rhythm & blues (oneshot)
Title: rhythm & blues
Pairing: jisang/injoon (friendship)
Word Count: 1912
Rating: g
Warnings: none
Summary: The best kind of noise which drives you crazy and fills your heart.
Notes: for kiparang. Happy one year, darling! ♥ (Though this is two days early, orz.) I'm sorry this ended up being so rushed and mediocre. :(
Listening to Injoon speak might be Jisang's favorite pastime. The smooth, unique rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables leaves Injoon's mouth easily and at rapid speed, whether he be rapping with Gwangchul or lying on the floor, exhausted and yammering away to no one in particular. Injoon's gift of gab is precious, and not just because Jisang appreciates having someone in the group to speak when he finds himself perpetually tongue-tied.
Most of the time Jisang tunes the actual words out as rarely do they make coherent sense. He prefers to close his eyes and listen to the flow of the words instead. They speed up, slow down and perform a strange staccato when Injoon finds himself stuttering for the right word or phrase. The gentle beat of Injoon's words calms the often stormy confusion of Jisang's mind. Almost like a lullaby, but Injoon finds it insulting when Jisang falls asleep.
"Are you even listening?"
His eyes are still closed but Jisang can picture his friend's expression perfectly- expressive eyebrows knotted in frustration, little mouth turned in a frown that threatens to pout. "In a way I am," he answers with a huge yawn.
"Liar," Injoon grumbles, and Jisang smiles to himself as he drifts off and Injoon turns his attention to Jihwan.
The world suddenly becomes very quiet. For the first few weeks, Injoon calls every night- they all do. They're worried, then angry, and then they just want to talk because not talking doesn't feel right. Spring nears and everyone becomes busier. Daeguknamah is about to debut and there isn't much time for them to be connecting with anyone outside themselves. Gwangchul suddenly becomes busy, too, though he can't say way. "It's a secret," he says to Jisang with a wink. "You'll see."
It gets to be weeks in between phone calls and Jisang finds it harder and harder to fall asleep. The dark silence of his bedroom roars in his ears and his headphones bring no relief; he needs noise.
On these lonely nights, he aways ends up on the phone with Suhoon. After being sworn to secrecy, Suhoon made Jisang make a similar promise to always call when he can't sleep, regardless of the time. Jisang finds it a difficult promise to keep with mounting guilt every time he sees Suhoon looking so very tired during interviews or performances, but he does his best. Suhoon's voice is slow and quiet, but comforting enough to give Jisang some relief. In the back of his mind, though, he's well aware that what it isn't what he wants.
"He's right in the other room," Suhoon yawns. "It'll take me all of five seconds to pass the phone."
Jisang utters a string of sounds which he hopes comes off as a protest, only to get a low chuckle in return. "I don't want to bother him," he mumbles. "He's probably really busy..."
There's a snort followed by, "So am I, you know."
Going red in the ears, Jisang starts stuttering again until Suhoon starts laughing so loud Hyunmin almost takes the phone away from him. Jisang can hear the two bicker in the background as Suhoon insists he's fine, really. The familiar tone of the exchange brings a small smile to Jisang's lips. "I'm really sorry for this to you," he says when Suhoon returns.
"Don't be; I was the one who made you swear, remember?" He can hear Suhoon stretch with a barely audible grunt. "But since you obviously feel so bad," he continues, a note of mischief in his voice, "would you mind doing me a favor?"
Despite his vague feeling of suspicion, Jisang agrees to meet Suhoon the next day at a small cafe near Daeguknamah's dorm.
When he arrives, a cold sinking feeling forms in his gut as he spies Injoon, not Suhoon, sitting comfortably at one of the tables. He's tempted to turn right back around and run all the way home, but the boy looks so anxious in his huge beanie and dark sunglasses. Every five seconds Injoon looks both ways up and down the street as if waiting for someone. Did Suhoon trick him, too, or could he be watching so expectantly for Jisang? If he ditched and it turned out to be the latter, Jisang would never forgive himself.
