Coffee Stained Sarcasm
1
It was just like going back to prison except with freedom and even freer booze. The four blank, white walls told him that much studying and procrastination would occur; that was an oxymoron itself. Second year of college was not welcomed in his mindset and it certainly didn’t need to get any worse.
“My last class ends at Five on a Friday. Fucking 5 PM.” He hissed angrily as he shoved the printed paper of his class schedule to his roommate and friend, Zhou Mi.
Taller than him, and slight in built, the Chinese man only raised an eyebrow as he leaned forward, squinting at the crumpled paper in hand. He shrugged and turned his gaze back to his green Macbook Pro at hand.
“That’s only Friday, Kyu. Honestly, I don’t think it’s that bad. The rest of your days end like at, what? 12? That’s not so bad. It’s only that one day.” The older and wiser of the pair reasoned as his eyes flickered onto the lighted screen.
He only stared back, eyes narrowing for a split second before they averted back to its normal shape. A soft, grumble escaped his pale, chapped lips as he merely looked back to the paper. “I do have a life you know. Even if it does revolve around Starcraft and internet memes.”
Zhou Mi looked up from his laptop and formed his lips into a disconcerting smile.
“Right, Kyuhyun.”
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes before standing up from the stiff dining chair that he had situated his behind on for the last three hours. If he had sat any longer, he was sure there would be two dents. Lifting a hand to run over his shaggy mop of brown hair, he surveyed his friend.
They were two complete opposites and one would find it hard to see how they’ve become roommates, best friends even. Mi was tall and slight and so was he, but they essentially had their own unique qualities that were far more than just tall and skinny.
Mi was tall and slight in a sense that it fitted perfectly with his love of fashion and all things label. Kyuhyun had wanted to call the man metrosexual, but he knew he wouldn’t live to see his beloved playstation 3.
Back on topic, Kyuhyun was also tall yet he was not slight, but instead, lanky. He was tall because he skyrocketed in height due to an overnight growth spurt at the age of fifteen. His built was lanky and not slight because he had all the awkward limbs in awkward places. Everything did not seem right, like someone had carelessly jammed the wrong joint into the wrong socket.
At times, he felt like a Mr. Potato Head.
He placed both hands on his thin hips and tilted his head to the side, once more studying his friend who merely gave him one of those blinding smiles.
As stated, Mi had a sense of fashion, therefore he did not. His friend loved all things shopping, credit cards, and designer labels. Louis, Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Burberry, and Calvin Klein amongst others, those were Zhou Mi’s other friends besides him.
He looked down at himself and blinked. He was wearing yesterday’s tee shirt, it was worn and the slight rips was an indication of that. There was a smudge of what looked like a coffee stain at the collar and at the very bottom of the shirt, there was a peculiar, unidentified white substance that he did not dare think about. The faded, baggy jeans with the holes and rips did not help either. Rips and tears were in these days, weren’t they?
Seeing his friend’s own awareness to his lack of fashion sense, Zhou Mi clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “You know…It’s only Monday and classes start Thursday. You need a new wardrobe. Ten o’clock in the morning.” The fashionista said firmly as he threw a look at Kyuhyun.
“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t pick any of that furberry crap or Douche and Banana for me.”
Mi rolled his eyes before watching him go.
“It’s Burberry and Dolce and Gambana.
Kyuhyun shrugged his back to the man before walking away. He walked into the tiny hall and turned to the left, hand flipping the light switch before he stepped into the bathroom. One of the good things about the apartment was that the bathroom was huge. Tiled floor and antiseptic walls with a pinkish countertop and two sinks, the mirror was large too, it would serve its purpose to Mi.
He carefully got behind the sink and surveyed his appearance in the mirror. His pale, long fingers raked against the dyed brown locks of his head. Darker brown hue orbs gazed back at him owlishly while thin, chapped lips curved into a distinct frown at his unkempt appearance. His skin was pale, not deathly pale like a vampire’s, but he was surely getting there. His skin color wasn’t going to get any better with the computer tanning he’d been going through since he was thirteen.
There was a slight purple hue under his eyes while his cheeks were decorated in small amounts of pimples. With his attire and overall appearance, he looked like the typical, antisocial nerd. He snorted at the idea.
It wasn’t far from the truth really.
_
The walk to the campus was the death of him surely. It was quite obvious that he was not the physical type of person, preferring to use his mind more than the awkward and almost useless limbs that were stuck onto his body. At least he had them, he was grateful for that. How else was he supposed to operate a computer and play Starcraft?
