Title: The Shaving Community

Rating: PG-13

Word count: 2372

Warning: To all elderly people, Frenchman and German, I am sorry, but really, how could I not.

Summary: This. (Because now I’m just being lazy.)

Jonghyun doesn’t consider himself a lazy person. He’ll actually say he’s a rather effective problem solver. He makes sure to always figure out the fastest and easiest solution because wasting time and energy really is a shame and, naturally, this applies to any given situation. So when Jonghyun at the end of the day finds short scratchy stubbles irritating the pads of his fingers as he his chin, it’s only reasonable that he’d be picking up the electric razor. And though it isn’t often Minho and he agree, Jonghyun considers it a triumph that two electric razors adorn their bathroom cabinet (even if they weren’t arguing in the first place, but he won’t mention that).

Except tonight, his personal device is still neatly placed in its charger when Jonghyun gear up for shaving.

Jinki started using safety razors not too long ago and of course, Kibum just won’t shut up about how smooth his skin feels to the touch. He’s even made Jonghyun run his hand over Jinki’s jaw to feel the texture (which reaches a whole new level of creepy in Jonghyun’s book and that says a lot because Jonghyun has known Taemin for a couple of years now and some of the things that boy does are more than disturbing.). Now, Jonghyun is an irrationally stubborn person by heart (Minho always tells him he’s obstinate. Jonghyun’s got several recounts of Minho’s ridiculous competitiveness ready as counter arguments each time.), so it really is no less than necessary for him to prove Kibum wrong. Which, by regular procedure, translates into dragging Minho down his path of senseless determination as well.

“This is ridiculous,” sounds Minho’s voice (none too quiet) from his throne that is the toilet seat.

“I’m proving a point here.” Jonghyun picks the shaving foam container and the safety razors out of his shopping bag.

“You’re really not,” Minho tries (Jonghyun would laugh at the hint of hopelessness that’s seeped into Minho’s voice if he wasn’t so focused on his task).

“Knowledge is the fruit of experiment, Minho, now hush,” Jonghyun finalizes, his eyes curiously locked on the tube shaped container as he uncaps the lid, staring fascinatingly at the mechanism.

“Do you even know how to do it?” Minho questions skeptically.

The query has Jonghyun pausing for a moment, willing his cheeks not to flare up. “Of course,” he mutters, turning the can slightly to sneak a subtle glance at the instructions on the side.

Minho sighs behind him. “You don’t.”

“I said I do,” Jonghyun insists as he swivels on the spot, narrow gaze glaring at Minho who rolls his eyes in response. The action is too familiar though it’s usually executed by a pair of slanted, feline-like eyes. “And anyway, you’re spending too much time with Kibum. I think you’re teaming up on me.”

Minho scratches his eyebrow. “Key’s only against you because you chose to dispute him.”

“Well, yes,” Jonghyun concedes because that is actually true. “But that doesn’t explain your opposition.”

“Jjong, I always oppose you,” Minho deadpans.

“That hardly seems fair.” Jonghyun pouts at Minho. A shrug is all he gets in reply and Jonghyun is still grimacing sourly as he turns back to squeeze out some foam onto his hand. It feels cool and foreign and he pokes his finger into the froth, finding childish delight in running it all over and in between his fingers on both hands. Then he remembers Minho’s still perched on the toilet seat and he quickly smears some of the foam onto his cheek to cover up the pinkish hue.

“Look.” he points to the bottom half of his face when it’s entirely covered in foam, eyes squinted cheerfully. “I’m Santa.”

Minho scoffs. “You look like an old man, that’s for sure.”

“Yah, I’m still your hyung, pay some respect,” Jonghyun states, rinsing his hands (and smearing foam on the tap in the process).

“More like ahjussi,” Minho mumbles (again, not so quietly).

Jonghyun picks up a safety razor, waving it dangerously at Minho. “Choi Minho, if you don’t shut your trap right now I swear I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

“That’s very intimidating, coming from a retired garbage bag. Should I get your cane for you, Mr.?” Minho smirks.

“That’s it, say goodbye to your nose, Choi,” Jonghyun proclaims, marching right up to the toilet with a crazed look in his eyes.

“But what would you do if I didn’t have a nose?” Minho muses, the bastard still wearing that smug grin despite Jonghyun hovering over him like a maniac.

Jonghyun halts his fury march, a smile taking over his features. “Probably find a new boyfriend.” He shrugs.

“They’d never be as amazing as me though,” Minho says matter-of-factly, but the smirk doesn’t last long this time because Jonghyun just laughs, smearing some of the foam from his chin onto Minho’s cheek. He flees to the shower curtain when Minho shouts out wrathfully, guffaws breaking from his lips uninhibitedly. Jonghyun is actually surprised that the sound of running water comes from outside the shower and not above him, and he counts his lucky stars that Minho is holding back on the teasing today. Only when Minho dumps back onto the toilet seat does Jonghyun dare go back out (and he keeps the safety razor in front of him, just for precaution).

