#minghs

            𝓘F  SOMEONE  WERE  TO  ASK  HOW  MINGHAO       and  Changmin  had  gotten  from  point  a  to  point   …   whatever  the  fuck  they  were  on,  he  would  outwardly  say  that  he  had  no  clue.  Absolutely  none.  It  was,  genuinely,  the  truth  to  things   —   Minghao  had  initially  come  over  just  to  listen  to  music,  flip  through  his  ridiculously  extensive  record  collection  and  maybe  share  a  few  drinks.  A  single  glass  of  wine  each  had  turned  into  both  of  them  taste  testing  beer,  going  through  soju  and,  at  some  point,  migrating  to  his  private  media  room. 

            It  was  there  that  things  seemed  to  absolutely  barrel  out  of  control.  Changmin  had  started  on  what  the  other  Tohoshinki  member  lovingly  called    ‘  the  yap  ’     which  really  just  meant  he  started  prattling  on  about  the  ridiculous  wall  of  figures,  toy  cars,  and  lego  sets  he  had  covering  almost  every  available  wall  and  flat  surface.  At  this  point,  both  of  them  were  a  happy  buzzed   —   a  fuzziness  settling  behind  their  eyes  that  settled  their  inhibitions  quite  a  bit.  It  was  nice,  it  had  been  a  while  since  he  had  decided  to  drink  with  someone  that  wasn’t  Yunho  and,  as  much  as  he  loved  them,  they  really  couldn’t  hold  their  liquor  well. 

            At  some  point  both  of  them  had  sprawled  out  on  the  elder  idol’s  ridiculously  plush  couch,  a  random  DC  show  turned  on  for  background  noise  and  bodies  sinking  into  the  fabric.  Changmin  had  asked  at  some  point  about  what  it  was  like  working  in  such  a  huge  idol  group,  having  only  experienced  five  himself  when  they  were  all  still  together  before  eventually  becoming  just  two  :  Shim  Changmin  and  Jung  Yunho.  The  concept  of  a  huge  group  was  absolutely  foreign  to  him,  but  he  was  enjoying  hearing  all  of  the  different  stories  about  Seventeen.  Each  one  was  so  much  more  fascinating  than  the  last. 

            And  the  drinking  stories   …   ?  They  were  absolutely  out  of  this  world   —   every  time  that  Mingho  started  a  new  story  they  got  crazier  and  crazier.  It  was  clear  just  how  close  all  of  them  were  from  the  consistent  antics,  and  it  amused  Changmin  to  no  end.  The  other  was  currently  going  on  about  a  drinking  contest  that  they  had  gotten  into  when  they  all  still  lived  together,  prattling  on  about  some  sort  of  game  lost  and  Minghao’s  punishment  being  to  recite  the  Greek  alphabet  of  all  things.  It  had  Changmin  laughing  out  loud  as  he  refilled  both  of  their  glasses,  the  wine  they  had  initially  picked  out  completely  gone  and  now  being  replaced  with  Soju. 

            “  The  Greek  alphabet?!  That  sounds  a  little  bit  like  torture,  but  I  guess  if  you  were  in  a  punishment  round  for  whatever  game  you  were  playing  it  checks  out.  ”     He  replies  back  with  a  grin  as  he  fills  both  of  their  glasses  up  about  halfway  before  adding  ice  to  his  own  from  the  small  bowl  he  had  brought  in  full  of  it  from  the  kitchen.  Every  once  in  a  while  he  had  some  odd  drinking  habits,  and  iced  Soju  was  absolutely  one  of  them.  Sue  him  for  liking  some  of  his  alcohol  picks  chilled.    “  Did  you  actually  manage  to  get  through  any  of  it?  I  have  to  assume  you  did  this  from  looking  at  it  online,  unless  you  just  randomly  have  it  memorized.  ” 

the atmosphere of the airport arrival gates was electric, energy pouring from the crowd that vied for a glimpse of the stars that would be filing off the tarmac. the environment was overwhelming: the harshness of the fluorescence lighting, the sterile scent of cleaning byproducts, the constant hum of the masses that mingled. nestled amongst the lot, tucked carefully into the corner towards the end, the masked artist stood away from the horde, hiding in plain sight, awaiting the arrival of one star in particular. yet, despite the crushing air that surrounded her, the kim was aloft with joy, every fiber of her being abuzz. over the course of the past few months, the path of their attachment had diverged. a once friendship now bloomed into something else entirely, the seeds unwittingly planted somewhere between the genuine cheers for each other's progress & the light teasing amongst them and their friends. gently nurtured with time & patience, over late night musings & early morning laughter & smiles felt from a distance, the affection she held for minghao slowly began to bloom, softly blossoming into a delicate admiration & tender desire. something she hadn't even realized she'd been searching for: the moonlight to her sun. schedules & other commitments kept them equally busy, but now that the timetables seemed to align, the biggest barrier between them melted away like the final snowfall before spring greets everyone warmly.