“Don’t look so sulky. You’ll ruin that top I picked out on you.”
“As if that cup of coffee you’re waving about won’t manage to do that for me.” Kyuhyun retorted as he eyed the coffee that the brunette was holding with ease warily. He was not that conscious of his clothes, but they were pretty expensive.
Mi had pretty much turned his whole wardrobe around and today he was sporting an example of the four hundred dollar splurge. A black polo that fitted perfectly against his thin frame and a pair of grey skinny jeans with matching black converses, all that was claimed by his flamboyant friend as a must-have for college students. His friend had explained to him that he looked best in simple attires, nothing flashy.
Kyuhyun couldn’t have agreed any better, but the jeans were a tad too tight on him. “I don’t know. I feel weird in them.” Zhou Mi looked to him and smiled before taking a sip of his caramel latte, nonfat of course.
“Don’t worry. You look good. No one would know that you spend your Friday nights playing computer games and jacking off to internet porn.” He teased gently before pulling on a much more serious expression.
“Anyways, I’ll be going this way. See you later, Kyu.”
He sighed and nodded before waving back to Zhou Mi. “Yeah, later. I got Chinese anyways.” Kyuhyun stood there and watched him go before turning around to observe the campus that he had currently stepped foot in.
The campus was large to say the least, one of the largest in Seoul, and very green. He didn’t understand the school’s desperate need to go green and all that eco-friendly crap, but he figured it was better than polluting the air. It wasn’t good for his skin anyways, or at least that’s what Mi had told him.
There were large patches of green everywhere, followed by the skinny trees that were scattered everywhere haphazardly. The walkways were even more random too, sometimes going in curves and diagonals. Kyuhyun couldn’t even identify the flowers that were planted there. They all seemed exotic and not from this country. He wasn’t quite sure. It was more of a botanical garden than anything else really.
The buildings were normal at least. Although, they were rather plain and boring compared to the lively, colorful surroundings that was the environment. He continued walking. The school was giving the wrong message. With the boring buildings and the lively landscape, students would be looking out the window in sheer boredom, and then they would stare at all the flowers and trees, and wonder why they weren’t there instead of being stuck inside the classroom.
“Enough of this.”
He pressed his hand against the door and pushed hard before pulling himself in. The lecture hall was large and spacious, providing an adequate amount of seats and small, cramp desks that were useless when it came to support and note taking. Taking hold of his backpack, Kyuhyun sauntered down the steps. Glancing to the row of seats, he faintly noted that there were already quite a handful of people there.
Nerds, he thought as he took a seat in the fifth row. It was perfect for him, he didn’t want to be too close to the professor yet he didn’t want to be too far so that he couldn’t hear.
He dropped his backpack down to the empty seat next to him and began taking out his notebook and pen. Looking back to the row of seats once more, Kyuhyun frowned. It was a pretty big lecture hall for a language class. He knew Chinese was a popular language to take in college, but was it really necessary for such a large lecture hall?
Was it the language or was it something entirely itself?
Throwing the question to the back of his head, Kyuhyun leaned against his seat and closed his eyes. He heard the door creak when it was open, listening to the heavy thudded footsteps that seemed to take it’s time.
The normal, loud atmosphere had diminished with each footstep, replaced by hushed whispers as eyes glued onto the man while necks were stretched out, attempting to get a better look at him.
_
He was a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of students that were in his class. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he stood behind the podium. It was his second year of teaching and Geng still felt nervous. He wanted to be a good mentor to the students and while Chinese wasn’t as difficult as chemistry or math, it was still difficult, especially when his students were foreigners to the language.
“Uh. Hi everyone and welcome to your second yea-first year of Chinese lecture! I hope you all will learn something and find this class fun at the same time.” He smiled nervously and looked about, ignoring the soft snickers coming from the group of male students in the front row. The group of giggling girls in the masses didn’t sway the nervous tension in his gut as he took a deep breath and continued.
He preferred his exclusive dance class better than this.
_
His brow was arched as he stared at the clumsy professor skeptically, elbow propped against the arm support while his hand rested under his chin. Kyuhyun snorted as the professor made the minor blunder and allowed himself to relax a little. The professor looked like a real pushover; it would probably be another easy quarter. He smirked softly at the thought, dreaming about the hours of Starcraft he could play while cramming his homework in an hour or two if he was unfortunate enough.
