"Cherrypopping" (Minho/Suzy) Chapter 2
"Minho? Your neighbor?"
Suzy rolls her eyes. She knows that look on Krystals face; it comes out everytime Minho is mentioned, or around. Sometimes she’s not sure if Krystal comes to her house to spend time with her, or just try to run into Minho.
”Yes, him.”
”Wait.” Sulli says. ”You told him?!”
”Yeah.”
”What did he say?”
”Nothing really. He said he’d help me.”
”Help you?!” Krystal cuts in. ”How?!”
It takes a few seconds for the other two to understand what she means. Then Suzy says; ”Not like that, you idiot. He’s gonna help me find a nice guy.”
”Oh. Oh.”
Suddenly Sully squeals. ”He must know loads of cool older guys! Has he introduced you to anyone yet?”
Now Suzy falls quiet again. Krystal leans forward.
”Hey. Did he?”
Suzy swallows, twice, and then says; ”He gave me Lee Taemins cellphone number.”
There is a moment of silence before of the two of them start hooting wildly.
”Oh em gee!” Sulli squeals. Krystal tugs at Suzys arm while laughing.
”Are you gonna call him? Hey, are you?”
”Is Minho gonna set you two up on a date?” Sulli continues.
”No no no no no no, and no.” Suzy breaks free from their grips. ”That was not the plan at all. Taemin comes in later. He’s the second part of the plan."
”Screw the plan!” Sulli says.
”Yeah!” Krystal fills in. ”Screw Taemin instead!” Both of them writhe with laughter. Suzy can’t help but to giggle a little, but the situation is not all that funny to her.
”No! I’m sticking with the plan. Taemin comes in later. And, now I’ve got connections…” She grins.
Suzy’s sticking with the plan. But she still flips through her cellphone late at night, before sleeping, coming to a halt at that number. She stares at it for a long while, and then has nightmares about pressing the call-button by accident.
-
When Suzy finishes the choreo of an old SNSD song she’s been learning for fun, Jay applauds her enthusiastically. She finds it cute.
”You’re good!” He says when he comes up to her. ”I mean, your moves are really distinct. Most just halfass their way through, but you’re really… working it!”
His smile seems so honest that it warms Suzys chest a little. ”Thanks.” She’s just gonna ask him to show her something too, when something familiar flashes by at the corner of her eye, and the next second Lee Taemin and some other guys are walking into the room.
Jay breaks out in a happy ”Hyung!” and goes to greet them, but Suzy is frozen in the same spot. He has his hair in a ponytail today and god, he is so gorgeous. The comparison is not beneficial for Jay. She sneaks by them sideways, hooks a finger around Jays pinkie and pulls softly until he looks at her. Waving a quiet bye, she slips out the door.
-
”We should do something sometime.”
Donghos smile is mischievous. ”Okay.”
-
Minho looks tired, but his face lits up a bit when he opens the door.
”Do you have time?”
”Sure.”
”Are your parents home?”
”No, just me.”
They have barely made it to the livingroom when Suzy gets down to business.
”Oppa. Say I’ve been sort of flirting with two guys, and one of them would find out about it, would he be pissed?”
Minho looks at her, a bit intense and careless at the same time. ”I dunno. I guess they would.” Then he grins. ”What have you been up to?”
”So that means I have to choose.” Suzy sighs.
Minho laughs. ”Living is all about choices.” Then he asks; ”Have you talked to Taemin?”
”Who?” Suzy asks, knowing fully well who.
”That guy whos number I gave you.”
Suzy is quiet for as long as she dares, and then she says; ”No.”
”Is his appearance not pleasing you?”
The teasing tone of his voice kind of makes her want to hit him. She doesn’t know what to say.
”He’s just not my type.”
”You’re not making this easy for me.” He whines, and sinks down on the couch. Suzy joins him, silently trying to calm the insides stirred from hearing Taemins name.
”So who are those guys you’re seeing?” he continues after a while of silence.
”Just some guys in my class.”
”Do you like them?”
”I’m not supposed to like them.”
There’s another moment of silence before Minho says thoughtfully; ”I’d say you’re asking quite a lot of your peers. If a girl had suggested sex when I was 16 I would have been freaked out.” Then he laughs, shortly. ”I still would.”
”I’m not asking you.” Suzy replies dryly, not quite sure why she’s feeling offended. ”Everybody is different. I can’t help that you’re slow.”
”Fine. So are these guys good candidates?”
