[PG-13] Caught in Between (4/25)
Title: Caught in Between
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Shindong expected Sungmin to open the door as he rang the doorbell to his house. It was a Saturday and they usually gave their helpers the day to do stuff for themselves, after they’d finished preparing food and cleaning the house of course. But it wasn’t Sungmin who opened the door.
It was that cute, bright girl from the party a couple of days ago. And she was wearing, what looked like, one of Sungmin’s shirts.
“Hey,” Sunny said as he walked in, closing the door behind them. “Sungmin’s in the kitchen.”
“Uh okay,” Shindong said, unable to say anything else. As Sunny walked back up to the second floor, he went to the kitchen and found Sungmin, wearing nothing but shorts. “Sungminah.”
“Shindong!” Sungmin greeted cheerfully. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”
“I just saw Sunny,” Shindong said, sitting on one of the chairs. He watched him carefully.
“Yeah,” Sungmin said. “We just woke up. We stayed up really late.”
“Doing what?” Shindong asked suspiciously.
“Just stuff,” Sungmin answered vaguely, putting some food in the oven.
At that moment, Eunhyuk walked in wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. “Shindong,” Eunhyuk greeted, yawning. “Is breakfast ready yet?” he asked Sungmin as he sat at down on a chair.
“It’ll be ready in a bit,” Sungmin said. “Where’s Taeyeon? She said she’s helping me prepare breakfast.”
“She’s showering,” Eunhyuk informed them.
“Taeyeon’s here, too?” Shindong asked, looking even more surprised.
Eunhyuk looked at him and immediately said, “I know what you’re thinking and I’m telling you you’re wrong. Taeyeon and Sunny sleep over all the time. It’s not like that.”
“Why do you sound so guilty?” Shindong asked, chuckling.
Eunhyuk laughed. “I’m not and I’m not being defensive. I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Is this because you saw Sunny wearing my shirt?” Sungmin then asked.
“Well what was I supposed to think?” Shindong defended himself. “And you’re wearing that.”
Sungmin couldn’t help but laugh. “The girls didn’t bring any clothes coming here so they borrowed.” He shook his head. “Really, Shindong. I’m dating Yoona.”
“And does Yoona know about these little details?” Shindong inquired.
Sungmin didn’t know what to say. Actually, Yoona didn’t know any detail about his friendship with Sunny and Taeyeon. But he was saved from answering because Taeyeon walked in, freshly showered. She noticed the too quiet atmosphere.
“Am I interrupting something?” Taeyeon asked, looking at the three boys.
“No,” Eunhyuk said at once, standing up and offering his chair to her.
“Hi Taeyeon,” Shindong said politely.
“Hey,” Taeyeon said, bringing out some pans so that she could make some pancakes.
“I heated some bread,” Sungmin said, taking them out of the oven. “Where’s Sunny?”
“Probably went back to bed,” Taeyeon said, chuckling.
“I’ll go and check on her,” Sungmin said. He went up to his room and found that Sunny was actually sleeping again. Sungmin sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep. She was on her side, her hands clasped together. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, some strands on her face. Gently tucking them behind her ear, he softly said, “Sunnyah.”
Sunny’s eyes slowly fluttered opened and she smiled. “Sungmin.”
Sungmin smiled. “You should get up.”
She sleepily said, “I want to sleep a little bit more.”
He laid down beside her. “Sunny?”
“Mmmm?” Sunny responded, half asleep.
Facing her, he gently touched her face. She looked like a little angel, one that he wanted to take care of forever. This realization jolted him back to life. He got up and wore a shirt.
“Sunnyah,” Sungmin said loudly. “Breakfast is ready.”
Sunny opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and stretched her arms. “Okay.”
Sungmin left the room without giving her another look.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Shindong watched Taeyeon and Eunhyuk argue about what sauce to put on their pancakes. Taeyeon wanted syrup and butter, while Eunhyuk just wanted syrup. Shindong couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just eat separate pancakes. Eventually, Eunhyuk let up and ate pancakes with syrup and butter.
