#doc:p

[rkmyung-blog]

breathe ✘ joonyoung & myungsoo

     Back when Myungsoo first tried making a mental list of all the things he dislikes about being a trainee, dancing was on top of the list.

     That hasn't changed even now, and he thinks it probably won't for the next few months as well. On the first days he was forced into attending the dance workshops, all he wanted was to get out after the first five minutes, but alas, the moment he signed that contract was the moment that took away his freedom to do what he really wants. It's not like he'll open up possibilities to seek any help from the other trainees, either, because that would mean admitting to his weaknesses -- Myungsoo has never been fluent in such language.

     All he can do at the moment is to wait. As soon as the dance coach lets them go after two grueling hours of complicated maneuvers, Myungsoo is the first one to exit the room and head off outside. The garden is a good choice to take a break, he supposes; it's a literal breath of fresh air. Except maybe not, because a couple of seconds spent panting for air causes him to choke on a cough. When he turns to his side, he sees a familiar man taking out a puff of smoke from his cigarette, and that's enough to morph the younger's features into a frown.

     "What are you doing?"

[rkmyung-blog]

accidents happen ✘ chanmi & myungsoo

          The last thing he expects to happen while he gets distracted with the vibration of his phone during an hour-long gym session is for his elbow to nudge the unfortunately uncapped water bottle by his side. It’s only a moment of distraction, the briefest seconds of carelessness; yet he manages to create a little accident — the bottle tips on the surface of the yoga mat he’s currently slumped on and spills its contents, leaving Myungsoo with only a murmur when his eyes fall upon the sight.

          “Shit.” The curse escapes him in a whisper (thankfully), reaching out by reflex to put the bottle upright. The damage has been done, however; more than half of the liquid had already spilled on the mat in waste. “Aish…” is all Myungsoo can only sigh out at the aftermath before rising from the floor and walking off to find something to clean the mess up.

          It takes a minute or so for him to come back with a mop and a rag, and by the time he’s back the water has already spread a little farther from the yoga mat. He only notices a backpack lying nearby when he dries the floor, a sight that only adds to the frustration. The bottom is already damp with water when he lifts it up so he places it on a nearby bench and makes an attempt to wipe the excess water away from it with the spare cloth, hoping that someone comes soon to retrieve it. He’d apologize, perhaps, even if he finds so little responsibility for it — is it still his fault that the owner claimed the liberty to throw their bags wherever they want?

[rkmyung-blog]

alternate universe ✘ iu & myungsoo

     Myungsoo doesn't expect to be greeted with any streak of familiarity from this place. His gaze passes through the posters plastered on walls, promotional paraphernalia holding the images of artists he recognizes, but never acknowledges. Sphere is a completely different world from the lair he got accustomed with for the past years of his life, he knows, but the weight of that fact didn't strike him as hard until now. The entertainment building is a whole lot more spacious, yet he feels that the footsteps he makes in the premises don't guarantee liberation. Unlike his band's little studio.

     The man wards off the triggering thoughts in favor of a faster gait to his destination. The damage has been done; he signed the contract and will officially part from Catharsis in a few weeks, and while Myungsoo can't help but wonder sometimes if he made a decision he can live with, his unfaltering pride tells him to just deal with it. And so he does. Taking a turn to get to the company's cafeteria, Myungsoo glances around once more in hopes that he's not getting his directions wrong.

     His eyes fall on a frame approaching his direction, and he can't help but stop in his tracks upon recognizing who it is. He knows her name like all his other classmates, but he's never had anything to do with the girl during school time. That isn't surprising, however -- what's surprising is that there they are, faces and names familiar, but they're standing in an unfamiliar backdrop.

     All Myungsoo does is blink at her.

