17hols | Round 2 2023: AUs

Round 2 2023: AUs

Status: Closed

This round is currently has closed for prompting but fills and comments are forever welcome..

✧ Seventeen Holidays ✧

Round 2: Alternate Universes

About

Is there a piece of media that has gripped your heart and lives in your head rent free? Do you like the dynamics of 007/Q or a Sentinel/Guide AU? Maybe its the aesthetics of Song of Achilles or Secret Histories — or maybe its your other fandoms (F1 and Anime girlies looking at you). Get our your media roundups and put our favourite boys into a new world.

We've seen it all here: Raven Cycle, In The Mood For Love, Hamlet, Filipino mythology, and (squints at writing on hand) dilf? Yes we confirm there was a dilf AU. Now lets see what 2023 brings.

Rules

Sign up is not required.
Fills have a minimum of 400 words for prose, haiku-length for poetry (3 lines), and 400px by 400px for art (memes are also art). Other mediums are fine too!
There is no maximum cap.
Tag and provide content warnings at your discretion, but a good guide are the Ao3 four (Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage) and this list of common CWs (cr: SportsFest).
NSFW/Explicit content should be tagged
NSFW art should not be visible, please provide a link and a warning. You may crop the artwork and embed a SFW preview.

How it works

Prompting

Click on [Post a New Comment] at the bottom of this post;
Change the subject to something interesting;
Copy+Paste the following HTML into your comment and edit the sections. Feel free to add as much detail as you want!
Ship/Member: Any Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: N/A Do Not Wants: None Prompt: [PROMPT GOES HERE]

Filling

Reply to the original prompt;
Change the subject to [FILL], you may add a title or stay chaotic;
Copy+Paste the following HTML into your comment, edit the sections, and add your text.
You may also upload your fill to the AO3 Collection.

Ship/Member: Any Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: N/A Permission to remix: Yes/No/Please ask ***

Remixing

Post as a reply to the fill you are remixing, using the same HTML as above;
Change the subject to [REMIX] and add a title.

Art/media

Upload your work to any platform (twitter, imgur, youtube, soundcloud, google maps, etc.)
Using the same HTML code as above, copy the link into your fill or remix. That's it!
Optionally, you can embed a picture into your comment. Please use the following code instead.
(To explain, the HTML resizes your picture to 400x400px so that it fits on most screens. Users can view the full size if they click on it. You can also add a link to your work on twitter so that others can share it, or to any other website you want)

Ship/Member: Any Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: N/A Permission to remix: Yes/No/Please ask *** <img src="INSERT IMAGE URL" width="400px"> <a href="INSERT ANY URL YOU WANT">TEXT THAT DESCRIBES THE LINK</a>

Navigation

❮ ROUND 2: ALTERNATE UNIVERSES ❯

2021

2022

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Ship/Member: Any, pref gen
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: Little Men / Little Women AU! i’m adding Little Women here because more people are familiar with it, so you can run with that if you want, but Little Men is about Jo, several years later, running an informal school with her husband. they take in twelve orphan boys alongside their own two sons (yes, i know, the math is slightly off. just add samuel idk) in order to care for them and educate them and bring them up well despite their tendency towards misadventures

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: Disco Elysium AU! In this game, a detective wakes up hung-over with no memory of who he is and how he got to be where he woke up (a hostel room). He finds out by meeting another detective, sent to partner up with him, that the two of them are supposed to solve the mystery behind a dead body in the parking lot of the hostel in question

Ship/Member: Wonwoo + any
Major Tags: major character death (w/ reincarnation?)
Additional Tags: fantasy, dramatic irony, angst
Do Not Wants: None, NONE.

Prompt: Omniscient reader's viewpoint is a story where a novel becomes reality, and the reader realises that he is the only person that knows how the story ends, yet will do everything in his power to prevent that ending. Doesn't have to be fantasy/RPG/game AU but please consider:
- protagonist x reader who knows how the protag dies
- reincarnation at the cost of memory
- metafiction wackery
- Atonement themes (writing the happy ending)

Ship/Member: Junhui + any
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: science fiction, v(irtual) (you)tubing, catfishing(?), ethics of deep fake vs imitation as a love language
Do Not Wants: Mature rating and under

Prompt: AU where you can wear the skin of idols, and junhui is a professional body double in the metaverse

Ship/Member: Any, but consider DK/Any
Major Tags: potential MCD
Additional Tags: time loop, a groundhog day-style entrapment where you live out the worst day of your life over and over
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: The CW's The Flash/DC's The Flash is a television show that centers Barry Allen, a forensic scientist who gains superspeed as powers after a storm caused by an explosion. It's a whole thing.

One of Barry's fatal flaws is that he continuously goes back to "fix" a timeline, which often makes things worse for himself. In one story arc, he is unable to save the love of his life because he is not fast enough, and watches her die in front of him.