Soon they were all in the kitchen eating breakfast. Shindong waited for Sungmin and Eunhyuk to finish so that they could go bring the two girls home and then play basketball.
After a while, Taeyeon said, “I’m full.” She turned to her sister. “Are you done? We should go.”
“Alright,” Sungmin said, standing up. “I’ll bring you home.”
~ * ~
“Hey!” Sunny greeted her sister as she sat down beside her at their table in the cafeteria.
“Hi!” Taeyeon greeted back without looking up from her book.
“What’s up? I haven’t seen you since we arrived in school this morning. Where’ve you been?” Sunny asked, taking a French fry from Taeyeon’s tray.
“I had to go to the library,” Taeyeon answered. She finally looked up. “Where are Sungmin and Eunhyuk?”
“It’s Monday today,” Sunny reminded her.
“Oh right,” Taeyeon responded. “It’s queenka-kingka hang out day. How was your exam?”
“Okay, I think.” Sunny’s gaze was somewhere far away.
Taeyeon followed her line of sight. “Have you talked to Sungmin about dating Yoona at all?”
Sunny sighed and looked at her sister. “I can’t bring myself to do it. He seems to really like her. They’ve been going out for a while.”
“I still can’t believe he’s going out with her. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? Kimbum or something?” Taeyeon said thoughtfully.
“Kibum,” Sunny corrected her. “Well, I heard they broke up.”
“Well maybe he’ll come back and then he and Yoona will get back together, then Sungmin will be free and you can finally tell him how you feel,” Taeyeon said, her eyebrows raised.
“Right. That’ll happen,” Sunny sighed.
“Excuse me.”
Taeyeon and Sunny both looked up.
“Seohyun,” Sunny greeted her with a smile.
“Do you mind if we sit here?” Seohyun asked, referring to herself and her friends. “Everywhere else is full.”
“No problem,” Taeyeon said. She and Sunny moved to make room for them.
“Sorry about this,” Hyoyeon said as she sat down beside Seohyun, who was beside Sunny. “But our table’s been overtaken.” She nodded towards Sooyoung, who was lavishly sprawled on their table.
“No problem,” Sunny said dismissively. “You guys are welcome to sit with us any time.”
“We appreciate that,” Donghae said.
“We really don’t know when we’ll have our table back,” Siwon added.
“Are you sure Sungmin and Eunhyuk won’t mind?” Seohyun asked.
“Why would they mind?” Taeyeon asked. “What’s that?” she then asked Seohyun, referring to the fliers she was holding.
“I’m having a party this weekend,” Seohyun said, handing them a flier. “You guys should come!”
“Oh cool!” Sunny said. “Why are you having a party?”
“It’s my birthday,” Seohyun said, smiling.
“Happy birthday!” Taeyeon said. “We’ll definitely be there.” Sunny nodded in agreement.
“Are you guys bringing dates?” Hyoyeon wanted to know.
“Dates?” Sunny asked in confusion. “Do we have to?”
“No, not really,” Seohyun said hesitantly.
“What they want to know is if you’re bringing Eunhyuk and Sungmin with you,” Siwon clarified.
“They’re only going if you invite them,” Taeyeon said, smiling at them. She knew about the whole issue between kingkas, queenkas and the geeks. Even though she thought it was a stupid issue, she didn’t want to interfere with that.
“Thanks,” Hyoyeon said, smiling.
~ * ~
“Fany, you going already?” Yoona asked. They were in the locker room, dressing up. Cheerleading practice for the day had just finished.
“Yeah,” Tiffany answered. “I still have to borrow some books from the library.”
“Again?” Yuri asked. “Didn’t you borrow like a dozen books yesterday?”
“More like two,” Tiffany corrected with a smile.
“You’re taking this research paper way too seriously,” Sooyoung commented disapprovingly. “You don’t even come to my house after school anymore.”
“Sorry,” Tiffany apologized.
“How come Jessica’s always present?” Sooyoung demanded. “She’s your partner, isn’t she?”
