#caretaker kibum

[darl-ingfics]

Sicktember Day 28: Pulling a ‘Ferris Bueller’

Fandom: SHINee

Sickie: Taemin, Jonghyun, Onew

Caregiver(s): Kibum, Minho

Word Count: 1,912

Note: This was actually one of the first ever Kpop sickfic ideas I had. The circumstances have changed time and time again, but the only scene that has remained consistent is Kibum being annoyed that all his sick members are no longer asleep. Also, I actually hate the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and I just wanted to say that. I don't know why, but I just don't like it.

The sound of his alarm was never Kibum’s favorite, but today, he was even less excited to greet the morning. Mostly because he was, by default, in charge of SHINee on this day. Sure, the SHINee he was in charge of was just Minho and himself, but that made it worse. 

Especially because they were scheduled to attend a variety show infamous for its aggressive, mean-spirited hosts, invasive questions, and uncomfortable games and challenges. When their manager had told them about the schedule two months ago, Onew had very professionally argued against the appearance on behalf of the team, but there was nothing their manager could do: the company had made the arrangement, and there would be no withdrawal. 

Then, a week before the taping, Taemin got sick. Junmyeon had warned them that the entirely of EXO had been taken down by the flu, yet Taemin had insisted on meeting up with Jongin to choreograph. So it was more disappointing than surprising that Taemin caught the flu too, and was beyond miserable. 

Their manager had reached out to the variety show, letting them know that Taemin would be missing, and asking if they wanted to reschedule. The show had refused to cancel, saying they would take whoever was healthy. 

By Tuesday, Jonghyun was also sick. Despite their best efforts (i.e. moving rooms to isolate Taemin, amping up vitamin intake, etc.), there was no full proof method for avoiding Lee Taemin’s puppy dog eyes. And Jonghyun had always been the most vulnerable to them.

Still, the show’s hosts remained adamant: they wanted SHINee on, and they’d take whoever was available. The remaining trio had discussed plan after plan on how to handle the show’s hosts. 

But those plans had all been thrown to the wayside when their manager had driven Jinki to the hospital at 1am that morning to confirm that he, too, had the flu. 

So now it was just Kibum and Minho. Yippee.

After getting himself ready, Kibum moved into the hallway and could see light flashing into the hall from the TV in the living room. The sound was low, but the closer he got, the more he could hear it. He barely even looked at the screen before turning his attention to the couch. A beat after Kibum looked, Jonghyun’s head swiveled to address him. The older man looked a right mess: chaotic bedhead, pallid skin, rumpled pajama pants with a hoodie that had definitely shrunk in the wash. Blanket kicked into a ball at the end of the couch. An empty orange juice jug on the floor beside him. 

“Be honest: did you sleep at all?” 

Jonghyun nodded. “Yeah, from about 7pm until 2am.” He paused, cleared his throat, winced at the pain. “Then I woke up, and took more meds, but haven’t been able to fall back to sleep.”  

Kibum nodded approvingly. “Why’re you out here?”

“Taemin’s clingy, and I needed to breathe.”

“Fair enough.” Kibum moved off into the kitchen, starting the coffee maker and pulling out some fruit and toast for breakfast. As he worked, he heard Minho enter the living room, stop and talk with Jonghyun. Then he heard a door open down the hall, a harsh cough preceding slow steps. 

“What are you doing up?” Minho asked. 

“I have the day’s schedule,” Jinki replied. Kibum turned just in time to see Minho ushering the leader into the kitchen and sitting him down at the table. 

“Why did you just send it to us?” Minho asked, hands on his hips. 

Jinki shrugged. “I didn’t think of that…”

Taemin rounded the corner, moving straight to the fridge in daze. He peered around, whining softly. “Has anyone seen the orange juice?” 

Kibum’s eyes snapped to the couch, catching the moment Jonghyun hid the empty bottle under the side table. 

“We must be out, baby,” Minho replied gently, rubbing the back of Taemin’s neck soothingly. “We’ll get more on our way home tonight.” Taemin whined again, unable to verbally express his agitation. 

“Why are all of you awake?!” Kibum exclaimed.

“I need to update you on…”

“Hyung, you’re the only one with a real reason,” Kibum interrupted Jinki, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. “And while I wish that wasn’t the case, I get it. You two!” He glared at Taemin specifically before continuing, “should still be asleep!”

“I just wanted juice…” Taemin complained, visibly upset that he was being called out for being awake. 

“Tae baby, come here.” Jonghyun opened his arms, beckoning the younger man over. Taemin responded automatically, collapsing against his hyung. 

“Speaking of the updates, lay it on us.” Minho nodded towards Jinki. “The faster you do, the faster we get you back to bed.”

Jinki nodded gratefully, turning his attention to the calendar on his phone. “Well, the leader meeting is at 10am, but I can always just ask Victoria to bring me notes, so you can say no to that…”

“I’d like to go…” Kibum spoke up. 

“Who says you get to go? Why not me?” Minho exclaimed. 

“Cause I’m older, so I’m the stand in leader.”

“I feel like this calls for…”

“No.” Jinki shook his head. “We’re not fighting about this. I’m texting Vic. Next.” Both Kibum and Minho’s mouths snapped closed like scolded children. As Jinki assessed the list on his phone, Jonghyun wandered into the kitchen, pulling out the chair next to Jinki and sitting down. He scooted close enough to rest his head on the leader’s shoulder. 

Kibum raised an eyebrow. “So Taemin’s too clingy, but it’s fine when you do it?”

Jonghyun’s glare wasn’t half as sharp as normal. “Taemin wraps his entire body around you like an octopus. That’s too much contact. This is perfect.”

Jinki patted the side of his head affectionately before continuing. “Anyway, we have Practice Room 3 reserved for the morning, so do with that what you like. It really doesn’t matter to me, just be somewhat productive. Now… I did text our manager about the taping this afternoon and, even though he hasn’t gotten back just yet, I think we know what their answer is going to be.”

Minho groaned. “Why are they do dead set on us coming on their show?”

“To embarrass us,” Jonghyun replied. He frowned. “It’s obvious that they have something planned, and want to see us humiliated. It’ll boost their ratings. Remember what they did to Got7 last year? I can’t believe they’re still on the air…”

“You said it yourself: their ratings are through the roof. People eat this shit up,” Kibum scowled. 

“I wonder what they have on us, though,” Jinki mused, getting lost in thought at that. “And how they still think it would land with only two of us…”

Minho gasped, spine straightening, eyes aflame. “IDEA!” Kibum smacked his ribs for being too loud after Jinki winced and they could hear Taemin whining from the couch. “Sorry, but this could work. Why don’t Kibum and I just call in sick too? I mean, would they really question it?”

“Yes, they would. They made hyung go get a flu test last night at like 1am,” Kibum pointed out. Jinki nodded in confirmation. “Also, we need the dance practice, so we can’t just call out for the whole day.”

“Shit, I forgot about that.” Minho pursed his lips in thought, leaning back against the kitchen counter. His eyebrows had just knit together in thought for a moment before he snapped his fingers suddenly. “What if we get our manager in on it?”

“Why would he agree to help us? Attendance is, ya know, kinda mandatory?” Kibum replied. 

“Only for practice. And he’s also really cool, and has been very sympathetic about the whole variety show situation thus far, you know?” 

“I’m sorry, but don’t think it’s gonna work, Minho.” Kibum shook his head. “Trust me, I wish it would. As much as I want to avoid looking like a fool on national television, I just don’t think we can.” 

As he spoke, Taemin shuffled into the kitchen, feeling very left out, and practically melted against Jinki’s other side, arms wrapping around the leader’s chest. Jonghyun pointed at him for emphasis. “See? Octopus!” 

“Something tells me you guys aren’t really listening to me.” Minho’s tone was hurt, but he was smiling as he watched Jinki squirm a bit out of Taemin’s hold despite the younger’s protests. 

“Tae baby, I’m so sorry, but you cannot be this close right now,” the leader said gently. Taemin whined. “I know that you want snuggles, but I literally want to claw my skin off of my body right now, and you are just too warm.” Minho stepped forward and pulled Taemin against his side, allowing the younger boy to cling onto him. Minho hated to admit how right Jonghyun was; Taemin really was reminding him of an octopus. 

“We’re listening, love, we’re just scared it won’t work,” Jonghyun replied to Minho’s earlier complaint. 

“Unless…” All eyes turned to Kibum, who was staring intently at the floor, his fingers working distractedly at the zipper on his jacket. A clear sign that the gears in his brain were rapidly turning. After a moment, he snapped back to reality, meeting his groups’ eyes one by one. “We only get one shot at this.” He then raced off back down the hall. Minho’s brow furrowed in confusion. The same look crossed Taemin’s face. Jinki and Jonghyun exchanged an equally stunned look. 

When Kibum returned a moment later, he immediately pointed to Minho and Taemin. “You two, go cuddle up on the couch. Minho, I need you to look at pathetic as possible.”

“What?” Minho laughed out loud. 

Kibum snapped his fingers. “You two. Couch. Go!” Minho and Taemin scurried away as told. Kibum then turned back to his two hyungs in the kitchen. “Your job’s easy: sit still a minute.” Kibum revealed the thermometer gun he’d run to grab, aiming it at Jonghyun’s forehead first. When the instrument beeped, he snapped a picture of the result, then turned towards the living room. Minho and Taemin had listened. Good. Kibum reset the thermometer, and aimed it at Jinki this time. After the beep, he sprinted into the living room. “Say cheese,” he joked, snapping a picture of the thermometer with Minho and Taemin on the couch in the background. He then set to work tapping on his screen. 

“Care to share the plan, sir?” Minho asked. He tried to sit up, but was met with a very insistent, cuddly Taemin pinning him down to the couch. 

“I’m telling our manager you threw up last night and are running a fever now. And that I also woke up with a fever and sore throat.” 

“How authentic,” Jonghyun commented from the doorway of the kitchen where he and Jinki were leaning to be a part of the action. 

Minho frowned. “Why do I have to be the one that threw up? That’s so gross.”

Kibum rolled his eyes. “It’s  not like it’s real.”

“But now our manager’s gonna think…”

“Minho, it’s really not that serious.” Jinki walked over to the couch, collapsing by his dongsaengs’ feet. “We don’t even know if he’s gonna buy it yet. Fingers crossed, though.”

“Fingers crossed,” Kibum repeated, staring impatiently at his phone screen. This could either be their greatest triumph of teamwork, or the longest day of their life. And it all depended on the three little dots that had just appeared on his screen…

[feverishbangtan]

i want to ki__ you (answers may vary) (Part 1/2)

college sports AU

Where soccer captain Taehyung and basketball captain Jungkook have to work through their differences.

Sickie: Jungkook and Taehyung a little bit

Caretaker: Taehyung and Jungkook kind of

Word Count: 8505

TW: blood, slight description of injury

Here’s part 2 

(BIG BIG THANK YOU TO @katiesdailystruggle FOR PROOFREADING THIS!!! seriously, thank you so much for taking the time to do that 💕)

"Why are you still here? You know it's our turn-" Taehyung stops himself when the basketball captain, Jeon Jungkook, walks right up into his face. They're the same height but Jungkook is much buffer. Taehyung doesn't back down because of that, though.

"What? It's your what?" He sneers, clearly enjoying this. Riling up Taehyung seems to be his favorite pastime. It has been like that ever since the younger one became the captain of the basketball team. Taehyung doesn't remember why or when exactly it happened, but somehow this rivalry started between the basketball and soccer team that has the two captains constantly arguing with each other.

Taehyung's face turns red in anger as he grits out, "It's our turn in the locker room."

"We have the right to be here until we're done." Jungkook shrugs and throws his towel over his shoulder.

"No. You're supposed to be done by the time we get here." Taehyung tries hard to stay calm, but the younger is just so infuriating that Taehyung really wants to punch him when he laughs out loud.

"But I'm not," Jungkook challenges, "what are you going to do about it, Kim?"

Jungkook pushes him back until Taehyung's back hits the cold metal of the locker behind him. The football captain doesn't back down. He pushes out his chest and makes himself bigger to try and intimidate the younger. Jungkook doesn't care though, he copies Taehyung's stance and the tension thickens between them.

"Go take a shower so you can finally leave. You reek." Taehyung pinches his nose in mock disgust and pushes against Jungkook's chest.

Jungkook chuckles and turns back around to his locker, grabbing his shampoo and body wash.

—

It's tight in the locker room with eleven men squeezed into the small space at once. It's also loud with all of them talking to each other. 

And even though Taehyung was just teasing Jungkook when he told him he stinks, it wasn't a complete lie. The changing room tends to get smelly and stuffy when the men return to the small room after hours of practice.

"Can someone open a window, please?" Hoseok, another football player, begs loudly. His teammate Mark is quick to open the small windows to let in some fresh air.

While the basketball players shower, the soccer players change into their training outfits. It quickly becomes apparent when the basketball players are done, the noise level going up by a few notches when they trudge back into the changing room.

Taehyung is pulling on his socks when he dares to glance up. His eyes get stuck on the muscular back of the man in front of him. He can also see an array of tattoos on Jungkook's right arm.

Jimin notices how his best friend is staring off into space. He is about to wave his hand in front of Taehyung's face when he realizes that he isn't spacing out. No, not at all. Instead, he is staring very intensely at Jungkook's back. Jimin has to admit the basketball captain is quite the sight.

He whistles suggestively to tease Taehyung, who immediately snaps out of it. A deep blush rises on his cheeks and he throws out his arm to elbow Jimin.

Jungkook hears the small commotion behind him. He looks over his shoulder and notices how Taehyung's head snaps down a little too quickly as he pretends to adjust his socks. Again. The blush on the football player doesn't go unnoticed by Jungkook.

He smirks and once he feels Taehyung's eyes on his back again he decides to give him a little show. Jungkook slowly unties the towel around his waist and slides it down; inch by inch. Once it's halfway down his butt he stops and pulls it back up, trying hard not to laugh when he hears Taehyung’s quiet groan. 

Jungkook puts on his briefs before he throws the towel onto the bench behind himself. Or tries to. Instead, it lands directly in Taehyung's lap and the soccer captain is not amused about it. He throws it back at the younger, full force.

"Are you fucking stupid?!" Jungkook cries out, one hand on his lower back where a red welt is already forming from where the towel hit him.

Taehyung just shrugs innocently and Jungkook decides to drop it instead of starting an argument. Grumbling, he turns back around to look for a T-shirt inside his gym bag.

"Hey, JK!" Yugyeom, one of the basketball players yells to get the captain's attention, "Do you still have that ball in your locker? Bambam, Minho, and I want to practice some more but none of us have a ball. And we can't take the ones from the gym anymore," he trails off, his eyes wide and hands folded together in a begging gesture.

Jungkook nods and grabs the heavy orange ball, "just make sure to return it tomorrow."

Without a second glance, he tosses it over to his team member. Unfortunately, Taehyung chooses that exact moment to stand up. He only has a second to register Jungkook's horrified expression right before the hard rubber hits Taehyung right in the face. The thud of the ball hitting the floor echos loudly inside the silent changing room. Someone gasps and then the room fills with Jungkook's laughter. More people start laughing.

Taehyung doesn’t think any of this is funny. He's furious and Jimin tries to stop him when he stalks up to Jungkook. Without a warning, Taehyung swings his fist directly into Jungkook's face. It connects with the younger's jaw. Jungkook can taste blood on his tongue.

"What the-!" Before he can finish his sentence, Taehyung is at him again. The room fills with loud screams and the smell of sweat once again.

Both the football and basketball players try to pry the two apart and stop the fight. They end up pushing each other instead while the two captains still exchange blows.

The shrill noise of a whistle sounds through the locker room, breaking everyone apart. Jungkook shifts off of Taehyung's body, which he had pinned to the floor, as the other players move to create a path for coach Song. The football coach looks very displeased when he approaches the two. With raised eyebrows, he takes in their disheveled appearances. Both athletes already have bruises forming on their faces. Jungkook's lip is swollen and bleeding and Taehyung has blood running down from his nose.

"What," coach Song starts, voice scarily calm and low, "is going on here?" 

His sharp eyes fixate on the two captains and narrow dangerously when he doesn't get an answer right away.

Both Taehyung and Jungkook push themselves off the floor and stand with their backs pressed against the lockers, shoulders tense and gaze towards the floor.

"I'm sorry, coach," Taehyung whispers apologetically.

Song clicks his tongue, "that's not what I asked."

"We fought," Jungkook mumbles, explaining the obvious. Unconsciously, his hand moves up to touch his hair; a nervous habit of his. But as soon as he realizes it he drops it, instead, fidgeting with his fingers.

"You fought?" The coach hums knowingly, "and why is that?" 

It's not like that feud between them is an unknown thing. Everyone on campus knows that the two team captains can't stand each other. But it has never gotten this bad. There is the occasional verbal exchange and that tends to get loud and threats get thrown around, but it never ended in a physical altercation up until now.

"He started it!"

"It was an accident!" They exclaim at the same time, trying to defend themselves.

Coach Song rubs his temples with an annoyed frown. "You're both dismissed for now. We'll have a conversation about this tomorrow, together with coach Kim," the man sighs and turns to leave the changing room.

"But- coach Song, practice-," Taehyung stutters confusedly.

"I said you're dismissed. The rest of you," the coach looks around the other men, "be ready for practice in 5." With that, he leaves and one after another the guys start moving, getting dressed, and cleaning up.

"Oh, great," Taehyung grumbles and sends Jungkook a glare.

"Not my fault you're getting physical all of a sudden," Jungkook tells him, just as annoyed.

Taehyung wants to lunge at him again, but this time Jackson and Kibum grab him and hold him back. "Tae, man, relax. He's not worth it," Jackson tells him and loosens his grip when the younger calms down. Jungkook scoffs as he walks past them to grab his bag and finally leave.

—

The next afternoon Taehyung, Jungkook, and both of their trainers hold the meeting they were warned about the day before.

"That's-This is insane! It wasn’t even a big fight! It was just a small scuffle!" Jungkook argues after hearing their punishment. But his black eye and bruised jaw beg to differ.

As a consequence of the fight, both coaches decide to take away their status as captain of their teams. They're also both suspended for the next six games.

"He's right. That's too harsh." As much as Taehyung dislikes the (ex-)basketball captain, this is something they agree on.

Coach Kim turns to Song with raised eyebrows and then back to the two athletes, looking impressed when he says: "You two agreeing on something? That's a first."

Jungkook throws his head back and whines, "Coach Kim, please!"

"Coach Song, I'm begging. Don't do this, please!" Taehyung slips off the chair and kneels in front of his trainer.

"This isn't up for debate. You two are dismissed." Both coaches simply ignore their pleading and whining. 

Coach Song waves his hand at them, shooing them out of the room. Realizing that there’s no point in making a fuss, both boys get up to leave.

"Oh, right! Taehyung-ah, Jungkook-ah, don't forget about the sports camp. We're leaving this Friday," the football coach reminds them before they can walk out of the door.

Right. The biannual sports camp. They totally forgot about that and, to be honest, they're both a bit surprised that they weren't expelled from that as well as part of their punishment. They wouldn’t mind that much, though spending a whole week in a cabin in the forest together wasn't exactly heavenly. The rest of their teams usually enjoy it a lot since they all get along pretty well.

—

"Alright, everyone! Gather around!" Coach Kim yells over the chatter of the athletes. He's standing on the front porch of the big cabin with a clipboard in hand, looking over the crowd that just left the bus that brought them here. Coach Song is standing next to him and he's about to pull out his whistle to get everyone’s attention but they quiet down and look at the two men expectantly.

"Everyone, welcome to our second sports camp of the year! Unfortunately, we're a bit late with it being October already but we're hoping the weather keeps up for this week," coach Song starts explaining and turns to the basketball trainer to continue.

Coach Kim clears his throat before he announces that they'll start with the distribution of rooms. 

"Bambam and Yugyeom, you're in cabin 1." The two basketball players holler and high-five each other happily.

"Momo and Nayeon in cabin 2." They hug each other, very happy about sharing a room.

Taehyung stops paying attention to what the basketball coach is saying until he hears his name being called out.

"Taehyung and," the footballer played swears he sees a smirk on the man's face, "Jungkook. You're in cabin 7."

Before the words even register in Taehyung's mind, Jungkook is already complaining about it. "Coach, please! Didn't you punish me enough already? Isn’t this too cruel?"

Coach Kim just laughs and tells him it's not a punishment. Jungkook and Taehyung feel like it's one, though.

"Before you ask: no, you can't change rooms with someone else," coach Song smiles at them, but it shuts them both up.

The trainers announce the rest of the rooms and then hand out the keys, telling everyone to come back to the big cabin for lunch in an hour.

Despite the warning, Jungkook decides that's enough time to ask the other guys if one of them is willing to change roommates with him. 

However, after half an hour he's asked each of them and no one was willing to change. So he begrudgingly goes to the cabin assigned to him and his archnemesis Taehyung.

The cabins are small yet cozy and each of them has its own bathroom. Luckily there are two separate beds, instead of a bunk bed or one big bed, in Taehyung and Jungkook's cabin.

"I don’t like sleeping in the middle of the room, so I chose the one up against the wall. I hope you don't mind," Taehyung trails off and moves the blanket from where he stands in front of the bed.

And really, there's no issue with that at all. Jungkook doesn’t mind, but this is Taehyung and nothing ever goes smoothly with them so he looks at the other man and says: "I do mind. I wanted that bed."

