We Were Not That Far
Title: We Were Not That Far
Pairing: 2min
Rating: G
Summary: Minho needs a beta and Jonghyun helps him to get one. But what will happen when they know who the beta really is?
A/N: written for lilkraftykat She is my beta and today is her birthday (well, I don't know about the time difference but in my country, today is June 10) Happy birthday, Kate. I love you
“You better have a proper explanation for this Choi Minho.” Lee Jinki looked at him intently. The latter just kept his head down; he exactly had no proper explanation for this case. Well, he hoped his teacher just punish him without asking for explanation.
He hated explanation and he wondered why people always looking for explanation of every actions on their life.
“I have no explanation, Mr. Lee. Just tell me what the penalty is.”
The teacher sighed on his answer. He has already known his student’s habit, especially this problematic one.
“I have no idea what I should do to make you stop putting yourself in trouble.”
“Then, are you going to expel me from your precious school?” Yes, he was right. His teacher, Lee Jinki was the oldest son of the school’s headmaster. His younger sister had graduated two years ago from this school and his youngest brother, Lee Taemin was in the same grade with Minho.
“No. It won’t be that easy. Let’s see what I can do for you.” He opened a book and his finger scanned through the page. “Did you know your case is one of three main prohibitions at this school?”
“Yeah. Drugs, alcohol, and fight. So, what’s the penalty for getting into a fight?” Minho asked impatiently. His teacher was good on giving him bothersome time.
“Involved in fight is rated 150 points and your points are…130.”
Dammit. Deep inside, Minho cursed hard on his left point. It was just 20 points to get save from being kicked out.
“But, I won’t expel you just like that. It won’t be interesting. So, I decide that you should pay that insufficient 20 points.” His teacher gave him a knowing smile, made Minho groan silently.
“How could I get it? I don’t think I can get those points. I’m not a member of any clubs in this school. I’m not your little nerds brother who can easily get the straight A on exams-“
“I think you’re not at the position for mocking other student just because he got a better grade than you, Choi Minho.” He could see his teacher’s hand turned into a fist. Minho really wanted to smirk at that sight. It wasn’t because I scoff at a higher grade student, it was because he is your little brother, Minho said in his thought. Minho has never been good with Mr. Lee; he even didn’t remember when was the first time he starts to speak disrespectfully to him.
“Find Kim Kibum. You can ask him for upcoming competition. Winning a competition is rated 25 points. If you lose, you’ll be expelled from this school.”
Minho had no choice. If this school has three main prohibitions which will decrease your points if you break them, this school also has only three things to gain points.
Joining school’s club, every contribution to the club, including attendance, is counted and you’ll get some points from it. Because Minho wasn’t member of any clubs at school, this option was eliminated. Getting an A on the exams, you’ll get straight 10 points and it’s impossible for him to get an A on exams. Minho knew it very well.
The last one is winning a competition. So, this was his only hope.
***
“Well, you better tell your parents that you start to feel discomfort and want to transfer into other school in order to improve your grade for this last year.”
“And my dad will call the headmaster and kill me when he finds out what actually happened.” Minho said sarcastically to his best friend, Jonghyun.
“But, it’s impossible for you to join any competition and WIN.” Jonghyun emphasised the word win, made Minho want to punch him for underestimating him.
Actually, Jonghyun had a sense. Minho wasn’t the type who would join competition and win. It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable but he didn’t want. He had never been joining any competition and he did it on purpose. He just never told anybody about that purpose, including Jonghyun even if he was his best friend.
“I still can handle it, as long as it’s sport competition. Maybe I can get swimming or high jump competition.”
“Then, where we can find out about the upcoming competition?”
“You may hate this.” He turned his eyes to Key - nickname of Kim Kibum - and Jonghyun followed his direction.
“Have I told you that you’re really ended at this point?”
“Not yet.” Minho sighed.
Well, yeah. So, Key was the president of student committee. He was very popular and respected. But for so called problematic student like Minho and Jonghyun, he was just Nerds Number Two who lived on an over discipline life and wore a glasses which made him looked more like a dumbass. He was Minho and Jonghyun biggest enemy in this entire school because he hated problematic student so much and wanted to just kicked them out of school of he had the authority to do that.
“Come on, my life depends on this.” Minho grabbed Jonghyun’s wrist and walked towards Key.
“Hey, do you have any time for me? I want to ask you about something.” Minho said straight.
“Of course, I have. What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, I want to know about some upcoming competitions. Do you have any information to share with me?” Key gave a questioning look at Minho. He couldn’t believe what he’s just heard.
“What?” He answered in surprised tone. But, Minho knew it was a fake. “Are you thinking of joining competition?”
“Yes. Mr. Lee asked me to join it. So, you better tell me the upcoming competitions now.” Minho answered impatiently. He didn’t want to linger with him.
Key opened his bag and took his note book. He pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Minho.
“That is the list of the upcoming competitions. Good luck.”
Both of Minho and Jonghyun rolled their eyes when Key left them and rushed to the paper.
“Biology olimpiad.” Minho read the list.
“NO.” Both of them screamed.
“History Challenge?”
“BIG NO.” Both of them screamed again.
“Just skip academicals list, try the non-academicals one.” Jonghyun said. Minho did skimming and stopped at the end of the list.
“Shit.” Minho cursed. “There are only two options left, painting or writing.”
“Writing.” Jonghyun replied.
“Are you kidding me? Write a short story isn’t me at all.”
“You have no choice. You join NO CLUB. Your grade is NOT GOOD AT ALL. No way you will chose painting because you ARE NOT a painter and you CAN NOT paint. You better write a random story, it’s just SHORT story anyway.”
***
“It’s crazy. I’ve been looking at further information for this competition and I decided not to join it.” Minho said in frustration. Jonghyun took a look at the print-out requirement for the competition. He read some lines which has highlighted on it.
Written in English.
No grammatical and spelling errors.
“The worst one is I have to win in order to stay at this school.”
Both of them sighed. Silence floated, none of them wanted to start a new conversation.
“Come on, I’m going to help you. Have you got the idea of the story?” Jonghyun started.
“No. I have no idea. The requirements blew all my creativities away. My English is sucks. It’s impossible for me to write without any grammatical errors.”
“Okay, listen. Your matter is only on the grammar. We need to find someone who can fix it. And, it’s obvious that the person isn’t me. My English isn’t better than you. What about your brother?”
“Good. Tell him I’m joining a competition and just wait till he finds out the reason behind this and just pray my dad won’t kill me in a harsh way.”
“Then, let’s take a look at our school mate. Maybe we can find someone who can help you.” They both turned around, gazed the whole room to find someone for a help. And their eyes stopped at Key.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking right now?” Minho asked.
“Key.” They said in unison.
“He is a genius in English but no, I will never ever ask him for a help.” Minho said.
“Yeah, me too. Okay, he’s eliminated. Who’s next?” They gazed the entire room again and stopped at still the same person.
“Lee Taemin.” They said still in unison.
