Eeteuk/Eeteuk (Kangin/Eeteuk) fic
title: rinse and repeat
theme: 059. calendar; 008/100; archive
Eeteuk/Eeteuk (Kangin/Eeteuk)
humor and a some fluff
this is my twentieth suju fic! (not counting the ones that will never ever be seen or the ones that were started before this one and are yet unfinished.) :D
Eeteuk's alarm went off at the same time it always did. He groaned, covered his head with his pillow, and blindly reached out for the source of his sudden and unfavorable awakening. Mentally he cursed himself for having forgotten to set the alarm back two hours because it was one of those rare days when he didn't have to be awake only an hour after he'd gone to sleep.
"Shut that thing off," said Heechul, voice muffled from the many blankets he'd cocooned himself in. "Or I can't be held responsible for killing you with it."
Eeteuk knocked the alarm onto the floor where it beeped once more before dying out. Good enough, he thought as he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
"Just thought you should know," said Donghae, opening the door and poking his head inside. "The fire has been put out and there is no reason to worry." He tilted his head back to look at something that Eeteuk couldn't see. "Oh, wait. Sungmin's on fire now." Eeteuk sat up in bed and looked at Donghae for some kind of clarification. Behind Donghae, Eeteuk saw Shindong run past the doorway toward the kitchen. "Never mind, Shindong's handling it." Donghae smiled.
Slowly, Eeteuk got out of bed. "What? How?"
Donghae shrugged. "We thought we try something new for breakfast. It didn't work."
"What is that smell?" asked Hankyung, stepping out of his bedroom.
"Small fire," said Donghae.
Eeteuk started walking to the kitchen, intent on making sure none of the damage was permanent. Sungmin was sitting on the ground, looking distraught, clutching a burnt oven mitt in one hand and what looked to be a charred shirt-sleeve in the other. Shindong was attempting to wave away the smoke. Both of them were soaked with water.
Hankyung blinked a few times. "Small fire?"
"It started small." Sungmin gazed up at Eeteuk. "Can I go?" he asked. "I don't think I'm safe here."
Eeteuk sighed, but nodded. Sungmin pulled himself up and cautiously made his way to the front door.
"Someone should probably clean this up," Donghae added thoughtfully. Eeteuk rubbed at his temples.
By the afternoon his day had slowly progressed downward in terms of luck and Eeteuk couldn't help but feel that crawling into a hole and hiding would really be the honorable thing to do. He'd slid on the wet floor in their kitchen while trying to clean up the mess he hadn't even made and somehow managed to bring Shindong down with him when he fell; both of them landing on the tail of Heechul's cat, which angered Heechul to no end. Eeteuk had nearly been crushed by a rogue stage light during a rehearsal and then had completely forgotten his line during the actual performance, and then he'd misstep and had been elbowed in the stomach by Shiwon.
"Are you okay?" Shiwon asked afterward. "I'm really sorry, I didn't see you."
"It's fine," said Eeteuk. Shiwon looked unsure. "I'm fine." Shiwon didn't appear entirely convinced, but he backed away, frowning, as Kangin walked over.
Kangin put his arm around Eeteuk's shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem...off. More than you usually are."
Eeteuk closed his eyes. "Bad luck, I guess. I'll just be glad when this day is over."
Looking back on it, he couldn't help but to think that was probably where he went wrong.
*
Eeteuk's alarm went off at the usual time.
"Shut that thing off or I can't be held responsible for killing you with it," said Heechul.
"You really need some new material," Eeteuk said as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Heechul mumbled something that sounded vaguely insulting, but under the many piles of blankets he'd wrapped himself in it was hard to be sure.
Eeteuk stretched his arms up and rolled his neck. It was going to be a good day, he decided.
Donghae opened the door. "Just thought you should know the fire has been put out and there is no reason to worry."
"What?" asked Eeteuk. "Again?"
Donghae blinked. "What?
"How could you start a fire two days in a row?" He could see Shindong running toward the kitchen for the second time.
"We didn't?" Donghae tilted his head in confusion.
Hankyung walked out of his room. "What's that smell," he asked.
