a different kind of crazy (2min)
TITLE A Different Kind of Crazy 31/32
SUMMARY Taemin's never been one to care about what's right or wrong. He doesn't think about things like what's accepted and what's not. He wants what he wants, but it's not always a walk in the park.
CHARACTERS/PAIRINGS [SHINee] Taemin centric. Minho/Taemin, Jonghyun/Key. (f(x) & 2PM & etc cameos)
RATING/WARNING R. Mention and use of drugs. Mild violence. References to self-harm and mental disorders.
GENRE Drama/romance/coming-of-age
1 2 3 4 5 6 ♥ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 minholude 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 mlude 2 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 mlude 3 interlude (Eunsook)
a different kind of crazy;
Taemin's found his way onto the school roof during his free study period, and has climbed the short ladder to the top of the top--he sits on the generator unit, boxed in with concrete, legs dangling over the edge. Taemin is expecting Minho, but he's also not expecting him. So when he appears through the door, spots him, and heads over, Taemin is having some seriously mixed feelings.
For awhile, neither speak. The breeze rustles through Taemin's wool sweatshirt and Minho leans back onto his palms, chin tucked into his scarf.
"I had this whole speech planned out as I made my way over here." Minho stares up at the empty winter sky, expression just as empty, but brimming with something hidden behind it, like the sun behind an endless stretch of gray, gray clouds. "I didn't even consider that you might not be here."
"Well, I might not have been." Taemin replies coolly, almost comfortably, like they're just now moving in traffic that's been stopped due to an accident for a little bit too long.
Minho huffs, a relieved chuckle escaping him. "But you're here."
"Yeah," says Taemin, "I guess I am, aren't I?"
Minho looks over at him, but Taemin keeps his eyes distant, not really seeing anything.
"The more I thought about it as I walked up the stairs, the worse it sounded." Minho admits after a short pause. "I'm no good at this." he goes on, "But first I have to say I'm sorry. For how fucked up I can be--I can be full of shit, I know. I've had a lot of time to dick around about it, but now I've thought up my answer. You know, I don't like to lie. I've always told you the truth--just not exactly all of it."
Taemin plops back onto the concrete roof, head propped by his hands. "What's changed?" he says, quietly, because he's not sure of the answer himself.
Minho makes a tilted twist of his lips, not quite a smile. "You. Me, maybe. A lot of things." he replies, "Not much scares me. This does--" he motions between the two of them--"we do. But you're worth it. No one else really has been before. I don't know why."
Taemin is familiar with that feeling.
Minho continues, "I'm not good at expressing myself clearly." he says suddenly, as if arriving to a pivotal decision. "Do you have dance practice tonight?"
"Til eight." Taemin squints up at the distant silhouettes of black birds against drab skyscape.
"I'll pick you up then, I've got something I want to show you."
Taemin wonders how many times that sentence has gotten him into trouble. He still wants to confront Minho about Junho, maybe for Luna's sake, but mostly for the sake of his own sanity. They're still sitting up on the roof even after class has let out and students are spilling into the courtyard, their voices working up a steady buzz as they go about, breaking out into cliques and couplets to meet their next destinations. Taemin feels like a lone sentinel in that moment, as if he were the overseer of all these people's little lives--but, they're not so little, are they? Taemin should know--he can barely oversee his own.
So he asks, "Did you know Luna and Junho were childhood friends?"
This random subject befuddles Minho, who makes a face somewhere between "What the fuck?" and "Not her again." What he actually says is, "And he was her rebound. Did she tell you her whole life story? She likes to go on and on."
Taemin keeps his eyes on the people down below, none of them conscious of the fact they are being watched. "She told me enough." he replies. "And then she cried a lot."
"And?" Minho's smile takes on a sarcastic edge. "How did that make you feel?"
Taemin punches Minho in the arm. Hard. "It sounds too crazy to be true, but you offed Junho, didn't you? Because you had to, right? He came at you first?"
Minho snorts out a derisive laugh. "He pulled a gun on me." he says, "And who said anything about killing anybody? I'm pretty sure he died of blood loss due to a laceration of the stomach area." Minho gestures in a circular fashion to his stomach.
