It's Complicated - Part 5
Title: It’s Complicated
Author: Me! (2theChangmin)
Pairing: Bao-Zhai/Changmin (as well as all the cast and pairs of Heart Problems)
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Summary: Bao-Zhai was not a stalker. But, she was admittedly acting like one a little bit. This guy just wouldn’t get out of her head. And she’d talk to him, only she’s pretty sure he hates her; and with good reason. Why? Well… It’s complicated.
The sequel to Heart Problems has arrived!
This part is dedicated to both mardigrasmaven and xxsilentxstarxx. I missed both your birthdays while I was away on Holiday and I’m sorry! But I hope you both had great days!
Bao-Zhai rushed to answer the door as the knocking started again. “Coming, coming. Stop knocking; I’m coming,” she muttered as she turned the lock and opened the door. “Geez, are you trying to knock my door down?”
Choon-Hee smiled. “Just making sure you weren’t still in bed.”
“Sure you were,” Bao-Zhai glared. Or tried to; she was finding it a bit hard to glare when so tired.
“Almost ready?” Choon-Hee asked as she stepped into the room.
“Yeah, just let me grab my keys”
“Didn’t get much sleep?” Choon-Hee stepped back out into the hall and waited for Bao-Zhai to lock up.
Bao-Zhai turned around. “Why do you ask?”
“If the circles under your eyes grow any darker I’ll be able to lose my wallet in them.”
“… That is the stupidest analogy I’ve ever heard.”
“Okay, I know that’s a lie; Yin’s analogies suck way worse. And you didn’t answer my question.” By this time they got to the stair well and Bao-Zhai opened the door and motioned for her friend to go first. Choon-Hee raised an eyebrow. “The stairs? Why not take the elevator?”
“I don’t find much time to work out so I try to exercise when I can. Besides, stairs are great for your gluts.”
Choon-Hee made a face. “You are so weird,” she groaned before turning into the stairwell.
Bao-Zhai smiled before following. “You love me anyhow.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”
“Where’s Li?”
“She’s meeting us at the bus stop.”
“Okay.”
…
“Hey,” Choon-Hee frowned when they were outside of the building. “You still have yet to answer my question.”
“Which question?”
Her friend growled. “Don’t play dumb. Why didn’t you sleep well? That’s the second night in a row.”
Bao-Zhai sighed. “I slept well… Just not much. I couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Did this have anything to do with the reason you ran into a cheese shop last night?”
Bao-Zhai frowned. “No, it did not,” she lied with an indignant huff.
“Sure…” Her friend smirked.
Bao-Zhai decided not to respond to that. Besides, apparently she sucked at lying. … Maybe she should call Heechul and get some tips…
**…..**…..**…..**
Young-soon knocked and then waited patiently for the door to open. … And then she knocked again. … And again. Okay, so she wasn’t a very patient woman. Sue her. She was more patient than her brother at least; or she liked to think so anyhow. She scrunched her lips up and was about to knock again when the door swung open and she was greeted with a very bleary eyed cousin. She smiled. “Hi Jae!”
He grunted and rubbed a hand over his eye. “What time is it?”
She shrugged. “Ten?”
“And you’re up?”
“Yeah…” She pushed her way past him into the house. “Is Kangin here?”
“No he left early this morning to visit Lee Teuk’s parents. … Not that I’m not glad to see you but… what are you doing here?”
“I came to visit you.” She said in the same tone as if she were to say ‘duh’.
“Right… uh, I’m just going to take a quick shower and wake up fully. You okay out here for ten minutes?”
“Yep,” she set her purse down and started walking back into the kitchen like she owned the place. “Want me to start some coffee?”
He smiled. He knew there was a reason he loved her. “Yes please!”
The doorbell rang shortly after Jaejoong entered the shower. “I’ll get it!!!” Young-soon yelled as she made her way from the kitchen to the front door. She opened the door and blinked. “Hi. What are you guys doing here?”
“We’re here to pick up Jae,” Junsu announced cheerily.
Changmin held up a white bag. “We brought breakfast.”
“Doughnuts aren’t breakfast,” a third voice said as Yunho walked wearily up the porch steps. Clearly, Yunho wasn’t a morning person like Junsu and Changmin seemed to be.
