Leeteuk~Yesung
One-Shot Collection "B"
The lights blinding and yells bouncing on every bare cement wall. The rapid shuffling of feet and impatient tugging at make-up kit's straps, overloaded hangers, tangled wires, stands of hair which were stubbornly resisting the tons of styling products applied on them. Butanium and propanium mixing with heavy perfume and the scent of sweaty human flesh, creating an unpleasant layer of rushed professionalism that was sticking everywhere. The numerous air-conditioners recycling the stale air over and over again as the heat emanating from the electronics working on full -cameras, monitors, microphones...- was immediately canceling whatever hint of cool breeze that dared to appear.
"Camera 3 is out!"
"Who in the world poured orange juice all over the set's floor?!"
"Still waiting the second set of clothes!"
"Not that set, you moron! Wait... we're missing the costumes?!"
Angry shouts were tossed between the co-ordinators and various other people, the ones who were bearing more responsibilities than normal on this particular day. It wasn't very often that they get to work with such a big and important group as Super Junior. Preparing for the video clip's and photos' shooting was chaotic though, and everyone had began regretting it. Even the idols themselves.
"This has better not take more than three days..." murmured Ryeowook, carefully dabbing a small towel on his make-uped -but sweaty nevertheless- neck.
"If I listen to Mr. Simple one more time. I swear I'll start screaming," spat Kyuhyun, ignoring Ryeowook's reply of "please don't".
Siwon threw his tired body on a chair and grunted, his round of posing over for the time being. Grabbing his printed schedule from where he had carelessly left it on top of a monitor, he begun fanning himself. Next to him, Heechul huffed and abruptly stood up, startling the staff member that was trying to perfect his hair.
"That atrocious pair of neon booty shorts is hurting my eyes!" he shouted over his shoulder at no one in particular, loudly dragging his own chair behind Sungmin's.
Siwon only pinched the bridge of his nose, choosing not to pay attention to the other man's irritated outburst. All of them knew being shut in a stuffy studio for the most part of the day, two days in a row, was playing tricks to their endearing, business personalities. Heechul snapped his head away from the girl fixing his melted make-up, refusing to have anyone fussing over how he looked for the millionth time.
"If I request to go to the restroom, how long do you think it'll take them to figure out I'm gone?" he whispered conspiratorially and smirked despite his exhaustion, daring with his eyes the make-up girl to run and tell everyone what he was planning.
"Hyung, just be quiet and go along with this."
Nudging Sungmin with his elbow, Heechul had no power to further complain on their working hours or the lack of enthusiasm for his plan from the younger's part. To their right, someone chuckled.
"Oh, I'd like to see him trying, though," Leeteuk said with a smile, his eyes glued on the screen replaying yesterday's clips.
Heechul cursed, muttering about how they shouldn't test his limits, and once again stood up. Stomping his feet, he retreated close to Donghae who was sitting alone the furthest from the others. The older sunk on the sofa's fluffy pillows and leaned his head back. The brunets low reciting of Japanese was very calming to his ears. Leeteuk shook his head in mild irritation, and quickly went through his own schedule. Accepting a bottle of water from Ryeowook, he counted heads, only to find they were missing two members.
"Who's photo shoot is now?" he questioned, Shindong's tired voice answering through a coloured cloud of face powder.
"Hyukjae's."
Then, where's Yesung?
The man ran his fingers in his hair-spray hardened locks, and took a deep breath to relieve a bit of stress from his shoulders. Making sure the rest of them were too tired to even stand up, Leeteuk decided to look for the missed member himself. Frankly, what he wanted was to break away from the loop of constantly watching himself on the cameras and always finding a detail he could had performed better. He had just found the perfect excuse to do so.
The studio was spacious, with numerous filming areas and storage rooms. The blond recognised props from videos of other artists in their company as he was nonchalantly advancing deeper in the maze of corridors and closed doors. Leeteuk noticed how staff members were less and less in numbers at whichever turn he was taking, the noise of their team gradually fading away. Not that the few moments of peace weren't appreciated, but the man had begun to worry. There was still no sign of the peculiar black-haired man.
