If Music be the Food of Love [Chapter 10]
Title: If Music be the Food of Love
Chapter: 10/13
Genre: romance, humour, AU
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Henber (main), minor QMi, LunBer, other ninja pairings
Summary: When Donghae decides to skip his first two weeks at SM High, his twin sister Amber impersonates him and joins the prestigious performing arts school to meet her idol, Cho Kyuhyun. Hijinks ensue as she tries to keep from being found out by her roommate Henry, dealing with romantic mix-ups along the way.
A/N: Based on the movie She’s the Man, a take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The title is a quote from the opening lines of the play.
Amber grimaced as she donned the girly top, muttering under her breath about ridiculous old-fashioned fathers in general who insisted on their daughters wearing pretty clothes and makeup. She kept to her skinny jeans as a sign of protest. Though if she had to be absolutely honest, it felt good not to have to wear those chest bindings for once.
Her father grunted in slight approval when she appeared downstairs. “At least you don’t look so much like a boy now, Eunyoung-ah. I don’t know why your mother allowed you to cut your hair like that.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, and reminded herself that she was the one who had wanted some father-daughter bonding time. “Let’s just go get lunch, okay?”
--
Henry strolled around the shopping area, stopping only to buy some fishcakes before continuing to his intended destination - a music shop with varying instruments lining its window display. He made a beeline for the guitar section, having considered getting a new one for some time now. To his annoyance, he spotted someone sitting in his usual spot and strumming on one of the guitars he’d been eyeing.
The person’s profile looked rather familiar, and Henry frowned. “Donghae?”
Amber looked up to see her roommate staring down at her, and her stomach lurched. What were the odds that she’d run into anyone from school on a weekday in this area? She mentally cursed herself for leaving her father to buy some household necessities while she went to play around in the instrument shop.
Henry didn’t understand why Donghae looked so stunned, and… feminine. What on earth was his roommate wearing?
Amber’s mind raced through her options - she could pretend to be Donghae wearing some very questionable clothing, or she could just be herself and pretend she didn’t know him. “Um, I’m sorry, do I know you?” She used her natural voice instead of the low one she’d been affecting at school.
“You’re not Lee Donghae?” Henry looked even more confused.
“Ah.” Amber made a noise of understanding. “That’s my twin brother.”
“Ohhhhh.” He marvelled at how identical the two were - considering that they had to be fraternal twins. “Um, my name’s Henry Lau. I’m Donghae’s roommate at SM High.” He switched to English, remembering that she was fluent in it.
“I’m Amber, nice to meet you.” She bowed slightly and shook his hand. “I guess Donghae forgot to mention that he has a twin sister?”
“No, he did - I just assumed you were your brother.” Henry blurted out, before realising how rude that probably sounded to a girl. And it now seemed quite obvious that she was a girl, considering what she was wearing, and the general physical differences between guys and girls. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that you look like a boy-”
Amber waved his apology off graciously. “Don’t worry, it happens all the time.” She then realised that she probably ought to find a way of escaping before Henry figured out that she was actually masquerading as Donghae.
“So you play the guitar, huh?” Henry pointed at the guitar in her arms, and she nodded. Then he remembered what Donghae had said about the Christmas song. “I hear you’re familiar with Stevie Wonder’s Someday at Christmas.”
Amber nodded again, wondering where Henry was going with this. “I suppose Donghae told you that we used to sing it every Christmas.”
Henry smiled and sat down at a nearby piano. “Can you play it on the guitar?”
She could, and even though common sense told her to distance herself from him as quickly as possible, she stayed put and plucked and strummed along to his piano playing, joining in the singing for the second time that week.
Even her singing voice was similar to Donghae’s, Henry mused as they sang together. And even though he didn’t know her well at all, he found himself oddly attracted to her. Perhaps it was her striking resemblance to Donghae that endeared her to him.
When they stopped, they realised that more people had entered the shop and were watching their impromptu performance with approving smiles. The shop staff looked rather pleased at the increase in patronage.
“Uh, I kind of have to be going now.” Amber said, looking at her watch and seeing that her father would be expecting her to meet him soon.
“Oh.” Henry felt a pang of disappointment. “Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting my dad at the hardware store down the street.” She replied while carefully setting the guitar back in its place.
“Okay. Will you be coming to our school carnival? Donghae and I will be performing different items.” He asked hopefully.
Amber was pretty sure she couldn’t agree to go, because she couldn’t possibly spend the day at the carnival switching personas and clothing. “I’ll see if I’m free on that date. If I do go, I’ll be sure to catch your performance.” She added, and was rewarded with a happy smile that made Henry look like a cute hamster all over again.