“Uh, there’s coffee in the kitchen,” Young-soon informed them as she stepped aside, suddenly nervous.
“Oh, I love you,” Yunho said, throwing her a quick smile and following the other guys into the kitchen. Young-soon’s blush went unnoticed as she shut the door and followed at a much slower pace, willing the heat in her cheeks to dissipate.
“Where’s Jae?” Junsu asked as Young-soon entered the room.
“He’s in the shower.”
Junsu nodded before he went back to helping Changmin set out the doughnuts. Yunho was already half way done with his first mug of coffee. He sighed and smiled. “I love coffee… Yes, I do. I love you,” Yunho cooed down to his mug.
Changmin snorted. “You’re getting old hyung.”
Yunho looked like he was going to say something but then thought better of it and shrugged before drinking another large gulp.
“So uh… What are you guys doing today?” Young-soon asked as she tried not to look as awkward as she felt.
“We thought we’d take Jaejoong to a dance competition,” Junsu said around a bite of pastry.
“Dance competition?”
“Yeah,” Changmin grabbed a doughnut from the table. “Yunho said some of his friend’s had a competition this afternoon. We thought that it would be fun to go.”
“Oh… I think he’ll like that.”
“Were you and Jae spending the day together?” Yunho asked.
Young-soon shook her head. “No. I just stopped by… I’m sure he’ll rather hang out with you guys.”
“Well… why don’t you tag along?”
“Huh?” She was sure she’d just heard wrong.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Yunho repeated with a smile.
“Yeah?” She smiled against her will.
“The more the merrier,” Junsu assured her, mouth still full of dough.
“Ew, dude; swallow before you talk,” Changmin grimaced.
“What are you guys doing here?” Young-soon turned to see Jae towel drying his hair, he was wearing jeans and a blue button down and looking much more awake than he had earlier.
“Taking you out for some fun,” Yunho grinned. “So put some shoes on and grab a doughnut!”
**…..**…..**…..**
“This is it?” Zhang Li Yin blinked. I didn’t know their competition was at a… how do you say this in Korean?”
“Fair?” Choon Hee supplied.
“Ah, yes; that.”
Bao-Zhai laughed and pulled the other two further inside the crowd.
“I didn’t even realize there was a fair in town,” Choon-Hee muttered. “Did you know there was a fair in town?”
**…..**…..**…..**
“Donghae!! Eunhyuk!!”
The duo turned around and smiled. “Hey girls.”
“What are you guys doing here?” Choon-Hee asked.
“Uh…” Donghae frowned in confusion. “We’re standing in line for food?”
“No, I meant-”
“Don’t you two have a competition?” Bao-Zhao finished.
“Yeah,” Eunhyuk nodded. “But it doesn’t start for another hour or so.”
“Oh…”
“You guys are coming right? It’s over at the main stage.”
“That’s what we’re here for.”
“Though, if the competition isn’t for another hour, can we get some popcorn?” Li Yin asked hopefully while pointing behind her to a popcorn stand they’d passed.
Choon-Hee laughed. “Sure. Let’s go.”
Bao-Zhai waved goodbye to Donghae and Eunhyuk as they left. Though, they had only gone ten feet when Donghae called out behind them. “Oh, hey, wait Bao-Zhai.” She turned back around and waited as Donghae jogged the short distance up to them. “I almost forgot, but Zhou Mi was looking for you.”
“He was?”
“Yeah. Last time I saw, he and Henry were over by the goats.”
…
“There are goats?”
Donghae laughed. “Yeah, they’re right next to the guy on stilts.”
“I- Wait. What?” Bao-Zhai fumbled to get out something coherent as Donghae turned and went back to Eunhyuk. “O-kay…”
“So then… we’ll meet you by the stage in a little bit?” Li Yin asked from behind her.
“Yeah,” Bao-Zhai nodded. “I think I have to go find the goats… Or a man on stilts…”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Choon-Hee smirked.
“Thanks.”
**…..**…..**…..**
“We’re at a fair!”
“Wow, Changmin seems excited.”
“Of course I’m excited; it’s a fair! I didn’t realize we had a fair coming to town.”
“Yeah, but the real reason is ‘why is Changmin excited’?” Jaejoong pretended not to hear Changmin’s second exclamation.