of course, she wasn't anything less than grateful towards the time they'd cultivated together, however with each passing mile of his journey bringing him closer to home, she began to grow restless— slender fingers gripped the plastic handle of the picket while the other hand brushed unruly hairs away from her gaze before carefully smoothing out the ribbon of her bow. the roar of applause & cheers interrupted her anxious movements, her gaze shooting upwards to scan the incoming crowd. there, in a black bucket hat & mask that obscured his features & fur lined jacket that looked soft & welcoming. she would recognize him anywhere, hadn't he said that to her? dark hues hovered over him as a dozen emotions washing over her in waves, all the elation & nerves & longing & yearning that had been bottled up bubbled, threatening to explode. the static of the air between them hummed, drowning out any coherent attempts at thought. simple words echoed in her mind: he's here, he's real.

there was a familiar person in view, a figure whose right of presence she instantly and passionately studied. it was very rare for ruka to encounter other people from the industry. even her own labelmates, she would only see during evaluations and that hasn't been much of a thing since their recent debut. moments like these always made her freeze, but only long enough before she starts to feel an itch to say something because of that chary feeling of awkwardness. she sure wished the charisma could work in such cases, but her confidence seemed to tie into her craft, the stage giving rise to a persona she could only hope to be a fraction of in the mundanities of everyday life; an odd thing to wish for, perhaps, but it's a thought that was enough to get the pad of her fingers rubbing against her scalp.

of all places, it was the company bathroom. a silence hung in the air, lingering awkwardly only because the older had walked in on soobin hunched over the counter with bloodshot eyes. this hadn't been the first time he'd found himself curled into his own body - a comical sight, really, if the circumstances had been different - breath labored and sweat dripping from the strands of hair that fell over his eyes. this was, however, the first time he'd ever gotten caught in the act. 

“ah… hyung,” he exhales a pathetic laugh, though there was nothing funny about the situation anyways. “i didn't think… i didn't expect- wow, sorry…,” he stutters his way through blurbs of words, even going so far as to offer the older a smile that clearly doesn't reach his eyes. like he was going to try and steer the conversation elsewhere, like he wasn't actively a mess in front of his hyung right now. 

it'd been a particularly bad day of practice, he'd made one too many mistakes he's normally quick to catch and perfect, gotten yelled at a couple times. but most importantly to him, felt like he was holding the team back. when it came to the other members, especially given his leader status, soobin felt an extra fifteen layers of pressure smushed on top of the already pre-existing pressure placed on him by the industry. so, there he'd been, camped out in the company bathroom and unraveling piece by piece. 

“hiding out here for a minute… yeah, that sounds nice," he eventually nods, backing away from the sink and patting his palms against the front of his sweats, a desperate attempt at seeming more put together than he actually was in the moment. “but aren't you busy? i don't want to hold you up, either…” he trails off, voice much softer than before, cheeks flushing a light shade of red, embarrassment from the other seeing him in such a state. 

“so uh… you come here often?” what the fuck was he saying? 

● ┊💬 𝗝𝗞 answered a meme question from ﹫minghs ! ↳ ⠀ ✰ ⠀﹒⠀𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 ┊ accepting !

an eyebrow arches as jeongguk stares back at minghao, the words having escaped the other male soon making an amused twinkle appear in his eyes. he can't help but wonder what exactly that means; what does going off the rails entail, and he voices that much.

"okay, but what does it mean for you going off the rails, exactly?" he asks after a moment of thinking about it, a hint of laughter and amusement laced within his voice. "and what are the reasons — what personal reasons make someone wanna go off the rails?"

"more importantly, can i join you?" he jokes.

🫶🏼

— » from this prompt | open

— » from this prompt | open