Say I Love U / Chapter 14
It took him awhile but after hanging out with Changmin for three nights a week for the past month, Eunhyuk felt assured enough to call the quiet man a friend and part of his social circle. He thought it would take him awhile longer to get used to a whiteboard (or in recent days, an iPad) responding to his questions, but when Hyoyeon sat him down to explain everything that had gone on during the weeks he was away in America-about Yoona and her weird arrangement with Changmin-he found that he actually liked this form of communication a lot more than he expected.
In fact, he found Changmin so amusing a friend that he’d actually arranged to meet him for a guy’s night after his date with Hyoyeon during one of their many recent double dates. Their girlfriends were going to be in another deadly shift at the hospital and while Yoona teased Changmin mercilessly about keeping her father company while she was working, he hadn’t particularly been keen on being alone President Im alone again, even though he and the President seemed to like each other enough. So when Eunhyuk invited him to join in on a testosterone filled night-out, he’d agreed immediately and that was that.
The only snag in the plan was that Eunhyuk had completely forgotten about Donghae until the morning after his invitation. It was troublesome, really, knowing the bigger problem with forgetting to invite Donghae too was that his best friend didn’t seem to like Changmin very much. Eunhyuk never wanted to be in any situation where he had to choose between people he cared about. And he especially did not want to come between whatever unspoken rivalry Donghae and Changmin had going, considering how the latter was now ‘dating’ the former’s ex-girlfriend.
Eunhyuk had to chuckle to himself at the thought, just as he wedged himself into a filled elevator going up to his office floor. After hearing the whole story from Hyoyeon, he would have never thought Yoona would go through so much trouble to keep a charade up for her father who probably wouldn’t care if she were really dating a man at the moment or now. He’d been working for the PR firm under President Im’s multi-million company for five years and he’d always regarded Yoona’s father as one of the most open-minded of business men in the world. He was sure that it wouldn’t have been a life-or-death situation if Yoona didn’t end up marrying by the end of the year but the Eunhyuk thought Yoona probably didn’t see things the same way. Already very well through her Medical residency, Yoona was intelligent, stubborn and more than a bit high-strung. She was always so logical, leading her life with her brain rather than her heart. He figured that she must have thought there was an emergency somewhere or she wouldn’t have come up with such an insane charade of a plan.
Being in a relationship was hard enough but pretending to be in one takes the cake. And Eunhyuk wondered if either Yoona or Changmin knew how deep they were already into the pretense. They certainly looked and felt authentic enough to fool the guests at President Im’s party and Donghae. Hell, oftentimes when he got to hang out with the two of them, he was almost fooled into believing it too.
The elevator doors opened to his floor just as he snapped out of his reverie. He was thankful that most of the passengers had gotten out while he was lost in his thoughts-giving him free reign to loosen his muscles before stepping out of the elevator. He was greeted almost immediately by Donghae sitting on his swivel chair, his feet propped up on the desk as though he owned it. Eunhyuk gave him an indignant look before kicking his friend out of his seat and moving to drop his bag underneath his desk.
“What’s up, Lee? What can I do for on this fine day?” Eunhyuk asked brightly, assuming Donghae’s previous position on his chair with a grin. He watched as his friend rolled is eyes at him as he took a seat on the chair near the desk, fiddling with his suit jacket while trying to look relaxed and nonchalant.
Eunhyuk could practically hear the gears running in Donghae’s head as he struggled to articulate the words he wanted to say. Figures he’d come by sooner or later to ask how I knew Changmin before he did, he thought, smirking to himself as his friend opened his mouth and then closed it several times.
Donghae could be dense sometimes. But then his friend was always a little slow when it came to the women in his life. It was just Donghae’s way.
“Anytime during the millennium, dude.” He prodded, a smug grin stretching over his lips as Donghae flushed and flipped him the bird. “Just say what you want to say and let me get to work so that I can actually leave in time to see Hyoyeon for dinner before she goes on her 36-hour shift tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything!” Donghae argued, deflecting any awkwardness and failing miserably as Eunhyuk only gave him a hard and pointed look of disbelief. He swore to himself before finally caving, slumping back against his seat. “I… just wanted to know if you had anything planned after dinner with Hyo. We haven’t hung out in awhile since we got back from New York and I started seeing Sooyeon again.”