“The prof’s kinda hot, don’t you think?”
Kyuhyun blinked and glanced over to the guy next to him. He had pretty brown hair that framed his face and a nice smile to boot, what struck Kyuhyun the most was the pink clip that was on his hair. It was so innocent compared to the rest of the guy’s attire, which was a pair of light tan slacks and a long sleeved button top.
“Eh, he’s okay.”
The guy looked at him now and smiled.
“That’s good to know.” He stuck out his hand, the smile still in place much to Kyuhyun’s observation.
“Name’s Sungmin.”
He shook the hand gently.
“Kyuhyun.”
_
He picked up his pen and notebook, dumping it inside the backpack before looking up to catch sight of the guy with the pink hairclip looking at him.
“I’ll see you later. We should sit with each other next coming lecture.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
He watched him go before slinging his backpack on. The lack of people soon made him realize that he was the only one there, saved for the professor that was still taking some questions. Kyuhyun frowned. Time had passed by so fast and he hadn’t even realized that everyone had left.
Shaking his head gently, he took a few steps forward, nearly colliding with the body that came into view. The collision came anyways and the figure fell backwards, white sheets of paper danced in the air.
“Sorry.”
The professor slipped out as Kyuhyun watched him pick up the pieces of paper. He crouched down next to him and picked up a fallen piece next to him.
“No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Sorry.” He mumbled, handing the last piece to the older man.
“You’re Professor Geng, right?” His head was tilted to the side a bit as he studied the older man. Large, honey brown eyes that showed gentle warmth, black short locks that curved around his tan features, making his face even gentler. The man’s lips were plump and Kyuhyun faintly wondered how they tasted. He felt his body lean forward.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for helping me pick them up.” The piece of paper was taken out of his hand, leaving Kyuhyun to blink as he looked up to Geng, who had stood up.
“I hope you enjoyed class today. I’ll see you Monday.”
He blinked again and lowered his gaze to the floor in confusion. “Right, you too.”
Standing up, Kyuhyun watched Geng smile and go.
The man was tall, a little taller than him with long legs that seemed endless and that pert bottom that stuck out from under his slacks. Kyuhyun stopped and watched those hips sway while that bottom walked away from him.
_
“Mi, tell me everything you know about that new Chinese professor.” He slammed his backpack down in front of the male, joining him at the table as he took a seat down. The older man looked up at him and cracked a smile.
“Why? You got a crush on him or something? I don’t know much, really.” Zhou Mi shrugged as he picked up a french fry he had gotten from the newly built McDonalds.
“Not even. I’m just curious that’s all. See if he’s a hard ass or a pushover, you know.” He snagged the thin strand of potato from the man, earning an irritated look.
Kyuhyun ignored the look, shrugging as he chewed on the oily fry.
Sighing softly, the older college student gave in. “Well, I know he’s married…” He paused, catching the look of surprise cross the snarky man’s features. “He was. Or at least I think so. Whatever. There’s just been a rumor going around that he married some rich company guy three years ago and things are going rocky for them. So supposedly he’s getting a divorce.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “He teaches dance too, but only to experienced dancers, so I don’t think you’d want to try it…” Zhou Mi cast a look at the younger once more, frowning softly as he caught Kyuhyun grinning.
“Where did you say the dance class was located? And the days he teaches it?”
“I didn’t. You’re not interested in dancing and quite frankly, you suck at it. When you dance, it’s like you’re trying to mate with the air. And the air is unwilling, mind you.” Rolling his eyes, Zhou Mi leaned back into his seat.
The gamer threw a nasty look at his friend. “What makes you say that? Maybe I do want to mate with the air, you know with it being always available and free.” He made a gesture, earning a funny look from the girls sitting across from them.
“Fine. I don’t even know why a bother. He teaches them Wednesdays and Fridays at the P.E building. Starting at 3 o’clock. How I know all this, you’re thinking? He’s a pretty popular teacher, that’s all I’m saying.”
_
“He’s a pretty popular teacher. Of course he is, with an ass like that, who isn’t?”
The dance room was empty, void of any moving bodies himself. Dressed in black basketball shorts and a grey hoodie with his white shirt sticking out from underneath, he was huddled in the far left corner, a handheld game in hand as he waited for signs of the professor.
Footsteps echoing in the room pulled him out of his game and Kyuhyun looked up to see the Chinese man walking into the room. The man walked towards him, but stopped a few feet away; putting his things down on the table was near the corner where Kyuhyun occupied.
