±0.001% (rounded off to three decimal places) [14/?]
kyumin | pg13 | ~5,100w | sungmin is a greeting card writer. he's good only at sympathy cards and rude only to dr. cho
beta → teexsaurus, fighting~
a/n → this is the fic of personal opinions
Chapter 14: 你嘛~ 其實什麼都不懂 | -
Monday morning delivered rain, fierce and torrential, cascading all over Seoul. There was still a month before Kim Yesung returned from his Japan trip, thirty one days left for Kyuhyun, before Sungmin was officially transferred out to his new assignment. Kyuhyun was of the opinion that anything is possible in the next second, not to mention 2,678,400 seconds. His optimism was not to be dampened by the weather.
(Idealists really need to be rounded up and gunned down both indiscriminately and mercilessly.)
Kyuhyun had spent half the time in bed wondering if he was actually conscious and the other half pondering about the complexities of his life, the mysteries of alien universes and what exactly was going on in the minds of Pixar film-makers when they created Edna Mode (probably something really ingenious. Or just Edith Head). A shadow ghosted over his head and clouded his thoughts; it was a most peculiar feeling and apparently not something one could get used to. He was tired but not too tired, sleepy but not too sleepy, awake but not too awake. Just well enough to function, which was why he didn’t complain about his condition.
Like every other day, he laid awake listening to the sound of kitchen operations. Naturally, as a person who was as competent in the kitchen as a penguin with wings, Kyuyun was omitted from the workings of the kitchen quite a lot (read: always/forever/till the end of time). Once, he had tried to fry an egg for dinner. The pan had gotten overheated and he added some water to cool it. Thus, the oil in the pan got very displeased and Ryeowook saved him from being fried. And another time, Kyuhyun steamed buns using a plastic plate and ended up being a proud contributor to the greenhouse effect.
After what seemed like a long time but was really just ten minutes, Kyuhyun dragged himself out of bed and towards the kitchen. “What are we having?” He stretched out before plopping into one of the seats at the kitchen table. Surprisingly, Ryeowook was there beside Sungmin at the stove.
“Why are you still home?” Kyuhyun managed to ask while yawning.
As a greeting card writer, Ryeowook not only came up with proses and verses, he also worked with card designers to ensure that the design complimented the words and appealed to the audience they were reaching out to. While he wasn’t responsible for making the final decision, greeting card writers were allowed to give their input with regards to the final product. This time, due to printing issues, Ryeowook had to go down personally to the publisher to ensure they print in the correct typeface and they didn’t open until ten. So the three flatmates had breakfast together for once on a weekday.
“Oh, what are you working on?” Sungmin asked. There was envy in his voice.
“Sympathy cards catering to the male audience. It’s actually really hard, no mush allowed. Basically, it’s chest thumping in word form.” The pan was oiled, Ryeowook poured batter in after it had been heated.
“What are we having?” Only Ryeowook acknowledged Kyuhyun. “Pancakes.” Well, Sungmin’s elbow acknowledged him too. It was pointing firmly in the direction of the toilet.
Kyuhyun sighed. Teeth brushing was so hard. But he took it as a positive sign that they were now on gesturing terms and trudged his feet into the washroom.
Cold water ran from the tap. Kyuhyun caught it with a mug, squeezed tri-colored toothpaste over the toothbrush and started the tedious task of brushing. The water was too cold for rinsing out, Kyuhyun hunched his shoulders and grimaced when he gurgled.
“We should really get a hot/cold tap,” he commented when he stepped out of the bathroom.
Ryeowook mulled over the idea but Sungmin frowned. “We can’t,” he said, drizzling honey onto the pancakes, “this apartment is rented. We can’t make changes to it without running it through the landlord.
“Well, run it through the landlord then.” They seated themselves at the kitchen table.
“There’s nothing wrong with the one we have.” Extra pressure was exerted on the bottle of honey tipped over the pancakes.
“Too much honey,” replied Kyuhyun. So it went without saying that Sungmin had to empty half the bottle. “Tuck in.” He served them to Kyuhyun with an overly-sweet smile. So apt.
Kyuhyun was suddenly in the joyous mood for tasteless wholemeal crackers, however.
“What are you guys doing tonight?” he asked, trying to inject life into the crackers by dipping them into honey that was pooling on the plate around the pancakes.
“Shall we have dinner tonight at the café with the nasty waiter?” suggested Sungmin.
Ryeowook and Kyuhyun bobbed their heads in agreement but Sungmin shook his. “Oh wait, I can’t,” he righted himself, suddenly recalling a date he had scheduled long before. “I’m having dinner with Eunhyuk.” A bit of pancake was speared and popped into his mouth. But the chewing didn’t commence since Sungmin suddenly realised he had just ousted himself out from their outings. He wanted to spear himself too.
“Who’s Eunhyuk?” asked Ryeowook.
“My colleague,” replied Sungmin, and added on as an afterthought, “Ex-colleague? Haven’t you met him in the office before? He works in Humor.” Ryeowook shook his head. “I’ll introduce you to him some other time, then.”
“Oh,” Kyuhyun nodded, when he recalled, “that imaginary friend, introduce him to me too.”
“He so exists.” The other half of Kyuhyun’s sentence was classified as trash and tossed into a delete folder in Sungmin’s brain. Chewing furiously, he craftily tried again, “How about tomorrow night?” Sungmin asked nonchalantly.
Simply put, Sungmin just didn’t like being left out (no one does). He didn’t enjoy mafia movies but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t watch it just to fit in. To openly state that he wanted to be a part of them would mean a loss of pride too. There were a couple of times when he found out that Ryeowook and Kyuhyun had gone out without him. The reason they didn’t invite him was because, “You wouldn’t like it anyway” since Sungmin had declined them a couple of times in the early days when they had just moved together (back then, it had simply been a matter of personal preference for Sungmin, he hadn’t banked on them to bypass him later on).
No one was being deliberately malicious, you could even say they were being considerate, but that didn’t mean no one was hurt.
Kyuhyun glanced at Ryeowook for his reply. It was a simple act that really meant nothing else but Sungmin took exception to that in the current context. “OK,” Ryeowook said, without looking at anyone.
“OK.” He was echoed.
‘Yes, yes, please exchange amorous looks in front of me,’ Sungmin thought viciously. Lighting tore the skies into two, at that point, followed by splendid thunder. Kyuyun and Ryeowook jumped in their seats while Sungmin eerily stabbed a pancake to death.
Breakfast was a pretty hurried affair since only half the pancakes were edible. Bidding farewell to Ryeowook, Sungmin and Kyuhyun headed to the lift.
“When can I meet Eunhyuk?” asked Kyuhyun, when the doors of the elevator closed. He nudged Sungmin with his briefcase when he was ignored again. “If he’s your friend, that means he’s my friend too.”
“Why?” Sungmin punched the lift button and sent the lift jerking to a start.
“Because we’re friends.” A grin blossomed on Kyuhyun’s face. “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine too.”