“That’s not my fault. We’ve been real busy, closing the deal with DeMarco from New York, and you know… our girls.” Eunhyuk countered, already dreading where this conversation was leading them.
It was just his luck that his best friend would ask to hang out when he’d already made plans with someone else. He felt a little bit like a cheating girlfriend in a sense but he brushed that thought aside, only because it was ridiculous to think of things in that way. He had enough grief from Hyoyeon when she teased about his close friendship with Donghae. He didn’t need to give her anymore insane validation.
Chuckling, Donghae held up his hands in mock surrender. He knew very well that things had gotten out of hand these past few weeks and aimed for a more balanced social life. Sooyeon had encouraged it most of all, especially since she herself was busy with personal matters that he wasn’t very privy to.
Hoping to appease his friend, he grinned and said, “Yeah, well, I’m freeing up my schedule for you now so what do you say? Beer and pool at CS Bar?”
Donghae expected a quick response, coupled with an exuberant high-five before getting kicked out of his friend’s office but what he got instead was an uneasy pause. Eunhyuk looked uncomfortable for a moment before moving to speak-something that unnerved him a lot more than it should.
“I actually already made plans tonight but you could totally come with, if you like.” Eunhyuk said, waving his hang to and fro as though it helped alleviate the awkwardness permeating the mood. Donghae looked at him silently for a moment, unsure.
“Yeah, sure.” He said finally after a too-long moment’s pause, his mind reeling at the fact that his own best friend had failed to inform him that he and his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend knew each other enough to hang out. He didn’t want to dwell on how much he felt uneasy over the fact that Yoona had moved on from him so quickly because that would only make him a hypocrite-but he does admit to feeling put out by it.
Seeing Eunhyuk look at him strangely, he quickly put a small smile on his face and added, “I’ll see you guys there then at around 11?”
Eunhyuk looked relieved as he’d agreed and they clapped hands before Donghae took his leave of the office. He wrung out his hands in front of him as he walked away, curling them into fists and releasing them in hopes to relax them. He made it into his own office just a little bit on edge and he heaved a long suffering sigh as he sat down on his desk.
Donghae wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Changmin just yet. But if he were ever to be sure, getting to know him would be the best way to start.
“Move it a little more to the right. No! My right, not yours!”
Yoona watched in amusement as Yuri yelled at her brother, shaking her head when Changmin made a face at her. He moved the oversized movie poster of Titanic Yuri had won from a radio show to where she wanted it gently, trying hard not to throw the whole thing down when his sister stomped her foot and complained at how bad he was at taking directions. Yoona had to stifle her laughter a lot during the past hour she’d come to watch them arranging things from her seat inside of their music and video store. Mostly because she knew Changmin would not appreciate it if she guffawed when he almost slipped one too many times during the whole thing.
“I can’t believe I have such a dunce of a brother, can you, Yoona?” Yuri asked out of the blue, snapping Yoona into attention as the younger girl came to sit next to her.
“Well, guys with brawn don’t always get the brains, Yuri.” Yoona answered in a light tone though her voice was loud enough to carry over to where her business partner stood.
Changmin cast them a withering glare before heaving the poster up again and onto the nail he’d set into the wall to keep it up. Yoona wrinkled her nose at him, playfully winking his way-to which he responded with an exaggerated eye-roll, one corner of his mouth lifting just slightly as he struggled to keep from smiling in response.
Yuri watched all of this with a giddy grin, inwardly cheering at the fact that her moody brother finally found someone she liked for him to date. It’d been too long since Changmin had been in such a light mood and she was more than a little grateful for the goodness Yoona brought out on him since they’d starting dating three and a half months ago.
Yuri leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder. “Unnie, I’ve been wondering… when’s your birthday?” She asked when Yoona turned to her with a raised eyebrow, her smile widening as she noted her brother’s ears perk in interest. “I totally saw something in the mall today that I thought would be a perfect gift for you but I didn’t want to seem like an over eager beaver since you and Oppa here haven’t been together very long.”
Yoona laughed at her quick spiel, shaking her head as Yuri practically vibrated in her seat, waiting patiently for her response. She reminded her of Hyoyeon in a way and especially with that mischievous glint in her eye.
