counting pulses
bff!sekai & taohun
PG; ~2400w
track team au
Sehun knows that Jongin is going to be his phantom limb.
-birthday fic for bearlyalive! hbd mei~
-still unedited so there might be some minor edits in the future OwO
"At least your parents aren't getting divorced now," Jongin says, chucking a t-shirt at Sehun's head.
His easy tone makes it seem like Sehun should be glad that his parents - who fight over nothing and everything - are finally sharing a house again. As if he should be glad that his mom decided this meant dropping their life in Seoul and flying all the way to China so that they could live together as a family.
Sehun pulls the t-shirt from his head and jams it into the bulging suitcase. "I guess," he mutters as he works the zipper closed.
As if he should be happy about leaving Jongin behind.
Of course Jongin notices, coming closer to pull him into a hug. Sehun leans into Jongin's warm embrace, smothering himself in the smells of Jongin that are so familiar to him: a hint of axe and sweat and clean laundry.
"Hey... hey..." Jongin murmurs as he rubs his hands over his back. "You'll be fine. We can always skype, right? It's not like I'm gonna forget my best friend."
"I s'ppose."
It's been years of sharing the same space, of holding hands when crossing the street and stealing food off each other's plates and Sehun knows that Jongin is going to be his phantom limb. They know each other in and out and Jongin knows how to read Sehun's emotions better than his own.
Jongin's hands still on his back and Sehun peers up at him.
"You know since we're best friends and all..."
"Yeah?" Sehun is a bit wary because Jongin's using the same voice he uses when he's going to ask for a really big favor and he remembers that while Jongin knows what kind of dumb things will make Sehun laugh, he's also incredibly bad at reading the mood sometimes.
"Are you gonna take your PS3 along? I mean, games are region locked anyway and-"
"Jerk," Sehun smiles into Jongin's school sweatshirt, dripping snot all over the logo of their high school.
(But by the end of the night his suitcase is lighter by one game console.)
Exhaust rests heavy in the air, and Sehun is suprised by the sheer number of scooters that wind through the streets. The buzz of street vendors and students mixes together in an unfamiliar hum that resonates through him. He can't understand a word of the background chatter and the brightly coloured signs are packed with complicated characters that he can't even begin to separate. Even the air tastes different in China and Sehun is already overwhelmed by the time he reaches his new school.
The building is smaller than his school in Seoul. Instead of the long windowed building that Sehun is used to, this school is a narrow concrete building with a cramped athletics field that was probably added as an afterthought years later. But the building is impeccably clean despite its age, and parts of the floor have been scrubbed so many times the colour has begun to bleed out.
Two years of Chinese in school is not adequate preparation for moving to China, and by the end of the first class tears of frustration are already building in his eyes. He can't understand a word the teacher is saying and his classmates are worse, speaking in rapid bursts of mumbled Chinese full of slang.
At the beginning of the break several students tried talking to him, and he stared at them, nodding with a faint smile, until they realized he couldn't understand anything and left. After that, he let his gaze drop to the textbook on the desk, idly flipping through pages of unrecognizable characters.
"Hello! We're the Korean welcome committee!"
Sehun looks up to a bright eyed boy standing over his desk and he doesn't really know his classmates yet but-
"Are you even in this class?" he says, even though he really wants to ask why the fuck do you know Korean and also kind of wants to kiss him just for saying something that Sehun can understand.
The newcomer ignores the question, instead dragging forward the short boy hanging a few steps behind him.
"I'm Luhan and this is Xiumin and we're adopting you!"
"What?!"
"We're friends now!"
Even though he's a bit forceful, Luhan's cheery words are welcoming and Sehun finds himself relaxing a bit.
During the first week Sehun almost tries to avoid making friends. He gives Luhan and Xiumin short answers during lunch and declines all invitations to hang out after school. Because somehow laughing over Iron Man 3 or mimicking popular comedians with someone else feels like an act of betrayal. Like he's replacing Jongin.
"Stop being dumb," Jongin says that night when they skype.
"I know." Sehun sighs.
"In fact, I'm offended that you think you can get rid of me that easily."
Sehun tosses a pillow at him, and then has a panic attack when the fluffy projectile nearly knocks his laptop off the bed.
