december 25th - january 7th
As always, check out our twitter feed @shinierthanthou, where we rec a mix of old and new fics!
I hope the new year has been treating everybody well! There were quite a number of really good fics these past two weeks - I'm assuming this is because it was holiday break? But anyways, on to the fics!
0 / taekey
by pateshie
Taemin gingerly tilts his cousin’s bike to the left, the school’s west wall holding it up when he lets go. The thick music is still flowing out from behind the corner and his sneakers are quiet as he pads towards it. There’s a small basketball court, the markings on it scuffed and faded, with two sets of bleachers on either side. The net is missing but a stray basketball is lying trapped between a boy’s feet. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration and occasionally his hand lifts as if towards the boom box on the bench above his. But he never does touch it and the girl dances the length of the court uninterrupted.
basic bitches wear that shit, so i don't even bother / Jongtae
by lunathunderhead
"One should never wait too long to venture into this world," Taemin says, swinging his arms out wide. "I'd think you should be more concerned, hyung. You study historical lit, which I would analogize to majoring in unemployment."
"Thank you Taemin," Jinki says dryly. "You know what you need moreso than a job?"
"What."
"Some fat on those bones."
"Shut up and drink your coffee, hyung."
borgata / jongho
by theinterval
Jonghyun is running. His sneakers hit the cement hard one after the other, an incessant tap-tap-tap in such quick succession that a foot barely leaves the ground before the other hits it. He’s running so fast all he hears in his own ears are the sounds of his laboured breathing and that annoying tap-tap-tap, all the white noise around him has been muted. Eventually, his neck starts to feel hot, his body is breaking down. He’s been running for too long and his legs are giving out. Pain radiates through his chest, twisting his lungs. His diaphragm constricts, his eyes begin to burn but he keeps running. He’s looking behind him as he runs. A car rounds the corner behind him, about two blocks back.
crazy about you / minkey
by noruwei
Sometimes Key feels burnt out with the effort of working to keep up this facade, this larger-than-life personality, the constant smiles and always having to be camera-ready. Back in the dorm, when he can finally relax his guard, he’s usually too exhausted to have any expression, but Key notices that more and more, Minho is making him smile effortlessly.
They have a bit of time between shoots in New York, and they idly browse the roadside stalls in a backstreet, too tired to walk far. The other three are walking on their own, fiddling with their phones and Key is looking at a display of rings with mild interest when a deep voice startles his ear.
“You’re actually really cute, aren’t you?” Minho says, eyeing the green troll ring Key is fingering, and Key frowns instinctively at the laughter in his voice.
dreams are my reality / 2min
by chiharu
Last night, I had a dream about you, Taemin wants to say when he sees Minho in the dining hall. Minho is smiling brilliantly as he sits with his friends. When the pretty brunette next to him says something, Minho laughs, the back of his right hand hovering just above his chin as he hides his amusement.
Taemin’s throat burns, so he tears his eyes away from the scene and walks back to his table. The entirety of the dance club is there, laughing as Donghae makes a joke about his food. His best friends are sitting in front him, yet Taemin would give the world to be near Minho at this moment. Taemin would give the world to have Minho look at him.
i'll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide / jongtae
by hipslip
When Taemin was seven, kids at school liked to throw things at him.
Not really things that you plug in, just pencils and notebooks, a stapler every once in a while, just things.
Then there was a new kid-“My name’s Jonghyun, I just moved here.”-that stood between the flying things and Taemin, and shouted at the kids to stop.
Taemin didn’t think much of him before. But after that incident, Jonghyun turned out to be pretty useful.
Jonghyun turned out to be beautiful.
it starts with a dream / jongyu
by yunho
It starts with a notebook. At midnight. He spends days and days writing down words. Some sequences more poetic than others. Most are just useless lines that stand alone and sound melodic only in his mind, only in thought. And then he tries to sing them, put music to music, and the words and notes fall apart underneath every wretched stroke of his pen.
