Jonghyun snorted, actually snorted, as he watched Jiwoong trying to open the bottle of Soju he was holding. The artist drank notoriously fast and was already far less in control than the other members of the group. Currently, he was trying to unscrew the cap of a bottle that Jonghyun was almost certain wasn’t a screw top. He had been doing so for almost five minutes now.

The others in the group hadn’t noticed one of their number’s plight, as they were too engrossed in their own conversation. Jonghyun wasn’t sure what they were discussing anymore. It had initially been a conversation about fashion and the strange trends that were popular at the moment – a topic Jonghyun knew a little about – but it had somehow digressed and transitioned into weddings; specifically what Eunji wanted for her wedding. It had been interesting for a little while, if only to watch Youngho squirm, but the second the girls had gotten into the details of wedding dress design and the pros and cons of ivory versus white, Jonghyun just couldn’t concentrate any longer. He felt a little sorry for Youngho who, sat as he was with Eunji on his lap, was unable to escape the tedious conversation.

Jiwoong had never been involved in the conversations to begin with; he had been too focused on drinking. In front of him was a line of empty bottles, the vast majority being his own, and he had toddled off five minutes before to get more from the kitchen. His walk was surprisingly steady for someone as obviously drunk as he was, however upon returning, his efforts at opening the thing belied any claims at sobriety he may have had.

Grabbing the bottle from him and deftly removing the cap, Jonghyun took a swig, screwing up his face at the taste. He had never been one for hard liquor really. The taste just wasn’t his thing. The blast of bitter flavours across his tongue and the weird aftertaste was just off-putting. However, one couldn’t claim they didn’t give good effects.

Already, his head felt a little fuzzy. There was a strange feeling, somewhere just behind his eyes that indicated he was not working to full capacity. He was sure, if he were to stand up, the world would not be completely steady. He also knew, from experience, that this point was quite dangerous in terms of his thought to mouth filter. However, being surrounded by his friends he wasn’t too worried.

“Hey,” Jiwoong protested, a good minute after Jonghyun had grabbed the bottle from his hands, “that was mine.” His speech was still quite clear, though it was a little slower than usual and his enunciation was not perfect.

“Tough luck,” Jonghyun chuckled, taking another mouthful. He really could do with a shot glass but, at some point in the last few weeks, they had all gone missing from the apartment. It happened occasionally, something innocuous vanishing from the house. Jonghyun supposed that was the danger of living with an artist. Sometimes he got inspired by something strange – Jonghyun had once lost his favourite mug for this reason – or he felt the need to incorporate things into his work – like the sculpture that turned up a few months back that was constructed solely of their butter knives. Jonghyun strongly suspected there was a piece of artwork somewhere that contained four or five shot glasses.

Moving back to the other people in the room, Jiwoong’s drink still in his hand, Jonghyun rejoined the conversation and moved it on to a more interesting topic.

The friends chatted for a while, their conversations drifting from the inane to the deep and back again and they were all enjoying themselves. Sodam and Eunji seemed to take extra enjoyment from extracting information about his love life from Jonghyun. They found his relationship with Onew hilarious and adorable respectively. It was mortifying for Jonghyun, especially as the two already knew most of this information, but it was also nice as it showed they cared.

Then, when Sodam because bored with this, they passed the hours by playing games and drinking copiously. All except Youngho, who was staying relatively sober as he didn’t like the muzzy feeling drinking gave him, as well as the lack of control it resulted in. The others for it but overall understood his reasoning so let it go.

About five hours into the party, Jonghyun gasped as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Sodam caught his look and grinned wolfishly at him. Reaching across clumsily, she grabbed the phone out of her brother’s pants and answered the call. Jonghyun merely gaped at her as she did so, his brain moving too sluggishly to counter any of her actions as she made them.

“Well hello there, Onew darling.” She purred, trying to be seductive and only coming across as creepy. The girl stuck her tongue out at Eunji when she pulled a face of disgust and continued talking. “How are you this fine, fine evening?”

She was clearly trying to make her voice sound less affected by the alcohol than it really was, however it was not going well. The girl was a lightweight so, despite the relatively small amount of alcohol she had imbued (compared to the rest), she was still very much drunk.

“It’s Sodam.” She pouted, looking very put out that the singer didn’t recognise her from her voice alone. She seemed to have forgotten that she and Onew had never actually met or spoken. Everything she had heard about the idol was second-hand from Jonghyun or Jiwoong and not from the singer himself.