"Hmm..."
Standing indicisively in the middle of two corridors spreading left and right from the main one, Leeteuk wondered which one Yesung would have picked - if he had been there, that is. Deciding he was gonna lose time anyway, Leeteuk headed left. He came across only one errand-boy, who awkwardly bowed at him before sprinting away, leaving the blond alone once again. Light was illuminating by a couple of bare bulbs, white and harsh on his tired eyes, pooling on three circles and leaving the rest of the corridor in semi-darkness. The dark outlines of broken set-pieces were placed against walls or lying thrown on the floor to gather layer upon layer of dust. Unknowingly, Leeteuk's steps had slowed down and the man was curiously glancing left and right, his hands deep in his pants' pockets. He hummed, only to realise his voice answered back. Echo.
"Hello "
Faded out hellos echoed down the far corners of the studio, and the blond paused on his tracks. Because along with his own echoing voice, another one was mixed as well.
Hey, hey, hey...
"Uhmm..."
Leeteuk didn't know if he should feel scared. He couldn't know what was possibly hiding amongst molding furniture and old-fashioned clothes.
"Hey..." the second voice was heard again, only much closer. Leeteuk felt his legs freezing in place, despite wanting to act cool and fearless. Then, the shuffling of feet somewhere to the right. And a pair of black eyes humorously staring into his own the moment he turned to that direction.
"Mother of god!" yelped Leeteuk, jumping a few feet back. Yesung's laugh echoed impossibly loud, highlighted by Leeteuk's curses.
"What the hell are you doing, lurking in the dark like a bat?" protested the blond, resisting the urge to fell his heartbeat.
The younger man's lips trembled in amusement. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?" he lightly teased, not expecting an honest answer. Leeteuk ignored that remark.
"So, were you hiding here this whole time?"
Yesung nodded and pointed his chin to an old couch with one of its cushions torn, mostly hidden behind one ceiling-tall maquette of SM Ent.'s first versions of its logo. He had found it one day when filming a commercial film: since his scenes were less than those of other members, he had had more time to roam. It was the perfect crook for Yesung, quiet and with no one bothering him.
"Like a bat indeed..." murmured the blond, curiously peeking behind the maquette to see that Yesung had transferred a small pile of manhwa beside the couch, a couple of water bottles, a half-eaten pack of rice crackers and a table-lamp. He whistled in amazement.
"Whoa! You're really organised!"
Leeteuk plopped on the couch, the younger man following suit. "Well, there's nothing much to do anyway... Just waiting for you guys to finish so that manager-hyung can drive me back to the dorms before dropping you off to other schedules..."
Even if he tried to mask his complains, the blond caught the gloomy shadow in those black eyes, the sad notes between his words, the way Yesung fumbled with his hands on his lap, unsure of how to exactly react when someone had intruded his private hiding place. Leeteuk didn't respond. Pertly because what the younger man was implying was true -he had far less activilies than other members- and partly because words couldn't quite come as easily whenever Yesung was involved. Talking was one of the things Leeteuk was doing best. Even so, he was always finding himself hesitating and thinking twice before opening his mouth to discuss something with the black-haired man. It was as if every word would somehow hurt the younger if he wasn't careful.
He quietly studied Yesung. He had his stare glued on the floor, his fingers persistently tugging at the loose strands of the cushion's torn fabric, avoiding to come closer than nesseccary - be it psysically or emotionally... or both. Truth is, Leeteuk didn't know what was possibly going on in Yesung's head ninety-eight percent of the time. The rest two percent he knew had something to do with which poses were best in order to take a succesful selca.
The blond sighed.
Here we go again, I guess...
Taking a deep breath, Leeteuk carefully slid towards the younger. Yesung tensed up immediately.
"Hey, look at me."
"What's with the serious face all of a sudden?" asked Yesung and let an empty laugh, still facing the floor.
Leeteuk pressed his lips to a thin line. He knew it would be hard to approach the younger after screwing up once before.