"Oh." For a second Taehyung looks like he feels guilty for choosing a bed without talking to Jungkook first but it is gone just as quickly, "Too bad. I was here first." He continues adjusting the bedding and ignores Jungkook completely.

"That's not fair," Jungkook complains, "Rock-paper-scissors. Winner gets to choose the bed." He smirks as he holds out his first, ready to win.

Taehyung sighs but accepts anyway. "Only one round," he says, staring into Jungkook's eyes. They're a deep brown but they shine brightly, almost like small galaxies and Taehyung gets lost in them for a moment. Jungkook's voice starting the chant brings him back to reality.

"Gawi bawi bo!"

Taehyung shows scissors while Jungkook's fist is balled up to show rock.

"Let's play three rounds! Whoever has two wins can choose!" Taehyung quickly tries to retract his earlier statement but Jungkook shakes his head. He grins as he drops his bag on the bed Taehyung tried to prepare for himself.

"Note to self," Taehyung groans, "never play rock-paper-scissors against that jerk again."

The hour passes by quickly. During lunch, everyone can sit wherever they want, but Taehyung and Jungkook still end up sitting at the same table, although not next to each other, due to mutual friends.

"Ah, hot!" Jungkook drops the ladle back into the pot when the steam burns his hand.

"Jungkook-ah, let hyung do it." Seokjin grabs the ladle instead and scoops hotpot into Jungkook's bowl for him. Jungkook thanks the soccer player and happily continues eating.

Lunch is a quiet affair, at least concerning Taehyung and Jungkook's constant arguing. They're probably too busy eating and enjoying the meal the chef prepared for the athletes.

After eating, they all gather in the backyard at the request of their coaches. They prepared some games, claiming it's important to strengthen the trust and teamwork between all of them.

They start with a game of tug-of-war, teams evenly divided between basketball and football players. Taehyung is at the front of his line and Jungkook spearheads the basketball team's side, the two of them staring into each other’s eyes.

"Any last words, Kim?" Jungkook sneers, tightening his hold on the rope.

"Stop talking and let's start already." Taehyung adjusts his grip and stance, ready to win the game.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!" Solar yells to start the tug-of-war.

It doesn’t even take half a minute before Jungkook's side wins. Taehyung ends up stumbling into a puddle of mud, his clothes dirty and wet. Coach Song announces the second game right away and Taehyung complains about being unable to clean up.

When the second game turns out to be a three-legged race Taehyung doesn't mind it so much anymore. Pair games are to be done by the cabin mates and Taehyung makes sure to hold on tight to his partner, Jungkook, and get him dirty as well.

The pair loses the game by far. They end up stumbling through the finish line as the very last ones, unable to put their stubbornness aside and work together.

"I can't believe you can't even walk properly," Jungkook criticizes, blaming their loss on Taehyung entirely.

"It's not my fault you kept trying to run off on your own. I hope your kneecaps bruise." Taehyung pokes his tongue out and joins the group assembling for the next game.

"Okay, the next game is called human knot. Does everyone know what that is?" Coach Song asks and when they all answer in the affirmative he tells them to start.

It's a mess as they all try to grab someone's hand and hold onto it and it gets even messier when they try to untangle themselves. Jungkook tugs on his right hand to see who he's holding onto. He's surprised when he looks into the familiar eyes of one Kim Taehyung. The older groans when he realizes it as well. They look down at their hands and realize that they both grabbed each other’s hands and aren’t even included in the big circle the human knot is supposed to create.

"Oh c'mon, this can't be for real," Taehyung groans in annoyance.

Jungkook clears his throat, getting Taehyung's attention back, "uh, you can let go now."

Taehyung lets go of the other's hands immediately and they stand off to the side to watch the rest of their team members untangle themselves, occasionally giving them advice.

When it starts raining they all seek shelter in the big cabin. There’s a huge room in the basement, stocked with various games like a pool table and karaoke. 

"Ooh, let's have a singing competition! Winner gets a prize!" Kibum suggests and they all agree. The athletes entertain themselves like that until dinner.

After dinner, the trainers announce the plan for the next day. "In the morning there will be a blindfolded obstacle course that you'll work through with your roommate."

"After the lunch break, there will be a scavenger hunt. You'll get a list of tasks you'll need to complete and a camera to take pictures with. That should take up the whole afternoon so that's all for tomorrow," coach Song explains and dismisses them with a reminder that there's a night curfew set for 11 pm.

—

The blindfolded obstacle course is not going well for Taehyung and Jungkook. The coaches made sure to make the course as safe as possible but somehow, Jungkook still manages to find a pole he can let Taehyung walk into.

Taehyung rips the blindfold from his eyes angrily. "You're such an ass, you know that, Jeon?" He scowls at his partner and if looks could kill Jungkook would drop dead right then and there.

"Oops," Jungkook grins, shrugging his shoulders. "Put the blindfold back on, we're not done with the course yet."

But Taehyung refuses, "no. No way. You put it on now."

Jungkook gulps. He didn’t take into account that he'd have to walk the course as well and that Taehyung's probably going to get back at him.

As much as Jungkook enjoyed making Taehyung trip and walk into things before, he now regrets it. He curses when he hits his shin. Again. Jungkook is sure it'll bruise.

Jungkook’s foot catches on something and he loses his balance, falling onto the wet grass underneath. Luckily, he can catch himself with his hands. Jungkook pulls the blindfold down and pushes himself back so he’s crouching, balancing his weight on his feet. He glares up at Taehyung who looks very unapologetic.

"Asshole," Jungkook mutters.

He gets back up and reluctantly pulls the blindfold back over his eyes. Taehyung leads him through the rest of the course quickly, Jungkook constantly tripping.

-

This time, they all sit divided by their respective sports teams at lunch. It's loud as they converse with each other but the atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable.

"So JK, how's it going with your roommate?" BamBam giggles knowingly, as it's very obvious how things are between the two former captains.

Jungkook rolls his eyes and glances at the boy in question. Surprisingly, Taehyung is already looking at him. Jungkook is sure he sees the older blush before he turns his head quickly, pretending he wasn’t looking at the basketball player.

"Could be worse, I guess," he eventually answers, not elaborating on it. The team just accepts it, most of them already have their attention elsewhere anyway.

The conversations are interrupted by coach Song tapping his spoon against a glass to call for everybody’s attention. 

"Everyone, please listen up!" he speaks loudly, "After lunch, the scavenger hunt will begin. We put up a table with disposable cameras and a list of tasks by the entrance," they all turn their heads to see what he's talking about, "This is another activity to be done with your cabin roommate. Everything is explained on the task paper, however, should there be any more questions coach Kim and I will be here to answer them for you before we start."

Coach Kim adds: "Please try to get along and take care of each other!"

"You hear that, Tae? Try not to kill your roommate and bury him in the forest," Dahyun snickers, and the rest of the team laugh out loud.

Taehyung rolls his eyes at her, "HaHa. Very funny."

-

Taehyung and Jungkook stand in front of the cabin awkwardly. The scavenger hunt will begin at exactly 2 pm so there's still time for everyone to read the paper and ask questions if there are any. 

Jungkook is fiddling with the camera while Taehyung is reading the paper to make sure he understands everything.

"So basically, we just have to find and do these things on this list and take pictures of it. This shouldn’t be too hard," Taehyung explains.

Jungkook nods, "yeah, sure. What’s first?"

"Uh," Taehyung looks at the paper and reads out loud, "First, find a pine cone. That should be easy."

Before Jungkook can agree, they hear a whistle from the porch of the big cabin. Both trainers are standing there, waiting for everyone to turn their attention to them.

"All right, everyone! I hope you all dressed appropriately," coach Kim laughs, "The hunt will start shortly but before that, I want to make sure everybody understands the tasks. Or are there any questions?"

They all shake their heads, letting the coaches know that everything is clear and they're ready to leave.

"Great. You have two hours to complete everything. We want to see everyone back inside this cabin by 4 pm. Stay on the paths, take care of each other, and good luck!" And with that, they're dismissed and sent off into the forest.

Instead of following everyone else down the large gravel path, Jungkook pulls Taehyung towards a smaller path leading into the forest as the foot of the mountain.

"If we're alone the others can't find the things on the list before we do and we'll be done faster," he explains just as Taehyung wants to protest. Mulling it over for a second, Taehyung has to agree that it's a good idea and just walks alongside the other, looking for a pine cone to complete the first task.

-

An hour into the hunt, Taehyung and Jungkook had already finished most of the tasks. It's been going pretty smoothly, with no major arguments and only a little bit of teasing and bickering here and there.

"Okay, the next task is..." Taehyung looks at the list, reading the challenge out loud, "to find berries."

The boys walk down the empty path, keeping an eye out for anything that resembles a berry. There are already leaves on the ground and the whole forest looks like it's burning with hues of orange, red, and yellow. It's hard to find anything in the autumn woods.

"Here!" Taehyung yells out loud, pointing at a bush with bright red little balls on it.

"Good enough. Let's take a picture and keep going." Jungkook takes a picture with the camera quickly.

"You think they're edible?" the younger wonders, looking at the berries on the bush.

"Don't try it, maybe they're poisonous," Taehyung argues, then thinks about it for another moment, "actually, maybe you should."

"Hey, coaches said you should take care of me!" Jungkook exclaims jokingly, "Also, I'm not dumb, I won't try some weird berries that I don't even know."

Taehyung laughs but quickly sobers up again, reminding himself who he's talking to and that he shouldn't be laughing at Jeon Jungkook's jokes out of all people.

"I don't know about the 'I'm not dumb'-part...," Taehyung teases.

Jungkook clutches at his chest in mock hurt, "what is that supposed to mean? I will let you know that my grades are pretty decent!"

"Whatever, let's keep going," Taehyung ends the bickering and glances up at the sky, "I want to finish this and get back before it starts raining and it looks like it'll start soon."

"Yeah, you're right," Jungkook agrees, also looking up at the darkening sky decorated with grey, rain-heavy clouds, "let's keep moving."

Another twenty minutes or so later the downpour starts, accompanied by thunder. Taehyung jumps at the noise, surprised by how loud it is.

"Are you scared, Kim?" Jungkook smirks.

Taehyung shoves his shoulder and shakes his head, "no. Anyways, shall we turn around?"

"Hmm, we're not done, yet, are we?"

"Not quite but it doesn't matter considering the weather," Taehyung points out and continues, "It's raining, it's getting darker and it's cold. Let's just go back."

Miraculously, Jungkook agrees instead of starting an argument but he has to admit to himself that Taehyung is right and even his competitive spirit can't win against that. They turn around and walk back the way they came from, which seems easy enough. Until they come to a crossroad.

"So," Taehyung starts, "how do we get back?"

The older honestly didn't pay attention to which way they went, too focused on the tasks at hand. He realizes now that it was a mistake but hopes that Jungkook remembers the way back.

"I think it's this way." Jungkook points to the left path but he doesn't sound very confident in his decision.

"You think?" Taehyung asks and tries to remember the way himself. They've been walking up this whole time and the left path does seem to lead back down from the mountain so maybe it's worth a try.

Jungkook scoffs at the doubt in Taehyung's tone, even though he isn't sure about it himself. "Well do you have a better idea? Did you suddenly remember?"

"No...," Taehyung admits meekly.

They walk down the path Jungkook decided on. The weather is steadily getting worse, the rain getting stronger and the temperatures getting colder the later it gets. Both men are completely soaked through, hair matted to their foreheads due to the wetness and their shoes are covered in mud.

They must've been walking for an hour already and they were getting nowhere. The camp still isn't even in sight and all they can see are trees and bushes.

"Ugh! This isn't the right way! We should've been back by now!" Taehyung yells out in frustration. He's tired and cold and his feet are aching. 

They stop walking to look around them but there isn't anything that tells them the way. There aren't even any signs that could lead them back towards camp.

"We took a lot of smaller by-paths instead of the main pathways. Maybe we should look for one of those and follow it...," Jungkook suggests and uses the sleeve of his jacket to rub at his runny nose.

"Yeah, what a great idea," Taehyung replies sarcastically, pushing his wet hair out of his face again.

Jungkook groans in annoyance, "well, do you have a better idea, Kim?"

Taehyung stays quiet for a moment before he quietly replies: "Maybe it's worth a try."

"They should've just let us take our phones with us. Then we wouldn't be in this mess now," Taehyung grumbles as they keep walking, looking for a junction that'll lead them to one of the smaller paths down the mountain.

"Hey, Kim," Jungkook stops walking, squinting at something off to the side of the way they're walking on, "there's another way down this slope. It seems to go downwards."

Taehyung stops next to him and sees the trail the younger is talking about. It indeed looks like it's leading to the foot of the mountain. They're lost already anyway and Taehyung doesn't think this situation could get any worse than this.

"Yeah, let's try that one then," he mumbles and follows Jungkook down the slope to reach the path below.

It's muddy and slippery but Jungkook gets down just fine, only his shoes and pants getting dirty.

Taehyung is almost at the bottom when he suddenly slips. His ankle twists as he tries to catch himself and he falls, landing face-first in the mud.

"Fuck!" Taehyung yells out profanities and clutches his ankle, face contorted in pain. Jungkook curses as he crouches down to take a look at Taehyung's foot. 

"Let me see." He carefully rolls up the bottom of Taehyung's soiled pants and moves his hands out of the way. Taehyung's ankle is already swollen and painful looking, "Can you move it?" Taehyung tries to roll his ankle but it's painful. Luckily it doesn't seem to be broken, though, or he wouldn't have been able to move it at all.

"Fuck. I can't believe this is happening. This day just keeps getting worse," Taehyung complains, angry at himself and Jungkook and the whole world.

Jungkook ignores him, pondering on what to do. Eventually, he decides to take off his jacket to create a makeshift bandage to stabilize the injured limb. It's not ideal but it's not like he has a first-aid box with him.

Taehyung's focus shifts from his injury to Jungkook, who's now only wearing a black T-shirt that clings to his well-defined body. Taehyung definitely isn't staring.

"Like what you see?" Jungkook teases lightheartedly when he notices.

Jungkook hopes that Taehyung does like what he’s seeing. And it's only because he's working hard to maintain this body and not because he wants Taehyung to like him. Not at all.

Taehyung shakes his head and furrows his brows, ignoring the quip. "What the fuck are you doing? Are you crazy?!"

It's freezing, now that the sun almost completely set, and it's still raining heavily. The windbreaker Jungkook was wearing protected him at least a little bit against the terrible weather. However, Jungkook simply ignores Taehyung's protests and rips the arms off of his jacket.

"You're out of your mind!" Taehyung yells at him, "Are you fucking stupid?!"

"You're the one who's too stupid to walk," Jungkook mutters, concentrating on tying the ripped up jacket around the injured ankle.

"Well, who's fault is this?" Taehyung starts another argument, "If it wasn't for you none of this would be happening! That fight wouldn't have happened! We wouldn't be roommates! We wouldn't have gotten lost and we wouldn’t be here together now! And this stupid injury wouldn't have happened either!" The older cries out all of his frustration.

"And who started the fight that got us into this mess?!" Jungkook counters, getting worked up as well.

Taehyung's face turns red in anger. "You literally threw a basketball at me! Did you ever get hit by one?! Do you even know how bad that hurts?!"

"I didn't even throw it at you! You just punched me out of nowhere! And just for your information, yes, I've gotten hit by basketballs plenty of times."

"Well, that explains a lot of things. You probably don't have any brain cells left because of that. Maybe you should stop playing basketball!"

This time, Jungkook is the one tempted to hit Taehyung. But he doesn't. Instead, he takes a few deep breaths and tightens the knot around Taehyung's ankle a little harder than needed. The older yelps and grabs for his hurting leg as he glares at Jungkook.

Jungkook ignores it and turns, so he's crouching with his back towards Taehyung, "whatever. Shut up and hop on my back."

"I- You- What?" Taehyung stutters, "No! Just- Just help me up."

Rolling his eyes, Jungkook obliges anyway. He grabs Taehyung's arm and pulls him up into a standing position. It's a little bit shaky and Taehyung leans on Jungkook for support. He tries to take a step but immediately realizes that no, this won't work. He can't walk at all. So, Taehyung stands there with a pout on his face, angry at himself for hurting his ankle and angry at Jungkook for getting him into this situation in the first place.

Jungkook sighs and offers Taehyung a ride on his back again. This time, he agrees and jumps on Jungkook's back. For a second, Taehyung thinks about thanking him for his help but shakes his head instead and tells himself that, no, this is all that idiot's fault and he doesn't deserve a thank you.

They've been walking for a while now and Taehyung can feel how cold Jungkook's body is. He can also feel his muscles seizing with each shiver and cough he lets out. 

Honestly, Taehyung isn't doing much better. His nose must be a bright red from constantly rubbing it against Jungkook's shoulder or his own sleeve.

"You can't carry me all the way back to camp. We don't even know how far it is," Taehyung mumbles into Jungkook's ear.

"We-," Jungkook clears his throat when his voice cracks and starts again, "We don't. But you clearly can't walk so do you have a better idea?"

"Well, no…."

"Then stop complaining."

-

They've been following the trail for a while now. Jungkook is still carrying Taehyung on his back, but it's clear how tired he is. They both are.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Taehyung looks around himself, with no clue as to where they are or where they are going. Luckily, the rain started to let up a little bit so it's only a soft drizzle now.

"No," Jungkook admits, "do you know the way?" The question is rhetorical but Taehyung answers him regardless: "No. But-"

"Then finally shut your mouth," Jungkook interrupts him angrily, "At least I'm trying! All you do is complain!"

Taehyung huffs, "Again, if it weren't for you we wouldn't be lost in the first place."

Jungkook stops walking but he doesn't throw Taehyung off his back. "Literally, how is any of this my fault?! You're just as much at fault!"

"It just is!" Taehyung yells into his ear and Jungkook winces at the loud noise. "Everything's always your fault!"

"Oh, shut up already or I'll drop you and leave you here." The threat is empty but Taehyung doesn't want to test him.

"Noooo~ Please don't!" He begs, acting cute to relieve some of the tension he created. "But please hurry up."

-

They continue walking for what feels like hours. The rain stopped but it's still cold and dark outside. They should've been back hours ago. The others back in the camp must be worried or angry at them. Maybe the trainers even organized a search party by now.

Taehyung and Jungkook are both freezing. They keep sniffling, their red noses runny and their throats raw from coughing. They both know they'll probably get sick. That's really not how they wanted to spend the week in sports camp.

"Huh?" Taehyung perks up and it catches Jungkook's attention. "Isn't that the big cabin?" He wonders out loud, pointing somewhere ahead of them.

Jungkook looks up and squints into the direction Taehyung is pointing at. And there, through the dark, he can see the faint lights of the big cabin.

"You're right! It is!" He yells excitedly. Jungkook hikes Taehyung higher up on his back and, with a new spurt of energy, he grabs Taehyung's thighs tightly and sprints towards camp.

—

Jungkook is back in his and Taehyung's cabin. He's still freezing cold, unable to get warm, even after taking a hot shower and changing into warm, comfortable clothes. Curling up under the thick duvet doesn't cease the shivering, either.

When they arrived back at the cabin, they surprisingly didn't get scolded. Coach Song was relieved to see them back at camp.

Coach Kim had left with a small group to go and look for them but the football trainer had sent him a text message when the two boys stumbled into the hut.

Taehyung and Jungkook had been the last ones to arrive back. A glance at the clock told them that they had been wandering around the woods for a good three and a half hours.

When the basketball trainer had gotten back, he sent Jungkook off to his cabin with a tray full of dinner. Taehyung, however, had to stay with them. As trainers of sports teams, coach Song and coach Kim have pretty decent medical knowledge and can treat Taehyung's injury well enough before they'd have him see a doctor in the morning.

It's another hour later, Jungkook half asleep already, when the door opens again and Taehyung hobbles in with the help of Seokjin and Hoseok.

"Ah, sorry. We didn't mean to wake you," Hoseok apologizes to Jungkook when he stirs and looks up at the newcomers sleepily.

Jungkook pulls the blanket higher and pushes his face into it. "Wasn'sleep," he slurs hoarsely. He clears his throat and swallows painfully. He has a sore throat and having to breathe through his mouth because his nose is blocked isn’t helping. Jungkook closes his eyes and tries to ignore the commotion in favor of going back to sleep, but the whispers keep him awake.

"All right, done," Seokjin says as he adjusts the pillows under Taehyung's foot one last time and, eventually, pulls the blanket over him. "Goodnight, rest well."

"Sleep well, Taehyungie," Hoseok bids goodbye, then adds, "you, too, Jungkook-ah."

Taehyung tells them goodnight as well, but Jungkook only manages a mutter of incoherent noises.

After that, Jungkook falls asleep rather quickly and Taehyung is so exhausted, he doesn't stay up for much longer, either.

-

Jungkook wakes up in the middle of the night. He's coughing so hard he has to sit up to be able to breathe and, even then, it's hard to get air into his lungs. When the coughing finally lets up, he sucks in a deep breath and rubs his chest. 

The long sleeve he decided to wear for the night now sticks to his clammy skin uncomfortably. Jungkook groans at how miserable he's feeling already.

He fluffs up his pillows so he's laying a little bit higher than usual, his stuffed-up sinuses thanking him when he lays back down. There's already a pounding in his head and behind his eyes and Jungkook moans at how heavy his body feels when he turns on his side, pressing his aching head into the soft cushion.