“Well, if I were to make a guess,” Junsu took up the ball. “I would bet it was all the greasy food sure to be found here.”
“Ah~” Young-soon sung. “Now it’s all coming together.”
“You guys suck,” Changmin told them with a smile.
“Ah, but you love us anyway.” Junsu said wisely as he reached up and slung an arm around Changmin’s shoulder.
Changmin laughed but didn’t disagree.
“When is the dance competition?” Jaejoong asked.
“Uh,” Yunho looked down at his watch. “About an hour.”
“Great,” Junsu smiled. “So then we have time to go get Changmin a snack. Like some popcorn? There’s a stand over there.”
Changmin sputtered. “Popcorn? No one starts with popcorn! Popcorn is a light snack. It’s not filling at all. Popcorn is a finisher.”
…
“Okay…” Yunho started chuckling. “So no popcorn then.”
“I don’t know,” Jaejoong said, eyes directed to the popcorn stand Junsu had pointed out. “I think I might be in the mood for some popcorn.”
Young-soon followed his gaze and smirked. “Are you sure it’s the popcorn you want Jae?”
He glared at her. “Since when did you become snarky?”
“Things change Jae, this is why you should stay in the country for more than a month at a time.”
Jaejoong opened his mouth to say something when Junsu’s voice beat him to the punch. “Hey, Young-soon, aren’t those your friends?”
“Uh huh,” she smiled.
Junsu’s grin turned slightly evil. “Oh, we are so getting popcorn. It would be rude not to.”
Yunho looked between Jaejoong, Junsu, and Young-soon and frowned. “Did I miss something?”
“Whatever you missed,” Changmin said. “I missed too.”
**…..**…..**…..**
“Goats!” Bao-Zhai exclaimed happily. She had finally found them! Yay! And it had only taken fifteen minutes and an angry pretzel stand owner’s directions. But wait. Here were the goats but… her brother was nowhere in sight. Great… “Where is he?” It wasn’t like Zhou Mi would be really hard to spot. “Damn it,” she cursed when she realized that he wasn’t there any longer.
Stupid goats.
“Well would you listen to that?” A familiar voice sounded behind her. “Our girl is all grown up and cursing.”
“Ha, ha,” she said as she turned around and looked up into familiar playful eyes. “Sarcasm from you? How original.”
“Yeah, well, I wear it so well,” Heechul smiled.
“I can’t argue with that,” she laughed as she stepped forward and gave the man a hug.
“Looking for your brother?” Heechul guessed as the stepped apart. Bao-Zhai nodded. “Me too… He and Henry said they’d be here but… Knowing your brother, they probably got distracted by something shiny and wandered off.”
Bao-Zhai hit Heechul’s arm lightly. “Be nice.”
“Hey, I’m being honest.”
She laughed. “Maybe…”
“There you two are!” Heechul and Bao-Zhai turned to see Zhou Mi hurrying toward him. “I’ve been looking for you guys everywhere,” he panted.
Heechul raised an eyebrow. “And waiting for me where you told me to meet you would have been too easy, huh?”
Zhou Mi smiled. “Well Henry and I finished with the goats and he wanted to find Stacy and Jessica and I didn’t want to wait alone so…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Heechul sighed as he stepped forward and kissed his boyfriend hello. “Save the excuses.”
“Well if you had just come with me this morning,” Zhou Mi whispered, “none of this would have happened.”
Heechul snorted. “Who gets out of bed on Saturday at eight in the morning?”
“I do,” Zhou Mi grinned.
“You, I have long believed, aren’t normal; so you don’t count.”
Zhou Mi’s smile widened. “Aw, you think I’m special…”
“Not normal, does not mean special,” Heechul argued. “… And yes I do,” he grumbled.
“Aw~!”
“Okay, please,” Bao-Zhai interrupted. “Stop, before I throw up?”
Heechul laughed. Zhou Mi stuck his tongue out. “You’re just jealous.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why were you looking for me Zhou Mi?”
“I just wanted to say hi.”
She laughed. “Hi.”
“And you know… I wanted to meet your date.”
“What date would this be?”
“The date you might have brought to something like this,” he frowned.
“The date he’d then have to scare off with his oh so effective frown,” Heechul tried not to snicker as he said that. He failed.
“Girls generally bring dates to these things you know.” Zhou Mi nodded wisely.