"Which you inflicted."
"And I almost died too." Minho jumps the gun, but he's only half serious. "More or less."
"Yeah, none of that shit again, okay?" It's no joke to Taemin. "It's seriously freaky."
"I can't make that promise." Minho replies, voice suddenly clipped. "And there are a few things I should tell you straight up before you make any more demands of me. But not here. Tonight."
"That sounds foreboding." Taemin mutters, put off yet haplessly intrigued. "At least explain about Junho, since I apparently don't remember. Regardless, it's been giving me nightmares, I swear."
Minho defends himself calmly, "Fair enough. I offered to make an anonymous call on the payphone to the hospital before I left the scene. Then he grabbed the knife and grazed me. You were there. You saw what happened, but you don't remember, do you? Don't look at me like that, I still called an ambulance. It's not my fault he died. It was his bad luck. So did I kill him?"
Taeming is still squinting at him suspiciously. "How does that work exactly?"
"Killing?"
"No." Taemin rolls his eyes. "Getting away with it."
"Trade secret." Minho winks at him. "I have a question for you, too. Considering all the horrific and mostly true things you've heard about me, there's one thing I just can't figure out--which is why you're still here, sitting with me."
"That's a good question." Taemin replies blithely, folding his legs into a pretzel. "Considering you still haven't given me a reason to stay."
"It's just not that simple." Minho sighs, pulling a cigarette out of his crumpled pack and lighting it.
Taemin presses the heels of his shoes together, nervous for some reason. "I guess it never will be."
"Not with me. I wish I could show you a golden world, I really do, but the reality sucks. The first thing you need to get used to is disappointment."
"Are you speaking from experience?"
Minho's expression is grim and smoke pilfers through his lips as he speaks. "Do you want me to say it? It's like you've been obsessed with hearing that one word. That to be honest terrifies me the most, because I can't understand it or use it to my liking. I don't want to say it, not until I'm absolutely sure."
"I understand." Taemin says after a contemplative silence. "It is scary. I guess, for us especially, considering your super secret gangster life and my socially awkward passion for ballet. But I don't think we're ever going to conquer that fear if we don't let it run its course. Stop hiding from it--and from me. That's really all I want." Taemin takes a deep breath to continue on, keeping his gaze anywhere but on Minho, until Minho takes his chin and turns his face to him, no warning whatsoever, and kisses him in a smooth, almost grateful motion, catching Taemin by surprise--pleasant surprise. It's simply chaste, nothing more, and when Minho pulls away, sees the bewildered look on Taemin's face, a huff of laughter bursts out of him, and he looks almost painfully relieved.
"You should get to club before Kibum bitches at you for being late." Minho says, and Taemin knows that's probably a good idea, but he really doesn't want to.
"Oh," Taemin's eyes widen, "That reminds me, do you know why Eunsook's not at school?"
Minho tips a shoulder. "She's been having a hard time with her parents lately. Me too, actually."
"Your father's back?"
"Yeah, but that's not the worst of it." Minho stubs out his cigarette. "Nevermind, I'll tell you everything tonight--that I can promise you."
Taemin hops the ladder, throwing his bookbag haphazardly over his back. "About time." He says, though he's grinning like an idiot, so Minho can't really be mad at him.
As curious as Taemin is about Minho, he's also anxious. It's not sickening like it usually is, but kind of exciting, if not a bit overwhelming. Of course, Kibum remarks on it when Taemin slips into the clubroom, almost ten minutes late.
"What the fuck happened?" Kibum demands. Jonghyun peers up at him from behind his iPad, curious as well.
"What?" Taemin recoils. He really wishes Eunsook were here. She'd stand up for his privacy. "What is it, written on my face or something?"
"It's just," Kibum waves his hand at him. "Obvious."
"Kinda is." Jonghyun nods. "Didya make up with Minho?"
"Sort of?"
"Better than I don't know." Kibum shrugs. Krystal's words exactly. Taemin resists the urge to disagree. He'd finally told Kibum about what happened at Jonghyun's party, Krystal and all. Save to say Kibum's opinion of Krystal had dropped a bit. "So, what's up?"
