Subways and Champagne
Subways and Champagne
It was all Jonghyun’s fault. It was always Jonghyun’s fault.
The two boys were stuck, on a subway, on the way to Seoul, at 11:32 p.m. on December 31st. As in, they were going to miss the New Year's count down.
Because of Jonghyun, they had missed their ride home hours ago, and they both had to wait for the next subway.
Because of Jonghyun, he and Taemin would miss the party with the rest of SHINee and S.M.
Because of Jonghyun, Taemin wouldn’t get to spend time with any of his friends, or family for that matter, because they weren’t anywhere near them either.
All because Jonghyun had insisted they buy some type of wine for the others for New Year's.
Taemin had pulled and prodded the older boy, but Jonghyun wouldn’t budge, giving excuse after excuse why they should stay behind and look for more supplies. Taemin wasn’t even old enough to drink; he didn’t want to be doing this now, only hours before the New Year.
Now they both sat on an almost empty subway car, silence filling the space between them. Taemin refused to talk to Jonghyun, no matter how many times the shorter man had tried to start up a conversation. The maknae was furious, rage radiating off his skinny body in waves that made Jonghyun hesitate to get close.
Taemin continued to stare outside the window at the passing lights of the tunnel, his iPod in his ears to block out any noise. The metro slowed, still miles away from Seoul, at another stopping point. Jonghyun watched the only people left on their car get off, an elderly couple who both carried bags of food. No one else got on, leaving the two members alone for once.
After five minutes of Jonghyun’s uncomfortable squirming, he finally stood, almost falling over when the subway jerked back to life, and made his way to sit by Taemin. The younger boy ignored him, and Jonghyun sighed, nudging his arm. Brown eyes glanced at him for a second before turning away coldly.
The older man groaned, slouching in his seat. This wasn’t going how he had planned either. Taemin being mad at him was not apart of the master scheme. He checked the time on his phone, twenty minutes to midnight, and at least thirty minutes to Seoul.
Jonghyun opened the bag in his hand, looking down at the bottle of champagne and the cheesy glasses he had bought decorated with fireworks. His eyes glanced at Taemin who was still ignoring him, and back at his purchases that would lead them to miss New Year's with everyone.
The shaky railway made it twice as hard for Jonghyun to pour the drink into two wineglasses, some of it spilling onto his pants in the process. He just cursed quietly and evened out both glasses, making sure they had enough wine in them but not too much. He silently offered one to Taemin, whose eyes widened at the sight of the alcoholic drink. He immediately pulled out his ear buds, and hesitantly gripped the cup when Jonghyun insisted it on him. “Hyung?”
“Figured we could at least celebrate a little,” the older boy mumbled, taking a large mouthful of the bubbly liquid.
Taemin stared at his own drink, unsure if he should really drink it. Jonghyun noticed when he finished his swallow, and waved his hands for his young friend to go ahead. “It’s the New Year,” he said, “and it’s just us.” He moved his glass, tapping it to Taemin’s and smiling at the tinkling sound it produced.
Slowly, the youngest member lifted the glass to his lips, tasting only a little and instantly his lips at the new flavor. It was sweet, yet bitter and sour, and dry though it was a liquid. It made Taemin’s mind whirl with the different tastes just one sip had, and he ended up taking another.
Ten minutes later, and quarter a bottle of the champagne gone, both boys sat back, their shoulders and thighs touching at the close proximity. Taemin had let his anger dissipate, though it was still there, mostly turned into sadness for missing the party that had been planned. He wondered if Kibum, Minho, and Jinki had noticed their absence; surely they had, but neither one of them had gotten any worried phone calls nor texts, which made Taemin worry a little himself.
“Eight minutes to midnight,” the singer next to him mumbled, checking his phone once again. Both of them had set aside their glasses, knowing it wouldn’t be good to drink all the wine so quickly. Or at least, Jonghyun had known. Taemin was still his lips from the after taste, quickly concluding that he liked the bubbly drink.
“Don’t tell anyone I gave you some, okay?” Jonghyun pressed. “Kibum especially. He’ll castrate me if he knew.”
Taemin almost smiled at his hyung’s serious face, but nodded instead. “I won’t. It’s just too bad we’re gonna miss the count down… I heard there was gonna be a New Year’s special on T.V. where Infinite was going to accompany the MCs in the count down… We’re gonna miss that too.”
“We can record the stuff on T.V.,” Jonghyun reminded. “And we’ll get to the party soon after it starts.”
He was right, but to Taemin it wasn’t the same. He’d expected to be surrounded by friends, all their voices—the trait most of them were idols for—coming together to go from ten to one. Who knew if they’d all get together again next year? There were already a lot of people missing this year; a large part of Super Junior, JYJ… plus Jongin and the other guys from EXO he had yet to get close with yet.
Jonghyun noticed the cheerless expression in his maknae’s eyes and it made his heart clench with guilt. Though this was all his idea, he didn’t want Taemin to be so sad. He’d figured the boy would be happy spending time alone together, but it seemed to be going in the opposite direction.
“Here,” Jonghyun said, in a last ditch effort, holding out his phone for both him and Taemin to see. The clock on the front was counting down, reading 11:57:42. “Let’s count down together, okay?”
Taemin smiled softly at his hyung’s attempt to make things better, and watched the clock tick away.
Jonghyun could almost feel the boy’s breath on his cheek from their closeness, and he swallowed hard with thoughts of the rest of his plan. He tried to be discrete when he wiped his sweaty palm on his jeans; curse his nervous nature.
The two boys sat, watching the clock change, the subway’s movements becoming smooth and the noise of it fading into the background. It was just them, alone in the car, a minute away from New Year's.
Jonghyun started first, softly, “Twenty.”
“Nineteen,” Taemin chimed in, not to be left out.
“Eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven…”
“Ten,” Jonghyun sang, loudly this time.
Taemin shot in, “Nine!”
Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two.
“One!”
12:00:01
“Happy New Year,” the singer and dancer murmured, suddenly quieter than the rowdy countdown.
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