Ship/Member: Minghao + Jun + Joshua
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: comedy, crack, delirium
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt:

Edited (increase picture size) 2023-01-22 14:17 (UTC)

Ship/Member: jeonghan x anyone OR jun or minghao x anyone
Major Tags: police procedural, noir/neo-noir, detective/suspect relationship, murder
Additional Tags: infidelity maybe..? doesn't have to be included if you aren't interested in that
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: AU based on the film Decision to Leave directed by Park Chanwook. The film is about a detective who falls in love with the wife of a murder victim. He suspects that she killed him, but begins to fall in love with her as he investigates her.

Another element of the film is the tension between the detective (Haejun) and suspect (Seorae) surrounding language and communication. Seorae is Chinese and mixes speaking Korean directly + using the voice translation on her phone to communicate with Haejun. I requested a jeonghan ship for my own amusement, but if you'd like to explore this aspect of the film with junhui or minghao pls be my guest!!

You can watch the film here!

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags:
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt:

Tomorrow [kdrama] AU. Below is the wikipedia synopsis of the general premise:

Choi Jun-woong (Rowoon) is a young job seeker who is unable to secure a job. Through an accident, he meets the grim reapers Koo Ryeon (Kim Hee-sun) and Lim Ryung Gu (Yoon Ji-on) who have the task of preventing suicide, and works with them as the youngest contract worker in the crisis management team of death angels.

———
[SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW]

personally i think it’d be highly interesting to see an exploration of Koo Ryeon and Jung-gil’s past life, or their present life, now that Jung-gil has relearned the past. Or, the friendship between Jun-woong and Ryung-gu would be fun and cute too. just ideas tho; go wild!

Ship/Member: Any (Joshua, Jeonghan, or Mingyu?)
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: drama comedy, who are we when the cameras aren't around?, love vs money, fighting the algorithm
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: Are You the One is an MTV reality dating show where 16 single strangers are locked in a beach house together and tasked with the impossible: finding their Perfect Match as decided by a matchmaking algorithm. Will they succeed and win a hefty cash prize? Or will they crack under the pressure of televised romance?

Here are the first five minutes of the only season that matters (the LGBTQ+ season). This show is the epitome of trashy reality TV, but there's something compelling about the concept. What if you fall in love with someone who isn't your Perfect Match? What if multiple people think you're their Perfect Match - how do you navigate that? Do you construct a persona for television or stay true to yourself? Is it possible to make an authentic connection when you know the world is watching?

Ship/Member: Seungcheol (preferably woncheol), but if you're moved by any other svts or pairings, go for it!
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: I like my boys beautiful and beat up, blood, hurt/comfort, maybe the glory we were striving for was really the love we found along the way
Do Not Wants: unhappy ending, non/dubcon

Prompt: Seungcheol said something about taking up boxing and now I need to see it. Include elements from the movie Rocky (or, really, any of the Rocky movies) if you really want to get me, but honestly any flavor of boxer!Scoups is going to be [chef's kiss]

Ship/Member: Junhui/Minghao
Major Tags: Mentions of suicide, implied past suicide
Additional Tags: Minghao-centric, Tomorrow au, afterlife, grim reapers, past life
Permission to remix: Please ask

A/N: Inspired by that very last scene of the show. Minghao as Joonggil, Junhui as Ryeon, Jihoon as Ryunggu, Seokmin as Joonwoong.

***

There’s no need for Minghao to accompany the crisis management team on missions—and he doesn’t accompany them, not really. But that’s him copping out on semantics, something he never thought he’d find himself doing. At work, nonetheless. There are only so many times he can claim to be “coincidentally passing by” while another human tries to destroy the most precious thing they have ever been gifted.

He's still learning how to unlearn that way of thinking but it’s a work in progress. Centuries of looking down on those who he called weak don’t wipe away in an hour of accessing his memories.

Seeing Junhui helps. It reminds Minghao exactly what he lost—sometimes the most precious thing you can forsake isn’t your own life.

Not that Minghao needs a reminder. Junhui haunts every waking thought he’s had—and the nightmares had long preceded him finding out the truth anyway. Earlier it used to be just flashes but now Junhui of the past—all the pasts they’ve shared, as humans and as reapers—and the Junhui in front of him mesh together and every new morning finds him capable of more feeling than he’d ever thought to possess after dying.

Maybe that’s why he keeps returning to their missions—to hear Junhui talk down someone at the very edge of their life from giving up on themselves, to watch him offer someone an understanding that he never got in his own lifetime, to listen and know in his veins that eight centuries more of repentance will not be enough, will never be enough.

Jihoon doesn’t trust him—he never says it outright, deferential to his superiors as a force of habit—but Minghao can tell. And why should he? Minghao may have known Junhui longer but it’s Jihoon who’s been by his side, who has stuck by him in all the ways that matter.

He never says anything but he watches Minghao, with an ever-perceptive eye whenever he invariably shows up at their crisis sites—whenever he finds excuses to come down to their office. If Junhui notices Minghao’s newfound habit of orbiting him, he never lets on. But Jihoon, in nothing but a glance, makes Minghao aware of himself—of what lines he doesn’t deserve to cross but is instinctively trying to.

