weekly challenge one: you make it easy

Jul 29, 2013 10:36

sexing & bff!sekai
pg; ~2.5k
-weekly challenge #1
-cannon



When Sehun first came to SM he was a bit shorter, a lot worse at dancing, and glanced at his surroundings insecurely. Yixing could barely see his eyes through the curtain of bangs. Instead he watched Sehun's tongue dart out nervously and the his body shift back and forth uncomfortably.

Sehun had looked over at Yixing when Jongin introduced him as someone who had been a child star in China and as Sehun flicked his bangs out of the way, his already eager expression had fallen open further and his already wide eyes became even bigger. Sehun was smaller then because he hadn't gone through puberty yet, and the school uniform on him was a bit loose. But both the size of the uniform and the expression on his face hinted at hope for the future rather than a representation of the present. Yixing looked at Sehun and wondered if he'd make it as an idol, or if he'd become one of the many that burned out and faded before ever getting a chance to glitter. He'd seen many of those and he wondered if Sehun would live up to his hopes or crumble downward.

It took a few weeks for Sehun to begin to feel comfortable with his new life, and it took a few years for him to adjust completely. The crawl out of his shell was slow, but Yixing thought that it was because Sehun put a lot of care into the things he thought were important. Like after practice when Sehun would spend ages choosing which drink he wanted from the vending machine. Often Jongin would tug on Sehun's shirt, telling him to hurry up before all the showers were taken. To which Sehun flushed and insisted that it would just be a few more moments, and then he was peering back through the glass, tongue sweeping along his bottom lip as he whispered the names of each drink to himself in an attempt to remember which ones he hadn't yet tried.

The first time that Sehun and Yixing actually danced together was a Monday, and Yixing remembers it clearly because it was also the day that they were told they were going to be in group together. Yixing knew that today was different when their manager called them into the dance practice room, and Yixing had caught sight of his own face both panicked and excited in the floor length mirrors.

At first he was surprised to find that Sehun and Jongin were also in the crowd. The two trainees looked older now, and Sehun had grown into his clothes. The shirt collar that once fell askew across his chest was now ringing his neck. But it seemed that Sehun still hadn't outgrown his shyness, and he watched Sehun flick the same overgrown bangs from his face.

The announcement was shorter than what he was expecting for such an important decision, but at least the message was clear: you might be good enough so we're letting you have a chance. Do not disappoint us. Yixing felt a chill run through him at the implications. He had been a child star. He knew how cruelly the industry could chew you up. But the challenge also sent a flutter of excitement through him. So what if he was being tested, he would show them he could handle it.

The motley crew of teenagers and children assembled whooped in excitement at the news, and he wondered if the others felt the same sense of dread, or if all they could think of was the promise of fame. Those that have never known the fall are only amazed by the rise, and Yixing's smile barely wavered as they were organized into lines and told to run through some choreography together.

The choreography, as it turned out, wasn't for their next song, but a last test to see what they were capable of. Yixing didnn't really care about the reasons behind it so long as he can dance. But the evaluator that wandered around the room, taking note of their positions when they froze and the grace of their movements, unnerved a few of the younger trainees. Yixing glanced over at Sehun to see how he was taking it.

He shouldn't have worried. Sehun's actions were fluid and each of his moves were sharp. The only indication that Sehun was nervous came out in his pinched expression. In contrast to the rigid lines of his face, his body was a puppet pulled along to the bass of the song. His hair flicked to the side as he moved and Yixing had to remember to pay attention to his own dancing, only slipping through the routine because of practiced ease.

The evaluator nodded stiffly at the group, and when Yixing came to a halt he found himself short of breath. His lungs burned with exhaustion and excitement. They really made it, Yixing thought to himself, and he looked through the crowd, hoping to share a look of triumph with one of the other trainees. He spotted Sehun at the other end of the room, but when he started to move towards the younger trainee, an arm looped around his shoulders.

"Congratulations," Luhan laughed, and Luhan's chatter almost distracted him from the small smile that Sehun and Jongin shared, and the subtle grip of fingers.

"No, you don't do it like that," Yixing says. He's tired. They're been practicing for what feels like years and the air conditioner is broken so the heat is soaking into his skin. He hadn't joined an entertainment company to train his juniors, and even though on other days he'd be more than happy to help, he's had enough of today.

Sehun bites his lip and looks away, pretending to be more interested in the dirt caked beneath his fingernails than the exhaustation in Yixing's words.