"Uhm, we're hanging out tonight after dance practice." Taemin admits, dropping his bag by his feet and slouching into a chair. "He has something he wants to show me."
Kibum narrows his eyes, but says nothing. Whatever's gotten him in this sharp mood, Taemin doubts it's his tardiness. Jonghyun's acting weird too, oddly cloy in an aggravating sort of way that doesn't make any sense to Taemin.
Kibum leans back in his chair with a heavy sigh, crossing his arms. "Jonghyun, you tell him what you told me."
Taemin looks to Jonghyun, eyebrows etched in confusion. "What's going on?"
Jonghyun puts down his iPad. "Krystal called me last period." he said, "We hate each other, so for her to do that was kind of alarming. She said that Eunsook's gone missing. The last time her parents saw her was yesterday morning. I mean, I saw her last night! We had band practice. And she acted totally normal--but it was kind of too good to be true when she suggested I help with vocals. Holy fuck, I should have seen it coming--"
"Yeah," Kibum cuts him off, gaze steady on Taemin. Jonghyun has no idea just how big of a deal this is--but Kibum has an idea. He knows Minho, Krystal, and Eunsook's situation. From what Taemin had told him, and from what Krystal had told him. "She left her cellphone. She didn't leave any sort of note. She just disappeared. Krystal has looked for her everywhere, and I'm sure there are other people searching for her."
Well that answers that question. "So... she ran away?" Taemin is in a bit of shock.
Jonghyun slams a fist on the table. "Fuck, man. Why didn't she say anything?"
"I think it was what she needed." Kibum inserts his two cents. "It's just, does she really think she can run away and not be found?"
Taemin bites his lip. "Well, she's really smart."
"Maybe she went to Pusan. That's where Absent's ex-bassist lives now, with her boyfriend."
"Good for her then." Kibum says, "You say that like you've got a really bad idea."
"I don't think she went to Pusan." Taemin has a gut feeling about this, after the way she had been so hesitant to tell him what was obviously weighing on her mind. "She'd definitely go somewhere no one expected her to be."
"Which means she doesn't want to be found." Kibum shakes his head. "But for fucking serious, she could have said goodbye! Left a note or something!"
"She didn't even tell Krystal." Jonghyun intercedes. "What makes you think she'd tell us?"
"Is Krystal...okay?" Taemin has to ask.
"I have no idea." Jonghyun throws up his hands. "It's impossible to tell with that lunatic. I just wanna know why. What happened?"
"Maybe she'll come back." Kibum suggests, trying to be positive, but nothing can really lift the empty atmosphere. Eunsook had always been their center--now that she was gone, everything seems askew.
Maybe, they're all thinking, but maybe doesn't mean much.
Taemin finds himself taking the bus in the wrong direction after club lets out, heading towards the nightlife district he's become so familiar with. He wonders if Minho knows about Eunsook--if he should be the one to tell him--or if Krystal had gotten to him first. He spends the entire thirty minute ride contemplating his cellphone, being indecisive.
It's a block's walk from the stop at Diner Diadem to The Usual. It's nearing five, and Taemin will definitely be late to dance practice if he doesn't catch the next bus--so he only has a few minutes. Of course, the venue isn't open officially, but when he knocks, the bouncer--Kangin was his name, if Taemin remembers correctly--lets him in with an amused hello. What he must think of Taemin--well, Taemin's not so sure he wants to know.
Krystal's perched on the stage, cigarette in her right hand, flipping through a fashion magazine with her left. Her leg is bouncing a million miles per hour, and instead of towering pumps, she's in grimy Nikes. She looks exhausted.
"Hey," Taemin leans towards her, trying not to startle her. She looks up at him sharply, and no trace of her usual charm is on her face.
"Taemin," she says, surprised. "You know?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm here."
"I thought you were mad at me." Krystal tosses her magazine to the side, adjusting her shorts and crossing her legs.
"I am. But I still wanted to make sure you were okay."
For some reason, Krystal is surprised. She makes that tinkling laugh that means she really isn't amused at all. "You know, Miok is so pissed off she's considering disowning Eunsook. She's completely derailed. But really, I can't think of anything better for her."