Jungkook hates being sick. He hates how he always ends up feeling downright terrible. Because no matter how small of a sickness it is, it always knocks him off his feet entirely. Somehow, his body fights even the smallest of colds with a high fever and his lungs try to eject themselves whenever he has a cough. And not to mention the bone-shattering ache in his limbs that make it hard to move. But the worst of it all is the dizziness that always comes with any illness. It renders him helpless and leaves him dependent on other people’s care.

He's already dreading the next few days because Jungkook knows that the only person with him is Taehyung and he's not looking forward to needing the older one's help at all.

—

"Jungkook," Taehyung whisper-yells, "Jungkook. Wake up."

It's already past noon and Jungkook is still asleep.

Taehyung wasn’t so lucky. The soccer team's trainer woke him up early in the morning. They drove to the city to get his injury assessed by a doctor. He came back to camp two hours later, with a bandage around his ankle and crutches to help him walk.

"You have my number so you can text me, or your friends if you need anything," coach Song told him when he accompanied him back to his cabin. "Are you sure you want to stay, though? You won't be able to attend most of the activities with this injury."

Taehyung nodded, "yes, I do want to stay. I think it's good for the team to spend this time together."

Song agreed and was about to leave the cabin when he turned back around again. "Since you're hurt and Jungkook is sick, you two can use this time you'll be spending together in this cabin to reconcile. It'll do you both good!" And with that, he left them alone.

"Jungkook, wake up!" Taehyung demands loudly and finally, it works.

Jungkook stirs and slowly sits up. He's staring straight ahead of him in a daze and smacks his lips. One side of his hair is matted to his head from going to sleep with wet hair but even when he's so disheveled he still looks cute. Taehyung shakes his head. Stop thinking stuff like that.

"Finally," Taehyung groans, acting annoyed, "I'm hungry. Do you want something as well?"

Jungkook is a little more awake now and he's not happy about it. "You woke me up because of that?"

"Well, yes. I just thought-," Jungkook interrupts Taehyung, "Stop thinking then. I'm not hungry and I don't want to eat. Just leave me alone."

"What a grump," Taehyung murmurs under his breath and if Jungkook hears him, he ignores it.

-

There’s a loud knock on the door right before it opens. Jimin walks in with a tray, a bright smile on his lips. Behind him, Yoongi follows him inside, with only a bowl and spoon in his hands.

"Dinner is ready!" Jimin announces loudly.

"Yay!" Taehyung cheers, "Thank you, Jiminie!"

Yoongi walks up to Jungkook's bedside, "here, I brought you something, too. Thought some soup would do you good."

"Thank you, hyung." Jungkook's voice is quiet, his throat raw and painful.

"Alright, I'll be going then," Yoongi bids his farewell again, "Get well soon. Both of you."

Jimin leaves with him but not without hugging Taehyung tightly and reminding him to text him whenever he needs anything.

They eat in silence then. Taehyung eating all of the meat and vegetables his best friend brought him, while Jungkook only manages a few spoonfuls of the chicken rice soup before he puts it aside. Taehyung finds it odd, knowing how much the younger one usually eats. He really must be feeling bad, he thinks.

"I'll take a nap, so-," a cough interrupts Jungkook and he clears his throat before he continues, "so don't bother me again."

"Yeah, whatever," Taehyung mutters nasally. He didn’t get away scot-free from yesterday’s predicament, either. He's definitely not doing as bad as Jungkook, but he does have a stuffed up nose and a small cough as well.

Jungkook has only been asleep for around an hour when Taehyung debates waking him up again. He really needs to use the bathroom and he has trouble using the crutches, obviously not used to them yet. But is this worth waking up Jungkook for? And asking him for help? Taehyung wonders if he can take that blow to his ego or if he should just struggle his way to the bathroom with the crutches.

Deciding that he doesn’t want to deal with the younger man's wrath, Taehyung sits up and grabs his crutches that lean against the wall by his bed. At first, it goes quite well. He's taking slow steps, one crutch, and one foot at a time. But then he gets too confident. Taehyung takes bigger and faster steps. And that's when it happens. He's moving the left crutch before the right one is properly positioned and suddenly he's on the floor.

The noise Taehyung makes and the thud from the fall wake up Jungkook. Usually, he's a heavy sleeper and it's incredibly hard to wake him up but when he's unwell, his sleep is so light, even a needle falling to the floor could wake him up.

He's a little bit dazed at first, staring off into space before his mind catches up. He can hear Taehyung’s grunts from the bathroom and realizes what must've happened. Jungkook coughs into his elbow and gets up slowly, hoping he doesn’t have a fever yet that is bad enough to make him dizzy. He feels a little unsteady on his feet and his head pounds in time with his heartbeats but his vision doesn’t swim and the world doesn’t tilt.

"Taehyung? Are you alright?"

Jungkook finds him on the floor of the bathroom, crutches on either side of him as Taehyung cradles his injured leg. He looks up, eyes wide in surprise.

"I- Yes. Uh, can you help me up? Please?" Taehyung asks shyly.

It's a bit of a struggle but Jungkook manages to get a good grip on him. Being so close to each other, Taehyung can feel how warm and sweaty the other is. He tries to be helpful when Jungkook pulls him up, so it won't be too hard for him.

"Damn," Jungkook grunts, "You're heavy."

The sympathy he felt for the younger man just a second ago all but evaporates. Taehyung bites his tongue but he does send him a glare.

They stand awkwardly in the bathroom after Jungkook leans him against the wall and hands him his crutches.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Taehyung questions.

"Waiting for you? I don't want to pick you up again." I don't want you to fall again, is what Jungkook is trying to say.

"Then wait outside. I need to pee," Taehyung tells him bluntly.

Jungkook throws up his arms in mock surrender and coughs into his shoulder. "Just making sure you're alright but okay!"

When Taehyung comes back into the room, he notices that Jungkook is curled up beneath his blanket. He frowns at him as he sits down on his own bed, pushing his blanket aside because of how warm it is in the room.

"Are you alright?" Taehyung asks him then. It's obvious that he's not. Jungkook is pale and sweaty, he looks beyond exhausted and he keeps coughing. But still, Taehyung wants to make sure.

Jungkook shoots his concern down, though. "Mind your own business, Kim," he croaks, "and don't bother me."

Taehyung rolls his eyes and leaves him be. He didn’t think Jungkook could get even grumpier, but sick-Jungkook trumps that.

Even in his sleep, Jungkook keeps coughing and sniffling. Taehyung can hear him moving around restlessly, but when he turns to look at the younger man, he's definitely asleep. To ignore him, Taehyung puts in his earphones, watches videos, and listens to music all afternoon.

-

After eating a late dinner (this time he didn't ask anyone to get something for Jungkook as well), Taehyung is pretty tired and ready to sleep. He turns off the music and puts his cell and earphones aside. 

Snuggling into his soft pillow, Taehyung closes his eyes. He's about to fall asleep when a harsh coughing fit from the other bed makes him bolt upright. Jungkook is still asleep, though, and Taehyung tries to get comfortable again when he calms down. His eyes feel heavy and his mind is starting to drift off when he's startled back into awareness by another coughing fit.

It goes like that for a good hour before Taehyung groans in frustration and sits up. Jungkook keeps tossing and turning and Taehyung is so tired and frustrated, he grabs his pillow and throws it at his roommate.  

It wakes Jungkook up immediately. He sits up in bed, and even through the dim light, Taehyung can see the confused furrow of his brow. He doesn't say anything, though. Doesn't start a fight or yell at Taehyung, and that worries him.

Jungkook leans forward, putting his head in his hands. His whole body shakes when he coughs deeply. Once he calms down Taehyung asks: "Woah, hey, are you okay? That doesn’t sound good."

When Jungkook doesn't answer, Taehyung carefully gets up and hobbles the few steps over to the other bed. 

"Jungkook?" he tries again. Still no answer. 

Taehyung sits down on the edge of the bed and squints. Even through the dark, he can see how shitty the younger man looks.

He's so pale except for his cheeks that are flushed pink from the fever and his red, raw nose. Even his lips lost all of their colors.

"Hey, JK," Taehyung whispers to get his attention.

It takes a moment, but Jungkook turns his head to look at him. The small movement seems to make him dizzy because he closes his eyes and takes deep breaths. Taehyung can see the beads of sweat gathering at his hairline and Taehyung is sure that if he wasn't so pale already, he would've lost all color in his face right now. When Jungkook finally opens his eyes, they're glassy and unfocused.

"I'll be right back," Taehyung promises, "just wait a second."

He gets up and stumbles to his backpack to retrieve a water bottle. He gets back to Jungkook's bed unscathed and unscrews the bottle. Taehyung hands it to the younger man, who grabs it with shaky hands. Jungkook seems a little more aware after a few sips of water and it calms Taehyung down a little bit. He was getting really worried about him.

"How are you feeling?" Taehyung puts the bottle on the nightstand.

"Not very well," Jungkook admits quietly, nasal voice a telltale sign of his nose being blocked. He has his gaze fixed on his lap, avoiding eye contact with Taehyung. "I'll try to sleep it off."

"You've been keeping me awake with all that coughing, tossing, and turning," Taehyung tells him.

Jungkook looks like a kicked puppy when he hangs his head, seemingly ashamed or upset for keeping Taehyung awake. "I'm sorry," he rasps.

Taehyung just brushes it off and he's about to hop back into his own bed when he notices the strong shivers rocking Jungkook's whole body. His teeth are chattering and he seems to be so cold, even with the thick duvet pulled up to his chin. Taehyung sighs, "scoot over."

"What?" The younger man looks surprised, not expecting something like this at all.

Taehyung nudges him until Jungkook moves, making space for a second person. He turns the bedside light off and gets comfortable in bed, wrapping all of his limbs around Jungkook to spoon him and hopefully warm him up. 

Taehyung can feel how tense he is, but after a short while he relaxes and his breathing becomes deeper, easier. And Taehyung thinks he's asleep until he hears the quiet, "Thank you."

It isn’t until Taehyung is sure that the younger man is actually sleeping soundly that he nuzzles his face into Jungkook's neck. "Thank you, too."

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker CH38

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 3,422

- Author Note: I had long weekend with my ongoing workshops going on whole day :< so thats why for the late update! sorry xx appreciate someone still read this!

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Chapter 38

“Okay, use the emergency exit and I will ask our manager to get you. Make sure to come straight to KBS Seul, I will be waiting for you” Yoongi rubbed his sore neck and glanced around the room to find the sign of his personal manager.

He hung up his phone and walked up to his manager with a distress face “Hyung, can we talk?” the muscular guy nodded as they both went to the corner of the room. “Yes, is everything alright? You seem a little edgy” he blinked confusedly.

“I need your help. Seul will be here so I need your help to assist her inside. Can you help me to get Seul?” Yoongi asked, hopeful yet afraid that his manager refused to fulfil his request.

He raised his brow in questioned “Seul? The caretaker lady? What is she doing here? Yoongi we are in public. Whatever things that you have with this young lady, don’t do it here. People might be suspicious to see her presence around you guys” the younger man stared at him hopefully.

“Please, she is in trouble. I can’t trust her alone, so I have to keep my eyes on her. I hope you can help me hyung. Please” taken aback by Yoongi unusual antic, his manager pressed his lips together in a deep thought. Being a manager, it was his responsibility to see the bigger picture of this issue and to ensure any of the members wouldn’t take any rash decision which could jeopardize their career.

“Fine, I will go get her. Don’t worry and focus on what you are about to do in a bit. Get ready for your stage, it is your turn soon”

Yoongi heaved a sigh of relief “Thank you hyung. Thank you” he gave the guy a soft squish on the shoulder and returned to his seat.

Jin overheard the conversation that they had and grew worried over Seul. The last time they talked was a week ago, he didn’t get to keep in touch with her ever since then. Not that he wanted to stick his nose into someone else’ affair, however he noticed Seul and Yoongi closeness these days made him think that they were officially dating each other.

Jungkook on the other hand had stopped talking about Seul which freaked him out. If he could crown Seul’s biggest fans, then it will be Jungkook. The maknae’s mood seemed a little dull than usual. Jimin had stuck to his side like glue ever since then.

Burying himself under his hoodie, Jin stared at his phone blankly dying to know the truth.

 --------------

Seul squished her eyes together, mentally blaming herself for calling Yoongi adding more burden to his already hectic day. Not that she wanted to burden him with her problem, but she had nowhere to go especially now, she had trusted Yoongi with all her heart. She would rather turn to him rather than destroying herself with her evil thoughts.

She dragged her heavy feet inside the building and made sure to keep her eyes open to catch familiar face there, like Bighit staff. Her cell phone rang. Still staring at the screen showing the live broadcast of Music Bank, she answered the call without uttering anything “Seul? Where are you?” asked the voice at the end of the line.

“Jin? I am..here at KBS” she was surprised to hear from Jin at this time when she thought they would be in stage getting ready for their performance.

“I heard..you are coming. Are you already here? Kibum hyung will be down in a minute to get you” Seul heard her name being called and quickly turned to face the owner of the voice. “Your manager is here. I will see you in a bit Jin. Good luck” she added, smiling between her words. Jin couldn’t hide that cheeky smile of his as he looked forward to seeing her after a week.

He jogged toward her, calling her name once again “Seul? Come with me, and I have to warn you beforehand that the backstage is going to be hectic and crazy. Walk close to me so you won’t get lost” he explained

She nodded her head, grateful to see BTS manager there, at least she didn’t need to walk through that unfamiliar glass door alone. The image in front of her took her breath away, she had never seen a backstage this hectic. Technically, she got a first-hand experience at BBMAS, but it was different considering the award show had a bigger space unlike this one. People had to squish themselves against the wall and the hallway could barely support two people walking side by side.

KBS really need a bigger space to cater this huge number of idols and staffs running around the hallway as if they were in a marathon. The silent man kept glancing at her to ensure the girl didn’t get stuck in between. Seul smiled as an assurance mouthing ‘I am fine’ that she was able to catch up on him.

Soft yelling from every corner could be heard as they were busy preparing their idols to stage. She bumped into a group of tall handsome men on her way and right before she wanted to apologize, they disappeared from her vicinity. Amazed with the surrounding, she pressed herself against the wall to keep her safe safe from bumping into other people.

It was dizzying to be in this crowded area, so she picked up her pace upon realizing the older man was nowhere to be seen. Grunting under her breath, Seul resumed her walk while keeping her eyes wide opened in case she walked pass Bangtan’s waiting room.

Like a little wandering lamb, Seul found herself in front of a room with a BTS signed on the door. She was relieved to be free from the suffocating scene a moment ago and knocked on the door softly. She opened the door, but to her surprise, she was greeted by unfamiliar faces inside the room.

She tilted her head in confusion and went back to read the name on the door though she was sure ‘BTS’ was written clearly on it. Confusion buzzed through her brain, deciphering every word written on the door. A hand was pulling the door opened on the other side causing her to stumble a little. Regaining her balance, she muttered a soft sorry in embarrassment.

The atmosphere inside the room thickening when all eyes were on her. Seul chewed her lips nervously “Who are you?” said a woman in a grey hoodie. She was holding a brush so Seul assumed she’s one of the stylists.

“I..am looking for Bangtan Sonyeondan. I guess this is not their room?” she gulped the lumps on her throat, easing the awkwardness in her.

“I thought Jae hyung changed BTS sunbaenim sign on the door to ours” another voice came into the picture and this time it was a man. His strong gravel voice reminded her of Taehyung. The man shoved his phone inside his pocket and rose from his seat. Holy crap, he is super tall! A very tall young man with smexy eyes. His eye makeup really gave away that sexy vampire vibe.

Taking the image in front of her, she stared at him in starstruck awe. His side profile was bloody amazing, with that sharp jawline and perfect proportion, he was one of a kind.  He tore his gaze from the mirror “I am sorry, but this is not BTS waiting room, there was a mistake. We are JBJ-“ his words were stuck in his throat.

His eyes shot opened, enormous with surprise. “Seul!” their eyes met, exchanging a meaningful look. It had been years since they last saw each other. Even though Hyunbin kept in touch with her mother, they never exchanged a single text even once for years. Occasionally, Hyunbin would keep himself update on Seul’s life through her mother and that was it. He wanted to make sure the girl was safe and sound, living her life normally.

“Hyunbin..What are you doing here?” a smile appeared on her face as she could hear low murmur from the staffs and his bandmates. Noticing Seul getting a little uncomfortable by the attention that she got, Hyunbin cleared his throat to say something “This is Seul. She is an old friend of mine” they nodded and decided to give them space for their reunion.  

“Nuna, can you give me a second? I need to talk to her” the brunette looked at him weirdly while exchanging quick glance with Kenta. The Japanese guy only chuckled in his seat, moving his shoulder in a small shrug.

He approached Seul as his arms were screaming to pull the small girl into his arm, yet he knew it better. There were many eyes in the room. Hence, he must behave himself. “Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you here” said Seul, exhaling a soft breath.

“Me too. How are you?”

“I am fine, thank you. You..look good. I heard from mother that you have become an idol now. And, yeah Hoon told me about the survival show thing” he gazed down at her still bemused of their unexpected meeting.  

“It is JBJ, I am with them now. It is a temporary group project. Oh, I am sorry for what happened to Hoon. I should have known that he was assaulted by those guys, so I could do something about it” Seul shook her head. “Don’t be sorry, you did nothing. It is in the past, Hoon is working hard now to find a suitable agency that can take him as trainee” her smile alone radiates the whole room, making his eyes shrunk into a crescent moon.

“Hoon told me, I am happy for him. By the way Seul-ah, why are you looking for BTS sunbaenim?” he inquired.

“I replace mother for the time being at least until she gets better. I am their caretaker” with a laugh she shied away and ran fingers in her hair.

He watched her with an amused smile “You work for them? That is great. I mean- to work with BTS sunbaenim, that is like a dream comes true” now Hyunbin sounded a legit fanboy to her making her giggle at his reaction.

“Are you a fan?” “Of course! BTS sunbaenim is like the best role model that I could wish for” without hesitation Hyunbin answered it in one breath. They both laughed heartily enjoying the topic of his fascination towards his lovely BTS sunbaenim.

“Seul? Seul.. Thank god you are here!” they shifted their attention to the tired looking man in his fancy stage outfit. “Jinnie, why are you here?” she exclaimed in bafflement.

“To find you, hyung said he lost you. Why are you wandering around alone? This place is huge, you could get lost” Jin nagged like a mother but turned mute as soon as he realized Hyunbin’s presence around them.

“Sunbaenim..hi” Hyunbin bowed politely with a shy smile.

The older guy returned the greetings and looked at Seul confusedly “Are you seeking for his help? Ya, Ji Seul. That is not right, he is a busy man” he frowned, and his forehead furrowed. “I am sorry Hyunbin-ssi, did she cause any trouble?” Seul gaped in disbelief.

“Yah!” Jin shot her a stern look when Seul showed her protest.

“No, sunbaenim no..Seul is an old friend of mine so we are having a little chit-chat. She is not causing any trouble”

“Oh really? How did you guys know each other?”

“It is a long story Jin. It may take hours to finish one. We have to go. Don’t you have a stage to slay? And a heart to win?”

“Whose heart?” Jin was clueless by her randomness.

“Armys’ heart you fool. Let’s go. Hyunbin-ah, lets meet soon so we can have a proper talk over a tea. See you around” she bowed, patting Jin’s back signalling him to start walking and lead the way. He watched as they left the scene hurriedly with Seul trailing behind the tall guy, most probably listening to her nag along the journey.

‘Are they dating?’ he scratched his head in trying to think of a reason for their odd behaviour.

 ----------------

“Are you saying Kwon could be your father?” Yoongi pressed his lips together processing the info that he had just received. For an odd reason, the air conditioner in his studio was not enough to cool off the rage boiled inside him.

“Fuck yes” Seul said bitterly.

Jin threw a cushion toward her direction “Language” and Seul grimaced in her seat.

“Ugh, alright Steve Rogers wannabe” she hugged RJ cushion pillow to her chest, squeezing it dear life earning a disgruntled look from the owner a.k.a the creator of RJ.

“Stop doing that, you are suffocating him”

She smirked sarcastically “I am turning him into my hostage”

Jin rolled his eyes in response and returned his attention back to Seul’s story. “Why didn’t any of you tell me about this? About him threatening you? Kwon is a dangerous man, stop working there” Yoongi nodded in agreement as he looked as furious as Jin.

“It is not that simple. He could sue me for breach of contract”

“We will pay for you” their unanimous voice surprised her. “The point here is, we are not letting him near you. He is a shameless old man. He should have gone to jail for what he did to you” Yoongi’s voice was deep, filled with hatred.

“Can you for once stop worrying about money? We could help you. And I know you may find this a little uncomfortable, let’s just say you can pay us when you have money. For now, think about your family safety”

Seul leaned back in her seat, fiddling with the hem of her pink sweatshirt “We are still not sure if he is my biological father. I..dont want to know at all” she blinked away her tears afraid if it hits the ground, it would send her to another dreary night.

Jin slipped his warm hands in hers, giving it a small squish “It is up to you. You don’t need to know if it hurts you. Because after all these years, you were doing fine without your biological father. Hoon and ahjumma love you, that is important. The family that you have now is your real family” he hummed softly.

“What should I do first?” she looked up with a glint of hope evident in her eyes.

The rapper sighed “It is about time Ji Seul. First, you need to return home and be with your mother. She is worried sick and wouldn’t stop bombarding me with messages” Jin cringed.