He manages to cross the street and approach the cafe without catching his friend's attention, which isn't much of a feat seeing as Injoon has never been the most observant individual, try as he might. The look of total shock on Injoon's face when Jisang plops down at the table across from him tells Jisang he really should have just walked away.
"I-I but Suhoon said..." Injoon sits, mouth agape, and Jisang watches as realization ever so slowly dawns in his friend's expression. "That jerk!" he finally exclaims, though he does so with a huge, embarrassed grin.
"Glad I'm not the only one who got tricked," he replies quietly, and Injoon seems disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. Jisang flushes and tries his best to perk up. "You don't have to stay! I know you must be really busy lately, with schedules and all..." His voice falls flat toward the end.
Injoon shakes his head while taking a loud slurp from his soft drink, the plastic against plastic making a grating squeak. "Actually, we have today off. That's why Suhoon and I were planning on meeting." Injoon's eyebrows furrow thoughtfully. "Man, I can't even remember the last time you and I got together."
Jisang shrugs. "It's understandable."
The horrid squeaking continues as Injoon plays with his straw, eyes on the table. "I guess." He pauses as if not sure whether he wants to say what he says next. "Suhoon says you've been doing well?"
"I re-enrolled in school," he says with a nod. Injoon nods, too, slowly and still focused on his drink.
"Then you'll be getting busier, too.
"Yep," Jisang mumbles. They respond to one another deliberately, unsure, with huge gaps of time between each response which make it obvious they have no idea what to say. The silences are suffocating.
Injoon finally reaches the end of his drink, but he keeps sucking on the straw, then turns to chewing on it instead. "You know," he says after a good minute or so of chewing, "even though we're busy, we can still meet. You know, like this." His eyes flash up to Jisang for a moment before returning to the red-checker tablecloth. "Or," he adds with renewed enthusiasm which dies out mid-sentence, "we can just... talk... on the phone." Jisang watches as his friend literally curls into himself, recoiling back into his plastic chair with his cup of melting ice.
"I don't want to be a bother." Jisang doesn't mean to whisper, but for whatever reason the words are so difficult to say.
The cup slams onto the small table with a hollow clunk. "I have more free time than you think!"
"Still," he says, feeling every bit of energy drain from his body as Injoon's eyes bore into his face which is growing redder by the second. "You have so much on your plate right now, the last thing you need is me calling you about stupid, ordinary stuff."
"But you'll call Suhoon?" Injoon's voices wavers. Jisang refuses to look up.
He shifts his his seat. "That's different."
"How so?" Jisang straightens with a sigh and tries to look his friend in the eye while holding back a chuckle. Injoon's face is as red as Jisang's and all scrunched up in anger, or what constitutes as anger for Injoon. The kid doesn't have it in him to be truly angry at anyone.
He wants to say, 'Because Suhoon ordered it so,' but it doesn't feel appropriate. The smirk that sneaks onto his face only worsens Injoon's emotional state as his face sags from anger to despair.
"Do I really suck that much as a friend?" he mumbles, lower lip trembling against the straw which has yet to leave his mouth.
"No!" Jisang chokes, his heart springing into his throat. Injoon looks up, expectant, and Jisang's throat closes up completely to the point that all he can manage is a quick, "God, you're dense."
Then, just as quickly as it changed from angry to sad, Injoon's face morphs into a huge grin. "If I'm dense, then what does that make you?" Before Jisang can quip, he continues, "If I don't suck, then call me. Promise you'll call me."
"But I-"
"No, you have to promise," he insists. "I don't care if you wake me up, or if I'm in the middle of a photoshoot, or if I haven't eaten in hours and you happen to call during my lunch break. You have to call me."
Jisang's mouth hangs open, but he knows better than to argue. Gradually, he smiles and Injoon smiles right back with gleeful triumph. "I promise," he says after a moment and Injoon finally sets down his empty drink.
"Good," he chirps with a smirk. "Maybe now you'll get some sleep."
