"Idol High"- The Game (Chapter 6, Part 2)
Title: "Idol High"
Genre: Drama, Romance, and many more.
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Summary: They say that being a teenager is one of the hardest, and most fun, periods of any person's life. Well...one out of two isn't bad, right?
A/N: Given that I am dancing crazily to stripper music at the moment, a.k.a "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, I don't even know what to say at the moment. I also don't even know if anybody reads this story anymore, so I'm kind of at a loss for words, lol. Might as well continue to post it though. By the way, there is more JongKey than ever in this story. <333
Previous Chapters:
Teaser ~ Prologue ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 1, Part 1) ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 1, Part 2) ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 2) ~ "Construction Begins" (Chapter 3) ~ "Realization" (Chapter 4) ~ "The Beginning" (Chapter 5) ~ "The Game" (Chapter 6, Part 1)
"Why is it so cold out here?" Mir mumbles to himself as he starts to take in his surroundings, rubbing his arms and allowing his teeth to unwillingly chatter at the same time.
"Can you please stop doing that?" Thunder irritatingly asks next to him, rolling his eyes as he starts to look away, only to be met by a shocked expression on the face of Mir, from the corner of his eye.
"What," Mir asks, teeth still chattering as a cloud of thick breath escapes from his shaky, chapped lips. "am I not allowed to speak anymore, oh great Master?" he jokingly asks, alongside a smile, as Thunder merely rolls his eyes in response.
"You see, this is exactly why you'll never get a girlfriend." he calmly says, looking on at the game below him as the other team successfully captures another touchdown from Idol High's Panthers.
"Hey!" Mir shouts in a childish manner, pointing up at Thunder's face, only to bring his arms back into his coat to rub warmth onto the bare skin. "That's not funny." he mumbles, looking down at the game as he lifts his knees up to his chin.
"It wasn't meant to be funny." Thunder stoicly states, looking over at him and then back towards the game. "Why the heck did you wear a tank top under your coat anyways? It's winter."
"Thank you Sir Obvious, but I know that." Mir snarks.
"That still doesn't answer my question." Thunder snarks back, as Mir starts to put his feet back onto the metal stands under him.
"Easy access." Mir says almost instantly after.
"What?" Thunder asks, twisting his head in order to look at the said boy again.
"Easy access...you know, in case I have to..."
"That's disgusting." Thunder says, cutting Mir off and directing his attention back towards the game, which was where his true interest was in the first place.
"Oh come on! Don't act like you've never thought of it before." Mir says with a serious look on his face.
"I haven't. Because, like I said; that's disgusting." Thunder says, not even sparring Mir an eye.
"What's disgusting?" a voice above them asks as the brightness of pink and yellow overwhelms both of their lines of vision.
"The fact that Mir thinks that he's going to...you know." Thunder says, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he directs his attention from Narsha and back towards the game, irritated by the re-occurring topic of Mir's overtly sexual fantasy world.
"Aww." Narsha squeals as she squeezes in between Thunder and Mir, dragging Bom along with her and creating many awkward angles and positions for the four of them. "Who's the lucky girl?" she asks, pinching Mir's cheeks as he smiles cutely under her touch, blushing slightly at the affection that she consistently gives him.
"I don't know yet." he states honestly. "But you could be a possible candidate." he says, causing Narsha to squeal again and poke Bom in the stomach.
"Is he not the cutest thing on the planet?!" she asks, causing Bom to chuckle and nod under the repeated pokes that tickles the skin on her stomach.
"Narsha!" Mir whines. "I told you not to call me that! I'm a man now." he says with a pout of his lips that causes Narsha to smile.
"Oh shut up! You just got into high school!" Joon grumbles towards Mir as he sits down next to the kid, with Jinki following soon after.
"And you're supposed to be a third grader!" Mir snarks back, starting up yet another typical argument between the two, that everyone had become accustomed to over the time in which they had known each other.
"BY SMARTS!" Joon shouts, nearly dropping his nachos onto the floor due to jumping and pointing his index finger in Mir's face.
"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that." Mir says, snuggling a little more into his coat and resting his head on Narsha's shoulder.
"I just love this kid!" Narsha says, in a high pitched voice, to Bom, cackling loudly towards the diss that Mir had just sent to Joon.
"And me too, right baby?" Joon asks, pushing Mir's head out of the way a little bit so he could see Narsha clearly.
Instantly after he did that, her laughs started to falt, and were soon replaced with a look of disgust that could make any man back off of his attempts at trying to talk to her.
"Yeah, you, not so much." Narsha says with a roll of her eyes, pulling Mir back onto her shoulder as the younger one starts to smile sneakily towards Joon.
"But why?!" Joon asks with a whine and a stomping of his left foot that nearly spills nacho cheese onto Jinki's jeans.
"You just answered your own question by doing that." Narsha says, not even sparing him a look of her eye, as Jessica laughs on the right side of Jinki.
"Are they always like this?" she whispers into his ear, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up due to the sensitive area of skin.
"Every day, and every night." Jinki whispers back, secretly informing Jessica of the true relationship that Narsha and Joon had.
"Aah, gotcha." she whispers. "Do you want anything to eat?" she asks out loud before Jinki shakes his head and pats her on the shoulder in appreciation.
"No, I'm fine, thank you." he says, warmly smiling towards the girl.
"Well, I'm going to get something and talk to some people. I'll be right back. Can you hold my purse?" she asks after pulling her pink, diamond encrusted, wallet out of it.
"Yeah, sure. Where did you get that?" Jinki asks, his eyes trapped in the sparkling reflection of the shiny material like a kid in a candy store.
"Oh, this thing?" Jessica asks, looking down at the little wallet. "It's fake." she says with a re-assuring smile. "Me and Krystal made matching ones when we were little, and I've never needed one ever since. Mine's pink and hers is purple." she explains, smiling as she fondly recalls the spoken memories. "But anyways, like I said, I'll be back." she says, bringing herself back into reality as she turns around to squeeze her way through the small crowd that she had to go through in order to get to the end of the aisle.
Shivering internally, due to the wind that brushes against her covered thighs, Jessica curses the cashier at the mall for giving her the wrong sized jeans after clearly explaining that she was a size one and not zero. Shaking her head in annoyance at the mere thought of the mix up, she starts to make her way down the slightly slippery, ice-covered, stands, leaning extra close to the railing in case an accident were to happen and Jinki weren't right there to help her. The thought of Jinki saving her from a big fall, like an iron clad prince saving a princess from a potentially deadly situation, made her smile for a little while before turning to her left and climbing down another set of smaller stairs before she's met with the sight of Yuri running up to her, all decked out in her tiny cheerleading uniform that caught Jessica's attention immediately.
"Well, well, well, don't you look cute." she says as Yuri stands in front of her and puts her hands on her hips in a jokingly cocky manner.
"You like it? I designed it myself." she says, motioning down towards the uniform.
It represented the school colors of green and red perfectly, with the main color of green being a backdrop to the the red, glittery lines that ran down from her arm pit to her skirt, which was tight around her butt and upper thighs. The neckline was colored white all around, matching her shoes, which were all white with a tiny panther logo on the side of it that Leeteuk had specially designed for the cheerleading squad earlier in the month. She had also made the extra effort of painting her nails alternatively from red to green and sticking red and green ribbons in her hair, which was tied into a floppy, yet still fashionable, ponytail that made her look a couple of years younger than she actually was. Though she didn't look at all vicious, like the logo would suppose, nobody could deny that she look absolutely adorable, and sexy, in a fresh and youthful sense.
"It looks great." Jessica compliments, admiring the design with a nod of her head. "Almost makes me wish that I had actually signed up this year."
"You should have!" Yuri whines, shaking her pom pom's in a quick and funny manner that exaggerated her current feelings towards the subject. "You would have been perfect for captain."
"That's why I didn't sign up. I have too much to do for all of that." Jessica explains as she adjusts her red and green knitted hat in a fashion that looked a bit straighter than it had previously.
"That's true. You are in drama now, aren't you?" Yuri asks as Jessica nods.
"You need extra-curriculars to get into college, don't you?"
"Yeah, but don't kill yourself." Yuri jokes with a slap of her arm. "Where are you headed?"
"Oh, I was going to get something to eat really quickly and talk to you guys." Jessica says as she points towards the food stand near the entrance way.
"Oh, trust me, you do not want to be over there right now." Yuri warns as Jessica's eyes squint a bit in confusion.
"Why not?"
"YURI!" a familiar voice shouts, which causes Yuri's eyes to roll into the back of her head.
"Why do you even bother asking?" she mumbles as Jessica chuckles under her breath.
"What the hell are you doing here chatting when you're supposed to be over there helping us with the lifts?" Seohyun asks, flipping her ponytail back towards the back of her head.
