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Laundry Boy Ch 8/?
Kay so this is actually a longish chapter :)
Sungmin
"No, you goose, I hang out with you because... because you're cool, your family makes good food, and might I say, you look hot in girl's clothing," Kyuhyun said, after a slight pause.
You little arrogant bastard, I thought, punching him.
"There we go," he said, his eyes glinting. I smiled a little, and soon it became wider, as did his.
"Screw you," I said, playfully shoving him. I rolled my eyes. His cockiness was cute though, in a twisted sort of way.
"Wouldn't mind it if you dressed like that," he retorted.
My jaw dropped, and he simply smirked at my shocked expression.
"I'm speechless," I finally said.
"I know I'm hot," he answered.
"I didn't-- nevermind."
After a bit, I said, "Thanks for... making me feel better.. It worked." He seemed to always know what to do to make me feel better. It was so refreshing to have a friend like Kyuhyun by my side, knowing that I could always lean on him if I was in trouble.
"You know, you have to pay me back, right?" he asked, clearly contriving some crazy plan in his head.
"What do you mean?" I asked. Silently, he turned his head to face me and held my gaze, and quickly kissed my forehead.
The little ass. What nerve.
"Thank you," he said.
"Screw y-- WAIT NO. No. Shit. Whatever," he said, after remembering his earlier response. He pulled me to my feet, and brushed my legs off.
We walked back together to the shop. After entering, I told my parents we were home and set to work. Handing Kyuhyun his work apron, I reminded him of the three rules he had to follow.
"Got it," he said in response, saluting me.
"Be a little serious, Kyuhyun," I said, annoyed. All he seemed to want to do was play. He's like a child, I thought. Smiling, I patted his back and went into the laundry room.
"Wait!" I heard him call.
"Yes?" I asked, walking back outside.
"What if I mess up?" he said, biting his lip. My dear god, he looked cute when he was nervous. I smiled sympathetically and said, "No worries, just call me over. I'll help you out," I assured him.
His eyes beamed. "Really?" he asked, confirming. I reassured him.
Promptly turning around, he set off to work, as did I. After about twenty minutes, the bell chimed. Silently, I put my work down and peeped out of the corner to see who it was. An elderly woman with her daughter, it seems, had come. I strained my ears to listen to their conversation:
"Hello, welcome to Soap and Suds laundromat, I'm Kyuhyun. How can I help you?" Kyuhyun said. Stage one, welcome, complete.
"Hi," the younger woman of the two said. "I'm here to drop off some clothing."
"Great! Have you been here before, ma'am?" he asked. Stage two, interacting with customer, complete.
"Oh, um, sorry, no... this is my first time here."
"No worries, hopefully this will be one of many times," Kyuhyun said brightly. He guided her through each step of the process, as if he had been working here for years. Didn't he learn this stuff, what, like 2 days ago? I thought inwardly, surprised at his ease.
After successfully helping her out, he stepped outside the counter and held the door open for the elderly woman. Stage three, strong exit, complete.
Unable to contain my pride, I walked out and tapped Kyuhyun on the back, grinning widely. He soon copied the action, a little confused though.
"That was amazing, Kyuhyun! It was like you've been doing this for years!" I beamed, applauding him. He lightly blushed, and I chuckled, walking back to the laundry room.
"Sungminnie," he began.
I whipped around. "How. Many. Times. Do. I need. To tell you. Not. To add or shorten my name, Kyuhyun."
A little taken aback, he pouted, turning back around. I sighed, feeling a bit bad for yelling at him after he had just done a pretty decent job, and walked over, poking at his side to make him turn. Stubborn, he refused to budge, so I walked to the other side of the counter and faced him. He turned away. I poked his cheek, smirking when a small smile appeared at his face. He soon grinned, grabbing my hand, and laced his fingers in mine.
"Is it really that bad if I call you by a nickname?" he asked, trying his best to hide his disappointment.
"It's just.. Sungminnie sounds like a nickname you'd give a four year old," I answered reluctantly.
"So I can call you something different?" he asked, a twinkle in his eye.
"I guess..."
"Yes! Mmm... how about... ah! How about 'Min'?" he suggested. It sounded okay, I guess. I nodded. His face brightened at my assent, and he jumped over the counter and hugged me.
"Thank youu~ thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouuu~" he said breathily.
"Yeah yeah okay, now there's a customer coming, get back to work," I said, just as the door chimed. Quickly unwrapping his arms from me, Kyuhyun assumed his formalities once again and set off to his tasks. A few more people than usual came today, and even though I had about 400 things to get done by tomorrow, it was nice to know that more people were coming in.
---
Changing the sign from open to closed, I took off my work apron and folded it, stowing it away in the cupboard.
"I guess I'll go now," Kyuhyun said, albeit a little remorseful.
Smiling, I countered, "Hard day's work calls for a hearty dinner, don't you think? Come on up, let's eat," I said, beckoning him to follow.
"Oh, no, no it's okay, I should be getting home," he said, taking his apron off. I really wasn't in the mood for him to be stubborn. Grabbing his wrist, I marched him up the stairs, and brought him to the living room.
"Appa! Amma! Let's eat!" I called. My mother and father rushed down, and their faces lit up at the sight of Kyuhyun.
"Kyuhyunnie! You're here! Great, let's eat, sweetie," my mother said. I got up. "Mom, he's a sophomore," I said, smiling and shaking my head.
"Omo, our Kyuhyunnie has grown so much already... eat lots, okay? You need all the food you can get so you can grow bigger," my mother responded. Well, she basically faced him and said it. He only grinned and nodded his head.
Rolling my eyes at the two, I sat down next to him and muttered, "Don't get too comfortable, buddy", to which my parents gawked at me. "What?" I mouthed. They simply laughed it off.