“Yeah,” Heechul agreed. “You did.”
“Hey!”
Bao-Zhai sighed. “I came with Choon-Hee and Li.”
…
“Well… good.”
“You do realize, Zhou Mi, that eventually she is going to get another boyfriend.” Heechul pointed out. “And one day…” He gasped dramatically. “She’ll actually get married.”
Zhou Mi glared at the man beside him. “I know that,” he hissed.
“Just checking.”
She laughed. “Did you two want to sit with us?”
“Sure,” Heechul smiled before turning back to Zhou Mi. “I’m hungry.”
“And that is code for…”
“Buy me food.”
“Ah. Okay.” Zhou Mi looked to Bao-Zhai. “Do you want anything? My treat.”
“Well if you put it that way…” she smiled. “Sure!”
**…..**…..**
“Food!” Changmin smiled and started toward the stand.
Young-soon smiled and followed at a slower pace. “Changmin oppa, slow down!”
“Can’t,” he grinned back at her. “Food.” She laughed and sped up so she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd.
Yunho, Jaejoong, and Junsu had headed toward the popcorn stand earlier. Changmin, had followed his stomach elsewhere. And Young-soon, although tempted to stay and watch the train wreck she knew was a great possibility, had followed Changmin after Junsu made a comment about remembering the time; the others seemed to think the man would forget the competition if on his own and surrounded by greasy fair food. Young-soon, from experience, thought they were right. Hence, her following him.
Changmin was still ahead of her. She sighed and sped up. Just as she was about to break into a run though, (damn the man had long legs), Changmin stopped abruptly and Young-soon found herself trying not to slam into his back. She managed not to. Yay!
“Why did you…?” Her question ran off when saw his frown. She followed his gaze and her eyes widened slightly. Oh. Bao-Zhai, Heechul, and Zhou Mi were a little way in front of them. Bao-Zhai was laughing at something Heechul had said. Young-soon tilted her head. Bao-Zhai looked good. She wondered where her friend had purchased the boots she was wearing. Hm… They should go shopping soon. Wait. Right. Not the time. She looked back up at Changmin’s frowning face. Crap. She laughed nervously. “Uh… So… food?”
Author: Me! (2theChangmin)
Pairing: Bao-Zhai/Changmin (as well as all the cast and pairs of Heart Problems)
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Summary: Bao-Zhai was not a stalker. But, she was admittedly acting like one a little bit. This guy just wouldn’t get out of her head. And she’d talk to him, only she’s pretty sure he hates her; and with good reason. Why? Well… It’s complicated.
The sequel to Heart Problems has arrived!
This part is dedicated to both mardigrasmaven and xxsilentxstarxx. I missed both your birthdays while I was away on Holiday and I’m sorry! But I hope you both had great days!
Bao-Zhai rushed to answer the door as the knocking started again. “Coming, coming. Stop knocking; I’m coming,” she muttered as she turned the lock and opened the door. “Geez, are you trying to knock my door down?”
Choon-Hee smiled. “Just making sure you weren’t still in bed.”
“Sure you were,” Bao-Zhai glared. Or tried to; she was finding it a bit hard to glare when so tired.
“Almost ready?” Choon-Hee asked as she stepped into the room.
“Yeah, just let me grab my keys”
“Didn’t get much sleep?” Choon-Hee stepped back out into the hall and waited for Bao-Zhai to lock up.
Bao-Zhai turned around. “Why do you ask?”
“If the circles under your eyes grow any darker I’ll be able to lose my wallet in them.”
“… That is the stupidest analogy I’ve ever heard.”
“Okay, I know that’s a lie; Yin’s analogies suck way worse. And you didn’t answer my question.” By this time they got to the stair well and Bao-Zhai opened the door and motioned for her friend to go first. Choon-Hee raised an eyebrow. “The stairs? Why not take the elevator?”
“I don’t find much time to work out so I try to exercise when I can. Besides, stairs are great for your gluts.”
Choon-Hee made a face. “You are so weird,” she groaned before turning into the stairwell.
Bao-Zhai smiled before following. “You love me anyhow.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”
“Where’s Li?”
“She’s meeting us at the bus stop.”
“Okay.”
…
“Hey,” Choon-Hee frowned when they were outside of the building. “You still have yet to answer my question.”