“It’s in a few days actually, on the 30th.”
She watched as Yuri counted off fingers in front of her. “But that’s in exactly two days!” she exclaimed, looking incredulous at her and then at her brother as she shifted from looking at both of them at a time. Yuri’s brow furrowed a bit as she suddenly grew quiet, probably weighing the pros and cons in her head before looking up at Yoona with a determined gleam in her eyes.
She immediately shot out of her seat, grabbing her backpack from atop a box of vinyl albums before making a beeline towards the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Call me on my cell, oppa!” She shouted over her shoulder before either Yoona or Changmin could protest and was gone in a blur of girlish excitement.
The couple looked at each other then, before Yoona burst out laughing and Changmin hung his head in mock defeat, an amused grin stapled on his lips as he stepped down from the chair he was standing on.
Wiping his hands on the back of his jeans, Changmin tilted his head at her-giving her a look that made her insides start to warm. It was the same look he’d given her when she had jumped him in front of Sooyoung days ago; his eyes staring deep into hers while one side of his lips quirked up in a feral half-smile. It had made her question just how unprofessional their deal had somehow become. Especially after the first kiss they shared in her father’s homecoming party. She had tossed and turned in her bed after that night of hanging out with Sooyoung and even then she couldn’t figure out how to pull explain her actions since their deal had begun. She had tried to find the words when Hyoyeon had cornered her during their hospital shifts but nothing came to mind.
“Exactly how far are you going to take this, Yoona? I mean, I’m all for a movie-type of kiss or two but are you sure there’s nothing else going on between you two?”
Yoona hadn’t found an answer to her question then. And now, with Changmin looming over her with his masculine scent and warm eyes, she found herself caring less to find one.
Turning her head once he was exactly an arms’ length away from her, she moved in an effort to hide the blush forming on her face-tucking strands coming free from her ponytail with her hands. “So what are you up to tonight?” she asked nonchalantly, picking up a vinyl album from a box next to her while Changmin hoisted another box onto the table.
She waited as he dusted himself off first before picking up his whiteboard, writing his reply in quick strokes with his pen.
/Hanging out with Eunhyuk at a bar. He bet me that he could beat me at pool for 50 dollars. Who was I to resist easy money?/
Yoona rolled her eyes at him, cuffing him on the shoulder. “Ease up on him, Shim. Eunhyuk’s a delicate flower compared to you.”
Changmin shrugged in retaliation, brushing off the words on the board before writing new ones. He turned to her again in seconds, /What time do you get out of your shift tomorrow?/
“Around noon, but I’m going to go have lunch with my dad at home… why do you ask?”
/No reason./ He wrote, pausing for a moment and then adding, /What would you like for your birthday?/
Yoona felt a new flush erupt on her face at his question and she looked up at him in surprise. “I’ve never really cared much about my birthday so… gifts aren’t really necessary. These past few years I’ve only celebrated with dinner with my father and a casual girls’ night out with Hyoyeon and some other friends.”
/But as your boyfriend, I’m kinda expected to prepare something right?/
“Well, it’s up to you. Donghae never-” She stopped short, shaking her head as Changmin’s brow shot up. Yoona didn’t miss the slight backwards step he took at the mention of her ex’s name but didn’t (couln’t) think any of it as she struggled to paint her meaning across. Yoona reached out to hold his arm, the warmth of her skin adding to his. Their gazes met and held them together as she spoke again,
“My point is… you don’t have to get me anything. Just remember to be sweet, greet me and come over for dinner with my dad.”
Changmin stared at her for a full minute, his dark eyes stormy for a moment before nodding and breaking the connection of their gazes. He quickly moved to pick up some more boxes from the floor as she slid off her seat and mentioned how she had to get going to change for her hospital shift.
/I’ll text you later./ Changmin wrote, pausing at his work to grab her hand and plant a kiss on her forehead after she finished reading his whiteboard.
Her palm tingled as she moved towards the door, turning just so to see him watch her as she spoke to deflect the warring emotions in her chest with a playful response.
“You better, Broody.” She said, ducking out the door as Changmin smirked at her.