[rkmyung-blog]

A Drizzle of Bitterness || Myungsoo & Yubin

    Myungsoo isn't a big believer of fated circumstances, but there are times when things turn out really bad that fate -- whatever that unknown force was and where it came from -- just had something to do about it. That exact thought is what falls upon Myungsoo when he ends up sharing a table in the café with someone so painfully familiar he has to divert his eyes somewhere else after a split second.

    It's a Wednesday and he already has forgotten long ago that Wednesdays left a bitter taste to his tongue, but it seems like fate has the utmost intention to play with him today and throw him back in a relentless swirl of the bile-like bitterness he's been trying to get rid of. He has no other choice but to join the woman in the same table inside the heavily crowded café, unless he wanted to stand and wait for another table to get vacant or brave the pouring rain outside -- summer is already well on its way, why is it still raining anyway?

    He continues to bombard himself with a lot of questions as to how in the world he has fallen into a perfectly wrong circumstance such as this for the next few seconds that pass. The boy is too engrossed in contemplation that he doesn't realize he's already gripping tight on the cup of caramel macchiato in his palm until two seconds after, making him veer out of his thoughts with a flinch once his skin registers the heat of the beverage. Not wanting to stay in that moment of embarrassment, he makes an attempt to redeem composure as he speaks to Yubin, voice staccato and expression indecipherable. "I didn't know you've stayed in Seoul."

[rkmyung-blog]

● stranger danger

          “What’s a pretty girl like you doing here alone?”

          Myungsoo hears the question cutting through the faint background noise of speeding vehicles and night breeze. “Are you waiting for someone?��� More slurred words spill into the air; the owner of the voice is a gangling man around his twenties as the trainee can see from several feet away. In the vicinity was only him, the stranger, and a girl whom Myungsoo barely talked to, but recognized enough for her name to be remembered. Circumstances can be seen from many a perspective other than his own, but to Myungsoo, this scenario he’s witnessing doesn’t spell safety at all. (Especially when the female is evidently avoiding her pursuer’s incessant prodding.)

          His steps further approach the bus stop with suppressed urgency. Eyebrows deepen into a scowl as Myungsoo announces his presence with the scuffle of his sneakers against the pavement, rough and heavy. He takes more steps forward to his fellow trainee, interrupting the other man’s drunk soliloquy without so much as a warning.

          “Yah.” He calls out to Suji in an intimidating tone, “I’ve been looking for you.” Obviously a lie; Suji would have to be an A-class idiot if she doesn’t understand what he’s trying to do.

[rkmyung-blog]

● oil and water

          Training in Sphere reminds him of school in more ways than one: there are strict schedules, demanding classes and different kinds of students he’d rather not stay in a room with for more than five minutes. One of the most notable things about the company, however, is its notorious line-up of teachers that exercise their authority in the best (worst) way. While it might be true that horrible teachers exist in every learning institution (even in entertainment companies like this), Myungsoo wishes there were a way he could live without them.

          He’s only a few levels away from seething as he finds himself standing outside the music room with another trainee, their vocal coach giving them a condescending look that makes the young male’s jaw clench in barely-concealed resentment. “I don’t need five-year-olds in my class. You two will be happily welcomed back once you pipe down and resolve that argument of yours, but until then, learn how to act your age.”

          Silence eats Myungsoo and Jinri when the door clicks to a close. The male takes the opportunity to say something first – out of indignation and anger that he can’t direct to the trainer – walking to the opposite wall and leaning on it. “Well, this is fun too,” he mutters in a voice that sounds anything but fun.

[rkmyung-blog]

Stringed Instruments, Stringed Lives || + Chorong

    His hands already know the guitar down to the most fragile of strings. They are very intimate with the piano keys, too, despite years of abandoning the hobby. There’s only so much available to learn in the class hall, and Myungsoo is only ten seconds from decomposition, from crumbling into flakes of unattended boredom. He didn’t think it was possible to be in such state in a place filled with nothing but music — something he regards in a prime position in his life in general — but there he is, dragging his feet from one area to another to find something better to do than the usual.