"So Kyuhyun, how are you finding school? Is it hard?" my dad started.
"Not really, sir, the curriculum is still manageable, there's nothing to worry about just yet," he responded formally.
"No need to call us sir and ma'am, you're family remember? Just mom and dad will do," my father reminded him. Kyuhyun colored lightly and shook his head, going back to eating his food. So he does have a soft side, huh. Good to know that he isn't superhuman.., I'd never be able to get anywhere near him otherwise, I thought.
There was still a lot of work to do. Excusing myself from the table, I finished my food hurriedly and told my parents I'd be at the shop doing some work for tomorrow.
---
Heading down, I put on my apron and set off to work. Six trousers, ten shirts, and a few dresses later, I sighed heavily and put down my scrubbing brush. Just as I headed out to get some more soap, Kyuhyun headed down the stairs.
Smiling, I asked, "Enjoyed talking to them?"
"Yeah, we were talking mostly about you though," he replied.
I dropped the soap bottle. "WHAT?!"
"No need to get all excited, we were just talking about how cute you were when you were a kid," Kyuhyun replied, chuckling probably at my clumsiness. Embarrassed, I picked up the bottle of soap -which thankfully, hadn't spilled- and and scratched the back of my head. I put the bottle down and took off my apron, sitting down on a cardboard box that was lying around.
"My parents like you a lot, Kyuhyun," I started. "I can tell. Their expressions are so much more light and content when they're around you," I continued. "But they can get a little possessive, so if you ever feel like you're being pressured or something, please, please don't hesitate to tell me, and I'll tell them to, you know, stop."
He sat down next to me silently, and hugged my waist. "You know they love you, right?" My initial reaction was to jerk away from his arms, but I really didn't have the energy to do that. Why did he even say that?
"What do you mean by that? When were we talking about that?" I asked. Was I really that obvious? Yeah, I guess I was kind of upset that my parents paid more attention to someone they knew for just 2 days rather than their own son, but I just passed that off as taking care of a guest.
"Min... don't try this with me, I know you better than anyone," Kyuhyun said.
"Kyuhyun! Listen, I know we're friends and all, but really, what do you know about me?" I asked incredulously.
"Well, let's see. Your favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry. The day we met, you had just broken up with your girlfriend. You think I'm an arrogant know it all rich kid, which I am, with some humanity in me. Your favorite food is rice cakes, you love your parents more than anyone else in the world, and you really would do anything for them. And from what I've just learned, your favorite color is light blue, you love playing the guitar, and as a kid, you always hid behind the older girls and got them to do stuff for you because of your cute face," he said, counting off the things on his fingers.
I bit my lip as goosebumps formed on my skin. For some reason, when he said these things, something clicked in me, and tears flowed freely from my eyes. No one had ever figured out this much about me in my life. He rubbed the back of my neck and laid his head on my shoulder, whispering soothing words to my ears. I wished, so, so much, that he could be wrong. But he wasn't. Not even one thing. And I knew it right from then, that I was just one of the hundreds that had fallen into his trap. Dejected, I lowered my head and stared at my shoes.
Still, I was curious as to how he knew so much about me.
My thoughts came aloud when I asked unintentionally, "How do you possibly know all these things..."
He smiled. "Your an easy person to read, Sungmin."
"Great. Thanks. That's fantastic. It really is no wonder then that people tend to stray away from me, huh. I'm boring. Good to know," I responded bitterly.
"Sungmin, you're not boring. You're just very straightforward-- and that's a good thing. There's no mystery with you, no hidden surprises, which means that you're dependable and that you'll always be true to yourself," he countered. I thought about what he said, and I guess it sort of made sense.
"Sungmin. You are the most loving, caring, cheery person I've met. It's felt like a dream, spending time with you. You've always got something interesting to say, and even when you don't know it, the little things you do both consciously and subconsciously add to your charm," he breathed. I blinked a few times. Now I thought I was in a dream. No one, not even my parents, had told me this before. For the first time in my life, I felt wanted. And it was the best feeling in the world.
"Sungmin," Kyuhyun began , removing his arms from my waist. He knelt on one knee and took my hands in his. Holding my gaze, he continued, "I promise to you today, I'll always be your biggest cheerleader. I have never and will never refuse you anything to preserve my pride, because mine disappears when I'm around you. I'll never leave you alone to fend for yourself, you'll always have me by your side to talk to, or just lean on. Just give me a chance, and I won't let you go, ever. You have my word, Sungmin."
I nodded slowly. Slowly removing his hands from mine, Kyuhyun bent over and placed a kiss on my forehead, but this time, it felt kinda sweet.
"You really like doing that, don't you," I asked, smiling softly. He nodded furiously, smiling as well.
"It's fun to see you turn pink," he added, quite unnecessarily.
"Oh gee thanks," I replied. He laughed, pulling me to my feet, and wrapping me in a hug. He let go, and took his coat from the seat.
"Are you crazy?! It's like midnight!" I blurted loudly.
Smiling, he said, "It's okay, I have a car. I can still drive, Min," he answered.
"There's no way you're going to drive this late at night Kyuhyun.. just stay here."
"Really, it's okay hyung," he assured.
"Kyuhyun, it's not just for kicks okay? You could get in an accident this late at night. Please, just listen. Tomorrow is Saturday, so you don't even have school. You can take your car out in the morning, after the sun comes up. Please, please, please don't go out when it's so dark," I begged.
Reluctantly, he agreed, putting his coat down and walking up the stairs with me. We entered the living room, and my parents guided him to the guest room.
"Good Night, Kyuhyunnie," I said to my ceiling, as I lied down to sleep. "Sweet dreams."