Taking the risk of turning his back to Minho, Jonghyun tries his best to stifle the laughter as he removes the casing of the razor. He rinses the blade thoroughly even though it’s brand new, meticulously wiping it off on the towel next to the sink. He knows he’s stalling. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to do it – really, he’s been shaving his legs like this for years already – but it feels far more momentous now that he’s outing his facial areas at risk. Honestly, a cut would only be in favor of his argument, but Jonghyun really likes his skin as it is (no, he’s not vain, thank you).

Tentatively, he raises the safety raiser, leaning his head a bit back to stretch the skin of his neck, every fiber of his body tensing up to brace himself. The first has him holding his breath. During the second, his neck muscles are still so tense he might strain them. By the third and fourth, he allows himself to lower his shoulders, and as the seventh still proves no calamities, Jonghyun feels himself gaining back his confidence. Soon, he’s done with his neck, chin and jaw line and he’s actually done a pretty decent job, if he does say so himself.

“You missed a spot,” a deep voice speaks up dangerously close to him and Jonghyun (quite literally) jolts out of his bubble of concentration, thanking every higher deity that he wasn’t holding the blades too close to his neck.

“Yah, you ing moron!” He shouts, his right hand and assaulting Minho. “I could’ve cut an artery because of you!”

Minho merely rolls his eyes, grabbing a hold of his wrist. “But you didn’t so quit whining, you girl.”

“I’m warning you, Choi,” Jonghyun narrows his eyes threateningly, but quickly turning back to the mirror to focus on rinsing the blade. “And anyway, I didn’t miss a spot.”

“You did.” Minho insists.

This time, Jonghyun is the one rolling his eyes like the hypocrite he is. “Haha, very funny. I was going to do my upper lip after this, duh.”

“I wasn’t-,” Minho interrupts himself with a harsh sigh. “Here, give me that,” he demands as he snatches the safety out of Jonghyun’s hands and wiping it off quickly to which Jonghyun narrows his eyes again because that was done too skillfully. Minho then picks up his chin and forces his head to the side gently, his steady gaze examining the skin of Jonghyun jaw. Minho sighs again, one finger quickly picking up some of the foam from Jonghyun’s upper lip to smear it onto his jaw before he leaves a few careful and well-executed swipes there.

“There.” He steps back to study his handiwork, an accomplished smile adorning his face.

When Jonghyun faces the mirror again, it’s not Minho’s skilled feat that catches his attention, but rather something that has his lips tugging up. The froth has smudged a bit on the side in a peculiar but recognizable way and before Jonghyun knows what he’s doing, he reaches up a finger on each side and draws to white lines that curl up visibly at the end.

“Mais oui, monsieur,” he says before he can stop himself, trying his very hardest to keep in the giggle that’s threatening to break free. He turns to Minho with a mischievously crooked brow. “C’est magnifique!”

Minho’s face is stoic for the entirety of three and a half seconds. His eyes twitches, then his brow, and a single snort escapes his nose before they both boast out laughing, Minho’s ridiculously high-pitched laughter filling the close space of their bathroom.

“No-no, wait!” Jonghyun exclaims to the still guffawing Minho, focusing on even his breath before he grasps the razor again. Because he’s childish (and probably the most cliché person to have ever set foot upon this earth), he drags the blades down on either side until only the area of his philtrum is covered in foam, yelling and angry, “Deutchland,” as soon as he’s dropped the razor again. Then they’re both laughing and heaving and Minho’s face is so red it might explode and Jonghyun is pretty sure that he’s about to cough up his lunges, but he really can’t bring himself to bother. After five minutes, Jonghyun is crying and Minho would probably make a comment on it if he didn’t start laughing his off every time he just looked at Jonghyun with his still foam-covered lip. In pity for him, Jonghyun decides that the sooner he finish up, the better, and he’s done washing up and putting the stuff back when by the time Minho manages to stand on his feet without the support of the wall. Their eyes catch and Jonghyun notices how Minho’s eyes are lined by a shiny wetness as well and he can’t really help the smile that blooms on his lips.

“So,” Minho starts, his amusement still stretching his lips as he speaks. “What’s your assessment?”

“Well,” Jonghyun starts, spinning back to the mirror and running a hand over the smoothness that is his chin and jaw. He scrunches his nose like he always does when he’s contemplating something. “It’s nice but I’m not sure it makes that much of a difference,” he settles.

