[SHINee/SJ] Never Knew Anything But Loving You - 1/?, PG, Romance, Minho/Donghae

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Coming off hiatus to post this.

1. This is incomplete, because apparently this Minho/Donghae thing wants to turn epic. What can I say? I can never resist the biases.
   (1a. It's very hard to write Minho/Donghae when I know so very little about SHINee, so please correct me should you spot any glaring errors or discrepancies of characterization.)
   (1b. I'm sorry I've forgotten how to write. T__T)


2. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MA BELLE CHERIE. I love you, darleenk, even though you are now old as dirt. Ignore my cane-waving and just take the love, yeah? ♥


3. Happy Year of the Tiger and Valentine's and Happy Mardi Gras in advance!

Never Knew Anything But Loving You - 1/?
SHINee/Super Junior, Minho/Donghae, PG, 3100 words
Minho is kind of head over heels for Donghae, but he's okay with that.


It's never a question where Minho will sleep on the rare occasion he stays so late in their dorms that it's only practical for him to spend the night and leave the next morning. Jonghyun has stayed over a few times before too, and Onew once. It's not a big deal: they're all guys, they're all good friends under the same label, and they see each other five out of seven days a week anyway. If anything's weird, it's how close Minho is to Donghae considering he sees far more Eeteuk and Eunhyuk - but in the end, that's not so weird either, because it's Donghae. He's special that way, with some unnamable charm that no one seems able to resist.

So it's late - coming up to three in the morning - and Donghae's practically asleep on his feet as he shuffles into his bedroom and climbs into bed. He murmurs something incomprehensible as Minho rubs at his eyes in the doorway and asks if he should turn the lights off or not. After a moment of indecision, Minho shrugs and slips under the covers beside Donghae, lights still bright overhead. Shindong's still awake and Minho figures he needs to see when he eventually gets to bed; doesn't really matter because Donghae is nearly asleep already, face buried in his arm and tucked against the pillow, and Minho can sleep really anywhere at this point - lights on, TV blaring, apocalypse crashing the world around his ears. It's a talent you pick up when you're rarely afforded the luxury of eight hours of blissful unconsciousness in a bed - naptimes wherever you can sneak 'em between the energy drinks.

The sheets are still cool but rapidly warming. Donghae's a long line of heat, on his side facing the wall and his back curved against Minho. He can feel the shift of Donghae's spine under the thin cotton of his sleeping t-shirt, the gentle rhythm of his breathing - slowing, evening out. Minho looks at him for a moment, vision blurry from exhaustion, and something unwinds his chest as he takes in the messy brown hair and the curve of a bicep slung over the top of the covers. He drags the hem of his track pants down with his toes from where it's ridden up on his calf, yawns, and turns on his side so he's fitted behind Donghae on the narrow bed.

He falls asleep before Shindong comes silently into the room, flicking off the lights as he crawls into his own bed for a few precious hours of shut-eye.

--

In the morning, Minho wakes with a mouthful of pillow and his mouth feeling parched and cottony. He's too hot and it's too early and his entire body aches, protesting every shift of muscle. He keeps his eyes shut because it's still dark out and that means he is definitely entitled to another hour of sleep. It doesn't matter that his mind is slowly shifting gears, easing into wakefulness that reminds him that it's been weeks since he last got to wake up after the sun rose.

Minho is a morning person, weirdly enough. He likes the crisp air in the morning, the feeling of being awake with the sun, of getting things done before noon. The thing is - he's only a morning person after he wakes up. And right now, he is not awake and he wants to keep it that way for a while longer, thanks.

But someone's nudging him and - is that an elbow to his gut? Minho groans into the pillow and cracks one bleary eye open.

Donghae's face is startlingly close, out-of-focus and features distorted large. Minho slams his eyes closed again as Donghae says, voice hoarse with sleep, "Hey, you have to head back. I gotta go in, like. Soon." He sits up and the balance of the bed shifts and Minho groans again. He stays immobile as Donghae stretches and pops his spine, yawning loud.

