Netkon Prompt #1 Fill
Title: Showtime
Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13
Genre: gen, friendship
Word Count: 2K
Summary: It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
AN: Cross-posted at tumblr.
They get the timing just right. Just as Bobby's voice is starting to raise, the door opens and Hanbin sees Jinhwan's surprised face in the doorway. The rooms on this end of the YG building are soundproofed so their argument probably slapped the unsuspecting boy in the face when he came in.
Showtime, thinks Hanbin.
Flustered, Jinhwan stalls to a stop, his small eyes darting over the scene, mouth a little slack.
Hanbin and Bobby are facing each other tensely, obviously fighting no matter how you look at them. Chanwoo, Donghyuk and Yoonhyung are off to the side, only there because they arrived early and begged to stick around to see the new prank unfold. Chanwoo has his arms tucked into himself, one hand raised to his mouth in a loose fist to hide the little excited smile to see Jinhwan finally arrive. Donghyuk is draped over Yoonhyung and their eyes match in roundness.
Bobby winks at Hanbin before he starts yelling again.
"You can't say shit like that! I don't care who you think you are--"
Hanbin takes the cue eagerly, crowds into Bobby's space like he's doing a one-on-one rap battle. "I'm Kim-fucking-Hanbin!" Hanbin declares, "Who are you--some nobody midget from Virginia?" Bobby's nostrils flare at that, and Hanbin thinks vaguely that Bobby's better at acting than he gives himself credit for.
"I'm better than you," Bobby drops heatedly, "I actually won a fucking show when you fell out at which round? The second?"
They talked about using the rap show as part of the script but it still stings a little, and the threesome behind Hanbin hisses.
"Ouch," Yoonhyung mutters, but he actually has no clue. When Bobby and Hanbin really argue they get down and dirty in a mud-slinging fest that could rival any diss battle the Epik High hyungs have dished out. Jinhwan has seen them at it before too, so when Hanbin catches Bobby's eye they silently agree to take it up a notch.
Hanbin lets the slight smile verging on his lips to morph into a snarl. "I've been in this business so much longer than you. I was rapping while you were still wetting the bed," he uses his height to his advantage to sneer down his nose at Bobby.
"Hasn't helped you much, has it?" Bobby scoffs in return, "Your rap still sucks!"
"Fuck you!" Hanbin throws back, and now they really start, tossing the words back and forth like a diss-rap hot potato.
"Your slow-ass rap sounds like grandmas hav--"
"You've been an arrogant pain in the ass from day one and I--"
"I knew you were a cocky son-of-a-bitch when you first--"
"Walking twig man with bad fash--"
"Ugly fucking gorilla stin--"
Jinhwan finally breaks out of his shock to crash between the two and push them apart. "Stop it, stop you guys!" He's shorter than them but Jinhwan's always been stronger than he looks, and he manages to keep them apart even as they bump against him.
"Get out of the way, hyung!"
"Jinhwan-hyung!"
"Wait, you guys, wait!" Jinhwan pleads as they try to move towards each other again. He determinedly keeps himself right between them, his arms raised like a traffic director.
"Move, hyung," Bobby says almost regretfully, and it's so realistic that Hanbin has to avert his eyes to keep from laughing.
"No," says Jinhwan firmly, "Why are you guys fighting? Stop, we have enough to worry about--why are you fighting?"
When they don't answer Jinhwan looks over at the other boys. "What the hell is going on?" Jinhwan says desperately. Donghyuk hides his face in Yoonhyung's shoulder to muffle his laughter, but Chanwoo shuffles his feet a little guiltily because Jinhwan-hyung looks genuinely upset and he doesn't have a good feeling about this prank anymore.
"Jiwon-hyung's being a jerk, that's what's up," Hanbin finally spits and Jinhwan winces. Hanbin's not making this any easier.
Bobby looks affronted and makes a motion like he would flip Hanbin off if Jinhwan weren't between them.
"Whatever, dude! You're the one that brought up my mom."
Jinhwan pales and gapes at Hanbin. "You brought up his mother?!" he fairly shrieks, eyes wider than Hanbin's ever seen them. They all know not to touch that subject. Bobby's closeness with his family (especially his mother) is legendary.