     He’s already covered half of the hall when he stumbles upon the less usual — ten steps away and he can already hear the soothing concoction of melody and harmony, its lighthearted tune carrying him away from the grumpiness that was just about to occupy his system. This is where he decides to sit for a bit, the childlike curiosity unmasked in his eyes as he claims an empty chair. When the teacher commands the small group of people to find a learning partner Myungsoo doesn’t even move in his seat, not having any urge to do anything but observe — but he catches a glimpse of the person in front of him. He blinks once her eyes fall on him, making him blink in return.

     It seems like he’ll never run out of familiar faces to see, even in a place like this.

[rkmyung-blog]

A Night With A Drunk || Myungsoo & Howon

    Blurred vision, languid limbs, vertigo. Myungsoo doesn't know how he managed to drag his feet to someone's place to stay for the night, but he has ended up there anyway and that's the most important thing right now. Despite alcohol-saturated judgment, the boy is resolute into not sleeping on someone's front porch or on the nearest apartment complex's lobby, because that is "real embarrasheen," like he had told himself aloud five minutes ago while wobbling on the pavement. His heavy steps fill the void of that night's silence; he groans once and stumbles thrice until he (barely) successfully reaches the front door of an apartment.

    Myungsoo thinks that the doorbell looks familiar, so he guesses that it must be his friend's unit (even if all the doorbells in every single unit along the hallway had the same type). Lips casting a grin, the boy taps on the doorbell four times for a good measure and waits, limp frame rested on the closed door. And then it opens -- it makes Myungsoo collapse to his knees, causing him to burst in a fit of snorts.

    "Hajin-ah, dammit did see that? I jussst... fell for you so hard... Mm..." A laugh tumbles past his lips, and he slides his hands to the other man's leg for purchase, in no way aware that the person is not who he thinks it is. At all.

[rkmyung-blog]

All For a Good Cause || Myungsoo & Chorong

    In ten days it would be Kyungjong's birthday. The keyboardist of the band has been more unbearable than he is during normal circumstances, mouth running all day long in his incessant nagging at the members for special gifts that he's been expecting. And Myungsoo, truth be told, is only a short fuse away from snapping at the older member because he only has so much patience in general. So it is a big understatement to say that he's already getting pissed when Kyungjong nudges him with Doil's drumstick for the seventeenth time that hour, quirking eyebrows in a hint of have you already gotten me a present? towards the youngest member's direction.

    Thankfully Myungsoo manages to keep composure, and the night wears out with a few hours of fruitful band practice.

    That evening, as the boy sat on the bed with the laptop perched on his lap, he scrolls through the inventory of YouTube videos from one user profile. Chorongcé, it says; Kyungjong has been an avid fan of the YouTuber for a while now that he even subscribed to the user using their band's account. He's far too crazy about her. As far as Myungsoo knows, the girl sings well, but he holds little to no interest to the matter. But since he needs something, perhaps he should steer away from nonchalance just a little.

    The sound of tip-taps from the feeble keys of the laptop fills the room along with Myungsoo's silence as he drafts a message. It takes him a good thirty minutes to finally decide on a friendly tone instead of a formal one, and he hits send to the person behind the account after a few more rereads. He's very thankful of the fact that it's so easy to pretend being friendly online, because if Myungsoo typed that message in his own tone, he knows there's no way this Chorongcé would buy it.

To: Chorongcé From: Catharsis Seoul (youtube.com/catharsis2012)

Hello, how are you doing? I am from a local band named Catharsis, and one of our members is celebrating his birthday in ten days. You can check our channel out, he's the one on the keyboard ^^ He's a really big fan of yours, I'm thinking of giving him a present that personally comes from you. If it's not too much of an idea, please do contact me at my personal email (kms313@hanmail.net) to discuss details. I hope you give this message some consideration, since it would really mean a lot to my friend! Thank you~ ^^

[rkmyung-blog]

*red

         Who in their right minds would spend an early morning sacrificing sleep just to learn the science of kimchi-making?