After thinking it over, Sungmin corrected Kyuhyun. “No, what’s yours is mine but what’s mine is still mine.”
“The world is so unfair,” chorused Kyuhyun with irritating cheerfulness. “So when can we meet? Maybe we can go on a picnic together with Donghae and Ryeowook.”
“Picnic? How old are you?” scoffed Sungmin. The doors of the lift opened and Sungmin strode out without holding it open for Kyuhyun.
“Three,” replied Kyuhyun when he caught up with Sungmin in the lobby. “Well, it’s autumn, better make use of the good weather before winter strikes.”
“Fine,” Sungmin mumbled without any intention to commit, shifting away from Kyuhyun when he hit him with the briefcase again. They walked out of the lobby and stared at the rain. There was no shelter from here to the carpark. How lovely the pitter patter of raindrops were. They fell like glimmering crystals from the edge of everything under the skies but shattered like glass when they reunited with earth. Except oops, those little bastards were making them late for work.
Kyuhyun smiled. On a scale of 100%, they were about 89% made up already. To negotiate for that remaining 11%, Kyuhyun took off his jacket and pulled Sungmin close. “Come on,” he said, pulling the jacket over the two of them and walking into the rain.
But Sungmin stood his ground. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Looking first at the rain and then at Sungmin, Kyuhyun said, “Pretty obvious, isn’t it?” He stepped back into the shield and flapped his jacket like he was herding his chick forward with wings.
When Sungmin appeared undecided, Kyuhyun heaved a heavy sigh and put an arm around him. “Ready or not~” he trilled, ushering Sungmin out of his safety zone.
“Wait, what.” But Sungmin protests were in vain, the deluge of rain made him cowered in the next instance. It was only a ten metre walk to the car and Sungmin wanted to make a wild dash for it but Kyuhyun held him back. “You’ll fall,” he warned, a hand on Sungmin’s shoulder pulling him away from the rain and stabling him when he stumbled; warm touches colliding with the cool of raindrops beading on the back of his hand.
Looking up, Sungmin stared at Kyuhyun’s profile as he led him forward. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary this time; no cluttered hearts and scattered wits. But he still thought it a little…
“You’re peeping at me again.” Kyuhyun grinned, even though his line of vision was kept fixated to the front.
Wordlessly, Sungmin looked away.
…a little strange because even though the outside world was pelted with icy rain, under the small roof of Kyuhyun’s jacket, in that tiny space that sheltered Sungmin, it felt almost like spring; another world.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
“We’re still drenched.” The remark was unnecessary. Both of them were shivering when they slid into the car.
“Yeah,” said Kyuhyun as he buckled up. “But that’s half the fun.”
“What’s the other half?”
Kyuhyun only smiled, chattering teeth and all.
. . . . .
It was warm in the car. The heater was being blasted and Sungmin’s cheeks were pink, droplets still clinging onto the ends of his hair. Kyuhyun rummaged in the backseat at the first red light and flung a small towel over Sungmin’s head. “Dry up,” he instructed, revving the car’s engine again when the light went green.
Hesitatingly, Sungmin pulled the towel down and dried himself with it. When he saw that Sungmin was done, Kyuhyun mischievously shook his head and splayed Sungmin with water, shoulders trembling with laughter when the latter threw his hands up to defend himself. Kyuhyun was expecting revenge, so he was startled when the towel landed on his head.
“Dry yourself too,” Sungmin said, a little resent mixed into his concern.
“I’m driving.” But he chanced a glance at Sungmin. “If you want, you can help me.” Before the last word was uttered, Sungmin had already leaned over and was starting to towel dry Kyuhyun’s hair. His bangs were gently brushed off his forehead and pressed against the towel, which moved next to the back of his neck. Kyuhyun’s hair was a little long and unkempt at the back; it now stuck to his skin and pricked him. Soft cotton swept across his neck and brought him relief, soaking in the moisture and catching any beads still adhering to skin. Sungmin ruffled Kyuhyun’s hair with the now damp towel, fingers slipping through black threads and shaking them loose of water. Kyuhyun’s surprise soon morphed into content.
“You need to cut your hair,” murmured Sungmin, still intent on the task at hand. He worked out a knot in Kyuyun’s hair, so cautious that Kyuhyun barely felt it. But he did and Sungmin’s consideration made him smiled.
“You can cut it for me.”
“If you want a pudding haircut, I don’t mind.”
“Sure, always had a thing for the Beatles.”
“You didn’t dye your hair, did you?” asked Sungmin, playing with a few strands of hair and looking pensive. They flowed from his hand like liquid black onyx.
“Nope.” Kyuhyun tilted his head towards Sungmin and leaned into his touch. If anyone bothered to look over, he would have seen the quiet happiness exhibited on Kyuhyun’s face.
But Sungmin’s efforts soon turned vicious and he was practically rubbing Kyuhyun’s scalp sore. “Oi!” Kyuhyun yelped, wrenching himself free. He turned over to see Sungmin gazing out of the window. “Can’t you be a bit gentler?” he gasped, eyes now back on the road.
“I’m already too nice to you,” Sungmin retorted.
The highway was littered with cars. From afar, they looked like colorful little beetles crawling on wet granite. But in fact, the slippery roads did little to reduce the speed they were moving at. People don’t slow down for a lot of things, not even for each other, not to mention mere rain.
The weather had ensured that the top of the convertible stayed down on the ride to the lab so there wasn’t much Sungmin could do to avoid the subject. But Kyuhyun had no plans to open the offending topic since he thought Sungmin had already cracked. Best not to push it. Unexpectedly though, it was he who initiated the topic.
Rain pelted the window screen and made vision almost impossible. The constant sweep of the windscreen wipers did little to help. “How do you even see the road when it’s raining like this?” asked Sungmin. A hand reached out, moved across the window and tried to brush away the rain from the other side. It was a hopeless case.
“Hmm? I just drive,” answered Kyuhyun without a thought. He had never thought about it. Probably didn’t matter to him if it rained or not; if the road was straight he drove straight, if the road took a turn he turned too. It got a little complicated if the windows fogged up but he would just need to be more careful.
The reply wasn’t good enough for Sungmin. His fingertips were still pressing against the cold of the window. “No…how do you see…” he murmured. Outside, the trees were grey, the cars on other lanes were grey, and droplets of rain hanging on the window had caused them to be dotted in different shades of grey. His vision had been split into the white of the skies and the grey of the earth. It was hard to distinguish shapes. Sungmin moved his fingers away from the glass and lowered his head. “The road signs all looked the same,” he commented in a small voice.
“The shapes and symbols are different,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “Different colors too.” Knuckles curled and flared white on the steering wheel when Kyuhyun realised what he had just said. He was about to apologise when Sungmin interrupted him with deliberate apathy. “They look the same to me.” His voice was too even; it upset the facade of calm he wanted to portray.