"Small fire," answered Donghae.
Eeteuk frowned. He got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Maybe he'd get a better answer out of Sungmin. or Shindong. "What is going on here?" he asked.
"We tried to make breakfast," said Sungmin. He was, again, on the floor, dripping with water, holding an oven mitt and part of his torn shirt. "Can I go? I don't think I'm safe here."
"No!" Eeteuk exclaimed. "Didn't either of you learn anything from yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" asked Sungmin.
"No one tried to cook yesterday," Hankyung said.
"Yes they did! This all happened yesterday." Eeteuk looked around the room for confirmation. He received blank stares instead.
Shindong frowned. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No," said Eeteuk. "I'm not."
*
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Kangin, wrapping his arm around Eeteuk's shoulders. You seem--"
"Off," Eeteuk cut in. "I know. You keep saying that. I think I'm having a very bad dream."
Kangin pinched his arm. "Ow!" Eeteuk yelled, jumping away.
"I don't think you're dreaming," said Kangin in way of an explanation. "Besides, I don't feel like a dream."
Eeteuk wanted to cry.
*
"Today is yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and even the day before that!" Eeteuk was pacing the room and waving his arms wildly. Given the situation, he thought that was acceptable.
"I'm pretty sure today is today," Sungmin said quietly. Shindong nodded.
"It's not," Eeteuk said. "It's yesterday. Tomorrow will probably be today, too."
"I think," said Hankyung, "I don't understand."
"I get it," said Donghae. "Live for today, right? Because tomorrow may never come."
"There is no tomorrow!" Eeteuk made a few more grand gestures while frantically waving his arms around. "It won't ever come! It's only today. It's always today."
"Does that mean Donghae's right?" asked Shindong.
Eeteuk dropped to the floor and curled up into a little ball. He would deal with today tomorrow, he thought.
*
"If the day really is repeating for you," Yehsung started. Eeteuk could hear his skepticism. "Then maybe you need to do something to make it stop. Like fixing everything that went wrong the first time."
*
"If the day really is repeating for you--"
"It is. And I've tried that already," Eeteuk said.
Ryeowook looked back and forth between Yehsung and Eeteuk and blinked a few times. "Tried what?"
Eeteuk sighed. "Fixing the things that went wrong on the first day."
"Maybe you're not supposed to fix yourself," said Ryeowook. "Maybe you have to help other people."
*
"If the day--"
"It really is. Really. And I've tried that, it doesn't work." Eeteuk turned to Ryeowook. "That didn't work either."
Kyuhyun stared at all of them. "Do you even know why this is happening? Or why you're the only one to notice?"
"You're not very helpful at all." Eeteuk frowned.
Kyuhyun crossed his arms and slid lower in his chair. "What about staying awake all night?"
*
"If--"
"Yes! It's repeating and no, that doesn't work," said Eeteuk.
Ryeowook opened his mouth to speak. "No," Eeteuk answered. "You're idea wasn't any better."
Kyuhyun sat up straight. "No to both of your questions," Eeteuk cut in. "And no, not falling asleep also doesn't work. One minute I'm wide awake and the next thing I know my alarm is going off on the same day."
"Whoa," said Eunhyuk.
Kibum set his book down. "If the day is just going to start over in the morning, then you can pretty much do whatever you want. There are no consequences."
*
Eeteuk's alarm went of, he threw it against the wall, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
*
They were on stage performing a song that Eeteuk had done so many times that the numbers had to be far into the hundreds. He hated the song, he hated the stage, he hated the dance steps, he even felt some resentment toward the audience. It was the same thing day after day after day and no one should have to suffer through that.
Luckily, Eeteuk had really taken to the 'no consequences' thing. In the middle of the live performance, Eeteuk grabbed hold of Kangin's hand and pulled him front and center of the stage. "I really should have done this sooner," he said. Eeteuk threaded his fingers through Kangin's hair, leaned up, and kissed him in front of the cameras, their fans, and the rest of their group.