“Why she didn’t text me? She always put me above everyone else before you come into the picture!” the latter was salty over the fact that Mrs Hwang went to Yoongi instead of him.

Ignoring Jin meaningless argument, he continued “I will ask Sejin hyung about this. Well, Bighit owns a good team that can help you going through those process. We will think about that later. You have to head back and get a long rest”

“Get rid of those eyebags, it looks saggy”

“Don’t point it out!” she hissed at Jin spiteful remarks.

Yoongi rose and told her to head back home to get a good rest. “It is late. Get up and leave” Seul glared at him few seconds, adjusting her forms.

“See you again Jin. Good night” Jin crossed his arm disliking the way Yoongi dominates everyone here when he is the hyung.

Opening the door, he walked after her leaving sulky Jin inside the studio. He grabbed her arms stopping her from walking “You look like a walking dead. Can you return by yourself or do you need me to walk you home?” he whispered, tucking the strand of hair behind her ears.

“It is fine. I can take taxi or bus. You had a long day, thank you for sparing your busy time. I appreciate it” she stroked his wrist, exhaling a tired sigh.

“Then, text me as soon as you reach home. Be careful” he planted a soft kiss at the top of her head, pulling the girl into a tight hug.

“Yoongi…” “Stay like this for a minute, I need this” she smiled, encircling her arms around his waist tight. Burying her face in his chest, she inhaled his manly scent. Thanks to Yoongi and Jin, today seemed to be easy for her to endure after all. This is how it feels like to have trusted people by her side, she need not to worry about her insecurities. They will come to aid when she needs them.

Meanwhile, beyond the door was Namjoon doing his Vlive for the fans. As he read through the comment, Namjoon was taken aback to see the comment section were flooded with questions like;

“Who are those people at your door?”

“Namjoon oppa I think someone is in front of your door”

“OMG? DID I JUST SEE SOMEONE HUGGING THERE AGSDJAHAJS”

“THE MEMBER IS DATING? WHO WHO?”

“WHO IS THAT GIRL!”

“Eyy, don’t freak out it must be one of the members fooling around”

“I swear to god that is a girl! You can clearly see the height difference and her ponytails?! WTF?”

“Judging from the size and height, could it be Jimin??!”

“It could be Min Yoongi too”

“The height difference and the frame asuwehwdhjws FUCK! It is definitely a girl and a man!”

“Think positive guysss! Namjoon oppa go check who is at the door! I am freaking out!!!”

 His eyes sprung open reading the unusual comment and he quickly turned back to confirm it with his own eyes, whether it was only a prank by Armys. To his dismay, it wasn’t some empty words. There were two people at the door of his studio, holding onto each other sparking questions inside his head.

Namjoon bid a farewell to Armys without commenting anything about the unclear reflection came from his door, and he settled down to confront whoever outside his studio. Indeed, Armys have eyes like a hawk. This was not their first time seeing through things that they shouldn’t see.

He was moving quickly, stealthily towards the door to find Yoongi and Seul exchanging warm hugs. They pulled away upon hearing the door clicked open “Hyung? Seul?” Seul blushed softly and forced a smile across her lips.

“Joon..I am about to leave. I will see you guys soon” Namjoon couldn’t take his eyes off Seul and Yoongi however he didn’t want to scare the poor girl. He chose to keep his mouth shut ignoring the possibility that this dating rumour might make to major news headline tomorrow.

“Get back safely Seul” he waved awkwardly.

Yoongi sent her off to the elevator, “Text me alright?” he ruffled her hair along with his signature gummy smile.

“Goodnight Yoong”

 -----------------

The following day, Namjoon woke up early than he planned. He didn’t sleep a wink last night with all the worries and fear bubbled inside him. What if Armys sense something is wrong and make fuss over the issue? What he should do to stop the rumours from spreading?

He settled deeper under the warm covers, not wanting to think about what he read on Twitter and Naver. Namjoon spent his night reading fans tweet to see their theories on the enigmatic figure behind the doors. And, he was right. The keyword ‘RM VLIVE’ and ‘RM Studio Door’ were both trending on twitter and naver. Not to mention, Armys had came up with a hashtag #AskRM on twitter and was trended first worldwide for 9 hours straight.

Groaning in frustration, Namjoon sat up and rubbed his forehead. His head was pounded at the thought of this rumour circulating around the fans. He prayed that fans will stop speculating and it wouldn’t reach the press or even worse Bang PD. Fortunately, everyone seemed busy to notice this kind of trending made by fans. Lets just stay that way.

Namjoon spoke to no one about this issue even though the chances that the members to figure out truth from the internet was quite high, he planned to tell others the first thing in the morning. Today would be their last day for Love Yourself promotion before proceeding with their Wings Tour until early December. He was determined to not ruin today’s fansign and acted normal. He better not screwed it up.

     This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2021. All Rights Reserved

[spellbks]

★ // @neonhymn wrote:  j♥️ 2♣️ k♦️ 9♠️

j ♥️ // who does your muse consider their best friend?

     kibum is the closest friend taylor currently has in his life. if he were in trouble-- or in a pinch, or needed help of any sort, kibum is the first name to bubble up to the front of his mind. they met in a fury. taylor was vulnerable, angry, volatile-- blind and overflowing with power. kibum was scared, but.. also tender, and patient. he took care of a boy that had nobody, who felt like nobody, who wanted to be dead. and maybe, now.. maybe they have a relationship that’s in a grey area. they’re not simply.. friends. but they’re not exactly devoted to each other, either. the older man is quick to spoil, soothe, and listen when the witch is worked up or upset-- and the younger man is quick to soften out, present his vulnerabilities, and lean on the nephilim. and in the dead of late nights, occasionally, the pair finds themselves in one another’s arms. 

  2 ♣️ // what topics of conversation does your muse enjoy the most?

     other people. taylor would have this answer every time. specifically, if they’re in love or have a special partner-- he wants to hear all about that. the witch is a sucker for romance, despite his bristles and moody gazes. he wants all the little details. how they’ve met, what the first kiss was like-- who asked who. what do they do to make you feel loved? are they soft and needy, or sturdy and caretaking? immersing himself in the life stories of others helps him temporarily forget that he doesn’t find himself all that interesting.

k ♦️ // if your muse were to start their own business, what would it be?

     picture old oak floors and antique rugs, and a ceiling with exposed beams-- smothered with creeping ivy and stained glass sun catchers. large bay windows and solid, supportive shelves from the floor to the ceiling, loaded to the brim with old books, plants, and oddities for sale. a safe haven in back for the occasional person or beast that loses their way, lead there by the magic that seeping from every nook and cranny in the little shop, where the boy will craft his potions and charms, read quiet fortunes in velvet upholstered chairs, and perfect his field journals and spell books for the benefit of other new witches with no idea where to start. and.. maybe he’d give it a cliche name, and invite an old shop cat to guard the place when he’s due to step out and run errands.

9 ♠️ // has your muse ever felt forced to change?

     love is patient, love is kind. so the saying goes. take a razor-wire boy with guards built up to the sky and give him a soft person who needs him and cares for him unconditionally, and maybe he’ll stop being so criticizing of others. maybe he’ll have brighter days, not be so pessimistic. maybe-- he turns kinder, lets his edges soften to let other people get closer to him. this is what asher did for him. this is what kyungsoo did for him. and more or less-- this is what taemin did for him, too. removed taylor’s venom, little by little. and though none of these people are in his life any longer, and perhaps he misses them every day-- and perhaps he’s turning steadily hard-edged and angry all over again.

[loveznet]

Happy New Years all!

With a new year, comes new changes to the blog. As you may have seen in the past few months, we have been trying to be more active on the blog. You all may have seen we added new content creators to our blog, not only to give more content to everyone but also to help our blog stay alive and expand. In 2019, we only had 3 admins on the blog and we were all busy with school, work, or just life in general. However, Admin Ale and I have recently gotten together and decided to make the blog alive again. If you have read any of the recent asks or the post about the new member, you would see that Admin Ale has been the one talking to you all. She is better with technology than I am and has been a major help with everything. While yes we are a blog that shares content about our lovely Nu’est boys, we also don’t want to just be bots that just reblog content all day.

That’s where this post comes in. Here, I would like to introduce the members of the blog so you get to know the faces behind the content here. We also welcome anyone to send asks to the blog about anything Nu’est related.

Here is what I asked the members:

Name

Age

What type of content do you make?

School or Work?

Nu’est Bias

First Nu’est comeback?

Favorite Nu’est song

Favorite Nu’est moment

What are your other kpop groups and biases?

And write a little something about yourself if you want!

Alrightly, time to meet people of the Blog.

Vividteals (Admin Ale)

Ale (she/her)

20 (leo)

I make gifs and edits

I’m Ren biased!!!

My first cb was overcome!!!

My fav songs are the whole re:birth album, not over you, overcome, and dejavu

My fav nu’est moment was their sengo concert

My utt groups besides Nu’est are WJSN, Hinapia/Pristin, and WayV

My biases are seola/yeonjung, eunwoo, and yukhei!

Anyways no more about me??? Hmm I really love Marvel and Harry Potter! And I love cats!!! So much!!!!!

cul-de-kwak

Heather (she/her)

13 (Leo; yep I am probably the youngest here lmao)

I make edits

Still a student

Jeonghan from Seventeen and Minkyougn from Hinapia

I totally forgot to say my Nu’est bias ajskwk It's Aron btw from my v loud username here and my favorite song of Nu’est (of all time) is Overcome and my favorite song rn is Beautiful Ghost! I became a LOVE through Superstar Pledis! I love Marvel and Harry Potter lmao!

pledisanti

Nom, she/her, 18, leo

I’m a gifmaker and student in uni

I think I’m Baekho biased???

My first comeback was Where You At!!

Daybreake is superior

I only really care about pledis groups LOL I’m Jeonghan+Dino n yaebin biased

Uhh more about me??? I really like oranges and doggo vids!!! N my twt is @PLEDISANTl (the last i is an L)

Leeminhyuk-s

Mands (she/her)

21 and I’m a capricorn!

I’m a gif maker and sometimes I also make edits

I’m on my fourth year of uni (thank god because I think I’d have a breakdown anytime soon)

My bias is Minhyun

Honestly, I’ve always heard about Nu’est because of ale but I’ve started to really get into them during the Where you at era

Favorite song is Polaris

I’m a multiu so i have lots of groups I stan… but the ones I keep up the most with are probably Monsta X, Astro, and NCT/WayV and my biases are Minhyuk, Eunwoo, and Seunghun. Other things about me, I really like to learn new languages and I love to read (even though I haven’t had the time lately lol).

happylyeverafter

Okay you all, grandma here lol my name is katya and I’m 25, crazy ikr? Most typical virgo of virgos. I’m currently working to keep myself afloat and sometimes make gifs on tumblr dot com. I’m Jonghyun biases and been a passive fan since overcome but low-key :/ that changed with nuble and Especially HEA release. Fave songs are overcome, dejavu, and bet bet! My ult since 2012 is SHINee, at the moment I also stan stv and loona. Kibum (key) is the king of my bias list.

About me uhhh I’m really into movies, especially scifi and horrors, I live in Russia so I suppose my time zone is way off haha I have two bunnies! Milkey and Luna.

magnetizedmapgie

Maggie (she/her)

23

I make gifs but very sporadically

I am an in-home caretaker and software developer!

…. I want to say all them equally, but… it’s JR

I think my first comeback was good bye bye?

It really depends on my mood but re;birth is peak nu’est for me, so probably storybook an embarrassingly large number? But atm my blog is mainly vixx, exid, ace, oh my girl, svt, winner & gugudan

pluemons

Jo (she/her)

17 (scorpio!)

I make gifs

I’m in school!

My Nu’est bias is Aron

First Comeback: Dejavu

Favorite songs: Polaris, Bass, Love Paint, and Look

Favorite Moment: When someone commented during a vlive that baekho has old man vibes (or something like that) and they all started laughing.

Other Kpop groups I like: Hinapia, Pristin, and Ab6ix

Kpop biases: Minkyeung (Hinapia) and Woong (Ab6ix)

And now for the man if the hour: me!

able-2

Able (he/him) Please don’t let me be the only fanboy here, lol

21 (Sun: Sagittarius, Moon: Sagittarius, Rising: Scorpio)

The only content I make is fanfics! I think I'm the only writer on the blog, so if you have anything you want me to write, send us an ask!

I go to uni as well but I take 6 classes, am an officer of a club, and have an internship as a Social Media Intern. So I am quite busy, lol.

I am a Jason bias!! (Shout out to anyone who remembers him) But really I am Ren bias from the beginning to end!

The first comeback that I actively took part in with the community is Overcome.

Fav songs would be Sand, Not Over You, Fine Girl, and Noona. Honestly, the list is way longer but we will stop here, lol.

My fav Nu’est moment was the sleep talking onesie video where they all played games!

Other K-pop groups are: NCT (all 21 members!!), Got7, Seventeen, Monsta X, Pristin, EXO, KARD, Super Junior…. Again, stopping the list short!

Other Bias: Joshua, Jun, Jeonghan, Ten, Yuta, Jeno Taeyong, Wonho, Minhyuk, BM, Sehun… and you guessed it, cut short!

[somaybeimbiased]

SHINee World 

A really late 10th anniversary/comeback tribute

Five brothers who came together to create something bigger than they ever could’ve imagined. In a world full of darkness, they wanted to create a beacon of light for anyone who needed someone to lean on.

Jinki | The Sun

The sun’s light radiates upon us and keeps us positive. The sun helps us know that someone is always rooting for us and that somebody will always love us more than we love ourselves. Breathing life and perseverance into everyone who embraces the warmth and love.

Jonghyun | The Moon

Our soft voice, the shining brother who left SHINee World to protect us from above yet also keep a watchful eye over us all. He keeps us safe, making sure that we are always at peace. Like the moon, he is prominent in the night sky to protect us when we are at war with ourselves in our mind by sending us sweet words to put us at ease.

Kibum | The Planets

The caretaker of the people. The bridge between the brothers and us. Makes sure that everyone is at peace with one another. He is the voice of the brothers, a diplomat who knows their world better than anyone. Shows that being different is important and that it is something to be proud of.

Minho | Gravity

The glue that holds SHINee World together. He keeps the brothers in alignment and keeps everyone happy. He works nonstop to keep SHINee World the amazing space that it is. Shows that dedication and love are some of the best traits someone can have.

Taemin | The Stars

Young and Wild, inspiring all those in SHINee World. He keeps a fresh and youthful air in SHINee World and whenever we look up we can see him watching and taking care of us. Keeps us full of wonder in the possibilities that life holds.

A/n I just wanted to thank SHINee for being who they are, and I wanted to thank you guys for the endless support <3 I hold so much love for everyone.

Find more work on my Masterlist

[shawol9196]

Teacher AU 9/?

“Should we...hold hands?” Kibum asks tentatively. Minho holds the door open as they step outside the building. Holding hands was something Minho had dreamed about -- if he was being honest with himself -- but not something he’d counted on or even hoped for.

Minho’s classroom is a revolving door the entire week: Suho and Kyuhyun find every reason and more to stop by; Hyukjae finally accepts Minho’s request to visit for a health-themed day (though he uses every opportunity to tease him); when word starts going around, Sunny and Amber start dropping by more often; even Leeteuk stops in for a chat. By Friday morning, Minho wants nothing more than to be left alone with his students. He gives his students an easy day: they’ve been extraordinarily behaved the past week considering all the extra interactions with adults they’ve had. With Leeteuk’s permission, they go outside for most of the day. He and Kibum set up a tiny scavenger hunt and he lets the class roam around in pairs to look for their tiny treasures. Kibum comes outside and does a cloud drawing activity so that Minho can eat his lunch. He stays outside, afraid of who is waiting for him in the breakroom. It takes an eternity to corral the children back inside but they go home rather quickly. Since he had no lesson plans inside, there’s little to clean up. When Kibum knocks on his door to signal that he’s done cleaning, they make a quick exit before anyone can spot them. The bus is more packed than normal and they end up having to stand in the aisle.

“Did anyone bother you today?” Kibum asks once the bus starts moving.

“No, I managed to evade everyone today, thankfully. Yeri did ask me what a crush is but that was because her aunt asked her if she had a crush, not because she overheard anyone else use it regarding us.”

The bus stops suddenly and Kibum almost loses his balance. Minho wraps an arm around his waist to keep him standing. Once the bus is comfortably back in motion, he lets go. Both are blushing and there’s a pause after Kibum says a quiet thank you.

“So are we still good for tonight? If you’re not in the mood or are too tired we can wa-”

“Don’t you back out on me, Minho,” Kibum teases. “I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

Minho laughs and a smile blooms on Kibum’s lips.

“What’s the dress code?”

“Something casual that you don’t mind getting slightly messy in.”

Kibum’s eyebrows arch in curiosity but he doesn’t inquire further.

“I don’t have any plans for dinner, I figured we’d just eat here so we don’t have to worry about anywhere being too busy.” Minho says as he unlocks the door.

“That works for me. I’ll get it started and you can go shower first.”

“Do I smell that bad?” Minho teases.

“No, no! I just thought that since you were outside getting handed leaves all day that-”

“I’m just teasing, Kibum. I appreciate it.”

Kibum opens the fridge to start on dinner and Minho goes to his room. He showers quickly, not wanting Kibum to have to wait. He sees his razor sitting on the counter and silently thanks it. He’s a little sad that his wrist is healed and that he won’t need help anymore, but still, it had been useful in that moment. It takes him longer than he would like to pick an outfit out: on one hand, he should look nice for the date; on the other, his outfit shouldn’t make Kibum feel out of sorts or underdressed. He settles on jeans first. Out of the corner of his eye he spots something peach: it’s a nicer t-shirt with a decorative pocket. Hadn’t Kibum said peach was his favorite color? Dressed and hair brushed, Minho comes out to the kitchen. There’s 5 minutes left on the timer for the oven and he hears the water running from where Kibum must be showering. He has enough time to search through his cabinet for the cologne Donghae gifted him for his birthday and spray some on before the oven timer goes off. He portions out the food and sets the table just in time for Kibum to come out. Minho stares at him for probably a little too long, enthralled once again with the sight of Kibum’s damp hair. He’s dressed similarly to Minho, wearing a blue shirt.

“Do I look okay?” he asks, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah, you look great.”

They sit down and eat their dinner quickly; the relative silence paired with shy glances at each other reminds Minho of their first dinner together. When the leftovers are put away and the dishes are washed they slip their shoes on and head out.

“Should we...hold hands?” Kibum asks tentatively.

Minho holds the door open as they step outside the building. Holding hands was something Minho had dreamed about -- if he was being honest with himself -- but not something he’d counted on or even hoped for.

“If you’d like,” he replies, holding his hand out.

Kibum gingerly accepts; Minho’s content as the walk along.

“So where are we going?”

“Pottery painting. Sunny recommended it to me a while back as being a -- and I quote -- ‘fun and casual place for both a casual first date and a fun we’ve-been-dating-forever place’.”

“That sounds like a bad slogan trying to meet a word count.”

Minho laughs. “So, you didn’t hear this from me but Sunny and Siwon -- our neighbor -- have been dating for 10 years now. Everyone knows that they were high school sweethearts but for whatever reason she wants to pretend like her love life is mysterious so she acts like she’s single.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve seen her leaving his apartment too many times when I’m coming home from wine night for her to lie to me.”

“And what does this have to do with our date?”

“They came here for their first date and always come here for their anniversary and I saw all the cute matching mugs they have so I’ve had this romantic notion of coming here on a date and since you have an art background this seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

The studio is rather empty when they arrive. One of the staff sets up a booth for them while they walk around looking at the pottery choices. Minho picks out two mugs with heart shaped handles and Kibum picks out a hedgehog-shaped pencil holder. Paint trays in hand, they sit down. Kibum eyes Minho’s mugs nervously.

“My parent’s anniversary is coming up soon. My mom likes couple things so I thought I’d decorate mugs for them.” Minho explains.

Kibum tries to hide his relief and starts painting his piece.

“Can I interest either of you in a coffee or ice cream?” a staff person asks as they clean the table behind them.

“Do you have affogatos here?” Minho asks.

The staff person nods so he orders one. He looks at Kibum.

“I’ll just have a flat white please.”

The staff departs and they go back to painting. Minho’s just finishing the mug for his mother when he hears a familiar voice.

“Minho!”

“Mrs. Kim, hello! What brings you here?”

Yeri comes running up from behind her mother and stands in front of their table.

“I’m paint!” she exclaims.

Minho and her mother laugh.

“Yeri’s been well behaved so we’re here as a reward.” Mrs. Kim explains.

“That’s exciting!” Minho says, giving Yeri a high-five.

“Yeri, go ahead and pick out which one you want and come tell me so I can get it for you.”

Yeri nods and scampers off.

“Is your wrist doing better?”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you. I appreciate your help last week.”

“I’m always glad to help out where my daughter is concerned. So what brings you here?”

“Oh Kibum and I are here to enjoy a night out. I’ve never been here before so I’m treating him for helping me throughout the week.”

Mrs. Kim looks at Kibum and smiles politely. “If I didn’t know better I’d say it looks like you two were on a date.”

Minho and Kibum laugh uncomfortably. Yeri comes running back and starts tugging at her mother’s arm.

“Well I have to go, it was nice to see you two.”

There’s a vague tension when she leaves and Minho can’t figure out what to say.

“I’ve never been on a date before, I’m sorry I don’t know how to act.” Kibum whispers, avoiding Minho’s eyes.