Kyuhyun bit his lower lip. One probably shouldn’t pursue a matter when another wanted so much to lay it to rest. He peered at Sungmin but his face was downcast and shielded with heavy bangs. There could have been tears and Kyuhyun wouldn’t have known. He let out a quiet sigh. There really wasn’t anything to say to that anyway. Kyuhyun hadn’t delved that deep into the matter; perhaps driving was much harder than he thought. Frowning, he eased the pressure he had on the accelerator and drove slower for the rest of the way to the lab, feeling his optimism dipped a little.
Maybe it was the weather.
. . . . . .
They had reached the lab and were putting on their lab apparel when Kyuhyun turned back to Sungmin and laughed out loud. Sungmin frowned and examined his lab coat. But his coat was fine, it was the goggles that were causing his hair to stick up all around it. Reaching out a hand, Kyuhyun helped Sungmin smooth his hair down. Fingers fluttered through soft tresses as he gently tugged out the hair stuck under the goggles. “Done,” said Kyuhyun, smiling and giving Sungmin’s head tiny pats. But he only scowled and headed into the lab, running a hand through his hair and messing up Kyuhyun’s efforts.
Kyuhyun followed Sungmin into the lab. “I’m going to end an experiment today. Just finish up some final cell count and I’m done for this cycle,” he said, sterilizing his gloved hands and retrieving some culture plates from the incubator.
Sungmin nodded in vague understanding, he was starting to actually understand Kyuhyun’s lab work.
At the hood, Kyuhyun meticulously sucked up the stale serum in the culture plate. “There really isn’t much to do after that.” Another nod. “So we can try something fun.” Nod. Nod.
Pause.
“Huh?”
. . . . . .
They ended up in Donghae’s lab in the afternoon because as Kyuhyun explained, his was a cell culture lab and therefore couldn’t tolerate contamination of any kind should the experiment go wrong. On the other hand, Donghae’s lab was frequently in chaos and wouldn’t mind another minor explosion. In Sungmin’s opinion, Kyuhyun was simply just not a very nice person.
“Good afternoon, welcome to Donghae’s lab.” Donghae bowed to Sungmin and Kyuhyun when they arrived. Sungmin casted him suspicious looks while Kyuhyun grinned good-naturedly and hurried him to his seat. There were a couple of beakers, test tubes and conical flasks on the table. Coughing self-importantly, Donghae walked over to the other side of the lab table.
“This,” he said, picking up something white and solid with gloved fingers, “is camphor, also known as ‘see-ten, edge-sixteen, oh’. You don’t know what that is, of course, you non-scientist person. But it’s OK, camphor doesn’t care about you too.” His scientist nose tilted high in the air, Donghae turned to the other apparatus lined up neatly on the table. “And these are potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride and ethanol.” They really just looked like bottles of washing powder and jars of plain water to Sungmin. Donghae cringed when he introduced the last chemical, his hand moved consciously up to his hair while Sungmin mourned for his lost eyebrow. With bated breath, Donghae poured ethanol into the large conical flask and waited for his lab to blow up, flames to engulf and consume him, pain to leech into his being.
Sungmin cowered a little.
Nothing happened.
“Well, continue,” Kyuhyun urged eagerly.
When Donghae was sure there weren’t going to be any explosions, he added camphor which melted into the ethanol. “Measure out the potassium nitrate, non-scientist!” he boomed, confidence boosted by the sheer fact that he’s still alive.
“My name is Sungmin,” Sungmin politely reminded Donghae.
“Whatever,” replied Donghae dismissively, since it weren’t as if he had forgotten Sungmin’s name. After all, they had bonded over a couple of unfortunate albeit exciting lab tragedies. He just liked the sound of non-scientist person and it fitted Sungmin (since he was exactly that).
“Here.” Kyuhyun handed Sungmin a small spoon and watched him carefully ladled some white powder from the bottle onto a petri dish sitting on the scale. It was too much. Pursing his lips in concentration, Sungmin scooped up some of the powder and returned it back to the bottle.
“Pour it in.” Donghae nodded to Sungmin, who cautiously tipped the powdery contents of the petri dish into the conical flask, one hand shielding the wind from playing foul. “Now the ammonium chloride.” Yet another bottle of white powder. Sungmin was perplexed as to why everything looked in the same in the lab. But it had been some time since he had engaged in labwork and he was strangely excited by it. He even had no idea that he was no longer sitting and had stood up in his excitement.
“Tare the scale first,” Kyuhyun gently reminded him, “you can use the same dish, doesn’t matter.” The petri dish was placed back onto the balance and the tare button was pressed. Sungmin lifted bright eyes to Kyuhyun’s and he grinned in return. The chloride was painstakingly measured and added to the flask.
“In it goes~” Donghae sang. He poured some distilled water into the flash with a flourish. Then he corked it, immersed it into a heated water bath and shook it vigorously. Finally, he placed the flask back onto the table and bowed again.
Sungmin was expecting something life threatening. “What.” He frowned when he discovered he wasn’t in mortal peril.
“Look.” Kyuhyun dropped his voice to a whisper. He watched Sungmin’s puzzled frown gave way to curiosity and wonderment when the liquid began to cloud over and stars of frost started to form on the walls of the conical flask.
“This is a storm-glass.” Kyuhyun tapped the side of the flask with a fingernail and made light tinkling sounds. “It indicates the weather.” He nodded at the window. The blinds were drawn and showcased the storm that had been raging since early morning. Kyuhyun was pleased to see amazement in the widening of Sungmin’s eyes.
Donghae rolled his eyes at the way Kyuhyun was beaming at Sungmin and left to collect some test results from the neighbouring lab.
Lifting the flask, Sungmin swirled the queer contents and marvelled at the pattern created by the crystals. “Wow. What happens if the sun’s out?”
“We’ll repeat the experiment some other day and find out.” Sungmin flashed Kyuhyun a smile. “You like it?”
“It’s cool.” Another twist of Sungmin’s hand sent flakes of frost peeling from glass. “I haven’t done any lab work since high school,” he revealed.
Propping a hand on his chin, Kyuhyun observed Sungmin. His own cell culture work was pretty mundane once a person got past the initial excitement of breeding cells. Sungmin probably wouldn’t appreciate being stuck in his lab all the time. “There are some other interesting experiments we can try, after the next cycle,” offered Kyuhyun.
Another smile. Kyuhyun chuckled to himself. “What did you major in?” he asked, now that they were on the topic of academic.
The flask was placed back onto the desk with a dull thud. It was probably a hint but clueless as he was, Kyuhyun missed it. Sungmin picked up the bottle of potassium chloride and examined it closely. “How do you make this?”
“It’s really sylvite, a natural mineral, or you can always mix potassium nitrate with hydrochloric acid in the lab, among other means, for example-oh nevermind, what major?”
Sungmin made a weird face which meant he really had no idea what Kyuhyun was talking about so he chose to ask another question. “How about this?”
“Ammonia with hydrochloric acid.”