         Under the right conditions, Myungsoo would.

        He wakes up to a bad morning that day, feeling as if his stomach has transformed into a monster overnight. The food offered during breakfast had not been enough to satiate his hunger, and so the prospect of getting to eat free food (one of his favorites, no less) afterwards is enough to lure him into signing up for the morning activity. Anyway, what could go wrong with kimchi?

         The trainee shows up several minutes late for the session but he’s warmly welcomed by the instructor already wearing red pepper paste-stained gloves. Quietly occupying one of the vacant tables, he looks at the other people in the room and feels a twinge of embarrassment upon seeing a fellow trainee. No words nor waves are given as a greeting -- just a smirk as an attempt of dispelling the awkwardness rooting from the idea that he’s actually here with the intention to learn more about kimchi.

         It’s very uncharacteristic, but in the end, it should be the food that matters.

[rkmyung-blog]

* breaking free

          Fresh meat is clearly abundant these days, as Myungsoo sees another wave of newly-signed trainees walking the halls of Sphere. New trainees have always meant new pranks for the rest of the lot, something about giving them a warm welcome to the company, though the male didn't particularly see the purpose of the whole idea of such practice. If not for him getting sick of people talking his ears off about doing it, he wouldn't exactly pull off a Troy Bolton on strangers as a way of upholding the tradition.

          Troy Bolton my ass.

          The raven-haired male thinks to himself as he purses his lips together, finally deciding that this is the last time he'll be dealing with the hey-Myungsoo-it's-your-turn-to-do-stupid-shit talk. It's downright silly having to do something as purposeless as this -- because who needs a warm welcome in a place of Satanic practices such as training? -- but it's not like Myungsoo is entirely devoid of a sense of humor. His is a little twisted, sure, but it's sense of humor regardless. Besides, the idea of Luna and Suji and everyone else leaving him alone needs to happen as soon as possible -- and it'll never happen unless he submits to their demands.

          So, he instantly goes for the kill. He scoffs towards the girls prodding him on before he walks away from them and towards an unsuspecting trainee. The cafeteria is full at lunchtime, but it's easy to detect unfamiliar faces from the crowd; Myungsoo approaches one of them as soon as he sees her, sitting down on the vacant space in front of the girl uninvited. There's a divine moment of silence where he scrutinizes her with his signature steely stare. After several seconds -- just right before the girl can even do anything -- he starts to sing a song in the most disturbingly low tone he can muster.

          "We're soaring... Flying..."

[rkmyung-blog]

* mind over matter (au)

          Five hours. It’s already close to five hours of a painfully unbearable experience with some of the most monstrous creatures he’s ever encountered, and there are still not enough tells to latch onto about whether the nightmare would end soon or not. As a practitioner of logical thinking -- arguably the world’s top detective at that -- rubbing elbows with a talking skeleton, or being chased down by a zombie that actually eats human flesh makes L question the soundness of his current state. He's still sane enough to recognize absurdity, but he fears it might not last long.

          Even the best detectives give up sometimes. Five hours into his stay at the vast indoor space of the themed park, L heads off to find his next resting place in the horror house after narrowly avoiding a flying knife outside. He nibbles on a chocolate bar (one among the many he took from a candy booth nearby) as he steps into a quiet room with watchful eyes. After several tries, he's bound to find a place with the least risk of death -- or so he hopes.

[rkmyung-blog]

— bitter is for chocolates, not people

          It is the year 2015 and Byunghun still hasn’t deviated from his habit of dragging Myungsoo around out of impulse. Tonight’s edition of the series involves the elder asking for his cousin’s company, embarking on an aimless journey all over Hongdae that eventually ends up with the two of them in front of a special chocolate-making booth. Roaming in a place that Myungsoo already knows like the back of his hand is one thing -- he never gets tired of seeing the nooks and crannies of the Hongdae area even after the thousandth time. But dropping by at a place saturated by young lovers is another. He can feel the goosebumps of secondhand embarrassment on the nape of his neck seeing couples feeding each other with treats; in return, he silently wishes the chocolate they make would get burnt.