Still, despite what it looks like on the surface, Jihoon doesn’t scare Minghao—not the way Seokmin does when he returns. Fifty years seem to pass quicker than a blink and Seokmin who has seen Minghao at his ugliest is Junhui’s strongest shield. For everyone else, he’s still the annoyingly cheerful and earnest employee who by a stroke of luck or misfortune landed at Jumadeung half a century ago.

But Minghao can see how living a full human life has hardened him—how his old memories of Jumadeung returning have emboldened him to stand up to people like Minghao who are guilty of fistfighting him and abusing their power, back when Seokmin was a mere human.

And yet even he can’t deter Minghao from seeking out Junhui like a parched man ready to kill for a mere drop of water in a desert.

Junhui has never sent Minghao away, after all. Even though he could—and by all means, should want to keep even Minghao’s shadow out of his sight. His kindness extends beyond his line of work, as it always has.

They don’t talk about the past and nor do they behave like anything other than the colleagues they are.

But sometimes—just a rare sometimes:

“You look tired,” Junhui says, as they’re walking out of another long meeting with the Emperor, “Did you have a nightmare again?” He adds and then stops himself mid-sentence, looking horrified, like he never meant to say anything in the first place.

Minghao is lucky his emotions on don’t show on his face when he replies, demurely even, “Not last night. Just handling a difficult case at the moment.”

“Ah. Uh—okay.” Junhui manages to say before nodding in farewell and walking away briskly.

He’s embarrassed that he’s let his concern show—and Minghao can understand why. Even if Junhui doesn’t let his feelings slip again—even if these moments too fade away as the years go by…Minghao will be content in the knowledge that despite everything he has done, someone has continued to care for him for as long as time itself.

And that will be enough—it has to be, doesn’t it?

SCREAMING INTO THE VOID. I WILL BE BACK.

HEY YOU HIT RIGHT WHERE IT HURT. secretly i wanted someone to look at how jung-gil might want to amend his present relationship with ryeon and you did it SO WELL. that subtle longing plays so well in minghao uGH: “…of what lines he doesn’t deserve to cross but is instinctively trying to.” pb i am screaming. also your character choices are just chef’s kiss. i had nobody in mind in terms of who would be who but you nailed them. seokmin especially. holy. thank u so much for this fill i will be thinking ab this <3

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: touring AU; forced proximity; what you want vs what you leave behind
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: hot and miserable and totally back in love.

pulling inspiration from fall out boy here, but could be idolverse, could be actors on a press tour, could be a van days/warped au.

Edited 2023-01-24 13:31 (UTC)

Ship/Member: any, but consider: booseoksoon
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: children's programming AU
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: I have a vision of this as a nightmare sequence/dream sharing thing, but BSS as children's television hosts played straight would be a lot of fun!

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt:

Person A is cursed—their kiss will kill. Person B really wants to kiss them anyway.

//feel free to take this literally anywhere

Ship/Member: Any (although i’m leaning strongly toward jihancheol for SaB)
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows au!! specifically: a darkling/alina/mal dynamic with jihancheol. (credit to mishi for this idea a while ago on twitter! <3) or darkling/alina, hypothetically. what if that attraction had been real, or what if it held something more to it?

alternatively: can the darkling’s desire for alina’s power coexist with a desire for her? how would it play out?

Six of Crows:
Kaz/Inej would be extremely interesting and painful. or maybe wylan and jesper, and maybe considerations of family and what it must have taken for Wylan to betray his father. general Crows antics would be so fun too.

there’s so much that can be done here, so do as you please! i’m only making suggestions.

Edited 2023-01-25 23:40 (UTC)

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags: risk of character death?
Additional Tags: idolverse, magical realism, having your love language of touch forcefully taken away now that there is risk of killing the other, and how to deal with that
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt:
Shatter Me au, but only in the sense that i’m borrowing a key plot point, which is MC’s ability to kill someone with a single touch.

i think this would be extremely good in idolverse, where magic is commonplace but not powers this extreme. how do you manage it/hide it, how do you mitigate unintended consequences. what about the burdens of this knowledge all members must carry now, the inevitable wariness? how do you restore trust in a relationship when you don’t even trust yourself?

Ship/Member: Any (But please consider Seokmin as Yurim and Seungkwan as Heedo)
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: 2521 (kdrama), fencing, rivals to lovers, fan to rival to lover
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: Twenty Five Twenty One AU (spoilers ahead)
More specifically, the Yurim/Heedo AU we deserve.

Please consider character A and B, both fencers (or any other sport of your choice). Character A is an international medalist, beloved star of the country. Character B used to be gifted as a kid but now is in a perpetual slump, never getting anywhere in competitions but not giving up because they idolise and worship character A from afar and their dream is to become their rival. Not to win a gold medal, not to go to the Olympics. Just to become their rival. When they finally reach the same level, they realise Character A hates them.

Also consider: they play their lives' most important matches against each other and are there for e/o's retirement.