"Because we don't perform for another thirty minutes and I needed something to drink." Yuri says, rolling her eyes towards the said girl.
Out of nowhere, and in a shocking fashion to herself, she feels a sudden coldness start to shiver through the blood stream inside of her arm as something is jammed directly into it. As she looks down and catches the thing, once Seohyun's hand is removed, she realizes that it's a water bottle that has yet to be opened.
"There you go." Seohyun says with a sarcastic smile on her face that instantly turns into her signature look of annoyance.
"Awww, you were nice for once! Isn't that just adorable!" Yuri jokes, attempting to pinch Seohyun's cheeks, only to get her hand slapped away with a little bit more force than she had initially expected.
"Just move your ass and be over in two minutes at the most." she angrily says towards Yuri before turning towards Jessica. "Hey Jess!" she says in a surprisingly cheery voice, with a smile on her face. "How are you?" she asks as Yuri rolls her eyes, downing her water at the same time.
"Fine, and you?"
"Peachy." Seohyun says. "Oh, by the way, I kind of need a favor, if you don't mind."
"What is it?" Jessica asks with caution, never knowing what the girl expects out of her.
"Would you mind driving me and Sunny back home once the game is over? My mom took the car, so unfortunately, I can't use it for the time being." Seohyun sighs out, rolling her eyes in memory of the conversation that she had with her mom.
"Yeah, sure, I don't think that Jinki would mind. You need one too Yul?" Jessica asks, looking over at the girl.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. Me and Hyosung are WOO! GO MINHO, GO, GO, GO!!!" she suddenly shouts, causing Seohyun to jump slightly and squeeze her eyes shut in irritation.
"Can you be ANY louder?" Seohyun grumbles.
"Or any more of a fangirl?" Jessica chuckles as Yuri continues to clap and cheer for Minho.
"NICE JOB MINHO!" she shouts, catching the boy's attention before he looks around, alarmed at first, and then sees her, smiles, and waves in response.
"Aww, well wasn't that sweet?" Seohyun snarks with a smile on her face before grabbing Yuri by the wrist. "Now let's go Yoona, we have shit to do." she demands as she drags Yuri back towards the field.
"What the hell are yo...oh, BYE JESSICA! I'LL SEE YOU LATER!" she shouts, attempting to loosen Seohyun's grip from her wrist as the said girl chuckles in response, shaking her head and questioning, within her mind, why she ever regretted coming back to Seoul.
"I love it here." she mumbles to herself, the smile on her face widening to further degrees as she turns around and continues to walk towards the food stand with a near empty stomach.
"I want to go home." he grumbles under his breath as he links his hands together and sinks his head deeper into his leather biker jacket that he bought during a random shopping binge earlier in the week.
"Will you stop it?" CL asks, turning around towards Key as he rolls his eyes. "Just enjoy yourself."
"Kind of hard to do when you're freezing cold."
"You didn't complain when you bought that jacket and it was even colder than this." CL says, defeating Key, yet again, with her shockingly high levels of logic. "So quit complaining and watch hot men in tights tackle each other on a snow covered football field." CL jokes under her breath, slapping Key on the arm and chuckling out loud.
"I'm sure that he'd love that." someone snorts behind them, giving his friend somewhat of a "congratulatory" high five at the same time.
"Just like I'm sure that you'd love it if he went down on your tiny, two inch dick and slobbed all over it. Now shut the fuck up, you dumb bitch." CL says as Key gets up, only to be dragged back down by the arm. "No, you're not going anywhere." CL says in a lower tone of voice, a near whisper, that Key supposed was her attempt at sincerity. "Just ignore those guys." she says before turning around to the silent guys again. "They're assholes."
"Chaerin stop." Key says lowly as he sinks his head back into his jacket, feeling the hot glare of some elders on his back.
Upon seeing the action and hearing the tone in his voice, that was as soft as a feather floating through the wind, CL exhaled a sigh of frustration towards the entire situation and turned her attention back towards the game, as hard as it was for her to do. This was the first time that she had really gotten to see the type of things that Key had tried to avoid on a daily basis. Though she didn't feel bad about the fact that she had brought him out to the game, mostly because she felt that he needed to be social every once in a while, the harsh realization that she had just felt and experienced made her question why she didn't take that element of Key's feelings into consideration when the proposition came up in the first place. In an attempt to try to get a more in-depth idea as to how Key was feeling at the time, CL looks up towards her left and looks into the blank stare that covers the greater portion of Key's eyes. They looked like crystal glass, and even reflected the action of the football field with nothing short of perfection. So much to the point that CL didn't even have to watch the game to know what was happening.
"What?" Key asks, bringing CL back to reality as he looks down at her.
Though it was a look of confusion, she knew that he knew exactly what was on her mind.
"Nothing. It's nothing." she mumbles, weakly smiling up towards Key, who sighs out loud and lifts his head back out of his jacket.
"I need to use the bathroom." he says, blatantly lying and getting up. "I'm coming back." he says weakly, interrupting CL before she's able to accuse him of trying to leave the game.
As he makes his way down the aisle, he can feel so many eyes on him. CL's, Jonghyun and Minzy's, who remained silent during the entire fiasco, and even some other random eyes that he couldn't directly identify unless he turned around to look at them. This feeling, along with the familiar feeling that he feels taking over the greater portion of his chest, was the exact reason why he didn't want to come to the area in the first place. He didn't feel angry, like he usually would in this type of situation; just uncomfortable. The non-existent comfort rose to levels that he didn't even know existed as he climbed down the metallic stairs and turned towards the right side of the bleachers across the exiting area. Instead of just walking into the open area and leaving like he wanted to, he just stood there and leaned his back onto the cold surface. He needed a moment alone to just clear his head, which he felt would be nearly impossible in such an open place. He felt this feeling intensify when he felt another body drawing itself closer to him, with caution, he presumed, since the person was walking slower than usual.
"Hey..."
"I'm okay." Key says lowly, looking towards Jonghyun, and hating that he did so afterwards.
The older boy had an even greater look of concern on his face than CL did. It wasn't one that was so blatantly obvious to the point where it was annoying, like the ones that his mother would give him, but it still showed that he was concerned, and even felt sorry for Key.
"Are you sure? I mean, that was pretty harsh." Jonghyun says, which causes Key to roll his eyes internally at the implication that he, the bullied one, didn't know that.
"I know, but you can't really do anything about it. So what's the point in caring, you know?" Key says with a shrug of his shoulders, feeling Jonghyun getting closer to him, this time in a more comfortable pace.
"But you shouldn't have to deal with stupid stuff like that. We're all human, so why not accept each other? You know?" Jonghyun asks, looking up at Key as the other merely smiles weakly in response.
"If only everyone else shared your opinion." Key weakly mumbles. "But they don't, so it's understandable that stuff like that happens, I guess." he says before a brief moment of silence. "So, did Chaerin tell you to come check on me?" he asks alongside a chuckle.
"No, I came on my own." Jonghyun nonchalantly says, leaning back against the bleachers to Key's left side.
"Really?" Key asks, genuinely touched at the fact that someone had cared that much to actually check on him by their own will.
Though he was usually the type of person who liked to be alone during these moments, and seemingly didn't want people around him, he had always secretly wished that one person would come up to him, regardless of the vibe that he gave off. He wanted someone to be genuine, and really care about him, instead of coming up to him merely because they felt sorry for him.
"Yeah." Jonghyun says with a weak smile. "She actually told me not to do anything and to leave you alone, but it didn't really sit well with me." he says blankly.
"What didn't?" Key asks.
"Leaving a friend here alone when they might need someone to be there for them, I guess." Jonghyun says in a dream-like state, that Key tried to read with no success, after a moment of silence.
As Jonghyun lowered his head to the floor and avoided Key's eye sight, the latter couldn't help but to feel that he was still such a mysterious figure to him. He evoked so many characteristics that Key couldn't put into words, and in a way, that kind of scared him. He didn't know if it was because he was intimidated by Key, or even because of the fact that he potentially liked Key, but he had always gotten this strange feeling that Jonghyun felt that he could never really be himself around him. Even right now, when they'd had somewhat of a personal moment with each other, Jonghyun was avoiding his eye sight and looking out into the distance with blank, and noticeably nervous, eyes. Key felt that maybe he could have been the reason for that. That because of the fact that he had been so shy and protective of himself around Jonghyun, Jonghyun, in return, was scared of him, in a way. And as he looked into Jonghyun's eyes, as they now looked out into the action of the football field, there was a part of him that wanted to change that. All in all; he felt kind of bad for the shorter guy.
"Well then...thanks, I guess." Key says, baffled and not knowing what to say, especially after every thought that just went through his head.
"No problem." Jonghyun says with a smile, starting up yet another awkward silence between the two.