Around them the audience went silent and all of Super Junior froze where they stood. Kangin wrapped his arms around Eeteuk's waist and pulled him closer. It must have seemed like the absolute, very worst idea anyone had ever thought of, but maybe Kangin figured there was a method to Eeteuk's madness. Or maybe he just thought the damage was already done and he might as well finish what they'd started.
Eeteuk pulled away as roughly half of the audience erupted in possibly the loudest applause he'd ever heard. The other half still seemed too stunned to move. Along with all of their friends.
"You're insane," said Kangin.
Eeteuk shrugged. "It won't matter tomorrow."
*
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Sungmin. He and Donghae were standing on the other side of the kitchen watching Eeteuk eat every single piece of food there was in both apartments, including three large cakes he'd bought just for the occasion.
"How is that even possible?" Donghae asked as Eeteuk took another large bite of something unidentifiable.
Sungmin pressed his hand to his mouth as Eeteuk licked frosting off of his fingers. "I am definitely going to be sick."
Donghae couldn't look away.
"Want some?" Eeteuk held out a slice of chocolate cake.
Sungmin ran for the bathroom.
*
Convincing the rest of Super Junior that he was, in fact, psychic was a lot easier than he would have thought. Having memorized every word and action they all said and did throughout the day actually managed to be useful.
After earning their trust that he really could see the future, telling them all fake destinies was a lot more fun than previously thought, too. Especially the chaos that followed.
*
"Where have you been all day?" asked Heechul. "You've been missing since this morning and people keep saying that you--" He paused and stood in the front doorway, Hankyung right behind him. "What is all that?"
Eeteuk was sprawled out on the floor surrounded by more money than he'd ever had or seen before in his life. "I robbed a bank," he smiled and tossed a stack of bills to Heechul.
*
"Oh my God," said Shindong. "What are... have you... Oh my God."
Eeteuk smiled, stretched his back, and waved to anyone who was around, though most of them wouldn't meet his eyes. Eeteuk crouched down and made sure his shoe laces were tied tight enough.
"I. Um. What. There's something very, very wrong here" Eunhyuk had moved behind Shindong as if that would offer some kind of protection from whatever had obviously disturbed Eeteuk's mind.
"I'm going for a walk," Eeteuk said. "Want to join me?"
"Absolutely not," replied Shindong. Eunhyuk shook his head in an emphatic 'No'.
Eeteuk shrugged and walked off. In the back of his mind he sincerely hoped that the day he decided to skip anything and everything he had scheduled to instead walk around the city naked wasn't the day the cycle finally ended.
*
Eeteuk stood on the edge of the roof of their apartment building. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. He wanted to feel what it would be like to fly.
*
"There you are. I tried calling for the last hour but you didn't answer." Kangin walked into the kitchen where Eeteuk was sat at the table playing with the biggest knife they had. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Eeteuk looked up and shrugged. "Just thinking that if I kill everyone I could get away with it."
Kangin quickly grabbed the knife out of Eeteuk's hands and held it as far away from him as possible. He also backed himself closer to the exit.
"I wasn't actually going to do it," Eeteuk argued. "Besides, you'll be alive tomorrow anyway. Well, today. It's always today."
Kangin was perplexed. "Do you have thoughts of killing us often?"
"No," said Eeteuk. "Not usually. Lately, though, I guess I do. But not in a mean way. And sometimes when Yehsung is being argumentative because he can, or Heechul is complaining because he can, or Donghae has decided to play dress-up with all of my clothing because he thinks he can too. Other than that, no."
"Okay," Kangin breathed out. "That's fair."
"And it's not like I haven't already done it," Eeteuk added.
"What?"
"What?" Eeteuk's eyes became as wide and innocent as he could manage. "Nothing."
*
Hankyung and Shiwon were sitting on the sofa, watching Eeteuk pace back and forth and ranting to himself.
"This day is never going to end. I've been living this day for years and I've done everything and I've saved a ton of people and I've killed a few people and I learned a lot of things and I nearly started a war and this day is never going to end."
Shiwon blinked. Hankyung tried to measure the distance between himself and the door and if he could run out of there before either Shiwon or Eeteuk could catch him.