Optional: they do not know they are close confidants on an anonymous online platform.

TLDR: rivals to friends to lovers, fencing au, mistaken identity. (You could also contemplate how the metaphor of idol worship extends from idolverse to this or vice-versa...)

Ship/Member: Seungkwan/Seokmin
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: twenty five twenty one au, fencing au, rivals to lovers, fan-idol relationships but make it sports
Permission to remix: Yes

***

At seven years old, Seokmin prides himself on being friendly and fast on his feet.

The former just makes all of his mom’s friends pinch his cheeks, but it’s the latter that gets him to his first proper fencing tournament. His coach says his footwork’s gotten a lot better, so light and fast that even some of the nine-year-olds can’t keep up with him. Every time one of them falls for his feints, Seokmin grins from ear to ear under his mask.

Seokmin is fast on his feet, which makes it all the more humiliating when he loses to Boo Seungkwan. Somehow, Seungkwan anticipates all of Seokmin’s steps, reads him wide open and attacks before Seokmin can even properly think. Where Seokmin is strong, Seungkwan is stronger. Where Seokmin is fast, Seungkwan is faster.

And even where Seokmin is friendly, Seungkwan is friendlier, charming the pants off of parents, coaches, and fellow fencers alike. He’s doing a full song-and-dance routine in the stands between matches, making the whole crowd laugh, and it makes Seokmin seethe with anger.

If they had just met at school or in the neighborhood, Seokmin knows they probably would’ve been friends. Seungkwan is nice, and Seokmin loves nice!

But there’s not a lot of room for nice on the fencing strip, and there’s not even room for another person on the first place podium. While Seungkwan prepares for his next match, Seokmin, eliminated, watches from the sidelines and forces down any part of him that wanted to be Seungkwan’s friend. He reminds himself of what he wants more: to win.

***

At seventeen, Seokmin is still friendly and much, much faster on his feet.

He’s so fast he won Olympic gold, which is more than he can say for Boo Seungkwan, who’s been wasting his talents losing at local tournaments— not that Seokmin cares about Boo Seungkwan.

Then, Seungkwan joins Seokmin’s high school team, and Seokmin learns that Seungkwan apparently cares about him. A lot.

“You’re my idol, Lee Seokmin,” Seungkwan gushes to him in the locker room. “I watched your bouts a million times, so I could be just like you. I’m your biggest fan.”

Seokmin stares at him in disbelief. Seungkwan is still as nice and outgoing as he remembers, but that kid who was faster, stronger, and just overall better than Seokmin— that kid is gone, and in his place is a fanboy, looking up at Seokmin with big, shiny eyes.

Like almost everything else about Boo Seungkwan, it makes Seokmin irrationally angry.

“You want to be like me? Don’t be delusional,” Seokmin says, his words coming out harsher than he expected, but not untrue.

Seungkwan stares at him, shocked.

“No one has even heard of you before today,” Seokmin continues, “because you’ve spent all these years being a fan instead of a real fencer. The only reason you’re even here is because your family has the money to keep our team funded.”

Seokmin knows he’s being unfairly mean to Seungkwan, but he can’t help it. Seungkwan just makes him react like this.

Seokmin storms out, his eyes deliberately avoiding Seungkwan. He hopes he can be forgiven for having one person in the world who he’s not very nice to.

***

Seungkwan doesn’t take Seokmin’s hostility lying down. They mutually and fiercely ignore each other at school, and they fight all the time during practices. It all comes to a head when they’re paired together as roommates for national team training.

“Can’t believe you’re even here,” Seokmin mutters, plopping his duffel bag on the floor beside his bed.

“Hey,” Seungkwan says. “Don’t think I can’t hear you.”

Seokmin watches as Seungkwan stalks over to the other side of the room, putting his stuff down on the remaining bed.

Apparently, that’s not enough of a response for Seungkwan. “Honestly,” he says, “it just seems like you’re scared of losing to me. I’ve beaten you at school before, I can do it again here.”

Seokmin bristles. “This is just stressful for me, okay? Ever since you joined the national team, Coach has been on my ass about winning another gold.”

“So?” Seungkwan retorts. “How is that my fault?”

Seokmin looks up, facing Seungkwan across the cramped space of their shared room. “Shut up,” he says. He couldn’t think of anything else, and it makes him feel stupid and embarrassed.

“No, really! If this is so hard for you, you should just win,” Seungkwan continues, getting angrier. “You were my idol, you know? I wasn’t lying when I said I watched all of your bouts.”

Seokmin scowls. He hates when Seungkwan calls Seokmin his idol, especially not when Seungkwan is also a fan of actual idols— tall, beautiful girls with long hair and designer clothes. The kind of idols people fall in love with, the kind that are worth idolizing. Seokmin is just a lanky, acne-riddled boy from a poor family. He’s not an idol.

“Every time you stand across from me, I can’t help but read you like an open book,” Seungkwan says. His eyes are starting to well up, and Seokmin feels his own do the same. “When you’re thinking of attacking, your upper body leans forward. When you’re about to fall back, you lead with your left foot. When you’re really fucking mad at me, your eyebrows twitch.”