“I’ve never been on a pleasant date, so I don’t quite know how to act either. But since I’m the one who asked you out, I should probably step up my romance game, huh?”

He finishes painting the handle of the mug he’s working on and reaches out for Kibum’s hand. Kibum hesitates before accepting, much like before, eventually glancing up at Minho. The staff comes back with their drinks and Kibum is quick to let go.

“So what are your parents like, Minho?”

Minho stops painting mid-letter, caught off-guard by the question.

“My parents?”

“Yeah. You know, the ones you’re painting the mugs for?”

“Well, my dad is the head of athletics at the community college near where they live. He used to be a PE teacher and basketball coach for the high school I graduated from.”

“Did he still teach when you went there?”

“Yeah.”

“That must have sucked, having your dad as your PE coach.”

“Luckily for me I’m pretty athletic so it wasn’t terrible. Also it was nice to be able to sometimes hang out in his office for whatever.”

“What does your mom do?”

“She’s a caretaker at a retirement home. She used to work at a special needs orphanage but it closed down.”

“A teacher dad and caretaker mom? Sounds like you were destined to be a caring teacher.”

Minho laughs and Kibum cracks a smile. The second mug isn’t taking as long to decorate -- since it’s for his father -- and Minho gets nervous that the date is passing too quickly. Kibum finishes his painting and his drink so he works on cleaning his brushes.

“Sorry I’m taking so long. I got thrown off my groove.” Minho says, picking up the pace.

“Who are you? Emperor Kuzco?” Kibum teases without looking up.

“You’ve seen Emperor’s New Groove?”

“Mostly. What’s an affogato?”

“Espresso with ice cream in it.”

“Is it good?”

“I mean, I think so.”

“Can...can I try it?”

“Sure.”

They reach for the cup at the same time, fingers brushing against each other. Kibum blushes and pulls away as Minho sets the cup closer to his reach. He takes a small sip and Minho struggles not to laugh at his expression: eyebrows arched, lips puckered, topped off with an odd hum. He notices a bit of cream left on Kibum’s upper lip and stares too long.

“It’s sweet, like you.”

Minho blushes, then signals to Kibum to wipe his lip. Kibum seems embarrassed and turns away until he’s sure he’s wiped his face clean, but it just adds to the charm of it all for Minho.  He feels affection bubbling up in his chest, but is interrupted by a tiny voice before he can pay Kibum the compliment.

“Mr. Minho! Look at the pizza I drawed!”

[home-krp]

welcome home! the following applications have been accepted. to collect your keys, please add our caretakers, Rose and Serenity, within the next 24 hours or your home will be put back on the market! please make sure 'home' or '🏠' is visible in your bio so we know you are a resident!

Hwang Yeji Lee Taemin (SHINee) Kang Hyewon Kim Kibum / Key (SHINee) Lee Jinki / Onew (SHINee) Lim Sejun (VICTON) Kevin Moon (The Boyz)

[onewfantaesy]

so... mermaid au... what a gem! thank you for sharing!! can you tell us some more about minkey raising taem?? you said that minkey was "sort of a couple" and then that they were totally a couple... so how did their relationship happen? was getting a kid a big deal?!

Has Minho been in Taemin’s life since Key was given him as s baby. I know Taemin sees him as a dad but how is he in the family? 

Minho and Kibum were best friends since they were both little ones. They actually sort of hated each other at first, mostly because Minho always boasted about his shark-tooth amulet while Kibum only had an amulet made out of coral and a pearl. 

Eventually, they started to bond with each other once they became teenagers. Everyone kind of knew that Minho and Kibum would end up with each other. 

Then when they were nineteen, Kibum was chosen to be the caretaker of of a baby. It’s not unusual, because caretakers can be as young as eighteen, but it was just very sudden. Usually people get a little bit of notice before they’re chosen, but Taemin’s parents chose Kibum very suddenly. Not without reason, though; Kibum’s mother had actually been the caretaker of Taemin’s father before she had Kibum. 

But one day, Kibum sort of just met Minho at their part of the reef with a three-month-old in his arms, and all Minho can really do is let a few bubbles leave his mouth before he and Kibum surface with the baby. 

“He’s my new charge,” Kibum tells Minho once they surface.

“I gathered,” Minho says. “What’s his name?”

“Taemin,” Kibum whispers.

The baby starts whining, and Minho reaches over to take the baby into his arms. Minho rocks the two of them in the water, letting the waves roll over Taemin’s little shoulders. The waves calm the baby down, and Kibum looks to Minho like he’s sprouted a second tail out of his head.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Kibum admits, “and his parents already left to go back with the other warriors.”

“Does anyone ever know what they’re doing?” Minho asks.

Kibum lets out a breathless laugh, and he wades over to Minho and lets the taller merman wrap an arm around him. Kibum leans his head against Minho’s chest and looks at Taemin’s little face, running a thumb over his chubby little cheeks. The baby moves his head towards Kibum’s hand, his eyes opening to look at him. The smile that spreads across the baby’s face makes Kibum’s heart beat faster.

“We’ll be okay, right?” Kibum whispers.

“We’ll be okay,” Minho assures him.

[darl-ingfics]

Sicktember Day 21: ALT - Flushed Cheeks

Fandom: SHINee

Sickie: Kibum (fever, broken heart)

Caregiver(s): Jinki

Word Count: 1,455

Notes: Heavily based on Kelsea Ballerini's 'the way i used to.' I've been SO into her music lately, and might be writing a few drabbles based on her songs... but this one hit first cause this song is 🔥 ALSO, I'm still not sure how I feel about writing idols in romantic relationships, so this one very vaguely references a past relationship with an unspecified ex. Used 'them' for the ex cause I don't want to assume anything here, but needed to write a heartbreak plot line.

At exactly 2:15am on the dot, Jinki woke up to the sound of his phone crashing to the floor, the vibrations from in an incoming call sending it over the edge of his nightstand. Jinki snapped awake, scrambling for the phone, bleary eyes squinting at screen. Minho. “Hello?”

“Hyung? I’m worried about Kibum.” Minho wasted no time, his voice dead serious. Jinki sat up, rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up faster. “He’d been texting me almost non stop. Real nonsensical things, probably voice to text. But since I’m in L.A., I can’t…” Jinki could practically hear him pinching the bridge of his nose in worry. “Can you please go check on him?”

“Of course.” 

“Thank you. 

*

“Kibum?” Jinki called as he closed the door behind him. It had taken him half an hour to roll out of bed, look presentable enough in case he got pulled over or had to take Kibum to the hospital or something, and drive over to his friend’s apartment. He’d called Kibum three times and texted him to say he was on his way over, but had received no response. Much like now. Thankfully, he had a spare key to get in. “Kibum!” he tried again. Still nothing, except footsteps and murmuring from deeper in the house. Sighing, Jinki toed off his shoes and followed the sounds down the hallway until he found his friend. 

Kibum was pacing back and forth in his living room, fingers tapping on his lower lip as his eyes moved rapidly through space. A notebook and several writing instruments were strewn about the coffee table, coupled with a bottle of tequila and a shot glass, which was currently laying on its side. Kibum’s phone was precariously placed at the very edge of the coffee table. 

“Kibum?”

The younger man startled at Jinki’s voice, having just noticed him for the first time. His hand flew to his chest. “Jinki, what the fuck? When did you get here?”

“Just now. Minho called me. He’s worried sick about you.”

Kibum blinked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Minho? He’s in California…”

“Yeah, which is why he called me. He said you’ve been sending him some pretty alarming messages?” Kibum frowned, eyes shifting to his phone. His movements were uncharacteristically jerky as he grabbed the device, and began tapping the screen. His face crumpled into more confusion as he scrolled. “What’s… all this?”

Kibum looked up from the phone with wide eyes, as if seeing the mess of his living room for the first time. “Writing.” He knelt down in front of the notebook, fingers caressing the page. 

“Writing what?” Jinki bit his lip, observing Kibum closely. The younger man looked dazed, eyes glassy and cheeks flushed, fingers fidgeting endlessly.

“A song.” 

Jinki had seen Kibum in a writing trance before, but he’d never seen him like this. The pacing, the finger tapping, that was normal. The shaking? The listlessness? That was off. And the drinking… Jinki nodded to himself, something clicking in his brain. He needed to keep Kibum talking. “Why are you writing a song now? It’s 3am!” 

Kibum shrugged. “When the muse awakens, one must heed its call.” His voice trailed off as he scrambled for a pencil and scribbled something in the notebook. 

Jinki shook his head, moving closer to his friend. Kibum flinched, instinctively covering most of the paper with his elbow. He seemed to believe Jinki hadn’t noticed that. So the elder let him, simply nodding towards the bottle. “What’cha drinkin’?”

Kibum’s eyes assessed the tequila. He shrugged. “Not really sure. Just needed something to help the words flow…”

“You know…” Jinki settled onto his knees next to Kibum. The younger man’s body tensed, and he didn’t turn to acknowledge Jinki joining him on the floor. “You’ve always had a knack for writing lyrics. You’ve never mentioned needing help with ‘flow’ or anything. In fact, I thought you said that drinking while writing actually slows down your process…”

“Well, yeah, most of the time it does but, sometimes it…”

“Except.” Kibum’s lips snapped shut. He still refused to meet Jinki’s eyes despite the elder staring at him straight on. “Except when you’re writing about a break up.” Kibum’s eyes could have burned a hole in his table. Jinki let the tense silence carry on for a few heartbeats. “Bummie, are you thinking about them again?” 

Kibum sat still as a statue. Jinki watched him worriedly, observing each inhale and exhale, the beads of sweat at his hairline. He saw Kibum’s eyes move to his phone, and sensed what was about to happen before Kibum could move, snatching the phone up himself. 

“HEY!” Kibum grasped at Jinki’s back as the leader swiveled away from him, unlocking Kibum’s phone and clicking into his messages. Sure enough, the last string of texts Kibum had sent to Minho were all about them. I miss them, Minho. think I fucked up… I should text them, right? It’s been so long. Just to check in. It’s just a phone call? That’s nothing. It was a mistake… all of it. They’ve posted pictures with the same person on Instagram FIVE times recently!!! That doesn’t mean anything, right? I should call…

“Hyung, noooo…” Kibum whined. His hands, buried in Jinki’s shirt stopped pulling backwards, and started pulling down instead. Jinki peeked over his shoulder, watching Kibum’s fingers detach from his shirt as he slumped face first to the floor. 

“Oh, baby.” Jinki shifted around, petting Kibum’s hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart…”

“NO! It’s NOT okay!” Kibum cried into the floor. “They’re in love with SOMEONE ELSE! And it’s NOT FAIR!”

“You don’t know that…”

“I do know! Why else would they have broken up with me?!”

“Sometimes people just aren’t meant to be, Ki…”

“We WERE, I KNOW IT!”

“If that was true, then they wouldn’t have hurt you like this. You loved them so, much, and I know how painful that is to let go of…”

“But they aren’t in love with ME!” A gasping sob. “Why didn’t they love me?!”

Jinki clicked his tongue, his hand moving to rub at Kibum’s shoulders. The younger man crawled forehead, head falling into Jinki’s lap. “Bummie, it’s not your fault. They weren’t your person, and that just means that somewhere out there…”

“Oh, spare me all that ‘other fish in the sea’ bullshit.” Kibum sniffled sharply, rubbing at his eyes. “I don’t want another fish. I want to be their fish.”

“Kibum, come on. You’re not the only one who’s had their heart broken before…”

The younger man scoffed. “Sure, sure. But you don’t get it. You weren’t… this relationship was…” His face screwed shut, a fist placed against his forehead. “Fuck, I loved them, Jinki. I love them. I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone before, not like this.” His eyes turned up at that, tearstained cheeks and all staring at Jinki with such vulnerability the older man felt his own eyes start to sting. 

“I’m so sorry, Kibum. You deserve someone who loves as fiercely as you love them.” Jinki traced a finger down Kibum’s cheek. He paused. Placed his finger back on Kibum’s cheekbone. Then placed his palm on the younger man’s forehead. “Bummie, how long have you had a fever?”

Kibum shrugged. “Maybe two days?”

“Two days?”

Kibum shrugged again. “It’s just work stress…”

“A fever’s never ‘just’ anything. No wonder you’re backsliding again…” Jinki cupped both of Kibum’s cheeks, leaning over him upside down. “Baby, just call me next time. Then we don’t need to go through the pain of recollecting the ex.”

Kibum pouted his lips. “I’m sorry?”

Jinki rolled his eyes. He then very gently pushed at Kibum’s shoulders to sit him up, before standing up himself and holding out his hands. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

Kibum took Jinki’s hands and let himself be pulled to his feet. “Are you sure we can’t call them, though? Just to see if…”

“Nope. No calling. The rules were clear when we made them a month ago.”

Kibum pouted. “Minho would let me call…”

“Oh sweetheart, you are so lucky I’m here and not Minho.” Even in his semi-delirious state, Kibum knew to immediately close his mouth. Even though Jinki’s voice was still light, a bright smile still on his lips, anyone who knew him well could see that he was at the edge of his seemingly infinite patience. Honestly, a part of Kibum understood; Jinki was only trying to protect him. Which was why Kibum allowed himself to be led back to his room and cared for by his worried hyung. Because, in the end, even if he was single, he knew what love looked like. He was loved. Very, very loved.

[wordsbyss]

Undead// JongKey Oneshot

Killing an Infected isn’t hard, it’s not. All it takes is a single shot to the head, only one bullet, and they’re down. It’s kind of ironic, when you think about it. A body that was once living and breathing, who has died and come back from the dead, can be taken out with little thought, little struggle.

It was this Infected that was hard to kill. Not because it was armored, or particularly smarter than the rest, but because of its face. It’s ugly, silver colored irises and blood shot surroundings, the gash on its left cheek that still had yellowish discolored blood oozing from the wound, allowing one to see into the mouth, where yellowed and blackened teeth lay amongst a dark gum line. The skin, which looked like it could made out of grey leather, cracking at the wrinkles of small, attempted facial expressions. Despite being disgusting, vile, awful, Jonghyun knew this man. He wished he had never seen him again, not like this.

The breakout began three years ago. The virus didn’t start overnight either. The news covered the case of a girl in Ukraine who had come down with a disease that had never been seen before for months. Documenting each time a new, state-of-the-art doctor flew internationally to find a cure for her. The entire world saw her decent, watched her succumb to her symptoms and condition. She started as a bright young girl, she had a family, a mom, dad, two sisters. She was a straight A student and seemed to have many close friends, like she had her whole life going for her. Her dream was to move to the United States and become a doctor. That is, until she was in the hospital of her homeland for the rest of her life. The world watched in awe as her mind was taken from her, as she began to become a living specimen that was actively rotting away, despite being taken care of. The globe went into a state of alarm on a fateful day, the day her pulse flatlined, but she was still breathing. She was still breathing and moving. It was at that point that things started to escalate. She became aggressive toward her caretakers, to the point where her wrists, feet, and torso had to be strapped to the bed she lay on. The doctors couldn’t do blood tests anymore, because there was none pulsing through her body. Her veins only held the residue of the blood that was once free flowing. After another month or so, her body became cold, almost completely rotted away. That was when the caretakers noticed their peers showing the symptoms the girl had at the beginning of her infection.

It takes someone around six months to nearly completely transform. To lose all of their memories, to be reduced to a walking lump of decayed and torn skin. The only instinct they have at that point, is to carry on the disease.

That’s what isn’t figured out yet, how it spreads. It’s theorized that it’s close ranged aerosol transmission. This means that the infectious particles are heavy, and die quickly without a host. The undead, as we call them, release these particles, and if there is a person close enough to them, the disease can be transmitted.

Two and a half years ago, half of the world’s population began showing symptoms. It was evident that the Virus was not selective. It took children, women, dogs, and every time it took someone, it took the same agonizingly long time for the virus to take full effect. Some people would find ways to avoid becoming mindless, some would study their memories every day, but it never worked. Some would simply kill themselves before they hit the five-month mark.

In three years, the population of the Earth has declined by 80%, and more go every day. This is a battle that the human race is not winning.

Three years ago, Jonghyun was happy. He didn’t have to worry about where his next meal would come from, or check his pulse every day to make sure it was still there. Three years ago, Kim Jonghyun moved in with his boyfriend of five years, Kim Kibum. They took their relationship slow, but they didn’t want it any other way. They were truly happy, they lived in a quaint little house in South Korea, in the suburbs of Seoul. Jonghyun worked as a lyricist, writing music and performing it at small gigs, like restaurants and parties, or sometimes even selling his music to entertainment companies for bigger artists to use. Kibum had his eyes set on design. He made all sorts of things, bags, patches, clothes, shoes. Kibum did it all. But both of their favorite pieces of Kibum’s was a set of matching patches he made for the two of them. The patches were simple, nothing as blingy or as decorated as his other works. He made them each a patch of a heart, Jonghyun’s heart was green, with a “K” embroidered in the middle in black. Kibum’s was the complete opposite, a pink heart with the letter “J” in the center, but in white. Kibum was proud of his work, he went on and on about how he used the color wheel to come up with the colors for the hearts, and how cute it was that their favorite colors happened to be complementary to each other. Eventually, they bought matching denim jackets to sew the patches onto.

This was easily the best time of both of their lives, they were genuinely content with their lives for the first time. They did what they loved, and they did it together. Sure, they didn’t have many friends, but at the time they didn’t need any. They had each other, and that’s what mattered.

One day, Jonghyun bought a ring fit for a king. Embellished with four petite diamonds, with a sizeable one centered between them, it glimmered every time the light hit it. He knew he would love it.

He proposed in the same park they met at. Kibum sitting on the same bench he had been reading a novel on, right in front of the beautiful fountain. He always said that the sound of the water cascading down reminded him of a mountain stream. That it calmed him.

Of course, Kibum said yes. They had already moved in together, the people that knew them already considered them a married couple, with how long they had been together.

Not long after that was when the virus became popular. When the girl came down with the infection, they didn’t think much of it. People are diagnosed with rare or unknown diseases all the time, and it wasn’t exactly in their realm of the continent. They watched the news, they saw the stories of the doctors trying to save her. They were there when they deemed her a lost cause, and they gasped for her caretakers when the news of their infections came out. But none of it was personal. They didn’t know any of them, Ukraine seemed to be worlds away.

It wasn’t personal until one of the caretakers came home. To Korea. Her reasoning was that she wanted to see the people she loved one last time, and she hadn’t been officially diagnosed yet. At this point, there wasn’t even a name for the illness, just, “The infection,” or, “The Virus.” Still, she lived nearly an hour away, on the other side of Seoul. It’s not like they would be in direct contact with her.

There wasn’t any news about her after she came back home. But people in Korea began to show symptoms of the Virus. Sweating, discoloration, dementia. Over 1,000 people were hospitalized within two weeks, and some were shipped overseas to international hospitals. This is where it became personal. Korea was put under sanctions. No planes or boats in or out of the country, except for medical. (What sense that made, no one understood.) Everyone was instructed that they should avoid contact with others as much as possible, to stay in their homes unless an emergency occurs. The government shut down. Suddenly, Korea was in anarchy. In panic.

It didn’t take long before the amount of Infected outnumbered the hospital space and uninfected staff. After that, they were out in the streets, hunting for the healthy. At this point, no one left their houses. They felt bad to be afraid of people, they pitied them, because all they had was an unfortunate infection, but a cure had not been discovered, and once the infected got their hands on someone, they didn’t let go. They held them until the infection was passed on or they were dead, using them as sustenance, they would eat their flesh, or attempt to use the colored skin as a cloak in order to attempt to make themselves appear healthy, as a way to get closer to the living. They would use their clothing, their teeth, or their eyes. They’d replace their own features with the features of their victims.

It was sick. They made Jonghyun and Kibum sick. To keep themselves safe, they boarded their windows, their doors, even the fireplace. They were able to live off of the reserves they had in the cabinets. But none of that changed the fact that, in bed at night, they would hear the sounds of the infected trying to lure the healthy into the outside, right outside their window. Or they would hear an unfortunate neighbor give in to their pleading, or be fooled by the sound of an infected baby’s cries, and then hear their screams as they were taken in. It always made them hold each other a little bit closer, grip onto each other a little bit tighter, but they also knew to cry a little bit quieter. Because they didn’t want to be next.

During the day, the couple entertained themselves with board games over coffee, or games they would make up. Kibum’s favorite was one that he made up on his own, named Guess That Song, and of course, he didn’t know nearly any of the songs Jonghyun would play, but it made him happy just to listen to him sing the songs, and playfully yell at him when he would purposefully guess the wrong one. Sometimes they would still take joy in their career hobbies, but it eventually became boring, after days and days of nothing else, they both wanted to venture to other things. Sometimes Kibum would try to write songs, he figured he would be an expert based on how much he’d seen Jonghyun write. But none of his lyrics rhymed, and he didn’t know how to play any instruments. Jonghyun also tried to take on Kibum’s hobby, he tried to design. They had everything that was needed in an office room in the house, and he would spend hours in there, just trying to make a shirt. The most he was able to do was make a small star patch and give himself dozens of needle pricks that rendered lots of kisses from Kibum and all of his fingers covered in bandages.

They tried to keep themselves busy, even when the power and water were shut off due to the companies that ran them being abandoned. It was a long few months in the dark, both of them desperate for any water they could find, and getting skinnier by the day. They were running out of water reserves from what they had frozen previously, and they were nearly out of canned foods. All they had was each other. As they both wondered if this would be the end of them, all they could do is find hope in each other. There was no connection to the outside world, no way to know if a cure had been found, only the nightly sounds of the Infected’s groaning escalating as more and more populated the area. As long as their noises were there, that’s all they needed to hear to know that things weren’t getting any better.