Sungmin didn’t want to but he couldn’t resist a large grin from taking over his face. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
You, Kyuhyun almost said. “Absolutely nothing. Quick, ask me about the Big Bang,” he joked, mirroring Sungmin’s smile.
“And this one?” asked Sungmin instead, picking up a bottle of crystals.
His question didn’t make a dent on Kyuhyun’s ego. “Copper and sulphuric acid.”
“Aha, copper sulphate,” Sungmin supplemented. “Blue.” His face softened with wistfulness. The bottle was returned to its rightful place on the rack. “Well, why did you eventually specialize in cell work?” Sitting back down on the bench, Sungmin imitated Kyuhyun’s pose. He crossed one leg over the other and stuck a fist under his chin. “Hmmm?” he quipped, radiating cute and cherubness.
Ah. So the chick didn’t suddenly become deaf. He was simply doing his regular chore of avoiding questions just now. They had an unequal relationship when it came to situations like this. Kyuhyun would ask a question and Sungmin would evade it and came up with another question which Kyuhyun would inevitably answer in hope of receiving a reply in kind (that never happened). But maybe he wasn’t feeling so nice today.
“Not telling~” Kyuhyun folded his arms and looked smug, like he had a secret that Sungmin would never know.
“Why not?” There was a frown. And when that didn’t work, Sungmin pouted. That didn’t work either. Kyuhyun rather enjoyed the feeling of superiority; it felt good to have secrets.
“Why haven’t you done any lab work since high school? You don’t like chemistry? ”asked Kyuhyun, catching on what Sungmin had unwittingly let out just now. He decided to adopt Sungmin’s strategy. It worked for some reason; perhaps he had worked himself into Sungmin’s good favor this afternoon. Kyuhyun wondered how long it would last.
“I used to.” Sungmin twirled some test tubes around from where they stood in the test tube holder.
“Used to?”
“I can’t do it anymore, I had to drop it in high school.”
“Why?”
Sungmin let out a sigh of fatigue and ceased playing with the tubes. Answers to questions like this had been etched into his bones; still, it didn’t feel good every time he had to explain himself. It was a perpetual reminder of how much of a lesser person he was. “I couldn’t observe the color changes in experiments. Failed every lab test. Litmus papers are the bane of my existence,” he said grudgingly.
Words are always innocent. The mechanism of creating pain is found in the way they are arranged, the tone in which they are uttered. Time, opportunity, people and occasionally, the alignment of the cabbage moons, are also key factors. The original intent of the careless speaker is sometimes ignored; it is mostly harmless, however.
Remorse oozed out of Kyuhyun’s pores. “I’m sorry.” His guilt was reminiscent of this morning’s episode in the car. It was a slip of the tongue, an accident; just a follow up question to what Sungmin said. But it manifested itself as a sword.
“For what?” Sungmin said coolly. “There’s nothing to be apologetic about.” He was right. It was just a part of Sungmin’s life. That wasn’t what Kyuhyun was sorry about, however. He had wanted to heal not hurt. But Kyuhyun would later discover that it wasn’t easy to be a good person; kind intentions could only take him so far.
Feeling like there were a lot of things he should be sorry for but fearing that he might spew the wrong words again, Kyuhyun glanced at Sungmin with a repentant expression on his face. But Sungmin stood up from the bench and said, “Don’t you have some cleaning you have to do before we can go? Let’s head back to the lab.”
Kyuhyun sighed and followed him out. They walked past another lab before reaching theirs. “What are you going to have for dinner tonight?” he asked, tapping in the code and letting them in, hoping that random conversation would make things good again.
“With Eunhyuk?” Kyuhyun hummed his agreement. “We’re meeting at a steakhouse,” said Sungmin as he adjusted his goggles.
“Oh, I thought you like your greens.”
“There are,” Sungmin mumbled, struggling to put his goggles on right this time, “there are many things you don’t know about me.” His casual words struck too close to home for comfort, so Kyuhyun retreated back into his shell.
. . . . .
Sungmin returned home with Kyuhyun that evening instead of going straight to meet Eunhyuk, saying that they were meeting in a restaurant near the apartment anyway and he wanted to bathe first. Even though Kyuhyun was of the opinion that Sungmin was bathing excessively, he kept his trap shut as a demonstration of goodwill.
When they reached the apartment, Ryeowook was already back from the publisher. He was sitting on the couch, arranging stacks of paper that were dispersed haphazardly on the coffee table.
“How did things go?” asked Sungmin, eager for any news of his old trade.
Sifting through the stack of papers in his hand, Ryeowook smiled. “Everything’s fine. The designer asked me to help with paper selection. I’m undecided between the stitched and textured ones.”
Walking over, Sungmin took over the stack of papers from Ryeowook and flipped them through. “Stitched paper is very nice but it’s generally more elaborate and probably inappropriate for sympathy cards. Not cheap too, will definitely have to increase the selling price. Color is also important since it’s a sombre occasion. Go for more neutral colors. You’ll have to ask someone else for their opinions with respect to that though.” He handed the papers back to Ryeowook.
Blinking, Ryeowook said his thanks very quietly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t mean to interfere, just, you know.” Suddenly realising how brash he had been, Sungmin stepped back and scratched his head in awkwardness.
“No, no,” Ryeowook quickly said when he saw that Sungmin had misunderstood. He was only feeling ashamed of himself for the jealousy he had so easily indulged in when Sungmin had offered help so willingly. “Thanks, there’re many things I still need to learn. Feel free to drop me advice anytime.” Sungmin smiled in reply and Ryeowook was surprised he managed to reciprocate.
“Dinner, Ryeowook?” Kyuhyun asked, already changed into an oversized grey knit top and jeans. He sank into the couch and stretched, as if he had toiled in the lab instead of sneaking out to create storm glasses. Sungmin perked his ears in full alert.
“Sure,” replied Ryeowook. Sungmin gaped.
“Wait,” he said, “you two are going to have dinner?” Without me?
Kyuhyun looked at him all quizzically. “Yeah, you can’t make it, remember?” Yes, but Sungmin thought that meant dinner would be cancelled. Obviously, he wasn’t essential for digestion and they could jolly well do without him.
There was so much truth in Kyuhyun’s words that Sungmin could only gather up his unspoken tirade and marched to the bathroom.
. . . . . .
That evening, the three of them were at the door putting on their shoes when Zhou Mi ran panting up to them.
“Are you guys free? I need your help.”
“No, we are-“ said Kyuhyun.