“Me? Drunk? Never.” She laughed, more carefree than she ever would if she were sober. Her laugh was louder and brasher than she would ever admit it could be, especially in front of someone like Onew – someone she would be nervous to talk to any other time.

“I’m not!” She protested, “I’m not but everyone else is.”

“’m not.” Jiwoong protested from his spot on the floor. He had been lying there since he had had his drink stolen, curled on his side and clutching an empty bottle to himself. As he spoke, he raised the bottle in the air in one hand before losing his balance and it clattered to the ground. Luckily the floor was carpeted and luckily he wasn’t holding it directly above his face or things could have become messy.

“Jiwoong’s not.” Sodam recited to the man on the phone. She chuckled at something the singer said before stage whispering – though she looked like she believed she was really whispering – “I don’t believe him either. He’s untrustworthy like that.”

The singer clearly agreed with her because Sodam sat up straighter and nodded sagely as if the man could see her. Her nodding stopped abruptly when the alcohol clearly affected her as she moved and she shook her head, as if clearing the fuzz from her thoughts.

“Why did I call? I called because… Wait!” She protested, shaking her finger in front of her angrily. “I didn’t call you, you called me.”

She looked confused for a second. The look on her face was clearly amusing and Eunji who was sat next to her erupted into a fit of giggles and collapsed against her friend’s side, still giggling. Sodam flailed a little at the sudden weight and almost fell over sideways before managing to steady herself with her free arm.

“That’s just Eunji and what do you mean you didn’t call me? Of course you did.”

She cocked her head to the side as if thinking hard about what the singer was saying. It clearly took her some effort to understand his words and, even when Onew had finished explaining, she still didn’t look entirely convinced he was telling her the truth. Pointing at her brother, almost falling over again as she had to do so with the hand she was using to brace herself against Eunji’s weight, she gestured him over. Jonghyun had been watching the conversation with interest, any anger at having his phone stolen had dissipated once he heard the name Onew and he had merely sat there listening and smiling sappily. He knew the man would be nice to his sister, even in her drunken state. There was a lingering fear that the girl would tell his boyfriend something truly embarrassing but it wasn’t too pressing. The Soju and other miscellaneous alcohols had aided in that.

Moving closer to his sister, the blonde was shocked when his phone was towards his chest and he flailed to catch it. Her hands both free, Sodam shifted slightly, cuddling closer to the girl next to her and wrapping her arms around her in a snuggly hug. Youngho, who was still mostly sober and merely observing the messes that were his friends, watched from his spot on the sofa as his girlfriend clutched onto her friend tighter. Absently he wished it was him in that position with her before he shrugged and stood up, stretching out his back. Wandering towards the kitchen, stepping over Jiwoong who had uncurled himself and now blocked most of the doorway, still clutching his bottle. Youngho looked back at the gathered friends raising an eyebrow and gesturing in askance. Noticing the man’s actions, Sodam gave him a thumbs up and also gestured towards Jonghyun who had finished his drink a while back. Youngho nodded and headed towards the cooler to grab the requested drinks and a beer for himself.

Clutching the phone to himself, the blonde moved it to his ear, smiling widely. “Jinks, how are you?”

“I’m good,” Sounded the voice from the other line, a voice that made Jonghyun’s stomach feel all fluttery and happy. “Sounds like you guys are having fun.”

“We are.” Jonghyun grinned looking around the room. “I’ve had a great night.”

“Are they always this gross?” Eunji whispered to Sodam, her voice still very loud.

“Oh yeah,” Sodam agreed, not even trying to mute her volume.

Jonghyun shot a rude gesture at his sister as Onew responded to his statement, “That’s good. What did you do?”

“Oh lots of stuff,” Jonghyun grinned. “Sungkyu payed for dinner for me and Sodam and Eunji and Jiwoong and Youngho and some of my office mates and it was really tasty. I had lamb, I like lamb it’s a good meat. I also stole a lot of Sodam’s chips. I like those too.”

“Yeah you did, .” Sodam muttered mutinously from the corner. She had initially tried to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping but had clearly given up on that rather fast.

“He smiles all cute and sappy when he’s talking to Onew, like I do with Youngho.” Eunji commented, her eyes a little unfocussed, but watching Jonghyun carefully. “This guy is good for him. He’s never been this happy.”

Sodam fake gagged at her friend’s words and took another swig of her drink, as if to cleanse the disgusting thoughts. “I don’t need to hear about my brother’s ‘happiness’ with his boyfriend.”

“Sounds like a blast.” Onew chuckled, his voice crackling a little over the phone. “Did everyone else have a nice time? I assume you went back to your apartment for a little after party.”

