Zephyr In The Sky

a big smile still tugging on her lips, somi brings herself closer and closer to the older boy with each excited skip. “nothing really~” she replies in singsong, trying not to be too obvious about what she was there in the first place. she honestly couldn’t recall if she had approached sicheng before about any help for her school work, perhaps she has and had sworn that she understood what he had taught her – now that she thought about it, perhaps she already had approached him about this problem set.

she slowly and carefully starts moving her notes and papers aside as she crouches in front of him, trying to look at what it was he was busy with before she came in. “what'chun doing?” she beamed as she feels the strain on her legs, hitting them a bit as she stretched them out, chanting ’ouch’ as she stretched her legs and made moved to sit next to sicheng. perhaps a little too close for comfort when her shoulders bumped against his, “sorry…” she giggles, inching away and reaching out for her her already exposed coursework and papers.

sighing, somi gives up and spreads it all in front of them. “okay, fine… i need brain help,” she pouts, hands clasped together as she turned to sicheng. “please, please, please~” the thing about the young girl is she isn’t embarrassed about asking for help about these things, even if she probably has been taught how to do it a hundred thousands times.

Sicheng leans away from Somi, ever so slightly, although he’s grown accustomed to her lack of spacial awareness by this point, it’s always a little disconcerting for him to be so suddenly face to face; she was like a jack in the box springing from nowhere, sometimes.

“I’m....just hanging out...” he answers with a laugh, “Doing nothing but looking like I’m doing something, so the trainers don’t yell at me.” 

He watches as she scurries backwards, probably realising that they hadn’t had enough breathing room, and smiles. 

“Brain...brain help, huh?” and he watches her fumble with her homework, trying not to laugh at her, and failing, “Yeah, I agree.” he teases, although his tone isn’t mean, if anything, it’s brotherly, “Let’s see what you’ve got, though...”

the thing jaemin liked about most of his friends is that they weren’t the type who seemed to demand frequest meet-ups to stay connected. there was no imposed daily, weekly, or monthly physical appearances to ensure the friendship still stands. they could go as long as months without seeing each other, meet up one day, and the concept of time having passed so long falls away. those are the kind of friendship jaemin likes, not only because he wasn’t particularly socially engaged himself, but because it does not tally absences or missed dates.

he arrives early – like the usual, the thought makes him roll his eyes and heave a sigh. he told himself time and time again that sicheng won’t get there earlier. especially now that he’s a trainee, he’ll probably get there later because he was tired or because he has surprise training or something. nevertheless, he missed the older boy, that’s for sure. he liked having to talk to someone who… gets it. he and sicheng share more than just intellect, there’s this… similarity between them that jaemin couldn’t really put into words but just felt.

he looks up briefly from his phone, sending haech a quick text that sicheng got there finally, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips as he set the device in front of him, hand reaching out for one of the cups. “if you’re good to drink what the girl at the counter so discreetly called ’old man’s choice’, by all means, take the other one.” he explains, taking a sip before letting out a light laugh. “it is sweet of me, right? ordering one for you… i can’t say the same for what i ordered though.” he continues, “and if it’s too cold or too… uh, bitter for your liking, you can just order a cup over there.” he nods at the direction of the counter, taking another sip.

that was the most he’s said in months, the longest conversation he’s had with anyone besides donghyuck or yerim. see? he’s not completely reclusive, some people just don’t share the same humor. “how have you been, hyung?”

Sicheng snorts, eyeing the coffee in front of him nervously. 

“Old man’s choice, huh?” he picks the drink up and swishes it about a bit before he takes a sip, grimacing at the overwhelming bitterness that floods his taste buds, a thousand times more intense than anything he was used to; he was only a coffee drinker in his most desperate moments, when he really needed to squeeze a couple more waking hours out of his day. “Shit, okay, I see what she means now. It’s literally just...coffee.” 

He laughs, taking another sip, trying to appreciate the flavour a bit, the acrid tar water that it was, and anticipating the ability to see through time and space the moment the caffeine hit his bloodstream. 

donghyuck’s smirk pulls his lips up and with his eyebrow raised, looking cocky and smug, he’s feeling proud. he knows he’s the champion of smash and he’s thankful to sicheng for thinking that he’s any match to his legendary status, just to solidify the fact that he is, undeniably, the best. but then a pillow finds its way across his face, leaving him somewhat dazed. he pulls the pillow away from him and throws it back at sicheng with a groan. 

“i’m rude? you’re just a loser baby,” donghyuck says with a scoff. “for your information, i’ve only played this… maybe a hundred or something times. jaemin’s too busy to play video games. and if i went easy on you, you’d never get better so… no.” he giggles and sits back before a pillow can come rushing toward him again. “you can try, dong sicheng… but i’m always the best,” he says before starting them in the same arena, waiting for a moment until zelda comes full force toward isabelle again, kicking her off the floating platform. 