“Well if we don’t want to fail, at least one of us has to do the work,” Tiffany said, glancing at Jessica, who looked back at her guiltily. She smiled cheerfully. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Tiffany walked out of the locker room and proceeded to the hallway that led to the library. As she was walking, she heard some scuffling and moaning. Wondering where it was, she followed it down the hall towards a broom closet. Someone was banging on the door. Siwon stumbled out as she opened the door. He was a mess. His lip was bleeding and his glasses were broken.
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?” Tiffany crouched down in front of him. Siwon mumbled inaudibly. “We should get you to the clinic.” She helped him up.
“Closed.” He strained to get the words out and pointed at the room across from him. It was the clinic and it was indeed closed.
“I’ll bring you to the hospital then,” Tiffany said, supporting him by putting her arms around his waist.
When they got to the hospital, he was immediately attended to by Tiffany’s family’s doctor. Tiffany waited patiently in the hallway as his bruises were mended. Soon, the doctor came out.
“Is he alright?” Tiffany asked him.
“He’ll be fine, Tiffany,” the doctor said. “Just a few bruises, but nothing really major. He just needs some bed rest. But what happened to him?”
“I don’t know. I just found him like that,” Tiffany said.
“Well it’s a good thing you did,” the doctor said. “He’ll be fine. I’ll just go and file a report.” He left.
“Hey,” Tiffany said, walking in the room. Siwon was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had a bandage on his forehead, his left eye was a bit puffy and his lip was swollen. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” Siwon answered, trying to smile. “Thank you for bringing me here!”
“Of course,” Tiffany said, waving her hand as if it was nothing. “What happened? Who did this to you?” Siwon hesitated. “I think I know,” she said with a sigh.
“I was just getting books from my locker when suddenly Hankyung came out of nowhere,” Siwon explained.
Tiffany shook her head in disgust. “I’m really sorry. We’ve talked to him about doing stuff like this. He just doesn’t seem to listen, not even to Jessica.”
He smiled a little and got off the bed. “Thanks again!”
“I’ll take you home,” Tiffany offered.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I have to drop by the mall. I have to buy new glasses.” He smiled a little. “You can come if you want.”
“Sure,” she agreed.
~ * ~
“What excuse are you going to give me this time? Jessica asked as Hankyung prepared to leave. They were at Jessica’s house with Yoona and Yuri.
“It’s not an excuse,” Hankyung said irately. “My dad told me that he needed to talk to me about something. Is that so hard to understand?”
“Pretty much. Since you and your dad practically don’t talk,” Jessica shot back.
Yoona and Yuri looked at each other and came to a silent agreement to leave the room.
“Is it that time of the month?” he asked as soon as the two girls left. “I don’t know what your problem is.”
“You’re my problem,” she spat. “You’re always giving me these excuses --.”
“They’re not excuses,” he repeated, feeling even more annoyed. “I’m sorry if you don’t believe me. I really am. But I can’t do anything about that.”
“Why don’t you make me believe?” she retorted. “Tell me the truth. What are you really doing after school and every time I can’t reach you? Aside from beating up the geeks.” Tiffany had called her up to let her know what Hankyung did.
“I see geeks are tattletales, too,” he commented with a smirk.
“That’s not what we were talking about,” she reminded him.
“Let me break it down for you,” he spat, smirking. “I’m on the basketball team. We train everyday after school. My parents are bugging me to help out in a special project for our business. So I do that, too. You’re supposed to know all of these since you’re my girlfriend.”
Jessica breathed deeply to hold back her tears. Hankyung’s expression softened. He moved closer to her and reached for her hand.
“Look,” Hankyung gently said. “I promise after all of this is over, we’ll spend more time together.”
“I just don’t understand, Hankyung,” Jessica responded after a moment. “You’ve always had time for me no matter how busy you were. But now, you’re disappearing and everything. I don’t know what to think. Are you cheating on me?”
He chuckled and touched her chin. “Sica, why would I ever do that? I love you.” He leaned closer and gave her a sweet kiss. “Do you love me?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “I do.”