If there was any other moment to add to her growing lists of ‘Reasons Why this Deal with Changmin is No Longer Professional’-Yoona knew that this moment would be it.
Author's Notes:
FINALLY, I HAVE UPDATED THIS BABY OF A FANFIC. OMG I AM NOT USED TO WRITING ANYMORE.
In fact, he found Changmin so amusing a friend that he’d actually arranged to meet him for a guy’s night after his date with Hyoyeon during one of their many recent double dates. Their girlfriends were going to be in another deadly shift at the hospital and while Yoona teased Changmin mercilessly about keeping her father company while she was working, he hadn’t particularly been keen on being alone President Im alone again, even though he and the President seemed to like each other enough. So when Eunhyuk invited him to join in on a testosterone filled night-out, he’d agreed immediately and that was that.
The only snag in the plan was that Eunhyuk had completely forgotten about Donghae until the morning after his invitation. It was troublesome, really, knowing the bigger problem with forgetting to invite Donghae too was that his best friend didn’t seem to like Changmin very much. Eunhyuk never wanted to be in any situation where he had to choose between people he cared about. And he especially did not want to come between whatever unspoken rivalry Donghae and Changmin had going, considering how the latter was now ‘dating’ the former’s ex-girlfriend.
Eunhyuk had to chuckle to himself at the thought, just as he wedged himself into a filled elevator going up to his office floor. After hearing the whole story from Hyoyeon, he would have never thought Yoona would go through so much trouble to keep a charade up for her father who probably wouldn’t care if she were really dating a man at the moment or now. He’d been working for the PR firm under President Im’s multi-million company for five years and he’d always regarded Yoona’s father as one of the most open-minded of business men in the world. He was sure that it wouldn’t have been a life-or-death situation if Yoona didn’t end up marrying by the end of the year but the Eunhyuk thought Yoona probably didn’t see things the same way. Already very well through her Medical residency, Yoona was intelligent, stubborn and more than a bit high-strung. She was always so logical, leading her life with her brain rather than her heart. He figured that she must have thought there was an emergency somewhere or she wouldn’t have come up with such an insane charade of a plan.
Being in a relationship was hard enough but pretending to be in one takes the cake. And Eunhyuk wondered if either Yoona or Changmin knew how deep they were already into the pretense. They certainly looked and felt authentic enough to fool the guests at President Im’s party and Donghae. Hell, oftentimes when he got to hang out with the two of them, he was almost fooled into believing it too.
The elevator doors opened to his floor just as he snapped out of his reverie. He was thankful that most of the passengers had gotten out while he was lost in his thoughts-giving him free reign to loosen his muscles before stepping out of the elevator. He was greeted almost immediately by Donghae sitting on his swivel chair, his feet propped up on the desk as though he owned it. Eunhyuk gave him an indignant look before kicking his friend out of his seat and moving to drop his bag underneath his desk.
“What’s up, Lee? What can I do for on this fine day?” Eunhyuk asked brightly, assuming Donghae’s previous position on his chair with a grin. He watched as his friend rolled is eyes at him as he took a seat on the chair near the desk, fiddling with his suit jacket while trying to look relaxed and nonchalant.
Eunhyuk could practically hear the gears running in Donghae’s head as he struggled to articulate the words he wanted to say. Figures he’d come by sooner or later to ask how I knew Changmin before he did, he thought, smirking to himself as his friend opened his mouth and then closed it several times.
Donghae could be dense sometimes. But then his friend was always a little slow when it came to the women in his life. It was just Donghae’s way.
“Anytime during the millennium, dude.” He prodded, a smug grin stretching over his lips as Donghae flushed and flipped him the bird. “Just say what you want to say and let me get to work so that I can actually leave in time to see Hyoyeon for dinner before she goes on her 36-hour shift tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything!” Donghae argued, deflecting any awkwardness and failing miserably as Eunhyuk only gave him a hard and pointed look of disbelief. He swore to himself before finally caving, slumping back against his seat. “I… just wanted to know if you had anything planned after dinner with Hyo. We haven’t hung out in awhile since we got back from New York and I started seeing Sooyeon again.”
“That’s not my fault. We’ve been real busy, closing the deal with DeMarco from New York, and you know… our girls.” Eunhyuk countered, already dreading where this conversation was leading them.