It had been three or four years back, and in a bonding attempt with the rest of the members, Leeteuk had called everyone in the common room late at night, bottles of soju and beers in hands and an excited dimpled smile. A very much appreciated gesture it had been, only that a certain member was as quiet as always, observing the rest of their team and laughing at jokes, a bit detached from everyone. Yesung wasn't comfortable with sharing personal stuff over the ease alcohol provided. The blond knew it wasn't because he didn't considered them as friends... it was just that his character was this way, slowly warming up to others, bit by bit discovering them and giving away parts of himself in return. Even though he wished to be closer to everyone, it was still difficult for him to open up from one day to another.
Perhaps it was due to Leeteuk always being the one doing most of the talking that he was intrigued by Yesung quietness in the dorms. As much as he was trying to speak in front of cameras, the younger was that much of an observer at home. He was struggling to convey what he wanted on TV, a billion bits of information in the time-span of a quarter of an hour of air-time, resulting to losing track of his words and repeating stuff. Possibly disheartened by his failures, at the dorms he was casually brushing off the other members' concerned looks. Leeteuk could feel the younger's disappointment in his abilities, but whenever he'd try to talk to him about it, he would always end up only staring into Yesung's eyes, mind void of everything but the thought of those dark orbs being beautiful even when sad.
Seeing the bonding-over-soju technique was fruitless, Leeteuk had dragged the black-haired man away one day after a radio show, determined to get the awkwardness once and for all. Yesung had followed, cluelessly blinking at him when they were away from people.
Hyung? What's wrong? - he had asked, genuinely concerned, and Leeteuk wanted to facepalm. Always worrying about other first, that guy...
You don't...
Words wouldn't come out, dying in his mouth the moment that pair of black eyes locked to his. Something snapped in Leeteuk's chest then, as if pieces of a puzzle finally falling in place. He had taken a step forward to close the distance between them, deciding that words weren't important anymore. Yesung's breath had hiched as the older man's arms had wrapped around him, holding him tight as Leeteuk's voice was heard soflty inches away from his ear.
Just... don't be sad, alright?
He should have let go then, but something about the way strands of black hair tickled Leeteuk's cheekbone and a confused expression adorned the younger's features, had the older angling his head and pressing his lips on Yesung's mouth.
His efforts to reduce the awkwardness only resulted in multiplying it by ten. Yesung avoided him for the next month, directly talking to him after two and a half months, and staying in the same room alone with their leader after a good three months and seventeen days. Yes, Leeteuk had screwed up once before.
"Look at me," he repeated, and the younger reluctantly complied.
Clearly meeting the younger's gaze after a long time without him focusing on the wall behind or on a vague point above his head or shoulder -and excluding the little encounter in the studio's corridor- Leeteuk found himself gulping audibly. He hadn't managed to get over those eyes after all...
"I... you see, uhmm..."
Incoherent thought did somersaults in the blond's brain, his eloquence proven useless before the otherworldly power of Yesung's stare. He breathed deeply and then exhaled loudly, scratching furiously his thigh in frustration. Annoyed with himself, Leeteuk clamped his hand over his eyes.
"Well, ! I'll talk to you like this!"
He could practically feel Yesung tilting his head in question and frowning.
"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have kissed you! There I said it! Are you happy now? Done being all emo in front of me? Just forget it and move on... It's my fault, I was worried about you being so quiet... perhaps I had done something wrong as a leader. No, I do many wrong things as a leader, but I was hoping to keep you out of them! At least with you, I wanted to really sit and think before running to action! it! I can't even talk normally to you... So, just pretend you're cool with me like the others 'cause I really can't handle you being man at me. Okay?"
Leeteuk couldn't remember the last time he had stuttered so much, nor when he had honestly revealed his thoughts to someone. Learning script after script of planned out words and gestures, the blond had the impression he was slowly losing himself. Since he was speaking out fake words written by someone else, what was left of Leeteuk at the end of the day? More importantly, what was left of Jungsoo?