“Then there’s no problem,” he said. After giving her another kiss, he grabbed his stuff and left.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Shindong expected Sungmin to open the door as he rang the doorbell to his house. It was a Saturday and they usually gave their helpers the day to do stuff for themselves, after they’d finished preparing food and cleaning the house of course. But it wasn’t Sungmin who opened the door.
It was that cute, bright girl from the party a couple of days ago. And she was wearing, what looked like, one of Sungmin’s shirts.
“Hey,” Sunny said as he walked in, closing the door behind them. “Sungmin’s in the kitchen.”
“Uh okay,” Shindong said, unable to say anything else. As Sunny walked back up to the second floor, he went to the kitchen and found Sungmin, wearing nothing but shorts. “Sungminah.”
“Shindong!” Sungmin greeted cheerfully. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”
“I just saw Sunny,” Shindong said, sitting on one of the chairs. He watched him carefully.
“Yeah,” Sungmin said. “We just woke up. We stayed up really late.”
“Doing what?” Shindong asked suspiciously.
“Just stuff,” Sungmin answered vaguely, putting some food in the oven.
At that moment, Eunhyuk walked in wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. “Shindong,” Eunhyuk greeted, yawning. “Is breakfast ready yet?” he asked Sungmin as he sat at down on a chair.
“It’ll be ready in a bit,” Sungmin said. “Where’s Taeyeon? She said she’s helping me prepare breakfast.”
“She’s showering,” Eunhyuk informed them.
“Taeyeon’s here, too?” Shindong asked, looking even more surprised.
Eunhyuk looked at him and immediately said, “I know what you’re thinking and I’m telling you you’re wrong. Taeyeon and Sunny sleep over all the time. It’s not like that.”
“Why do you sound so guilty?” Shindong asked, chuckling.
Eunhyuk laughed. “I’m not and I’m not being defensive. I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Is this because you saw Sunny wearing my shirt?” Sungmin then asked.
“Well what was I supposed to think?” Shindong defended himself. “And you’re wearing that.”
Sungmin couldn’t help but laugh. “The girls didn’t bring any clothes coming here so they borrowed.” He shook his head. “Really, Shindong. I’m dating Yoona.”
“And does Yoona know about these little details?” Shindong inquired.
Sungmin didn’t know what to say. Actually, Yoona didn’t know any detail about his friendship with Sunny and Taeyeon. But he was saved from answering because Taeyeon walked in, freshly showered. She noticed the too quiet atmosphere.
“Am I interrupting something?” Taeyeon asked, looking at the three boys.
“No,” Eunhyuk said at once, standing up and offering his chair to her.
“Hi Taeyeon,” Shindong said politely.
“Hey,” Taeyeon said, bringing out some pans so that she could make some pancakes.
“I heated some bread,” Sungmin said, taking them out of the oven. “Where’s Sunny?”
“Probably went back to bed,” Taeyeon said, chuckling.
“I’ll go and check on her,” Sungmin said. He went up to his room and found that Sunny was actually sleeping again. Sungmin sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep. She was on her side, her hands clasped together. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, some strands on her face. Gently tucking them behind her ear, he softly said, “Sunnyah.”
Sunny’s eyes slowly fluttered opened and she smiled. “Sungmin.”
Sungmin smiled. “You should get up.”
She sleepily said, “I want to sleep a little bit more.”
He laid down beside her. “Sunny?”
“Mmmm?” Sunny responded, half asleep.
Facing her, he gently touched her face. She looked like a little angel, one that he wanted to take care of forever. This realization jolted him back to life. He got up and wore a shirt.
“Sunnyah,” Sungmin said loudly. “Breakfast is ready.”
Sunny opened her eyes slowly. She yawned and stretched her arms. “Okay.”
Sungmin left the room without giving her another look.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Shindong watched Taeyeon and Eunhyuk argue about what sauce to put on their pancakes. Taeyeon wanted syrup and butter, while Eunhyuk just wanted syrup. Shindong couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just eat separate pancakes. Eventually, Eunhyuk let up and ate pancakes with syrup and butter.
