"Cherrypopping" (Minho/Suzy) Chapter 10
Krystal wears pink sweatpants and a ponytail when she opens the door.
“Haaay...” she drags, and Suzy mentally adds a Gurl with a smile.
“Let’s go upstairs.” Krystal grabs Suzy’s wrist.
“Okay.” Suzy says, feeling strangely numb. Krystal lies on her stomach on her bed, and Suzy sits down on the floor infront of her, fleetingly noting that Krystal looks like the cool girls from the American teen movies. Pink sweatpants, long ponytail, knees bent on her pink, fluffy duvet and not the slightest trace of pimples on her Sunday morning make-up-free face, Suzy registers begrudgingly. Not to mention, how does she always manage to keep her room so meticulously neat and organized?
“Sulli said she’d come by later…”
Suzy is stirred from her thoughts and manages a low acknowledging grunt before realizing that Krystal is smiling towards her.
“Come on.” Krystal giggles, and first Suzy doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s talking about.
“What?”
“Tell me!” Krystal whines, the grin never leaving her face. “What’s it like, snogging the legendary Lee Taemin?” And then she adds, playfully singing that pop song from a few years back; “Tell me, tell me, te-te-te-te-te tell me…”
Suzy’s stomach suddenly stirs hotly, (unpleasantly hot, and a little nauseating,) but for all the wrong reasons. She wears a smile.
“It was… great.”
Krystal frowns. “Great? That’s all?”
Suzy lets out a short (honest) laugh. “It was just a peck on the cheek! Nothing big.”
But Krystal keeps staring. “Still.” And then, after a moment of thought, adds; “Wait. Did you kiss him on the cheek or did he kiss you?”
“He kissed me.” Suzy admits, and laughs at Krystals hooting response. She feels a little giddy at the memory, but that nauseating heat whirling around in her stomach won’t go away.
There is a moment of silence, and Suzy knows what’s gonna happen, and no matter how much she hates it she won’t be able to stop it.
“So…” she murmurs, voice coming out dark and weird. “How about you?”
“What do you mean?” Krystal asks, but her sudden, wide smile betrays her. Suzy straightens her back a bit and wears her grin.
“Oh, come on.” She rants easily. “Minho.”
Krystal suddenly looks bashful. “Oh.” She says. “Oh, we haven’t…”
Suzy laughs (honestly) again. Yeah right. “No way, I know him.” And then, grinning a bit wider (proud of how well she plays her role). “And I know you.”
“Well.” Krystal admits, seemingly tasting, enjoying the word. This situation, a voice in the back of Suzys head says. “There was an… incident.”
“Seriously!” Suzy spurts with indignation. “I told!”
“But you had nothing to tell.” Krystal remarks poisonously, and that side is usually what Suzy likes about her, but now she even hates Krystal a little. You have no idea what I have to tell…
“Meaning you do?” Suzy raises her teaseful brow perfectly.
“Well…” Krystal drags again, and Suzy decides to take it up a notch. She leans back on her hands carelessly.
“Tounge?”
Krystal sputters briefly, and then laughs. A laugh turning sickeningly softer and more blushing. “A little.” She admits.
“Yeah?” Suzy confirms easily. “Is he any good?” Not that I would know.
Krystal pauses, seemingly thinking about it. And then she says, the most bittersweet smile set comfortable on her lips; “He’s the best.”
-
Suzy doesn’t sleep well that night. It all irks her a whole lot more than she wants to admit and she has no one to talk to. Thinking about it, she always went to Minho for advice… On Mondays’ first recess she tells Krystal and Sulli she’s going to the bathroom but instead goes downstairs.
“Jaaaay…”
“Jeez, stop clinging.”
She makes a whining face and he rolls his eyes.
“Fine, what is it?”
She has pulled him down into a corner of the dance studio, and she looks around quickly before answering. She hastily thinks of Taemin and doesn’t know whether she’d like to run into him or not.
“I… got in an argument.” She pouts slightly, for effect. “And I can’t talk to Krystal because she doesn’t know anything and I can’t talk to Sulli because she’s Krystals’ bitch and wouldn’t help me.”
Jay laughs. “Who did you get in an argument with?”
Suzy fidgets, and sighs twice, before admitting; “That guy whom you said I should tell I liked.”
He takes a swig from his waterbottle. “Well, didya?”
“…No.” she glares at him, and then adds; “Because I don’t like him!”
He laughs out loud then, and she glares even harder. “Are you still trying to tell yourself that? Isn’t it pretty obvious that you do?”
“No!” she argues, but Jay is suddenly looking at something else. Suzy turns her head just in time to get an eyeful of crotch before Taemin sinks down next to them.
“Hey, hyung!” Jay chirps. “You know Suzy?”
“Yeah, I do.” Taemin says and gives Suzy a look as if this was a private joke between them. Which, in a way, it sort of is. “I had fun the other day.”
“Yeah…” Suzy agrees awkwardly, suddenly not knowing what to do with her hands. “Me too.” She dares a look at Jay which he returns it with a very meaningful one, eyebrows practically meeting the hairline.
Fuck.
-
She sends Jay a text in the afternoon, just in case. (Sulli and Krystal obviously questioning why she spent the entire recess in the bathroom and Suzy easily replying; “Big load”, to which they all laugh.)
- U cant tell taemin
- Ofc not
he replies, and she pictures him slightly offended. A minute or so later her phone vibrates again;
- Quite a pickle u got there
- Yur not helping
- How about talking to the guy-whom-i-said-u-shud-tell-u-like
- But hes an asshole
- Maybe the pot shud take a look at its own color too, js
She’s just thinking of a snarky reply when realizing she’s already reached her house, and that Minho’s just on his way out of his. He spots her, but only turns around to lock the door. Suzy sneaks up and leans against the fence separating the yards.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” He replies shortly.
“Where are you going?” she questions, mostly to have something to say.
He steps down the stairs and walks across the lawn, towards her but still keeping a considerable distance.
“Seeing Krystal.”
“Except that Krystal was gonna study with Sulli all afternoon, and invited me along but I didn’t feel like it.” She can’t stop it from slipping out, nor the brow from rising slightly.
“How about it’s nunya business, then?” he says casually and stuffs his hands into his pockets. She takes a good look at him; the short black hair, the pouty beautiful lips and that frown, and realizes that she misses him. A lot.
“What’s wrong, Minho?” she says in a small voice. He takes a few steps closer, so that he can lower his voice.
“You really don’t get it, do you?”
“No. Enlighten me.”
“Fuck me here, Minho, fuck me there, Minho. Fuck my friend, Minho. Help me fuck your friend, Minho.” He hisses sharply, not even trying to imitate her voice. “I get tired of it.” He’s already turning away, walking towards the street but she calls him back.
“I’ll never ask anything of you again, then.”
He just throws a look at her and shakes his head, mostly to himself, and then he leaves.
She doesn’t realize her eyes are a bit wet until she goes inside and her mother looks at her with warm, maternal worry.
“How are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Suzy forces a smile and heads for the sink to drink and to wipe discreetly at her eyes.
“I saw you talking to Minho-goon outside.”
“Yeah. He was… going to see his girlfriend. He’s got a girlfriend now.” Might as well spare her any remaining worry…
“Oh my!” Suzy’s mother wears a face of utter curiosity. “Do you know this girl?”
“Um.” Suzy quickly calculates the possible negative consequenses in her head. “No.”
“Hm.” Her mother says, and then breaks into a mischievous grin. “You’ll have to pry a little for me! Please?”
Suzy can’t help but to laugh, and for a short moment it feels so good.