Song writing is damn hard, but so is what he’s trying to do. Maybe he’s a little obsessed. Everyone knows Kim Jonghyun. Most people want to be him. Some people want to date him. A few probably hate him-a lot.
Jinki wants to sing a duet with him.
the art of planting trees / Taemin/Kai
by chiharu
He befriends Taemin because it’s the easy thing to do, the two of them clustering together by the water coolers during break, huddling by the corner of the rehearsal room while sharing funny links on cyworld. They walk home together after practice, sharing the earphones as they listen to Michael Jackson songs on Taemin’s ipod while waiting at stoplights, Taemin tapping his feet to the beat.
They are the youngest trainees in their dance and vocal classes, Taemin’s voice uneven but his movements sharp and mesmerizing as he glides across the dance floor. Taemin helps him with dancing during the weekends, when they share peppero and take turns paying for the DDR machine in the arcade.
the love lee jinki has for science (or, really, just the love he has for kim jonghyun) / jongyu
by mountpurple
If ionic compounds are made between a metal and non-metal and covalent bonds are made between two non-metals and they all have different charges and the subscript goes here and that electron goes there and... wait, what?
Jonghyun sighs and pulls at his hair in exasperation. His left eye twitches as he tries to decipher the teacher's chicken scratch up there on the chalkboard before he lets his head fall down onto the desk, his arms coming up to cradle his head protectively.
Oh my god, someone please help me.
the sunshine that comes packed with…? / Taemin/Kai
by euants
“I need a new room.”
The head looked at him and his luggage. She sighed and wrote something in a notepad.
Probably his new room number.
“Here.” She gave him the paper and he took it casually. Glancing at the numbers he just knew he was going to sharing it with someone. Before he said anything, “No. You’re just going to learn how to live with people, bye.”
“But-“
“Come back if something happens. If not, goodbye and I wish you the best of luck.” And with a cheeky smile, she returned back to her typing and Taemin was left dragging his luggage grudgingly out her office.
the universe, and the complications it brings us / jongkey
by voltagequeen
At two opposite ends of existence, there exist four boys; two pairs of humans that appear to be carbon copies of each other. In perfect circumstances, their lives would have turned out exactly the same. Unfortunately, we all know that perfect circumstances don’t exist.
the way we love / onho
by oneu
When Minho started university, he discovered it was very different from high school and that made him feel relieved. Minho no longer had to deal with a bunch of fake people, or pretend to care about things like naked girls or how hot some classmate supposedly was. Minho also relished the fact that he no longer had to fit some narrow ideal, instead at university he could simply be himself. It was both refreshing and relaxing.
through the lens / minkey
by meriseth
Minho sees life through camera lens ever since he first knows the magic those little devices could impressively create. That is the starting line, where he thinks he couldn’t appreciate the surrounding sceneries with his own eyes more than thru the thin piece of glass of his camera lenses.
His growing enthusiasm resulted him in collecting vast amount of gadgets that capable of catching those particular beautiful moments into a form of photos so he can keep treasuring the picturesqueness of it not only in his mind -because brain is flimsy and he wants to remember it for a long time, maybe forever -. It amazes him how the usually garish sunrise rays could emit an enormous feeling of warmth when he witnesses it on a piece of a Polaroid, much differently when he sees it with his naked eyes (it stings his corneas to the core). It was among the first episodes where he hadn’t notice his romance in photography, yet.
wish you were here / Key/Jaejin
by firequakes
Jaejin has been living in Japan for the last two years, staying at a dinky two-room flat with 4 other guys that he’s never really sure if he’s lucky or not to be able to call bandmates.
Most days it’s the former, at least.
The move had been Hongki’s brain child, after some then (and still is, for the most part) very under the radar indie label had contacted them about one of the many demos they’d sent out a few months before that. The deal they had been offered wasn’t stellar, but it was to be expected considering that 1) they were a totally no name Korean band wanting to somehow make it in Japan, and 2) they were signing with a small company.