Seungkwan’s breathing heavily now, but Seokmin can tell he has more to say. Seokmin wants to reach across and slap his hand over Seungkwan’s mouth, stop whatever is about to come out.

“I can’t help it,” Seungkwan says. “I know you too well. You treat me like I’m invisible, but I know everything about you, Lee Seokmin.”

There’s no particular reason why, but this is what sets Seokmin off. He lunges forward, grabbing Seungkwan’s jacket.

“You don’t know the first thing about me, rich boy!” he yells.

“Are you crazy?” Seungkwan shouts, reaching around to grab the collar of Seokmin’s shirt.

They fall to the ground, screaming and grabbing at any part of the other that they can hold onto.

“Yes, I’m crazy!” Seokmin screams. “You drive me fucking crazy, Boo Seungkwan!”

“Hey! Let go of me!” Seungkwan yells in response.

They fight it out for a few minutes, wrestling in the middle of their empty room. Then, in a sudden burst of strength, Seungkwan gets the upper hand and flips them over so that he’s hovering over Seokmin, who has his back splayed out against the floor.

Dazed and out of breath, Seokmin stares up at Seungkwan. His face is red— from exhaustion or anger, Seokmin doesn’t know. Seungkwan stares back down at Seokmin, piercing into him with dark, brown eyes.

Then, he leans down, and presses his lips against Seokmin’s.

Seokmin is so surprised that he lays completely still for a moment, mouth gaping open like a fish, before he really registers that Seungkwan is kissing him. Seungkwan is kissing him. And to his own surprise, Seokmin is already kissing back.

Ship/Member: soonwoo
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: movie set au, strangers to coworkers to friends to lovers; insp by my love of action movies, especially HK-style movies emphasizing martial arts + creative stunts
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: SY is a fight choreographer/stuntman who likes to watch dramas in his spare time. WW is an up-and-coming actor who got his start in dramas but is now doing his first action role in a movie where SY + Perf U are (part of) the stunt/fight team. Their relationship develops as SY teaches/trains WW in the months before the shoot + keeps him safe during filming (in ref to all the times irl WW’s said he finds it attractive when someone can take care of him). Other SVTs may appear as part of the cast and/or crew, e.g. SC director, WZ screenplay writer, DN stuntman but also a background extra anytime they need one (aka picheolin).

You don’t have to cover the entire arc of the snwu relationship in the fill (unless you want to, but I feel like it would get very long). Just one or two moments or scenes from within the story is fine! Also, though this prompt uses the language of “stuntman” and “actor”, feel free to genderbend any and as many characters as you want (e.g. fem!hoshi fight choreographer would also be hot).

Ship/Member: soonwoo
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: ...law au, i guess? Could be a phoenix wright au, but doesn't have to be
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: title says it all. WW is on trial in a court of law (for something, idk, you decide what he’s being tried for) and SY is his lawyer. Yes, this is inspired by when they were playing mafia in the soop and SY acted as WW’s “attorney” by arguing on his behalf when he was being accused. Also, i feel like i’ve seen WW get written as a lawyer a bunch of times, and i think it would be funny/interesting to play against type.

Regarding tone, you could make this more comedic or more serious. Like, would SY actually be a competent lawyer? And what’s WW there for anyways? Maybe murder, maybe a parking ticket; maybe it’s some otherworldly court where SY’s literally playing the Devil’s Advocate. Who knows! This AU is your oyster – serve it up however you want.

Ship/Member: Any
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: fake dating/marriage, fluff and/or dark comedy
Do Not Wants: None

Prompt: AU inspired by this tumblr post by user @/chatonnoir. In case the link breaks, the post's text is below:

There's this local family owned restaurant near me that makes the best fucking chicken tenders I’ve had in my life and I desperately need to know the recipe in case I move away but its a secret family recipe and I’m this close to asking if they have a single adult son so I can marry in to the family just for these fucking chicken tenders. Anyway there’s a possible fake marriage fanfic plot for you.

Feel free to change the chicken tenders to some other food item of your choice. Have fun!

I AM GOING TO DIE OP YOU GAVE ME EVERYTHING I ASKED FOR AND DOUBLED IT. THE TENSION, THE RESENTMENT, BRINGING IN THE ROOMMATES ELEMENT THAT I HAD ALMOST FORGOTTEN, SEUNGKWAN INITIATING THE KISS...EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS I HAVE TO GO LIE DOWN NOW.

Ship/Member: gyuhan
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags:
Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, but its still the idolverse, idolverse(with a twist), Hurt/Comfort, Touch-Starved, mingyu touch starvation speed run, Love Confessions, having your love language of touch forcefully taken away now that there is risk of killing the other
Permission to remix: Please ask

***

Most people don’t have any abilities. Some go through their lives never discovering what they are, because their ability is something so small and unnoticeable that you wouldn’t think of it as being something supernatural– Mingyu spends most of his life thinking he’s part of the first group.