Taemin can't disagree with that. But still, he's really going to miss her. Right now, he wouldn't mind commiserating with Krystal just a bit. "What about you though, are you okay?"
"I'm fabulous, as always. You remember what I told you about love? I always wished someone would shake my world up a bit--I get so tired of being me, sometimes. Eunsook said I needed to feel what it was like. I just had no idea she meant it like this. It fucking sucks."
Taemin makes a small, sympathetic smile. "Yeah, you don't look so hot today."
"Oh?" A small twist comes over Krystal's lips, a shadow of her normal forward behavior. "You think I'm hot, then?"
Taemin rolls his eyes, shaking his head and laughing. "Yeah, you're pretty hot, Krystal."
"Well, thank you. So are you." Krystal replies, taking a drag of her cigarette. "And thanks for coming to cheer me up. Without Eunsook around... things are gonna be really different. Oh yeah--can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call. Some idiot is pissed off at me and keeps ignoring my calls and texts."
Taemin hands her his phone.
Of course, it's Minho she calls, and he picks up relatively quickly. "YOU!" she screeches, "Don't you dare hang up on me! Eunsook ran away. Plain and simple. Get your ass over here. Also Taecyeon wants to know if he can have that ridiculous muffler you replaced on your vespa. Are you ignoring everybody? Apparently not Taemin, that's nice to know. Anyway, bye." and she hangs up on him before he can get a single word in.
"Thanks." she says, running a hand through her hair. Without heavy makeup, and without all the pizzazz and flashy patterns she's usually wearing, Krystal looks as young as she is, like the teenager she is, just as lost and confused as the rest of them.
Taemin checks the time when she hands his phone back. "Shit, I've gotta go. Dance practice!"
"See you tonight?" Krystal calls after him.
"What's tonight?"
"Drag race!" Krystal waves him off at the door. "Minho already told me he's bringing you."
Taemin almost wants to laugh at his life. He just never knows what's coming next.
previous | next
note; Blargh! One more chapter guys! :DDD
SUMMARY Taemin's never been one to care about what's right or wrong. He doesn't think about things like what's accepted and what's not. He wants what he wants, but it's not always a walk in the park.
CHARACTERS/PAIRINGS [SHINee] Taemin centric. Minho/Taemin, Jonghyun/Key. (f(x) & 2PM & etc cameos)
RATING/WARNING R. Mention and use of drugs. Mild violence. References to self-harm and mental disorders.
GENRE Drama/romance/coming-of-age
1 2 3 4 5 6 ♥ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 minholude 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 mlude 2 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 mlude 3 interlude (Eunsook)
a different kind of crazy;
Taemin's found his way onto the school roof during his free study period, and has climbed the short ladder to the top of the top--he sits on the generator unit, boxed in with concrete, legs dangling over the edge. Taemin is expecting Minho, but he's also not expecting him. So when he appears through the door, spots him, and heads over, Taemin is having some seriously mixed feelings.
For awhile, neither speak. The breeze rustles through Taemin's wool sweatshirt and Minho leans back onto his palms, chin tucked into his scarf.
"I had this whole speech planned out as I made my way over here." Minho stares up at the empty winter sky, expression just as empty, but brimming with something hidden behind it, like the sun behind an endless stretch of gray, gray clouds. "I didn't even consider that you might not be here."
"Well, I might not have been." Taemin replies coolly, almost comfortably, like they're just now moving in traffic that's been stopped due to an accident for a little bit too long.
Minho huffs, a relieved chuckle escaping him. "But you're here."
"Yeah," says Taemin, "I guess I am, aren't I?"
Minho looks over at him, but Taemin keeps his eyes distant, not really seeing anything.
"The more I thought about it as I walked up the stairs, the worse it sounded." Minho admits after a short pause. "I'm no good at this." he goes on, "But first I have to say I'm sorry. For how fucked up I can be--I can be full of shit, I know. I've had a lot of time to dick around about it, but now I've thought up my answer. You know, I don't like to lie. I've always told you the truth--just not exactly all of it."