Sometimes they would fantasize about what it would be like if one day they were able to take down the boards on their windows and see the sun again. To unblock the doors and step outside and see the flowers, or smell the rain, without the fear of being torn apart. Of life being ripped away. Sometimes they would gain hope, that maybe, just maybe, they’d only have one more night’s sleep of having to deal with it. But each night was never the last.

When the day came, they weren’t ready for it. Jonghyun thought back to that morning nearly every day. The couple was still in bed, on the border between wake and sleep when they heard the strange noise. The banging, the sound of wood ripping off of wood. It only made sense for their eyes to shoot open, looking at each other in alarm for an answer, for reassurance. They both had suspicions they knew what was going on, but their minds tried to avoid it. Maybe it was a burglar, or a murderer, or someone healthy looking for refuge. But they could only deny it for so long, because the throaty groans of the Infected were unmistakable.

There was a hoard. And they were breaking in.

They both launched out of bed, ushering each other to the kitchen where they could see the light seeping in through the front door. Where greyish, decayed hands with long, rotten fingernails were able to be seen grabbing through the gaps in the door that they had previously ripped open. Snagging skin on the rough edges, cutting holes in their own flesh, but no blood pouring out. Only an ooze with a yellow tint.

They held onto each other the best they could, hand in hand, all they could do was watch. It felt like hours that they had simply stood there, mindless. They both knew it wasn’t, at most it was thirty seconds. After snapping out of the daze, they both began to run frantically around the house, finding anything sizeable to put in front of the door as barricades.

The Infected were able to destroy everything they used as blocks. Jonghyun and Kibum’s attempts were futile.

Jonghyun was standing in the living room, trying to figure out how to pick up the couch to put it against the door when Kibum walked in from the kitchen with a bottle of alcohol and a match. He set them both on the floor and walked over to him. Wrapping his arms around Jonghyun’s waist, he hugged him tightly, stuffing his face into his neck. He looked up at him and kissed him.

“I want you to go. I opened the back door. It’s safe back there, the path’s all clear.”

Jonghyun shook his head, assuring him that he wouldn’t leave him, that they’d go together. Kibum disagreed, telling him that there was no way. They would just chase them both as soon as they heard. The infected could run much faster than they could. He handed Jonghyun a knife, to protect himself, he said. Kibum hugged him one last time and then stepped away. Jonghyun still protesting and trying to find a way to convince him out of it.

Kibum kept his head down as he picked up the alcohol and matches, as he popped open the bottle cap and began to pour the contents on the floor by the front door.

He looked up one last time. Teary eyes meeting wide ones. Jonghyun stuttered, trying to push out words, he couldn’t. Kibum sighed, pushing him through the house and out the back door. He gulped, and as Jonghyun was just about to say something, he put a finger over his lips, reminding him to be quiet, because they could hear.

At this moment, Kibum heard the Infected break through their last barricade. They were in the house. He picked up their jackets, handed Jonghyun his, and shrugged on his own.

“Be safe, my love.” Kibum pecked Jonghyun’s forehead with a kiss. “I love you.”

Kibum shut the door, with himself inside.

Jonghyun couldn’t move, only stare at the locked door in front of him.

On the inside, he heard screaming. He heard fighting and lots of movement. He could smell the undead, even from out here. Finally, he heard Kibum’s scream. And then he watched as the house caught fire.

This is when he was able to move again. He turned around and ran, he ran and didn’t know to where. He had the knife Kibum gave him in his back pocket, but he didn’t run into any Infected. They had all been at their house.

It had taken Jonghyun awhile to truly cry over his loss. To come to terms with everything that happened over the course of that day. He had found a tree, in a park that he played in as a kid, that was perfectly climbable, and that’s where he spent the first night. Not that he slept, he spent the entire night staring at the stars, hoping to wake up from this terrible nightmare.

The next day, while he was walking, trying to find somewhere to go, he saw a healthy. A person. A real person. He was out in full black clothing, wearing a bulletproof vest and equipped with a utility belt which held two guns and a switchblade. Thinking on it, Jonghyun thought it was kind of humorous, as the boy was rather small framed and had longer orangish hair pulled back into a short ponytail.

He called out at the boy, hoping for some sort of sympathy as he was all alone with nowhere to go. When he turned around, he had already had his gun out and pointed at him. Jonghyun raised his hands in innocence, which shocked the boy. It had seemed as if this was the first time he had seen another healthy person as well. But Jonghyun couldn’t have been more wrong. The boy turned out to be very giggly and happy, he was very young, only sixteen years old. He introduced himself as Lee Taemin, and said that he would take Jonghyun to his “base.” And that he did. An old abandoned Korean military base had been reutilized. On the inside, it was bustling with people. People dressed how Taemin was, or others with small children who were cooking. When Jonghyun first saw this, he was following Taemin, who was leading him to their leader. But he couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that this was here the entire time. That there were soldiers who fought the Infected, and even saved people and families and brought them here, but he had to lose his Kibum in the most tragic way. He was maddened that they didn’t help them when it came down to it.

He followed Taemin down a hallway, and looking in at former offices, he could see that they had been turned into living quarters. The office at the end of the hall is where they were goijng, and Taemin opened the door for Jonghyun when they got to it. Inside, was a man around Jonghyun’s age, surrounded by lab equipment and chemistry materials.

Taemin introduced him as Jinki, the brains behind their operation, and also as a former doctor, looking for a cure for the disease. Jinki had stopped what he was doing, and Jonghyun introduced himself. He asked Taemin to leave before he began to interrogate Jonghyun to assure he was well-hearted, and explained that he was going to allow him to stay at the base once he could test him to assure that he had no trace of the Virus. Jonghyun explained the entire situation, Kibum, the house, the fire, everything. He tried his best not to express his frustration on the topic of Jinki’s men not helping him and his fiancé after discovering that they have a small army that goes out to help civilians, because he knew it wasn’t their fault. They were doing their best.

Jonghyun was assigned into the army, because Jinki wanted Taemin to show him the ropes, and Taemin figured he would be a nice friend to keep around. So, for the next long while, Jonghyun’s life became following Taemin, and his best friend, Choi Minho, on their adventures into the outside world. He even got the uniform that Taemin wore the first time he saw him, blacked out, with a utility belt filled with weapons. He even joined them in saving a few people from their homes, but it was futile. Most of the survivors had already contracted the Virus. With no true cure in mind, Jinki ordered that people who had been diagnosed were to either be killed or put into isolation, based on how far along the process was, and how many symptoms they were showing.

Going out never failed to make Jonghyun reminisce, to make him wish for his best friend’s presence beside him. For so long, they dreamed of seeing the sunlight again, of going to the Han river and looking up at the clouds. Of being true human beings again. He hated that he couldn’t share it with Kibum. He hated that it was only him.

Eventually, Jonghyun became of status to go on outings alone. To be frankly honest, he didn’t hate it. He didn’t get much done, as the region had already been cleared by the rest of the team, but he still looked around nonetheless. He tried to take comfort in the silence of the city, once bustling with people, now, empty.

He never dared go back by the house. He knew he couldn’t handle going home. So, he didn’t.

One day, Jinki ordered a group of men consisting of his best soldiers, to use a utility vehicle to scower the northern part of the city on suspicion of a family held up there. Jonghyun was invited alongside Minho, Taemin, and a few others.

The ride was quiet. Minho drove. Mostly, people just looked out the window, watching the passing infected. Reach for the large, black vehicle. Under different circumstances, Jonghyun probably would have thought it was badass, a bunch of guys dressed in full black, with belts filled with weapons that he’d only previously seen in movies. But this, this wasn’t good. Who knew what they’d see on this mission, who knew if the family was even truly alive. The Infected had been increasing in intelligence, maybe it was all a trap.

One they were there, it was oddly silent. The squad leader ordered for them to split up, as Jinki had not given them an exact location on the family.

Jonghyun elected to go southwest from where the vehicle was, arguing that he knew the neighborhood, but in reality, he simply wanted to go as far away from his home as possible. It wasn’t a complete lie though, the region happened to be an area where his friends lived during his time in high school. Not that that mattered anymore. It’s not like, even with his knowledge of the area, that he could walk safely through it. He couldn’t walk safely through, as there weren’t any people to worry about, it was the lack thereof.

He walked through the decayed alleyways, filled with dried blood, and plant life overgrowth through the cracks of brick walls and splits in concrete. He spent nearly thirty minutes, hearing the others speak back and forth over the communication devices about there being no signs of human life. Formality calls, really. The utterances of the word “clear” after scouting a neighborhood and finding no one was something Jonghyun had learned to tune out, because most of the time, there was no one to be found. It wasn’t until Taemin came over the radio, breaking the formal code of the normal radio communication speak, exclaiming about the people he sees inside a house toward the north. The other boys responded, a crowd of voices crowding the channel, asking for the address, acknowledging his message, saying they’ll be there shortly.

Jonghyun began to make his way in that direction. He wasn’t ready for what he saw when he turned the corner between alleyways. An Infected. He hadn’t seen one since they were in the region. He was very far from it, but he knew that this was the only route to go back northward, to where Taemin was. He put his hand around the holster of his gun and walked forward, much more cautiously than before. As he inched forward, he began to recognize features of the Infected. Disgusting, all Jonghyun could think of as he saw the limp of the creature, and the blood and skin of some poor human who came into contact with the infected.

That was when the Infected turned its head toward Jonghyun, stopping him in his tracks. He recognized those eyes, that face. Kibum. His skin was burned and crisp, a type of leather. His eyes, bloodshot, dark. But they weren’t on his body, the Infected wasn’t Kibum. Only the disguise. Brown eyes, once filled with light and optimism, a darker brown that cast themselves in pain. His arm, connected to the infected, draped over its own as some sick costume, was somehow still thin, and somehow he could still tell that it was Kibum’s. The memories of that day all came flooding back, and for the first time, he imagined what could have possibly happened after Kibum shut that door on him. Yes, he assumed he died, that he burned to death, but he always refused to acknowledge the possibility that he died from a different reason. He was burned, but not enough for that to be the cause of death. His body, or at least the parts Jonghyun saw, had been taken out of the fire rather quickly. It broke his heart, to see the love of his life torn apart, his blood covering the infected that was hiding under him.

Tears streaming down his face, finally accepting that he was dead, and he wasn’t coming back, Jonghyun dropped to the ground on his knees. The Infected began to walk toward him and he couldn’t move, he didn’t see a point in moving. In front of him, was proof that the person he loved more than life itself, his partner in crime, his husband, was dead. He didn’t have a peaceful death either. He was ripped open, stripped of his skin, his eyes. Those beautiful eyes that kept looking at him with a sadistic hunger. It was walking over, slowly, but Jonghyun knew he had to make a choice. He’d have to choose between killing the infected, shooting the man who looked just like his love, or he’d have to let it kill him. He’d have to watch as Kibum killed him, or there’s the chance that he wouldn’t need his body, because he already had one, and Kibum would just come over and give him a hug, get close to him, just like old times. Just without the warmth, without the emotion, without the smiles and the laughs. He had to remember that this wasn’t Kibum. This looked like Kibum, but it was also the creature that killed Kibum. The reason he’d never be able to see Kibum again, the reason he’d never be able to kiss Kibum again, hold Kibum again. It killed Kibum. It put Kibum in pain. And it tore them apart.

It hurt that Kibum’s plan of setting them on fire didn’t work. That they may have had a chance if they ran. But he wanted to be the savior, he wanted to kill some of them so they couldn’t terrorize any more people, and he sacrificed himself for that cause.

Jonghyun hated the Infected. Looking back at the one in front of him, he couldn’t handle it.  He wanted it dead, but he sobbed looking at Kibum in front of him. He wanted to believe that it was actually him so he could just run up and hug him. He knew what would happen if he did, but he didn’t care. Not in that moment.

He saw the Infected’s mouth drool from not having the strength to close its mouth. Watching Kibum’s mouth open, Jonghyun heard every word, every sentence that Kibum had said to him. He fell into a trance, just listening, Hoping the words would come with a warm hug.

But two short sentences stuck out. “Be safe, my love. I love you.”

Kibum’s last words to him. He wanted him to live, while he couldn’t. He wanted Jonghyun to go on. He couldn’t just die and let what Kibum did be for nothing. He couldn’t turn into the thing he despised the most. Kibum wouldn’t want that, not after everything.

It took everything he had, and the Infected was really close at that point, only around two meters away, but Jonghyun got up to his feet and grabbed his gun out of its holster. He pointed it at the creature. Tears still cascading down his cheeks, flinging themselves off of his chin and onto his shirt, it already soaking wet.

He looked through the viewfinder and locked eyes on Kibum’s. He thought back to their relationship. The day of their first date, the day where Jonghyun asked if this meant that they were boyfriends. The day they moved in together, proposing, getting married. He remembered the cakes they baked, the passions they shared, the movies they watched together, their laughs and their cries. The remembered the day the news broke about the girl, and every news report after that. He remembered Kibum taking off work, declining fashion shows in order to stay at home and watch the news, in front of the television with a mug of tea. He knew that it was going to be bad. He remembered Kibum’s final kiss on his forehead, his last I love you.

He looked in his eyes one last time.

Bang.

[adventk-blog]

                                             — ARE YOU WHO YOU WANT TO BE, 

       introducing KIM KIBUM, a MUTANT, under the moniker of VILE — and currently a believer of NEUTRALITY. age ( twenty-five ) and gifted with the ability of FEAR INDUCEMENT, they are currently working as UNEMPLOYED.

WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN STORIES,

Most of Kibum’s life at a young age is sort of a blur. He was born to a poor family and left on the streets as a baby. He was probably raised by other homeless people. He couldn’t tell you. He doesn’t know. He only remembers being about seven years old and trying to steal what he could get ahold of. He didn’t live an easy life, but he managed. As far as he was concerned, he managed better than he did when he finally had somewhere to call home.

He was found at the age of eight trying to pickpocket an elderly man. It just so happened the man was the owner of an orphanage and they had plenty of room for a young boy who needed a place to stay and learn. Kibum was reluctant. He was bad at speaking and while he was plenty old to go to school it didn’t stop him from not wanting to. The other kids at the orphanage were plenty nice. Kibum never really hated them. He just didn’t really speak to many of them. He did make a few friends in passing, but they were all the children who would be considered… troublesome.

He didn’t like school. Words were hard and that made reading and writing an absolute nightmare. He tried to skip as much class as possible but every time he did someone would yell at him or threaten to hold him back. He didn’t really like being yelled at, but he didn’t feel comfortable at school either. The grind of working over and over only to feel like he could never be good enough weighed heavy on his mind and heart. It’s not like his efforts were really paying off. He didn’t understand why he should even bother to try.

His life went on like this until he was fifteen. At this point he had developed a nasty attitude and also had a reputation in school for doing drugs. He was in a constantly fluctuation of nearly flunking out, but generally did just well enough to get around the system. He had no aspirations and the friends he did have were all delinquents and bullies. He himself never saw the point in picking on others, but he did enjoy going out with his friends late at night to steal drinks or try out some graffiti. He was rough around every edge and living the life that only seemed to make sense. A life where he could avoid trying because he never felt like there was anything in the effort for him.

But things change. A couple came in and decided they wanted to adopt him. He was a problem case; a boy with enough issues that turning him around would help the couple save face. The husband was a politician and the wife his perfect fit. Kibum was, in a way, their pet project. They wanted to fix him up to prove themselves to be the “great people” they made themselves out to be. They knew that if they could turn Kibum into a perfect child it would be just another thing on their list that made them… perfect. They weren’t perfect, though. They were just… There.

He moved into a lavish mansion. His friends began to tell him that they didn’t want to hang around him anymore for fear of getting in trouble. The politician would threaten him with little looks and by taking things away when he so much as started to bring a friend where any possible cameras might see him. He started hating those things. The sounds of shutters going off, the way he was forced to stand straight and still with a fake smile plastered on his face. He began to blame the glass lenses for the people behind them. He was supposed to be living the life a prince but in reality, the rich life made him sick. The butlers and maids who waited on him all seemed so fake. He could always tell they didn’t want anything to do with the street kid. Why would they? There was nothing in it for them. He was just a show, after all, not a child. A puppet the parents could clean up until he was shiny and polished and ready to be on stage for the rest of his life. He couldn’t really blame them.

It was here his mutation first manifested. He was seventeen and alone. He dreamt of riding motorcycles on the town and joining a gang that would give him respect, but instead he sat alone in his home or in the alleys when he could escape out the second floor window of his room. He tried out more and more hard drugs when his adoptive parents and caretakers weren’t watching. Mixed them together, took them at the same time. Alcohol featured over and over until it became a smell that permeated his clothes when he would return home. Smoke, needles, fire, pills… They were all something that made him feel a moment more alive. Maybe that was the mistake. He came home too late one night and was instantly scolded. He couldn’t concentrate anymore- mind a buzz from that night’s concoction. When he went up to his room he doubled over; unable to breath. He was choking on nothingness and in the moment he thought he would die. The green smog spill from his mouth began to coat the floor and for the first time he felt fear burn in his mind. He had no clue what was happening. It got higher and higher- his lungs burned more and more until he nearly screamed with the pain- voice strained and begging. There were multiple people who heard the cry.

But they came they began to scream and cry. They yelled at him, called him a monster- each other monsters. They attacked each other, scratching and clawing with tears mixed in with an unmistakable fight response. They were terrified of something, of everything, of him. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t see what they saw only the green mist that filled the room and burned so heavily in his lungs. He didn’t know if the drugs he had taken had made this happen- if it was even real. He didn’t understand at the time, but the sight of his adoptive father screaming and reaching for a gun sent him reeling. Jumping from the second floor window is a blur- the way the ground stung when it hit. The way he stumble as he ran from the house- the sounds of the gun firing over and over again. The screams, the panic. That smell that stuck on him so sweet like it wanted to mock him for what he was.

He later heard that four people died that night.

He didn’t return to school. He was afraid of himself and the strange things he began to see from the corners or his eyes. The whispers that sometimes told him of his mistakes, of what he could do. The way his lungs would clench up and he’d collapse to the ground choking for air and begging nothingness that the pain would cease. The hallucinations stalked him ever more. Sometimes they were just shadows whisking their way along. Sometimes, when it was dark, he would see the corpses of his adoptive parents walking toward him asking him why. Why had he done this? Why were they killed? They weren’t great people. They weren’t even good people. They didn’t speak to him at all… But they weren’t bad people.

They didn’t deserve that.

He tried to follow his past dreams by joining a gang. It wasn’t anything special. He was a dealer on the streets who people would go to for their next hit. He had issues selling. A lot of people reported that he wasn’t human. They said they would sometimes walk toward him only to suddenly see a monster or beast. His power was somewhat out of control- smog affecting those around him far more often than he would like. He was terrifying. People were so scared of him that it became hard to deal… The word made its way up the ladder and some people, to Kibum’s surprise, started to get impressed.

This was when Kibum’s life seemed to take a turn. He was appreciated. He was, in a way, loved. He enjoyed the praise and when he was told they didn’t want him to deal anymore he took the offer without a second thought. He didn’t know at the time that his new job would turn out the way it did, but he wasn’t going to complain. Not as long as he felt like his efforts were rewarded- the people around him actually cared about what he was doing. They cared enough to treat him like he belonged. That was all he had ever wanted and he was willing to work himself to the bone to keep it that way.

He started working as a extortionist. He hadn’t know how high his gang ran at the time. He didn’t understand the concept of organized crime or what he could possible be getting into, but at the time none of it matter. It wasn��t like the higher ups knew how he did it. They didn’t know about his mutation and he didn’t understand it. He could control it a little better than when he was just dealing… He was fine going after someone and using the fear smog to make them either pay or die. There were times when it didn’t feel right. Times when he would look down at a man who didn’t have any way to pay and he would feel bad for a moment. Killing never felt particularly good. It never would. He didn’t have to do it most of the time but the few times he did it made him sick. The feel of blood on his skin never coped well with him. He always cried. The hallucinations got worse at the sound of a gunshot. Sometimes the faces of those he killed surfaced to mock him- to ask him why just like his parents did… He hated it so much.

But the moment he stepped up with the payment and handed it to the higher ups in the gang, he felt that much better. These people respected him, they liked him. Here he had friends and what he might even start to call family. He cared about this people, even if they were what most people would think of as the villain. He didn’t care about the pain in the hurt as long as what efforts he made could be rewarded. He was just happy to be able to see his work pay off for once. If only this once.

He had his morals. He had his ways of thinking. As far as he was concerned, the people he terrified knew what would happen to them if they didn’t pay. They just still didn’t… It was fine, right? For a teen who didn’t understand the world and thought he finally found a place he could fit in, yes… It was something and something was enough. It’s hard to keep your head on straight when there are so many people- real and not- telling you what you should be. Maybe it was a bad thing. He wouldn’t know today. He doesn’t know much.