"You should join the track team!" Luhan tells him when he and Xiumin ambush him at lunchtime the next day.
Ever since Sehun let slip that used to be on the basketball team at his old school, Luhan has been pestering him to try out for the track team.
"But I'm not really that fast," objects Sehun.
"That's okay! Chen's pretty slow too. C'mon, join... it'll be fun." Luhan's voice moves from cajoling to plain out whining.
"We're both on it," adds Xiumin. He nudges Sehun's side playfully, and Sehun still can't believe that they're both older than him.
Sehun takes a deep breath. "Okay."
After school Luhan and Xiumin drag Sehun to the track behind the school. There are a few people already assembled around the track, and Luhan waves as they near them.
The tallest of them is engaged in a heated discussion with a shorter boy, but the third watches Sehun's arrival with interest. He bounds over, asking Luhan questions in Chinese, and Luhan gestures to Sehun.
"Yixing," he says, pointing to himself as he approaches Sehun. "I run." His smile is soft and dimpled.
By this time the other two have turned to eye Sehun as well.
"This is Kris. He's our captain," Luhan announces as he tugs on the jersey of the taller one. "And this is Chen. He's Korean too!" Satisfied with his introductions, he nods. "Sehun is going to try out for the team!" Nod, nod.
Suddenly there's a new voice speaking Chinese behind him, and Sehun turns to find a tall Chinese boy wiping the back of his neck with a towel.
"Tao," the new arrival says when he turns to Sehun. "High jump."
The newcomer is tall - taller than Sehun - and his eyes are dark. A black fringe of bangs dips into his face, but they don't obscure the heat in his gaze or the smirk pulling at his lips.
He realizes, with a start, that Luhan was speaking to him.
"I-uh, what?"
"You haven't said anything yet." Six pairs of eyes turn to Sehun expectedly.
Sehun tries desperately to remember any Chinese he learned in school. "I am. Sehun. How are? You?" he finally grates out, using his tongue to wet his lips between each syllable.
They chuckle over his stilted speech, and Sehun likes the way Tao's sharp eyes crinkle with laughter.
"All right, show us what you got."
Sehun clocks in at several seconds slower than Chen and there is a collective sigh of disappointment.
"I warned you!" Sehun isn't sure if his face is red from exertion or embarrassment.
"Aren't tall people supposed to be fast?" Lay seems so shocked that Sehun isn't sure if he should be insulted or apologize.
Kris writes some remarks on a clipboard. "Okay, you're on the 800m run with Chen." His face breaks into a gummy smile and Sehun stares at the sudden change of expression.
"Hurray! You're on the team!" Luhan whoops. He clings to Xiumin as he jumps about in excitement, pulling the elder along with him.
Tao grins, tugging Sehun into a hug. He nestles his head on his shoulder and he's still a bit sweaty from jumping earlier, but it reminds Sehun of the stale smell of sweat that clung to Jongin's clothes after he had been to the dance studio.
For the first time since he's come to China he feels like he belongs and he sighs as he tucks his face against Tao's neck.
Waking up earlier each day is difficult. At the beginning of each run his steps are heavy with lingering drowsiness, and the pavement is hard beneath him, slapping back with every step. But as he shakes off sleep his paces become longer and longer.
Through his daily runs, the neighborhood is slowly becoming more familiar, and although he still has to be wary of cars and scooters, he doesn't have to hesitate as he turns down each street. Sehun finds the streets calming without the extra bustle of traffic and people, and he likes the otherworldliness that comes with the morning. Buildings that were once a stark grey look unearthly and the blue overtones make him feel as if he's running underwater.
"Why is Luhan's Korean so good?" He asks one day as he and Chen watch the others sprinting on the track.
Today the bleachers are painfully hot from the midday sun so instead they've opted for sitting on a small stretch of grass near the track. The shade of a nearby tree is just wide enough to cover both of them, but when Sehun stretches out his legs his feet poke out into the sunlight and his white sneakers are glaringly bright.
Chen picks a wide piece of grass and holds it between his thumbs. When he blows air between his thumbs there's a shrill whistle and Kris jumps at the noise, dropping his clipboard in the process.
"He did a year of study abroad in middle school." He blows on the blade of grass again, and Kris glares over at them.