”Not really.” Suzy admits flatly. ”I think I’m gonna need someone older.”
Minho laughs loud for the better part of a minute, then he reaches over and nudges her thigh with his toes.
”Taemin.” He says. ”Taemin is older.”
”You’re bruising me.” Suzy complains and swats his foot away. ”And I said I don’t like Taemin. Can’t you drop it?”
”There was gonna be a party or something.” He continues, as if ignoring her completely. ”With the soccer team. I wasn’t gonna go, but we could go together if you want.”
Suzy thinks about it for a minute. Soccer means jocks, jocks, and more jocks.
”Soccer means jocks. I don’t like jocks.”
He laughs again. ”Not only jocks. I’m not a jock, am I?”
”You’re so totally a jock.”
”At least give it a chance.”
”I’ll have to ask mom first. And I’m hungry. Don’t you have any noodles or something?”
-
Jocks, jocks and more jocks. Guys with arms the size of her legs, and legs the size of her waist. Guys with fauxhawks and buzzcuts. Oh god.
Minho subtly introduces her to some guy names Eli, and Suzy tries to silently convey a message of Thanks, but no thanks to the former without the latter noticing. It sort of fails. Next Minho drags her towards a girl with short hair, or so Suzy thinks, until the person is introduced as Kevin. When she looks at him the second or third time, she thinks he’s really cute. Then she notices the lisp. Then she hears his laughter.
Sometime later she finds herself in a corner with a tall, gigantic, but kind of hot guy called Chansung. That’s when she hears Minho calling for her, a hushed; ”Suzy! Suzysuzysuzy!” and when she looks at him he’s frantically shaking his head No.
”Aish.” She sighs, and goes to hang on Minhos shoulder instead. ”Why did I come here.”
”As I recall it, you wanted someone to pop your cherry.”
”That’s great!” She smacks him at the head. ”Let the whole world know!”
And that is when a brown ponytail is bopping past them.
”Fuck!” Suzy hisses, and tries to hide behind Minho. ”You didn’t tell me Lee Taemin would be here.”
Minho looks around, and then oh-es. ”I didn’t know.”
”Liar! You probably made him come!”
”The world does not revolve around you, you know. And what is your problem with him anyway?”
”Nothing.”
”You know.” Minho turns around, grinning. ”When you’re both here and all, why don’t you try talking to him a little? He’s not bad.”
”No. NO!” Suzy tries to withdraw, but Minho locks her in his arms and drags her across the room. ”Nononononononono”
Then Taemin is in her front and Minho against her back, and she presses into his chest.
”Taemin-ah!”
”Hyung, hey! Are you here?”
”Yeah. You know Suzy, don’t you?” He nods smally downwards, towards the one fighting against his arms around her shoulders.
”Yeah.” Taemin says, and then he smiles at her. He smiles at her. And it’s so gorgeous.
”Say hi.” Minho reprimands and jerks at Suzys shoulders. She decides to kill him as soon as she gets a chance.
”Hi.” She feels small under his gaze, and she hates thinking that he’s thinking she’s shy infront of him. So she grips cooly at Minhos wrists, thightening his grip around her, and says as carelessy she can manage; ”I saw you at the dance studio the other day.”
”I know. I saw you too. Are you friends with Jeon Jihwan?”
”Yeah, sort of.”
”Who’s Jeon Jihwan?” Minho probes, sounding poisonously innocent.
”He’s a great dancer at our school.” Taemin replies before Suzy has the chance to say anything. ”But I never knew you two knew each other.”
Suzy knows that Minho’s just gonna tell the truth, that they’re just neighbours, but she doesn’t want that. Not really knowing what she’s doing, or why, she laces her fingers with Minhos and says; ”We go way back.”
This is when Minho, that bastard, laughs; ”Why are you clinging to me?”
Suzy has had it now. ”Yeah.” She manages in a small voice, avoiding looking at any face around. ”I’m going home now.” And so she slips out of his embrace and heads for the door.
Minho catches up with her in the garden, still laughing. ”What is wrong with you?” When getting no response he continues, mercilessly; ”You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
She spins around angrily. Minho has his most annoying know-it-all grin on.
”Shut up.” She spits. ”I’m not.”
”Yeah right.” He mocks. ”Do you want me to come with you, or can I stay behind?”
”Whatever. I don’t care.”
”Let me just get my jacket.” She walks on fast, and he has to run to catch up with her down the street.
”Do you want me to set you two up on a date?”
She gives him her darkest glare.