4th of July; Kyuhyun/Henry
4th of July
1571 words. PG-13.
- Super Junior; Kyuhyun/Henry.
author onew.
summary When Kyuhyun meets Henry, he loses his maknae rights and his mind, altogether.
notes For miracle______'s New Beginnings fic challenge. (Originally posted HERE)
1. Their first encounter is in the practice room, five minutes into their second break of the day. Private time is cut short by one of the executives stepping inside the room to introduce a stranger. "He's Henry, he's new, and he can play the violin," says the executive, and all of them greet Henry flatly, saying, "Hello, Henry. Nice to meet you."
When the executive closes the door behind him, Heechul is the first to let out a rather excited gasp. "Isn't he adorable?" Heechul says as he pokes Henry's cheeks repeatedly. Jungsu reprimands him; Jongwoon just sighs and retreats to one of the corners of the room, but keeps an eye on the entire scene. There are bear hugs from Donghee, Youngwoong, Donghae and Siwon (who, by the way, gives Henry a blessing), a shy wave from Sungmin and Hyukjae. Kibum just gives Henry a nod and a small smile, while Ryeowook takes Henry's hand and gives it a firm shake, a smile stretching across his features.
"Not welcoming the newcomer is impolite, you know," Heechul grumbles, his finger still noticeably poking Henry's cheeks.
Kyuhyun blinks at Heechul a few times before coming to a realization, and he finally gets to his feet and walks to Henry. "I'm Kyuhyun," he begins, "I used to be the freshest member of Super Junior until you came." Heechul nudges him hard in his side but he doesn't wince, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on Henry's. He forces a smile on his lips. "We can definitely use someone new, though."
It's meant to scare Henry off, really, but then Henry erupts into a peal of laughter and the rest is history. Bone-crushing hugs are launched, and Kyuhyun is squished somewhere in between Donghae and Hyukjae and Henry who are all laughing rather loudly, Henry's very peculiar laughter ringing in his ears.
He remembers Henry not by his name, nor by his skill, but by the same distinct note in his laughter that, he swears, has rendered him partially deaf for at least a couple of seconds.
2. For Kyuhyun, Henry isn't much of an enemy because really, really now, he can sing a lot better than Henry. He's definitely falling behind on the dancing department, though, but there's nothing that can't be remedied by pulling the good 'ol maknae card.
"Oh, so Henry's your favorite now," Kyuhyun tells Heechul in passing. Heechul laughs heartily and throws an around around Kyuhyun, pulling the latter close.
"You're not jealous," Heechul says tentatively, teasingly, then quickly follows up with, "are you, maknae?" He punctuates his question with a sly smile, and Kyuhyun nudges him in his side.
"Whatever, hyung."
Come their next vocal practice with Henry, he makes the latter's life a living hell by making him sing his lines at least three times before they actually record.
"Your voice goes flat just before the chorus. It's not that bad, but you can do better," Kyuhyun comments, and Henry offers him a small smile in reply.
Later, when they're all too tired to even speak, Henry finds the heart and his voice to tell Kyuhyun, "Teach me how to do it right." Kyuhyun, unmindful of his surroundings, the people around him, simply nods and mumbles, "Uh, okay." Henry grabs him by the wrist, drags him to the unlit part of the hallway before going back to the practice room to make Kyuhyun realize that he has just signed himself up for another hour of singing.
3. Henry invites Kyuhyun for a dance practice one day. "I'm not saying you're an awful dancer," Henry quips when Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow at him. "I did say we're doing this to improve your dancing skills, though."
"It's the same thing." Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. "It's okay, your singing's awful, anyway. We're quits."
"It's not that bad."
"Didn't say it was horrendous." Kyuhyun scoffs. "So, dancing?"
"Ah, yeah."
They immediately fall into step with the beat in a span of five minutes, with Kyuhyun asking for a second round of their routine around two minutes after. Only three hours after, when they're already in the dorm and dragging their feet to the couch, will Kyuhyun realize that he has just begun taking a liking to dancing and that he has learned something new - Henry sounds even better when dancing (and Kyuhyun is the the only spectator, his fists tightly clenched to keep himself in control because Henry can't find out he's enjoying this).
4. Henry traps him in the stairwell after one of their practices. The confrontation isn't anything verbal - there are kisses, grunts, moans, a bite too hard on the lip. Kyuhyun lets out a scowl and Henry laughs at him, calling him a sissy. Kyuhyun frowns.