It wasn't tension, but it was something else between the two of them that was thick in the air. It annoyed not only Key, but also Jonghyun that it couldn't be identified. It left them both silent as it squeezed their lungs, but still allowed them to breathe in the crisp, clear air of the November night.
"Jonghyun?"
"Hmm?" Jonghyun asks as he looks up at Key, who heaves out a sigh of breath that he had been holding in for a while.
"I'm sorry." he says after a little while, which causes Jonghyun to scrunch his eyebrows in confusion.
"For what?" he asks, searching through his own head for something that Key may have done to him that was the cause for an apology.
"For...for not being that nice to you, I guess." Key says in a shy manner, not exactly knowing how to express what he wanted to say. "And for never really thanking you for being a friend to me when no one else was. I haven't really been as good to you as you've been to me...so I'm sorry for that. And...thank you...for everything. Especially this." Key says, looking down at Jonghyun with a nervous smile that's returned soon after.
"It's no problem Key. You didn't have to apolo..."
"No," Key says, interrupting him mid-sentence. "I did. It's just...kind of hard for me to open up to people after everything that's happened, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Jonghyun asked, wondering how much he could actually get out of the younger before the night was over.
"You know, the..."
"Key?" someone says beside them, causing them both to look towards the right to see who it was.
"Oh..hi Byunghee. Wha...what are you doing here?" Key asks, looking over at the football field, and then back towards Byunghee, who he realizes looks more casual when he wears his winter attire versus his daily choice of relaxing clothing.
"Chaerin invited me, remember?" he says, which nearly makes Key groan in frustration when he thinks of what happened earlier in the day. "It's okay for me to be here, isn't it?" he asks when he looks closer at Key's face.
"Oh, yeah, it's fine." Key nervously clarifies before waving his hand in assurance, shooting himself within the mind for letting the internal frustration show on his face. "Oh," he mumbles as he looks back over at Jonghyun. "this is Jonghyun. Jonghyun, this is Byunghee; my friend." Key says, making introductory motions between the two as they step forward and shake hands.
"Hi there." Byunghee says with a smile. "Key's already told me a little bit about you. Nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise." Jonghyun says with a small smile on his face before he turns towards Key. "I'll leave you two alone and tell Chaerin that you're fine, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Key says before Jonghyun turns around and leaves him alone with Byunghee.
"What does he mean 'tell Chaerin that you're okay?' What happened?" he asks as Key's stomach tightens a little bit.
"Oh...nothing." he says, looking up at Byunghee, who he can tell already knows that he's lying. "It's nothing; don't worry."
"You sure?" Byunghee asks, the questioning nature also painting his face.
"Yeah, I'm positive." Key says lightly, enough so that Byunghee didn't have to question him any further.
"Okay then." Byunghee says with a contagious smile that bring a shy grin upon the face of Key. "So...how have things been going, besides that?" he asked, letting out a sigh and allowing his eyes to follow the puff of visible air that arose from it.
"Fine, I guess. I'm not dead, as you can see." Key says, causing Byunghee to laugh.
"You're miserable, aren't you?"
"Very." Key says with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, me being here can hopefully change that, right?" Byunghee asks, looking down at an alarmed Key, who doesn't know what to say at that moment.
"Um...maybe. I don't know." Key says, stuttering out the first thing that comes into his head.
Chuckling at his startled manner, Byunghee shakes his head down at Key with a bright smile on his face.
"Do you maybe want to take a walk with me or something? Just to get some air, away from all of this?" he suddenly asks, confusing Key to further levels.
"Walk? Don't you have your car?"
"Don't be lazy and come on." Byunghee says, reaching out to Key's shoulder and moving him towards the exit. "And don't worry about Chaerin, just tell her you're with me." he says with a smile as they both exit the game and make a right turn towards the city area, Key's heart racing with an emotion that he couldn't describe.
The lights that covered Seoul at night time never ceased to amaze Key. It was strange to him, since everything was so quiet and dark, and yet so lively and active. The only people still out at this time were party-goers, who walked by the two of them, stumbling due to the liquor flowing through their systems, couples deciding to have a romantic night out, clinging to each other and attached at the waist, and late night joggers who tried to keep off the summer weight that they had successfully lost over the course of the season. And then there was the two of them.
Just strolling along the side walk, a ways apart from each other, and quieter than they had ever been before. Even their first time meeting was louder than this. It wasn't the fact that neither didn't want to talk, but more-so the fact that Key didn't know what was going on. Though he's read stuff like this in fanfictions and is a regular watcher of k-drama's (less and less over the months,) he isn't the type of person to ever believe in stuff like that. He's learned, over time, to not solely think of just fantasy, and instead take a look at the reality of the world around him. Though these said realities are the things that have made him so different from how he used to be, and so distant from people who used to be so close to him, he appreciated them. He feels as if they have now made him a stronger person, and that if he could tackle all of the hardships that he's endured and come out even moderately strong, then he can confront anything with a straight mind and strength.
"What's on your mind?" he hears a deep voice ask, taking him out of his thoughts.
"Nothing much." he answers, still looking down at the side walk.
"Don't lie to me." Byunghee says, causing Key to look up at him, and then back down at the floor.
"Sorry..it's just...I don't know," he sighs out, not knowing what was about to come out of his mouth. "I was thinking a lot about my past and stuff."
"Mmm." Byunghee grunts. "Anything in particular?" he asks, looking over towards the boy.
"Well...a lot of things, but mostly the people that I've lost." Key lowly states as he looks up, noticing another flower shop that he'd never seen before, due to having not been in the area in such a long time.
"Well, if they've left you, it was probably for a reason." Byunghee suddenly says, confusing Key as the said boy looks up at him.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"If they've left you, it was probably for a reason." Byunghee repeats, taking on a slower pace with Key following soon after. "It's possible that those people just weren't meant to be in your life, or maybe that you'd be better off without them. Sometimes you have to learn to live on your own, and stand on your own two feet before you can truly be able to be with someone. If you waste your time with someone who doesn't deserve to be in your life, it could damage you even further. You'll start to ask yourself things like 'why did this happen to me,' or 'what did I do to deserve this,' when in reality, you didn't do anything. You'll start to question yourself, when in reality, you should be moving on to bigger and better things. Sometimes you just have to allow those people to leave so that you can grow strong over time." Byunghee finishes, shocking Key with the amount of knowledge that he holds within himself.
He knew that Byunghee worked for a company and came from a rich family, and hence received a very high education, but he never truly knew how street smart he was until now. The way in which he spoke with such sincerity and knowledge made Key question what exactly Byunghee had been through to have such a strong assurance of things such as this. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn't even notice Byunghee stop until he felt nothing but cold air next to him. Which was then followed by the feeling of a strong hand on his shoulder.
"But sometimes..." he hears Byunghee start, looking up at him before he feels a very soft kiss planted on his lips that he wasn't expecting at all. "you have to appreciate the people that you do have. The people who care about you." he finishes as Key's lips are left parted in shock and confusion.
He didn't know how to feel at the moment, couldn't perfectly describe it. But one thing that he did know was that he was happy. He didn't know why and couldn't comprehend a plausible reasoning as to why he would even be such a thing at this moment in time, but he was happy nonetheless. As the thoughts went through his head, he unwillingly started to smile and blush under Byunghee's watchful eye, which got soft after he saw the expression on the youngers face. As if he was already expecting it, Key felt Byunghee's index and middle fingers lift his chin before another kiss was placed on his lips. One that he returned this time around. One that tasted like strawberries and vanilla, alongside a very light hint of coffee. One that was his first with a boy.
And one that he would never forget.
It was after the half-time performance and everybody was still high off of the electric performance that was just given. The individual triple flips that Sunny, Hyosung, and Fei, in particular, had successfully pulled off were, hands down, the highlights of the performance, and the talk of the audience as the said girls started to make their ways towards the left side of the bleachers, with the rest of the cheerleaders following soon after a few more seconds of peppy school spirit. The time off had given not only the football players time to recover and warm up, on their respective sides of the field, but also gave time to those in the audience to relax after a very tight game of football that, not in a shocking manner to anyone, was tied. At this point, everyone in attendance for the home team was antsy with the possibility that their team might actually win the game, and that football may now be a continuous theme for future school years to come. Individual conversations started to disperse amongst everyone on the bleachers, as some people started to exit to get snacks, and enter due to being late for some reasoning.
"Oh, hey. Everything okay?" Jessica asks as she looks up at a returning Onew, who tucks his cellphone into his pocket before he sits back down next to her.
"Yeah, I just had to handle some stuff at home." Onew says with a smile.
"Dear old mom, huh?" Jessica chuckles.
"Of course." Onew says with a soft smile that Jessica couldn't help but noticed seemed a little forced.
