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Entry tags:
998
Title: 998
Pairing: Qmi
Rating: G
Summary: Zhou Mi doesn’t often have moments of weakness.
Zhou Mi had never been one for crafts. Neither had he been one to reminisce about life for hours upon end, but yet, something about the day had him doing both.
He knew he had all of his bandmates worried; he had assured them all that he was fine. And he was. Sort of.
“Hey.”
Zhou Mi looked up from his project and managed a small smile as Kyuhyun slid into a seat beside him. Okay, so, he had assured everyone but Kyuhyun that he was fine.
“Origami?”
“I need a hobby. My profile looks thin compared to the rest of you.”
“I don’t believe you," Kyuhyun said, pulling Zhou Mi’s hands from the thin paper and grasping them tightly.
Zhou Mi sighed. Really, he should have known that Kyuhyun would eventually get sent to him. “I feel like the world is made of paper cranes.”
Kyuhyun stared at him for a moment and Zhou Mi could only imagine what he was thinking. Could he handle this? It sounded like a psychological problem; should he get Siwon? Maybe Henry? Did he need to speak in Mandarin? Maybe he should get Hangeng....
Zhou Mi almost snorted, but instead, extracted his hands from Kyuhyun’s and folded another line on the paper, carefully.
“Why is that?” Kyuhyun finally asked, sounding a little scared.
“It’s fragile, but yet so precise,” Zhou Mi responded, pressing another fold, “Every bit of the world is so exact. Like--how it’s positioned far enough from the sun to not burn up, but just close enough to not freeze. Or how specifically measured amounts of chemical elements make up everything. One molecule different and we wouldn’t be us. Does that make sense?”
Kyuhyun nodded, and picked up a piece of paper, eyeing it carefully as he made his first fold.
“Kyuhyun, do you think it’s fair that we’re singers?”
Zhou Mi set aside his finished crane and watched Kyuhyun fold. Zhou Mi found himself fascinated by the way his friend’s hands moved. “All the stuff that’s been happening--I can’t help but wonder if I would be of more use to the world doing something else.”
He didn’t elaborate what he meant by “stuff.” Kyuhyun had a very good memory recall.
“Like what?”
Kyuhyun brushed his hair back and Zhou Mi found the action so beautiful he almost cried.
“I don’t know. Maybe a doctor? Or an inventor? Something useful.”
“You don’t think singing is useful?”
“Well, it is, but--it doesn’t save people’s lives, it doesn’t cure cancer, it doesn’t find alternatives to oil.” And it’s widely appreciated by everyone.
“So practical,” Kyuhyun hummed, finishing his crane, and setting it delicately on Zhou Mi’s head. It stayed there for a moment before it slid off and hit the rim of Zhou Mi’s glasses. “I think singing makes people happy, Zhou Mi. I think that’s just as important as saving lives, maybe more important. We keep all the doctors and lawyers and inventors happy so that they can do what they do.”
Zhou Mi swiped the crane and placed it on Kyuhyun’s hair in retaliation. “I know that. I do. But sometimes, sometimes it’s--”
“Sometimes it’s hard,” Kyuhyun nodded, “Because we are fragile.”
Zhou Mi fingered his own crane, noting with a little pride that his corner and edges were crisper than Kyuhyun’s, “Sometimes, I think we’re more fragile than paper. Everything that cuts paper can cut us too, but not everything that cuts us can cut paper.”
“Like words.”
“And actions,” Zhou Mi continued, “I even think that we can be cut without realizing it.”
Kyuhyun smiled and set their paper cranes side by side on the table. “But we can heal, unlike paper.”
“We can,” Zhou Mi said, and finally smiled, albeit half-heartedly.
Kyuhyun his hand over Zhou Mi’s, “Singing heals people too, Zhou Mi.”
I love what I do, Zhou Mi thought desperately.
Kyuhyun’s smile told him that he didn’t have to say it. Zhou Mi wondered when it had become like this. Exactly when had he been able to talk to Kyuhyun about things he couldn’t mention in front of the other members?
Really, the whole situation was weird, because Zhou Mi was a strong person. He was strong for all the members, strong for Henry, strong for himself. But--he supposed that sometimes you have to be weak, just for a little bit. Zhou Mi couldn’t imagine being weak in front of anyone but the man before him now.
“Thank you, Kui Xian,” he said, and Kyuhyun squeezed his hands.
“You and I,” Kyuhyun said, arranging the two paper cranes closer to each other, “we can be two paper cranes together, alright? We’ll fix each other’s rips and tears so that we can always make people happy. Besides which, 998 more and you can wish for world peace or something. That’ll be really useful.”
“999,” Zhou Mi corrected, “I only made one.”
“Well, then we’ll make 998 together,” Kyuhyun said, “It’ll count for something, I’m sure of it.”
Zhou Mi chuckled and snagged a piece of paper, pushing it in front of Kyuhyun. “Better start folding then.”
He felt his heart regenerate, and he thought that maybe he’d go online later and see if he had any UFO messages. Maybe he’d even butt in and respond to someone else’s, just because he could.
998 paper cranes later, Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun surprised Hangeng with the Best Leader Ever award. It made him cry and they threatened the rest of their members until they promised to never, ever tell Leeteuk.
~~~~~
I really admire Zhou Mi for how strong he appears when people bring up only 13 crap. But I imagine that at some point, he had a heart to heart with himself about it, because stuff like that can't not hurt.