“Is there any possibility to ask him for a help?” Jonghyun asked hesitantly. But Minho knew for sure that he would never ever ask him for a help. If Key was Nerds Number Two, Taemin was the Number One. The headmaster’s youngest son, Top of Nerds, no-grammatical-errors student, and Mr. A in all exams. Those criteria had already enough to make Taemin ended up in Minho’s never-befriend list.
“No. First, his brother is the one who made me ended up like this. Second, he is on the top of my never-befriend list. Third, how the hell could I ever ask him for a help?”
“Then, we have no one else.”
“Minho oppa,” A girl interrupted them. She was standing near them, looking at Minho with such a bitchy puppy eyes.
“Yes?”
“I heard that you’re getting trouble with that stupid-mood-killer-out-of-date Teacher Lee and you’re going to be kicked out from this school. Is it right?”
“From whom did you hear that?”
“Everyone is talking about it now. I don’t know who was spreading it but we’re worrying about you, oppa.” Minho and Jonghyun knew who were we that she said. She was Krystal, the cheerleader’s captain. She and her team was Minho’s fan girl who liked flirting to him.
Minho might one of problematic students at this school, yet he was as popular as Key. Most of boys are afraid of him but the girls; they put their eyes on Minho because of his overflowing charisma, his sexiness, and his good-looking face. Minho was just a perfect guy to date.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be expelled.” Minho gave her reassuring smile.
“You should stay here. The school won’t be interesting without you, oppa.” Krystal said as she sat on Minho’s lap and let the flirting moment begun.
After made a deal with Minho, Jonghyun went home in hurry because he had family stuff to do. So, Minho was left alone in the middle of cafeteria, facing his laptop, trying to find an idea for his story, till he saw Taemin walked in. All of sudden, Minho remembered his conversation with Krystal. He sighed and moved towards Taemin.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Minho said right behind Taemin, made the other jumped in shock.
“Gosh, you scared me.”
“Did I? Should I be sorry?”
“What do you want? What did you mean by saying it was me?”
“Don’t pretend like you’re innocent. It must be you who spread about my business with your over protective and possessive brother.”
Minho smirked at Taemin’s reaction. Taemin face already turned red in anger and his hand turned into a fist.
“He is our teacher, you should respect him. And, don’t accuse other people as you please.”
“Well, you’re his little brother. He must tell you about this. No way, he would tell another student.”
“I’ve said it wasn’t me.” Minho pushed Taemin against the wall till Taemin’s back crashed it hard and Minho held his wrist roughly. Taemin didn’t show any pain on his face. He stared back at Minho confidently. That was one of the reasons why Minho dislikes him, because Taemin was never afraid of him.
“I knew it must be you. You should know that-“
“Are you bullying your friend, Choi Minho?” Both of Minho and Taemin turned to see the owner of the voice. It was Lee Jinki, standing not too far from them; his body stiffened at the sight of his little brother was being pushed against the wall.
“We are having a conversation, Mr. Lee.” Minho answered calmly. He let go of Taemin.
“Is it right, Taemin?”
“Yes, Sir. We’re just… talking to each other.” Minho frowned at Taemin’s action.
“Oh, alright. Meet me at my office, Taemin. I need to talk to you.” Mr. Lee left them unwillingly.
“I’m not a complainant if that is what comes to your mind.” Taemin left.
***
“What?” Minho asked when Jonghyun approached.
“I got this.” Jonghyun handed him a piece of paper. “It’s a link to a community. I don’t really know what community it is but this community provides beta readers for its member. So, this beta thing is something like, umm, there will be someone over there who will fix your grammatical and spelling error, and any other things depends on the beta itself. What do you think?”
“You are freaking genius, Kim Jonghyun!” Minho screamed joyfully.
***
Minho sat in front of his computer, typing a link he got from Jonghyun. It took an hour for him to get to know about the community, how it goes and its rules. After he got enough information, he signed up in order to have an account there, joined the community, and posted a request.
After he posted that, he disconnected his internet connection and started to write his story. He should do that or he would go browsing instead of doing his story. He drowned on the story he wrote till he realised it was already late in night. He connected his internet connection to check whether there is already a response for his post.
Minho smiled brightly when he knew he got three responses. He looked at those usernames and chose Little Mushroom in random. Then he sent Little Mushroom a message.
Minho was about to close the window when he got notification.
Minho smiled.
***
“I don’t know, my beta said-“ Minho paused. “Uh, I don’t know Little Mushroom is a he or she.”
“Let’s pretend Little Mushroom is a she. Come on, which kind of guy in this world wants to do such an unimportant job like that. Little Mushroom must be a she.” Jonghyun said.
“Whatever. So, she said she’s going to give me her opinion about it today. I need to hear her opinion soon. It’s my first time writing a random story like that, I don’t think it works.”
“Just ask her for another idea if she thinks your story isn’t good enough. But don’t ask me, you know I’ve never interested on reading.”
They finished their lunch, walked back to the class, and unluckily met Lee Jinki on the halfway.
“Hello Minho. So, how’s your competition progress? I asked Key and he said you chose to join a writing competition.” He smiled brightly.
“I’m working on it. And, I would like it if you didn’t tell your little nerds brother about it so he wouldn’t spread it to the entire school.” Minho answered.
“So, it is the reason you did harsh to him yesterday, isn’t it?” Jinki face turned hard and glared to Minho. “No, I’ve never told him before. Once again you put your dirty hand on him; I’ll never let you go.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Minho replied coldly.
“You’re lucky he defended you.” Jonghyun said when Minho finished telling him what he did to Taemin yesterday.
“No, it made me wonder why he did it.”
“Maybe he afraid you will do something bad to him.”
“Yaah, you know I’m not kind of person who will easily bully other people just because he’s telling the truth.”
“If I’m not your friend, I’ll think the opposite. You may punch someone because he deserves for it, but the others will think you do it just because you want it. ”
***
***
“Turn off your laptop.” The teacher glared at Minho.
“Sorry Sir, I can’t.”
“Stay in but turn off your laptop or get out and finish your business out there.”
“Fine.” Minho took his laptop and left the whole class gaping on his action.
From: Dino Jjong
Are u crazy?
Minho sighed and texted him back.
To: Dino Jjong
Winning that stupid
competition is my priority now
From: Dino Jjong
You can do it after school‼‼
Where are u?
To: Dino Jjong
I’m waiting for little mushroom
She promised to go online whenever
she has time.
Need to discuss with her
Cafeteria
***
***
“Taemin, what are you actually doing lately?” Jinki sat up next to his beloved brother, Taemin.
“I have something to do.” Taemin answered. His eyes never left the screen in front of him, ignoring Jinki’s presence at all.
“What is it?” Jinki got curious with his business. Jinki found Taemin facing his laptop too often lately. He did it every evening after school. Jinki caught him still in front of his laptop in the midnight. He even brought his laptop to school and didn’t have his lunch because of it. It made Jinki worry about him.
“Nothing important hyung.” Taemin replied uninterestedly.
