is watching for the visual stream, but radio has a way of stripping you bare, leaving only your voice and the shine of your personality for you to stand on. Shindong knows he's good at it, always has been, and that not many people are.
EXO, well, EXO does their best. Well enough that it lets Shindong do his job. There's not much more he can ask for. Some of them will be good in time, and some of them never will. For all of them, a year of waiting made them more eager, more determined. In boyband years, a year is the sound of your marketability clock ticking, even if he and everyone else knew management had sunk too much money into EXO for them to be anything but a success.
A few end up surprising him. He's always been fond of Jongdae, Chanyeol, but Shindong finds himself unexpectedly pleased by Kyungsoo's grave deadpan, by Sehun's shameless brattiness. He constantly circles back to the question of whether he wants to give Tao a noogie or better Korean lessons, and comes up with a different answer each time. After it's over, Kyungsoo and Kris stick around to clear up, while Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Baekhyun swarm him, giving him the distinct feeling of being surrounded by a pack of very enthusiastic dogs.
Once they've moved on, Zhang Yixing steps up, phone in hand. "I'm trying to get better at radio," he says by way of explanation, dimpling at him in earnest. "Um, if you don't mind exchanging numbers with me, hyung."
Shindong accidentally laughs in his face, taken aback. Yixing, determined, stands his ground.
"Okay, yeah," he says, taking Yixing's proffered phone once he's collected himself. "Sure. Just as long as you promise to delete Ryeowook's."
Shindong means it as a joke, but Yixing responds seriously, tripping slightly over his words. "Oh, I didn't ask Ryeowook-hyung. Thank you, hyung." He pockets the phone with a slight bow, ducking his head with practiced ease when Kris comes up behind him, reaching up a hand to palm at the back of his neck.
The ease of affection, parlayed into the second nature of fanservice. The red, sign of a good reaction, spreading reluctantly over Yixing's neck. Kris' face folded in a laugh as he pushes on Yixing's back so they can catch up to the others. The complexity of the emotion that shutters in and out of Yixing's face. These things, Shindong remembers too.
*
Shindong discovers that Yixing is a good kid but a terrible texter, constantly misspelling and misplacing words. The first time Yixing texts him, he spends two minutes trying to decipher it before giving up. Luckily, Donghae is around and nosy, eager to offer his services at the prospect of practicing his deteriorating Chinese. Whatever Donghae comes up with must be right enough, because it signs Shindong up for the Indecipherable Encouraging Morning Revelation of the Day text service, courtesy of Zhang Yixing. It's endearing, sure, but forget radio - Yixing's going right into the noogie and Korean cram school camp along with Tao.
Yixing's a funny kid, in the way people genuinely ignorant of their own strangeness usually are. He's spacey whenever they pass each other, and then reacts hilariously, astronomically disproportionate to the situation when Shindong gives him shit about it. Shindong doesn't understand half the things Yixing says to him, though he's not sure if that's a failure of communication on his end or on Yixing's.
A month and a half later, EXO is back on ShimShimTapa, suddenly flush with comebacks and media appearances. They all look a little more tired and over-dyed than they did the last time, but rather fatigue than restlessness. When they file in this time, it's with a newfound swagger. A few triple crowns will do that to you.
They're outside the booth, still waiting to go on, when Yixing sidles up to him. "Hi hyung," he says. "I've been practicing! Sehun's been helping."
The mention of his name attracts the attention of Sehun, who shakes his head, drawing his hand in a monotonous back and forth across his throat from behind Yixing. Well, Shindong figured as much. Besides, he's not sure if, out of EXO, Sehun would've been his first choice radio practice partner.
Yixing's still looking at him hopefully, though, so he slaps Yixing on the back, sending him stumbling. They've really been making them smaller lately.
*
Live performances are the best part of his job - or, at least, they certainly feel that way at the time, which is more than can be said about most aspects of his job. Shindong will never feel more alive than he does performing in front of tens of thousands of people collectively screaming his name. Call him a narcissist, but you can't argue with that kind of affirmation. SMTown Beijing is no exception.
During one of the encores, Shindong is pulling faces for one fan in the fourth row with his face in lights - fewer and fewer each year, he has to cherish them when he gets them - when he feels a slight body crash into him from behind. He stumbles, more from surprise than the weight. It's Yixing, grin so wide his dimple threatens to eclipse his face.
"Hyung," Yixing shouts excitedly in his ear, blinking as the confetti shower hits them. His arms are skinny but firm where he's hanging off Shindong's neck. The shrieking suddenly hits a fever pitch and, when Shindong glances above him, his and Yixing's faces are magnified a hundred times, projected to everyone in the stadium. Well. Shindong's not one to give up a photo op.
"Smile," he advises, bringing Yixing around to his side, pointing him towards the audience.
Yixing does him one better, throwing up a peace sign and dimpling the way they probably taught him to for photo shoots. Taemin from SHINee does something precious on the west stage, and the cameras click away from them, always chasing something better.
Yixing drops the peace sign, spreading his arms instead. "Hyung," he says, spinning in a slow circle as fltter falls around him. "Sometimes, I love this more than anything."
Sometimes. Intentional or not, it's a surprisingly acute observation. Shindong grabs Yixing in a headlock for a vicious noogie, letting him go when he spots Kyuhyun a few feet away, just begging to be pantsed. "Enjoy it," he yells back at Yixing, who throws him a thumbs up, determined.
+ Anon feedback meme.