Jisang jerks so violently he almost falls back in his chair, and when he finally regains his balance every inch of his face and neck feel hot with embarrassment. "I'm going to kill Suhoon," he pouts as Injoon laughs and doesn't even try to hide it.
"That's what you get for trusting Suhoon, hyung." Leaning back in his chair, Injoon then begins a long and scattered recount of all the stupid and yet sometimes intelligent things Suhoon has done since becoming leader.
Suhoon answers on the first ring that night. "You can thank me later," he says haughtily before Jisang can speak.
"That wasn't nice," Jisang whines, but knows it isn't convincing. Suhoon starts to say something, but there is a rustling followed by muffled voices. When the rustling stops, Jisang can hear Suhoon laughing in the background.
"I said to call me." Somehow Jisang isn't surprised at the change in voices, though the huffy edge in Injoon's voice surprises and delights him.
"Is that jealousy I hear?" he asks with feigned innocence.
"No," Injoon replies immediately. "You made a promise. I am merely ensuring you keep it."
Jisang rubs his tired eyes and sighs happily. "Well, then we have a problem. I made a promise to Suhoon, too."
"Yeah, well," Injoon says in that same pouty tone of voice, "the one you made to me is better."
He tempted to ask if he should maybe check with Suhoon on that, but it doesn't seem worth in his sleepy euphoric state. "Alright, alright," he groans and stretches across his bed. "What have you been up to in the two hours since I last saw you?" He waits for what feels like forever for Injoon to start talking, and hopefully never stop, but gets only silence. "Injoon?"
"Oh! Sorry," Injoon says, sounding sheepish and tired. "I kind of spaced out there for a sec."
Jisang frowns. "If you're tired, go to bed. I can call again tomorrow."
"No!" he exclaims with a hint of desperation in his voice. "I'm fine. It's just..."
Jisang's heart thumps awkwardly in his chest as he counts all the way to twenty before Injoon finishes.
"It's just really good to talk to you."
With a smile, Jisang rolls over onto his stomach and sighs in relief, happiness, exhaustion, or whatever this strange, light feeling is. "Same," he says, and all is right with the world.
Pairing: jisang/injoon (friendship)
Word Count: 1912
Rating: g
Warnings: none
Summary: The best kind of noise which drives you crazy and fills your heart.
Notes: for kiparang. Happy one year, darling! ♥ (Though this is two days early, orz.) I'm sorry this ended up being so rushed and mediocre. :(
Listening to Injoon speak might be Jisang's favorite pastime. The smooth, unique rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables leaves Injoon's mouth easily and at rapid speed, whether he be rapping with Gwangchul or lying on the floor, exhausted and yammering away to no one in particular. Injoon's gift of gab is precious, and not just because Jisang appreciates having someone in the group to speak when he finds himself perpetually tongue-tied.
Most of the time Jisang tunes the actual words out as rarely do they make coherent sense. He prefers to close his eyes and listen to the flow of the words instead. They speed up, slow down and perform a strange staccato when Injoon finds himself stuttering for the right word or phrase. The gentle beat of Injoon's words calms the often stormy confusion of Jisang's mind. Almost like a lullaby, but Injoon finds it insulting when Jisang falls asleep.
"Are you even listening?"
His eyes are still closed but Jisang can picture his friend's expression perfectly- expressive eyebrows knotted in frustration, little mouth turned in a frown that threatens to pout. "In a way I am," he answers with a huge yawn.
"Liar," Injoon grumbles, and Jisang smiles to himself as he drifts off and Injoon turns his attention to Jihwan.
The world suddenly becomes very quiet. For the first few weeks, Injoon calls every night- they all do. They're worried, then angry, and then they just want to talk because not talking doesn't feel right. Spring nears and everyone becomes busier. Daeguknamah is about to debut and there isn't much time for them to be connecting with anyone outside themselves. Gwangchul suddenly becomes busy, too, though he can't say way. "It's a secret," he says to Jisang with a wink. "You'll see."
It gets to be weeks in between phone calls and Jisang finds it harder and harder to fall asleep. The dark silence of his bedroom roars in his ears and his headphones bring no relief; he needs noise.