"Well, he kept lecturing me on my rapping! Like he can say anything," Hanbin says derisively and Bobby flares up again.
"I won Show Me the Money!" the American growls and lunges against Jinhwan, who braces both hands against his chest to keep him back.
"Wait, wait a second! Wait, let's talk it over first!" Jinhwan cries frantically. He manages to hold Bobby back until he calms down and repeats, "Let's talk this over first. It looks like the both of you just misunderstood each other. Right?" He throws frantic eyes at the other boys and then at Hanbin.
"Right?"
"I didn't misunderstand anything," Hanbin says as flatly as he can. He lets his lips thin into a bitter line. "I don't think you'll misunderstand this either--I don't want to be in a group with you," Hanbin tells Bobby over Jinhwan, and sees, in his periphery, the shorter boy stiffen in shock at his words.
"Same," Bobby retorts as he gives into the urge to flip Hanbin off.
"Wait, wait," says Jinhwan weakly, breathlessly. He swallows a few times. "You guys, please, just wait." He shakes his head like he can't believe any of this is happening, and Hanbin and Bobby exchange matching smirks over him.
"Wait for what?" Bobby pushes away from them and walks backwards towards the door, rebellious even now.
Jinhwan croaks after him, "Jiwon."
"I think we're finished with everything. See you, losers." Bobby salutes and walks out. The door bangs behind him, leaving dead silence in his wake.
"Oh my god." Jinhwan pushes his edges of his palms into his eyes. "Oh my god," he repeats and takes a gasping breath. "I can't believe this is happening." He raises his head to glare blearily at Hanbin.
"What were you thinking saying something like that? I mean, an argument's an argument but to take it this far! Oh my god, we need to go after him," Jinhwan realizes and practically sprints to the door. If he hurries he could probably catch Bobby in the hallway and persuade him to come back.
"Hold on!" Hanbin calls just as Jinhwan opens the door and nearly jumps a meter in the air when Bobby pops out at him like a Korean rapper jack-in-the-box, wide grin and all.
"Surprise! It was a prank!" Bobby crows, and just like that, everyone starts laughing and hooting.
"What...?" Jinhwan dumbly recieves Bobby's hug, and then Hanbin's and the trio's slaps on the back as his eyes swivel from face to face in confusion, still trying to understand that he's been pranked.
Bobby collapses over Jinhwan giggling, "Your face! Your face!" His eyes have practically disappeared from his glee. On reflex, Jinhwan feels an answering smile quirk his lips, even as he feels his eyes start to prick.
Jinhwan blinks rapidly. It was just a prank. There's no point in getting emotional, but Jinhwan already is and he can't seem to hold back the torrent that fills him. He's not sure if he's angry, sad or hurt--maybe it's all three.
"You had no clue, hyung!" Donghyuk cackles. "I thought I was dying from holding back on laughing!"
"Haha," Jinhwan forces himself to chuckle but can't hide the slight tremble in his lips, and to his dismay Hanbin's observant eyes catch it.
"Hyung, are you crying?" Hanbin says in horror, and everyone freezes and turns to look at Jinhwan.
"No," says Jinhwan quickly, raising a hand to his eyes, but yes, through the cracks Hanbin sees a glisten and feels his stomach drop to his knees. Jinhwan never cries when they prank him. Never.
Bobby slides his arms off Jinhwan in a hurry. "Oh shit, oh hyung." Bobby exchanges panicked looks with the rest as his hands flutter around Jinhwan's hunched in form like he's not sure if he can touch him anymore.
"I knew it," Chanwoo breathes. "This was going too far."
"I'm fine," Jinhwan says, but his voice breaks traitorously and everyone flinches.
Hanbin's not sure what to do. He's never actually made a person cry before, and he realizes now that it's one of the worst feelings in the world, almost as bad as losing WIN to Team A. It's even worse that it's Jinhwan, his friend and fellow trainee for three years and the gentlest boy he knows.