Taemin plops back onto the concrete roof, head propped by his hands. "What's changed?" he says, quietly, because he's not sure of the answer himself.
Minho makes a tilted twist of his lips, not quite a smile. "You. Me, maybe. A lot of things." he replies, "Not much scares me. This does--" he motions between the two of them--"we do. But you're worth it. No one else really has been before. I don't know why."
Taemin is familiar with that feeling.
Minho continues, "I'm not good at expressing myself clearly." he says suddenly, as if arriving to a pivotal decision. "Do you have dance practice tonight?"
"Til eight." Taemin squints up at the distant silhouettes of black birds against drab skyscape.
"I'll pick you up then, I've got something I want to show you."
Taemin wonders how many times that sentence has gotten him into trouble. He still wants to confront Minho about Junho, maybe for Luna's sake, but mostly for the sake of his own sanity. They're still sitting up on the roof even after class has let out and students are spilling into the courtyard, their voices working up a steady buzz as they go about, breaking out into cliques and couplets to meet their next destinations. Taemin feels like a lone sentinel in that moment, as if he were the overseer of all these people's little lives--but, they're not so little, are they? Taemin should know--he can barely oversee his own.
So he asks, "Did you know Luna and Junho were childhood friends?"
This random subject befuddles Minho, who makes a face somewhere between "What the fuck?" and "Not her again." What he actually says is, "And he was her rebound. Did she tell you her whole life story? She likes to go on and on."
Taemin keeps his eyes on the people down below, none of them conscious of the fact they are being watched. "She told me enough." he replies. "And then she cried a lot."
"And?" Minho's smile takes on a sarcastic edge. "How did that make you feel?"
Taemin punches Minho in the arm. Hard. "It sounds too crazy to be true, but you offed Junho, didn't you? Because you had to, right? He came at you first?"
Minho snorts out a derisive laugh. "He pulled a gun on me." he says, "And who said anything about killing anybody? I'm pretty sure he died of blood loss due to a laceration of the stomach area." Minho gestures in a circular fashion to his stomach.
"Which you inflicted."
"And I almost died too." Minho jumps the gun, but he's only half serious. "More or less."
"Yeah, none of that shit again, okay?" It's no joke to Taemin. "It's seriously freaky."
"I can't make that promise." Minho replies, voice suddenly clipped. "And there are a few things I should tell you straight up before you make any more demands of me. But not here. Tonight."
"That sounds foreboding." Taemin mutters, put off yet haplessly intrigued. "At least explain about Junho, since I apparently don't remember. Regardless, it's been giving me nightmares, I swear."
Minho defends himself calmly, "Fair enough. I offered to make an anonymous call on the payphone to the hospital before I left the scene. Then he grabbed the knife and grazed me. You were there. You saw what happened, but you don't remember, do you? Don't look at me like that, I still called an ambulance. It's not my fault he died. It was his bad luck. So did I kill him?"
Taeming is still squinting at him suspiciously. "How does that work exactly?"
"Killing?"
"No." Taemin rolls his eyes. "Getting away with it."
"Trade secret." Minho winks at him. "I have a question for you, too. Considering all the horrific and mostly true things you've heard about me, there's one thing I just can't figure out--which is why you're still here, sitting with me."
"That's a good question." Taemin replies blithely, folding his legs into a pretzel. "Considering you still haven't given me a reason to stay."
"It's just not that simple." Minho sighs, pulling a cigarette out of his crumpled pack and lighting it.
Taemin presses the heels of his shoes together, nervous for some reason. "I guess it never will be."
"Not with me. I wish I could show you a golden world, I really do, but the reality sucks. The first thing you need to get used to is disappointment."
"Are you speaking from experience?"
Minho's expression is grim and smoke pilfers through his lips as he speaks. "Do you want me to say it? It's like you've been obsessed with hearing that one word. That to be honest terrifies me the most, because I can't understand it or use it to my liking. I don't want to say it, not until I'm absolutely sure."