“I’m going for-“ said Sungmin.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi flipped his hair and gave an extravagant sigh of relief. “Hurry up with your glass slippers, Cinderellas. We're going to get busy."
tbc
p.s.: cabbage moons appeared in this fic before. or was it radish
p.p.s.: see-ten, edge-sixteen, oh = C10H16O
p.p.p.s.: penguin analogies will stop sometime in the unforeseeable future. meanwhile, i'm stuck here. life of crime~
p.p.p.p.s.: hey you, thanks for the sneaky comments :)
beta → teexsaurus, fighting~
a/n → this is the fic of personal opinions
Chapter 14: 你嘛~ 其實什麼都不懂 | -
Monday morning delivered rain, fierce and torrential, cascading all over Seoul. There was still a month before Kim Yesung returned from his Japan trip, thirty one days left for Kyuhyun, before Sungmin was officially transferred out to his new assignment. Kyuhyun was of the opinion that anything is possible in the next second, not to mention 2,678,400 seconds. His optimism was not to be dampened by the weather.
(Idealists really need to be rounded up and gunned down both indiscriminately and mercilessly.)
Kyuhyun had spent half the time in bed wondering if he was actually conscious and the other half pondering about the complexities of his life, the mysteries of alien universes and what exactly was going on in the minds of Pixar film-makers when they created Edna Mode (probably something really ingenious. Or just Edith Head). A shadow ghosted over his head and clouded his thoughts; it was a most peculiar feeling and apparently not something one could get used to. He was tired but not too tired, sleepy but not too sleepy, awake but not too awake. Just well enough to function, which was why he didn’t complain about his condition.
Like every other day, he laid awake listening to the sound of kitchen operations. Naturally, as a person who was as competent in the kitchen as a penguin with wings, Kyuyun was omitted from the workings of the kitchen quite a lot (read: always/forever/till the end of time). Once, he had tried to fry an egg for dinner. The pan had gotten overheated and he added some water to cool it. Thus, the oil in the pan got very displeased and Ryeowook saved him from being fried. And another time, Kyuhyun steamed buns using a plastic plate and ended up being a proud contributor to the greenhouse effect.
After what seemed like a long time but was really just ten minutes, Kyuhyun dragged himself out of bed and towards the kitchen. “What are we having?” He stretched out before plopping into one of the seats at the kitchen table. Surprisingly, Ryeowook was there beside Sungmin at the stove.
“Why are you still home?” Kyuhyun managed to ask while yawning.
As a greeting card writer, Ryeowook not only came up with proses and verses, he also worked with card designers to ensure that the design complimented the words and appealed to the audience they were reaching out to. While he wasn’t responsible for making the final decision, greeting card writers were allowed to give their input with regards to the final product. This time, due to printing issues, Ryeowook had to go down personally to the publisher to ensure they print in the correct typeface and they didn’t open until ten. So the three flatmates had breakfast together for once on a weekday.
“Oh, what are you working on?” Sungmin asked. There was envy in his voice.
“Sympathy cards catering to the male audience. It’s actually really hard, no mush allowed. Basically, it’s chest thumping in word form.” The pan was oiled, Ryeowook poured batter in after it had been heated.
“What are we having?” Only Ryeowook acknowledged Kyuhyun. “Pancakes.” Well, Sungmin’s elbow acknowledged him too. It was pointing firmly in the direction of the toilet.
Kyuhyun sighed. Teeth brushing was so hard. But he took it as a positive sign that they were now on gesturing terms and trudged his feet into the washroom.
Cold water ran from the tap. Kyuhyun caught it with a mug, squeezed tri-colored toothpaste over the toothbrush and started the tedious task of brushing. The water was too cold for rinsing out, Kyuhyun hunched his shoulders and grimaced when he gurgled.
“We should really get a hot/cold tap,” he commented when he stepped out of the bathroom.
Ryeowook mulled over the idea but Sungmin frowned. “We can’t,” he said, drizzling honey onto the pancakes, “this apartment is rented. We can’t make changes to it without running it through the landlord.
“Well, run it through the landlord then.” They seated themselves at the kitchen table.
“There’s nothing wrong with the one we have.” Extra pressure was exerted on the bottle of honey tipped over the pancakes.
“Too much honey,” replied Kyuhyun. So it went without saying that Sungmin had to empty half the bottle. “Tuck in.” He served them to Kyuhyun with an overly-sweet smile. So apt.
Kyuhyun was suddenly in the joyous mood for tasteless wholemeal crackers, however.
“What are you guys doing tonight?” he asked, trying to inject life into the crackers by dipping them into honey that was pooling on the plate around the pancakes.
“Shall we have dinner tonight at the café with the nasty waiter?” suggested Sungmin.
Ryeowook and Kyuhyun bobbed their heads in agreement but Sungmin shook his. “Oh wait, I can’t,” he righted himself, suddenly recalling a date he had scheduled long before. “I’m having dinner with Eunhyuk.” A bit of pancake was speared and popped into his mouth. But the chewing didn’t commence since Sungmin suddenly realised he had just ousted himself out from their outings. He wanted to spear himself too.
“Who’s Eunhyuk?” asked Ryeowook.
“My colleague,” replied Sungmin, and added on as an afterthought, “Ex-colleague? Haven’t you met him in the office before? He works in Humor.” Ryeowook shook his head. “I’ll introduce you to him some other time, then.”
“Oh,” Kyuhyun nodded, when he recalled, “that imaginary friend, introduce him to me too.”
“He so exists.” The other half of Kyuhyun’s sentence was classified as trash and tossed into a delete folder in Sungmin’s brain. Chewing furiously, he craftily tried again, “How about tomorrow night?” Sungmin asked nonchalantly.
Simply put, Sungmin just didn’t like being left out (no one does). He didn’t enjoy mafia movies but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t watch it just to fit in. To openly state that he wanted to be a part of them would mean a loss of pride too. There were a couple of times when he found out that Ryeowook and Kyuhyun had gone out without him. The reason they didn’t invite him was because, “You wouldn’t like it anyway” since Sungmin had declined them a couple of times in the early days when they had just moved together (back then, it had simply been a matter of personal preference for Sungmin, he hadn’t banked on them to bypass him later on).
No one was being deliberately malicious, you could even say they were being considerate, but that didn’t mean no one was hurt.
Kyuhyun glanced at Ryeowook for his reply. It was a simple act that really meant nothing else but Sungmin took exception to that in the current context. “OK,” Ryeowook said, without looking at anyone.
“OK.” He was echoed.
‘Yes, yes, please exchange amorous looks in front of me,’ Sungmin thought viciously. Lighting tore the skies into two, at that point, followed by splendid thunder. Kyuyun and Ryeowook jumped in their seats while Sungmin eerily stabbed a pancake to death.
Breakfast was a pretty hurried affair since only half the pancakes were edible. Bidding farewell to Ryeowook, Sungmin and Kyuhyun headed to the lift.
“When can I meet Eunhyuk?” asked Kyuhyun, when the doors of the elevator closed. He nudged Sungmin with his briefcase when he was ignored again. “If he’s your friend, that means he’s my friend too.”
“Why?” Sungmin punched the lift button and sent the lift jerking to a start.
“Because we’re friends.” A grin blossomed on Kyuhyun’s face. “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine too.”
After thinking it over, Sungmin corrected Kyuhyun. “No, what’s yours is mine but what’s mine is still mine.”