*
"I give up," declared Eeteuk. He'd resigned himself to living out the same day for the rest of what would probably be eternity. He could, he supposed, actually learn everything there was to know in the world with all the time he had.
"What was that?" Kangin asked, walking over to the corner Eeteuk had hidden himself in.
"I'm giving up," Eeteuk repeated.
"Oh, that's too bad." Kangin reached down and took hold of Eeteuk's hand and played with his fingers. "What are you giving up?"
Eeteuk sighed dramatically. "Everything. Nothing. The world that's trapped me in an endless cycle of this very same day."
Kangin pulled Eeteuk into a hug. "That's very deep and a little sad. Somewhat crazy, too."
"I've had a lot of time to think about it," Eeteuk mumbled into Kangin's shirt. "But this is nice. We should do this more."
"Okay," Eeteuk could feel Kangin smiling against his skin. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be today," Eeteuk said.
"You are so weird." Kangin hugged him tighter.
*
Eeteuk's alarm went off, like it always did, he threw it against the wall, like he sometimes did, and tried not to scream. Eeteuk pulled his pillow over his head as Heechul said something that he couldn't quite hear. Same old, same old.
There was a knock on the door. "Donghae, I don't care if there was a fire, if there is a fire, or if Sungmin's on fire. Go away."
Kangin opened the door. "You should probably care if someone is on fire. It'd be hard to find a decent replacement."
Eeteuk sat up in bed. "It's tomorrow?"
"No," said Kangin. "It's today."
Eeteuk jumped out of bed. "It's not yesterday!"
"No," Kangin said again. "It's today."
"It's a new day!" Eeteuk danced out into the hallway. "It's not the same day anymore!"
"That's usually how these things work," Kangin said calmly.
"No, it's not. That's not how things work. Whoever told you that is a liar."
Kangin stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, but otherwise didn't argue. Eeteuk wrapped his arms around Kangin's neck and smiled. "Today is going to be a good day."
There was a crashing noise from the other room. "Sorry!" yelled Eunhyuk. "We'll clean it up," added Donghae.
Eeteuk sighed contentedly.
theme: 059. calendar; 008/100; archive
Eeteuk/Eeteuk (Kangin/Eeteuk)
humor and a some fluff
this is my twentieth suju fic! (not counting the ones that will never ever be seen or the ones that were started before this one and are yet unfinished.) :D
Eeteuk's alarm went off at the same time it always did. He groaned, covered his head with his pillow, and blindly reached out for the source of his sudden and unfavorable awakening. Mentally he cursed himself for having forgotten to set the alarm back two hours because it was one of those rare days when he didn't have to be awake only an hour after he'd gone to sleep.
"Shut that thing off," said Heechul, voice muffled from the many blankets he'd cocooned himself in. "Or I can't be held responsible for killing you with it."
Eeteuk knocked the alarm onto the floor where it beeped once more before dying out. Good enough, he thought as he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
"Just thought you should know," said Donghae, opening the door and poking his head inside. "The fire has been put out and there is no reason to worry." He tilted his head back to look at something that Eeteuk couldn't see. "Oh, wait. Sungmin's on fire now." Eeteuk sat up in bed and looked at Donghae for some kind of clarification. Behind Donghae, Eeteuk saw Shindong run past the doorway toward the kitchen. "Never mind, Shindong's handling it." Donghae smiled.
Slowly, Eeteuk got out of bed. "What? How?"
Donghae shrugged. "We thought we try something new for breakfast. It didn't work."
"What is that smell?" asked Hankyung, stepping out of his bedroom.
"Small fire," said Donghae.
Eeteuk started walking to the kitchen, intent on making sure none of the damage was permanent. Sungmin was sitting on the ground, looking distraught, clutching a burnt oven mitt in one hand and what looked to be a charred shirt-sleeve in the other. Shindong was attempting to wave away the smoke. Both of them were soaked with water.
Hankyung blinked a few times. "Small fire?"
"It started small." Sungmin gazed up at Eeteuk. "Can I go?" he asked. "I don't think I'm safe here."