"In middle school?"
"Yeah. That's when he met Xiumin actually. He studied abroad at Xiumin's school."
"Xiumin wasn't born here?"
"Nah, he came here as an exchange student the year after Luhan went to Korea." Chen shreds the grass between his fingers, then watches as the pieces blow away. "And now they're joined at the hip."
Sehun looks over to watch the oldest members of the team. Luhan is jumping on Xiumin's back, and the older of the two piggybacks him for a few steps before they collapse in a pile in the middle of the track. Lay has to skirt around the laughing heap as he sprints past and Kris yells at them to move out of the way.
Sehun and Chen are walking back to the locker room when Tao taps Sehun in the back with something cold and he jumps.
When he turns, Tao shoves a bottle into his hands. Before Sehun can speak, Tao jogs after Yixing, yelling something in Chinese.
"What is this?" Sehun mumbles. He thumbs the label of the bottle, and the paper peels off easily with the condensation.
Chen peers over at Sehun. "I'm no expert. But I'd have to say that's a bottle of Gatorade."
"I know that. What I mean is why did he..."
"Tao likes cute things."
"But I'm not- I-" Sehun wishes that his skin weren't so pale so that we could hide the flush that blooms on his cheeks a little better.
When he looks up at Chen the boy is staring at him with a mischievous look on his face.
Oh no.
"I just realized that you haven't been speaking much Chinese recently. That's not good, you need to practice more!"
Unease rolls into his gut. "What do you-"
"Hey, Tao! Come back!"
Tao grins when he spots Sehun approaching the street corner, raising a hand in a half wave, and Sehun pulls off his headphones.
After Chen pointed out that Sehun needed more practice speaking Chinese, the team agreed that Tao should be Sehun's new exercise partner and Mandarin tutor. At first Sehun was reluctant to allow anyone else to join his morning routine, but Tao turned out to be a surprisingly good running companion. Most of the time they just jog together, silently enjoying each other's presence. But sometimes Sehun points out something he wants Tao to name and their pace slows as Tao recites the new word. Then Sehun repeats it and Tao chuckles as Sehun's tongue stumbles over the unfamiliar syllables, mangling both tones and pronunciations.
Tao doesn't say much to Sehun, instead preferring to speak in actions like winding his arms around Sehun's waist as they watch the older members practice for the relay or cupping Sehun's face in his hands when he clears a new milestone in high jumping. The other members of the club tease them, complaining that at this rate Sehun's never going to learn Chinese, but Tao brushes their comments off, laughing as he unwraps an arm from Sehun's waist to swipe at each of them.
When he gets textbooks from his locker, Sehun can feel Tao's heart beat fluttering against his back, and he smiles as he wraps Tao's arms around him. In a way, the little touches remind him of Jongin's overzealous skinship; the times he lazily slung an arm around Sehun's shoulder or ruffled his hair.
But where Jongin is all comfort and familiarity, Tao's hands pull trembles from his gut.
"How's living in China?" The image of Jongin on his screen is slightly grainy and the lighting is so dark that half of Jongin's face is in shadow, but it's still good to hear his voice.
"Turn on your light," Sehun laughs and Jongin's face floods into view as the room brightens.
"Is this better?"
The packet of chips in his lap crinkles as he adjusts the angle of the webcam. Jongin looks the same as he remembers, all wide grins and rumpled t-shirt.
"I met someone who reminds me of you."
Jongin leans towards the screen. "Yeah?"
Sehun smiles as he remembers Tao's wide hands pressing into his back to help him stretch and the hot breaths tickling against his neck.
"Yeah, like if you were Chinese and I actually found you attractive."
Jongin crams a handful of chips into his mouth, and a smile tugs at the corners of his lips as he huffs, "Cheeky brat."
A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEIII!! I'm sorry it's kind of short OTL and... what is plot?? LOL
this was supposed to be just taohun bUT YOU GAVE ME SEKAI FEELS AND IT BECAME A SEKAI FRIENDSHIP FIC OOPS
Also, I started writing this because I didn't think it was fair that Tao was always the foreigner that couldn't say anything but then I wrote it from sehun's pov AND TAO IS STILL THE FOREIGNER THAT CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ;A;
PG; ~2400w
track team au
Sehun knows that Jongin is going to be his phantom limb.