When most of his friends had started discovering their abilities, if they had any, he’d been busy training to be an idol. He didn’t have time to take the tests or try to figure it out in some other way. Scientists still aren’t completely sure what triggers the awakening of an ability, but it’s common for it to follow with puberty.

Mingyu doesn’t find out what his ability is until he’s 25.

They’ve just finished a round of dance practice, and when they’re saying goodbye to the choreographer, Mingyu shakes his hand. The choreographer collapses onto the floor in front of him, and shocked shouts erupt all around Mingyu, but he can’t hear anything– his ears are ringing, and there’s a strange sensation under his skin, crackling like electricity. It’s like something inside him has finally woken up.

Someone calls an ambulance, and the choreographer is taken to the hospital. Mingyu just stands there. Nobody but him seems to realize what had happened– that it’s his fault. Seungcheol comes up to him and reaches out to put a hand on his elbow, and Mingyu jerks away from him violently.

“No!” Mingyu shouts, almost falling over with the sudden movement. “Don’t touch me!”

“Mingyu–”

“Just– just stop. Don’t come any closer.”

“What’s going on?” Their manager, who’s just come in, asks.

Mingyu turns to look at him, eyes wide, “is he dead?”

“Is who dead?”

“The choreographer!” Mingyu yells, and everyone– everyone is looking at him like he’s insane. He’s raising his voice not just at Seungcheol, but at their manager. “Is he dead?”

“No,” the manager says, but his face has gone grim. “He’s on his way to the hospital.”

Mingyu falls to his knees, staring at his hands, gasping for breath– for air, for anything. Someone comes up behind him and Mingyu’s scared they’re going to try and touch him, but they don’t.

“Minggu-yah,” someone– Jeonghan– says. Mingyu turns to see Jeonghan standing bent over behind him, his expression soft. “What’s going on?”

“It was me,” Mingyu replies, desperately. He needs someone to understand. “It’s my fault, hyung. I–”

“You didn’t mean to,” Jeonghan says, gently. He’s squatting down next to Mingyu now, keeping his hands to himself. “It was an accident, wasn’t it? You didn’t mean for that to happen, did you?”

“No of course not,” Mingyu says. He lets out a soft sigh of relief, seeing how Jeonghan seems to understand what’s going on. “But I–”

“Then don’t blame yourself,” Jeonghan says. “At least wait till we know what’s going on, alright?”

Mingyu’s mouth opens and closes stupidly, unable to say anything. Finally, he nods.

“We need to get you all back to the dorms,” the manager says. “Now.”

Seungcheol begins to herd everyone out of the room, and Mingyu follows mindlessly. He feels feverish and sick, and he’s not sure how he even gets back. He doesn’t remember a car. He just remembers wrapping his arms around himself, hiding his hands, being careful not to touch anyone.

When they get back, Mingyu goes straight to his and Wonwoo’s apartment. Wonwoo seems like he’s about to follow him, but out of the corner of his eyes, Mingyu sees Seungcheol put a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder and shake his head.

He’s too overwhelmed to feel grateful– there’s no room for anything but sickness inside him. He goes straight for his bed after kicking off his shoes and dropping his stuff on the floor, and he curls up on top of the covers, wrapping his arms around himself again. He can’t stop shaking.

Mingyu isn’t sure when or how he manages to fall asleep, and he’s not sure for how long he’s been sleeping when his phone begins to buzz in his pocket, stirring him awake.

For a moment, he’s forgotten what happened. Everything is fine. Reality comes crashing back when he reads the message he’s just gotten.

From Seungcheol

7:02am Mingyu, come down to the sixth floor dorm.
7:02am Team meeting.

With a groan, Mingyu leaves his bed, his body feeling strange and foreign. He makes his way down to the sixth floor, every step a strenuous effort. When he gets there, he finds that everyone else has already gathered– he gets the feeling they’d had a meeting without him. About him. Inviting him was an afterthought, a courtesy.

Mingyu stays standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, hands hidden away.

“Is he dead?” Mingyu asks.

Everyone who hadn’t already noticed him looks up now.

“No,” Seungcheol says, but his expression tells Mingyu that he might as well be. “He’s alright. The doctors aren’t sure what happened yet, but they want you to come in for some tests.”

“So it was me?” Mingyu says. “I did this? I–”

“They’re not sure yet,” Seungcheol interrupts. “You need to stay calm.”

“Stay calm?” Mingyu laughs. “Stay calm? Are you kidding me?”

“Mingyu…” someone says.

It might’ve been Seokmin, but Mingyu’s ears are ringing too loud for him to be sure.

“I’ll go to the hospital,” Mingyu says. “Alone,” he adds, when some of the members begin to get up.

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Minghao says. “Don’t push us away.”

“What if I did this? What if I killed him?”

“He’s not dead,” Seungkwan says, shaking his head. “He’s gonna be fine.”

“I didn’t know you had a medical degree, Seungkwan. Please, do tell, how did this happen?”