“Then, why have you been in front of your laptop very often lately? You’ve been skipping your lunch, staying till late at night, and doing nothing except typing on your laptop.” But Taemin seemed uncaring with his hyung’s question, made his hyung lost his patience. “Lee Taemin, I want your answer now.” He shouted at the younger and successfully caught his brother attention. Taemin was staring at him, annoyance
obviously showed on his face.
“There is someone out there who needs my help so I’m helping him. Have you satisfied?”
***
***
“Is it Little Mushroom?” Johyun asked Minho when they were in the middle of their lunch break. Jonghyun had already finished his lunch but Minho hasn’t eaten anything yet.
“Hmm.” Minho responded lazily.
“Why are you still with her?”
“I don’t know. I just like doing this.” Minho answered without looking at Jonghyun. His eyes were too busy with the screen to look at his best friend.
“Hah, come on Minho. Don’t say that you like her. Oh my gosh, you even don’t know who she is.”
“I never said I like her. I just like talking with her.”
“But you’re not talking with her directly.”
“Okay, chatting, messaging, whatever it called. I just enjoy it.”
“Yeah, just wait until you fall in love with her. It’s silly you know.” Jonghyun sighed and gazed around the cafeteria. His eyes stopped and gaped at a strange sight.
“What day is today?” He asked.
“Wednesday. If I’m not mistaken.”
“Is there any special thing on this Wednesday?”
“Aish, stop bothering me. Why did you ask strange questions like that?”
“I can’t believe at what I see. Nerds number one brings no book with him.” Jonghyun pointed at Taemin, who were smiling happily in front of his laptop while typing God knows what.
“Maybe he changed his trend from books to e-books. I’m sure he’s reading some encyclopedia or anything like that.”
“Make sense.” Jonghyun replied.
***
“Okay, let’s split and practice shooting with your partner.” The PE teacher said.
Minho and Jonghyun have already exchanged glances when the teacher added, “And you two will not be in the same team. Jonghyun, you can choose one girl as your partner. You’re good at basketball, you can teach the other.” Jonghyun grinned widely to the fact that he could choose a GIRL to be his partner as he pleased and of course he picked Krystal, the most beautiful one in the class. Minho groaned unsatisfied. Their teacher kept mentioning who will be with whom but he hasn’t mentioned Minho yet.
“Is there anyone who hasn’t got partner yet?”
Minho raised his hand.
“Good, you two can be a partner.” Minho turned around to see who his partner and cursed silently when he knew it was Taemin. “Let’s start practicing.”
Minho and Taemin stayed in silence for awhile before Minho took the ball and started to teach Taemin. “Well, I’m not as good as Jonghyun, but I’ll try to teach you. You just need to-“ Minho stopped as Taemin took the ball from his hand, dribbled it a little and shot to the ring.
For the first time, Minho’s jaw dropped so low that he looked like a dumb.
“Did I do it accurately?” Taemin asked.
“Are you really wanting to ask my opinion or you just meant it?”
“I’m truly asking your opinion. I want to know whether I used the right technique or not.”
Minho sighed at him. “You did it very accurately. How could you do that? Is there any book which teaches you how to shoot a ball?” Minho wished Taemin would mad at him through this question.
“There are books which tell you how to do it but watching someone’s playing is better than reading it through books.” Taemin answered calmly and threw the ball to Minho.
Is he really that calm? Minho asked himself. He tossed that thought away and focused on the ring. He shot the ball and..in. He caught the ball and threw it to Taemin.
“It seems like you can do it easily.” Taemin praised him.
“Jonghyun taught me. You can have the ball; I’m not in mood to practice.”
“Thanks.” He replied in monotone.
Is this his way thanking other people? In monotone? Minho wondered. He sat up on the floor and watched Taemin shot the ball. He looked very serious when he shot the ball, made Minho chuckled. It’s just shooting a ball, why is he so serious? Minho kept watching Taemin, he stared at the sweats which began to stream on Taemin face, and he stared at how Taemin swept it elegantly.
At first, it was just looking at him but then, it turned to stare at him intensely. Minho didn’t miss every single movement of Taemin’s slim body till he came into a conclusion. Well, he is beautiful enough as a man. Slim body, white skin, and long hair. Wait, long hair.. Minho looked at how Taemin was so annoyed with his bangs which stuck on his wet forehead and his hair on his cheek and neck.
Just ignore him, Minho. Minho scolded himself.
But he failed.
“Tie up your hair. You won’t concentrate if your hair stuck around your face.”
“I have nothing to tie my hair.”
Minho took off his hair ties and gave it to Taemin. “Use mine.”
Taemin grabbed it and tied his hair, but he never tied his hair before so his hair wasn’t tied up neatly or it could be said ‘ended in messy’.
“Can you tie your hair neater than that?”
“I never tie my hair before.”
“What? Are you joking?” Minho pulled him closer and worked on his hair. He tied it into neat ponytail. “This is how you should tie your hair. Next time, look for a book which teaches you how to do this.” Minho sat back on the floor, left Taemin stunning because of his action.
“Okay, time’s up. Come on; show me what you’ve got.” All of students gathered around the teacher. “Each of you will get three chances to shoot. I’ll take this as our last test-“
He stopped as he heard his student’s complaining. But as a teacher, he wouldn’t let himself being defeated by his own students. So, the test went as what he said.
“Choi Minho.”
Minho moved and took the ball. He was succeeding on the first and second shot, but unfortunately, he failed at his last shot. He yelled out since it was the last test and he didn’t do it well. Jonghyun patted his back to calm him but it didn’t work well.
Far behind them, Taemin stared at those two while his mind thinking hard on something.
“Lee Taemin.” The call snapped him back to reality. He moved forwards and did his test perfectly. He stole a glance on Minho while he walked back but Minho didn’t notice it.
“Okay class, you’ve done well. Class dismissed.”
“Sir, can I talk to you?” Taemin said to his PE teacher. He was panting because he had to run to him, his teacher left the basketball field earlier when they still put all balls back.
“Yes. What do you want to talk about?”
“It’s about Choi Minho. Can you give him full score? Well, I was not good on shooting and he let me use out ball to practice more. Because of it, he had not practiced for his own sake and failed. So, please, can you give him full score for today’s test?”
Their conversation was going at the school’s corridor, where everyone could easily passed by and eavesdropped at their conversation. And, that was Minho did. No one could describe how angry and confused he was.
***
“Thanks for yesterday.” Taemin raised his hand and there was Minho’s hair ties lying on his palm.
“Just take it.” Minho replied annoyingly and walked out. But then, he stopped and turned back.
“Why you did that?” He glared on Taemin.
“Did what?”
“Persuading PE teacher to give me a full score! Who do you think you are? Do you think because you’re headmaster’s son you can easily ask do that? It’s my grade not yours, you can NOT play with it as you please, you fucking nerds!” Minho couldn’t hold his anger and let it burst out. He left Taemin without hearing any explanation from him. He was too angry to listen to him.
But on the other hand, Taemin still stood there, trembling, scared, and disappointed. He held Minho’s hair ties tightly on his hand like his life depends on it.
***
***
“I got it.” Minho said to Jinki.
“Really? Congratulations, Choi Minho. You’re safe. You must be done well at this competition.”