I hope the new year has been treating everybody well! There were quite a number of really good fics these past two weeks - I'm assuming this is because it was holiday break? But anyways, on to the fics!
0 / taekey
by pateshie
Taemin gingerly tilts his cousin’s bike to the left, the school’s west wall holding it up when he lets go. The thick music is still flowing out from behind the corner and his sneakers are quiet as he pads towards it. There’s a small basketball court, the markings on it scuffed and faded, with two sets of bleachers on either side. The net is missing but a stray basketball is lying trapped between a boy’s feet. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration and occasionally his hand lifts as if towards the boom box on the bench above his. But he never does touch it and the girl dances the length of the court uninterrupted.
basic bitches wear that shit, so i don't even bother / Jongtae
by lunathunderhead
"One should never wait too long to venture into this world," Taemin says, swinging his arms out wide. "I'd think you should be more concerned, hyung. You study historical lit, which I would analogize to majoring in unemployment."
"Thank you Taemin," Jinki says dryly. "You know what you need moreso than a job?"
"What."
"Some fat on those bones."
"Shut up and drink your coffee, hyung."
borgata / jongho
by theinterval
Jonghyun is running. His sneakers hit the cement hard one after the other, an incessant tap-tap-tap in such quick succession that a foot barely leaves the ground before the other hits it. He’s running so fast all he hears in his own ears are the sounds of his laboured breathing and that annoying tap-tap-tap, all the white noise around him has been muted. Eventually, his neck starts to feel hot, his body is breaking down. He’s been running for too long and his legs are giving out. Pain radiates through his chest, twisting his lungs. His diaphragm constricts, his eyes begin to burn but he keeps running. He’s looking behind him as he runs. A car rounds the corner behind him, about two blocks back.
crazy about you / minkey
by noruwei
Sometimes Key feels burnt out with the effort of working to keep up this facade, this larger-than-life personality, the constant smiles and always having to be camera-ready. Back in the dorm, when he can finally relax his guard, he’s usually too exhausted to have any expression, but Key notices that more and more, Minho is making him smile effortlessly.
They have a bit of time between shoots in New York, and they idly browse the roadside stalls in a backstreet, too tired to walk far. The other three are walking on their own, fiddling with their phones and Key is looking at a display of rings with mild interest when a deep voice startles his ear.
“You’re actually really cute, aren’t you?” Minho says, eyeing the green troll ring Key is fingering, and Key frowns instinctively at the laughter in his voice.
dreams are my reality / 2min
by chiharu
Last night, I had a dream about you, Taemin wants to say when he sees Minho in the dining hall. Minho is smiling brilliantly as he sits with his friends. When the pretty brunette next to him says something, Minho laughs, the back of his right hand hovering just above his chin as he hides his amusement.
Taemin’s throat burns, so he tears his eyes away from the scene and walks back to his table. The entirety of the dance club is there, laughing as Donghae makes a joke about his food. His best friends are sitting in front him, yet Taemin would give the world to be near Minho at this moment. Taemin would give the world to have Minho look at him.
i'll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide / jongtae
by hipslip
When Taemin was seven, kids at school liked to throw things at him.
Not really things that you plug in, just pencils and notebooks, a stapler every once in a while, just things.
Then there was a new kid-“My name’s Jonghyun, I just moved here.”-that stood between the flying things and Taemin, and shouted at the kids to stop.
Taemin didn’t think much of him before. But after that incident, Jonghyun turned out to be pretty useful.
Jonghyun turned out to be beautiful.
it starts with a dream / jongyu
by yunho
It starts with a notebook. At midnight. He spends days and days writing down words. Some sequences more poetic than others. Most are just useless lines that stand alone and sound melodic only in his mind, only in thought. And then he tries to sing them, put music to music, and the words and notes fall apart underneath every wretched stroke of his pen.