“Which question?”
Her friend growled. “Don’t play dumb. Why didn’t you sleep well? That’s the second night in a row.”
Bao-Zhai sighed. “I slept well… Just not much. I couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Did this have anything to do with the reason you ran into a cheese shop last night?”
Bao-Zhai frowned. “No, it did not,” she lied with an indignant huff.
“Sure…” Her friend smirked.
Bao-Zhai decided not to respond to that. Besides, apparently she sucked at lying. … Maybe she should call Heechul and get some tips…
**…..**…..**…..**
Young-soon knocked and then waited patiently for the door to open. … And then she knocked again. … And again. Okay, so she wasn’t a very patient woman. Sue her. She was more patient than her brother at least; or she liked to think so anyhow. She scrunched her lips up and was about to knock again when the door swung open and she was greeted with a very bleary eyed cousin. She smiled. “Hi Jae!”
He grunted and rubbed a hand over his eye. “What time is it?”
She shrugged. “Ten?”
“And you’re up?”
“Yeah…” She pushed her way past him into the house. “Is Kangin here?”
“No he left early this morning to visit Lee Teuk’s parents. … Not that I’m not glad to see you but… what are you doing here?”
“I came to visit you.” She said in the same tone as if she were to say ‘duh’.
“Right… uh, I’m just going to take a quick shower and wake up fully. You okay out here for ten minutes?”
“Yep,” she set her purse down and started walking back into the kitchen like she owned the place. “Want me to start some coffee?”
He smiled. He knew there was a reason he loved her. “Yes please!”
The doorbell rang shortly after Jaejoong entered the shower. “I’ll get it!!!” Young-soon yelled as she made her way from the kitchen to the front door. She opened the door and blinked. “Hi. What are you guys doing here?”
“We’re here to pick up Jae,” Junsu announced cheerily.
Changmin held up a white bag. “We brought breakfast.”
“Doughnuts aren’t breakfast,” a third voice said as Yunho walked wearily up the porch steps. Clearly, Yunho wasn’t a morning person like Junsu and Changmin seemed to be.
“Uh, there’s coffee in the kitchen,” Young-soon informed them as she stepped aside, suddenly nervous.
“Oh, I love you,” Yunho said, throwing her a quick smile and following the other guys into the kitchen. Young-soon’s blush went unnoticed as she shut the door and followed at a much slower pace, willing the heat in her cheeks to dissipate.
“Where’s Jae?” Junsu asked as Young-soon entered the room.
“He’s in the shower.”
Junsu nodded before he went back to helping Changmin set out the doughnuts. Yunho was already half way done with his first mug of coffee. He sighed and smiled. “I love coffee… Yes, I do. I love you,” Yunho cooed down to his mug.
Changmin snorted. “You’re getting old hyung.”
Yunho looked like he was going to say something but then thought better of it and shrugged before drinking another large gulp.
“So uh… What are you guys doing today?” Young-soon asked as she tried not to look as awkward as she felt.
“We thought we’d take Jaejoong to a dance competition,” Junsu said around a bite of pastry.
“Dance competition?”
“Yeah,” Changmin grabbed a doughnut from the table. “Yunho said some of his friend’s had a competition this afternoon. We thought that it would be fun to go.”
“Oh… I think he’ll like that.”
“Were you and Jae spending the day together?” Yunho asked.
Young-soon shook her head. “No. I just stopped by… I’m sure he’ll rather hang out with you guys.”
“Well… why don’t you tag along?”
“Huh?” She was sure she’d just heard wrong.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Yunho repeated with a smile.
“Yeah?” She smiled against her will.
“The more the merrier,” Junsu assured her, mouth still full of dough.
“Ew, dude; swallow before you talk,” Changmin grimaced.
“What are you guys doing here?” Young-soon turned to see Jae towel drying his hair, he was wearing jeans and a blue button down and looking much more awake than he had earlier.
“Taking you out for some fun,” Yunho grinned. “So put some shoes on and grab a doughnut!”
**…..**…..**…..**
“This is it?” Zhang Li Yin blinked. I didn’t know their competition was at a… how do you say this in Korean?”
“Fair?” Choon Hee supplied.
“Ah, yes; that.”
Bao-Zhai laughed and pulled the other two further inside the crowd.