Jonghyun went to reply but was shocked and looked up in confusion as a bottle suddenly obscured his vision. Staring at it cross eyed it took him a second to deduce what he was looking at. When he did he grinned at Youngho and offered his thanks.

“What was that?” Onew asked, confused.

“Youngho got me alcohol.”

“Are you sure you need more?” Onew chuckled.

“Of course I do. It’s a party.” Jonghyun said, like it was obvious.

There was some muffled talking on the other end of the line, as if the microphone was covered as a conversation took place, then Onew returned to the phone, “Taemin wants to talk to you, is that ok?”

“Of course!” Jonghyun exclaimed, drawing the attention of the others in the room – except Jiwoong who still hadn’t moved – “I love Taemin.”

“Taemin?” Sodam asked, “Put it on speaker. I gots to talk to the kid I’m meant to worship.”

“You worship me?” A younger sounding voice sounded from the speakers after Jonghyun fumbled with the controls for a few seconds. The phone was then placed on the floor as Jonghyun and the two girls clustered around it, Youngho listening from his reclaimed place on the couch.

“Nope!” Sodam said, popping the P obnoxiously.

“Aww, that’s a shame. I am the best member of SHINee after all.”

“I disagree.” Jonghyun commented.

“You’re biased.” Taemin sniped back. “So. You don’t worship me, miss?”

“Sodam, Kim Sodam.” Sodam said, realising she hadn’t yet introduced herself.

“Eunji.” Eunji chimed in, feeling a need to introduce herself “Youngho is also here.”

“I’m Jonghyun.” Jonghyun said, grinning proudly.

“You’re an idiot.” Sodam said.

“So I assume you’re the sister.” Taemin’s slightly echoey voice sounded from the speakers, the male having ignored the introductions.

“The best of the Kims, yes.” Sodam said, pulling off a cheesy superman pose, causing Eunji to collapse in giggles once more. The girl fell forwards with her laughter, her hair falling forwards to obscure her face and her arm knocking the phone slightly, so the device skittered across the floor.

Flailing towards it, Jonghyun managed to catch it but not before it made a horribly loud noise through the microphone, if Taemin’s quiet ‘ouch’ was any indication. Placing the phone back into the middle of the circle, Sodam helped Eunji sit back up and then waited for what Taemin wanted to say.

“So what’s this about being my worshipper?” The singer said, his voice honestly curious, even through the tinny speakers of the phone.

Sodam grinned wolfishly at her brother in a way that he knew she was going to embarrass him hugely. Realising he had no way to stop her, Jonghyun merely opened the bottle he was holding and took a large swig, hoping to dull the embarrassment. Gagging at the taste, the drink not having been beer like he had assumed, he reached behind him and grabbed blanket off the couch, wrapping himself in it like he was a burrito.

“So,” She began, like she was telling an epic tale. Her hand gestures were extravagant and large, and almost knocked the drink out of Eunji’s hand. The older girl had poached the drink Youngho had brought for Sodam for herself and was happily nursing it from her spot next to the distracted Kim sibling. “Back when Jonghyunnie was a wee baby, maybe nineteen, he got into this group called SHINee. You might have heard of them.” She carried on, despite Jonghyun’s audible groan of distress from his blanket cocoon and Eunji and Youngho’s chuckles. Neither of the friends had heard the full story of Jonghyun’s obsession, so this was of interest to them too – Youngho more than Eunji due to his more sober state.

“I think I recall a thing or two about them, yes.”

”So, he’s suuuuper obsessed, like posters, CDs and all that jazz. Goes to all the concerts. Writes songs for them in his spare time. That kinda thing.”

“Songs you say?” Taemin asked, “Why haven’t I heard any of these so called songs?”

“Because they .” Jonghyun’s voice sounded, incredibly muffled from inside his blanket.

“Anyway, he was obsessed but he refused to go alone to their shows. It was some masculine pride thing or something. I don’t know, I don’t have a .”

“You’re manly enough to have one,” Jonghyun commented, his head emerging from the blankets to give the insult before retreating once more. Sodam stuck her tongue out at him and aimed a kick at his thigh, enjoying the loud smacking noise it made along with the grunt of pain.

“My would be bigger than yours, if I did have one.”

Taemin, who up until this point had merely been listening, laughed loudly and clearly. “Burn.”

“So he drags me to every show this group play and makes me buy all the CDs for him.” The girl says, suddenly launching back into her story.