"Wassup bitches?" someone says, catching the attention of those under her, along with some people who she wasn't directing the sassy introduction to.
"AMBER!" Narsha shouts, standing up and hugging the girl before noticing someone behind the girl's right ear. "Oh my God, is this him?!" she asks, mouth open in shock as she pushes the girl aside softly.
"Yes, and can you not ogle him like he's a piece of meat?" Amber chuckles as she grabs the arm of the said boy and moves him next to her, leaving both him and Narsha in an awkward angle. "Everyone," she says, garnering the attention of the others. "this is Zico, my boyfriend. Zico, this is Thunder, Bom, Mir, Lee Joon, Onew, his girlfriend Jessica, Leeteuk, and Narsha, who's the excited one standing behind you." she says, as the boy nervously smiles and waves towards everyone that he was just introduced to.
"Nice to meet you Zico." Leeteuk says, standing up and shaking Zico's hand as the other nods in appreciation towards the said action.
"Yes, so nice to meet you!" Narsha says, moving in between the two men before they have a chance to have a real conversation with each other. "So, have you made my little Amber yours yet, or..."
"NARSHA!" Bom shouts in an appalled manner below her, still sitting down next to Mir.
"What? These are essential things that a best friend needs to know." she implies innocently as Amber merely shakes her head and chuckles at the usual interaction between all of her friends.
"Why exactly is it 'essential?'" Amber asks.
"Because if you're getting some, then this is a monumental moment for our group." Narsha says with a serious face as Zico smiles in an embarrassed manner.
"Yeah, I mean, from what I know, everyone here thought you were a..."
"I AM NOT A LESBIAN JOON! How many times do I have to tell you that before you believe me?" Amber asks, nearly shouting at the boy.
"What? It's not my fault that you and Narsha are always clinged up on each other..." Joon mumbles innocently.
"Narsha's always clinged up on everybody. Have you not seen her and Bom?" Amber asks, pointing at the mentioned girl.
"She has a point there." Onew pipes in, accepting a high-five from Amber's direction.
"But that's different," Joon pipes up, pointing up at the two girls. "Narsha's never actually kissed Bom before!"
"From what you know." Amber laughs, looking over at Narsha as she drags her boyfriend closer to her arm, snuggling against him slightly. "Don't worry, this is normal between all of us. You'll get used to it by the end of the game."
"That you've already missed half of, by the way." Thunder says.
"Yeah. Where the heck were you? I thought that you were going to get here at the same time that we were." Narsha accuses with a pout to her lips.
"We were, but we got caught up in something." Amber answers.
"Sex?" Narsha asks calmly.
"No, looking for my keys. Why do you always associate everything with sex?"
"It's her specialty." Onew says. "It's a proven fact that if you say one word, Narsha can make it sexual."
"Pickle!" Mir shouts out, chuckling against Bom as he does so.
"Mir wants to stick his hot pickle in my pussy."
"NARSHA!" Bom shouts.
"What? It's true..." she says. "OH, THE GAME IS STARTING AGAIN! LET'S GO TAEC!!!" she screams, running back to her seat and nearly crushing Joon's foot as she does so.
With amusement, Amber and Zico grab their seats as everyone else draws their attention back towards the tied game that was expected to get even more tense, heated, and competitive than before.
Around an hour and fifteen minutes later, the game ends, with Idol High's Panthers coming out with the win, totaling a score of 49, over the opposing team's 35. Afterwhich, everyone starts to pack up their things, after the usual post-game celebration ends, and the air around the area feels like a crisp outlining to the positivity and school spirit that radiates from the green grass of the school field. All of the cheerleaders, who continued to stand by the left side of the bleachers from the moment they got there, after their half time performance, start to gather all of their water bottles off of the grass before heading into the school to have a post-game meeting that Yuri had scheduled to be quick in time, before everyone left. Sunny, who straggles behind most of the other cheerleaders with Hyosung, nearly makes her way inside of the school until she feels her hand being grabbed. Though she couldn't see the face of the person who had done it, the touch and feel of the hand was more then familiar to her.
She was left speechless with the feel of the softness connecting itself onto her skin. She hadn't felt it in so long, almost too long for her liking. The mere fact that she was having these particular thoughts left her in a conflicted state that she didn't know how to handle on her own. She never knew how to handle herself when this part of her life had somehow always managed to resurface itself back into existence.
"Can we talk?" he asks softly before she looks up at him with eyes that he could read like a book. "Look, I just want to talk. That's all." he says assuringly towards the thoughts that he knew she was having.
Though she knows that she shouldn't, she lets him lead her across the side of the school and behind a corner where no one could see them, for the time being. As she looked up into his eyes, the look in her own turned into one of concern. Though she knows that it shouldn't have, that she shouldn't even be in this predicament in the first place, she starts to feel as if she actually wants to hear what he has to say, especially after a soft sigh leaves his lips and his shoulders shrug down into a mixture of relaxation and nervousness.
"Listen..." he starts, clearly nervous under her eye. "I know that what I did was wrong. Extremely wrong, and inexcusable. But...look," he says after a soft sigh that clearly emphasized his nervousness and fear of saying the wrong thing. "I've been miserable without you." he confesses, causing a strange warmth to radiate inside of Sunny's body, mostly near the area of her ribcage. "I don't even know how to describe it, but I just...don't like being without you. I just wish that we could go back to the way things were. And I know that I messed things up really, really badly...but I miss you Sunbaby. I miss you a lot." he whispers, looking down in a nervous manner as Sunny's eyes remain in the line of sight that they were in when he had been looking into them.
Yet again, she had no idea what to say. She couldn't even make sense of the thoughts that were trying to process themselves inside of her head because her heart was beating so fast. She couldn't even describe the way in which way her heart was beating. Whether it was because of nervousness or because the words had affected her to the point where she was genuinely touched.
But as that thought entered her head, Seohyun's words entered her mind, her voice like an alternate personality inside of her. She had warned her once before that Taeyang would say something along the lines of this to her, and that she shouldn't forgive him, no matter what. He was merely "a liar with no morals or self-respect," she said during their hour long discussion the day after everything had happened. Sunny was shocked that she could actually remember every little word of that conversation months after it happened. She could remember every feeling that was going through her head, every physical ache that had surged through her body. Every bit of heart-ache that she felt towards not only Taeyang, but also Hyoyeon.
The situation was like a crazy puzzle to her. One of only three pieces, but still impossible to fit together and complete, especially under the circumstances that Taeyang had left her in at that moment. How she could even breathe, she didn't understand.
"Look...i...it's okay if you don't want to accept my apology, but..."
"I want to." she mumbles, causing Taeyang to look up as she looks down to the ground below their feet, their hands connecting at the corner of her eyes.
"R...really?" he asks, a twinkle of relief and shock shining itself on to the surface of his pupils.
"Yeah." Sunny says with tight lips, nodding slowly as she does so. "I feel like...like I've been letting everyone else speak for me...but I never really speak for myself anymore." she says after multiple pauses, confusion washing over the face of Taeyang. "I just want to be my own person for once and trust someone. We can't be together again, if ever Tae," she starts as her head lifts itself back up to look at him. "but I'm more than willing to be your friend again, if that's really what you'd like." she finishes with a very small smile on her face.
"But it shouldn't be up to me Sunbaby. It's your decision, so you have to do what's right for you."
"What the hell is going on here?" a voice behind them asks, causing Sunny to turn around as her heart sinks into depths lower than she even knew were possible.
"Seohyu..."
"No, you shut up right now." Seohyun demands, sticking her hand in front of Sunny's face as she walks over to the two of them and stops next to Sunny, looking up at Taeyang with a hard glare covering her face. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you really think that I'm just going to stand here and allow you to lie in her face like this? That I'm just going to sit here and let you tell her that 'you'll do better,' and that you'll 'never hurt her again?'"
"He didn't say any of that Seo."
"Be quiet Sunny." Seohyun says, this time in a soft tone of voice. "Listen," she starts up in a slow pace. "you had your shot with her and you ruined it in one of the worst ways that you possibly could. You hurt my friend to the point where she can hardly trust anyone anymore, and I'm sick of seeing her like this because of you." she says, not giving a single thought to the depressing glare that Taeyang sends to Sunny's direction. "Don't ever come around her again. I mean it." she finishes before grabbing Sunny's wrist and pulling her towards the direction of the back door to the school, that leads to the gym where the cheerleaders were waiting for the two of them.
As stereo-typical as it seemed, the two felt like Romeo and Juliet as they were split further and further apart from each other. As Taeyang just stood there, dirty and covered in the contents of the Earth's soil, he felt as if his heart was almost going to rip, and then shatter into two. That any hope or aspiration that he had in being in good graces with Sunny would be over forever. That there was nothing left that he could do for the two of them. That it was really, officially over for them.