"You kiss me senseless and bite my lip, then call me a sissy. Great. I am so getting together with you."
Henry chuckles. "I didn't even say anything about getting together."
Kyuhyun shakes his head and walks to the door, pausing in his tracks just briefly to check if Henry's moved an inch. A few feet from him, Henry's just staring, smiling, and he wonders for a moment if he's just imagining things or he's really feeling this hard-edged pounding in his chest, a sign of intense emotion for a person he once considered an enemy.
("Oh no," Hyukjae begins, carefully avoiding Kyuhyun's gaze. "Seeing my bandmates make out in the stairwell is totally normal. Yep, normal. Nothing wrong at all."
"Oh come on, hyung." Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. Beside him, Henry doesn't say anything and just offers to pat Hyukjae on the back. Hyukjae quickly moves away from him. "We weren't making out. We were just-"
"Kissing."
"Uh, yeah."
"In the stairwell."
"Yes. In the stairwell."
"Well, yeah." Hyukjae smiles as if chancing upon a realization. "That makes sense. I mean, Teukie hyung and Heechul hyung do that a lot, too. Under Jongwoon hyung's advise, of course, but still... Yeah. Perfectly normal."
Kyuhyun sighs as Hyukjae walks away, still babbling about what he has just witnessed earlier. When Hyuykjae turns around the block, he finds himself smiling because really, really now, he's sure Kyuhyun hasn't realized that he's actually admitted to liking Henry just a few minutes ago.)
5. It's been three years since Super Junior has disbanded and they're in the U.S. to celebrate Siwon's marriage. Shindong brings his first kid and his wife with him, while Ryeowook introduces his girlfriend to everyone. "We met two years ago," Ryeowook begins, and narrates the entire story of how they met for the next few minutes.
Siwon tells Ryeowook he'll include them in his prayers. "And, of course, healthy kids," Siwon adds, and Ryeowook turns away so everyone won't see him blushing.
Kyuhyun glances at Henry and sees the latter smiling rather wistfully.
It's been five years since it all began. Henry's now a dance instructor at SM, and Kyuhyun's training the group that will be debuting in a month's time. Henry introduces Kyuhyun to his family, saying, "He's um, my best friend," and promptly chokes on the last part of his statement. His mother chuckles.
"Best friend, huh?"
Kyuhyun takes it as a sign to walk away and drag Henry with him.
They spend the next few weeks in the U.S.. It's already late and the city lights are dancing. Fifty feet below, there are people rushing to the convenience stores for some last minute shopping - to buy a forgotten ingredient of a classic recipe or just to but some wine and beer.
"You might want to get inside," Henry calls out to Kyuhyun from just beside the door to the balcony. "The fireworks are going out in a few minutes."
Kyuhyun shakes his head, determined to stay outside. He calls it soul searching, and Henry just shrugs and says, "I've found my soul in Seoul." It isn't intended to be a pun, but Kyuhyun takes it as a joke, nevertheless.
"In Seoul, huh? That's pretty lame."
Henry smirks. "Lame but romantic."
"Whatever." Kyuhyun rolls his eyes. "I don't dig romance." He then begins walking away and back into the house where Henry's mother is probably preparing celebratory food. He briefly looks over his shoulder and sees Henry still rooted on the same spot.
They're at the beginning again, where things aren't resolute and forever relative. Kyuhyun searches for the words stuck in his throat, and Henry offers an easy way out for them.
"We can stay here, though." Henry pauses for a while, smiling uneasily. "Until you find what you're looking for, at least."
Kyuhyun turns on his heel, walking back to where Henry is. It's like their first time, only better - Kyuhyun's the one who traps Henry against the railing, his arms on either side of Henry. He leans in for a kiss. Henry's shoulders tremble a little when Kyuhyun nips a little on his lip.
The sound of fireworks is deafening, but Kyuhyun can only hear Henry giggling against his cheek when they both pull away from the kiss, can only see Henry's eyes locking onto his own and eventually fading into black. So Kyuhyun kisses Henry again, into and past midnight. He impresses this moment in this memory so he won't forget, puts it in his memory bank along with the memory of Henry's laughter ringing in his ears, Henry's palms pressed firmly on his hips, Henry's lips on his for the first time.
This definitely won't be the last.