Sicheng laughs, taking hold of the pillow and tucking it under his arm for comfort, leaning closer to Haechan, bumping their shoulders together with a snort, and a roll of his eyes. 

“Baby?” Sicheng says with a little purr, and he laughs, his eyes fluttering to Haechan only long enough to register the typically smug expression, and characteristically flared nostrils, and he coos at him, wiggling to his left so that he could be just a little more invasive of Haech’s personal space, knowing full well what the boy had actually meant, “The word ‘baby’ sounds so much sweeter coming from your lips, Haechannie. You must only call me that from now on.” 

He is quickly distracted from his attempts at pestering by the game, and watches as Zelda kicks Isabelle off of the platform, struggling with a mess of button presses to avoid watching her fall into the void. She narrowly escapes her termination, but she’s so small, and slow, and Zelda’s surprisingly fast. 

“a burger joint,” yerim says laughing a little, mouth full still. “mcdonalds is mcdonalds, it’s not a burger joint. you act like we’re sitting in an american 1950′s restaurant.” yerim unloads another ketchup packet on her tray and twirls her nugget in it before pausing to burp. she looks over and smiles at sicheng. “pink slime, spink splime,” she tells sicheng confidently. “tastes pretty good to me,” she says popping another one in her mouth. 

“so hows… blackout?” yerim asks. “any luck with debut? or is it a standstill as usual. i don’t think omni is gonna debut me anytime soon, we have no girls. unless they give me and saerom the lesbian duo unit we deserve.” yerim wipes her hands on a random napkin on the table and takes a drink of her soda, looking over at her friend. “remember when we were on starfinder together, now look at us. who woulda thought?”

Sicheng pauses, holding a single fry delicately to his lips as he tries to process the intense attitude that radiates from Yerim. 

“Would you mind relaxing, Mister Meanie?” he says, furrowing his brow, although his lips spread into a grin at the same time, “You’ve gone mad, or something?”

He laughs.

–––– @lmsicheng ; 

yangyang remembers the first time he stood on a stage, eyes narrowing as he looks past the lights and watches the crowd move in almost a slow motion wave. the venue is small, packed from side to side, and he can still remember the nerves running through him. those same feelings come back to him still but now he recognizes them as more of an anxious need to play his music and to feel the bass move through him like a steady heartbeat. 

he’s doing his own show tonight instead of djing for a rap battle, something that he enjoys more but he’s not necessarily getting hired for. but a slot opened and he was dragged into the show last minute. he’d complain but he’s too excited to play some of the new samples that he’s finalized recently. once he finishes, he bounces off stage to look for the club manager and stop by the bar. but before he can focus on doing anything in particular, he spots a familiar face. 

It’s difficult when you’ve got to take a paring knife to your already meager free time and divide it up amongst all of the people in your life. Not to mention, family was a complicated thing for Sicheng—he sometimes wondered if it was crazy of him to care so much, if Yangyang even noticed, or cared. Maybe it’d been silly to come. Maybe he looked stupid. 

He manages to relax a bit, ordering a drink and sipping at it with mild displeasure as Yangyang’s set wound down; at least you got what you paid for at this place, he supposes. 

Eventually, the younger boy’s done, and Sicheng watches him clamber off of the stage, waiting for a moment to see if he’d recognise that he was there, and just as he’s about to call out, he meets Yangyang’s eye, and offers him a smile. 

starter for @lmsicheng !

it’s been about a week since his dad called, asking if he could come and see xuxi. it’s been a week since xuxi said yes, and two days since he booked the table at the restaurant for dinner. he’d hesitated before asking sicheng to join them for dinner, knowing he’d be worried about it. xuxi hadn’t yet told his dad about sicheng, or even that he likes boys, so tonight was going to be a surprise, though a good or bad one, xuxi wasn’t yet sure.

his fingers fumble with the buttons on his shirt as he stands by the end of his and sicheng’s bed, eyes flitting over to sicheng every few minutes, because he knows he’s nervous. he’d tried to talk xuxi out of inviting him, tried to suggest he just go with his mum, or on his own, but xuxi needed to tell his dad, needed his dad to meet the most important person in his life besides his own mum. sicheng, xuxi knows, is going to be in his life forever, or at least, if things go the way he wants them too, he will.

he needs his dad to meet sicheng soon, and if he doesn’t accept their relationship, then xuxi won’t hesitate to cut him out of his life again, just like he did when his parents divorced and his dad remarried. it might sound ridiculous to people who value ‘real family’ over partners or friends, but sicheng is more important to xuxi right now than a man who he’s spent so many years trying to move on from hating.

many times his mum had tried to tell him that his dad hadn’t broken her heart, and that the divorce was mutual - that she was the one who suggested they get the divorce, so his dad could marry the woman he really loved. but, xuxi couldn’t hear any of it, not until after his accident, when he awoke to his father with red, puffy eyes from crying, sat right beside his bed looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

it was pretty obvious then that even if xuxi was holding his dad at arms length from his life, he was still a massive part of his dads, still occupying a place in his heart. his anger cracked, his resentment melted a little that day, and he allowed his dad back into his life, little by little. though they’re still on uneven ground with their relationship, every few months his dad comes to visit with his wife, xuxi’s stepmother, who’s never been anything but kind to him, and they mend their relationship a little more each time.

this time, though, he’s not sure what to expect. will his dad accept him, and the love of his life, or will this put an end to a year of trying to mend things.