"Yah," Donghae says and a bare foot finds Minho's hip.

"Hyuuung," Minho whines as the foot shoves. "Fuck!" He scrambles to latch onto something, anything - his hands close around Donghae's knee and dig in, ignoring the yelp - to keep from sliding ass first off the edge of the bed.

Donghae laughs at him and Minho squeezes his knee a little harder, just because he can. He makes a face and it's probably something like a pout - Minho's still half-asleep - because it just makes Donghae grin at him again. And then there's a warm press of skin and sleep-rumpled clothing as Donghae pushes him back onto the bed and crawls over him. Minho's stomach flips, a stirring of warmth that he's grown accustomed to over the past few months, and he lies still as Donghae slides over him and his bare feet hit the floor with a slap.

"I'm gonna shower," he announces. Then he stops and blinks and his bangs are in his eyes and Minho decides that, yep, this is favorite hyung ever. Donghae seems to catch up with whatever thought he just had that made him stop and he adds, "We can drop you off when we head out. Uh, d'you wanna shower here or—"

"Nah, I'll shower when I get back." He won't have much time because his own schedule starts roughly an hour after Donghae's does, but it doesn't take long to hop in the shower and back out. Minho's a pro. He's not like some people in his band, whose showers go on for at least thirty minutes, even when they haven't got the time.

Donghae's gone now, Shindong's bed is empty, and Minho thinks he can hear voices from the kitchen. Someone is way too chipper for ass o'clock in the morning, chattering on and on, seemingly oblivious to the bleary one-word grunts they get in reply. Minho flips onto his stomach and sprawls out over the length of the bed, which feels glorious after a night of staying curled up on one side. The pillow closer to the wall smells a bit like Donghae and Minho breathes it in, holds it in his lungs, and then lets it seep out in a slow breath. His mind's still drowsy but his body's awake now and he sighs as he shifts his hips against the bed. It's been a while since he's identified this feeling he has for Donghae, but he doesn't really think about it much. There's really no point. It stays a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach, sometimes manifests in the flutter of his pulse, but really - really, he just likes to laugh with Donghae, whisper comments in his ear when they're backstage or on stage or whatever, just spend time with him.

Minho's half-asleep again when Donghae comes back freshly-showered and scrubbed pink, eyes bright and t-shirt sticking damply to his skin. "C'mon," he says cheerfully, clearly more awake than before, "let's feed you and get you out of here." He pulls a hoodie over his head and when his head emerges, his hair is wet and mussed. He grins at Minho as he tugs the edge of the hoodie down over his hips and Minho can't help the little answering smile on his face.

He's quiet as he levers himself off the bed and follows Donghae into the kitchen and tries not to be too obvious about following Donghae with his eyes as he sips at the cup of coffee Sungmin's shoved into his hands.

--

Minho's never really been good with this girl thing. He's always been a pretty quiet kid and adjusting to the whole fame thing took longer than he expected - going from inconspicuous to having nameless girls screaming his name and swooning over him is a little weird at first. It's still kind of weird, in fact. But he's handling it better now - working on Star King has actually helped a lot. Kang Hodong is loud and boisterous and teases Minho relentlessly (but he teases everyone relentlessly), but it's helped Minho get used to getting a lot of attention. The female guests tend to flush and stammer around him but at least they're not throwing themselves at him - it's practice for performing in front of fans who do want to throw themselves at him, who know things about him like his favorite drinks, what he ate for dinner last night, and hell, his shoe size.

Still, Minho can get unnerved. Like when he's got two cameras pointed at him, an audience holding its breath, and fellow idols laughing at him behind their hands as he's expected to name his favorite SNSD member. Really? He's talked to all of them, sure, but he only knows a few of them well. And he ends up picking Seohyun because she's sweet and his age and, sure, SHINee's initial concept was all about the noona audience but that's not really Minho's scene. He's uncomfortable enough around girls without having the added fear that she's laughing at him because he has no idea what he's doing.