“Can I leave now?”
“When will you start to respect me more?”
“Never.”
“As I’ve expected. You can go now.”
***
“What the hell is this?” Jonghyun screamed at his friend’s essay, especially on a letter on the top of the paper, A.
“Little Mushroom helped me on the grammar.” Minho grinned.
“Shit. Then, you kept it from me and let me get C while you can get A. Lucky she isn’t here, if she were here, I probably killed her.
“The hell you will. I won’t let you touch her.”
“Fine, enjoy your moment; you may be the only one who can equal no-grammatical-error student, Lee Taemin.”
Minho sighed when he heard that name. It has been awhile since their last meeting; Minho didn’t pay any attention to him lately. He was still too angry to look at him.
“Yeah, maybe.” Minho gazed around the cafeteria and spotted Taemin not too far from his seat. Taemin was reading a book like usual, but one thing that shocked Minho was his hair. He tied up his hair with…his hair ties.
“How long has he like that?” Minho asked.
“Who? Like what?”
“Taemin and his tied hair.”
“Oh, he has been tying up his hair into cute ponytail since several days ago. You know, many students said he looks gorgeous with that ponytail. But he still looks like nerds for me.”
“Yeah, with books on his hand, he looks like perfect nerds.”
Silence floated between them.
“What’s your upcoming summer plan?” Jonghyun asked. “I’m going to Japan with my mom. You know-“
“Family stuff.” They said in unison.
“Then, bring me something from Japan.” Minho said. “I haven’t planned anything yet.”
“No wonder, your time out just for chatting with your Little Mushroom.” Jonghyun mocked. “How’s she?”
“She’s just like that, a good friend to share. Hey,” Minho paused in abrupt. “How is it if I asked her to meet up with me?” His face turned bright as he waited for an answer.
“Minho, seriously, are you crazy? What the hell are you thinking about? Meeting stranger you found in internet and spending your summer holiday with her?” Jonghyun couldn’t believe on what he heard.
“But it sounds good. We can share a lot of things or maybe I can date her.” Minho smiled widely, ignoring disagreement from Jonghyun.
“Okay, this makes no sense for me. You have A LOT of fan girls here. You can date Krystal, the most beautiful girl at this school, whenever you want but you choose a stranger, let me make it clearer, A STRANGER. You even don’t know whether she already has a boyfriend or not. How is it if she is a married woman?”
“No. I know she’s a student. And if she already has a boyfriend, I can take her from her boyfriend, if only I fall in love with her when we meet.”
“Fine. Do it. I give up.”
***
***
I saved her phone number and went out. Gosh, finally, we were going to meet on two hours. I smiled as I walked out my room. Yeah, I stayed at hotel. Luckily, my family let me had my own summer vacation here. They must be having a good time in Canada right now.
“Ouch,” I groaned when someone bumped into me.
“Sorry,” My eyes grew larger when I found out the one who hit me. Lee Jinki. Gosh, should I meet him in such a perfect summer vacation? “Minho?” He stared at me with confused look.
“Yes, I am.” I replied lazily.
“What are doing here?”
“Having my summer vacation. Is there any possibilities except that?” I said sarcastically.
“Well, it’s not a good way to talk to someone during this lovely summer break.”
“I think we’re not meant to be in a good relationship. Excuse me.”
I left him and walked to the beach in hurry. Hell, I think I deserve for a perfect holiday without having my enemy teacher around me. What the hell is he doing here? Having a vacation? Don’t care.
I gazed around when I reached the Jungmun beach. I looked for a good spot to meet and I found a perfect place under the coconut trees. The shadow will cover us from the sunlight. I walked there in hurry, but stopped when I realised I wasn’t the one who want to claim this place.
“Minho?”
“Yes, I am Minho and you’re Taemin.” I sighed. What a perfect summer vacation! Surrounded by your annoying teacher and his little brother, I thought I was just unlucky.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Waiting for someone.”
“Oh, me too.”
An awkward silence wrapped us. I stole a glance on Taemin who was wearing a big loose blue T-shirt and short pants. His hair tied up neatly into a ponytail, still with my hair ties. I wondered why he still kept it. But I thought, I knew why many students said he looks gorgeous with that ponytail because I felt it too.
“What are you staring at?” He glared at me. His face showed discomfort.
“Nothing.” I replied.
Then, awkward silence was back. We stood in a proper distance, ignoring each other presence. I sat on the sand and leaned my back on the coconut trees. I glanced at my watch. She should already be here by now. I took my phone and texted her.
To: Little Mushroom
Where are you?
From: Little Mushroom
I’ve already at the beach.
Where exactly are you?
To: Little Mushroom
Under the coconut trees.
I gazed around and realised I wouldn’t find her since I didn’t know her face.
“Let’s just call her,” I mumbled as I dialled her number. I shocked when I heard a ringtone not too far from me and I found out it was Taemin’s phone. Aish, I wish it was her ringtone.
“Hello?” Taemin said.
Gosh, please, tell me I just misheard. Taemin’s voice was sounded the same with the one I heard through my phone. It must be a coincidence.
“Where are you?” I asked in whisper so Taemin wouldn’t hear me.
“Under the coconut trees.”
“Little Mushroom?” I asked loudly and as I’ve expected, Taemin responded my call.
“I thought you’re a she.” I said when we’ve already on a restaurant to have lunch.
“Sorry, I’m a he.” He replied. He kept his head low and avoided eye contact with me.
“No need to say sorry, it’s not your fault.”
Silence, again.
“So, we’re not that far, aren’t we? We even attend the same school.” I said.
“Yeah.” He replied weakly. I sighed.
“Are you regretting our meeting?” I asked.
“No,” he shouted. “It’s nice to finally see you. I just, I just..”
“Aish, I know. You just wished Prince Frog wasn’t me.”
“Yes.” He suddenly replied confidently. I saw anger on his face and I knew that was not good. “Have we finished?” Good, he glared at me.
“Okay, I know our relationship at school is very bad. But you’re Little Mushroom, my beta whom I owe so much. We’re a VERY GOOD friend through the internet so let’s just pretend this is our very first meet and we don’t know anything about each other except whatever we’ve shared during our chat times.”
He kept silence and didn’t give me any answer. I know Taemin is at the top of my never-befriend list but I can’t NOT BEFRIENDING Little Mushroom.
“Come on. You know how much I enjoy chatting with you. Please, let be a good friend, you small edible mushroom.” I begged, waiting for his response.
“I’ve said I’m a poisonous mushroom, Froggie. I’m not edible.” He chuckled lightly. Wide smile appeared on his already gorgeous face, made him looked more gorgeous, if it was possible. Then, I realised, that was the first time I saw Lee Taemin’s smile.
It was sweet and warm.
Well, maybe because he was Little Mushroom, not nerds number one who got the first place on my never-befriend list.
Or, maybe because I have been too unfair to truly see him.
Maybe he wasn’t that bad, maybe it was me who judged him that bad.
But, I knew, sooner or later, I would not only want to befriend Little Mushroom, but also Lee Taemin, the other side of the small edible mushroom.