Pairing: Qmi
Rating: G
Summary: Zhou Mi doesn’t often have moments of weakness.
Zhou Mi had never been one for crafts. Neither had he been one to reminisce about life for hours upon end, but yet, something about the day had him doing both.
He knew he had all of his bandmates worried; he had assured them all that he was fine. And he was. Sort of.
“Hey.”
Zhou Mi looked up from his project and managed a small smile as Kyuhyun slid into a seat beside him. Okay, so, he had assured everyone but Kyuhyun that he was fine.
“Origami?”
“I need a hobby. My profile looks thin compared to the rest of you.”
“I don’t believe you," Kyuhyun said, pulling Zhou Mi’s hands from the thin paper and grasping them tightly.
Zhou Mi sighed. Really, he should have known that Kyuhyun would eventually get sent to him. “I feel like the world is made of paper cranes.”
Kyuhyun stared at him for a moment and Zhou Mi could only imagine what he was thinking. Could he handle this? It sounded like a psychological problem; should he get Siwon? Maybe Henry? Did he need to speak in Mandarin? Maybe he should get Hangeng....
Zhou Mi almost snorted, but instead, extracted his hands from Kyuhyun’s and folded another line on the paper, carefully.
“Why is that?” Kyuhyun finally asked, sounding a little scared.
“It’s fragile, but yet so precise,” Zhou Mi responded, pressing another fold, “Every bit of the world is so exact. Like--how it’s positioned far enough from the sun to not burn up, but just close enough to not freeze. Or how specifically measured amounts of chemical elements make up everything. One molecule different and we wouldn’t be us. Does that make sense?”
Kyuhyun nodded, and picked up a piece of paper, eyeing it carefully as he made his first fold.
“Kyuhyun, do you think it’s fair that we’re singers?”
Zhou Mi set aside his finished crane and watched Kyuhyun fold. Zhou Mi found himself fascinated by the way his friend’s hands moved. “All the stuff that’s been happening--I can’t help but wonder if I would be of more use to the world doing something else.”
He didn’t elaborate what he meant by “stuff.” Kyuhyun had a very good memory recall.
“Like what?”
Kyuhyun brushed his hair back and Zhou Mi found the action so beautiful he almost cried.
“I don’t know. Maybe a doctor? Or an inventor? Something useful.”
“You don’t think singing is useful?”
“Well, it is, but--it doesn’t save people’s lives, it doesn’t cure cancer, it doesn’t find alternatives to oil.” And it’s widely appreciated by everyone.
“So practical,” Kyuhyun hummed, finishing his crane, and setting it delicately on Zhou Mi’s head. It stayed there for a moment before it slid off and hit the rim of Zhou Mi’s glasses. “I think singing makes people happy, Zhou Mi. I think that’s just as important as saving lives, maybe more important. We keep all the doctors and lawyers and inventors happy so that they can do what they do.”
Zhou Mi swiped the crane and placed it on Kyuhyun’s hair in retaliation. “I know that. I do. But sometimes, sometimes it’s--”
“Sometimes it’s hard,” Kyuhyun nodded, “Because we are fragile.”
Zhou Mi fingered his own crane, noting with a little pride that his corner and edges were crisper than Kyuhyun’s, “Sometimes, I think we’re more fragile than paper. Everything that cuts paper can cut us too, but not everything that cuts us can cut paper.”
“Like words.”
“And actions,” Zhou Mi continued, “I even think that we can be cut without realizing it.”
Kyuhyun smiled and set their paper cranes side by side on the table. “But we can heal, unlike paper.”
“We can,” Zhou Mi said, and finally smiled, albeit half-heartedly.
Kyuhyun his hand over Zhou Mi’s, “Singing heals people too, Zhou Mi.”
I love what I do, Zhou Mi thought desperately.
Kyuhyun’s smile told him that he didn’t have to say it. Zhou Mi wondered when it had become like this. Exactly when had he been able to talk to Kyuhyun about things he couldn’t mention in front of the other members?
Really, the whole situation was weird, because Zhou Mi was a strong person. He was strong for all the members, strong for Henry, strong for himself. But--he supposed that sometimes you have to be weak, just for a little bit. Zhou Mi couldn’t imagine being weak in front of anyone but the man before him now.
“Thank you, Kui Xian,” he said, and Kyuhyun squeezed his hands.
“You and I,” Kyuhyun said, arranging the two paper cranes closer to each other, “we can be two paper cranes together, alright? We’ll fix each other’s rips and tears so that we can always make people happy. Besides which, 998 more and you can wish for world peace or something. That’ll be really useful.”
“999,” Zhou Mi corrected, “I only made one.”
“Well, then we’ll make 998 together,” Kyuhyun said, “It’ll count for something, I’m sure of it.”
Zhou Mi chuckled and snagged a piece of paper, pushing it in front of Kyuhyun. “Better start folding then.”
He felt his heart regenerate, and he thought that maybe he’d go online later and see if he had any UFO messages. Maybe he’d even butt in and respond to someone else’s, just because he could.
998 paper cranes later, Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun surprised Hangeng with the Best Leader Ever award. It made him cry and they threatened the rest of their members until they promised to never, ever tell Leeteuk.
~~~~~
I really admire Zhou Mi for how strong he appears when people bring up only 13 crap. But I imagine that at some point, he had a heart to heart with himself about it, because stuff like that can't not hurt.