"I understand." Taemin says after a contemplative silence. "It is scary. I guess, for us especially, considering your super secret gangster life and my socially awkward passion for ballet. But I don't think we're ever going to conquer that fear if we don't let it run its course. Stop hiding from it--and from me. That's really all I want." Taemin takes a deep breath to continue on, keeping his gaze anywhere but on Minho, until Minho takes his chin and turns his face to him, no warning whatsoever, and kisses him in a smooth, almost grateful motion, catching Taemin by surprise--pleasant surprise. It's simply chaste, nothing more, and when Minho pulls away, sees the bewildered look on Taemin's face, a huff of laughter bursts out of him, and he looks almost painfully relieved.
"You should get to club before Kibum bitches at you for being late." Minho says, and Taemin knows that's probably a good idea, but he really doesn't want to.
"Oh," Taemin's eyes widen, "That reminds me, do you know why Eunsook's not at school?"
Minho tips a shoulder. "She's been having a hard time with her parents lately. Me too, actually."
"Your father's back?"
"Yeah, but that's not the worst of it." Minho stubs out his cigarette. "Nevermind, I'll tell you everything tonight--that I can promise you."
Taemin hops the ladder, throwing his bookbag haphazardly over his back. "About time." He says, though he's grinning like an idiot, so Minho can't really be mad at him.
As curious as Taemin is about Minho, he's also anxious. It's not sickening like it usually is, but kind of exciting, if not a bit overwhelming. Of course, Kibum remarks on it when Taemin slips into the clubroom, almost ten minutes late.
"What the fuck happened?" Kibum demands. Jonghyun peers up at him from behind his iPad, curious as well.
"What?" Taemin recoils. He really wishes Eunsook were here. She'd stand up for his privacy. "What is it, written on my face or something?"
"It's just," Kibum waves his hand at him. "Obvious."
"Kinda is." Jonghyun nods. "Didya make up with Minho?"
"Sort of?"
"Better than I don't know." Kibum shrugs. Krystal's words exactly. Taemin resists the urge to disagree. He'd finally told Kibum about what happened at Jonghyun's party, Krystal and all. Save to say Kibum's opinion of Krystal had dropped a bit. "So, what's up?"
"Uhm, we're hanging out tonight after dance practice." Taemin admits, dropping his bag by his feet and slouching into a chair. "He has something he wants to show me."
Kibum narrows his eyes, but says nothing. Whatever's gotten him in this sharp mood, Taemin doubts it's his tardiness. Jonghyun's acting weird too, oddly cloy in an aggravating sort of way that doesn't make any sense to Taemin.
Kibum leans back in his chair with a heavy sigh, crossing his arms. "Jonghyun, you tell him what you told me."
Taemin looks to Jonghyun, eyebrows etched in confusion. "What's going on?"
Jonghyun puts down his iPad. "Krystal called me last period." he said, "We hate each other, so for her to do that was kind of alarming. She said that Eunsook's gone missing. The last time her parents saw her was yesterday morning. I mean, I saw her last night! We had band practice. And she acted totally normal--but it was kind of too good to be true when she suggested I help with vocals. Holy fuck, I should have seen it coming--"
"Yeah," Kibum cuts him off, gaze steady on Taemin. Jonghyun has no idea just how big of a deal this is--but Kibum has an idea. He knows Minho, Krystal, and Eunsook's situation. From what Taemin had told him, and from what Krystal had told him. "She left her cellphone. She didn't leave any sort of note. She just disappeared. Krystal has looked for her everywhere, and I'm sure there are other people searching for her."
Well that answers that question. "So... she ran away?" Taemin is in a bit of shock.
Jonghyun slams a fist on the table. "Fuck, man. Why didn't she say anything?"
"I think it was what she needed." Kibum inserts his two cents. "It's just, does she really think she can run away and not be found?"
Taemin bites his lip. "Well, she's really smart."
"Maybe she went to Pusan. That's where Absent's ex-bassist lives now, with her boyfriend."
"Good for her then." Kibum says, "You say that like you've got a really bad idea."
"I don't think she went to Pusan." Taemin has a gut feeling about this, after the way she had been so hesitant to tell him what was obviously weighing on her mind. "She'd definitely go somewhere no one expected her to be."