Eeteuk sighed, but nodded. Sungmin pulled himself up and cautiously made his way to the front door.
"Someone should probably clean this up," Donghae added thoughtfully. Eeteuk rubbed at his temples.
By the afternoon his day had slowly progressed downward in terms of luck and Eeteuk couldn't help but feel that crawling into a hole and hiding would really be the honorable thing to do. He'd slid on the wet floor in their kitchen while trying to clean up the mess he hadn't even made and somehow managed to bring Shindong down with him when he fell; both of them landing on the tail of Heechul's cat, which angered Heechul to no end. Eeteuk had nearly been crushed by a rogue stage light during a rehearsal and then had completely forgotten his line during the actual performance, and then he'd misstep and had been elbowed in the stomach by Shiwon.
"Are you okay?" Shiwon asked afterward. "I'm really sorry, I didn't see you."
"It's fine," said Eeteuk. Shiwon looked unsure. "I'm fine." Shiwon didn't appear entirely convinced, but he backed away, frowning, as Kangin walked over.
Kangin put his arm around Eeteuk's shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem...off. More than you usually are."
Eeteuk closed his eyes. "Bad luck, I guess. I'll just be glad when this day is over."
Looking back on it, he couldn't help but to think that was probably where he went wrong.
*
Eeteuk's alarm went off at the usual time.
"Shut that thing off or I can't be held responsible for killing you with it," said Heechul.
"You really need some new material," Eeteuk said as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Heechul mumbled something that sounded vaguely insulting, but under the many piles of blankets he'd wrapped himself in it was hard to be sure.
Eeteuk stretched his arms up and rolled his neck. It was going to be a good day, he decided.
Donghae opened the door. "Just thought you should know the fire has been put out and there is no reason to worry."
"What?" asked Eeteuk. "Again?"
Donghae blinked. "What?
"How could you start a fire two days in a row?" He could see Shindong running toward the kitchen for the second time.
"We didn't?" Donghae tilted his head in confusion.
Hankyung walked out of his room. "What's that smell," he asked.
"Small fire," answered Donghae.
Eeteuk frowned. He got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Maybe he'd get a better answer out of Sungmin. or Shindong. "What is going on here?" he asked.
"We tried to make breakfast," said Sungmin. He was, again, on the floor, dripping with water, holding an oven mitt and part of his torn shirt. "Can I go? I don't think I'm safe here."
"No!" Eeteuk exclaimed. "Didn't either of you learn anything from yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" asked Sungmin.
"No one tried to cook yesterday," Hankyung said.
"Yes they did! This all happened yesterday." Eeteuk looked around the room for confirmation. He received blank stares instead.
Shindong frowned. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No," said Eeteuk. "I'm not."
*
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Kangin, wrapping his arm around Eeteuk's shoulders. You seem--"
"Off," Eeteuk cut in. "I know. You keep saying that. I think I'm having a very bad dream."
Kangin pinched his arm. "Ow!" Eeteuk yelled, jumping away.
"I don't think you're dreaming," said Kangin in way of an explanation. "Besides, I don't feel like a dream."
Eeteuk wanted to cry.
*
"Today is yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and even the day before that!" Eeteuk was pacing the room and waving his arms wildly. Given the situation, he thought that was acceptable.
"I'm pretty sure today is today," Sungmin said quietly. Shindong nodded.
"It's not," Eeteuk said. "It's yesterday. Tomorrow will probably be today, too."
"I think," said Hankyung, "I don't understand."
"I get it," said Donghae. "Live for today, right? Because tomorrow may never come."
"There is no tomorrow!" Eeteuk made a few more grand gestures while frantically waving his arms around. "It won't ever come! It's only today. It's always today."
"Does that mean Donghae's right?" asked Shindong.
Eeteuk dropped to the floor and curled up into a little ball. He would deal with today tomorrow, he thought.
*
"If the day really is repeating for you," Yehsung started. Eeteuk could hear his skepticism. "Then maybe you need to do something to make it stop. Like fixing everything that went wrong the first time."
*
"If the day really is repeating for you--"
"It is. And I've tried that already," Eeteuk said.
