Title: Blink
Series: None
Description: Life happens in a blink of an eye, but they don't want to miss any second of it.
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Language (Very Minor)
Pairing(s): Onew (SHINee)/Taeyeon (SNSD)

* Blink * 

            When she was young, she never paid attention to the acts of her peers. They did stupid things, but they were them, and she didn't care what they chose to do; it was all a blur to her. Her own life was all a blur as well, like the chalk that smudged the blackboard when her teachers would use their hands to hastily wipe off graffiti and foul phrases. She could hardly remember a day which had not been spent either trudging through school or cooped up in her little room, studying or reading or talking on her phone. Of course, there were a very few birthday parties she’d went to, which were not worth mentioning either. For so long, life was growing motionless, ironically lifeless, and she felt numb.

            And then, she auditioned, and got accepted into none other than SM Entertainment.

It happens in a blink
It happens in a flash
It happens in the time it took to look back
I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time
What is it I've done with my life?
It happens in a blink 

            But then it was all fake smiles and fake laughter, plastic, glitter, glamour. “Look here,” “stand there,” or “let’s try this move again.” She was tired of this plaster armor that hugged her self like a second skin. Tired of forced smiles, painted faces, effortless lies, of not being able to frown lest her mask cracks. Everything was the same. It was always the same. The only things that changed were the names and the places. And it was always so same that it hurt. It hurt that she could slip so easily into that frame: Kim Taeyeon, Girls’ Generation’s kid leader. She would reprimand herself for being so much like others, yet with the bright lights flooding her sight and the cameras glaring, scrutinizing every move as the very eyes of the fierce public, she’d latch on to one of her members, “Sunny,” “Sica,” or “Fany,” it didn’t matter, and they’d effortlessly reciprocate with painted lips matching her own in a smile. It was so easy and mundane and she hated it. Hated herself for it. But with time, it just became normal, same, numb, and everything blurred together like watercolors on paper.

Teach me to number my days
And count every moment before it slips away
Taking all the colors before they fade to gray
I don't want to miss even just a second more of this

            And all of a sudden, he appeared.

            All smiles and innocence and barely-contained excitement and nervousness, shy, all hi, I’m Lee Jinki, it’s a pleasure to meet you, and suddenly she felt as if she’d been in a daze all her life and he had brought her out of her trance. She had stuttered a reply back, mind still whirling a little, and grasped his outstretched hand shakily. “Hi, I’m—” “Kim Taeyeon. I know.” She noticed how he didn’t add “of Girl’s Generation” along with his adorable smile, and her heart jumped. Every day after that was vivid, bright colors and bright smiles whenever they met. And it all blended together in a beautiful painting on her memory’s canvas.

            And all of a sudden, everything blurred together again, as if nothing had ever happened before.

            “Hey Jinki, do you want to—” “It’s Onew.” And her world crashed down in grey around them. From his fake smile to his eyes that squinted and curved too much, like he was shutting something out, and then Taeyeon knew. He was shutting himself, shutting Jinki, out. Her one hope of real, of different, melted away into the colorless background. He had always been a chalky rainbow drawn with sharp colors (love, warmth, joyfulness, innocence, sincerity, care, support) on the sidewalk, among smudged caricatures and stick people and botchy hearts. But now those happy curves of color were faded, becoming smeared and disillusioned, washed down by the rain, swirling with the rainwater and disappearing down the drain. Meaningless, hopeless. Same-ness.

            She could only watch with sadness, feeling her heart break as his own heart crumbled, as his smile grew and as he learned to put on that same armor that clung like a second skin, learned to latch onto “Key,” or “Taemin” or whoever as they reciprocated, learned to lie effortlessly, learned to paint a mask of perfection. Learned to never frown, lest his mask cracks.

Slow down, slow down
Before today becomes our yesterday
Slow down, slow down
Before you turn around and it's too late

            And suddenly, her arms were around his.

            It had been a few months since they’d talked after his successful debut, one part of the newest collection of dolls by SME called “SHINee,” perfect, pretty, pretend. Her mind was clouded, filled to the brim with murkiness, and then she had had it. Her hands almost jumped out of his with the electricity she felt go up her arm and spread through her body at the mere touch, jolting her back to life just a little bit more, and she remembered why she’d always wanted to be by him. Her heart ached when he did nothing but hang his head, looking at the ground. And her breath hitched in when she stepped closer to him, shivering from the closeness and almost feeling the air between them move in charged energy, as she gazed into his eyes that held so much emotion. It pained her heart even more, seeing those expressive eyes that beheld things unfathomable to her. She hugged him tight, unconsciously reveling in his physical warmth, wondering if he felt the same things she did when they were together when he slowly reciprocated. They stayed there a few moments longer in that empty hall, silent conversation rising to whispers.

            She had thought that it was too much to hope for, for him to actually listen to her plea, but he did. His genuine smile was back, with all his clumsiness, wittiness, and childishness. Jinki was back, along with that unsettling ability to brighten her world, make her heart beat countless times per second, slip her out of her second skin and smile like a fool.

            He was her hope.

When it's all said and done
No one remembers how far we have run
The only thing that matters is how we have loved
I don't want to miss even just a second more of this 

            And suddenly, his lips are on hers.

            She blinks back surprise, and she faintly wonders how they had got here. She responds back to his soft, brave, yet tentative lips. She wonders if this is just a dream, but everything is just so vibrant and alive, his touch, his smell, his taste…Intoxicating, addicting. When they pull apart, she regrets the loss of contact, but nonetheless looks at him inquiringly, eyebrows furrowed. He answers her yet unspoken question.

            “Life is too short. It happens so fast, it just seems to pass us by. All my life, it’s been this way. And I thought it would stay that way for years, decades, for the rest of my pathetic life. But when I’m with you, I feel as if every single day matters. Hell, like every damn second matters. I was moving along in this color-drained world, and then you happened. You appeared with God-knows-what, in the blink of an eye, and I want to cry with this unexplainable emotion that you give me. Am I even making sense now?” He runs a hand through his hair as his tone becomes desperate, and Taeyeon’s heart sings, and aches so good with his words, and, almost as if agreeing with him, tears begin to prick her eyes as her heart is filled to the brim. Filled to the brim with a mixture of emotions she could only tentatively label as love. His gaze locks on hers, and she’s weak in the knees, legs threatening to buckle underneath her. He continues, “I guess what I want to say is that I don’t want life to pass me by anymore. I don’t want to miss anything by blinking my eyes and opening them just to see that you’re gone from my life. So I’m going to keep my eyes open from now on. I’m going to always keep my eyes wide open, on you.”

            And slowly, they were tangled up in each other, feeling the same emotions course through their bodies, breaking down barriers and masks and second-skins, finally holding each other close with them out of the way, laughing and crying into their kiss, the world becoming a whirlwind of colored lights in their background, like time finally standing still for them.