“See you.” He waved as she left the shop, grinning like an idiot.
--
Kyuhyun pushed the door of the salon open, looking around a little apprehensively until he saw the person he’d been thinking of for the past week.
“Welcome!” A chirpy voice greeted him, as Zhou Mi cheerfully looked up to see the student standing nervously, and his eyes widened in recognition.
“Cho Kyuhyun-ssi, right?” Zhou Mi ushered him in. “Are you here to get your hair cut?”
“Um, yes.” Kyuhyun replied, not quite sure what to say to the tall hairstylist. It didn’t seem to matter, because it turned out that Zhou Mi could talk enough for the both of them.
“You know, Donghae convinced me to watch your performances from the campus version of Korean Idol.” Zhou Mi chatted while running his fingers through Kyuhyun’s hair, causing the younger boy to shiver slightly. “Did I mention that he’s a big fan of yours?”
“Yeah, you did.” Kyuhyun vividly remembered the short conversation they’d previously had. “One of our mutual friends brought him to meet me, and he actually asked me for my autograph.”
“Oh? And how did that go?” Zhou Mi asked in interest, having only heard Amber’s recap of the encounter.
“He seems like a nice guy, though I didn’t get to talk to him much.”
“He was probably too overcome with awe.” Zhou Mi laughed. “Oh, what kind of hairstyle were you thinking of getting?”
“I suppose whatever you think looks best is fine. I don’t really know much about hairstyling.” Kyuhyun admitted.
“Really?” Zhou Mi looked surprised. “Your hair always looked good in those performances I watched.”
Kyuhyun blushed slightly, not daring to meet the older man’s eyes in the mirror. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome! But when I’m done with you, all the girls will be falling at your feet.” Zhou Mi promised.
“What about the boys?” Kyuhyun asked, and then nearly slapped himself for such a stupid question.
Zhou Mi raised a brow. “Sure, the boys too, if that’s your preference.”
By the time Zhou Mi was done with Kyuhyun’s hair, Kyuhyun knew all about Zhou Mi’s family, childhood in China, favourite foods, opinions on varying hairstyles, love for fashion, and his dream of becoming a personal stylist for a celebrity. And bias notwithstanding, Zhou Mi was really good at what he did. Kyuhyun rather liked how he looked in the mirror.
“How much is it-” The question was barely out of his mouth when Zhou Mi started shaking his head firmly.
“It’s free. I couldn’t possibly charge Donghae’s idol.” He grinned widely. “Plus I had a good time talking to you.”
Kyuhyun blinked helplessly at the older man’s insistence. “Um, then let me treat you to something to eat, as a thank you.”
Zhou Mi considered his offer. He wasn’t sure if the young man meant anything more by that invitation, but decided to accept it anyway. “Okay.”
--
“Hey, guess what?” Henry asked the moment Amber returned to their room. He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn’t looking at his roommate’s sister again.
“What?” Amber replied, making her voice as low as possible.
“I met your twin sister today when I was guitar shopping.”
She put on a surprised expression. “Really? How did that happen?”
Henry looked rather sheepish. “Well, I actually mistook her for you - you guys look exactly alike!”
Amber nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we get that a lot. People normally think Amber’s a boy when they meet her.”
He felt bad that he’d jumped to that conclusion as well, though his excuse of assuming she was Donghae probably mitigated that a little. “She must hate that, huh?”
Amber pondered this for a moment. “Nah, I think she’s accepted the fact that she’s not pretty.” After all, not everyone could be as gorgeous as the Jung sisters.
“Wait, I didn’t say she’s not pretty.” Henry hastily protested.
“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t blaming you. Amber can’t help it that she was born looking like that.”
Henry frowned. “Dude, stop talking like your sister’s ugly. She’s actually quite cute. And, you know, you have the same face.”
Amber’s heart stopped beating for a second. “What?”
“You guys have the same face.” Henry repeated, but she shook her head violently.
“You think I’m- my sister is cute?”
“Uh…” Henry’s eyes widened, realising he’d violated some sort of bro code here. But he couldn’t exactly take back what he’d said, or else it might sound like he was insulting Donghae’s sister. Talk about a rock and a hard place. “…kind of?”
Amber tried to quell her rising excitement and remember that she was pretending to be her brother. “Oh. That’s cool with me.”
“Okay.”
--
Luna blushed furiously at her roommate’s absurd suggestion. “Are you crazy? I can’t just go up to Donghae and confess and kiss him!”