Genre: Drama, Romance, and many more.
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Summary: They say that being a teenager is one of the hardest, and most fun, periods of any person's life. Well...one out of two isn't bad, right?
A/N: Given that I am dancing crazily to stripper music at the moment, a.k.a "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, I don't even know what to say at the moment. I also don't even know if anybody reads this story anymore, so I'm kind of at a loss for words, lol. Might as well continue to post it though. By the way, there is more JongKey than ever in this story. <333
Previous Chapters:
Teaser ~ Prologue ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 1, Part 1) ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 1, Part 2) ~ "The First Saga" (Chapter 2) ~ "Construction Begins" (Chapter 3) ~ "Realization" (Chapter 4) ~ "The Beginning" (Chapter 5) ~ "The Game" (Chapter 6, Part 1)
"Why is it so cold out here?" Mir mumbles to himself as he starts to take in his surroundings, rubbing his arms and allowing his teeth to unwillingly chatter at the same time.
"Can you please stop doing that?" Thunder irritatingly asks next to him, rolling his eyes as he starts to look away, only to be met by a shocked expression on the face of Mir, from the corner of his eye.
"What," Mir asks, teeth still chattering as a cloud of thick breath escapes from his shaky, chapped lips. "am I not allowed to speak anymore, oh great Master?" he jokingly asks, alongside a smile, as Thunder merely rolls his eyes in response.
"You see, this is exactly why you'll never get a girlfriend." he calmly says, looking on at the game below him as the other team successfully captures another touchdown from Idol High's Panthers.
"Hey!" Mir shouts in a childish manner, pointing up at Thunder's face, only to bring his arms back into his coat to rub warmth onto the bare skin. "That's not funny." he mumbles, looking down at the game as he lifts his knees up to his chin.
"It wasn't meant to be funny." Thunder stoicly states, looking over at him and then back towards the game. "Why the heck did you wear a tank top under your coat anyways? It's winter."
"Thank you Sir Obvious, but I know that." Mir snarks.
"That still doesn't answer my question." Thunder snarks back, as Mir starts to put his feet back onto the metal stands under him.
"Easy access." Mir says almost instantly after.
"What?" Thunder asks, twisting his head in order to look at the said boy again.
"Easy access...you know, in case I have to..."
"That's disgusting." Thunder says, cutting Mir off and directing his attention back towards the game, which was where his true interest was in the first place.
"Oh come on! Don't act like you've never thought of it before." Mir says with a serious look on his face.
"I haven't. Because, like I said; that's disgusting." Thunder says, not even sparring Mir an eye.
"What's disgusting?" a voice above them asks as the brightness of pink and yellow overwhelms both of their lines of vision.
"The fact that Mir thinks that he's going to...you know." Thunder says, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he directs his attention from Narsha and back towards the game, irritated by the re-occurring topic of Mir's overtly sexual fantasy world.
"Aww." Narsha squeals as she squeezes in between Thunder and Mir, dragging Bom along with her and creating many awkward angles and positions for the four of them. "Who's the lucky girl?" she asks, pinching Mir's cheeks as he smiles cutely under her touch, blushing slightly at the affection that she consistently gives him.
"I don't know yet." he states honestly. "But you could be a possible candidate." he says, causing Narsha to squeal again and poke Bom in the stomach.
"Is he not the cutest thing on the planet?!" she asks, causing Bom to chuckle and nod under the repeated pokes that tickles the skin on her stomach.
"Narsha!" Mir whines. "I told you not to call me that! I'm a man now." he says with a pout of his lips that causes Narsha to smile.
"Oh shut up! You just got into high school!" Joon grumbles towards Mir as he sits down next to the kid, with Jinki following soon after.
"And you're supposed to be a third grader!" Mir snarks back, starting up yet another typical argument between the two, that everyone had become accustomed to over the time in which they had known each other.
"BY SMARTS!" Joon shouts, nearly dropping his nachos onto the floor due to jumping and pointing his index finger in Mir's face.
"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that." Mir says, snuggling a little more into his coat and resting his head on Narsha's shoulder.
"I just love this kid!" Narsha says, in a high pitched voice, to Bom, cackling loudly towards the diss that Mir had just sent to Joon.
"And me too, right baby?" Joon asks, pushing Mir's head out of the way a little bit so he could see Narsha clearly.
Instantly after he did that, her laughs started to falt, and were soon replaced with a look of disgust that could make any man back off of his attempts at trying to talk to her.
"Yeah, you, not so much." Narsha says with a roll of her eyes, pulling Mir back onto her shoulder as the younger one starts to smile sneakily towards Joon.
"But why?!" Joon asks with a whine and a stomping of his left foot that nearly spills nacho cheese onto Jinki's jeans.
"You just answered your own question by doing that." Narsha says, not even sparing him a look of her eye, as Jessica laughs on the right side of Jinki.
"Are they always like this?" she whispers into his ear, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up due to the sensitive area of skin.
"Every day, and every night." Jinki whispers back, secretly informing Jessica of the true relationship that Narsha and Joon had.
"Aah, gotcha." she whispers. "Do you want anything to eat?" she asks out loud before Jinki shakes his head and pats her on the shoulder in appreciation.
"No, I'm fine, thank you." he says, warmly smiling towards the girl.
"Well, I'm going to get something and talk to some people. I'll be right back. Can you hold my purse?" she asks after pulling her pink, diamond encrusted, wallet out of it.
"Yeah, sure. Where did you get that?" Jinki asks, his eyes trapped in the sparkling reflection of the shiny material like a kid in a candy store.
"Oh, this thing?" Jessica asks, looking down at the little wallet. "It's fake." she says with a re-assuring smile. "Me and Krystal made matching ones when we were little, and I've never needed one ever since. Mine's pink and hers is purple." she explains, smiling as she fondly recalls the spoken memories. "But anyways, like I said, I'll be back." she says, bringing herself back into reality as she turns around to squeeze her way through the small crowd that she had to go through in order to get to the end of the aisle.
Shivering internally, due to the wind that brushes against her covered thighs, Jessica curses the cashier at the mall for giving her the wrong sized jeans after clearly explaining that she was a size one and not zero. Shaking her head in annoyance at the mere thought of the mix up, she starts to make her way down the slightly slippery, ice-covered, stands, leaning extra close to the railing in case an accident were to happen and Jinki weren't right there to help her. The thought of Jinki saving her from a big fall, like an iron clad prince saving a princess from a potentially deadly situation, made her smile for a little while before turning to her left and climbing down another set of smaller stairs before she's met with the sight of Yuri running up to her, all decked out in her tiny cheerleading uniform that caught Jessica's attention immediately.
"Well, well, well, don't you look cute." she says as Yuri stands in front of her and puts her hands on her hips in a jokingly cocky manner.
"You like it? I designed it myself." she says, motioning down towards the uniform.
It represented the school colors of green and red perfectly, with the main color of green being a backdrop to the the red, glittery lines that ran down from her arm pit to her skirt, which was tight around her butt and upper thighs. The neckline was colored white all around, matching her shoes, which were all white with a tiny panther logo on the side of it that Leeteuk had specially designed for the cheerleading squad earlier in the month. She had also made the extra effort of painting her nails alternatively from red to green and sticking red and green ribbons in her hair, which was tied into a floppy, yet still fashionable, ponytail that made her look a couple of years younger than she actually was. Though she didn't look at all vicious, like the logo would suppose, nobody could deny that she look absolutely adorable, and sexy, in a fresh and youthful sense.
"It looks great." Jessica compliments, admiring the design with a nod of her head. "Almost makes me wish that I had actually signed up this year."
"You should have!" Yuri whines, shaking her pom pom's in a quick and funny manner that exaggerated her current feelings towards the subject. "You would have been perfect for captain."
"That's why I didn't sign up. I have too much to do for all of that." Jessica explains as she adjusts her red and green knitted hat in a fashion that looked a bit straighter than it had previously.
"That's true. You are in drama now, aren't you?" Yuri asks as Jessica nods.
"You need extra-curriculars to get into college, don't you?"
"Yeah, but don't kill yourself." Yuri jokes with a slap of her arm. "Where are you headed?"
"Oh, I was going to get something to eat really quickly and talk to you guys." Jessica says as she points towards the food stand near the entrance way.
"Oh, trust me, you do not want to be over there right now." Yuri warns as Jessica's eyes squint a bit in confusion.
"Why not?"
"YURI!" a familiar voice shouts, which causes Yuri's eyes to roll into the back of her head.
"Why do you even bother asking?" she mumbles as Jessica chuckles under her breath.
"What the hell are you doing here chatting when you're supposed to be over there helping us with the lifts?" Seohyun asks, flipping her ponytail back towards the back of her head.