Pairing: 2min
Rating: G
Summary: Minho needs a beta and Jonghyun helps him to get one. But what will happen when they know who the beta really is?
A/N: written for lilkraftykat She is my beta and today is her birthday (well, I don't know about the time difference but in my country, today is June 10) Happy birthday, Kate. I love you
“You better have a proper explanation for this Choi Minho.” Lee Jinki looked at him intently. The latter just kept his head down; he exactly had no proper explanation for this case. Well, he hoped his teacher just punish him without asking for explanation.
He hated explanation and he wondered why people always looking for explanation of every actions on their life.
“I have no explanation, Mr. Lee. Just tell me what the penalty is.”
The teacher sighed on his answer. He has already known his student’s habit, especially this problematic one.
“I have no idea what I should do to make you stop putting yourself in trouble.”
“Then, are you going to expel me from your precious school?” Yes, he was right. His teacher, Lee Jinki was the oldest son of the school’s headmaster. His younger sister had graduated two years ago from this school and his youngest brother, Lee Taemin was in the same grade with Minho.
“No. It won’t be that easy. Let’s see what I can do for you.” He opened a book and his finger scanned through the page. “Did you know your case is one of three main prohibitions at this school?”
“Yeah. Drugs, alcohol, and fight. So, what’s the penalty for getting into a fight?” Minho asked impatiently. His teacher was good on giving him bothersome time.
“Involved in fight is rated 150 points and your points are…130.”
Dammit. Deep inside, Minho cursed hard on his left point. It was just 20 points to get save from being kicked out.
“But, I won’t expel you just like that. It won’t be interesting. So, I decide that you should pay that insufficient 20 points.” His teacher gave him a knowing smile, made Minho groan silently.
“How could I get it? I don’t think I can get those points. I’m not a member of any clubs in this school. I’m not your little nerds brother who can easily get the straight A on exams-“
“I think you’re not at the position for mocking other student just because he got a better grade than you, Choi Minho.” He could see his teacher’s hand turned into a fist. Minho really wanted to smirk at that sight. It wasn’t because I scoff at a higher grade student, it was because he is your little brother, Minho said in his thought. Minho has never been good with Mr. Lee; he even didn’t remember when was the first time he starts to speak disrespectfully to him.
“Find Kim Kibum. You can ask him for upcoming competition. Winning a competition is rated 25 points. If you lose, you’ll be expelled from this school.”
Minho had no choice. If this school has three main prohibitions which will decrease your points if you break them, this school also has only three things to gain points.
Joining school’s club, every contribution to the club, including attendance, is counted and you’ll get some points from it. Because Minho wasn’t member of any clubs at school, this option was eliminated. Getting an A on the exams, you’ll get straight 10 points and it’s impossible for him to get an A on exams. Minho knew it very well.
The last one is winning a competition. So, this was his only hope.
***
“Well, you better tell your parents that you start to feel discomfort and want to transfer into other school in order to improve your grade for this last year.”
“And my dad will call the headmaster and kill me when he finds out what actually happened.” Minho said sarcastically to his best friend, Jonghyun.
“But, it’s impossible for you to join any competition and WIN.” Jonghyun emphasised the word win, made Minho want to punch him for underestimating him.
Actually, Jonghyun had a sense. Minho wasn’t the type who would join competition and win. It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable but he didn’t want. He had never been joining any competition and he did it on purpose. He just never told anybody about that purpose, including Jonghyun even if he was his best friend.
“I still can handle it, as long as it’s sport competition. Maybe I can get swimming or high jump competition.”
“Then, where we can find out about the upcoming competition?”
“You may hate this.” He turned his eyes to Key - nickname of Kim Kibum - and Jonghyun followed his direction.
“Have I told you that you’re really ended at this point?”
“Not yet.” Minho sighed.
Well, yeah. So, Key was the president of student committee. He was very popular and respected. But for so called problematic student like Minho and Jonghyun, he was just Nerds Number Two who lived on an over discipline life and wore a glasses which made him looked more like a dumbass. He was Minho and Jonghyun biggest enemy in this entire school because he hated problematic student so much and wanted to just kicked them out of school of he had the authority to do that.
“Come on, my life depends on this.” Minho grabbed Jonghyun’s wrist and walked towards Key.
“Hey, do you have any time for me? I want to ask you about something.” Minho said straight.
“Of course, I have. What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, I want to know about some upcoming competitions. Do you have any information to share with me?” Key gave a questioning look at Minho. He couldn’t believe what he’s just heard.
“What?” He answered in surprised tone. But, Minho knew it was a fake. “Are you thinking of joining competition?”
“Yes. Mr. Lee asked me to join it. So, you better tell me the upcoming competitions now.” Minho answered impatiently. He didn’t want to linger with him.
Key opened his bag and took his note book. He pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Minho.
“That is the list of the upcoming competitions. Good luck.”
Both of Minho and Jonghyun rolled their eyes when Key left them and rushed to the paper.
“Biology olimpiad.” Minho read the list.
“NO.” Both of them screamed.
“History Challenge?”
“BIG NO.” Both of them screamed again.
“Just skip academicals list, try the non-academicals one.” Jonghyun said. Minho did skimming and stopped at the end of the list.
“Shit.” Minho cursed. “There are only two options left, painting or writing.”
“Writing.” Jonghyun replied.
“Are you kidding me? Write a short story isn’t me at all.”
“You have no choice. You join NO CLUB. Your grade is NOT GOOD AT ALL. No way you will chose painting because you ARE NOT a painter and you CAN NOT paint. You better write a random story, it’s just SHORT story anyway.”
***
“It’s crazy. I’ve been looking at further information for this competition and I decided not to join it.” Minho said in frustration. Jonghyun took a look at the print-out requirement for the competition. He read some lines which has highlighted on it.
Written in English.
No grammatical and spelling errors.
“The worst one is I have to win in order to stay at this school.”
Both of them sighed. Silence floated, none of them wanted to start a new conversation.
“Come on, I’m going to help you. Have you got the idea of the story?” Jonghyun started.
“No. I have no idea. The requirements blew all my creativities away. My English is sucks. It’s impossible for me to write without any grammatical errors.”
“Okay, listen. Your matter is only on the grammar. We need to find someone who can fix it. And, it’s obvious that the person isn’t me. My English isn’t better than you. What about your brother?”
“Good. Tell him I’m joining a competition and just wait till he finds out the reason behind this and just pray my dad won’t kill me in a harsh way.”
“Then, let’s take a look at our school mate. Maybe we can find someone who can help you.” They both turned around, gazed the whole room to find someone for a help. And their eyes stopped at Key.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking right now?” Minho asked.
“Key.” They said in unison.
“He is a genius in English but no, I will never ever ask him for a help.” Minho said.
“Yeah, me too. Okay, he’s eliminated. Who’s next?” They gazed the entire room again and stopped at still the same person.
“Lee Taemin.” They said still in unison.