Ryeowook looked back and forth between Yehsung and Eeteuk and blinked a few times. "Tried what?"
Eeteuk sighed. "Fixing the things that went wrong on the first day."
"Maybe you're not supposed to fix yourself," said Ryeowook. "Maybe you have to help other people."
*
"If the day--"
"It really is. Really. And I've tried that, it doesn't work." Eeteuk turned to Ryeowook. "That didn't work either."
Kyuhyun stared at all of them. "Do you even know why this is happening? Or why you're the only one to notice?"
"You're not very helpful at all." Eeteuk frowned.
Kyuhyun crossed his arms and slid lower in his chair. "What about staying awake all night?"
*
"If--"
"Yes! It's repeating and no, that doesn't work," said Eeteuk.
Ryeowook opened his mouth to speak. "No," Eeteuk answered. "You're idea wasn't any better."
Kyuhyun sat up straight. "No to both of your questions," Eeteuk cut in. "And no, not falling asleep also doesn't work. One minute I'm wide awake and the next thing I know my alarm is going off on the same day."
"Whoa," said Eunhyuk.
Kibum set his book down. "If the day is just going to start over in the morning, then you can pretty much do whatever you want. There are no consequences."
*
Eeteuk's alarm went of, he threw it against the wall, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
*
They were on stage performing a song that Eeteuk had done so many times that the numbers had to be far into the hundreds. He hated the song, he hated the stage, he hated the dance steps, he even felt some resentment toward the audience. It was the same thing day after day after day and no one should have to suffer through that.
Luckily, Eeteuk had really taken to the 'no consequences' thing. In the middle of the live performance, Eeteuk grabbed hold of Kangin's hand and pulled him front and center of the stage. "I really should have done this sooner," he said. Eeteuk threaded his fingers through Kangin's hair, leaned up, and kissed him in front of the cameras, their fans, and the rest of their group.
Around them the audience went silent and all of Super Junior froze where they stood. Kangin wrapped his arms around Eeteuk's waist and pulled him closer. It must have seemed like the absolute, very worst idea anyone had ever thought of, but maybe Kangin figured there was a method to Eeteuk's madness. Or maybe he just thought the damage was already done and he might as well finish what they'd started.
Eeteuk pulled away as roughly half of the audience erupted in possibly the loudest applause he'd ever heard. The other half still seemed too stunned to move. Along with all of their friends.
"You're insane," said Kangin.
Eeteuk shrugged. "It won't matter tomorrow."
*
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Sungmin. He and Donghae were standing on the other side of the kitchen watching Eeteuk eat every single piece of food there was in both apartments, including three large cakes he'd bought just for the occasion.
"How is that even possible?" Donghae asked as Eeteuk took another large bite of something unidentifiable.
Sungmin pressed his hand to his mouth as Eeteuk licked frosting off of his fingers. "I am definitely going to be sick."
Donghae couldn't look away.
"Want some?" Eeteuk held out a slice of chocolate cake.
Sungmin ran for the bathroom.
*
Convincing the rest of Super Junior that he was, in fact, psychic was a lot easier than he would have thought. Having memorized every word and action they all said and did throughout the day actually managed to be useful.
After earning their trust that he really could see the future, telling them all fake destinies was a lot more fun than previously thought, too. Especially the chaos that followed.
*
"Where have you been all day?" asked Heechul. "You've been missing since this morning and people keep saying that you--" He paused and stood in the front doorway, Hankyung right behind him. "What is all that?"
Eeteuk was sprawled out on the floor surrounded by more money than he'd ever had or seen before in his life. "I robbed a bank," he smiled and tossed a stack of bills to Heechul.
*
"Oh my God," said Shindong. "What are... have you... Oh my God."
Eeteuk smiled, stretched his back, and waved to anyone who was around, though most of them wouldn't meet his eyes. Eeteuk crouched down and made sure his shoe laces were tied tight enough.
"I. Um. What. There's something very, very wrong here" Eunhyuk had moved behind Shindong as if that would offer some kind of protection from whatever had obviously disturbed Eeteuk's mind.