“Here, let me feel it.” Minho pushes off the wall and takes the few necessary steps up to him languidly, his hands coming up to cradle the sides of Jonghyun’s face. Minho smooths his thumbs over his cheeks and Jonghyun closes his eyes, letting out a content sigh at the familiar touch. One hand moves down to run two fingers along the length of his jaw and Jonghyun shivers when they stray to journey up to the corner of his lips. “Soft,” Minho whispers, “definitely soft,” and Jonghyun holds his breath and counts the seconds before Minho leans down and their lips connect. But it doesn’t end there. No, Minho’s hands are still heavy on him as his palm returns to the edge of Jonghyun’s jaw to run down the expanse of his neck, coming back up to curl in Jonghyun’s hair so that his thumb can still reach the delicate skin.

Jonghyun’s not sure how long they stand there but he doesn’t need to know because this moment isn’t about what shaving tool is better or arguing with Kibum or anything else. It’s about him and Minho and how they’re the only two people in the world.

--

“The electric is still better,” Jonghyun concludes with finality.

“But the safety razors provide a much better result,” Kibum huffs adamantly.

Jonghyun crosses one legs over the other. “It takes too much time and effort compared to the quality of the result.”

“It always takes more time during the first try,” Kibum counters, adding, “and you should always pick quality over quantity, they say.”

Jonghyun snorts. “This is the twenty-first century, Kibum, I have the right to be materialistic.”

“Says the defender of minorities.”

“Just because I stand up for minorities doesn’t define me as an unmaterialistic person,” Jonghyun sighs.

“You stated publically that you hate consumerism.” Kibum a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“Yes, and for that exact reason, I prefer buying one electric razor than a couple of dozens of regular ones a month.”

“At the rate you’re shaving, I bet you probably buy a new electric one each year.” Kibum narrows his eyes.

“I do not.” Jonghyun returns the gesture fervently. “Like you’re any better; you used to shave every day back in high school – if not twice a day.”

“Used to, past tense. That’s the difference between you and I, Jonghyun; I got over my teenage years,” Kibum says, his telltale smirk taking residence on his sharp features as he leans back in the recliner.

Jonghyun straightens up on the couch, ready for attack. “Now why don’t you come over and say that to-“

“Girls, girls!” Minho butts in, standing between them, “you’re both pretty, now.” He turns to Kibum, scrutinizing his appearance for a minute before saying, “Kibum, I think your roots are starting to show.”

“What?!” he screeches, bolting out the living room as fast as lightning (it impresses Jonghyun each time). Minho chuckles at the sight, settling next to Jonghyun with an arm resting comfortably on the back of the couch, the other reaching forward to pick up the remote. He changes to some rerun of a soccer match and they watch for a while in silence.

“You did that on purpose,” Jonghyun accuses.

Minho shrugs. “Knowing you and Kibum, you could’ve gone at it for hours.”

“We would not,” Jonghyun huffs indignantly.

“Yes. Yes, you would, now hush.” Minho waves his hand absentmindedly.

Jonghyun crosses his arms over his chest and puffs out his cheeks (and okay, so maybe he feels a bit grateful to Minho, but he’ll never admit to that).

A/N: HELLO GUYS

Omfg it's been like forever, I know, I just, I had some stuff going on. I'm so incredibly sorry, and tho it seems the silly that I spend so much time worrying about stuff that should be everyday matters to most, it just mattered a lot to me and I didn't know how to handle that. IT may have made me more clarified about myself and it may not because I'm still young and I've got my life ahead of me and I'll never know what tomorrow brings. but fact is, it affected my motivation and creativity in the writing department and I couldn't even muster the effort to continue the rpoject I'm doing, which demotivated me even more and I felt so bad for just Leaving RoH hanging like this. But I'm her enow and I don't have to worry (for the most part, at least) anymore nad I got back to writing, so HURRAY! Even tho now I've just got asignments sneeaking up everywhere which is a pain x.x And SHINee, omfg is it just me or are they just all over the place?

Also, a special shoutout to a good freind of mine who was with me during this time, and who was pretty much the one who's the reason for me uploading now in the first place e.e you know who you are, but don't get too confident now. Here's a heart <3 you're gonna need it for the time I finish my project c:<

Ah, this A/N is in serious lack of gifs but I'm already up later than usual so I can't really bother. I'LL MAKE SURE TO BOMBARD YOU WITH GIFS IN THE NEXT DRABBLE OKAY JUST BEAR WITH ME

(Also this is unedited and unproofread af just, just know that, pls don't judge x.x)

Everyone, you're beautiful. Thanks for sticking with me, even if you only tune in for the story. I very much appreciate the support <3

As always, I will promise you to update faster and this time I might actually stick to my promise, which would be a first o.o omg that's so sad ;-;

Anyway, have a nice evening/day/night/morning/whatever and stay awesome until next time