"Which means she doesn't want to be found." Kibum shakes his head. "But for fucking serious, she could have said goodbye! Left a note or something!"
"She didn't even tell Krystal." Jonghyun intercedes. "What makes you think she'd tell us?"
"Is Krystal...okay?" Taemin has to ask.
"I have no idea." Jonghyun throws up his hands. "It's impossible to tell with that lunatic. I just wanna know why. What happened?"
"Maybe she'll come back." Kibum suggests, trying to be positive, but nothing can really lift the empty atmosphere. Eunsook had always been their center--now that she was gone, everything seems askew.
Maybe, they're all thinking, but maybe doesn't mean much.
Taemin finds himself taking the bus in the wrong direction after club lets out, heading towards the nightlife district he's become so familiar with. He wonders if Minho knows about Eunsook--if he should be the one to tell him--or if Krystal had gotten to him first. He spends the entire thirty minute ride contemplating his cellphone, being indecisive.
It's a block's walk from the stop at Diner Diadem to The Usual. It's nearing five, and Taemin will definitely be late to dance practice if he doesn't catch the next bus--so he only has a few minutes. Of course, the venue isn't open officially, but when he knocks, the bouncer--Kangin was his name, if Taemin remembers correctly--lets him in with an amused hello. What he must think of Taemin--well, Taemin's not so sure he wants to know.
Krystal's perched on the stage, cigarette in her right hand, flipping through a fashion magazine with her left. Her leg is bouncing a million miles per hour, and instead of towering pumps, she's in grimy Nikes. She looks exhausted.
"Hey," Taemin leans towards her, trying not to startle her. She looks up at him sharply, and no trace of her usual charm is on her face.
"Taemin," she says, surprised. "You know?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm here."
"I thought you were mad at me." Krystal tosses her magazine to the side, adjusting her shorts and crossing her legs.
"I am. But I still wanted to make sure you were okay."
For some reason, Krystal is surprised. She makes that tinkling laugh that means she really isn't amused at all. "You know, Miok is so pissed off she's considering disowning Eunsook. She's completely derailed. But really, I can't think of anything better for her."
Taemin can't disagree with that. But still, he's really going to miss her. Right now, he wouldn't mind commiserating with Krystal just a bit. "What about you though, are you okay?"
"I'm fabulous, as always. You remember what I told you about love? I always wished someone would shake my world up a bit--I get so tired of being me, sometimes. Eunsook said I needed to feel what it was like. I just had no idea she meant it like this. It fucking sucks."
Taemin makes a small, sympathetic smile. "Yeah, you don't look so hot today."
"Oh?" A small twist comes over Krystal's lips, a shadow of her normal forward behavior. "You think I'm hot, then?"
Taemin rolls his eyes, shaking his head and laughing. "Yeah, you're pretty hot, Krystal."
"Well, thank you. So are you." Krystal replies, taking a drag of her cigarette. "And thanks for coming to cheer me up. Without Eunsook around... things are gonna be really different. Oh yeah--can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call. Some idiot is pissed off at me and keeps ignoring my calls and texts."
Taemin hands her his phone.
Of course, it's Minho she calls, and he picks up relatively quickly. "YOU!" she screeches, "Don't you dare hang up on me! Eunsook ran away. Plain and simple. Get your ass over here. Also Taecyeon wants to know if he can have that ridiculous muffler you replaced on your vespa. Are you ignoring everybody? Apparently not Taemin, that's nice to know. Anyway, bye." and she hangs up on him before he can get a single word in.
"Thanks." she says, running a hand through her hair. Without heavy makeup, and without all the pizzazz and flashy patterns she's usually wearing, Krystal looks as young as she is, like the teenager she is, just as lost and confused as the rest of them.
Taemin checks the time when she hands his phone back. "Shit, I've gotta go. Dance practice!"
"See you tonight?" Krystal calls after him.
"What's tonight?"
"Drag race!" Krystal waves him off at the door. "Minho already told me he's bringing you."
Taemin almost wants to laugh at his life. He just never knows what's coming next.
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note; Blargh! One more chapter guys! :DDD