Maybe it's weird, or maybe not, but he's the total opposite when it comes to hyungs. It never feels like they're laughing at him - or if they are, they're not judging about it - when they're older and more experienced: it's actually kind of nice to know that they know what they're doing and they're willing to help him out. Minho likes hanging out and joking with his hyungs, likes knowing he can get away with things, likes surprising them when they've pegged him for someone a little more naive just because he tends to be quiet. He likes how comfortable it is when they've gotten used to each other and he can sling an arm over their shoulder and joke with them and they can joke right back. It's like having a ton of older brothers who give good advice and tease him about everything and let him rag on them equally in return. It's like family.

Minho sometimes gets shit from the rest of the band about the way he's pretty much friends with every hyung ever - or at least one in every band - but he knows it's all friendly teasing. Jonghyun's kind of got a mancrush on Zhou Mi, even if he'll never admit it, and it's not like Taemin and Onew and Key don't hang out ridiculous amounts with their Super Junior sunbae. They're in no position to judge. They're probably just jealous that Donghae likes Minho best because, well, everyone likes Donghae. Like that one show Minho couldn't make it on, where Onew and Jonghyun and Key were all vying for Donghae's love and affection, or something, sitting on his lap and singing at him. It's all for fun, yeah, and they're all close to him, because there's nothing Donghae likes more than being an affectionate hyung (Minho's theory is it's because Donghae thrives on affection) - but there's really no question about it, for anyone. Minho's Donghae's favorite.

And Donghae's Minho's favorite. So it works out.

Except for a while back when Minho realized that it's a little more than that, and sometimes he'll stare at the way Donghae's shoulders and hips move when he dances, and sometimes he'll stare at Donghae's mouth, laughing or drinking Coke or shaping Minho's name as he shouts in congratulations and wraps his arms around Minho... Somewhere along the line, Donghae being Minho's favorite started to mean just a little bit more.

It's probably selfish, the way he takes advantage of how touchy-feely Donghae is to get his arms around him as often as he can, but Donghae never complains, never looks like it bothers him, so Minho can't feel that bad about it. A part of him actually feels a little smug that he gets to get away with touching Donghae so much - but then the sane part of his mind points out that it's Donghae, everyone kind of gets away with touching him that much.

Still, Minho is kind of a little bit head over heels. He just doesn't dwell on it.

--

The problem is that Minho's Donghae's favorite dongsaeng, but Donghae's favorite favorite? Is probably Eunhyuk. This isn't really a big deal - Minho's not the jealous type and it's not like that anyway. He likes Eunhyuk a lot, they get along, and it's not like they're competing or anything. It's just that because Eunhyuk is so close with Donghae and admittedly pretty close to Minho too, he sees things. And he's not stupid, either, so he gets them too.

The one and only time they try to have a conversation about it, they're filming Dream Team and it's freezing outside and they're on break, wrapped up in giant parkas and hands closed around steaming thermoses of tea. Minho stares down at the pale wheat-gold of his barley tea as Eunhyuk clears his throat and shifts his weight.

"Uh, so, you kind of like Donghae a lot, huh?"

"Yeah."

Eunhyuk inspects the toes of his sneakers. "Well. So. How's that going for you?"

Minho doesn't really know how to respond to that and the flush high on Eunhyuk's cheeks might be due to the cold, might be something else. He rushes on in the face of Minho's silence. "Just, you know, he's a really good person and a really good friend and I know he loves everyone, it's just how he is. But don't do anything stupid, okay? I mean, don't start thinking something's there when it's not, he just has a really good heart - and, I mean, I like you too, Minho, I just don't want you to get hurt either, okay? Don't hurt him. He hasn't got a clue."