Soon they were all in the kitchen eating breakfast. Shindong waited for Sungmin and Eunhyuk to finish so that they could go bring the two girls home and then play basketball.
After a while, Taeyeon said, “I’m full.” She turned to her sister. “Are you done? We should go.”
“Alright,” Sungmin said, standing up. “I’ll bring you home.”
~ * ~
“Hey!” Sunny greeted her sister as she sat down beside her at their table in the cafeteria.
“Hi!” Taeyeon greeted back without looking up from her book.
“What’s up? I haven’t seen you since we arrived in school this morning. Where’ve you been?” Sunny asked, taking a French fry from Taeyeon’s tray.
“I had to go to the library,” Taeyeon answered. She finally looked up. “Where are Sungmin and Eunhyuk?”
“It’s Monday today,” Sunny reminded her.
“Oh right,” Taeyeon responded. “It’s queenka-kingka hang out day. How was your exam?”
“Okay, I think.” Sunny’s gaze was somewhere far away.
Taeyeon followed her line of sight. “Have you talked to Sungmin about dating Yoona at all?”
Sunny sighed and looked at her sister. “I can’t bring myself to do it. He seems to really like her. They’ve been going out for a while.”
“I still can’t believe he’s going out with her. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? Kimbum or something?” Taeyeon said thoughtfully.
“Kibum,” Sunny corrected her. “Well, I heard they broke up.”
“Well maybe he’ll come back and then he and Yoona will get back together, then Sungmin will be free and you can finally tell him how you feel,” Taeyeon said, her eyebrows raised.
“Right. That’ll happen,” Sunny sighed.
“Excuse me.”
Taeyeon and Sunny both looked up.
“Seohyun,” Sunny greeted her with a smile.
“Do you mind if we sit here?” Seohyun asked, referring to herself and her friends. “Everywhere else is full.”
“No problem,” Taeyeon said. She and Sunny moved to make room for them.
“Sorry about this,” Hyoyeon said as she sat down beside Seohyun, who was beside Sunny. “But our table’s been overtaken.” She nodded towards Sooyoung, who was lavishly sprawled on their table.
“No problem,” Sunny said dismissively. “You guys are welcome to sit with us any time.”
“We appreciate that,” Donghae said.
“We really don’t know when we’ll have our table back,” Siwon added.
“Are you sure Sungmin and Eunhyuk won’t mind?” Seohyun asked.
“Why would they mind?” Taeyeon asked. “What’s that?” she then asked Seohyun, referring to the fliers she was holding.
“I’m having a party this weekend,” Seohyun said, handing them a flier. “You guys should come!”
“Oh cool!” Sunny said. “Why are you having a party?”
“It’s my birthday,” Seohyun said, smiling.
“Happy birthday!” Taeyeon said. “We’ll definitely be there.” Sunny nodded in agreement.
“Are you guys bringing dates?” Hyoyeon wanted to know.
“Dates?” Sunny asked in confusion. “Do we have to?”
“No, not really,” Seohyun said hesitantly.
“What they want to know is if you’re bringing Eunhyuk and Sungmin with you,” Siwon clarified.
“They’re only going if you invite them,” Taeyeon said, smiling at them. She knew about the whole issue between kingkas, queenkas and the geeks. Even though she thought it was a stupid issue, she didn’t want to interfere with that.
“Thanks,” Hyoyeon said, smiling.
~ * ~
“Fany, you going already?” Yoona asked. They were in the locker room, dressing up. Cheerleading practice for the day had just finished.
“Yeah,” Tiffany answered. “I still have to borrow some books from the library.”
“Again?” Yuri asked. “Didn’t you borrow like a dozen books yesterday?”
“More like two,” Tiffany corrected with a smile.
“You’re taking this research paper way too seriously,” Sooyoung commented disapprovingly. “You don’t even come to my house after school anymore.”
“Sorry,” Tiffany apologized.
“How come Jessica’s always present?” Sooyoung demanded. “She’s your partner, isn’t she?”