“Is there any possibility to ask him for a help?” Jonghyun asked hesitantly. But Minho knew for sure that he would never ever ask him for a help. If Key was Nerds Number Two, Taemin was the Number One. The headmaster’s youngest son, Top of Nerds, no-grammatical-errors student, and Mr. A in all exams. Those criteria had already enough to make Taemin ended up in Minho’s never-befriend list.
“No. First, his brother is the one who made me ended up like this. Second, he is on the top of my never-befriend list. Third, how the hell could I ever ask him for a help?”
“Then, we have no one else.”
“Minho oppa,” A girl interrupted them. She was standing near them, looking at Minho with such a bitchy puppy eyes.
“Yes?”
“I heard that you’re getting trouble with that stupid-mood-killer-out-of-date Teacher Lee and you’re going to be kicked out from this school. Is it right?”
“From whom did you hear that?”
“Everyone is talking about it now. I don’t know who was spreading it but we’re worrying about you, oppa.” Minho and Jonghyun knew who were we that she said. She was Krystal, the cheerleader’s captain. She and her team was Minho’s fan girl who liked flirting to him.
Minho might one of problematic students at this school, yet he was as popular as Key. Most of boys are afraid of him but the girls; they put their eyes on Minho because of his overflowing charisma, his sexiness, and his good-looking face. Minho was just a perfect guy to date.
“Don’t worry. I won’t be expelled.” Minho gave her reassuring smile.
“You should stay here. The school won’t be interesting without you, oppa.” Krystal said as she sat on Minho’s lap and let the flirting moment begun.
After made a deal with Minho, Jonghyun went home in hurry because he had family stuff to do. So, Minho was left alone in the middle of cafeteria, facing his laptop, trying to find an idea for his story, till he saw Taemin walked in. All of sudden, Minho remembered his conversation with Krystal. He sighed and moved towards Taemin.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Minho said right behind Taemin, made the other jumped in shock.
“Gosh, you scared me.”
“Did I? Should I be sorry?”
“What do you want? What did you mean by saying it was me?”
“Don’t pretend like you’re innocent. It must be you who spread about my business with your over protective and possessive brother.”
Minho smirked at Taemin’s reaction. Taemin face already turned red in anger and his hand turned into a fist.
“He is our teacher, you should respect him. And, don’t accuse other people as you please.”
“Well, you’re his little brother. He must tell you about this. No way, he would tell another student.”
“I’ve said it wasn’t me.” Minho pushed Taemin against the wall till Taemin’s back crashed it hard and Minho held his wrist roughly. Taemin didn’t show any pain on his face. He stared back at Minho confidently. That was one of the reasons why Minho dislikes him, because Taemin was never afraid of him.
“I knew it must be you. You should know that-“
“Are you bullying your friend, Choi Minho?” Both of Minho and Taemin turned to see the owner of the voice. It was Lee Jinki, standing not too far from them; his body stiffened at the sight of his little brother was being pushed against the wall.
“We are having a conversation, Mr. Lee.” Minho answered calmly. He let go of Taemin.
“Is it right, Taemin?”
“Yes, Sir. We’re just… talking to each other.” Minho frowned at Taemin’s action.
“Oh, alright. Meet me at my office, Taemin. I need to talk to you.” Mr. Lee left them unwillingly.
“I’m not a complainant if that is what comes to your mind.” Taemin left.
***
“What?” Minho asked when Jonghyun approached.
“I got this.” Jonghyun handed him a piece of paper. “It’s a link to a community. I don’t really know what community it is but this community provides beta readers for its member. So, this beta thing is something like, umm, there will be someone over there who will fix your grammatical and spelling error, and any other things depends on the beta itself. What do you think?”
“You are freaking genius, Kim Jonghyun!” Minho screamed joyfully.
***
Minho sat in front of his computer, typing a link he got from Jonghyun. It took an hour for him to get to know about the community, how it goes and its rules. After he got enough information, he signed up in order to have an account there, joined the community, and posted a request.
After he posted that, he disconnected his internet connection and started to write his story. He should do that or he would go browsing instead of doing his story. He drowned on the story he wrote till he realised it was already late in night. He connected his internet connection to check whether there is already a response for his post.
Minho smiled brightly when he knew he got three responses. He looked at those usernames and chose Little Mushroom in random. Then he sent Little Mushroom a message.
Minho was about to close the window when he got notification.
Minho smiled.
***
“I don’t know, my beta said-“ Minho paused. “Uh, I don’t know Little Mushroom is a he or she.”
“Let’s pretend Little Mushroom is a she. Come on, which kind of guy in this world wants to do such an unimportant job like that. Little Mushroom must be a she.” Jonghyun said.
“Whatever. So, she said she’s going to give me her opinion about it today. I need to hear her opinion soon. It’s my first time writing a random story like that, I don’t think it works.”
“Just ask her for another idea if she thinks your story isn’t good enough. But don’t ask me, you know I’ve never interested on reading.”
They finished their lunch, walked back to the class, and unluckily met Lee Jinki on the halfway.
“Hello Minho. So, how’s your competition progress? I asked Key and he said you chose to join a writing competition.” He smiled brightly.
“I’m working on it. And, I would like it if you didn’t tell your little nerds brother about it so he wouldn’t spread it to the entire school.” Minho answered.
“So, it is the reason you did harsh to him yesterday, isn’t it?” Jinki face turned hard and glared to Minho. “No, I’ve never told him before. Once again you put your dirty hand on him; I’ll never let you go.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Minho replied coldly.
“You’re lucky he defended you.” Jonghyun said when Minho finished telling him what he did to Taemin yesterday.
“No, it made me wonder why he did it.”
“Maybe he afraid you will do something bad to him.”
“Yaah, you know I’m not kind of person who will easily bully other people just because he’s telling the truth.”
“If I’m not your friend, I’ll think the opposite. You may punch someone because he deserves for it, but the others will think you do it just because you want it. ”
***
***
“Turn off your laptop.” The teacher glared at Minho.
“Sorry Sir, I can’t.”
“Stay in but turn off your laptop or get out and finish your business out there.”
“Fine.” Minho took his laptop and left the whole class gaping on his action.
From: Dino Jjong
Are u crazy?
Minho sighed and texted him back.
To: Dino Jjong
Winning that stupid
competition is my priority now
From: Dino Jjong
You can do it after school‼‼
Where are u?
To: Dino Jjong
I’m waiting for little mushroom
She promised to go online whenever
she has time.
Need to discuss with her
Cafeteria
***
***
“Taemin, what are you actually doing lately?” Jinki sat up next to his beloved brother, Taemin.
“I have something to do.” Taemin answered. His eyes never left the screen in front of him, ignoring Jinki’s presence at all.
“What is it?” Jinki got curious with his business. Jinki found Taemin facing his laptop too often lately. He did it every evening after school. Jinki caught him still in front of his laptop in the midnight. He even brought his laptop to school and didn’t have his lunch because of it. It made Jinki worry about him.
“Nothing important hyung.” Taemin replied uninterestedly.