“Mingyu, you’re being–”

“Don’t touch me!” Mingyu screams, when Minghao comes closer, reaching a hand out towards him. “Why don’t any of you get it? Don’t touch me! Not unless you want to end up in the hospital.”

The members look at him, some of them like they’re about to say something, but before any of them can, Mingyu leaves. He calls one of their managers and asks him to take him to the hospital.

This is how Mingyu finds out he has an ability. By nearly killing someone. The only reason the choreographer had survived turned out to be because he had a super natural endurance and stamina– Such a small, inconspicuous thing that he didn’t even know he had the ability until it saved his life.

Mingyu’s ability is much more insidious. Mingyu’s ability can kill people. If he ever touches someone, they’ll die. His ability will suck their energy; their life force; out of them, and leave them a shell of themselves. Dead.

The company announces that Mingyu is taking a mental health break a week after the incident with the choreographer. They don’t have much choice– Mingyu can’t go around normal people like this. With his ability. He’d end up killing someone. Mingyu’s surprised they don’t just kick him out immediately. They should. He’d even asked them to, but they, and everyone else, had refused.

The members don’t want him to leave the group, but they don’t want to be near him either. They can barely be in the same room as him.

When Mingyu gets called back to the hospital for further testing, none of them get up to offer to go with him. They all look at him warily– it’s mostly his own fault. He’d been snapping at people, bristling like a threatened animal; he’d caused this. He’d wanted this. If they all hate him and are too scared to get close to him, at least they’d be safe.

But when Mingyu’s getting into the back of their manager’s car, someone stops the door from shutting with an outstretched hand.

“Minggu-yah.”

“Jeonghan hyung?” Mingyu replies, looking at him wide eyed. He scrambles backwards into the seat furthest away from the open door. “What are you doing here?”

Jeonghan smiles, getting into the car and sitting down in the seat on the opposite side. “I need to go to the hospital too. Figured we could carpool.”

“What? Why do you need to go to the hospital?”

“My elbow,” Jeonghan replies, pointing to it. “It’s alright, isn’t it? We’ll be careful. No touching.”

“Right,” Mingyu says. He should argue, fight against this– but he can’t find it in himself to do so.

He’s too grateful to be close to someone to push Jeonghan away. It’s selfish, and cruel, but he hasn’t been this close to someone in weeks– even with a car seat in between them, he can feel the heat from Jeonghan’s body, his presence wrapping around him warm and tight. Mingyu is a horrible person.

The manager starts the car, and they’re off. Jeonghan sits there next to him, quietly, contemplating something. Mingyu wants to ask him things, talk to him, he’s so starved for human connection that he can barely stop himself from reaching out and touching Jeonghan’s shoulder. Just once, just…

“I think,” Jeonghan starts, suddenly turning to look back at Mingyu. “I think you’re trying to push everyone away.”

“What?”

“I think you’re trying to push us away,” Jeonghan says. “Me, the members, everyone. Because you don’t want to hurt us. And while I get the latter part, the first part isn’t fair. We’re adults. We can take care of ourselves. So stop trying to make everyone hate you, won’t you? It’s not going to work. We’re all quite stubborn, you know.”

“You should hate me,” Mingyu says. “You should avoid me, but you won’t, so I have to push you away– don’t you see? Don’t you get it? What if I can’t help myself, what if I– You know what I am, hyung. You know what I’m like. I haven’t touched anyone in 29 days. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

Jeonghan sighs, “I know. I know, Mingyu. And I wish… If I could, I’d bear this burden for you. You of all people shouldn’t have to do this, to avoid touch like a beaten dog. You, who’s so full of love, shouldn’t be able to not show it how you want.”

Mingyu stares at him. Then, “your elbow’s fine, isn’t it?”

“That obvious, huh?” Jeonghan laughs.

“Hyung…”

“You shouldn’t have to do this alone,” Jeonghan says, voice softening. “You’re not alone, Mingyu. Despite whatever you might feel, we’re all here. I’m here,” he reaches out, slowly. “I’m not going to touch you. Just the sleeve of your jacket. Is that okay?”

Mingyu’s breath catches in his throat, and his brain is screaming at him, no, no, no, but what he does is nod.

Jeonghan grabs hold of the sleeve of his jacket, on his upper arm, his grip tight. The material wraps around Mingyu’s bicep, tightening, almost like someone’s holding his arm. Almost.

“The reason the others were hesitant to come isn’t because they’re scared of you,” Jeonghan continues. “It’s because they don’t want to upset you. But I guess I’m used to being the one ruffling your feathers, so I didn’t mind.”

“I…” Mingyu starts, swallowing roughly. Something is happening, but he doesn’t know what it is. “I’m glad it’s you, hyung.”

Mingyu is surprised when what comes out of him is the truth. He’d gotten used to lying these past weeks. But when he’s looking at Jeonghan, he wants to tell the truth. Jeonghan seems to be the only one who understands, if only a little, what’s going on inside him.