It's an earnest, well-meaning flood of words and Minho can't help his lips curving up a little. "Okay, hyung," he says, because he knows what Eunhyuk means. He's not stupid either. He sips at his tea and watches Eunhyuk cough and fidget over the rim. He gives in after two minutes and sets the thermos down, knocking a shoulder into the older boy and grinning, teasing, easing the atmosphere. Eunhyuk laughs a little, sheepishly, and rubs his mittened hands over his cheeks. The awkwardness between them dissipates by the time they're back on camera and no one's any wiser.

Their next break, Minho finds a text from Donghae on his phone, complaining about something Kyuhyun's done and asking if Minho's frozen into a popsicle yet? It makes that feeling inside him curl in warm satisfaction even though he knows the only reason Donghae texts him more often than he texts Eunhyuk is because he's used to seeing Eunhyuk all the time, used to pouring his chatter into his ear.

Still, Minho lets the feeling warm him up from inside as he thumbs back his reply, hoping he's not smiling as stupidly as he's afraid he is.

--

Jonghyun likes to complain about Minho being freaking gigantic and Minho likes to call him "tiny" in retaliation. Key, who is a very respectable 177 cm, likes to laugh in Jonghyun's face. Taemin stays out of the debate because chances aren't bad that he's going to outgrow Minho with his genes and the way he eats. Onew likes to drag Minho down by the arm so he can put his head on Minho's shoulder and bat his lashes and grin about how Minho totally as a thing for shorter girls.

"Are you calling yourself a girl?" Key asks with a smirk.

Onew makes a kissy face at him and bats his lashes again. "Well, I don't look as good in a skirt as Taeminnie does..."

Taemin groans and says in the weary tone of someone's who had this conversation too many times, "Seriously, can we never move past this? Ever? Before I'm fifty?"

"Nah, you were too cute." Minho ruffles his hair and lets Onew lean on him and thinks about the seed of truth in his bandmates' teasing. It's not that he has a particular thing for girls, or people, or whatever, who are shorter than him - it's just that most of them tend to be shorter than him, regardless. He's not ridiculously tall, not really, but does tend to tower over his band and most of his sunbae too. He definitely towers over Donghae, and he has to admit that it's kind of nice. He enjoys bending his head to whisper things to Donghae, or having Donghae stretch up and lean back to say something to him, exposing his throat with the tilt of his head. He likes sliding his arms around Donghae from the back, nose pressed into Donghae's hair, which always smells like a mix of fruit and sweat and styling product. It's not bad, really.

Then again, it's possible that Minho just kind of likes Donghae. He grins to himself, refuses to answer when Jonghyun starts interrogating him about that grin, and removes himself from the room.

"Hey, come over tonight!" Donghae says enthusiastically over the phone later that day, as Minho's filming a CF for some product he's never used. "Video games and soju, can't beat it. Kibum said he might even stop by!"

One of the perks of being on hiatus and not actively promoting an album is the extra down time, despite the hectic filming schedule. "Sure," he says and makes a mental note to bring his soccer ball over too. Even if Eeteuk won't let them kick it around inside, they can brave a little cold. It'll be fun. He likes the way Donghae lights up when he's around a soccer ball, when he's just the kid who wants to be an athlete when he grows up, no longer an idol or the object of hundreds of middle school girls' romantic fantasies. Minho likes his smile, likes fighting him for the ball, likes competing and owning him into the ground.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Donghae tells him.

"Hyung, you suck at video games even without alcohol."

"I meant at soccer," Donghae says, cocky and sure, "since you're bringing the ball over and all, right?"

Minho laughs. Of course Donghae's thinking the same thing he is. "Of course. But hyung's got to promise not to cry when I win." He only laughs more at Donghae's ensuing outrage, and looks forward to finishing up the shoot.

So Minho likes Donghae a lot - like likes him, for all that entails. Is probably more than just a little bit head over heels for him.

Really, it's not so bad.




Part 2

--

Started: 2010.02.14

Notes: Yes, there will be more. No, I don't know when.