"Because we don't perform for another thirty minutes and I needed something to drink." Yuri says, rolling her eyes towards the said girl.
Out of nowhere, and in a shocking fashion to herself, she feels a sudden coldness start to shiver through the blood stream inside of her arm as something is jammed directly into it. As she looks down and catches the thing, once Seohyun's hand is removed, she realizes that it's a water bottle that has yet to be opened.
"There you go." Seohyun says with a sarcastic smile on her face that instantly turns into her signature look of annoyance.
"Awww, you were nice for once! Isn't that just adorable!" Yuri jokes, attempting to pinch Seohyun's cheeks, only to get her hand slapped away with a little bit more force than she had initially expected.
"Just move your ass and be over in two minutes at the most." she angrily says towards Yuri before turning towards Jessica. "Hey Jess!" she says in a surprisingly cheery voice, with a smile on her face. "How are you?" she asks as Yuri rolls her eyes, downing her water at the same time.
"Fine, and you?"
"Peachy." Seohyun says. "Oh, by the way, I kind of need a favor, if you don't mind."
"What is it?" Jessica asks with caution, never knowing what the girl expects out of her.
"Would you mind driving me and Sunny back home once the game is over? My mom took the car, so unfortunately, I can't use it for the time being." Seohyun sighs out, rolling her eyes in memory of the conversation that she had with her mom.
"Yeah, sure, I don't think that Jinki would mind. You need one too Yul?" Jessica asks, looking over at the girl.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. Me and Hyosung are WOO! GO MINHO, GO, GO, GO!!!" she suddenly shouts, causing Seohyun to jump slightly and squeeze her eyes shut in irritation.
"Can you be ANY louder?" Seohyun grumbles.
"Or any more of a fangirl?" Jessica chuckles as Yuri continues to clap and cheer for Minho.
"NICE JOB MINHO!" she shouts, catching the boy's attention before he looks around, alarmed at first, and then sees her, smiles, and waves in response.
"Aww, well wasn't that sweet?" Seohyun snarks with a smile on her face before grabbing Yuri by the wrist. "Now let's go Yoona, we have shit to do." she demands as she drags Yuri back towards the field.
"What the hell are yo...oh, BYE JESSICA! I'LL SEE YOU LATER!" she shouts, attempting to loosen Seohyun's grip from her wrist as the said girl chuckles in response, shaking her head and questioning, within her mind, why she ever regretted coming back to Seoul.
"I love it here." she mumbles to herself, the smile on her face widening to further degrees as she turns around and continues to walk towards the food stand with a near empty stomach.
"I want to go home." he grumbles under his breath as he links his hands together and sinks his head deeper into his leather biker jacket that he bought during a random shopping binge earlier in the week.
"Will you stop it?" CL asks, turning around towards Key as he rolls his eyes. "Just enjoy yourself."
"Kind of hard to do when you're freezing cold."
"You didn't complain when you bought that jacket and it was even colder than this." CL says, defeating Key, yet again, with her shockingly high levels of logic. "So quit complaining and watch hot men in tights tackle each other on a snow covered football field." CL jokes under her breath, slapping Key on the arm and chuckling out loud.
"I'm sure that he'd love that." someone snorts behind them, giving his friend somewhat of a "congratulatory" high five at the same time.
"Just like I'm sure that you'd love it if he went down on your tiny, two inch dick and slobbed all over it. Now shut the fuck up, you dumb bitch." CL says as Key gets up, only to be dragged back down by the arm. "No, you're not going anywhere." CL says in a lower tone of voice, a near whisper, that Key supposed was her attempt at sincerity. "Just ignore those guys." she says before turning around to the silent guys again. "They're assholes."
"Chaerin stop." Key says lowly as he sinks his head back into his jacket, feeling the hot glare of some elders on his back.
Upon seeing the action and hearing the tone in his voice, that was as soft as a feather floating through the wind, CL exhaled a sigh of frustration towards the entire situation and turned her attention back towards the game, as hard as it was for her to do. This was the first time that she had really gotten to see the type of things that Key had tried to avoid on a daily basis. Though she didn't feel bad about the fact that she had brought him out to the game, mostly because she felt that he needed to be social every once in a while, the harsh realization that she had just felt and experienced made her question why she didn't take that element of Key's feelings into consideration when the proposition came up in the first place. In an attempt to try to get a more in-depth idea as to how Key was feeling at the time, CL looks up towards her left and looks into the blank stare that covers the greater portion of Key's eyes. They looked like crystal glass, and even reflected the action of the football field with nothing short of perfection. So much to the point that CL didn't even have to watch the game to know what was happening.
"What?" Key asks, bringing CL back to reality as he looks down at her.
Though it was a look of confusion, she knew that he knew exactly what was on her mind.
"Nothing. It's nothing." she mumbles, weakly smiling up towards Key, who sighs out loud and lifts his head back out of his jacket.
"I need to use the bathroom." he says, blatantly lying and getting up. "I'm coming back." he says weakly, interrupting CL before she's able to accuse him of trying to leave the game.
As he makes his way down the aisle, he can feel so many eyes on him. CL's, Jonghyun and Minzy's, who remained silent during the entire fiasco, and even some other random eyes that he couldn't directly identify unless he turned around to look at them. This feeling, along with the familiar feeling that he feels taking over the greater portion of his chest, was the exact reason why he didn't want to come to the area in the first place. He didn't feel angry, like he usually would in this type of situation; just uncomfortable. The non-existent comfort rose to levels that he didn't even know existed as he climbed down the metallic stairs and turned towards the right side of the bleachers across the exiting area. Instead of just walking into the open area and leaving like he wanted to, he just stood there and leaned his back onto the cold surface. He needed a moment alone to just clear his head, which he felt would be nearly impossible in such an open place. He felt this feeling intensify when he felt another body drawing itself closer to him, with caution, he presumed, since the person was walking slower than usual.
"Hey..."
"I'm okay." Key says lowly, looking towards Jonghyun, and hating that he did so afterwards.
The older boy had an even greater look of concern on his face than CL did. It wasn't one that was so blatantly obvious to the point where it was annoying, like the ones that his mother would give him, but it still showed that he was concerned, and even felt sorry for Key.
"Are you sure? I mean, that was pretty harsh." Jonghyun says, which causes Key to roll his eyes internally at the implication that he, the bullied one, didn't know that.
"I know, but you can't really do anything about it. So what's the point in caring, you know?" Key says with a shrug of his shoulders, feeling Jonghyun getting closer to him, this time in a more comfortable pace.
"But you shouldn't have to deal with stupid stuff like that. We're all human, so why not accept each other? You know?" Jonghyun asks, looking up at Key as the other merely smiles weakly in response.
"If only everyone else shared your opinion." Key weakly mumbles. "But they don't, so it's understandable that stuff like that happens, I guess." he says before a brief moment of silence. "So, did Chaerin tell you to come check on me?" he asks alongside a chuckle.
"No, I came on my own." Jonghyun nonchalantly says, leaning back against the bleachers to Key's left side.
"Really?" Key asks, genuinely touched at the fact that someone had cared that much to actually check on him by their own will.
Though he was usually the type of person who liked to be alone during these moments, and seemingly didn't want people around him, he had always secretly wished that one person would come up to him, regardless of the vibe that he gave off. He wanted someone to be genuine, and really care about him, instead of coming up to him merely because they felt sorry for him.
"Yeah." Jonghyun says with a weak smile. "She actually told me not to do anything and to leave you alone, but it didn't really sit well with me." he says blankly.
"What didn't?" Key asks.
"Leaving a friend here alone when they might need someone to be there for them, I guess." Jonghyun says in a dream-like state, that Key tried to read with no success, after a moment of silence.
As Jonghyun lowered his head to the floor and avoided Key's eye sight, the latter couldn't help but to feel that he was still such a mysterious figure to him. He evoked so many characteristics that Key couldn't put into words, and in a way, that kind of scared him. He didn't know if it was because he was intimidated by Key, or even because of the fact that he potentially liked Key, but he had always gotten this strange feeling that Jonghyun felt that he could never really be himself around him. Even right now, when they'd had somewhat of a personal moment with each other, Jonghyun was avoiding his eye sight and looking out into the distance with blank, and noticeably nervous, eyes. Key felt that maybe he could have been the reason for that. That because of the fact that he had been so shy and protective of himself around Jonghyun, Jonghyun, in return, was scared of him, in a way. And as he looked into Jonghyun's eyes, as they now looked out into the action of the football field, there was a part of him that wanted to change that. All in all; he felt kind of bad for the shorter guy.
"Well then...thanks, I guess." Key says, baffled and not knowing what to say, especially after every thought that just went through his head.
"No problem." Jonghyun says with a smile, starting up yet another awkward silence between the two.