“Then, why have you been in front of your laptop very often lately? You’ve been skipping your lunch, staying till late at night, and doing nothing except typing on your laptop.” But Taemin seemed uncaring with his hyung’s question, made his hyung lost his patience. “Lee Taemin, I want your answer now.” He shouted at the younger and successfully caught his brother attention. Taemin was staring at him, annoyance
obviously showed on his face.
“There is someone out there who needs my help so I’m helping him. Have you satisfied?”
***
***
“Is it Little Mushroom?” Johyun asked Minho when they were in the middle of their lunch break. Jonghyun had already finished his lunch but Minho hasn’t eaten anything yet.
“Hmm.” Minho responded lazily.
“Why are you still with her?”
“I don’t know. I just like doing this.” Minho answered without looking at Jonghyun. His eyes were too busy with the screen to look at his best friend.
“Hah, come on Minho. Don’t say that you like her. Oh my gosh, you even don’t know who she is.”
“I never said I like her. I just like talking with her.”
“But you’re not talking with her directly.”
“Okay, chatting, messaging, whatever it called. I just enjoy it.”
“Yeah, just wait until you fall in love with her. It’s silly you know.” Jonghyun sighed and gazed around the cafeteria. His eyes stopped and gaped at a strange sight.
“What day is today?” He asked.
“Wednesday. If I’m not mistaken.”
“Is there any special thing on this Wednesday?”
“Aish, stop bothering me. Why did you ask strange questions like that?”
“I can’t believe at what I see. Nerds number one brings no book with him.” Jonghyun pointed at Taemin, who were smiling happily in front of his laptop while typing God knows what.
“Maybe he changed his trend from books to e-books. I’m sure he’s reading some encyclopedia or anything like that.”
“Make sense.” Jonghyun replied.
***
“Okay, let’s split and practice shooting with your partner.” The PE teacher said.
Minho and Jonghyun have already exchanged glances when the teacher added, “And you two will not be in the same team. Jonghyun, you can choose one girl as your partner. You’re good at basketball, you can teach the other.” Jonghyun grinned widely to the fact that he could choose a GIRL to be his partner as he pleased and of course he picked Krystal, the most beautiful one in the class. Minho groaned unsatisfied. Their teacher kept mentioning who will be with whom but he hasn’t mentioned Minho yet.
“Is there anyone who hasn’t got partner yet?”
Minho raised his hand.
“Good, you two can be a partner.” Minho turned around to see who his partner and cursed silently when he knew it was Taemin. “Let’s start practicing.”
Minho and Taemin stayed in silence for awhile before Minho took the ball and started to teach Taemin. “Well, I’m not as good as Jonghyun, but I’ll try to teach you. You just need to-“ Minho stopped as Taemin took the ball from his hand, dribbled it a little and shot to the ring.
For the first time, Minho’s jaw dropped so low that he looked like a dumb.
“Did I do it accurately?” Taemin asked.
“Are you really wanting to ask my opinion or you just meant it?”
“I’m truly asking your opinion. I want to know whether I used the right technique or not.”
Minho sighed at him. “You did it very accurately. How could you do that? Is there any book which teaches you how to shoot a ball?” Minho wished Taemin would mad at him through this question.
“There are books which tell you how to do it but watching someone’s playing is better than reading it through books.” Taemin answered calmly and threw the ball to Minho.
Is he really that calm? Minho asked himself. He tossed that thought away and focused on the ring. He shot the ball and..in. He caught the ball and threw it to Taemin.
“It seems like you can do it easily.” Taemin praised him.
“Jonghyun taught me. You can have the ball; I’m not in mood to practice.”
“Thanks.” He replied in monotone.
Is this his way thanking other people? In monotone? Minho wondered. He sat up on the floor and watched Taemin shot the ball. He looked very serious when he shot the ball, made Minho chuckled. It’s just shooting a ball, why is he so serious? Minho kept watching Taemin, he stared at the sweats which began to stream on Taemin face, and he stared at how Taemin swept it elegantly.
At first, it was just looking at him but then, it turned to stare at him intensely. Minho didn’t miss every single movement of Taemin’s slim body till he came into a conclusion. Well, he is beautiful enough as a man. Slim body, white skin, and long hair. Wait, long hair.. Minho looked at how Taemin was so annoyed with his bangs which stuck on his wet forehead and his hair on his cheek and neck.
Just ignore him, Minho. Minho scolded himself.
But he failed.
“Tie up your hair. You won’t concentrate if your hair stuck around your face.”
“I have nothing to tie my hair.”
Minho took off his hair ties and gave it to Taemin. “Use mine.”
Taemin grabbed it and tied his hair, but he never tied his hair before so his hair wasn’t tied up neatly or it could be said ‘ended in messy’.
“Can you tie your hair neater than that?”
“I never tie my hair before.”
“What? Are you joking?” Minho pulled him closer and worked on his hair. He tied it into neat ponytail. “This is how you should tie your hair. Next time, look for a book which teaches you how to do this.” Minho sat back on the floor, left Taemin stunning because of his action.
“Okay, time’s up. Come on; show me what you’ve got.” All of students gathered around the teacher. “Each of you will get three chances to shoot. I’ll take this as our last test-“
He stopped as he heard his student’s complaining. But as a teacher, he wouldn’t let himself being defeated by his own students. So, the test went as what he said.
“Choi Minho.”
Minho moved and took the ball. He was succeeding on the first and second shot, but unfortunately, he failed at his last shot. He yelled out since it was the last test and he didn’t do it well. Jonghyun patted his back to calm him but it didn’t work well.
Far behind them, Taemin stared at those two while his mind thinking hard on something.
“Lee Taemin.” The call snapped him back to reality. He moved forwards and did his test perfectly. He stole a glance on Minho while he walked back but Minho didn’t notice it.
“Okay class, you’ve done well. Class dismissed.”
“Sir, can I talk to you?” Taemin said to his PE teacher. He was panting because he had to run to him, his teacher left the basketball field earlier when they still put all balls back.
“Yes. What do you want to talk about?”
“It’s about Choi Minho. Can you give him full score? Well, I was not good on shooting and he let me use out ball to practice more. Because of it, he had not practiced for his own sake and failed. So, please, can you give him full score for today’s test?”
Their conversation was going at the school’s corridor, where everyone could easily passed by and eavesdropped at their conversation. And, that was Minho did. No one could describe how angry and confused he was.
***
“Thanks for yesterday.” Taemin raised his hand and there was Minho’s hair ties lying on his palm.
“Just take it.” Minho replied annoyingly and walked out. But then, he stopped and turned back.
“Why you did that?” He glared on Taemin.
“Did what?”
“Persuading PE teacher to give me a full score! Who do you think you are? Do you think because you’re headmaster’s son you can easily ask do that? It’s my grade not yours, you can NOT play with it as you please, you fucking nerds!” Minho couldn’t hold his anger and let it burst out. He left Taemin without hearing any explanation from him. He was too angry to listen to him.
But on the other hand, Taemin still stood there, trembling, scared, and disappointed. He held Minho’s hair ties tightly on his hand like his life depends on it.
***
***
“I got it.” Minho said to Jinki.
“Really? Congratulations, Choi Minho. You’re safe. You must be done well at this competition.”