“I didn’t even realize there was a fair in town,” Choon-Hee muttered. “Did you know there was a fair in town?”
**…..**…..**…..**
“Donghae!! Eunhyuk!!”
The duo turned around and smiled. “Hey girls.”
“What are you guys doing here?” Choon-Hee asked.
“Uh…” Donghae frowned in confusion. “We’re standing in line for food?”
“No, I meant-”
“Don’t you two have a competition?” Bao-Zhao finished.
“Yeah,” Eunhyuk nodded. “But it doesn’t start for another hour or so.”
“Oh…”
“You guys are coming right? It’s over at the main stage.”
“That’s what we’re here for.”
“Though, if the competition isn’t for another hour, can we get some popcorn?” Li Yin asked hopefully while pointing behind her to a popcorn stand they’d passed.
Choon-Hee laughed. “Sure. Let’s go.”
Bao-Zhai waved goodbye to Donghae and Eunhyuk as they left. Though, they had only gone ten feet when Donghae called out behind them. “Oh, hey, wait Bao-Zhai.” She turned back around and waited as Donghae jogged the short distance up to them. “I almost forgot, but Zhou Mi was looking for you.”
“He was?”
“Yeah. Last time I saw, he and Henry were over by the goats.”
…
“There are goats?”
Donghae laughed. “Yeah, they’re right next to the guy on stilts.”
“I- Wait. What?” Bao-Zhai fumbled to get out something coherent as Donghae turned and went back to Eunhyuk. “O-kay…”
“So then… we’ll meet you by the stage in a little bit?” Li Yin asked from behind her.
“Yeah,” Bao-Zhai nodded. “I think I have to go find the goats… Or a man on stilts…”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Choon-Hee smirked.
“Thanks.”
**…..**…..**…..**
“We’re at a fair!”
“Wow, Changmin seems excited.”
“Of course I’m excited; it’s a fair! I didn’t realize we had a fair coming to town.”
“Yeah, but the real reason is ‘why is Changmin excited’?” Jaejoong pretended not to hear Changmin’s second exclamation.
“Well, if I were to make a guess,” Junsu took up the ball. “I would bet it was all the greasy food sure to be found here.”
“Ah~” Young-soon sung. “Now it’s all coming together.”
“You guys suck,” Changmin told them with a smile.
“Ah, but you love us anyway.” Junsu said wisely as he reached up and slung an arm around Changmin’s shoulder.
Changmin laughed but didn’t disagree.
“When is the dance competition?” Jaejoong asked.
“Uh,” Yunho looked down at his watch. “About an hour.”
“Great,” Junsu smiled. “So then we have time to go get Changmin a snack. Like some popcorn? There’s a stand over there.”
Changmin sputtered. “Popcorn? No one starts with popcorn! Popcorn is a light snack. It’s not filling at all. Popcorn is a finisher.”
…
“Okay…” Yunho started chuckling. “So no popcorn then.”
“I don’t know,” Jaejoong said, eyes directed to the popcorn stand Junsu had pointed out. “I think I might be in the mood for some popcorn.”
Young-soon followed his gaze and smirked. “Are you sure it’s the popcorn you want Jae?”
He glared at her. “Since when did you become snarky?”
“Things change Jae, this is why you should stay in the country for more than a month at a time.”
Jaejoong opened his mouth to say something when Junsu’s voice beat him to the punch. “Hey, Young-soon, aren’t those your friends?”
“Uh huh,” she smiled.
Junsu’s grin turned slightly evil. “Oh, we are so getting popcorn. It would be rude not to.”
Yunho looked between Jaejoong, Junsu, and Young-soon and frowned. “Did I miss something?”
“Whatever you missed,” Changmin said. “I missed too.”
**…..**…..**…..**
“Goats!” Bao-Zhai exclaimed happily. She had finally found them! Yay! And it had only taken fifteen minutes and an angry pretzel stand owner’s directions. But wait. Here were the goats but… her brother was nowhere in sight. Great… “Where is he?” It wasn’t like Zhou Mi would be really hard to spot. “Damn it,” she cursed when she realized that he wasn’t there any longer.
Stupid goats.
“Well would you listen to that?” A familiar voice sounded behind her. “Our girl is all grown up and cursing.”