It’s funny. Jeonghan has always been the person who Mingyu had the least in common with, but at the same time, he’s the person who seems to know him best. He seems to understand Mingyu without having to ask.

“Have you ever wondered if maybe… if maybe your ability is something small? Something you wouldn’t even really notice?” Mingyu asks, hesitatingly. Jeonghan is still holding his sleeve.

“Yeah,” Jeonghan replies. “I think everyone has, don’t you? I always wonder. But I can’t think of what it could be. Maybe it’s something stupid, like having a really good sense of smell.”

“I think,” Mingyu says, “I think I know what it is.”

“You do?”

“People can’t lie to you, hyung,” Mingyu says. “I can’t lie to you.”

Jeonghan considers this for a moment, then, “have you tried?”

“Yes,” Mingyu mumbles, suddenly feeling embarrassed. The truth is tumbling out of him, and they’re gonna be at the hospital soon. “Yes, I’ve tried.”

“About what?”

“I…”

The car pulls to a stop. Jeonghan lets go of Mingyu’s sleeve, and the loss of pressure is devastating. It had been the only thing grounding Mingu, and now he feels like he’s spinning through space, untethered. He wants to reach out and grab onto Jeonghan, or ask him to hold him again, but he doesn’t. It’s the truth, but if he doesn’t speak, then Jeonghan won’t know. If he just keeps his mouth shut, like he’s been doing all these years, Jeonghan will never know.

They get out of the car, and walk into the hospital again. And again, Mingyu starts to feel feverish and strange, only half there. He’s drifting out of reach, and even with Jeonghan right next to him, he feels a million miles away.

Seventeen have another team meeting the next day. This time they all gather in a room in the HYBE building. Jeonghan sits down next to Mingyu, close enough that Mingyu can feel his body heat, but not close enough to touch. Minghao sits down on his other side, a bit further away. Mingyu wants to apologize, not just to him, but to everyone– but he doesn’t know where to start.

“So,” the manager starts, sitting down at the end of the table. “The results have come back from the hospital, and we have a clearer idea of what’s going on now.”

Mingyu tenses up, jaw clenching.

“Mingyu-ssi… it’s true that your ability is to… kill people, through touch,” the manager grimaces. “But we can work around it. Apparently, it’s your skin which has this quality, so if you touch someone through fabric, nothing will happen. So as long as you wear clothes that cover you up, and gloves, you should be able to promote as normal.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Mingyu asks. “What if I don’t want to risk it? I could kill someone. I could kill someone at this table.”

The members, except Jeonghan, squirm uncomfortably. Jeonghan is the first to speak up.

“I’m willing to take that risk,” Jeonghan says firmly.

“Hyung–”

“Mingyu,” Jeonghan says. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. If you leave, I’ll go with you. I’m not going to let you be alone.”

“I’ll take that risk too,” Seokmin says, suddenly. Mingyu looks over at him, wide eyed. Seokmin is smiling at him.

“Me too,” Minghao says.

The other members begin to nod in agreement, and Mingyu feels himself spinning, spinning, spinning– Jeonghan grabs the sleeve of his jacket. He doesn’t say anything, just holds on to Mingyu.

“What will we tell the press?” Seungcheol asks. “They’re going to notice something’s up.”

“We have our PR team working on something,” the manager replies. “We’ll tell you before we release it. For now, Mingyu will continue to be on a mental health break.”

“So it won’t be the truth, then?” Mingyu says. “We’re going to lie?”

“We have to,” the manager says. “I mean, we don’t have much choice, do we?”

“Right,” Mingyu mumbles, looking away.

He looks down at his hands, his skin. Nobody is ever going to touch him again. Nobody.

When they get back to the dorms, Mingyu is prepared to go back to his and Wonwoo’s apartment alone. He’d asked Wonwoo if he could have it for himself a while back, and Wonwoo had agreed. It was for the best. What if Mingyu killed him?

But now, when everyone else has stepped out of the elevator, when Mingyu is supposed to take it up to the last floor alone– he’s not alone. Jeonghan is standing next to him.

“Hyung,” Mingyu says. “What are you doing?”

continued on ao3, because it got too long https://archiveofourown.org/works/44553109

Edited 2023-01-28 16:43 (UTC)

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Page 1 of 4

Round 2 2023: AUs

love is a flower that grows in any soil

you're still alive

omnicient reader viewpoint(ish)

simulacrum

fastest man alive

BSS vs 8JJ

endlessly i go, lonely in the mist

tomorrow/yesterday

Are You the One?

boxing au

내일, 오늘

Re: 내일, 오늘

Re: 내일, 오늘

sending my love from the other side

do a little song and dance

The Raven Cycle AU (redux)

darkness, sunshine, and what’s in between

touch me/kill me

sport is the purest form of admiration...and foreplay

[FILL] your biggest fan

snwu action movie set au (featuring picheolin)

ww on trial with sy as his lawyer

dating someone for the fucking chicken tenders

Re: [FILL] your biggest fan

[FILL] it's almost like you're not afraid (of anything I do)