Ship/Member: vernon/minghao Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: weird strange magical realism, obsession with teeth, strange supernatural elements, paranormal happenings and investigations, hansol vernon chwe is Not Human in this one Permission to remix: yes wc: 606 going for [five of a kind] (AUs)
this was very fun to keep purposefully vague so really it is up to u to decide what vernon is in this one
***
There exists something inside Hansol that should not be touched. Minghao caught a glimpse of it once. It was all teeth, wide and gaping.
They both stood in the shadows. One street lamp flickered desperately in the dead of night, as if it could sense what was hanging in the air. Evil was always more potent in the dark.
Hansol had wiped his mouth with a sleeve and it came away red. “Sorry,” he said, sheepish, in that way of his, eyes wide and full of expression. But Minghao could not tell what he was sorry for — being seen or being caught. There was a difference, however small. Being seen meant to be exposed, to leave your body out in the open so that someone could know every inch of you and still make their way forward. Being caught meant to be caged — you did something you shouldn’t have. You are not what you say you are.
Minghao thinks it the latter.
Hansol Vernon Chwe is not human. Not completely, at least.
///
“Hansol-ah has always been a little different,” Mingyu says placatingly when Minghao tries to bring it up. “Remember when he walked into the door because he was so focused on whatever he was holding?”
“No,” Minghao is impatient. Mingyu isn’t listening. Not in the way that matters. “I know what I saw.”
“What,” Mingyu frowns, tilting his head sideways. “Aren’t people supposed to have teeth?”
Minghao swallows his frustrations down and thinks: No, not like this.
///
Minghao tests the waters.
He follows Hansol around, desperate to catch a glimpse of the thing inside. There is a sense of foreboding that tickles the back of Minghao’s throat, but a sense of thrill too, electric in its forbiddenness. A grotesque fascination with the unknown, this sudden desire to keep unraveling the chain to see how far it will go. Pull back skin and find a monster.
He watches as Hansol leaves the hagwon, the hood of his sweater hiked up around his ears. Hansol might be weird but he does all of the things regular students do. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But Minghao is patient. When the sun has fled the sky, Hansol begins his trek home. He skirts in and out of alleyways, kicking at random rocks and pebbles, humming peculiar tunes.
A cat meows twice. First out of curiosity. Then, in obvious distress. Horror flickers briefly, in Minghao’s mind. He should not be here. He should have left Hansol alone. Some things do not have to be witnessed to know their terror.
One moment Hansol is there and the next he is not. He is replaced by some thing, some monstrous creature that swallows and consumes and does not look back.
It happens too fast for Minghao to be sure. It happens fast enough that Minghao can be sure. There is a sickening crunching noise that will haunt his dreams for the next nights to come.
And then Hansol returns, whistling, jamming his hands back into his pockets. As if nothing unholy had happened in the first place.
The street remains eerily silent after that.
///
“What’re you thinking about?” Hansol says to the air one day. He looks exactly at the spot where Minghao is hiding. Unblinking. Unnerving. Like he knew this entire time. It sends a jolt down Minghao’s spine. He shuffles out, ears turning red with the shame at being caught.
“Your teeth,” Minghao blurts out without thinking.
Hansol smiles before opening his mouth. “Which ones?”
[FILL] my, what beautiful teeth you have
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: weird strange magical realism, obsession with teeth, strange supernatural elements, paranormal happenings and investigations, hansol vernon chwe is Not Human in this one
Permission to remix: yes
wc: 606
going for [five of a kind] (AUs)
this was very fun to keep purposefully vague so really it is up to u to decide what vernon is in this one
***
There exists something inside Hansol that should not be touched. Minghao caught a glimpse of it once. It was all teeth, wide and gaping.
They both stood in the shadows. One street lamp flickered desperately in the dead of night, as if it could sense what was hanging in the air. Evil was always more potent in the dark.
Hansol had wiped his mouth with a sleeve and it came away red. “Sorry,” he said, sheepish, in that way of his, eyes wide and full of expression. But Minghao could not tell what he was sorry for — being seen or being caught. There was a difference, however small. Being seen meant to be exposed, to leave your body out in the open so that someone could know every inch of you and still make their way forward. Being caught meant to be caged — you did something you shouldn’t have. You are not what you say you are.
Minghao thinks it the latter.
Hansol Vernon Chwe is not human.
Not completely, at least.
///
“Hansol-ah has always been a little different,” Mingyu says placatingly when Minghao tries to bring it up. “Remember when he walked into the door because he was so focused on whatever he was holding?”
“No,” Minghao is impatient. Mingyu isn’t listening. Not in the way that matters. “I know what I saw.”
“What,” Mingyu frowns, tilting his head sideways. “Aren’t people supposed to have teeth?”
Minghao swallows his frustrations down and thinks: No, not like this.
///
Minghao tests the waters.
He follows Hansol around, desperate to catch a glimpse of the thing inside. There is a sense of foreboding that tickles the back of Minghao’s throat, but a sense of thrill too, electric in its forbiddenness. A grotesque fascination with the unknown, this sudden desire to keep unraveling the chain to see how far it will go. Pull back skin and find a monster.
He watches as Hansol leaves the hagwon, the hood of his sweater hiked up around his ears. Hansol might be weird but he does all of the things regular students do. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But Minghao is patient. When the sun has fled the sky, Hansol begins his trek home. He skirts in and out of alleyways, kicking at random rocks and pebbles, humming peculiar tunes.
A cat meows twice. First out of curiosity. Then, in obvious distress. Horror flickers briefly, in Minghao’s mind. He should not be here. He should have left Hansol alone. Some things do not have to be witnessed to know their terror.
One moment Hansol is there and the next he is not. He is replaced by some thing, some monstrous creature that swallows and consumes and does not look back.
It happens too fast for Minghao to be sure. It happens fast enough that Minghao can be sure. There is a sickening crunching noise that will haunt his dreams for the next nights to come.
And then Hansol returns, whistling, jamming his hands back into his pockets. As if nothing unholy had happened in the first place.
The street remains eerily silent after that.
///
“What’re you thinking about?” Hansol says to the air one day. He looks exactly at the spot where Minghao is hiding. Unblinking. Unnerving. Like he knew this entire time. It sends a jolt down Minghao’s spine. He shuffles out, ears turning red with the shame at being caught.
“Your teeth,” Minghao blurts out without thinking.
Hansol smiles before opening his mouth. “Which ones?”
Minghao sees canines all the way down.
See, he thinks bleakly. I was right.
He closes his eyes and waits for Hansol’s touch.