It wasn't tension, but it was something else between the two of them that was thick in the air. It annoyed not only Key, but also Jonghyun that it couldn't be identified. It left them both silent as it squeezed their lungs, but still allowed them to breathe in the crisp, clear air of the November night.
"Jonghyun?"
"Hmm?" Jonghyun asks as he looks up at Key, who heaves out a sigh of breath that he had been holding in for a while.
"I'm sorry." he says after a little while, which causes Jonghyun to scrunch his eyebrows in confusion.
"For what?" he asks, searching through his own head for something that Key may have done to him that was the cause for an apology.
"For...for not being that nice to you, I guess." Key says in a shy manner, not exactly knowing how to express what he wanted to say. "And for never really thanking you for being a friend to me when no one else was. I haven't really been as good to you as you've been to me...so I'm sorry for that. And...thank you...for everything. Especially this." Key says, looking down at Jonghyun with a nervous smile that's returned soon after.
"It's no problem Key. You didn't have to apolo..."
"No," Key says, interrupting him mid-sentence. "I did. It's just...kind of hard for me to open up to people after everything that's happened, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Jonghyun asked, wondering how much he could actually get out of the younger before the night was over.
"You know, the..."
"Key?" someone says beside them, causing them both to look towards the right to see who it was.
"Oh..hi Byunghee. Wha...what are you doing here?" Key asks, looking over at the football field, and then back towards Byunghee, who he realizes looks more casual when he wears his winter attire versus his daily choice of relaxing clothing.
"Chaerin invited me, remember?" he says, which nearly makes Key groan in frustration when he thinks of what happened earlier in the day. "It's okay for me to be here, isn't it?" he asks when he looks closer at Key's face.
"Oh, yeah, it's fine." Key nervously clarifies before waving his hand in assurance, shooting himself within the mind for letting the internal frustration show on his face. "Oh," he mumbles as he looks back over at Jonghyun. "this is Jonghyun. Jonghyun, this is Byunghee; my friend." Key says, making introductory motions between the two as they step forward and shake hands.
"Hi there." Byunghee says with a smile. "Key's already told me a little bit about you. Nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise." Jonghyun says with a small smile on his face before he turns towards Key. "I'll leave you two alone and tell Chaerin that you're fine, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Key says before Jonghyun turns around and leaves him alone with Byunghee.
"What does he mean 'tell Chaerin that you're okay?' What happened?" he asks as Key's stomach tightens a little bit.
"Oh...nothing." he says, looking up at Byunghee, who he can tell already knows that he's lying. "It's nothing; don't worry."
"You sure?" Byunghee asks, the questioning nature also painting his face.
"Yeah, I'm positive." Key says lightly, enough so that Byunghee didn't have to question him any further.
"Okay then." Byunghee says with a contagious smile that bring a shy grin upon the face of Key. "So...how have things been going, besides that?" he asked, letting out a sigh and allowing his eyes to follow the puff of visible air that arose from it.
"Fine, I guess. I'm not dead, as you can see." Key says, causing Byunghee to laugh.
"You're miserable, aren't you?"
"Very." Key says with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, me being here can hopefully change that, right?" Byunghee asks, looking down at an alarmed Key, who doesn't know what to say at that moment.
"Um...maybe. I don't know." Key says, stuttering out the first thing that comes into his head.
Chuckling at his startled manner, Byunghee shakes his head down at Key with a bright smile on his face.
"Do you maybe want to take a walk with me or something? Just to get some air, away from all of this?" he suddenly asks, confusing Key to further levels.
"Walk? Don't you have your car?"
"Don't be lazy and come on." Byunghee says, reaching out to Key's shoulder and moving him towards the exit. "And don't worry about Chaerin, just tell her you're with me." he says with a smile as they both exit the game and make a right turn towards the city area, Key's heart racing with an emotion that he couldn't describe.
The lights that covered Seoul at night time never ceased to amaze Key. It was strange to him, since everything was so quiet and dark, and yet so lively and active. The only people still out at this time were party-goers, who walked by the two of them, stumbling due to the liquor flowing through their systems, couples deciding to have a romantic night out, clinging to each other and attached at the waist, and late night joggers who tried to keep off the summer weight that they had successfully lost over the course of the season. And then there was the two of them.
Just strolling along the side walk, a ways apart from each other, and quieter than they had ever been before. Even their first time meeting was louder than this. It wasn't the fact that neither didn't want to talk, but more-so the fact that Key didn't know what was going on. Though he's read stuff like this in fanfictions and is a regular watcher of k-drama's (less and less over the months,) he isn't the type of person to ever believe in stuff like that. He's learned, over time, to not solely think of just fantasy, and instead take a look at the reality of the world around him. Though these said realities are the things that have made him so different from how he used to be, and so distant from people who used to be so close to him, he appreciated them. He feels as if they have now made him a stronger person, and that if he could tackle all of the hardships that he's endured and come out even moderately strong, then he can confront anything with a straight mind and strength.
"What's on your mind?" he hears a deep voice ask, taking him out of his thoughts.
"Nothing much." he answers, still looking down at the side walk.
"Don't lie to me." Byunghee says, causing Key to look up at him, and then back down at the floor.
"Sorry..it's just...I don't know," he sighs out, not knowing what was about to come out of his mouth. "I was thinking a lot about my past and stuff."
"Mmm." Byunghee grunts. "Anything in particular?" he asks, looking over towards the boy.
"Well...a lot of things, but mostly the people that I've lost." Key lowly states as he looks up, noticing another flower shop that he'd never seen before, due to having not been in the area in such a long time.
"Well, if they've left you, it was probably for a reason." Byunghee suddenly says, confusing Key as the said boy looks up at him.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"If they've left you, it was probably for a reason." Byunghee repeats, taking on a slower pace with Key following soon after. "It's possible that those people just weren't meant to be in your life, or maybe that you'd be better off without them. Sometimes you have to learn to live on your own, and stand on your own two feet before you can truly be able to be with someone. If you waste your time with someone who doesn't deserve to be in your life, it could damage you even further. You'll start to ask yourself things like 'why did this happen to me,' or 'what did I do to deserve this,' when in reality, you didn't do anything. You'll start to question yourself, when in reality, you should be moving on to bigger and better things. Sometimes you just have to allow those people to leave so that you can grow strong over time." Byunghee finishes, shocking Key with the amount of knowledge that he holds within himself.
He knew that Byunghee worked for a company and came from a rich family, and hence received a very high education, but he never truly knew how street smart he was until now. The way in which he spoke with such sincerity and knowledge made Key question what exactly Byunghee had been through to have such a strong assurance of things such as this. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn't even notice Byunghee stop until he felt nothing but cold air next to him. Which was then followed by the feeling of a strong hand on his shoulder.
"But sometimes..." he hears Byunghee start, looking up at him before he feels a very soft kiss planted on his lips that he wasn't expecting at all. "you have to appreciate the people that you do have. The people who care about you." he finishes as Key's lips are left parted in shock and confusion.
He didn't know how to feel at the moment, couldn't perfectly describe it. But one thing that he did know was that he was happy. He didn't know why and couldn't comprehend a plausible reasoning as to why he would even be such a thing at this moment in time, but he was happy nonetheless. As the thoughts went through his head, he unwillingly started to smile and blush under Byunghee's watchful eye, which got soft after he saw the expression on the youngers face. As if he was already expecting it, Key felt Byunghee's index and middle fingers lift his chin before another kiss was placed on his lips. One that he returned this time around. One that tasted like strawberries and vanilla, alongside a very light hint of coffee. One that was his first with a boy.
And one that he would never forget.
It was after the half-time performance and everybody was still high off of the electric performance that was just given. The individual triple flips that Sunny, Hyosung, and Fei, in particular, had successfully pulled off were, hands down, the highlights of the performance, and the talk of the audience as the said girls started to make their ways towards the left side of the bleachers, with the rest of the cheerleaders following soon after a few more seconds of peppy school spirit. The time off had given not only the football players time to recover and warm up, on their respective sides of the field, but also gave time to those in the audience to relax after a very tight game of football that, not in a shocking manner to anyone, was tied. At this point, everyone in attendance for the home team was antsy with the possibility that their team might actually win the game, and that football may now be a continuous theme for future school years to come. Individual conversations started to disperse amongst everyone on the bleachers, as some people started to exit to get snacks, and enter due to being late for some reasoning.
"Oh, hey. Everything okay?" Jessica asks as she looks up at a returning Onew, who tucks his cellphone into his pocket before he sits back down next to her.
"Yeah, I just had to handle some stuff at home." Onew says with a smile.
"Dear old mom, huh?" Jessica chuckles.
"Of course." Onew says with a soft smile that Jessica couldn't help but noticed seemed a little forced.