“The world is so unfair,” chorused Kyuhyun with irritating cheerfulness. “So when can we meet? Maybe we can go on a picnic together with Donghae and Ryeowook.”
“Picnic? How old are you?” scoffed Sungmin. The doors of the lift opened and Sungmin strode out without holding it open for Kyuhyun.
“Three,” replied Kyuhyun when he caught up with Sungmin in the lobby. “Well, it’s autumn, better make use of the good weather before winter strikes.”
“Fine,” Sungmin mumbled without any intention to commit, shifting away from Kyuhyun when he hit him with the briefcase again. They walked out of the lobby and stared at the rain. There was no shelter from here to the carpark. How lovely the pitter patter of raindrops were. They fell like glimmering crystals from the edge of everything under the skies but shattered like glass when they reunited with earth. Except oops, those little bastards were making them late for work.
Kyuhyun smiled. On a scale of 100%, they were about 89% made up already. To negotiate for that remaining 11%, Kyuhyun took off his jacket and pulled Sungmin close. “Come on,” he said, pulling the jacket over the two of them and walking into the rain.
But Sungmin stood his ground. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Looking first at the rain and then at Sungmin, Kyuhyun said, “Pretty obvious, isn’t it?” He stepped back into the shield and flapped his jacket like he was herding his chick forward with wings.
When Sungmin appeared undecided, Kyuhyun heaved a heavy sigh and put an arm around him. “Ready or not~” he trilled, ushering Sungmin out of his safety zone.
“Wait, what.” But Sungmin protests were in vain, the deluge of rain made him cowered in the next instance. It was only a ten metre walk to the car and Sungmin wanted to make a wild dash for it but Kyuhyun held him back. “You’ll fall,” he warned, a hand on Sungmin’s shoulder pulling him away from the rain and stabling him when he stumbled; warm touches colliding with the cool of raindrops beading on the back of his hand.
Looking up, Sungmin stared at Kyuhyun’s profile as he led him forward. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary this time; no cluttered hearts and scattered wits. But he still thought it a little…
“You’re peeping at me again.” Kyuhyun grinned, even though his line of vision was kept fixated to the front.
Wordlessly, Sungmin looked away.
…a little strange because even though the outside world was pelted with icy rain, under the small roof of Kyuhyun’s jacket, in that tiny space that sheltered Sungmin, it felt almost like spring; another world.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
“We’re still drenched.” The remark was unnecessary. Both of them were shivering when they slid into the car.
“Yeah,” said Kyuhyun as he buckled up. “But that’s half the fun.”
“What’s the other half?”
Kyuhyun only smiled, chattering teeth and all.
. . . . .
It was warm in the car. The heater was being blasted and Sungmin’s cheeks were pink, droplets still clinging onto the ends of his hair. Kyuhyun rummaged in the backseat at the first red light and flung a small towel over Sungmin’s head. “Dry up,” he instructed, revving the car’s engine again when the light went green.
Hesitatingly, Sungmin pulled the towel down and dried himself with it. When he saw that Sungmin was done, Kyuhyun mischievously shook his head and splayed Sungmin with water, shoulders trembling with laughter when the latter threw his hands up to defend himself. Kyuhyun was expecting revenge, so he was startled when the towel landed on his head.
“Dry yourself too,” Sungmin said, a little resent mixed into his concern.
“I’m driving.” But he chanced a glance at Sungmin. “If you want, you can help me.” Before the last word was uttered, Sungmin had already leaned over and was starting to towel dry Kyuhyun’s hair. His bangs were gently brushed off his forehead and pressed against the towel, which moved next to the back of his neck. Kyuhyun’s hair was a little long and unkempt at the back; it now stuck to his skin and pricked him. Soft cotton swept across his neck and brought him relief, soaking in the moisture and catching any beads still adhering to skin. Sungmin ruffled Kyuhyun’s hair with the now damp towel, fingers slipping through black threads and shaking them loose of water. Kyuhyun’s surprise soon morphed into content.
“You need to cut your hair,” murmured Sungmin, still intent on the task at hand. He worked out a knot in Kyuyun’s hair, so cautious that Kyuhyun barely felt it. But he did and Sungmin’s consideration made him smiled.
“You can cut it for me.”
“If you want a pudding haircut, I don’t mind.”
“Sure, always had a thing for the Beatles.”
“You didn’t dye your hair, did you?” asked Sungmin, playing with a few strands of hair and looking pensive. They flowed from his hand like liquid black onyx.
“Nope.” Kyuhyun tilted his head towards Sungmin and leaned into his touch. If anyone bothered to look over, he would have seen the quiet happiness exhibited on Kyuhyun’s face.
But Sungmin’s efforts soon turned vicious and he was practically rubbing Kyuhyun’s scalp sore. “Oi!” Kyuhyun yelped, wrenching himself free. He turned over to see Sungmin gazing out of the window. “Can’t you be a bit gentler?” he gasped, eyes now back on the road.
“I’m already too nice to you,” Sungmin retorted.
The highway was littered with cars. From afar, they looked like colorful little beetles crawling on wet granite. But in fact, the slippery roads did little to reduce the speed they were moving at. People don’t slow down for a lot of things, not even for each other, not to mention mere rain.
The weather had ensured that the top of the convertible stayed down on the ride to the lab so there wasn’t much Sungmin could do to avoid the subject. But Kyuhyun had no plans to open the offending topic since he thought Sungmin had already cracked. Best not to push it. Unexpectedly though, it was he who initiated the topic.
Rain pelted the window screen and made vision almost impossible. The constant sweep of the windscreen wipers did little to help. “How do you even see the road when it’s raining like this?” asked Sungmin. A hand reached out, moved across the window and tried to brush away the rain from the other side. It was a hopeless case.
“Hmm? I just drive,” answered Kyuhyun without a thought. He had never thought about it. Probably didn’t matter to him if it rained or not; if the road was straight he drove straight, if the road took a turn he turned too. It got a little complicated if the windows fogged up but he would just need to be more careful.
The reply wasn’t good enough for Sungmin. His fingertips were still pressing against the cold of the window. “No…how do you see…” he murmured. Outside, the trees were grey, the cars on other lanes were grey, and droplets of rain hanging on the window had caused them to be dotted in different shades of grey. His vision had been split into the white of the skies and the grey of the earth. It was hard to distinguish shapes. Sungmin moved his fingers away from the glass and lowered his head. “The road signs all looked the same,” he commented in a small voice.
“The shapes and symbols are different,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “Different colors too.” Knuckles curled and flared white on the steering wheel when Kyuhyun realised what he had just said. He was about to apologise when Sungmin interrupted him with deliberate apathy. “They look the same to me.” His voice was too even; it upset the facade of calm he wanted to portray.