He leaned back on the couch, glaring at the wires and pipes traveling across the ceiling.
"Can we go back and behave like normal people?" the blond murmured, aware of Yesung's stunned expression.
There was silence for a few moments as Yesung was arranging the new information in his head. Pretty head... - Leeteuk thought, watching with the corner of his eye the younger fidgeting once again.
"Does that mean you were worried about me?"
Leeteuk refused to answer, treasuring the remnants of his pride. The younger man didn't seem to mind so much.
"I apologise for putting you through all this stress."
Leeteuk made a strange sound. There he goes again, thinking of others and not himself. Yesung's eyes were on him, and the blond was still stubbornly facing the ceiling.
"I don't think you're a bad leader. You really should give yourself more credit..."
Turning his gaze on the black-haired man, Leeteuk began to think that he was getting somewhere. He also couldn't recall when was the last time Yesung had spoken more than two sentences to him apart from the necessary, like Sukira for example. Or perhaps he was exaggerating, it didn't matter anyway. Because now it was the younger that averted his eyes first, his fingers tightly intertwined and small teeth bitting nervously his lower lip. And then, a faint murmur that had Leeteuk jolting forward in bewilderment.
"I wasn't... I'm not mad at you, if that's what you think..."
"What?..."
Mouth half-open, Leeteuk then shook his head and demanded an explanation. "Why weren't you talking to me then? If you weren't man you could have just laugh it off and continue your daily life as if nothing happened!" the blond said, his voice accusative even if his chest tightened unpleasantly when he uttered those words.
Yesung coughed nervously, out of habit tilting his head right and left.
"What if I didn't think of it as nothing?"
They quietly stared at each other for a couple of heartbeats before Leeteuk realised what he had just heard.
"WHOA!"
He shot up to his feet, struggling to find words big enough to describe to roller-coaster ride his inside were doing. "Waitwaitwait! What do you mean... what is... What?"
Yesung crossed his arms over his chest. "After that day I wasn't sure if you had been joking, so I didn't say anything... 'cause I..."
The blond scoffed. "So, I misunderstood you and you misunderstood me?" A light smile appeared in Yesung's face. "So it seems."
Leeteuk threw his arms in the air and cursed. "You could have said something!"
"The same applies to you too!" Standing up as well, Yesung faced the older man, his expression angry but eyes gleaming playfully. Leeteuk rolled his eyes, and the black-haired man took a step closer.
"And now?" he said as Yesung was suddenly in such proximity.
"Hmm... now..."
The younger's voice was low and husky, just like when singing heart wrenching ballads.
"Now, I want to make sure this is alright."
Slightly raising his head, Yesung pressed his lips against Leeteuk's. He had meant for it to last milliseconds, a test of the older man's words. Despite his original determination to keep it brief and innocent, Yesung couldn't bring himself to break away, Their eyes were open, mirroring the same kind of thoughts and feelings, till Leeteuk's fingers brushed against Yesung's wrist. The faint touch was as unexpected as it was simple, and the younger pulled back hastily, only for his wrist to be caught in a sure grip and whisked forward.
The blond's lips fell firmly on Yesung's, parting to fit perfectly with the younger man's. Cupping Yesung's face with his hands, Leeteuk lightly on the black-haired man's lower lip, making Yesung's eyes flutter close. Perhaps a tad too eager, Leeteuk let one hand settle on Yesung's nape and the other to roam over his neck and shoulder before gripping his arm. Kissing and kissing harder the younger, he pushed his against SM's old logo, fingers threading in the hair at the back of his head.
"Hyung!"
Yesung's gasp echoed down the hallway as the older pressed his chest on his and wrapped his arm around his back. Feeling the blond's tongue sliding over his shut lips, Yesung opened his mouth, even if part of his brain was screaming that this was supposed to be brief and innocent. A sound rose from deep inside Leeteuk's throat and he tightened his hold of the black-haired man's nape to steady his head. His teeth grazing the soft flesh at the corners of the younger's mouth, the blond was so lost in the kiss that he couldn't register where his own body ended and where Yesung's started. Their tongues sloppily twirled the one around the other, their fingers on instinct searching blindly for a better hold to bring the other closer.