Jonghyun takes a second to understand what she is saying as his mind cannot cope with the rapid change of topic. When he does he curls even tighter in his blanket ball, wincing as he realises the small wet patch on one side is because he is still holding a bottle in one hand and he had tilted it.

“So I go but I had to get into the role, method acting and all.” The girl continued, posing like she was some sort of Shakespearian actress.

“Obviously,” Taemin agreed as if her statement made perfect sense.

“So I became a Taemin fangirl. Squealing, acting creepy, the works. The things I do for my idiot brother.” She said, wiping away an imaginary tear.

“And now I’m paying her back one meal at a time.” Jonghyun commented, emerging from his blankets as carefully as possible considering his limited control of his limbs. He didn’t want to spill any more of his drink.

“Food is obviously the best way.” Taemin said, it was clear from his tone of voice that he had used the trick multiple times. “So how’s your night going?”

“Great!” Sodam said, “Jiwoong is dead, Eunji hasn’t spoken more than a sentence for like, four hours because she keeps laughing and Jjong seems to be having fun.”

“I am,” Jonghyun agreed, grinning. “They made my night special. It’s really good.”

“I’m glad,” Taemin said, “Now Jinki wants the phone back, have a good night Jonghyun, Sodam, and the rest. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“He pretty much gave you free reign just then.” Onew’s voice said from the phone, “Crazy kid has less boundaries than he should.”

“Woo, party!” Sodam yelled before being shushed but Eunji who placed a finger on her friend’s lips.

“We stopped the loud because neighbours. Remember.”

“Oh yeah,” Sodam whispered, far quieter than she strictly needed to be, “Sorry.”

Nodding to herself, Eunji grabbed her friend and pulled her to her feet. The two took a few seconds to regain their bearings as their respective centres of balance weren’t quite right and then the older girl pulled Sodam towards Jiwoong’s bedroom.

“We should sleep. Don’t come in our room. I’m watching you.” She said, pointing at her eyes then at the assembled men, including Jiwoong who was now crawling slowly towards the kitchen for some unknown reason.

“Goodnight,” Jonghyun said, waving, as they and Youngho left the room. Youngho heading into Jonghyun’s room after a harsh glare from his girlfriend scared him away from the artist’s bedroom.

Switching his phone off of speaker phone, Jonghyun moved from the floor onto the sofa, taking up Youngho’s vacated spot. Placing his, now half empty bottle, on the table, he arranged his blanket around him and got comfortable.

“Tonight was fun,” He said, smiling softly. “I liked it.”

“I’m glad.” Onew said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“I don’t mind,” Jonghyun said lightly. “You’re a big, famous, super star. I understood that when we started dating. I don’t expect you to be with me all the time.”

He was much more candid with his feelings tonight than he usually would be. The slight pang he felt whenever he realised Onew couldn’t be there with him all the time was still present but, as usual, he ignored it. Everyone had things in their life that weren’t perfect, especially in relationships. It was fine, he honestly didn’t mind.

“I know.” Onew said, but I wanted to be there. “I’ll make it up to you. This weekend, we’ll have a proper date.”

“A proper date?” Jonghyun asked, hopefully, “Like with walks by the river and a picnic and flowers?”

“If that’s what you want.” Onew agreed.

“I’m looking forward to it.” Jonghyun said. “I’m sleepy.”

“Then sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Jinks.”

“Goodnight Jjong,” Jinki’s voice sounded from the phone but Jonghyun was already asleep. A combination of hearing Onew’s voice, happiness and alcohol – ok, mainly alcohol – had succeeded in lulling the blonde to sleep. His head was tilted at an awkward angle that was sure to hurt in the morning and one leg was hanging out of the blanket that covered him. The phone slipped in his hands and landed on his blanketed lap with a muffled thump.

A quiet chuckle sounded from the speakers as no response to his statement came. Onew spoke quietly, so as not to wake the blonde, “Sleep well, I love you.”

 

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CHAPTER NOTES: All my chapters have been between 2k and 2.5k recently. So here’s one that’s a little longer for you. Also drunk Jonghyun is sappy Jonghyun.

Also, I forgot to mention that we are officially past the halfway point (both in word count and chapter number now). So that's exciting. Plus, I hit 3000 views which is rad and I love you all. I'm getting approx 1000 views per 10 chapters which is nice <3

Also a note, someone on AO3 asked for date markers so they can work out how old Jjong etc are. For reference, all the 'arc # begins' chapters are online posts and come complete with dates for your reference. I didn't want to put October 2013 or anything at the beginning of the chapters or anything because exact dates aren't really necessary. But the year can be determined (usually) from those posts.