“I don’t mate the air when I dance!”
“Wha-What the!?”
Kyuhyun shot up, pulling the grey hoodie down so the man was able to get a good look at him.
“I mean…So I think I’d be able to join. I would like to join, that is.”
Staring at him intently, he didn’t know what this feeling was; Geng was just nice to look at.
The horror stricken look was replaced by a look of relief and Geng pulled his hand away from his thumping chest. “That’s…nice to hear.”
He didn’t know what to say next. The dance class was a small one and squeezing in one more student wouldn’t hurt, if he showed any skill that is.
“If you can show me that you have some skills with dancing then you’re in. It could be any kind of dance.”
The puzzled look that crossed his features faded into a look of determination.
“Got it.” Kyuhyun murmured as he balled his hands into fists. He wasn’t a complete moron, he had come here prepared. It wasn’t like he had expected to just get in without showing any dance skills after all.
Once the music started, he started off with shuffling his feet back and forth until he was gliding backwards. As dance challenged as he was, the moonwalk was an easy feat. Next, Kyuhyun followed off with the basics of breaking. Some minor popping, locking, and arms bent and waved until the music stopped. Pursing his lips together, he gazed to the man in apprehension. He was sure he had done decently, he hadn’t messed up, and he hadn’t bullshitteded his dance.
Geng was looking at him funny. Kyuhyun could make out the tiny twitch that was coming out of the corners of the man’s lips.
“To be frank, I don’t know what to say, but I suppose it won’t hurt to let you join.”
He was obviously making a grave mistake.
_
The walk back to the apartment was strangely more upbeat and happier than Kyuhyun had ever experienced on his two legs. Shaking his backpack that was dangling on one shoulder, he skipped a few steps before jumping over a small puddle. Landing on his feet, the brunette smirked, seeing his apartment unit just a few yards ahead.
“You look awfully happy today.” Mi looked up from his Cosmopolitan magazine, keeping his sharp gaze at the younger man.
“Guess what I got into?”
Kyuhyun laughed, dropping his backpack onto the carpet floor as he plopped down on the loveseat next to his slim friend.
Eyes returning back to the magazine, Mi shrugged.
“Someone’s pants?”
“Haha. Very funny, guess again Mi.”
\
“Well, were they at least Guess Jeans? Because, you know Guess makes some pretty sexy looking jeans.”
“Professor Geng’s exclusive dance class.”
He looked smug and he knew it, soaking up the surprised wide eyed look that Zhou Mi was throwing him. Kyuhyun smirked and nodded, arms crossed as he leaned back into the seat.
“I danced my way into his class.”
“Too bad you couldn’t dance your way into his pants.” Retorted the taller man as he closed his magazine and threw it on the table. “You never showed any interest in dance, so why bother now? It’s obviously because of Geng himself. Admit it Kyu, you’re totally crushing on the China man himself.” To emphasize his point, Mi leaned closer and jabbed his finger onto the man’s shoulder.
A look of revulsion crossed his face. Slapping the finger away, Kyuhyun shrugged. “I thought I’d try something new. Who better to teach it than my own Chinese teacher? And who’re you calling China man? Aren’t you Chinese yourself, Mi?”
“Please. Just admit it. You have this unusual Chinese fetish or something. Your best friend’s Chinese, hint-moi, other than Korean cuisine, Chinese is your favorite, you’re taking a Chinese class might I add. And you’re totally crushing on Geng.”
It was Zhou Mi’s turn to look smug now as he eyed Kyuhyun.
“But for your sake, I’ll leave it for now and watch it unfold. Just don’t come snipping at me if he finds out that you actually have zero talent in dancing. You do know that you’ll be put together with dancers who can actually dance, right?”
Kyuhyun waved it off. He didn’t understand his friend sometimes. Mi could be so supportive in one moment and the next he would be warning him that he was going to fail. But he supposed that dancing was not his forte, especially if he was going to be put into a class full of people who’ve been dancing for years.
He was bound to face some difficulties.
It didn’t matter.
“And I do not have a Chinese fetish, Mi.”
?
A/N: Wow, finally back. Anyways, unlike my other stories, I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I like the first chapter enough, but I’m not sure I want to continue this or not. I still like KyuHan, but sometimes it’s hard to write about them for some reason. Well, I would be much appreciated if you leave some feedback. Likes? Dislikes? Anything to improve on? Thank you.