It was just his luck that his best friend would ask to hang out when he’d already made plans with someone else. He felt a little bit like a cheating girlfriend in a sense but he brushed that thought aside, only because it was ridiculous to think of things in that way. He had enough grief from Hyoyeon when she teased about his close friendship with Donghae. He didn’t need to give her anymore insane validation.
Chuckling, Donghae held up his hands in mock surrender. He knew very well that things had gotten out of hand these past few weeks and aimed for a more balanced social life. Sooyeon had encouraged it most of all, especially since she herself was busy with personal matters that he wasn’t very privy to.
Hoping to appease his friend, he grinned and said, “Yeah, well, I’m freeing up my schedule for you now so what do you say? Beer and pool at CS Bar?”
Donghae expected a quick response, coupled with an exuberant high-five before getting kicked out of his friend’s office but what he got instead was an uneasy pause. Eunhyuk looked uncomfortable for a moment before moving to speak-something that unnerved him a lot more than it should.
“I actually already made plans tonight but you could totally come with, if you like.” Eunhyuk said, waving his hang to and fro as though it helped alleviate the awkwardness permeating the mood. Donghae looked at him silently for a moment, unsure.
“Yeah, sure.” He said finally after a too-long moment’s pause, his mind reeling at the fact that his own best friend had failed to inform him that he and his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend knew each other enough to hang out. He didn’t want to dwell on how much he felt uneasy over the fact that Yoona had moved on from him so quickly because that would only make him a hypocrite-but he does admit to feeling put out by it.
Seeing Eunhyuk look at him strangely, he quickly put a small smile on his face and added, “I’ll see you guys there then at around 11?”
Eunhyuk looked relieved as he’d agreed and they clapped hands before Donghae took his leave of the office. He wrung out his hands in front of him as he walked away, curling them into fists and releasing them in hopes to relax them. He made it into his own office just a little bit on edge and he heaved a long suffering sigh as he sat down on his desk.
Donghae wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Changmin just yet. But if he were ever to be sure, getting to know him would be the best way to start.
“Move it a little more to the right. No! My right, not yours!”
Yoona watched in amusement as Yuri yelled at her brother, shaking her head when Changmin made a face at her. He moved the oversized movie poster of Titanic Yuri had won from a radio show to where she wanted it gently, trying hard not to throw the whole thing down when his sister stomped her foot and complained at how bad he was at taking directions. Yoona had to stifle her laughter a lot during the past hour she’d come to watch them arranging things from her seat inside of their music and video store. Mostly because she knew Changmin would not appreciate it if she guffawed when he almost slipped one too many times during the whole thing.
“I can’t believe I have such a dunce of a brother, can you, Yoona?” Yuri asked out of the blue, snapping Yoona into attention as the younger girl came to sit next to her.
“Well, guys with brawn don’t always get the brains, Yuri.” Yoona answered in a light tone though her voice was loud enough to carry over to where her business partner stood.
Changmin cast them a withering glare before heaving the poster up again and onto the nail he’d set into the wall to keep it up. Yoona wrinkled her nose at him, playfully winking his way-to which he responded with an exaggerated eye-roll, one corner of his mouth lifting just slightly as he struggled to keep from smiling in response.
Yuri watched all of this with a giddy grin, inwardly cheering at the fact that her moody brother finally found someone she liked for him to date. It’d been too long since Changmin had been in such a light mood and she was more than a little grateful for the goodness Yoona brought out on him since they’d starting dating three and a half months ago.
Yuri leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder. “Unnie, I’ve been wondering… when’s your birthday?” She asked when Yoona turned to her with a raised eyebrow, her smile widening as she noted her brother’s ears perk in interest. “I totally saw something in the mall today that I thought would be a perfect gift for you but I didn’t want to seem like an over eager beaver since you and Oppa here haven’t been together very long.”
Yoona laughed at her quick spiel, shaking her head as Yuri practically vibrated in her seat, waiting patiently for her response. She reminded her of Hyoyeon in a way and especially with that mischievous glint in her eye.
“It’s in a few days actually, on the 30th.”