Jinhwan, who complimented his rap the first day they met. Jinhwan, who never complains about anything if he can help it. Jinhwan, who is now crying because Hanbin decided to play yet another prank on him.
Hanbin feels lower than dirt.
"Jinhwan-hyung, please don't cry. Crap, I mean I'm sorry," Hanbin says painfully. He doesn't have much practice apologizing like this, and it's obvious enough to make everyone, including himself, cringe.
"I'm sorry too," Bobby says quickly and he moves in to pat Jinhwan's shoulder, carefully this time, like he's made of glass. "Don't cry. You're gonna make the rest of us cry too."
Jinhwan's wiping carefully beneath his eyes. "I'm not actually crying, you assholes. My eyes are just tearing a little," Jinhwan lies. Even so, Yoonhyung swiftly hands him one of the tissues he has in his pocket. He also offers his lip balm, which gets a small smile from the oldest hyung. "Don't be stupid, I know that's your treasure," Jinhwan jokes as he pushes it back, which makes the others smile a little.
"I really am sorry though," Hanbin tells him seriously, and at a glance from Bobby, adds belatedly, "We're both sorry. That was a shitty thing to do."
"Yeah, we won't play another prank like that again," Bobby swears and moves his arm to fully wrap around Jinhwan's shoulders and squeeze. "Promise--and hope to die," he says and dramatically crosses an X over his heart.
"What the hell does that mean?" Jinhwan complains, but he's laughing a little at the same time and everyone breathes a silent sigh of relief. Chanwoo actually knocks Bobby away to hug Jinhwan tightly and mutter, "It was all those two guys' idea, hyung. I was against it from the start."
That of course prompts Bobby and Hanbin to jump Chanwoo together in indignant fury, and Donghyuk and Yoonhyung whoop at them and egg them on.
Jinhwan watches them with exasperation, but there's a strange welling of fondness in his breast that he can't deny. It's probably some misplaced feeling of parenthood from being the oldest hyung in a group of teenage boys, he's reasoning when he hears the door open behind him. Jinhwan turns to see their last three members show up.
"A fight?" Junhwe notices eagerly as he tumbles in with Hongseok and Jinhyeong.
"Please don't join them. We have enough children squabbling as it is," Jinhwan says. Junhwe looks like he's got something witty to say in reply but then he stops and peers closely at Jinhwan's face, making the hyung instinctively lean back a little.
Junhwe's mouth drops a little. "Hyung, did you cry?" he exclaims, and Jinhyeong swivels around to gawk at Jinhwan too, having about as much social awareness as Junhwe does. Hongseok just folds his arms and tilts his head judgementally.
Then Donghyuk yells over at them, "Hanbin-hyung and Jiwon-hyung made him cry! They played another prank on him!"
Jinhwan sighs when he sees Junhwe's eyes narrow tellingly. "Oh no, no, it's not a big deal," Jinhwan tries to tell him as he pulls away from Jinhwan to march towards where the rapper pair are still busy tickling Chanwoo into submission.
"Junhwe? Junhwe!"
"Fight, fight, fight!" Donghyuk and Yoonhyung chant ecstatically and welcome Jinhyeong when he shyly joins them.
"This has to be the most interesting trainee group ever," Hongseok comments placidly as he observes the disaster of a scene. Jinhwan rubs at his forehead and sighs again.
"Come on," he prompts Hongseok grimly. "You're going to have to help me pull them apart before the dance instructor gets here."
They manage it, but just barely, and Jinhwan has to cover for them when the instructor clicks his tongue over their scruffed up appearances. Then to Jinhwan's dismay, someone (probably Donghyuk) mentions to Team A that there's bullying going on in the trainee studio and the next lesson is crashed by a belligerent Mino, closely followed by the rest of Winner in varying states of battle-ready fury.
"So who made you cry? Was it Hanbin? It was Hanbin wasn't it?!"
"I didn't cry for God's sake! Go back to your own studio!"
AN: My writing for IKON is really stunted right now but I'm hoping it'll get better as I get to know the members more. I honestly just started stanning them for their music, so I actually have little to no clue of their personalities aside from a bunch of clips I found on youtube. -_-" It's a work in progress.