“Ha, ha,” she said as she turned around and looked up into familiar playful eyes. “Sarcasm from you? How original.”
“Yeah, well, I wear it so well,” Heechul smiled.
“I can’t argue with that,” she laughed as she stepped forward and gave the man a hug.
“Looking for your brother?” Heechul guessed as the stepped apart. Bao-Zhai nodded. “Me too… He and Henry said they’d be here but… Knowing your brother, they probably got distracted by something shiny and wandered off.”
Bao-Zhai hit Heechul’s arm lightly. “Be nice.”
“Hey, I’m being honest.”
She laughed. “Maybe…”
“There you two are!” Heechul and Bao-Zhai turned to see Zhou Mi hurrying toward him. “I’ve been looking for you guys everywhere,” he panted.
Heechul raised an eyebrow. “And waiting for me where you told me to meet you would have been too easy, huh?”
Zhou Mi smiled. “Well Henry and I finished with the goats and he wanted to find Stacy and Jessica and I didn’t want to wait alone so…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Heechul sighed as he stepped forward and kissed his boyfriend hello. “Save the excuses.”
“Well if you had just come with me this morning,” Zhou Mi whispered, “none of this would have happened.”
Heechul snorted. “Who gets out of bed on Saturday at eight in the morning?”
“I do,” Zhou Mi grinned.
“You, I have long believed, aren’t normal; so you don’t count.”
Zhou Mi’s smile widened. “Aw, you think I’m special…”
“Not normal, does not mean special,” Heechul argued. “… And yes I do,” he grumbled.
“Aw~!”
“Okay, please,” Bao-Zhai interrupted. “Stop, before I throw up?”
Heechul laughed. Zhou Mi stuck his tongue out. “You’re just jealous.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why were you looking for me Zhou Mi?”
“I just wanted to say hi.”
She laughed. “Hi.”
“And you know… I wanted to meet your date.”
“What date would this be?”
“The date you might have brought to something like this,” he frowned.
“The date he’d then have to scare off with his oh so effective frown,” Heechul tried not to snicker as he said that. He failed.
“Girls generally bring dates to these things you know.” Zhou Mi nodded wisely.
“Yeah,” Heechul agreed. “You did.”
“Hey!”
Bao-Zhai sighed. “I came with Choon-Hee and Li.”
…
“Well… good.”
“You do realize, Zhou Mi, that eventually she is going to get another boyfriend.” Heechul pointed out. “And one day…” He gasped dramatically. “She’ll actually get married.”
Zhou Mi glared at the man beside him. “I know that,” he hissed.
“Just checking.”
She laughed. “Did you two want to sit with us?”
“Sure,” Heechul smiled before turning back to Zhou Mi. “I’m hungry.”
“And that is code for…”
“Buy me food.”
“Ah. Okay.” Zhou Mi looked to Bao-Zhai. “Do you want anything? My treat.”
“Well if you put it that way…” she smiled. “Sure!”
**…..**…..**
“Food!” Changmin smiled and started toward the stand.
Young-soon smiled and followed at a slower pace. “Changmin oppa, slow down!”
“Can’t,” he grinned back at her. “Food.” She laughed and sped up so she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd.
Yunho, Jaejoong, and Junsu had headed toward the popcorn stand earlier. Changmin, had followed his stomach elsewhere. And Young-soon, although tempted to stay and watch the train wreck she knew was a great possibility, had followed Changmin after Junsu made a comment about remembering the time; the others seemed to think the man would forget the competition if on his own and surrounded by greasy fair food. Young-soon, from experience, thought they were right. Hence, her following him.
Changmin was still ahead of her. She sighed and sped up. Just as she was about to break into a run though, (damn the man had long legs), Changmin stopped abruptly and Young-soon found herself trying not to slam into his back. She managed not to. Yay!
“Why did you…?” Her question ran off when saw his frown. She followed his gaze and her eyes widened slightly. Oh. Bao-Zhai, Heechul, and Zhou Mi were a little way in front of them. Bao-Zhai was laughing at something Heechul had said. Young-soon tilted her head. Bao-Zhai looked good. She wondered where her friend had purchased the boots she was wearing. Hm… They should go shopping soon. Wait. Right. Not the time. She looked back up at Changmin’s frowning face. Crap. She laughed nervously. “Uh… So… food?”