Sliding his hands over Leeteuk's shoulders, Yesung's fingers lingered on the hem of the T-shirt's collar before snaking underneath. The cold tips of Yesung's fingers sent shivers down the older man's spine, and he pulled back to breathe. His chest heaving against Yesung's, the blond rested his forehead on the younger's, their noses bumping.
"This... escalated quickly..." he muttered breathlessly, eyeing Yesung's red jacket discarded on the floor and the smudged eyeliner of his left eye. The black-haired man his moist lips and dragged his fingers over Leeteuk's collarbones, visible under the V-shaped white shirt he was wearing. He didn't answer immediately, first indulging in the tiny noises the blond was making under his faint touch.
"It's not like we don't know each other..." he murmured and traced Leeteuk's jawline using his lips. The blond's nails dug in his shoulder blades.
"Do we... really?" spoke the older man, bitting back a moan as Yesung's mouth covered and the pulse point of Leeteuk's neck, the blood's flow accelerating beneath the the already heated skin. "You've never let me approach you."
The younger raised his head to look at Leeteuk. "I know you enough to not misjudge your motives after you kissed me. And you know me enough to worry about me."
He gave a small, embarrassed smile to the older and averted his eyes from his face.
"That's probably the closest to a confession I'm gonna get from you," commented Leeteuk and chuckled at Yesung's blushed cheeks. Placing the tips of his fingers under the black-haired man's chin, he dipped Yesung's head up and pecked his lips. "Perhaps you're right." A second peck and Yesung's hands tensed on Leeteuk's shoulders as the blond smiled and the dimple formed.
"But you must let me come closer to you, Jongwoon."
The younger's insides clenched in want, Leeteuk's low whisper of his name doing weird things to him, triggering a basic instinct of our human nature: the need of human proximity.
"We're pretty close right now," he breathed, trying to ignore the part of him craving for another touch. Leeteuk chuckled at the black-haired man's lame response.
"You can trust me," promised Leeteuk, his eyes closed as he was taking in the scent of the younger man.
"Thank you..."
Their mouths connected urgently, as if the two men wanted to convey the silent fondness they were harboring for the each other over the past years, filling in for the lost time. Leeteuk's hands slid underneath the hem of the younger's fuchsia T-shirt, roaming over the smooth skin of Yesung's sides and back. It was still not close enough. The blond wanted to engulf Yesung protectively, possessively... not because the other man was weak, but because he was dear to Leeteuk.
The black-haired man giggled as he leaned his head back. "Your hands are cold," he commented, Leeteuk's mouth leaving moist trails along his neck. The older pressed his palms flat on Yesung's skin in response, feeling the goosebumps raising all over the younger's torso. He knew they should stop, that since the truth had been revealed, they had all the time in the world. The blond's lips lingered a bit more on the exposed skin of Yesung's chest... the younger's hands stalled threaded in the other man's blond locks.
Leeteuk raised his head and stared wordlessly in Yesung's eyes before leaning for one last kiss. The soft touch of their lips translated the feelings in their eyes, and they smiled knowingly.
"Let's go eat cold noodles or something later..." Leeteuk proposed and handed the red jacket to Yesung. Somehow, in the midst of his chaotic schedules, the blond would find time to spend with the younger. Finally, he would discuss with him and not lose his words, he would fill in the blanks of the previous years.
Yesung smiled at the prospect of a friendly outing. He flattened the creases of his shirt and peeked at the hallway. There was no one.
"Let's go then," he said, and offered his hand for Leeteuk to grasp.
finally, I stopped procrastinating and typed this word vomit, which was supposed to be but it kinda turned out not... otl TAT It's as if it wrote itself! oh well, I won't touch it 'cause I think I'll destroy whatever little sense this makes... yeah... another one-shot collection finished, yay!
*happy dancing alone*
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