Song writing is damn hard, but so is what he’s trying to do. Maybe he’s a little obsessed. Everyone knows Kim Jonghyun. Most people want to be him. Some people want to date him. A few probably hate him-a lot.
Jinki wants to sing a duet with him.
the art of planting trees / Taemin/Kai
by chiharu
He befriends Taemin because it’s the easy thing to do, the two of them clustering together by the water coolers during break, huddling by the corner of the rehearsal room while sharing funny links on cyworld. They walk home together after practice, sharing the earphones as they listen to Michael Jackson songs on Taemin’s ipod while waiting at stoplights, Taemin tapping his feet to the beat.
They are the youngest trainees in their dance and vocal classes, Taemin’s voice uneven but his movements sharp and mesmerizing as he glides across the dance floor. Taemin helps him with dancing during the weekends, when they share peppero and take turns paying for the DDR machine in the arcade.
the love lee jinki has for science (or, really, just the love he has for kim jonghyun) / jongyu
by mountpurple
If ionic compounds are made between a metal and non-metal and covalent bonds are made between two non-metals and they all have different charges and the subscript goes here and that electron goes there and... wait, what?
Jonghyun sighs and pulls at his hair in exasperation. His left eye twitches as he tries to decipher the teacher's chicken scratch up there on the chalkboard before he lets his head fall down onto the desk, his arms coming up to cradle his head protectively.
Oh my god, someone please help me.
the sunshine that comes packed with…? / Taemin/Kai
by euants
“I need a new room.”
The head looked at him and his luggage. She sighed and wrote something in a notepad.
Probably his new room number.
“Here.” She gave him the paper and he took it casually. Glancing at the numbers he just knew he was going to sharing it with someone. Before he said anything, “No. You’re just going to learn how to live with people, bye.”
“But-“
“Come back if something happens. If not, goodbye and I wish you the best of luck.” And with a cheeky smile, she returned back to her typing and Taemin was left dragging his luggage grudgingly out her office.
the universe, and the complications it brings us / jongkey
by voltagequeen
At two opposite ends of existence, there exist four boys; two pairs of humans that appear to be carbon copies of each other. In perfect circumstances, their lives would have turned out exactly the same. Unfortunately, we all know that perfect circumstances don’t exist.
the way we love / onho
by oneu
When Minho started university, he discovered it was very different from high school and that made him feel relieved. Minho no longer had to deal with a bunch of fake people, or pretend to care about things like naked girls or how hot some classmate supposedly was. Minho also relished the fact that he no longer had to fit some narrow ideal, instead at university he could simply be himself. It was both refreshing and relaxing.
through the lens / minkey
by meriseth
Minho sees life through camera lens ever since he first knows the magic those little devices could impressively create. That is the starting line, where he thinks he couldn’t appreciate the surrounding sceneries with his own eyes more than thru the thin piece of glass of his camera lenses.
His growing enthusiasm resulted him in collecting vast amount of gadgets that capable of catching those particular beautiful moments into a form of photos so he can keep treasuring the picturesqueness of it not only in his mind -because brain is flimsy and he wants to remember it for a long time, maybe forever -. It amazes him how the usually garish sunrise rays could emit an enormous feeling of warmth when he witnesses it on a piece of a Polaroid, much differently when he sees it with his naked eyes (it stings his corneas to the core). It was among the first episodes where he hadn’t notice his romance in photography, yet.
wish you were here / Key/Jaejin
by firequakes
Jaejin has been living in Japan for the last two years, staying at a dinky two-room flat with 4 other guys that he’s never really sure if he’s lucky or not to be able to call bandmates.
Most days it’s the former, at least.
The move had been Hongki’s brain child, after some then (and still is, for the most part) very under the radar indie label had contacted them about one of the many demos they’d sent out a few months before that. The deal they had been offered wasn’t stellar, but it was to be expected considering that 1) they were a totally no name Korean band wanting to somehow make it in Japan, and 2) they were signing with a small company.