He sighs, trying his best to let go of his concern, running his hands over his face to clasp at his hair in a show of grief, like some Renaissance statue, almost relieved to feel skin beneath his fingertips, as he’d stared at himself long enough that his face had begun to feel unreal; everything about the day’s itinerary felt unreal, and it didn’t help that he was worn from his schedules—he still expected that he might awaken at some point to find that this whole entire thing had been some subconscious exercise in absurdism.

They were preparing to leave so that they could meet Xuxi’s semi-estranged father, and his stepmother, for dinner at some pleasantly plush restaurant; Xuxi’s father, a man whom he’d never met before, and who did not know that Xuxi was in a relationship with a boy, or liked them, even. The cocktail that bubbled in Sicheng’s gut was a confusing one: two parts self-disgust to one part wanting to be there for Xuxi, with a jigger or two of standard-issue social anxiety just to top it off. Shaken, not stirred, judging by the nauseated twist in his gut. 

It’s impossible that Xuxi’s father will be happy—that he knows—and he still thinks this whole thing is a bad idea; ideally, Xuxi would go to this dinner alone, or preferably with his mother, and reconcile with his father easily and surely, and Sicheng would remain a secret, tucked away quietly where he belonged. Only he still recalls the look on his boyfriend’s face when he’d suggested as much, so he doesn’t dare speak this opinion again.

He keeps telling himself that it’s just because he doesn’t want Xuxi hurt—he’s certain that he will be—if his father doesn’t take well to this abrupt severing of his bloodline. But Xuxi’s so sweetly, and so blindly, optimistic; he hopes for the best, and dives in head first, and Sicheng’s seen this bruise him more than once. He hates that things couldn’t just be normal, that he couldn’t be enough. And he hates that that isn’t the only thing that bothers him about this scenario, that there’s a part of him that wants to remain a secret; there’s no turning back from how unmistakably, and irrevocably real this becomes after this.  

He doesn’t think he’s ready to be known like this, to exist outside of the capsule world he’d constructed here, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever be ready, and if there’s anyone worth popping the bubble for, it’s Xuxi. 

Right?

The uncertainty he feels in the depths of his mind make him feel like he’s failing his boyfriend. 

He watches the doe-eyed boy, long like a beanpole, in the mirror as he pulls his shirt on, and Xuxi catches him, and smiles, although it’s an unusually reserved smile, which prompts a pang of guilt in Sicheng, especially when he asks how he’s doing.

somi had made a promise to her parents that she will not neglect her studies even if she becomes a trainee. if anything, she was able to get better marks when she got signed than she had before blackout. the young girl had been keeping that promise, school wasn’t so bad when she actually paid attention – for the most part at least. when you didn’t have the energy for anything else, the only thing you can really focus on is the board or book in front of you, and the teacher’s voice. the young girl intends to keep the promise, even the promise to get into a university too.

her parents did mention one or two universities that they feel would be good for somi, but they never really imposed it. that was the thing about her parents, they truly and genuinely support her decisions. and it makes her all the more determined to get good results from the csat. she’s been doing good with mock exams from the hakwon she had been attending bi-weekly, but she was still anxious about the foreign language that is mathematics. of all the subjects, it’s the subject that supposed to be the same in every country that stressed her out.

He watches her practically skip across the polished hardwood of the practice room, irreverent as always. 

He’d known her for longer than he’d been a trainee at Blackout, the two of them having been on Starfinder together, and had been signed to the company together, and although she was sometimes a little...overbearing, he’d come to view her a though she were his little sister. 

–––– @lmsicheng ; 

yerim hasn’t really had time to hangout with anyone besides her fellow trainees and her girlfriend when she can get a chance. she misses everyone but finding time to get out of the small dorm is hard and she has saerom to keep her company, she feels like there’s not much else she really needs. human interaction becomes something of a bare minimum and not first on her list of priorities, especially when she’s just so exhausted.  

“They’re just...boring.” he says with a chuckle, a smirk forming on his lips, “If I’m gonna come to a burger joint I’m gonna...eat a burger, y’know? It just doesn’t make sense to me to...come here and eat that...” 

He points to the breaded, fried thing Yerim’s got clasped between a pair of greasy fingertips.