“Well if we don’t want to fail, at least one of us has to do the work,” Tiffany said, glancing at Jessica, who looked back at her guiltily. She smiled cheerfully. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Tiffany walked out of the locker room and proceeded to the hallway that led to the library. As she was walking, she heard some scuffling and moaning. Wondering where it was, she followed it down the hall towards a broom closet. Someone was banging on the door. Siwon stumbled out as she opened the door. He was a mess. His lip was bleeding and his glasses were broken.
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?” Tiffany crouched down in front of him. Siwon mumbled inaudibly. “We should get you to the clinic.” She helped him up.
“Closed.” He strained to get the words out and pointed at the room across from him. It was the clinic and it was indeed closed.
“I’ll bring you to the hospital then,” Tiffany said, supporting him by putting her arms around his waist.
When they got to the hospital, he was immediately attended to by Tiffany’s family’s doctor. Tiffany waited patiently in the hallway as his bruises were mended. Soon, the doctor came out.
“Is he alright?” Tiffany asked him.
“He’ll be fine, Tiffany,” the doctor said. “Just a few bruises, but nothing really major. He just needs some bed rest. But what happened to him?”
“I don’t know. I just found him like that,” Tiffany said.
“Well it’s a good thing you did,” the doctor said. “He’ll be fine. I’ll just go and file a report.” He left.
“Hey,” Tiffany said, walking in the room. Siwon was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had a bandage on his forehead, his left eye was a bit puffy and his lip was swollen. “How are you?”
“I’m okay,” Siwon answered, trying to smile. “Thank you for bringing me here!”
“Of course,” Tiffany said, waving her hand as if it was nothing. “What happened? Who did this to you?” Siwon hesitated. “I think I know,” she said with a sigh.
“I was just getting books from my locker when suddenly Hankyung came out of nowhere,” Siwon explained.
Tiffany shook her head in disgust. “I’m really sorry. We’ve talked to him about doing stuff like this. He just doesn’t seem to listen, not even to Jessica.”
He smiled a little and got off the bed. “Thanks again!”
“I’ll take you home,” Tiffany offered.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I have to drop by the mall. I have to buy new glasses.” He smiled a little. “You can come if you want.”
“Sure,” she agreed.
~ * ~
“What excuse are you going to give me this time? Jessica asked as Hankyung prepared to leave. They were at Jessica’s house with Yoona and Yuri.
“It’s not an excuse,” Hankyung said irately. “My dad told me that he needed to talk to me about something. Is that so hard to understand?”
“Pretty much. Since you and your dad practically don’t talk,” Jessica shot back.
Yoona and Yuri looked at each other and came to a silent agreement to leave the room.
“Is it that time of the month?” he asked as soon as the two girls left. “I don’t know what your problem is.”
“You’re my problem,” she spat. “You’re always giving me these excuses --.”
“They’re not excuses,” he repeated, feeling even more annoyed. “I’m sorry if you don’t believe me. I really am. But I can’t do anything about that.”
“Why don’t you make me believe?” she retorted. “Tell me the truth. What are you really doing after school and every time I can’t reach you? Aside from beating up the geeks.” Tiffany had called her up to let her know what Hankyung did.
“I see geeks are tattletales, too,” he commented with a smirk.
“That’s not what we were talking about,” she reminded him.
“Let me break it down for you,” he spat, smirking. “I’m on the basketball team. We train everyday after school. My parents are bugging me to help out in a special project for our business. So I do that, too. You’re supposed to know all of these since you’re my girlfriend.”
Jessica breathed deeply to hold back her tears. Hankyung’s expression softened. He moved closer to her and reached for her hand.
“Look,” Hankyung gently said. “I promise after all of this is over, we’ll spend more time together.”
“I just don’t understand, Hankyung,” Jessica responded after a moment. “You’ve always had time for me no matter how busy you were. But now, you’re disappearing and everything. I don’t know what to think. Are you cheating on me?”
He chuckled and touched her chin. “Sica, why would I ever do that? I love you.” He leaned closer and gave her a sweet kiss. “Do you love me?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “I do.”
“Then there’s no problem,” he said. After giving her another kiss, he grabbed his stuff and left.