There were times when the gang life wasn’t exactly the high life. Kibum became very quickly adjusted to the concept of failure. In the gang, failure wasn’t tolerated- not even in small bursts. For the teen, this meant that any point that he couldn’t find his target, or perhaps if he tried to ask to give the target more time, the gang came down on him. There were plenty of beatings. Sometimes it was a burn. Once it was a tattoo to remind him that he was a member meant to follow the rules. The pain was unbearable- but the way it left him unable to breathe was worse. He would curl in on himself and try to hide, but he had nowhere else he could run. He would choke and gasps- wonder if it would be better to just end it, but he held the smog back. This was family. This was home. Somewhere in his mind he began to believe that this was OK. This was NORMAL. When he failed, he was supposed to hurt and he was supposed to cry. He was supposed to be in pain. It didn’t matter how much it hurt.

This was home.

Things went this way until he reached twenty. He had everything he needed and it was all ripped away with one event. The smog went… out of control. Maybe it was finally to much to hold in. The pain was too much from the last failure and he just… couldn’t. He was in the base when it happened. The leader had been there to breathe it in. A lot of people had. He had no clue it could spread that far that quickly. It was like it wanted this. It wanted him to suffer. There were screams; people begging to be forgiven or saved, but Kibum couldn’t do anything to stop it. He remembers being afraid too. He remembers everyone screaming for him to stop, as though he was the one doing all of this. He remembers the things coming for him. He remembers they wanted him dead. The things- his friends- his family. Things went black. Like he was asleep. It was that way for a long time.

And then the whole building was on fire.

It’s amazing what a person can do when they’re truly terrified, and that’s exactly what Kibum was. He didn’t know how it happened. But he knew he was the one who had set the building ablaze. He knew he had killed them all. And he ran. He ran as far away as he could, knowing that someone would come for him. Surely someone would come. Someone would want him to pay. And he couldn’t. There was nothing he could do to stop the onslaught that this smog was bringing down. He couldn’t just apologize- only death would be enough. But… He couldn’t. He never could.

It was luck that landed him in Incheon and it was fear that landed him in Daybreak. He just needed to know how to control it. He just wanted help. He was tired of blood and fire and nightmares. He wanted to be safe- to have someone who could understand him. The foundation was kind to him. They gave him money, a home. The people there would smile at him even when he pushed them away. Even when he pretended to be a ghost- to haunted the top floor of the dorms just to keep people away from him. There was always someone there. Someone to remind him that he wasn’t alone… That he could be scared.

There were times Daybreak wasn’t perfect. Times when he found himself out on the town trying his hardest to protect the humans that knew nothing of him. He was never good at it. He was better at looking like the bad guy- at getting shot by a cop who thought him a terrorist. He was better at making the people scream and cry than save any of them. Even his few heroic ventures ended in terror for someone- at least for himself. He can still feel the scars of the past attempts- of how badly he wanted to help. He can feel the way that his skin crawls at the memories… He can feel…

The eyes burning into him just like the flames.

When Daybreak blew up- when everyone found out about mutants. He was there- eyes wide and terrified. He was injured but it felt like nothing in comparison to having his face shown to the crowd. The fire sent him reeling away and the people around him got affected with others watched on. The way people around him begged for mercy was terrifying. The sounds of those asking him what was happening and what he was doing during the riot was… Worse. He was outted. He was… a mutant. A freak. A monster- but now in the eyes of everyone around him. Mutants were proven to exist and he became not just a monster to himself- not just those who hated him… It was the world. And with the world on his shoulder’s Kibum found himself breaking- shattering into a thousand pieces under the pressure.

He disappeared from the public- hid himself away so that he could never been seen. Without Daybreak- even if he planned to leave after seeing the footage released in the news anyway- he was homeless with nowhere to go- no money no anything. What little he had was packed into a backpack and hauled around weakly. His hood remained up- eyes to the ground. He wanted to blend in, to be forgotten. An apartment was hard to come by with as little as he had- but he did what he could. Single room. No bed, no furniture. A few things for cooking that he never uses. The walls are cracked and the sounds of fights can be heard in the night, but it’s what he can do.

The habits return. The drugs, the liquor, the way he finds that he can only pay for things if he steals the money he needs. Pickpocketing is a trait he’s always had, but now it’s getting easier by the moment. He has to feed the addiction. If he doesn’t the withdrawal overwhelms him. He becomes unbearably ill. The pain is too much. The smog is too strong.

For now- he’s evaporated like his smog. Disappeared to the eyes of the public so he never has to be seen again. He thinks hiding is the best, but his heart knows better. He can’t be this way forever. He can’t hide when people are hurting. He can’t just let the world collapse around him. Alone or not. Kibum can’t just let go of that selfish desire to be recognized- for his efforts to pay off.

And so a hero stays hidden for a day more. Just a day more.

THERE IS FLESH AND BLOOD BEHIND THESE TALES,

Kibum isn’t the most personable at first glance. He always seems to have this tired look in his eyes, like he just doesn’t want to talk. On first conversation he can be somewhat abrasive and snappy. He tends to come across as a bit of a jerk. He’s well known for being too blunt- favoring honesty over flattery even though that often ends poorly. Sometimes, he even seems somewhat aggressive, pointing out issues and problems in a manner that might make him sound frustrated or just angry. Despite this, he loves to keep company and deeply enjoys talking to others. He tends to get absorbed in long conversations and can get so absorbed that he easily loses track of time. He doesn’t understand people exceptionally well, as he tends to notice their issues first and that makes it difficult for him to deal. Knowing a person’s insecurities before their name can make it hard to get along with them, after all. Given the time to warm up to a person, though, he can become somewhat friendly, even so far as to start to open up somewhat. He, however, far prefers to listen to other people and will usually do his best to give his honest advice. Lying doesn’t come easily to him at all.

All in all, he’s an exceptionally lonely person with a bad habit of pushing people away. He doesn’t think that people should be around him, and as such shapes his first impression on other people to be one of a person who wouldn’t be very fun to be around. He has a habit of coming across as naturally frightening- what with his habitual glare, and that tends to keep people far enough away at first. He is terrified that his mutation will go out of control and that it might end up hurting people near him, so he tries to avoid people for the sake of that. He’d rather no one end up being affected by his ability: friend or stranger, as he knows just how terrible it can be. He’s a very physical person who enjoys hugs and skinship, but generally he avoids it due to fear of his power activating at random.

In a way, Kibum believes himself destined to become a villain. This is determined mostly based on the impression the public has given him along with the way his power works. He’s assuming that at some point there will be a very nasty turn in his life, and he’ll decide to become the kind of person people want dead in comic books. This is more or less based on the fact that he considers his power “Evil” or “Malicious” by necessity. A hero usually has a power, at least in the movies and comics, that is naturally good or neutral. Something like healing is a good person’s power, while something like flight doesn’t necessarily harm anyone. Kibum’s power is, by necessity, made to harm and terrify. There is no application to his power that does not cause some form of harm that isn’t just information based, and as such, he believes himself to have little choice but to play a villain. At the moment, however, he has no desire to harm anyone- especially those close to him. He doesn’t have an issue hurting those that he believes in some way deserve it or who in some way knew the consequences of their actions, but he is generally against the idea of using his power to harm others. He just fears this will change some day in the future.

Kibum is also rather… rough on himself. When he messes something else, he beats himself up about it and expects that those around him should to the exact same. While he himself is very lenient on letting other people make mistakes- considering it a part of life, his own mistakes are treated like things he deserves some form of punishment for. This is likely due to his treatment in the gang. He doesn’t like to allow people to forgive him easily, and if he genuinely thinks he’s screwed up he tends to go to somewhat extreme lengths to apologize. Failing to keep a promise is one of the things that he thinks is the worst he can do to someone, aside perhaps forcing them to deal with his Fear Smog.

Kibum is, also, unfortunately a very addicted person. He takes a large number of prescription medications- usually stolen or bought from dealers- and is also known to occasionally delve into more illegal drugs. Marijuana is easiest to come by, so it’s a bit of a staple for him, while he rarely uses things like ecstasy.He tries to not make a big deal about this nasty habit, but will start to go through withdrawal symptoms, mostly for his prescription medications, if he doesn’t get medical attention or take more. Overdoses don’t seem to happen, but the danger of them still remains apparent. Kibum also has a bad habit of drinking in excess, often on top of taking his medication. So far this is the only way he’s found to calm the smog for any period of time, and as such, he considers it a necessity. He likely needs to be talked out of it.

Kibum isn’t exactly an idiot, though he certainly can’t be called booksmart. His intelligence lies on the streets where he spent most of his time, and as such, he prefers it there. It would be fair to say he’s witty as opposed to smart, but he doesn’t really think himself either of those things. He struggles in both reading and writing, both taking him far longer than he would like to admit. While he is able to do both- the time it takes to do so annoys him to the point that he often just… doesn’t. Matters of wit, on the other hand, are entertainment to him. Puzzles and mechanics both have found a way to make him very happy. He likes to make complex contraptions for fun and if he has the materials might even be found making Rube Goldberg type machines. He also enjoys trivia, as he tends to have an abundance of random, if useless, facts.

Part of Kibum’s mutation has left an odd effect on his pysche. While he frequently seems nervous or on edge, he is near impossible to scare. His own mind is mess of hallucinations and thoughts combining to make it the scariest thing in the world to him. Because of this, simply watching horror movies or other things like that has no effect on him. He also doesn’t seem to be scared in scenarios of danger until pain is involved- and as such seems painfully calm even with a gun pushed to his head. It’s unnerving to many people, but Kibum really doesn’t even know he’s doing it.

Over all, Kibum isn’t a bad guy. His mind is a fractured mess full of all of his worst fears, so he always looks tired or strung out. He comes across poorly, but given time he will warm up to a person and begin to act loyal and kind. He almost never talks about himself without a good deal of persuasion, but he’s always very quick to notice when someone else is having a bad day. When he’s not panicking, he keeps an extremely level head and does what he can to help those around him cope with the state of the world. It takes him a long time to get to the point where he’s no longer afraid of scaring others, but when he gets there- his real self starts to shine.

AND EVEN MONSTERS CAN LEARN TO WEEP.

Fear Inducement Kibum has the ability to cause people to hallucinate their worst fears. This is most easily accomplished by the “Fear Smog” Kibum breathes out. Anyone who breathes in the smog will begin to hallucinate one of their worst fears, possibly to the point of injuring themselves. He can also manipulate the Fear Smog to a certain extent through an almost telekinesis like ability, though this only seems to work on the smog.. On a whole, the smog has the qualities of a heavy gas like fog (Such as staying lower toward the ground) and will evaporate relatively quickly in small quantities. It a somewhat radioactive green color and therefore incredibly easy to tell apart from other kinds of gas (including an odd glow in dark conditions). The other way Kibum can induce fear is through touch. If he is holding onto some he can cause them to hallucinate until he lets go.

APPLICATIONS :

Insanity Inducement: If someone were to spend too much time in Smog induced fear, it is quite likely they will begin to go insane. Being faced repeatedly with one’s own fears can crop up anything from a reaction that cuts of the victim’s emotional output for a short period of time to forcing a person into fits of uncontrollable laughter, just depending on how the victim tries to cope.

Harmful Hallucinations: The hallucinations are incredibly realistic the person experiencing them. They might even find them so realistic that they unintentionally harm themselves or others in their frenzy. There are times when hallucinations will form reality into themselves, which is what causes this danger.

Trauma Inducement: Kibum’s hallucinations are strong enough as a one time use, but the real kicker is that they will stay with you. People who spend too long with his hallucinations won’t be able to get the image out of their mind and may even need to seek help to deal with the nightmares and flashbacks to come.

Mockery Illusions: Through the use of the Fear Smog, Kibum can not only cause people to see their worst fears, but mockeries of their insecurities. Mockeries are grotesque, exaggerated images that are representative usually of a person’s negative traits. They may take any form, but are usually a twisted version of the person seeing them. They prey on multiple insecurities and are usually taunting if not downright derogatory. They force people to recognize and face their flaws, which usually creates a great deal of turmoil,especially because the mockeries are usually of flaws a person hates in themself the most. A mockery could be, for example, a representation of Kibum’s own Addiction. It would manifest as some twisted form of himself with darkened eyes and visible veins, likely mocking him and begging forit’s next hit. This is only one example, though, as mockeries take many forms.

Fear View: By holding onto or making eye contact with the person currently being affected by the fear smog, Kibum can see exactly what they are hallucinating.

Toxic Blood: The amount of smog in Kibum’s lungs has spread into his blood, giving it extremely hallucinogenic properties. Simply coming into contact with Kibum’s blood can cause hallucinations like one would have if they breathed in the fear smog. Even a drop of blood will cause hallucinations, though 1 drop only equals about 2 minutes. The more blood used, the longer the hallucinations will last. Ingesting Kibum’s blood could be potentially deadly, though this has yet to be tested. This toxicity level in his blood also seems to have had an odd effect in making him immune to the negative effects of most drugs and toxins.

Fear/Insecurity Intuition: Kibum has a natural ability to guess what a person might be afraid of or insecure about. While this is not 100% accurate, he usually gets a vague idea of the insecurities and an almost downright direct idea of what fears they have. Currently, the way this works is by observing a person for a short period of time. While it might be useful some time in the future, currently this mostly just make Ki distressed with little way to help those around him.

Immunity Granting: Kibum is able to grant slight immunity to his powers to those around him, though the method for doing so is painfully awkward. At currently, the only way for Kibum to grant this immunity is by breathing into a person’s face and having them breathe in that air. It’s painfully awkward, and he hates doing it.

LIMITATIONS :

Uncontrollable: Kibum can’t always get a good grip on the Fear Smog. There are times where he can’t help but breath out the smog and trying to resist it only causes him to double over in pain while he does his very best to hold his breath. The smog actually hurts quite a lot when it forces its way out. On top of that, there is a high chance that if he touches someone he may accidentally induce their worst fears. The Smog is, after all, fully alive. It doesn’t like him all that much.

Just An Illusion: For those with strong will, it’s not too hard to realize that they are in a hallucination. It is difficult to just ignore their hallucinations, but recognizing that what’s going on isn’t real tend to help cope with the effects of what’s happening.

Physical Sickness: Kibum suffers from severe respiratory issues and fatigue due to his mutation. He is often bedridden and often can’t bring himself to want to move in the mornings. He will sometimes collapse mid fight and start suffocating or become inexplicable exhausted without doing anything. The smog is attacking part of Kibum’s lungs, which is the major cause of this. He has begun to occasionally cough up blood and now suffers from fits of blacking out even in the most uninvolved of tasks. The build up of smog has grown too intense, and it can sometimes actually take too much of the oxygen he breathes, which causes him to need to wear medical or gas masks on occasion to filter the air he does get.

Painful: Generally speaking, Kibum is always in some level of pain, usually a burning sensation in his chest and overwhelming tiredness. While this doesn’t hinder him too much, it definitely gets in the way and when it increases can completely put him out of commission for a period of time.

Mental Instability: Due to his own mutation, Kibum often becomes so unstable in the case of facing his own fears and insecurities that he can’t even begin to logically comprehend using his powers. He is also far more aware of his insecurities now, and the mockeries are actually causing him to deal with them in far less healthy ways.

Living Smog: It is apparent that the smog is fully sentient and has a mind of its own. It appears to be somehow malicious in intent, and will affect Kibum more severely when he attempts to use it for heroics or aiding people. Using the smog on people in any way seems to appease it slightly and will relieve some of Kibum’s pain. This relief is often tempting, and makes it more tempting for Kibum to use the smog more often.

Painful Speaking: It is near impossible for Kibum to yell without sounding strained and in pain. Doing so hurt his throat and doing so to much (which is just a few times for him) will result in him being unable to speak above a whisper for a longer period of time. Even speaking at a normal volume can be somewhat painful, and as such Kibum usually speaks very quietly.

Toxic: Kibum is, without a doubt, completely toxic in nature. While it seems that currently only his blood and the smog it’s have become toxic, it is possible this could spread further in the future. For now, he has to carefully avoid anyone coming in contact with his blood, and, as such, must be very careful when injured.

Insomniac: Due to the hallucinations constantly affecting Kibum himself, it has become incredibly difficult for him to sleep. His body seems to have adjusted to this to a certain extent, but he still is exhausted a great deal of the time thanks to this and spends a great deal of his nights trying his hardest to sleep despite the things creeping around in the corners of his eyes.

Constant Mockery: Kibum frequently sees mockeries of himself in multiple forms and places that pick at all of his insecurities. This is extremely distressing for him and makes it even more difficult for himself to cope with his issues.

Paranoia: Due to his hallucinations, Kibum has become notably paranoid about them in specific. They are around so frequently that he has developed fears of many things just because of reoccurring themes within them. On the whole, he is always afraid of his own power- more afraid of himself than anything else.

Self Hallucinations: Kibum is hallucinating due to his power at a constant. Normally the hallucinations are somewhat tame, little things appearing in the corners of his eyes or changing in the environment. These are easy enough to deal with. However, something the hallucinations break out into full out flashbacks or full scenes where he is left completely powerless. During these times he is dangerous to himself and those around him, but stands no chance of stopping his hallucinations until they choose to stop themselves. Things that seem to trigger more severe hallucinations include: the dark, trauma (physical or mental), fire, and loud noises.

Auditory Distractions: While they aren’t as constant as Kibum’s visual hallucinations, he also suffers from Auditory ones. These are usually whispers of his insecurities- questions his ability to do just about anything. They can get near deafening at their worst and are sporadic at best. Too many of them overlaying one another can be downright terrifying for Kibum and will frequently make him unable to communicate.

Addiction: So far, Kibum has only found one treatment to for his hallucinations and paranoia, which is heavily altered states. As such, Kibum is now suffering from multiple types of addiction, which seem to only be made worse by the smog’s actions. His main self treatments seem to be prescription painkillers (And occasionally other prescription medication) and alcohol.

Combustible: Despite Kibum being downright afraid of fire (if not somewhat naturally drawn to the desire to create it), his smog is completely combustible at an excessive rate. It can be used almost like gasoline to light a room up at a very quick rate. If Kibum wasn’t terrified of fire, this might be useful, but he is terrified of it, so it just sends him reeling into extremely violent hallucinations more often than not.

Immunity Limit: Kibum’s immunity only lasts for five minutes. After that point, he has to either repeat the action to grant immunity or the person needs to be out of the fear smog’s range.

Fear/Insecurity Intuition Limit: Kibum has to look at a person for about ten to fifteen minutes to get a fully accurate reading of what exactly their fears are. The less time he spends staring at a person, the more vague the idea of what their fears or insecurities might be is.

Fear View Limit: Kibum must make eye contact with or touch a person in order to view what they are seeing while they are hallucinating in the fear smog. This often results in him getting punched, if not worse.

Dissipation: Kibum’s fear smog will dissipate after about fifteen minutes if he does not replenish it.

Other:

Sweet Smell: A somewhat sickeningly sweet smell tends to permeate Kibum’s person, especially his breath. It sticks to things easily, as it’s the smell of the smog itself. While Kibum can’t smell it, he’s aware of it, and a bit disturbed by it. Some people find the smell pleasant, others find it overpowering.

White-Out Eyes: When breathing out the smog, Kibum’s eyes turn completely white and pupiless. His irises will slowly turn white when the smog is forcing its way out and after the smog has been used they take about 5 minutes to turn back to normal.

Fog Shaping: Through his ability to control the direction of the smog (when in control) Kibum can shape the smog to some extent. Usually, he only does this to entertain himself by making small shows out of the smog. (such as small animals running around or people dancing or fighting.)

Supernatural Fearlessness: This is an odd thing. While Kibum is constantly terrified of himself and his hallucinations, he has grown so used to them that he is frequently unafraid of most things in real life. It takes a lot to actually frighten Kibum outside of his own mind, but his own mind frightens him often enough that he still seems like a coward.

THREAT LEVEL TWO.                            03+ BRWN, 02+ RSLNC, 00+ INTLCT, 10+ WLLPWR, 05+ FGHTNG, 04+ SPD

[darl-ingfics]

"Pulling a Ferris Bueller" Part 2

Fandom: SHINEE

Sickie: All, except for 1...

Caregiver(s): SHINee

Word Count: 2,925 (is it really a SHINee fic from my without the most self-indulgent word count?!)

Notes: This is a Part 2 to my Sicktember fic for the prompt "Pulling a Ferris Bueller." This was requested by a sweet anon, whose ask I will be linking shortly. There wasn't intially an intended Part 2, but when given the chance, I will always write more SHINee.

“Fingers crossed,” Kibum repeated, staring impatiently at his phone screen. This could either be their greatest triumph of teamwork, or the longest day of their life. And it all depended on the three little dots that had just appeared on his screen. “He’s typing!” The group huddled around the phone, wide eyes willing a good message to appear. 

“What if this doesn’t work?” Jonghyun asked, gripping onto Jinki’s arm. “Are we gonna get in trouble? Are you gonna get in trouble?”

“Nah, they’ll punish Kibum first,” Minho insisted, earning him a sharp slap on the arm.

“I will be dragging all of you with me if that’s true,” Kibum snapped. “Just like how Taemin dragged you two down with him.”

“Heeeyyyy!” Taemin whined. “I already said I was sorry!”

“And that’s breaking our current lore; Taemin’s germs got ALL of us now,” Minho clarified. Taemin whined again, this time storming away from the circle and collapsing onto the couch, arms crossed in a huff. 

“Okay, okay, be nice,” Jinki intervened despite smiling at their antics. 

“HE RESPONDED!” Kibum exclaimed, all five pairs of eyes back on the screen (including Taemin, who shot up from the couch): 

Manager Nam: Well shoot… guess we knew it was coming. On my way. Hang tight.