“Can I leave now?”
“When will you start to respect me more?”
“Never.”
“As I’ve expected. You can go now.”
***
“What the hell is this?” Jonghyun screamed at his friend’s essay, especially on a letter on the top of the paper, A.
“Little Mushroom helped me on the grammar.” Minho grinned.
“Shit. Then, you kept it from me and let me get C while you can get A. Lucky she isn’t here, if she were here, I probably killed her.
“The hell you will. I won’t let you touch her.”
“Fine, enjoy your moment; you may be the only one who can equal no-grammatical-error student, Lee Taemin.”
Minho sighed when he heard that name. It has been awhile since their last meeting; Minho didn’t pay any attention to him lately. He was still too angry to look at him.
“Yeah, maybe.” Minho gazed around the cafeteria and spotted Taemin not too far from his seat. Taemin was reading a book like usual, but one thing that shocked Minho was his hair. He tied up his hair with…his hair ties.
“How long has he like that?” Minho asked.
“Who? Like what?”
“Taemin and his tied hair.”
“Oh, he has been tying up his hair into cute ponytail since several days ago. You know, many students said he looks gorgeous with that ponytail. But he still looks like nerds for me.”
“Yeah, with books on his hand, he looks like perfect nerds.”
Silence floated between them.
“What’s your upcoming summer plan?” Jonghyun asked. “I’m going to Japan with my mom. You know-“
“Family stuff.” They said in unison.
“Then, bring me something from Japan.” Minho said. “I haven’t planned anything yet.”
“No wonder, your time out just for chatting with your Little Mushroom.” Jonghyun mocked. “How’s she?”
“She’s just like that, a good friend to share. Hey,” Minho paused in abrupt. “How is it if I asked her to meet up with me?” His face turned bright as he waited for an answer.
“Minho, seriously, are you crazy? What the hell are you thinking about? Meeting stranger you found in internet and spending your summer holiday with her?” Jonghyun couldn’t believe on what he heard.
“But it sounds good. We can share a lot of things or maybe I can date her.” Minho smiled widely, ignoring disagreement from Jonghyun.
“Okay, this makes no sense for me. You have A LOT of fan girls here. You can date Krystal, the most beautiful girl at this school, whenever you want but you choose a stranger, let me make it clearer, A STRANGER. You even don’t know whether she already has a boyfriend or not. How is it if she is a married woman?”
“No. I know she’s a student. And if she already has a boyfriend, I can take her from her boyfriend, if only I fall in love with her when we meet.”
“Fine. Do it. I give up.”
***
***
I saved her phone number and went out. Gosh, finally, we were going to meet on two hours. I smiled as I walked out my room. Yeah, I stayed at hotel. Luckily, my family let me had my own summer vacation here. They must be having a good time in Canada right now.
“Ouch,” I groaned when someone bumped into me.
“Sorry,” My eyes grew larger when I found out the one who hit me. Lee Jinki. Gosh, should I meet him in such a perfect summer vacation? “Minho?” He stared at me with confused look.
“Yes, I am.” I replied lazily.
“What are doing here?”
“Having my summer vacation. Is there any possibilities except that?” I said sarcastically.
“Well, it’s not a good way to talk to someone during this lovely summer break.”
“I think we’re not meant to be in a good relationship. Excuse me.”
I left him and walked to the beach in hurry. Hell, I think I deserve for a perfect holiday without having my enemy teacher around me. What the hell is he doing here? Having a vacation? Don’t care.
I gazed around when I reached the Jungmun beach. I looked for a good spot to meet and I found a perfect place under the coconut trees. The shadow will cover us from the sunlight. I walked there in hurry, but stopped when I realised I wasn’t the one who want to claim this place.
“Minho?”
“Yes, I am Minho and you’re Taemin.” I sighed. What a perfect summer vacation! Surrounded by your annoying teacher and his little brother, I thought I was just unlucky.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Waiting for someone.”
“Oh, me too.”
An awkward silence wrapped us. I stole a glance on Taemin who was wearing a big loose blue T-shirt and short pants. His hair tied up neatly into a ponytail, still with my hair ties. I wondered why he still kept it. But I thought, I knew why many students said he looks gorgeous with that ponytail because I felt it too.
“What are you staring at?” He glared at me. His face showed discomfort.
“Nothing.” I replied.
Then, awkward silence was back. We stood in a proper distance, ignoring each other presence. I sat on the sand and leaned my back on the coconut trees. I glanced at my watch. She should already be here by now. I took my phone and texted her.
To: Little Mushroom
Where are you?
From: Little Mushroom
I’ve already at the beach.
Where exactly are you?
To: Little Mushroom
Under the coconut trees.
I gazed around and realised I wouldn’t find her since I didn’t know her face.
“Let’s just call her,” I mumbled as I dialled her number. I shocked when I heard a ringtone not too far from me and I found out it was Taemin’s phone. Aish, I wish it was her ringtone.
“Hello?” Taemin said.
Gosh, please, tell me I just misheard. Taemin’s voice was sounded the same with the one I heard through my phone. It must be a coincidence.
“Where are you?” I asked in whisper so Taemin wouldn’t hear me.
“Under the coconut trees.”
“Little Mushroom?” I asked loudly and as I’ve expected, Taemin responded my call.
“I thought you’re a she.” I said when we’ve already on a restaurant to have lunch.
“Sorry, I’m a he.” He replied. He kept his head low and avoided eye contact with me.
“No need to say sorry, it’s not your fault.”
Silence, again.
“So, we’re not that far, aren’t we? We even attend the same school.” I said.
“Yeah.” He replied weakly. I sighed.
“Are you regretting our meeting?” I asked.
“No,” he shouted. “It’s nice to finally see you. I just, I just..”
“Aish, I know. You just wished Prince Frog wasn’t me.”
“Yes.” He suddenly replied confidently. I saw anger on his face and I knew that was not good. “Have we finished?” Good, he glared at me.
“Okay, I know our relationship at school is very bad. But you’re Little Mushroom, my beta whom I owe so much. We’re a VERY GOOD friend through the internet so let’s just pretend this is our very first meet and we don’t know anything about each other except whatever we’ve shared during our chat times.”
He kept silence and didn’t give me any answer. I know Taemin is at the top of my never-befriend list but I can’t NOT BEFRIENDING Little Mushroom.
“Come on. You know how much I enjoy chatting with you. Please, let be a good friend, you small edible mushroom.” I begged, waiting for his response.
“I’ve said I’m a poisonous mushroom, Froggie. I’m not edible.” He chuckled lightly. Wide smile appeared on his already gorgeous face, made him looked more gorgeous, if it was possible. Then, I realised, that was the first time I saw Lee Taemin’s smile.
It was sweet and warm.
Well, maybe because he was Little Mushroom, not nerds number one who got the first place on my never-befriend list.
Or, maybe because I have been too unfair to truly see him.
Maybe he wasn’t that bad, maybe it was me who judged him that bad.
But, I knew, sooner or later, I would not only want to befriend Little Mushroom, but also Lee Taemin, the other side of the small edible mushroom.