egbdf

[warmboys]

Every Good Boy Does Fine
Kyuhyun/Donghae, PG, 650 words
At night he dreams of protractors the size of yoga balls and concentric circles.

What Kyuhyun really wants to know is how to build the best snowman, which restaurant windows boast of real frost, and when it’s appropriate to use the word “thong.” Kangin slaps his hand away when he points at store fronts from the passenger seat.

At night he dreams of protractors the size of yoga balls and concentric circles.

- - -

Donghae is his favorite. He comes to realize this on a Tuesday. Tuesdays have the reputation for being boring. No one is around, and he sneaks into Heechul’s room to play with the cat. Donghae follows him upstairs like an insufferable mother, but Donghae is far from annoying. He finds a ball of yarn from the storage closet, and Kyuhyun uses it to bait the kitty.

Afterwards they steal Oreos from Shindong’s secret cookie stash (in his dirty socks). Kyuhyun marvels at how Donghae always gets the side with more cream. If there’s a trick to it, Donghae isn’t telling.

- - -

Wednesdays are upsetting. He gets sheet music he can’t read and a CD full of songs that put him to sleep. “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” he says aloud, tracing his finger up the lines. “Good job,” Leeteuk praises him, and Kyuhyun notices his nails are bitten to the quick. “Ow,” he says when the hand lands on his head.

Headphones keep his ears warm, so he pretends they’re earmuffs. He wonders where his fuzzy yellow Pochacco ones went.

- - -

“Remember to smile, but not too much. Good. Good,” Heechul instructs.

Kyuhyun’s face is hurting from holding the expression. When he enters from the back, the lights make it hard to walk, and he wants to scurry back to the big room with the endless racks of clothing again. Donghae’s hand finds his somewhere in the white blindness and squeezes.

When it gets too loud to think, he opens his mouth and does what he’s been taught.

- - -

His mother is a crybaby. He doesn’t want to admit it, because there’s an adage about mothers and sons, but she cries watching stupid shows on TV, on birthdays, and now in front of his friends.

Except the old guys. He doesn’t know who they are, but the lines on their faces remind him of maps.

“This isn’t fair,” comes her voice, muffled through the filter of her hands. “You can’t keep using him. I’m taking him home-where he can get better.”

Just a couple more weeks, Spain-face is reassuring her. Kyuhyun doesn’t like the way he touches her hand. Wait until they finish promoting the new album.

Donghae’s eyes meet his through the sliver of the door crack and widen. Donghae is pretty, like a doe.

- - -

The doctor asks him about cars. Kyuhyun tells him he wants a scooter, a red and black one, make sure it’s fast. The doctor puts down his stethoscope and calls his parents into the room. He has to sit outside again. Again, again, maybe, tomorrow, ever. He pulls on his shoelaces. His feet look like mail parcels from where he’s sitting. He wonders if his friends will make fun of him for having big feet.

- - -

Kyuhyun’s going on a vacation. They haven’t told him where, but he’s hoping for Thailand so he can ride the elephants, or Japan so he can turn himself into a robot. Being a robot means being smart and being smart means he won’t have to recite “F-A-C-E” every time they give him a new song. “Have fun,” his friends tell him, and for some reason Donghae has his face buried in Leeteuk’s shirt, which is a shame because Kyuhyun wants to tell him a secret. Kyuhyun wants to tell him he’ll bring back peanuts shells if they take him to Thailand and that Donghae shouldn’t cry so much, because crying is for Hyukjae and girls.

A/N: inspired by every mental incapacitation fic out there, but especially hyungdeul's a peculiar variation and scylladakylla's sand through a sieve