-birthday fic for bearlyalive! hbd mei~
-still unedited so there might be some minor edits in the future OwO
"At least your parents aren't getting divorced now," Jongin says, chucking a t-shirt at Sehun's head.
His easy tone makes it seem like Sehun should be glad that his parents - who fight over nothing and everything - are finally sharing a house again. As if he should be glad that his mom decided this meant dropping their life in Seoul and flying all the way to China so that they could live together as a family.
Sehun pulls the t-shirt from his head and jams it into the bulging suitcase. "I guess," he mutters as he works the zipper closed.
As if he should be happy about leaving Jongin behind.
Of course Jongin notices, coming closer to pull him into a hug. Sehun leans into Jongin's warm embrace, smothering himself in the smells of Jongin that are so familiar to him: a hint of axe and sweat and clean laundry.
"Hey... hey..." Jongin murmurs as he rubs his hands over his back. "You'll be fine. We can always skype, right? It's not like I'm gonna forget my best friend."
"I s'ppose."
It's been years of sharing the same space, of holding hands when crossing the street and stealing food off each other's plates and Sehun knows that Jongin is going to be his phantom limb. They know each other in and out and Jongin knows how to read Sehun's emotions better than his own.
Jongin's hands still on his back and Sehun peers up at him.
"You know since we're best friends and all..."
"Yeah?" Sehun is a bit wary because Jongin's using the same voice he uses when he's going to ask for a really big favor and he remembers that while Jongin knows what kind of dumb things will make Sehun laugh, he's also incredibly bad at reading the mood sometimes.
"Are you gonna take your PS3 along? I mean, games are region locked anyway and-"
"Jerk," Sehun smiles into Jongin's school sweatshirt, dripping snot all over the logo of their high school.
(But by the end of the night his suitcase is lighter by one game console.)
Exhaust rests heavy in the air, and Sehun is suprised by the sheer number of scooters that wind through the streets. The buzz of street vendors and students mixes together in an unfamiliar hum that resonates through him. He can't understand a word of the background chatter and the brightly coloured signs are packed with complicated characters that he can't even begin to separate. Even the air tastes different in China and Sehun is already overwhelmed by the time he reaches his new school.
The building is smaller than his school in Seoul. Instead of the long windowed building that Sehun is used to, this school is a narrow concrete building with a cramped athletics field that was probably added as an afterthought years later. But the building is impeccably clean despite its age, and parts of the floor have been scrubbed so many times the colour has begun to bleed out.
Two years of Chinese in school is not adequate preparation for moving to China, and by the end of the first class tears of frustration are already building in his eyes. He can't understand a word the teacher is saying and his classmates are worse, speaking in rapid bursts of mumbled Chinese full of slang.
At the beginning of the break several students tried talking to him, and he stared at them, nodding with a faint smile, until they realized he couldn't understand anything and left. After that, he let his gaze drop to the textbook on the desk, idly flipping through pages of unrecognizable characters.
"Hello! We're the Korean welcome committee!"
Sehun looks up to a bright eyed boy standing over his desk and he doesn't really know his classmates yet but-
"Are you even in this class?" he says, even though he really wants to ask why the fuck do you know Korean and also kind of wants to kiss him just for saying something that Sehun can understand.
The newcomer ignores the question, instead dragging forward the short boy hanging a few steps behind him.
"I'm Luhan and this is Xiumin and we're adopting you!"
"What?!"
"We're friends now!"
Even though he's a bit forceful, Luhan's cheery words are welcoming and Sehun finds himself relaxing a bit.
During the first week Sehun almost tries to avoid making friends. He gives Luhan and Xiumin short answers during lunch and declines all invitations to hang out after school. Because somehow laughing over Iron Man 3 or mimicking popular comedians with someone else feels like an act of betrayal. Like he's replacing Jongin.
"Stop being dumb," Jongin says that night when they skype.
"I know." Sehun sighs.
"In fact, I'm offended that you think you can get rid of me that easily."
Sehun tosses a pillow at him, and then has a panic attack when the fluffy projectile nearly knocks his laptop off the bed.
