The Art of Starving Oneself Willingly (oneshot)
Title: The Art of Starving Oneself Willingly
Pairing slight Intae/Donglim
Rating: G
Word Count: 1018
Warnings: None
Summary: "Ice cream tastes sweeter when I steal it from you."
Notes: Written for a meme challenge, but I liked it enough to post it on its own. :)
At this rate, Intae is sure he's going to starve to death long before Dalmatian wins their first mutizen.
It all starts with a late night craving. No one is ever asleep in the dorm at two a.m., but their diets strictly forbid snacking past midnight. When Intae gets a sudden sweet-tooth, though, with the fridge mere meters away from where he's lounging on the couch, even the threat their manager's nagging, annoying enough to make your ears fall off, isn't enough to stop him. David has his headphones on and is drifting in and out of consciousness, a notebook perched on his knees and a pen tapping out a rhythm against the pages. Dari is engrossed in his video game, and the others are resting upstairs.
What a perfect opportunity.
David doesn't stir when the loss of Intae's weight makes the couch shift. The trip around the rapper proves far more precarious, as Intae almost falls head over heels when his foot catches in the long headphones' cord. He freezes, mid-tumble, but all David does is mumble something in his sleep and roll his head to the side. A glance to the side; Dari is similarly unaffected. And Intae is incredibly smug.
Tiptoeing to the kitchen is easy enough, and in no time at all he's acquired all the tools he'll need to commit his evil deed: a bowl, a spoon, and their giant, half-freezer burned tub of chocolate ice cream. A little icy crust never hurt anyone.
The second he leaves the kitchen, though, a regular chocolate mountain climbing out of his little bowl, a blue head bounces down the stairs and right into his line of vision. Donglim looks at the ice cream first, then at Intae.
"Hyung," he says with perfect innocence. "That's not allowed."
Intae gulps. His grip on the spoon tightens. "Uh-"
"Manager-hyung will lecture you," the boy continues. The knowing glint in his eye makes Intae's stomach turn.
"Yeah, but-"
"And you'll probably have to spend a thousand more hours at the gym for this."
It'd be worth it, he thinks, but-
"And you're supposed to set a good example for us, hyung."
Can this kid read minds? Intae knots his brow and focuses on the spot right smack at the center of Donglim's forehead, and thinks, very hard, Go away.
But nope, Donglim can't read minds. Instead of turning around and forgetting this incident ever occurred, like Intae so deeply wishes he would, Donglim snatches the bowl and spoon out of his hyung's hands and, with a wink, says, "Guess I'd better destroy the evidence then."
While Intae gapes after him, Donglim skips back over to the staircase with the spoon dangling out of his mouth. Before heading back upstairs, he calls over his shoulder, "And Daniel might need something to keep him from blabbing about this, since he's going to see me eating it."
And that was only the beginning, because from then on, Donglim became fixated upon stealing anything and everything Intae attempted to consume.
The manager brings them kimbap for breakfast, but every time Intae goes to shove a piece into his mouth, Donglim opens his mouth all cutely and shouts, "Ah!" so that the entire group shoves Intae's shoulder and calls him a bad leader until he relinquishes piece after piece.
David comes home one night with a large pizza because, finally, he'd found some "good" pizza in Seoul, but Donglim perches on the back on Intae's chair and not-so-subtly nudges him, demanding bites and refusing to get his own slice, because obviously Intae's must taste better.
As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he says when he magically appears in the kitchen at four a.m., somehow at the exact same time Intae is sneaking in for some much-needed nourishment. "Hyung's food is tastier," Donglim explains, so instead Intae ends up holding the bag open for Donglim while he stuffs his face with chips, then escorts him back to bed like a good leader should.
He swears he's feeling weaker by the day. Rehearsals seem so much longer when his mid-rehearsal meal is half-eaten by Donglim. Dinner is less satisfying with a boy insisting on trying everything on his plate. Even drinking with David, Dari and Jisu becomes tedious, because even though, for once, Intae refuses to share, Donglim hangs on him the entire time, not giving up until Intae has to half-carry him to bed.
The worst part of it all is that, if it were anyone else, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place. If David or Dari ever tried to steal his food, Intae would punch them, no problem. Jisu would never do such a thing in the first place, but Intae would be able to tell the guy 'no,' and move on. Daniel steals food from everyone already, so Intae doesn't have anything to worry about there. Luckily, the youngest had caught on to Donglim's scheme and had stopped stealing from Intae out of pity.
But Donglim is a different story. Whatever the kid wants, Intae automatically gives him, even before the whole food mess began. Donglim wants a certain pillow, Intae tosses it to him without thinking about it. Donglim wants Intae to help him learn the new choreography, Intae stays hours after practice is over. It's not because he's young, because Daniel is younger and though Intae is indulgent toward him, too, it's nothing compared to this. Over time he's compiled many theories, but he prefers returning to the one that claims that Donglim is the source of all evil, and his power lies in his eyes. Those huge, dark eyes, which can go from cute to devilish in a split second and are all Intae can see when Donglim asks, sometimes in an utterly dull voice, "Hyung, can I have it?"
Deep down, Intae knows that Donglim isn't evil, but whatever power he possesses trumps every ounce of will Intae has, and so, if it's what Donglim truly wants, Intae will starve to death, one lost bowl of ice cream at a time.