She watched as Yuri counted off fingers in front of her. “But that’s in exactly two days!” she exclaimed, looking incredulous at her and then at her brother as she shifted from looking at both of them at a time. Yuri’s brow furrowed a bit as she suddenly grew quiet, probably weighing the pros and cons in her head before looking up at Yoona with a determined gleam in her eyes.
She immediately shot out of her seat, grabbing her backpack from atop a box of vinyl albums before making a beeline towards the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Call me on my cell, oppa!” She shouted over her shoulder before either Yoona or Changmin could protest and was gone in a blur of girlish excitement.
The couple looked at each other then, before Yoona burst out laughing and Changmin hung his head in mock defeat, an amused grin stapled on his lips as he stepped down from the chair he was standing on.
Wiping his hands on the back of his jeans, Changmin tilted his head at her-giving her a look that made her insides start to warm. It was the same look he’d given her when she had jumped him in front of Sooyoung days ago; his eyes staring deep into hers while one side of his lips quirked up in a feral half-smile. It had made her question just how unprofessional their deal had somehow become. Especially after the first kiss they shared in her father’s homecoming party. She had tossed and turned in her bed after that night of hanging out with Sooyoung and even then she couldn’t figure out how to pull explain her actions since their deal had begun. She had tried to find the words when Hyoyeon had cornered her during their hospital shifts but nothing came to mind.
“Exactly how far are you going to take this, Yoona? I mean, I’m all for a movie-type of kiss or two but are you sure there’s nothing else going on between you two?”
Yoona hadn’t found an answer to her question then. And now, with Changmin looming over her with his masculine scent and warm eyes, she found herself caring less to find one.
Turning her head once he was exactly an arms’ length away from her, she moved in an effort to hide the blush forming on her face-tucking strands coming free from her ponytail with her hands. “So what are you up to tonight?” she asked nonchalantly, picking up a vinyl album from a box next to her while Changmin hoisted another box onto the table.
She waited as he dusted himself off first before picking up his whiteboard, writing his reply in quick strokes with his pen.
/Hanging out with Eunhyuk at a bar. He bet me that he could beat me at pool for 50 dollars. Who was I to resist easy money?/
Yoona rolled her eyes at him, cuffing him on the shoulder. “Ease up on him, Shim. Eunhyuk’s a delicate flower compared to you.”
Changmin shrugged in retaliation, brushing off the words on the board before writing new ones. He turned to her again in seconds, /What time do you get out of your shift tomorrow?/
“Around noon, but I’m going to go have lunch with my dad at home… why do you ask?”
/No reason./ He wrote, pausing for a moment and then adding, /What would you like for your birthday?/
Yoona felt a new flush erupt on her face at his question and she looked up at him in surprise. “I’ve never really cared much about my birthday so… gifts aren’t really necessary. These past few years I’ve only celebrated with dinner with my father and a casual girls’ night out with Hyoyeon and some other friends.”
/But as your boyfriend, I’m kinda expected to prepare something right?/
“Well, it’s up to you. Donghae never-” She stopped short, shaking her head as Changmin’s brow shot up. Yoona didn’t miss the slight backwards step he took at the mention of her ex’s name but didn’t (couln’t) think any of it as she struggled to paint her meaning across. Yoona reached out to hold his arm, the warmth of her skin adding to his. Their gazes met and held them together as she spoke again,
“My point is… you don’t have to get me anything. Just remember to be sweet, greet me and come over for dinner with my dad.”
Changmin stared at her for a full minute, his dark eyes stormy for a moment before nodding and breaking the connection of their gazes. He quickly moved to pick up some more boxes from the floor as she slid off her seat and mentioned how she had to get going to change for her hospital shift.
/I’ll text you later./ Changmin wrote, pausing at his work to grab her hand and plant a kiss on her forehead after she finished reading his whiteboard.
Her palm tingled as she moved towards the door, turning just so to see him watch her as she spoke to deflect the warring emotions in her chest with a playful response.
“You better, Broody.” She said, ducking out the door as Changmin smirked at her.
If there was any other moment to add to her growing lists of ‘Reasons Why this Deal with Changmin is No Longer Professional’-Yoona knew that this moment would be it.
Author's Notes:
FINALLY, I HAVE UPDATED THIS BABY OF A FANFIC. OMG I AM NOT USED TO WRITING ANYMORE.