“Oh my god, it worked,” Jonghyun gasped. He laughed in disbelief. “It worked!”

“We did it!” Taemin cheered. 

The rest of their cheers were abruptly cut off by the sound of the front door opening. The members’ blood ran cold. There was no way Nam Euisoo was at their door already. Which could only mean one thing….

Sure enough, a different manager, the newer one, the one who they hadn’t bonded with and who seemed entirely set on not bonding with them, rounded the corner and looked rather frustrated at what he found. Holding his arms out, eyebrows furrowed. “What’s the hold up, gentlemen?”

Five pairs of eyes looked around in panic. 

They were saved from having to speak through their shock when the manager’s phone audibly buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. He frowned. Taemin’s fingers locked around Kibum’s wrist. “Why is Euisoo telling me all of you are sick? Last I heard, only three of you were cleared with a doctor’s diagnosis. And you two look perfectly fine to me.” His eyes continuously stared down Kibum and Minho, but Jinki wasn’t completely out of the clear either. 

“Okay, look, it was a last ditch attempt to avoid going on that show today,” Kibum answered honestly. “It was my idea, and…”

“No, it was my idea, and then Kibum helped facilitate,” Minho interrupted, attempting to shift the blame. 

“I don’t care whose idea it was. And while I understand your frustration with having to perform on this particular program, there is nothing we can do about it. Meet me in the car in no less than ten minutes,” the manager declared, typing out a message as he turned for the door. 

“Are we in trouble for lying?” Taemin piped up. 

The manager paused, head tilting back towards them. “Not this time, since it hasn’t actually impacted your schedules or reputation.”

The room remained silent for a second after the door clicked shut behind him. It was a defeated quiet, tense yet unified. It was broken when Jinki suddenly dropped down, falling into a squat position, elbows propped on his knees and hands cocooned over his face. 

“Hyung!” Minho exclaimed, kneeling next to him, assuming he’d gone faint. The rapper pried the leader’s hands away. 

“I’m sorry,” Jinki said, eyes so earnest Minho felt his chest constrict. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get you off the program, and I’m sorry I won’t be there with you…”

“Hyung, there was nothing more you could have done to protect us from this,” Kibum replied. “Heck, you even risked getting reprimanded for letting us try to lie our way out of schedules.”

“And, honestly, there’s probably nothing you, or any of us, could do once at that studio,” Jonghyun added. “Fate has decided it’s against us on this day.”

“Still, I’d rather be there.” Jinki’s statement was punctuated by his ankles giving out, causing him to fall rather ungracefully onto his hip, colliding with Minho, who thankfully stabilized him. “Sorry! That position worked better in my head.”

Minho snorted. “Everything works better in your head, hyung.” He held out his hands. “Now lets get the three of you cuddled on the couch, and Kibum and I will go give fate the most polite, charming ‘fuck you’ it ever saw.” 

*

Rehearsal had gone incredibly well. Despite arguing near constantly out of the studio, and sometimes for laughs on stage, Kibum and Minho were a force to be reckoned with during the creative process. They spot cleaned their solo features for their next comeback, as well as for some of the hits they knew would make it into the next tour line up. They spent some time writing, mostly spitballing ideas, but the duality of their ideas were sure to grow into something beautiful once the others got a hold of them. It was a few hours of pure bliss, doing what they loved, what they were born to do, completely forgetting about the inevitable. 

When the hour arrived for them to go to studio, both Kibum and Minho were gripped by an uncharacteristic fear, an anxious panic that something was about to go horribly, terribly wrong. And they weren’t, entirely, wrong about that….

*

Jonghyun had turned on the channel to watch Kibum and Minho live long before their segment was set to air. It wasn’t just Kibum and Minho who felt distressed; the other three had been able to talk about little else all day. Even their normal conversations had an underlying, subconscious aura of unease, unable to do anything about their friends’ fate, which would inevitably affect their whole group. In fact, there was no guarantee that their absence wasn’t about to be turned into a knock against their professionalism. 

The anxiety had kept Taemin pretty wound up, tossing and turning for most of the day, unable to get truly comfortable anywhere, constantly leeching onto one of his hyungs for cuddles before flopping back away from them. It certainly didn’t help that Taemin’s fever had broken the previous day, so his body, coming down from the worst of it, was in an odd state of achy limbo, making him feel uncomfortable and prone to whining anyway. Taemin also found it incredibly unfair that the stress was having the exact opposite effect on Jonghyun, who had been able to fall soundly asleep for long stretches of the day. He had, in fact, turned the TV to the correct channel and promptly passed out; unless they woke him, he was set to miss all of Kibum and Minho’s performance entirely. He’d tried to wake Jonghyun up when the program started, but shaking his shoulder hadn’t worked. Taemin couldn’t decide yet if that was a good thing or not.

The first part of the show had been pretty tame: just the hosts sat at a table with Kibum and Minho, discussing the group and their music and their accomplishments over a few snacks. This was how the show usually started. The hosts would start off so kind, so disarming, and then in the second and third segments, things would go off the rails. 

The feeling of panic was getting worse, and Taemin called for Jinki down the hall a second time, as he had done before trying to wake Jonghyung. Jinki was going to miss the show too if he didn’t get back soon. Unlike his normal sleeping habits, Jinki found it incredible difficult to stay asleep when sick, his body too uncomfortable, his mind turning endlessly with all the things he should have been doing instead. Jonghyun had banished the leader to his bed a few hours before in an effort to force sleep, but Taemin knew it hadn’t worked: he could hear Jinki coughing, and eventually moving to take a shower. Taemin had heard the bathroom door open and close a bit ago, so he knew Jinki should be able to hear him. 

Just as the second segment of the program started, Jinki rounded the corner into the room. 

Taemin peered up at him. “Did you sleep?” Jinki shrugged, squinting at the television. “The show’s on. Kibum and Minho are doing really well. I called for you when it started but…” Taemin paused as he watched Jinki fumble for his phone, held in his sweatshirt pocket, and started typing feverishly. Taemin’s brow furrowed. “Is… is everything okay?”

Jinki pointed at the screen. 

“Is it… is it not obvious that something’s wrong?”

Taemin stared at the screen, wide-eyed, then turned back to the leader. “No?”

Jinki looked at him curiously, then nodded back to the TV. “Kibum’s sick.” Taemin’s attention snapped back to the TV, focusing in on Kibum. He didn’t look particularly sick to Taemin. “Is… is it really not obvious?” Taemin shook his head. “Hm.”

“So the dad instincts really never turn off, huh?”

Jinki shook his head, a smile pulling at his lips. He ruffled Taemin’s hair as he moved to sit down on the couch between Taemin and the sleeping Jonghyun. 

“Guess not.” 

“Did you text the manager?”

“Yep.”

“Think they’ll do anything about it?”

“They better.” 

*

Minho, ever the professional, didn’t even flinch when he felt Kibum’s hand squeeze his thigh halfway through the second segment of their interview. The first segment had gone eerily well; the hosts were charming, funny even, bantering so easily with the two young men. They were so complimentary, so fascinated by them, asking interesting yet easy questions for Kibum and Minho to answer. Everything had been going so well. 

But, if that was fully true, why hadn’t Minho relaxed at all? Why were his muscles so tense, his stomach in knots? 

The sharp, almost menacing looks shot between the show’s hosts during the break between segments meant something was brewing, just as they knew it would. These hosts were notorious for putting idols in tough situations, for making them look like fools, for tarnishing their reputations. Minho just had to figure out how to parry their attack, whatever it was going to be. It didn’t help that Kibum was distracted for the entirety of their break, listless and anxious and hardly listening to anything Minho said to him.

And now, Minho knew that Kibum’s hand seeking him out was a sign that whatever danger awaited them was imminent. His friend could sense it, Kibum had a way of doing that. Something was wrong, and their time had come. 

But one peek in Kibum’s direction told Minho that something else was going on. Kibum didn’t look himself. His face looked drawn and wooden in a very not-Kibum way. His eyes were unfocused. There was sweat beading at his hairline… That was the most unusual part, Kibum didn’t usually sweat like that under just studio lights, definitely not sitting down. It was almost as if… oh fuck. 

As Minho came to this realization, their manager’s phone vibrated with a message, then again, and again, and again.

Jinki: Get Key off camera

Jinki: ASAP

Jinki: He’s gonna throw up

Jinki: You have maybe 2 minutes

“I’m sorry, is it… warm in here?” Minho very politely interrupted whatever the interview was asking, pulling at his shirt for effect. “It just feels… really hot all of the sudden.” 

“No, I don’t think the temperature has changed at all,” the first interviewer replied. 

“Must be all that flaming charisma of yours,” the second joked. 

Minho laughed disarmingly. “Maybe you’re right. But I’m also just…” He swallowed hard, put on a look of sudden discomfort. “I’m sorry, I feel really lightheaded all of a sudden… Could we…” He paused again, hand pressing against his head, “just take a little break?”

  The hosts exchanged a worried look. “I’m sure they just turned on some extra lights or something…” one of them said. 

“Or perhaps that company of yours…” the second began with a devilish grin, certainly about to use Minho’s ‘sudden vulnerability’ against him. But he never got the chance as Kibum roughly stood back from his chair and raced off the set, hand clamped to his mouth. 

“Cut the cameras!” one of the hosts exclaimed just as they could hear Kibum throwing up in a trash can right off set. Minho shot up from his chair, racing to his friend, holding him up by the arms as Kibum retched again. 

“You’re okay,” Minho whispered soothingly as he turned back to find their manager. Instead, his eyes caught the hosts. 

“How much did you put in there?!” one of the hosts hissed at the other.

“The same amount as usual! Honest!” the second said defensively. 

“Put how much of what in where?!” their manager asked from right next to the set. He had paused in place with a bottle of water in hand, his body facing towards Minho and Kibum although his energy had just shifted. 

The hosts exchanged glances. One of them sighed. “Sometimes we… put a little something in the snacks we feed the guests to make them a little more… impressionable.” 

“What the fuck did he just say?” Kibum rasped, wiping a shaking hand against his mouth, swallowing thickly. He turned around to face the hosts again, Minho’s hold on his arms perhaps the only thing keeping his shaking body from collapsing. 

“What kind of ‘little something’ are we talking?” their manager asked, arms crossing over his chest. 

The other host shrugged. “Depends. Sometimes we just use alcohol. Others caffeine pills. Sometimes a little cough syrup or slightly expired food or…”

“You’re poisoning your guests?!” Minho exclaimed. 

“Well, not ‘poisoning,’ per say! Just… putting on a little pressure to make the interviews more interesting.”

“Sounds like a legal violation to me,” Kibum replied. 

“And like the nail in the coffin for your show.” All eyes turned to their manager, who nodded towards the red ‘on’ light that still shone brightly on the camera. 

The hosts’ faces went pale. “I TOLD YOU TO CUT!”

*

When the manager dropped Minho and Kibum back home, Jonghyun met them in the living room, the only one visibly awake on the couch. 

“Look at our little secret agents!” Jonghyun cheered tiredly, smiling fondly at his bandmates. “Taking down the corrupt television personalities, one by one.” Minho smiled as he led Kibum to the couch, physically handing him off to Jonghyun’s waiting arms. “I’m sorry it came at the cost of you getting poisoned.”

“Not poisoned,” Kibum whined, face squished against Jonghyun’s shoulder. 

“Turns out the flu just hit him incredibly fast,” Minho explained, hands on his hips. “And hit him in the stomach instead of the head like the rest of you.”

“Oh, baby.” Jonghyun clicked his tongue, carding his fingers through Kibum’s hair, much to the younger’s satisfaction. 

“Guess that means I win.” Minho shrugged. 

“Win what?”

“The immunity competition.”

“You’re insufferable.” Kibum waved a hand out to hit Minho, but missed him by an embarrassingly long shot. 

“Where’re the others?” Minho asked. 

“Both of them went to bed a little bit ago. I, admittedly, slept through your show, but got to see all the best parts on recording.” 

Minho nodded. “Can I leave Ki with you?”

“Of course.”

“Goodnight, then. Feel better, loves.”

Minho turned down the hall, only stopping in his own room quickly to change before ducking into Jinki’s room. The leader was, predictably, not asleep, peeking suspiciously at Minho as he closed the door behind himself. 

“Hey,” the leader rasped. 

“Hey yourself,” Minho replied. 

“It’s late. Why are you here?” 

“Why do you think?” Just as they all knew about Jinki’s temporary, illness-induced insomnia, they also knew that the only sure-fire way to make him sleep was an all-powerful Minho cuddle.

“You’ll actually get sick.”

Minho rolled his eyes. “Hyung, no offense, but I’m already toast. I’ve been exposed for so long, if my immune system’s going to crumble, it’s already destined to be. Fate gave us a pass with the variety show. I’m willing to risk is again to make sure you get actual sleep.”

Jinki sighed but nodded, pulling back the corner of his comforter so Minho could climb into his hyung’s bed. After he got himself situated, Jinki immediately melted against his chest, arms wrapping securely around Minho’s torso. “You did good today. Both of you.”

“Is that your way of saying, ‘Minho, I’m so proud of you?’” Minho joked

“Well, if you’d let me ramble more, maybe we could’ve gotten there.” 

Minho chuckled, his fingers finding their way into Jinki’s hair. “I heard you didn’t sleep at all today.”

“I did… kinda.”

“Not enough. You gotta let yourself rest.” Jinki hummed in response. Minho smiled to himself. 

“The new manager said you texted him. About Kibum. How on Earth did you know that?” Minho asked. 

“He gets this look on his face, a mix of discomfort and confusion and not quite pain, more like resignation. What tipped you off?” 

“Hm?”

“You started covering for him, right as I sent the message, so I know our manager didn’t tell you.”

“He was sweating. That doesn’t normally happen to him to that degree on TV sets.” 

Jinki nodded against Minho’s chest, his arms squeezing tighter for a second. “Good man. You’re a good man.”

Minho chuckled. “Does that mean I get to go to the leader meeting next time you’re out of commission?”

“Don’t push it.”

[somaybeimbiased]

Which SHINee member does Taemin adore?

Which member of Shinee do you think Taemin adores? Sure, they all friends and brothers but is there someone he has a soft spot for? I really want to know your opinion. Thanks!              -Anon

You. Are. Evil.

This is a tough question for SO MANY reasons. 

I’m my truthful opinion, I think SHINee as a whole, as really close, and that they have an unbreakable bond with each other. I think they all adore and appreciate one another to similar degrees. 

When it comes to Taemin, I feel like it’s harder to tell bc this kid doesn’t express a ton of emotions like some of his other members do, but there are still things he does or says to tell us and the members he loves them.

Let’s start with Ontae:

They go back to the trainee days, with Onew being an amazing hyung to Taemin as they practiced on the rooftop together before they even knew they’d be in a group together. 

They also hold hands A LOT, like there are times you’ll see them just walking while holding hands.

Taemin is known to place his hands on his member’s thighs a lot, but I found that he does it to Jinki A LOT

I also need to mention their whispering. They are ALWAYS whispering, and I don’t know what they are saying, but there are always looks of fondness on Taemin’s face when it comes to Lee Jinki.

Jonghyun, on the other hand is know to be the Taemin fanclub prez. And we know Taemin like messing around with Jonghyun.

I’m not even going to say anything about this ^^

Back HuGS for DaYs

You also can’t just get this into Internet War with someone you don’t care about, or else it wouldn’t have been this natural and it would’ve been MORE awkward.

There is also Taemin’s biting thing with Jjong.

Basically, they are bbbffffffssss and I we all know Tae adores Jjong so much.

Kibum has always been Taemin’s caretaker first and foremost, especially in their earlier days.

Basically beat up each other ALL THE TImE

Taemin wouldn’t just let anyone stuff him into that skirt and wig 

And there is also that v cute thing Tae does when he gets really close to Key’s face and he does this ALL THE TIME

Basically a lil shit loving on one of his favorite people

Then there is Minho-

We all knwo that they basically love each other. When they asked if the members were girls, who would you date, they said each other.

And we all know that Taemin loves his mango okay.

We can’t forget this hug. No one can

HE IS BASICALLY UNDRESSING MINHO WITH HIS EYES OK

ALSO THIS OKAY. As you can see, picking one SHINee member Taemin is particularly fond of is SUPER difficult. If I HAD to say one, it’d be Minho, simply because Minho is the closest to him in age, and they have fun teasing Kibum, and all that good stuff. Also, I feel like Taemin just tends to be really extra soft with him.  Like Taemin loves all his hyungs, and they all love him (all in different ways) and tbh I think SHINee memebers all adore each other.

[onewfantaesy]

I'm in love with this au, seriously! This is the cutest thing I've read in a looong time, I swear!! Idrk what to ask, just please, grace us with all the fluff you have in yourself!!! Maybe some 2min bonding? With baby/toddler tae???? thanks!

“Taeminnie, what’s this?” Minho asks, getting the toddler to look over at him.

Taemin’s face lights up, and he chirps, “Starfish!”

“Very good!” Minho coos, gathering Taemin in his arms and bringing both of them to the surface. 

Taemin flaps his little tail along with Minho’s, his arms wrapping around Minho’s neck. When their heads break the surface, Taemin takes in a deep gulp of air. One of his little arms stays wrapped around Minho’s neck, but the other reaches out to splash the water. When an eye peers above the water, Taemin shrieks and presses himself closer to Minho’s chest.

“It’s only a dolphin,” Minho whispers.

“Dolphin!” Taemin parrots.

A pod of dolphins starts surfacing and swimming around them, blowing water out of their blow-holes. Some water splashes Taemin’s face, and he laughs and turns his face into Minho’s chest. When the dolphins start swimming away, Taemin tries to break away from Minho’s arms and follow them.

“Big breath,” Minho reminds him. 

The two of them take deep breaths before going under the water. Minho moves Taemin to swim on his back, and Taemin’s little hands clasp around Minho’s neck. The two of them follow the dolphins, surfacing every few minutes to get a new breath of air.

They help the dolphins catch a few fish, and then they take a break to eat the few that were set aside for themselves. Taemin always gets too excited when he eats, though, so Minho brings the two of them up to the surface so Taemin can eat easier. 

Taemin is a finicky eater, though, and he only takes bites out of specific parts of each fish before handing the rest to Minho to finish. Kibum says he’ll grow out of it. Minho thinks that Taemin needs to be taught that he can eat more than two teeny-tiny bites out of the middle. Kibum is his caretaker, though, so Minho won’t fight with him over it.

“Shimp!” Taemin squeaks before diving back under the water.

“It’s shrimp, Taemin. Shrimp,” Minho says, catching Taemin before he can swim too far.

Minho doesn’t understand why Taemin won’t eat more than two bites of fish, but he’ll shove an entire shrimp in his mouth no problem. Kibum says that it will just take Taemin getting pinched once before he learns not to do it. Minho thinks they should really just teach him not to do it in the first place.

Either way, Minho reaches for the shrimp Taemin has in his chubby little hands and pulls the head and pincers off before giving it back to the boy. Taemin proceeds to shove the entire thing right in his mouth, and Minho has to pry his fingers in the boy’s mouth to pull on the tail before he swallows it.

They go to meet Kibum back at their part of the reef a little while later, Taemin blowing bubbles the whole way back. Minho doesn’t like how often he has to bring the two of them to the surface because of it, but he’s glad Taemin is so happy. 

“Hi bubble brain,” Kibum coos when Taemin is in his line of sight. 

Taemin is quick to snuggle his face into Kibum’s chest, and Minho follows after Kibum when he starts swimming up to the surface.

The three of them wade on their backs at the surface for a few hours, Minho and Kibum taking turns to stay alert while the other rests with Taemin. Minho smiles at the sight of his little family sleeping in the waves. 

[onewfantaesy]

I love mermaid au!! I don't think I've ever seen mermaids written as having to come up for air. I like it and I think it's super adorable how Taemin blows lil bubbles all the time. Can you talk about Taem's friendships with Jongin/Kai (and if he has any other friends?)

lmao well tbh i got it from that old animal planet mermaid mockumentary lmao (which i’m in love with btw and it has inspired every mermaid au i’ve ever written)

Kai has been Taemin’s best friend since they were both little ones. Suho is a good friend of Minho’s, and he’s Kai’s caretaker from the time Kai is about two. So Taemin and Kai just saw a lot of each other while they were growing up, and they eventually became close with each other because of how often they played together.

Taemin always bragged about how he’s six months older than Kai, and therefore he’s in charge. Kai just went along with it. When they’re about eight, though, and Taemin says something about how he’s older, Kai just hits him with his tail and tells him to, “Stop being such a bossy-fin.”

“You’re a bossy-fin!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

They have little squabbles every now and again as well. Suho, Minho, and Kibum are used to it. The two always make up in the end, or they simply forget that it ever happened in the first place.

“Do you wanna see this cool stingray tail I found?” Taemin asks.

“Yeah!”

Taemin brings Kai over to his part of the reef, pulling a stingray tail out from under an anemone, and Kai is mesmerized.

“How’s it not stingin’ you?”

“Daddy said it’s ‘cause it’s dead,” Taemin says.

“Who?” 

“Bummie,” Taemin stresses.

“That’s not what you said,” Kai argues.

“Yes it is,” Taemin argues back.

“Nuh-uh.”

Taemin frowns and jabs the stingray tail in Kai’s direction, and Kai swims off with a shriek. Taemin swims after him, and soon enough, the two are playing a game of Sharks and Fishes. Taemin gets to be the shark first because he’s the one with the stingray tail, and he says that makes him the one in charge.