Kyuhyun bit his lower lip. One probably shouldn’t pursue a matter when another wanted so much to lay it to rest. He peered at Sungmin but his face was downcast and shielded with heavy bangs. There could have been tears and Kyuhyun wouldn’t have known. He let out a quiet sigh. There really wasn’t anything to say to that anyway. Kyuhyun hadn’t delved that deep into the matter; perhaps driving was much harder than he thought. Frowning, he eased the pressure he had on the accelerator and drove slower for the rest of the way to the lab, feeling his optimism dipped a little.
Maybe it was the weather.
. . . . . .
They had reached the lab and were putting on their lab apparel when Kyuhyun turned back to Sungmin and laughed out loud. Sungmin frowned and examined his lab coat. But his coat was fine, it was the goggles that were causing his hair to stick up all around it. Reaching out a hand, Kyuhyun helped Sungmin smooth his hair down. Fingers fluttered through soft tresses as he gently tugged out the hair stuck under the goggles. “Done,” said Kyuhyun, smiling and giving Sungmin’s head tiny pats. But he only scowled and headed into the lab, running a hand through his hair and messing up Kyuhyun’s efforts.
Kyuhyun followed Sungmin into the lab. “I’m going to end an experiment today. Just finish up some final cell count and I’m done for this cycle,” he said, sterilizing his gloved hands and retrieving some culture plates from the incubator.
Sungmin nodded in vague understanding, he was starting to actually understand Kyuhyun’s lab work.
At the hood, Kyuhyun meticulously sucked up the stale serum in the culture plate. “There really isn’t much to do after that.” Another nod. “So we can try something fun.” Nod. Nod.
Pause.
“Huh?”
. . . . . .
They ended up in Donghae’s lab in the afternoon because as Kyuhyun explained, his was a cell culture lab and therefore couldn’t tolerate contamination of any kind should the experiment go wrong. On the other hand, Donghae’s lab was frequently in chaos and wouldn’t mind another minor explosion. In Sungmin’s opinion, Kyuhyun was simply just not a very nice person.
“Good afternoon, welcome to Donghae’s lab.” Donghae bowed to Sungmin and Kyuhyun when they arrived. Sungmin casted him suspicious looks while Kyuhyun grinned good-naturedly and hurried him to his seat. There were a couple of beakers, test tubes and conical flasks on the table. Coughing self-importantly, Donghae walked over to the other side of the lab table.
“This,” he said, picking up something white and solid with gloved fingers, “is camphor, also known as ‘see-ten, edge-sixteen, oh’. You don’t know what that is, of course, you non-scientist person. But it’s OK, camphor doesn’t care about you too.” His scientist nose tilted high in the air, Donghae turned to the other apparatus lined up neatly on the table. “And these are potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride and ethanol.” They really just looked like bottles of washing powder and jars of plain water to Sungmin. Donghae cringed when he introduced the last chemical, his hand moved consciously up to his hair while Sungmin mourned for his lost eyebrow. With bated breath, Donghae poured ethanol into the large conical flask and waited for his lab to blow up, flames to engulf and consume him, pain to leech into his being.
Sungmin cowered a little.
Nothing happened.
“Well, continue,” Kyuhyun urged eagerly.
When Donghae was sure there weren’t going to be any explosions, he added camphor which melted into the ethanol. “Measure out the potassium nitrate, non-scientist!” he boomed, confidence boosted by the sheer fact that he’s still alive.
“My name is Sungmin,” Sungmin politely reminded Donghae.
“Whatever,” replied Donghae dismissively, since it weren’t as if he had forgotten Sungmin’s name. After all, they had bonded over a couple of unfortunate albeit exciting lab tragedies. He just liked the sound of non-scientist person and it fitted Sungmin (since he was exactly that).
“Here.” Kyuhyun handed Sungmin a small spoon and watched him carefully ladled some white powder from the bottle onto a petri dish sitting on the scale. It was too much. Pursing his lips in concentration, Sungmin scooped up some of the powder and returned it back to the bottle.
“Pour it in.” Donghae nodded to Sungmin, who cautiously tipped the powdery contents of the petri dish into the conical flask, one hand shielding the wind from playing foul. “Now the ammonium chloride.” Yet another bottle of white powder. Sungmin was perplexed as to why everything looked in the same in the lab. But it had been some time since he had engaged in labwork and he was strangely excited by it. He even had no idea that he was no longer sitting and had stood up in his excitement.
“Tare the scale first,” Kyuhyun gently reminded him, “you can use the same dish, doesn’t matter.” The petri dish was placed back onto the balance and the tare button was pressed. Sungmin lifted bright eyes to Kyuhyun’s and he grinned in return. The chloride was painstakingly measured and added to the flask.
“In it goes~” Donghae sang. He poured some distilled water into the flash with a flourish. Then he corked it, immersed it into a heated water bath and shook it vigorously. Finally, he placed the flask back onto the table and bowed again.
Sungmin was expecting something life threatening. “What.” He frowned when he discovered he wasn’t in mortal peril.
“Look.” Kyuhyun dropped his voice to a whisper. He watched Sungmin’s puzzled frown gave way to curiosity and wonderment when the liquid began to cloud over and stars of frost started to form on the walls of the conical flask.
“This is a storm-glass.” Kyuhyun tapped the side of the flask with a fingernail and made light tinkling sounds. “It indicates the weather.” He nodded at the window. The blinds were drawn and showcased the storm that had been raging since early morning. Kyuhyun was pleased to see amazement in the widening of Sungmin’s eyes.
Donghae rolled his eyes at the way Kyuhyun was beaming at Sungmin and left to collect some test results from the neighbouring lab.
Lifting the flask, Sungmin swirled the queer contents and marvelled at the pattern created by the crystals. “Wow. What happens if the sun’s out?”
“We’ll repeat the experiment some other day and find out.” Sungmin flashed Kyuhyun a smile. “You like it?”
“It’s cool.” Another twist of Sungmin’s hand sent flakes of frost peeling from glass. “I haven’t done any lab work since high school,” he revealed.
Propping a hand on his chin, Kyuhyun observed Sungmin. His own cell culture work was pretty mundane once a person got past the initial excitement of breeding cells. Sungmin probably wouldn’t appreciate being stuck in his lab all the time. “There are some other interesting experiments we can try, after the next cycle,” offered Kyuhyun.
Another smile. Kyuhyun chuckled to himself. “What did you major in?” he asked, now that they were on the topic of academic.
The flask was placed back onto the desk with a dull thud. It was probably a hint but clueless as he was, Kyuhyun missed it. Sungmin picked up the bottle of potassium chloride and examined it closely. “How do you make this?”
“It’s really sylvite, a natural mineral, or you can always mix potassium nitrate with hydrochloric acid in the lab, among other means, for example-oh nevermind, what major?”
Sungmin made a weird face which meant he really had no idea what Kyuhyun was talking about so he chose to ask another question. “How about this?”
“Ammonia with hydrochloric acid.”
Sungmin didn’t want to but he couldn’t resist a large grin from taking over his face. “Is there anything you don’t know?”