"You should join the track team!" Luhan tells him when he and Xiumin ambush him at lunchtime the next day.
Ever since Sehun let slip that used to be on the basketball team at his old school, Luhan has been pestering him to try out for the track team.
"But I'm not really that fast," objects Sehun.
"That's okay! Chen's pretty slow too. C'mon, join... it'll be fun." Luhan's voice moves from cajoling to plain out whining.
"We're both on it," adds Xiumin. He nudges Sehun's side playfully, and Sehun still can't believe that they're both older than him.
Sehun takes a deep breath. "Okay."
After school Luhan and Xiumin drag Sehun to the track behind the school. There are a few people already assembled around the track, and Luhan waves as they near them.
The tallest of them is engaged in a heated discussion with a shorter boy, but the third watches Sehun's arrival with interest. He bounds over, asking Luhan questions in Chinese, and Luhan gestures to Sehun.
"Yixing," he says, pointing to himself as he approaches Sehun. "I run." His smile is soft and dimpled.
By this time the other two have turned to eye Sehun as well.
"This is Kris. He's our captain," Luhan announces as he tugs on the jersey of the taller one. "And this is Chen. He's Korean too!" Satisfied with his introductions, he nods. "Sehun is going to try out for the team!" Nod, nod.
Suddenly there's a new voice speaking Chinese behind him, and Sehun turns to find a tall Chinese boy wiping the back of his neck with a towel.
"Tao," the new arrival says when he turns to Sehun. "High jump."
The newcomer is tall - taller than Sehun - and his eyes are dark. A black fringe of bangs dips into his face, but they don't obscure the heat in his gaze or the smirk pulling at his lips.
He realizes, with a start, that Luhan was speaking to him.
"I-uh, what?"
"You haven't said anything yet." Six pairs of eyes turn to Sehun expectedly.
Sehun tries desperately to remember any Chinese he learned in school. "I am. Sehun. How are? You?" he finally grates out, using his tongue to wet his lips between each syllable.
They chuckle over his stilted speech, and Sehun likes the way Tao's sharp eyes crinkle with laughter.
"All right, show us what you got."
Sehun clocks in at several seconds slower than Chen and there is a collective sigh of disappointment.
"I warned you!" Sehun isn't sure if his face is red from exertion or embarrassment.
"Aren't tall people supposed to be fast?" Lay seems so shocked that Sehun isn't sure if he should be insulted or apologize.
Kris writes some remarks on a clipboard. "Okay, you're on the 800m run with Chen." His face breaks into a gummy smile and Sehun stares at the sudden change of expression.
"Hurray! You're on the team!" Luhan whoops. He clings to Xiumin as he jumps about in excitement, pulling the elder along with him.
Tao grins, tugging Sehun into a hug. He nestles his head on his shoulder and he's still a bit sweaty from jumping earlier, but it reminds Sehun of the stale smell of sweat that clung to Jongin's clothes after he had been to the dance studio.
For the first time since he's come to China he feels like he belongs and he sighs as he tucks his face against Tao's neck.
Waking up earlier each day is difficult. At the beginning of each run his steps are heavy with lingering drowsiness, and the pavement is hard beneath him, slapping back with every step. But as he shakes off sleep his paces become longer and longer.
Through his daily runs, the neighborhood is slowly becoming more familiar, and although he still has to be wary of cars and scooters, he doesn't have to hesitate as he turns down each street. Sehun finds the streets calming without the extra bustle of traffic and people, and he likes the otherworldliness that comes with the morning. Buildings that were once a stark grey look unearthly and the blue overtones make him feel as if he's running underwater.
"Why is Luhan's Korean so good?" He asks one day as he and Chen watch the others sprinting on the track.
Today the bleachers are painfully hot from the midday sun so instead they've opted for sitting on a small stretch of grass near the track. The shade of a nearby tree is just wide enough to cover both of them, but when Sehun stretches out his legs his feet poke out into the sunlight and his white sneakers are glaringly bright.
Chen picks a wide piece of grass and holds it between his thumbs. When he blows air between his thumbs there's a shrill whistle and Kris jumps at the noise, dropping his clipboard in the process.
"He did a year of study abroad in middle school." He blows on the blade of grass again, and Kris glares over at them.