Pairing slight Intae/Donglim
Rating: G
Word Count: 1018
Warnings: None
Summary: "Ice cream tastes sweeter when I steal it from you."
Notes: Written for a meme challenge, but I liked it enough to post it on its own. :)
At this rate, Intae is sure he's going to starve to death long before Dalmatian wins their first mutizen.
It all starts with a late night craving. No one is ever asleep in the dorm at two a.m., but their diets strictly forbid snacking past midnight. When Intae gets a sudden sweet-tooth, though, with the fridge mere meters away from where he's lounging on the couch, even the threat their manager's nagging, annoying enough to make your ears fall off, isn't enough to stop him. David has his headphones on and is drifting in and out of consciousness, a notebook perched on his knees and a pen tapping out a rhythm against the pages. Dari is engrossed in his video game, and the others are resting upstairs.
What a perfect opportunity.
David doesn't stir when the loss of Intae's weight makes the couch shift. The trip around the rapper proves far more precarious, as Intae almost falls head over heels when his foot catches in the long headphones' cord. He freezes, mid-tumble, but all David does is mumble something in his sleep and roll his head to the side. A glance to the side; Dari is similarly unaffected. And Intae is incredibly smug.
Tiptoeing to the kitchen is easy enough, and in no time at all he's acquired all the tools he'll need to commit his evil deed: a bowl, a spoon, and their giant, half-freezer burned tub of chocolate ice cream. A little icy crust never hurt anyone.
The second he leaves the kitchen, though, a regular chocolate mountain climbing out of his little bowl, a blue head bounces down the stairs and right into his line of vision. Donglim looks at the ice cream first, then at Intae.
"Hyung," he says with perfect innocence. "That's not allowed."
Intae gulps. His grip on the spoon tightens. "Uh-"
"Manager-hyung will lecture you," the boy continues. The knowing glint in his eye makes Intae's stomach turn.
"Yeah, but-"
"And you'll probably have to spend a thousand more hours at the gym for this."
It'd be worth it, he thinks, but-
"And you're supposed to set a good example for us, hyung."
Can this kid read minds? Intae knots his brow and focuses on the spot right smack at the center of Donglim's forehead, and thinks, very hard, Go away.
But nope, Donglim can't read minds. Instead of turning around and forgetting this incident ever occurred, like Intae so deeply wishes he would, Donglim snatches the bowl and spoon out of his hyung's hands and, with a wink, says, "Guess I'd better destroy the evidence then."
While Intae gapes after him, Donglim skips back over to the staircase with the spoon dangling out of his mouth. Before heading back upstairs, he calls over his shoulder, "And Daniel might need something to keep him from blabbing about this, since he's going to see me eating it."
And that was only the beginning, because from then on, Donglim became fixated upon stealing anything and everything Intae attempted to consume.
The manager brings them kimbap for breakfast, but every time Intae goes to shove a piece into his mouth, Donglim opens his mouth all cutely and shouts, "Ah!" so that the entire group shoves Intae's shoulder and calls him a bad leader until he relinquishes piece after piece.
David comes home one night with a large pizza because, finally, he'd found some "good" pizza in Seoul, but Donglim perches on the back on Intae's chair and not-so-subtly nudges him, demanding bites and refusing to get his own slice, because obviously Intae's must taste better.
As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he says when he magically appears in the kitchen at four a.m., somehow at the exact same time Intae is sneaking in for some much-needed nourishment. "Hyung's food is tastier," Donglim explains, so instead Intae ends up holding the bag open for Donglim while he stuffs his face with chips, then escorts him back to bed like a good leader should.
He swears he's feeling weaker by the day. Rehearsals seem so much longer when his mid-rehearsal meal is half-eaten by Donglim. Dinner is less satisfying with a boy insisting on trying everything on his plate. Even drinking with David, Dari and Jisu becomes tedious, because even though, for once, Intae refuses to share, Donglim hangs on him the entire time, not giving up until Intae has to half-carry him to bed.
The worst part of it all is that, if it were anyone else, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place. If David or Dari ever tried to steal his food, Intae would punch them, no problem. Jisu would never do such a thing in the first place, but Intae would be able to tell the guy 'no,' and move on. Daniel steals food from everyone already, so Intae doesn't have anything to worry about there. Luckily, the youngest had caught on to Donglim's scheme and had stopped stealing from Intae out of pity.
But Donglim is a different story. Whatever the kid wants, Intae automatically gives him, even before the whole food mess began. Donglim wants a certain pillow, Intae tosses it to him without thinking about it. Donglim wants Intae to help him learn the new choreography, Intae stays hours after practice is over. It's not because he's young, because Daniel is younger and though Intae is indulgent toward him, too, it's nothing compared to this. Over time he's compiled many theories, but he prefers returning to the one that claims that Donglim is the source of all evil, and his power lies in his eyes. Those huge, dark eyes, which can go from cute to devilish in a split second and are all Intae can see when Donglim asks, sometimes in an utterly dull voice, "Hyung, can I have it?"
Deep down, Intae knows that Donglim isn't evil, but whatever power he possesses trumps every ounce of will Intae has, and so, if it's what Donglim truly wants, Intae will starve to death, one lost bowl of ice cream at a time.