          “Yah,” Myungsoo turns to his cousin with a disapproving expression, “Do you even know how to make those? Let’s go somewhere else.”

[rkmyung-blog]

* second time’s the charm (au)

          To a detective, some of the most bizarre circumstances happen in the form of criminal cases. L has handled one too many crimes orchestrated by a twisted mind, but even then, the man’s intellect still has the capacity to provide sound, logical solutions to these mysteries. Of course, the Shinigami factor in the Kira case is an outstanding exception -- still, he was able to single out the perpetrators through genius deduction. But this...

          Logic proves itself insufficient even after he’s consumed three lollipops from his pocket (at least his candies weren’t affected by any inexplicable event) and time ticked fifteen minutes further after midnight. The first time he was handcuffed to Light was something he was willing to do in the pursuit of evidence; the second time, not so much. It’s a wonder how the raven managed to arrive in a vast area filled with all sorts of fantasy, supernatural creatures that have literally come to life and be linked to the other male with a handcuff -- all in a blink of an eye. “It’s a possibility that we’re hallucinating right now...” Lawliet mumbles, thumb brushing from one edge of his lip to the other in rumination.

[rkmyung-blog]

● pitch perfectionist

          “When tears fall-- No, I’ll do that one more time.”

          “You went sharp at the I couldn’t speak part.”

          "We both got the lyrics wrong.”

          This is legitimately the very first time in his life as a Sphere trainee where he has spoken so much in a span of an hour. It’s not so much physically draining as it is mentally exhausting having to pick up little details and correct them one by one with a partner. Myungsoo has no problem being meticulous with his own work, but working things out with another person is an entirely different story.

          “Let’s do this part again,” is most likely his catchphrase of the day. It’s not that the new trainee is a horrible singer, nor is she tone-deaf -- in fact, she seems to have had a good training prior to Sphere -- it’s more of the fact that the sheer discomfort of being partnered with a new person is getting in the way. More than the fact that it takes a long time for Myungsoo to get completely comfortable with someone, he hates having to deal with the unease bred from awkwardness and first meetings. On top of all the harmonization and keyboard-playing he has to do, adapting to the technique of a girl whom he hasn’t heard sing before is like finding his way out of a lightless dungeon while blindfolded. 

          After a successful round at the entire song, Myungsoo positions his fingers on the right keys to start over again, offering no compliment even if he approves the favorable result of their last run. “From the top,” he says, throwing the other trainee a side glance and awaiting her response.

[rkmyung-blog]

50 Shades of Intoxication || + Kyungsoo

    He's fucked.

    That's the first thing Myungsoo is able to register as he nurses himself with the after-effects of too much alcohol. And he's royally fucked, because he's drunk, but he definitely knows he is -- that is where it gets bad. Straddling the line between sobriety and inebriation seems to be worse than getting completely knocked out because he still remembers the littlest dregs of his mortifying episodes just minutes ago on the dance floor, despite the clouded mind. Maybe if he downed more vodka then he'd just forget everything the next day. Including the fact that he's related to Byunghun: that one guy who happened to get him drunk enough to dance, or twerk, whatever that thing is called that he wouldn't do in a million years if he were considerably sober.

    He contemplates a round or two of whiskey to get himself totally drunk to the point of no return, but he hasn't even gained balance just yet to stand when he spots the familiar frame of his new roommate walking (more like teetering) past. "Khh--" the boy coughs twice before trying again, "K-Kyungs...uh..." The rest of it dissolves into a groan as he slumps back on the bench, hoping the other has heard him, because seeing his roommate suddenly makes him want to go straight to bed and sleep for the rest of his life.