On these lonely nights, he aways ends up on the phone with Suhoon. After being sworn to secrecy, Suhoon made Jisang make a similar promise to always call when he can't sleep, regardless of the time. Jisang finds it a difficult promise to keep with mounting guilt every time he sees Suhoon looking so very tired during interviews or performances, but he does his best. Suhoon's voice is slow and quiet, but comforting enough to give Jisang some relief. In the back of his mind, though, he's well aware that what it isn't what he wants.
"He's right in the other room," Suhoon yawns. "It'll take me all of five seconds to pass the phone."
Jisang utters a string of sounds which he hopes comes off as a protest, only to get a low chuckle in return. "I don't want to bother him," he mumbles. "He's probably really busy..."
There's a snort followed by, "So am I, you know."
Going red in the ears, Jisang starts stuttering again until Suhoon starts laughing so loud Hyunmin almost takes the phone away from him. Jisang can hear the two bicker in the background as Suhoon insists he's fine, really. The familiar tone of the exchange brings a small smile to Jisang's lips. "I'm really sorry for this to you," he says when Suhoon returns.
"Don't be; I was the one who made you swear, remember?" He can hear Suhoon stretch with a barely audible grunt. "But since you obviously feel so bad," he continues, a note of mischief in his voice, "would you mind doing me a favor?"
Despite his vague feeling of suspicion, Jisang agrees to meet Suhoon the next day at a small cafe near Daeguknamah's dorm.
When he arrives, a cold sinking feeling forms in his gut as he spies Injoon, not Suhoon, sitting comfortably at one of the tables. He's tempted to turn right back around and run all the way home, but the boy looks so anxious in his huge beanie and dark sunglasses. Every five seconds Injoon looks both ways up and down the street as if waiting for someone. Did Suhoon trick him, too, or could he be watching so expectantly for Jisang? If he ditched and it turned out to be the latter, Jisang would never forgive himself.
He manages to cross the street and approach the cafe without catching his friend's attention, which isn't much of a feat seeing as Injoon has never been the most observant individual, try as he might. The look of total shock on Injoon's face when Jisang plops down at the table across from him tells Jisang he really should have just walked away.
"I-I but Suhoon said..." Injoon sits, mouth agape, and Jisang watches as realization ever so slowly dawns in his friend's expression. "That jerk!" he finally exclaims, though he does so with a huge, embarrassed grin.
"Glad I'm not the only one who got tricked," he replies quietly, and Injoon seems disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. Jisang flushes and tries his best to perk up. "You don't have to stay! I know you must be really busy lately, with schedules and all..." His voice falls flat toward the end.
Injoon shakes his head while taking a loud slurp from his soft drink, the plastic against plastic making a grating squeak. "Actually, we have today off. That's why Suhoon and I were planning on meeting." Injoon's eyebrows furrow thoughtfully. "Man, I can't even remember the last time you and I got together."
Jisang shrugs. "It's understandable."
The horrid squeaking continues as Injoon plays with his straw, eyes on the table. "I guess." He pauses as if not sure whether he wants to say what he says next. "Suhoon says you've been doing well?"
"I re-enrolled in school," he says with a nod. Injoon nods, too, slowly and still focused on his drink.
"Then you'll be getting busier, too.
"Yep," Jisang mumbles. They respond to one another deliberately, unsure, with huge gaps of time between each response which make it obvious they have no idea what to say. The silences are suffocating.
Injoon finally reaches the end of his drink, but he keeps sucking on the straw, then turns to chewing on it instead. "You know," he says after a good minute or so of chewing, "even though we're busy, we can still meet. You know, like this." His eyes flash up to Jisang for a moment before returning to the red-checker tablecloth. "Or," he adds with renewed enthusiasm which dies out mid-sentence, "we can just... talk... on the phone." Jisang watches as his friend literally curls into himself, recoiling back into his plastic chair with his cup of melting ice.
"I don't want to be a bother." Jisang doesn't mean to whisper, but for whatever reason the words are so difficult to say.