"In middle school?"
"Yeah. That's when he met Xiumin actually. He studied abroad at Xiumin's school."
"Xiumin wasn't born here?"
"Nah, he came here as an exchange student the year after Luhan went to Korea." Chen shreds the grass between his fingers, then watches as the pieces blow away. "And now they're joined at the hip."
Sehun looks over to watch the oldest members of the team. Luhan is jumping on Xiumin's back, and the older of the two piggybacks him for a few steps before they collapse in a pile in the middle of the track. Lay has to skirt around the laughing heap as he sprints past and Kris yells at them to move out of the way.
Sehun and Chen are walking back to the locker room when Tao taps Sehun in the back with something cold and he jumps.
When he turns, Tao shoves a bottle into his hands. Before Sehun can speak, Tao jogs after Yixing, yelling something in Chinese.
"What is this?" Sehun mumbles. He thumbs the label of the bottle, and the paper peels off easily with the condensation.
Chen peers over at Sehun. "I'm no expert. But I'd have to say that's a bottle of Gatorade."
"I know that. What I mean is why did he..."
"Tao likes cute things."
"But I'm not- I-" Sehun wishes that his skin weren't so pale so that we could hide the flush that blooms on his cheeks a little better.
When he looks up at Chen the boy is staring at him with a mischievous look on his face.
Oh no.
"I just realized that you haven't been speaking much Chinese recently. That's not good, you need to practice more!"
Unease rolls into his gut. "What do you-"
"Hey, Tao! Come back!"
Tao grins when he spots Sehun approaching the street corner, raising a hand in a half wave, and Sehun pulls off his headphones.
After Chen pointed out that Sehun needed more practice speaking Chinese, the team agreed that Tao should be Sehun's new exercise partner and Mandarin tutor. At first Sehun was reluctant to allow anyone else to join his morning routine, but Tao turned out to be a surprisingly good running companion. Most of the time they just jog together, silently enjoying each other's presence. But sometimes Sehun points out something he wants Tao to name and their pace slows as Tao recites the new word. Then Sehun repeats it and Tao chuckles as Sehun's tongue stumbles over the unfamiliar syllables, mangling both tones and pronunciations.
Tao doesn't say much to Sehun, instead preferring to speak in actions like winding his arms around Sehun's waist as they watch the older members practice for the relay or cupping Sehun's face in his hands when he clears a new milestone in high jumping. The other members of the club tease them, complaining that at this rate Sehun's never going to learn Chinese, but Tao brushes their comments off, laughing as he unwraps an arm from Sehun's waist to swipe at each of them.
When he gets textbooks from his locker, Sehun can feel Tao's heart beat fluttering against his back, and he smiles as he wraps Tao's arms around him. In a way, the little touches remind him of Jongin's overzealous skinship; the times he lazily slung an arm around Sehun's shoulder or ruffled his hair.
But where Jongin is all comfort and familiarity, Tao's hands pull trembles from his gut.
"How's living in China?" The image of Jongin on his screen is slightly grainy and the lighting is so dark that half of Jongin's face is in shadow, but it's still good to hear his voice.
"Turn on your light," Sehun laughs and Jongin's face floods into view as the room brightens.
"Is this better?"
The packet of chips in his lap crinkles as he adjusts the angle of the webcam. Jongin looks the same as he remembers, all wide grins and rumpled t-shirt.
"I met someone who reminds me of you."
Jongin leans towards the screen. "Yeah?"
Sehun smiles as he remembers Tao's wide hands pressing into his back to help him stretch and the hot breaths tickling against his neck.
"Yeah, like if you were Chinese and I actually found you attractive."
Jongin crams a handful of chips into his mouth, and a smile tugs at the corners of his lips as he huffs, "Cheeky brat."
A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEIII!! I'm sorry it's kind of short OTL and... what is plot?? LOL
this was supposed to be just taohun bUT YOU GAVE ME SEKAI FEELS AND IT BECAME A SEKAI FRIENDSHIP FIC OOPS
Also, I started writing this because I didn't think it was fair that Tao was always the foreigner that couldn't say anything but then I wrote it from sehun's pov AND TAO IS STILL THE FOREIGNER THAT CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ;A;