"I'm going for a walk," Eeteuk said. "Want to join me?"
"Absolutely not," replied Shindong. Eunhyuk shook his head in an emphatic 'No'.
Eeteuk shrugged and walked off. In the back of his mind he sincerely hoped that the day he decided to skip anything and everything he had scheduled to instead walk around the city naked wasn't the day the cycle finally ended.
*
Eeteuk stood on the edge of the roof of their apartment building. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. He wanted to feel what it would be like to fly.
*
"There you are. I tried calling for the last hour but you didn't answer." Kangin walked into the kitchen where Eeteuk was sat at the table playing with the biggest knife they had. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Eeteuk looked up and shrugged. "Just thinking that if I kill everyone I could get away with it."
Kangin quickly grabbed the knife out of Eeteuk's hands and held it as far away from him as possible. He also backed himself closer to the exit.
"I wasn't actually going to do it," Eeteuk argued. "Besides, you'll be alive tomorrow anyway. Well, today. It's always today."
Kangin was perplexed. "Do you have thoughts of killing us often?"
"No," said Eeteuk. "Not usually. Lately, though, I guess I do. But not in a mean way. And sometimes when Yehsung is being argumentative because he can, or Heechul is complaining because he can, or Donghae has decided to play dress-up with all of my clothing because he thinks he can too. Other than that, no."
"Okay," Kangin breathed out. "That's fair."
"And it's not like I haven't already done it," Eeteuk added.
"What?"
"What?" Eeteuk's eyes became as wide and innocent as he could manage. "Nothing."
*
Hankyung and Shiwon were sitting on the sofa, watching Eeteuk pace back and forth and ranting to himself.
"This day is never going to end. I've been living this day for years and I've done everything and I've saved a ton of people and I've killed a few people and I learned a lot of things and I nearly started a war and this day is never going to end."
Shiwon blinked. Hankyung tried to measure the distance between himself and the door and if he could run out of there before either Shiwon or Eeteuk could catch him.
*
"I give up," declared Eeteuk. He'd resigned himself to living out the same day for the rest of what would probably be eternity. He could, he supposed, actually learn everything there was to know in the world with all the time he had.
"What was that?" Kangin asked, walking over to the corner Eeteuk had hidden himself in.
"I'm giving up," Eeteuk repeated.
"Oh, that's too bad." Kangin reached down and took hold of Eeteuk's hand and played with his fingers. "What are you giving up?"
Eeteuk sighed dramatically. "Everything. Nothing. The world that's trapped me in an endless cycle of this very same day."
Kangin pulled Eeteuk into a hug. "That's very deep and a little sad. Somewhat crazy, too."
"I've had a lot of time to think about it," Eeteuk mumbled into Kangin's shirt. "But this is nice. We should do this more."
"Okay," Eeteuk could feel Kangin smiling against his skin. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be today," Eeteuk said.
"You are so weird." Kangin hugged him tighter.
*
Eeteuk's alarm went off, like it always did, he threw it against the wall, like he sometimes did, and tried not to scream. Eeteuk pulled his pillow over his head as Heechul said something that he couldn't quite hear. Same old, same old.
There was a knock on the door. "Donghae, I don't care if there was a fire, if there is a fire, or if Sungmin's on fire. Go away."
Kangin opened the door. "You should probably care if someone is on fire. It'd be hard to find a decent replacement."
Eeteuk sat up in bed. "It's tomorrow?"
"No," said Kangin. "It's today."
Eeteuk jumped out of bed. "It's not yesterday!"
"No," Kangin said again. "It's today."
"It's a new day!" Eeteuk danced out into the hallway. "It's not the same day anymore!"
"That's usually how these things work," Kangin said calmly.
"No, it's not. That's not how things work. Whoever told you that is a liar."
Kangin stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, but otherwise didn't argue. Eeteuk wrapped his arms around Kangin's neck and smiled. "Today is going to be a good day."
There was a crashing noise from the other room. "Sorry!" yelled Eunhyuk. "We'll clean it up," added Donghae.
Eeteuk sighed contentedly.