Jongin stiffens. "Then what is it like?" he grumbles, tossing his water bottle to the side. And even Sehun jumps a bit at the noise. Joonmyun looks over anxiously, trying to tell Jongin that he should be grateful that Yixing is wiling to help him and Minseok pulls an arm around Yixing's shoulders in a silent show of support.

Yixing notices that Jongin does this a lot. Whenever Sehun looks the least bit upset, Jongin pushes himself into the conversation and pulls the attention away from the younger boy.

And he's sick of that too.

"Maybe if you spent more time learning the routine instead of fooling around, then you'd know."

He barely whispers the words, but the effect it causes is immediate. The room dies down and Luhan looks over at him sharply, and Yixing know that his friend is surprised by a show of anger that's so out of character. Yixing hadn't gotten angry when the scouting agents had told him that his days in the limelight were done. Nor had he complained when some of the Korean trainees decided that it would be fun to hide his sneakers. (The ones that were brand new, and were later ruined from the day they spent next to the incinerator.)

Maybe all the times that he endured were just bubbling under the surface waiting for a snide comment from Jongin to come rushing out.

Or maybe he's just tired.

"Sorry," Yixing mutters as he presses the heels of his hands against his eyes. Until he can see stars flash in his eyes.

He looks up when he feels a hand clap on his shoulder. "It's okay." Sehun looks a bit bashful, and Yixing isn't sure why Sehun is the one who's apologizing. "We'll try harder." He wets his lips nervously. "We'll do better."

Jongin's expression softens slightly, and the arm slung low across Sehun's waist dips as he relaxes. "We're a team," he says, leaving the rest of his apology unspoken.

Yixing nods, smiling until his cheeks dimple.

After that, Yixing feels a bit more comfortable with the both of them. He knows that he can push them hard and that they'll rise to meet the challenge. Often Minseok and Luhan join them and they end spending hours cooped up in the stuffy practice room. Even with a fan whirring in the corner, the days of summer are stifling and sometimes it feels like they breathe more sweat than air.

At first Jongin is the more outgoing one, and Sehun is more quiet, but over time Sehun becomes more comfortable around his hyungs. Soon it's Sehun that's teasing the other members and Jongin that's hiding his face in embarrassment.

"He actually called the teacher mom," Sehun tells them one afternoon after they collapse onto the wooden floors of the practice room, and Jongin makes a strangled noise of embarrassment as he covers his face with the towel he'd been using to mop up his sweat.

Usually Yixing likes watching Sehun laugh, likes seeing his face split into a wide smile and his eyes disappear into creases, but watching Sehun muffle his laughter against Jongin's shoulder is different.

"I'm just going to grab something from the vending machine," mumbles Yixing as he stumbles from the room, and no one looks up to watch him leave.

The hallway is empty this time of day. Most of the day workers have already left, and anyone else is holed up in a practice room. The sunlight slants through the windows and Yixing tries to remember when he adhered to the schedule set by the sun. He can't remember a time before working long past dinner and shoveling food down in the cracks between lessons.

There are a lot of things that Yixing has had to give up over the years and he wonders what will be next.

"If you're in the mood for something sweet, then I'd recommend the strawberry milk."

Sehun's voice pulls Yixing from his thoughts, and he realizes that he zoned out in the hallway with his eyes trained on the row of flavored milks in the vending machine.

Trying to cover up his dazedness, Yixing says quickly, "I usually buy the banana one."

Sehun shrugs. "The strawberry's still better." His hands are in the front pocket of his hoodie, and he licks his lips uncertainly while looking up through his bangs.

Yixing turns back to the vending machine and he feels Sehun's eyes on him as he inserts a few bills. His finger hovers over the button for banana milk for a few moments but then he's thinking of the way that Sehun's bangs keep falling into his eyes. He remembers Sehun's casual words and the quiet lilt to his voice.

He chooses strawberry.

They sit in the nearly empty hallway while Yixing drinks his milk. The strawberry's a bit too sweet for him, but he drinks it anyway.

"Why did you come?" He asks between gulps of his drink. Once he gets used to the sweetness, it's not that bad, and Yixing thinks that the flavour suits Sehun in a strange way. The same way that he somehow looks good when he has pink chalk powdered in his hair.

"Do I need an excuse to hang out with my favourite hyung?" Sehun pushes his hands up in a sickeningly cute display of aegyo, but the effect is ruined when his voice cracks.

Yixing chuckles, and pushes the strawberry milk into Sehun's hands. But he still can't shake the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What about Jongin?" Yixing asks because he can't help himself, and then he regrets giving the drink to Sehun because at least it would be something that he could hide his face behind.