You, Kyuhyun almost said. “Absolutely nothing. Quick, ask me about the Big Bang,” he joked, mirroring Sungmin’s smile.
“And this one?” asked Sungmin instead, picking up a bottle of crystals.
His question didn’t make a dent on Kyuhyun’s ego. “Copper and sulphuric acid.”
“Aha, copper sulphate,” Sungmin supplemented. “Blue.” His face softened with wistfulness. The bottle was returned to its rightful place on the rack. “Well, why did you eventually specialize in cell work?” Sitting back down on the bench, Sungmin imitated Kyuhyun’s pose. He crossed one leg over the other and stuck a fist under his chin. “Hmmm?” he quipped, radiating cute and cherubness.
Ah. So the chick didn’t suddenly become deaf. He was simply doing his regular chore of avoiding questions just now. They had an unequal relationship when it came to situations like this. Kyuhyun would ask a question and Sungmin would evade it and came up with another question which Kyuhyun would inevitably answer in hope of receiving a reply in kind (that never happened). But maybe he wasn’t feeling so nice today.
“Not telling~” Kyuhyun folded his arms and looked smug, like he had a secret that Sungmin would never know.
“Why not?” There was a frown. And when that didn’t work, Sungmin pouted. That didn’t work either. Kyuhyun rather enjoyed the feeling of superiority; it felt good to have secrets.
“Why haven’t you done any lab work since high school? You don’t like chemistry? ”asked Kyuhyun, catching on what Sungmin had unwittingly let out just now. He decided to adopt Sungmin’s strategy. It worked for some reason; perhaps he had worked himself into Sungmin’s good favor this afternoon. Kyuhyun wondered how long it would last.
“I used to.” Sungmin twirled some test tubes around from where they stood in the test tube holder.
“Used to?”
“I can’t do it anymore, I had to drop it in high school.”
“Why?”
Sungmin let out a sigh of fatigue and ceased playing with the tubes. Answers to questions like this had been etched into his bones; still, it didn’t feel good every time he had to explain himself. It was a perpetual reminder of how much of a lesser person he was. “I couldn’t observe the color changes in experiments. Failed every lab test. Litmus papers are the bane of my existence,” he said grudgingly.
Words are always innocent. The mechanism of creating pain is found in the way they are arranged, the tone in which they are uttered. Time, opportunity, people and occasionally, the alignment of the cabbage moons, are also key factors. The original intent of the careless speaker is sometimes ignored; it is mostly harmless, however.
Remorse oozed out of Kyuhyun’s pores. “I’m sorry.” His guilt was reminiscent of this morning’s episode in the car. It was a slip of the tongue, an accident; just a follow up question to what Sungmin said. But it manifested itself as a sword.
“For what?” Sungmin said coolly. “There’s nothing to be apologetic about.” He was right. It was just a part of Sungmin’s life. That wasn’t what Kyuhyun was sorry about, however. He had wanted to heal not hurt. But Kyuhyun would later discover that it wasn’t easy to be a good person; kind intentions could only take him so far.
Feeling like there were a lot of things he should be sorry for but fearing that he might spew the wrong words again, Kyuhyun glanced at Sungmin with a repentant expression on his face. But Sungmin stood up from the bench and said, “Don’t you have some cleaning you have to do before we can go? Let’s head back to the lab.”
Kyuhyun sighed and followed him out. They walked past another lab before reaching theirs. “What are you going to have for dinner tonight?” he asked, tapping in the code and letting them in, hoping that random conversation would make things good again.
“With Eunhyuk?” Kyuhyun hummed his agreement. “We’re meeting at a steakhouse,” said Sungmin as he adjusted his goggles.
“Oh, I thought you like your greens.”
“There are,” Sungmin mumbled, struggling to put his goggles on right this time, “there are many things you don’t know about me.” His casual words struck too close to home for comfort, so Kyuhyun retreated back into his shell.
. . . . .
Sungmin returned home with Kyuhyun that evening instead of going straight to meet Eunhyuk, saying that they were meeting in a restaurant near the apartment anyway and he wanted to bathe first. Even though Kyuhyun was of the opinion that Sungmin was bathing excessively, he kept his trap shut as a demonstration of goodwill.
When they reached the apartment, Ryeowook was already back from the publisher. He was sitting on the couch, arranging stacks of paper that were dispersed haphazardly on the coffee table.
“How did things go?” asked Sungmin, eager for any news of his old trade.
Sifting through the stack of papers in his hand, Ryeowook smiled. “Everything’s fine. The designer asked me to help with paper selection. I’m undecided between the stitched and textured ones.”
Walking over, Sungmin took over the stack of papers from Ryeowook and flipped them through. “Stitched paper is very nice but it’s generally more elaborate and probably inappropriate for sympathy cards. Not cheap too, will definitely have to increase the selling price. Color is also important since it’s a sombre occasion. Go for more neutral colors. You’ll have to ask someone else for their opinions with respect to that though.” He handed the papers back to Ryeowook.
Blinking, Ryeowook said his thanks very quietly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t mean to interfere, just, you know.” Suddenly realising how brash he had been, Sungmin stepped back and scratched his head in awkwardness.
“No, no,” Ryeowook quickly said when he saw that Sungmin had misunderstood. He was only feeling ashamed of himself for the jealousy he had so easily indulged in when Sungmin had offered help so willingly. “Thanks, there’re many things I still need to learn. Feel free to drop me advice anytime.” Sungmin smiled in reply and Ryeowook was surprised he managed to reciprocate.
“Dinner, Ryeowook?” Kyuhyun asked, already changed into an oversized grey knit top and jeans. He sank into the couch and stretched, as if he had toiled in the lab instead of sneaking out to create storm glasses. Sungmin perked his ears in full alert.
“Sure,” replied Ryeowook. Sungmin gaped.
“Wait,” he said, “you two are going to have dinner?” Without me?
Kyuhyun looked at him all quizzically. “Yeah, you can’t make it, remember?” Yes, but Sungmin thought that meant dinner would be cancelled. Obviously, he wasn’t essential for digestion and they could jolly well do without him.
There was so much truth in Kyuhyun’s words that Sungmin could only gather up his unspoken tirade and marched to the bathroom.
. . . . . .
That evening, the three of them were at the door putting on their shoes when Zhou Mi ran panting up to them.
“Are you guys free? I need your help.”
“No, we are-“ said Kyuhyun.
“I’m going for-“ said Sungmin.
“Thank you,” Zhou Mi flipped his hair and gave an extravagant sigh of relief. “Hurry up with your glass slippers, Cinderellas. We're going to get busy."
tbc
p.s.: cabbage moons appeared in this fic before. or was it radish
p.p.s.: see-ten, edge-sixteen, oh = C10H16O
p.p.p.s.: penguin analogies will stop sometime in the unforeseeable future. meanwhile, i'm stuck here. life of crime~
p.p.p.p.s.: hey you, thanks for the sneaky comments :)