The cup slams onto the small table with a hollow clunk. "I have more free time than you think!"
"Still," he says, feeling every bit of energy drain from his body as Injoon's eyes bore into his face which is growing redder by the second. "You have so much on your plate right now, the last thing you need is me calling you about stupid, ordinary stuff."
"But you'll call Suhoon?" Injoon's voices wavers. Jisang refuses to look up.
He shifts his his seat. "That's different."
"How so?" Jisang straightens with a sigh and tries to look his friend in the eye while holding back a chuckle. Injoon's face is as red as Jisang's and all scrunched up in anger, or what constitutes as anger for Injoon. The kid doesn't have it in him to be truly angry at anyone.
He wants to say, 'Because Suhoon ordered it so,' but it doesn't feel appropriate. The smirk that sneaks onto his face only worsens Injoon's emotional state as his face sags from anger to despair.
"Do I really suck that much as a friend?" he mumbles, lower lip trembling against the straw which has yet to leave his mouth.
"No!" Jisang chokes, his heart springing into his throat. Injoon looks up, expectant, and Jisang's throat closes up completely to the point that all he can manage is a quick, "God, you're dense."
Then, just as quickly as it changed from angry to sad, Injoon's face morphs into a huge grin. "If I'm dense, then what does that make you?" Before Jisang can quip, he continues, "If I don't suck, then call me. Promise you'll call me."
"But I-"
"No, you have to promise," he insists. "I don't care if you wake me up, or if I'm in the middle of a photoshoot, or if I haven't eaten in hours and you happen to call during my lunch break. You have to call me."
Jisang's mouth hangs open, but he knows better than to argue. Gradually, he smiles and Injoon smiles right back with gleeful triumph. "I promise," he says after a moment and Injoon finally sets down his empty drink.
"Good," he chirps with a smirk. "Maybe now you'll get some sleep."
Jisang jerks so violently he almost falls back in his chair, and when he finally regains his balance every inch of his face and neck feel hot with embarrassment. "I'm going to kill Suhoon," he pouts as Injoon laughs and doesn't even try to hide it.
"That's what you get for trusting Suhoon, hyung." Leaning back in his chair, Injoon then begins a long and scattered recount of all the stupid and yet sometimes intelligent things Suhoon has done since becoming leader.
Suhoon answers on the first ring that night. "You can thank me later," he says haughtily before Jisang can speak.
"That wasn't nice," Jisang whines, but knows it isn't convincing. Suhoon starts to say something, but there is a rustling followed by muffled voices. When the rustling stops, Jisang can hear Suhoon laughing in the background.
"I said to call me." Somehow Jisang isn't surprised at the change in voices, though the huffy edge in Injoon's voice surprises and delights him.
"Is that jealousy I hear?" he asks with feigned innocence.
"No," Injoon replies immediately. "You made a promise. I am merely ensuring you keep it."
Jisang rubs his tired eyes and sighs happily. "Well, then we have a problem. I made a promise to Suhoon, too."
"Yeah, well," Injoon says in that same pouty tone of voice, "the one you made to me is better."
He tempted to ask if he should maybe check with Suhoon on that, but it doesn't seem worth in his sleepy euphoric state. "Alright, alright," he groans and stretches across his bed. "What have you been up to in the two hours since I last saw you?" He waits for what feels like forever for Injoon to start talking, and hopefully never stop, but gets only silence. "Injoon?"
"Oh! Sorry," Injoon says, sounding sheepish and tired. "I kind of spaced out there for a sec."
Jisang frowns. "If you're tired, go to bed. I can call again tomorrow."
"No!" he exclaims with a hint of desperation in his voice. "I'm fine. It's just..."
Jisang's heart thumps awkwardly in his chest as he counts all the way to twenty before Injoon finishes.
"It's just really good to talk to you."
With a smile, Jisang rolls over onto his stomach and sighs in relief, happiness, exhaustion, or whatever this strange, light feeling is. "Same," he says, and all is right with the world.