"What about Jongin?" Sehun replies. When Yixing doesn't respond he cocks one eyebrow, tossing back his head to get the last drops from the plastic bottle.

Once he finishes, the quiet becomes deafening and at last Sehun turns to scour Yixing's face. He's concerned, and Yixing feels a bit stupid for wondering and making a big deal out of this because he's supposed to be the older one, the more understanding one. Sehun pulls Yixing's hand towards him, and Yixing stares at the long fingers curled around his wrist.

"What about you?" Sehun whispers into Yixing's neck, and Yixing tries to pull away because besides it being ticklish, there's also a flutter in his heart that he can't control, not really sure if he wants to control.

It's by accident that Sehun finds out that Yixing's neck is really sensitive.

They're waiting at the crosswalk when Sehun remembers a piece of gossip Jongin told him about their Super Junior sunbaes, and he presses his head into the crook of Yixing's neck so he won't have to shout above the oncoming traffic. He means to position his lips at Yixing's ear, but then he's jostled forward and his breath ghosts against the skin behind Yixing's ear instead.

Yixing squeals and pulls back, flush bright on his cheeks, and Sehun stores this knowledge away for another day.

"Another day" comes when there are a few moves that Sehun can't quite get down in the showcase choreography. Yixing watches the younger work through the same sequence again and again, lips tightening in concentration.

He's not a natural like Yixing, someone who has worked since he was a child to school his expressions into blank smiles and adjust his body movements.

"Move your leg more like this," Yixing tells him softly, demonstrating the motion that needs fixing and Sehun follows the movement with a focused gaze. It's different, having Sehun look at him this way, and Yixing feels a bit nervous under his scrutiny.

But the Sehun's turning away, looking at himself in the mirror as he attempts the move again. He catches Yixing staring at him.

"What, is there something on my face?" Sehun asks cheekily, and Yixing looks up blankly.

"I'm just checking your form," he tells Sehun.

Sehun frowns because that's not the response he was hoping for and he leans forward to pull Yixing into a headlock. "Were you now?" Sehun whispers into Yixing's neck, and the older one tries to escape the hold around him, thrashing wildly within Sehun's grip. Sehun grins as he drags Yixing closer, breathing into Yixing's neck until he squeals and crumples to the floor in an attempt to avoid the breathy attacks. Each breath sends shivers through him and tugs at his heart until Yixing is a mess of giggles and choked sobs and Sehun laughs as he loosens his hold on Yixing enough so that the elder can weakly retaliate with a light smack across Sehun's head.

(And if sometimes the breaths give way to lazy kisses along his nape, and a tongue tracing veins and vertebrae, then that's just also a part of what they do.)

When Yixing first met Sehun, he looked at him and wondered if he'd ever make it as an idol. But now when he looks at Sehun he sees eyes pulled into a smile and (finally) trimmed bangs.

The present is so full of everything Sehun that Yixing doesn't have room to worry about the future.

a/n: alternate title is: why edori should never attempt to write sexing
-thank you to mei for listening to me whine;;

++mini-epilogue for people that like kisses:

It's after practice, when Sehun's forehead is slick with sweat and his cheeks flushed with exertion, that Yixing thinks he looks the most beautiful.

"You're getting better," he says softly, and Sehun smiles.

"Ate you suggesting that I wasn't good before?"

Yixing gapes until he reads the tone through the language barrier, realizing too late that Sehun is joking.

His cheeks flush and Sehun is already laughing by now, turning to muffle his laughter into Yixing's neck, and Yixing is trying not to squirm as the butterflies flit in his gut. But then again butterflies are not quite the right metaphor for a feeling this hot, or this desperate.

Yixing tenses as laughter melts into lips pressed into the muscles of his neck and the slow glide of a tongue.

"Sehun," he gasps, hoping that his stuttered breaths are enough to convey to him what he really wants. As good as it feels to have Sehun's tongue tracing the grooves of his throat, he needs to be closer and feel connected. He wants to give back to Sehun as much as Sehun's giving him and he almost lets out a whine of frustration. But then Yixing's neck is left bare, wet skin tingling, and Sehun's lips are on his, swallowing every gasp of air. Sehun's tongue dampens his groans as the younger licks into his mouth, sloppily inexperienced but endearingly eager.

All too soon the door to the practice room is being jostled open and they break apart, a fever in their skin and a secret smile on their lips.

"How's it going?" Jongin asks, tossing them water bottles.

Sehun licks his lips, "Perfect."

author: edoriko, pairing: lay/sehun, length: one-shot, weekly challenge #1, !fanfic, rating: pg

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