"Wassup bitches?" someone says, catching the attention of those under her, along with some people who she wasn't directing the sassy introduction to.
"AMBER!" Narsha shouts, standing up and hugging the girl before noticing someone behind the girl's right ear. "Oh my God, is this him?!" she asks, mouth open in shock as she pushes the girl aside softly.
"Yes, and can you not ogle him like he's a piece of meat?" Amber chuckles as she grabs the arm of the said boy and moves him next to her, leaving both him and Narsha in an awkward angle. "Everyone," she says, garnering the attention of the others. "this is Zico, my boyfriend. Zico, this is Thunder, Bom, Mir, Lee Joon, Onew, his girlfriend Jessica, Leeteuk, and Narsha, who's the excited one standing behind you." she says, as the boy nervously smiles and waves towards everyone that he was just introduced to.
"Nice to meet you Zico." Leeteuk says, standing up and shaking Zico's hand as the other nods in appreciation towards the said action.
"Yes, so nice to meet you!" Narsha says, moving in between the two men before they have a chance to have a real conversation with each other. "So, have you made my little Amber yours yet, or..."
"NARSHA!" Bom shouts in an appalled manner below her, still sitting down next to Mir.
"What? These are essential things that a best friend needs to know." she implies innocently as Amber merely shakes her head and chuckles at the usual interaction between all of her friends.
"Why exactly is it 'essential?'" Amber asks.
"Because if you're getting some, then this is a monumental moment for our group." Narsha says with a serious face as Zico smiles in an embarrassed manner.
"Yeah, I mean, from what I know, everyone here thought you were a..."
"I AM NOT A LESBIAN JOON! How many times do I have to tell you that before you believe me?" Amber asks, nearly shouting at the boy.
"What? It's not my fault that you and Narsha are always clinged up on each other..." Joon mumbles innocently.
"Narsha's always clinged up on everybody. Have you not seen her and Bom?" Amber asks, pointing at the mentioned girl.
"She has a point there." Onew pipes in, accepting a high-five from Amber's direction.
"But that's different," Joon pipes up, pointing up at the two girls. "Narsha's never actually kissed Bom before!"
"From what you know." Amber laughs, looking over at Narsha as she drags her boyfriend closer to her arm, snuggling against him slightly. "Don't worry, this is normal between all of us. You'll get used to it by the end of the game."
"That you've already missed half of, by the way." Thunder says.
"Yeah. Where the heck were you? I thought that you were going to get here at the same time that we were." Narsha accuses with a pout to her lips.
"We were, but we got caught up in something." Amber answers.
"Sex?" Narsha asks calmly.
"No, looking for my keys. Why do you always associate everything with sex?"
"It's her specialty." Onew says. "It's a proven fact that if you say one word, Narsha can make it sexual."
"Pickle!" Mir shouts out, chuckling against Bom as he does so.
"Mir wants to stick his hot pickle in my pussy."
"NARSHA!" Bom shouts.
"What? It's true..." she says. "OH, THE GAME IS STARTING AGAIN! LET'S GO TAEC!!!" she screams, running back to her seat and nearly crushing Joon's foot as she does so.
With amusement, Amber and Zico grab their seats as everyone else draws their attention back towards the tied game that was expected to get even more tense, heated, and competitive than before.
Around an hour and fifteen minutes later, the game ends, with Idol High's Panthers coming out with the win, totaling a score of 49, over the opposing team's 35. Afterwhich, everyone starts to pack up their things, after the usual post-game celebration ends, and the air around the area feels like a crisp outlining to the positivity and school spirit that radiates from the green grass of the school field. All of the cheerleaders, who continued to stand by the left side of the bleachers from the moment they got there, after their half time performance, start to gather all of their water bottles off of the grass before heading into the school to have a post-game meeting that Yuri had scheduled to be quick in time, before everyone left. Sunny, who straggles behind most of the other cheerleaders with Hyosung, nearly makes her way inside of the school until she feels her hand being grabbed. Though she couldn't see the face of the person who had done it, the touch and feel of the hand was more then familiar to her.
She was left speechless with the feel of the softness connecting itself onto her skin. She hadn't felt it in so long, almost too long for her liking. The mere fact that she was having these particular thoughts left her in a conflicted state that she didn't know how to handle on her own. She never knew how to handle herself when this part of her life had somehow always managed to resurface itself back into existence.
"Can we talk?" he asks softly before she looks up at him with eyes that he could read like a book. "Look, I just want to talk. That's all." he says assuringly towards the thoughts that he knew she was having.
Though she knows that she shouldn't, she lets him lead her across the side of the school and behind a corner where no one could see them, for the time being. As she looked up into his eyes, the look in her own turned into one of concern. Though she knows that it shouldn't have, that she shouldn't even be in this predicament in the first place, she starts to feel as if she actually wants to hear what he has to say, especially after a soft sigh leaves his lips and his shoulders shrug down into a mixture of relaxation and nervousness.
"Listen..." he starts, clearly nervous under her eye. "I know that what I did was wrong. Extremely wrong, and inexcusable. But...look," he says after a soft sigh that clearly emphasized his nervousness and fear of saying the wrong thing. "I've been miserable without you." he confesses, causing a strange warmth to radiate inside of Sunny's body, mostly near the area of her ribcage. "I don't even know how to describe it, but I just...don't like being without you. I just wish that we could go back to the way things were. And I know that I messed things up really, really badly...but I miss you Sunbaby. I miss you a lot." he whispers, looking down in a nervous manner as Sunny's eyes remain in the line of sight that they were in when he had been looking into them.
Yet again, she had no idea what to say. She couldn't even make sense of the thoughts that were trying to process themselves inside of her head because her heart was beating so fast. She couldn't even describe the way in which way her heart was beating. Whether it was because of nervousness or because the words had affected her to the point where she was genuinely touched.
But as that thought entered her head, Seohyun's words entered her mind, her voice like an alternate personality inside of her. She had warned her once before that Taeyang would say something along the lines of this to her, and that she shouldn't forgive him, no matter what. He was merely "a liar with no morals or self-respect," she said during their hour long discussion the day after everything had happened. Sunny was shocked that she could actually remember every little word of that conversation months after it happened. She could remember every feeling that was going through her head, every physical ache that had surged through her body. Every bit of heart-ache that she felt towards not only Taeyang, but also Hyoyeon.
The situation was like a crazy puzzle to her. One of only three pieces, but still impossible to fit together and complete, especially under the circumstances that Taeyang had left her in at that moment. How she could even breathe, she didn't understand.
"Look...i...it's okay if you don't want to accept my apology, but..."
"I want to." she mumbles, causing Taeyang to look up as she looks down to the ground below their feet, their hands connecting at the corner of her eyes.
"R...really?" he asks, a twinkle of relief and shock shining itself on to the surface of his pupils.
"Yeah." Sunny says with tight lips, nodding slowly as she does so. "I feel like...like I've been letting everyone else speak for me...but I never really speak for myself anymore." she says after multiple pauses, confusion washing over the face of Taeyang. "I just want to be my own person for once and trust someone. We can't be together again, if ever Tae," she starts as her head lifts itself back up to look at him. "but I'm more than willing to be your friend again, if that's really what you'd like." she finishes with a very small smile on her face.
"But it shouldn't be up to me Sunbaby. It's your decision, so you have to do what's right for you."
"What the hell is going on here?" a voice behind them asks, causing Sunny to turn around as her heart sinks into depths lower than she even knew were possible.
"Seohyu..."
"No, you shut up right now." Seohyun demands, sticking her hand in front of Sunny's face as she walks over to the two of them and stops next to Sunny, looking up at Taeyang with a hard glare covering her face. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you really think that I'm just going to stand here and allow you to lie in her face like this? That I'm just going to sit here and let you tell her that 'you'll do better,' and that you'll 'never hurt her again?'"
"He didn't say any of that Seo."
"Be quiet Sunny." Seohyun says, this time in a soft tone of voice. "Listen," she starts up in a slow pace. "you had your shot with her and you ruined it in one of the worst ways that you possibly could. You hurt my friend to the point where she can hardly trust anyone anymore, and I'm sick of seeing her like this because of you." she says, not giving a single thought to the depressing glare that Taeyang sends to Sunny's direction. "Don't ever come around her again. I mean it." she finishes before grabbing Sunny's wrist and pulling her towards the direction of the back door to the school, that leads to the gym where the cheerleaders were waiting for the two of them.
As stereo-typical as it seemed, the two felt like Romeo and Juliet as they were split further and further apart from each other. As Taeyang just stood there, dirty and covered in the contents of the Earth's soil, he felt as if his heart was almost going to rip, and then shatter into two. That any hope or aspiration that he had in being in good graces with Sunny would be over forever. That there was nothing left that he could do for the two of them. That it was really, officially over for them.