“Look, you haven’t progressed any further in your relationship with him.” Sulli pointed out bluntly as Luna winced. “Going out with Henry doesn’t seem to have made Donghae jealous enough to do anything…”
“Which was your theory, mind you.” Luna interjected.
“This means he’s either not seen you as a potential love interest, or just needs some more direct confrontation.” Sulli concluded. “Either way, if you confess to him, he’ll either reject you - in which case you won’t waste any more time pining over him, or he’ll admit to liking you back and everything will be alright.”
Luna wasn’t sure how well she’d handle rejection if it came. It occurred to her then that the boys who had approached her in the past to ask her out must have been pretty brave. Then again, Sulli wasn’t wrong, even if her suggestion was rather nerve-wracking. She would just have to chin up and do it.
**
A/N: return of the QMi! plus some real Henber interaction! please comment and tell me how you found this chapter!
in case it's confusing, Amber and Donghae's dad is Korean, and so Eunyoung is Amber's Korean name in this story, which I presume he would choose to use to address her by. apparently Amber's Korean friends gave that name to her, which she uses in Invincible Youth II :D
Chapter: 10/13
Genre: romance, humour, AU
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Henber (main), minor QMi, LunBer, other ninja pairings
Summary: When Donghae decides to skip his first two weeks at SM High, his twin sister Amber impersonates him and joins the prestigious performing arts school to meet her idol, Cho Kyuhyun. Hijinks ensue as she tries to keep from being found out by her roommate Henry, dealing with romantic mix-ups along the way.
A/N: Based on the movie She’s the Man, a take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The title is a quote from the opening lines of the play.
Amber grimaced as she donned the girly top, muttering under her breath about ridiculous old-fashioned fathers in general who insisted on their daughters wearing pretty clothes and makeup. She kept to her skinny jeans as a sign of protest. Though if she had to be absolutely honest, it felt good not to have to wear those chest bindings for once.
Her father grunted in slight approval when she appeared downstairs. “At least you don’t look so much like a boy now, Eunyoung-ah. I don’t know why your mother allowed you to cut your hair like that.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, and reminded herself that she was the one who had wanted some father-daughter bonding time. “Let’s just go get lunch, okay?”
--
Henry strolled around the shopping area, stopping only to buy some fishcakes before continuing to his intended destination - a music shop with varying instruments lining its window display. He made a beeline for the guitar section, having considered getting a new one for some time now. To his annoyance, he spotted someone sitting in his usual spot and strumming on one of the guitars he’d been eyeing.
The person’s profile looked rather familiar, and Henry frowned. “Donghae?”
Amber looked up to see her roommate staring down at her, and her stomach lurched. What were the odds that she’d run into anyone from school on a weekday in this area? She mentally cursed herself for leaving her father to buy some household necessities while she went to play around in the instrument shop.
Henry didn’t understand why Donghae looked so stunned, and… feminine. What on earth was his roommate wearing?
Amber’s mind raced through her options - she could pretend to be Donghae wearing some very questionable clothing, or she could just be herself and pretend she didn’t know him. “Um, I’m sorry, do I know you?” She used her natural voice instead of the low one she’d been affecting at school.
“You’re not Lee Donghae?” Henry looked even more confused.
“Ah.” Amber made a noise of understanding. “That’s my twin brother.”
“Ohhhhh.” He marvelled at how identical the two were - considering that they had to be fraternal twins. “Um, my name’s Henry Lau. I’m Donghae’s roommate at SM High.” He switched to English, remembering that she was fluent in it.
“I’m Amber, nice to meet you.” She bowed slightly and shook his hand. “I guess Donghae forgot to mention that he has a twin sister?”
“No, he did - I just assumed you were your brother.” Henry blurted out, before realising how rude that probably sounded to a girl. And it now seemed quite obvious that she was a girl, considering what she was wearing, and the general physical differences between guys and girls. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that you look like a boy-”
Amber waved his apology off graciously. “Don’t worry, it happens all the time.” She then realised that she probably ought to find a way of escaping before Henry figured out that she was actually masquerading as Donghae.
“So you play the guitar, huh?” Henry pointed at the guitar in her arms, and she nodded. Then he remembered what Donghae had said about the Christmas song. “I hear you’re familiar with Stevie Wonder’s Someday at Christmas.”
Amber nodded again, wondering where Henry was going with this. “I suppose Donghae told you that we used to sing it every Christmas.”
Henry smiled and sat down at a nearby piano. “Can you play it on the guitar?”
She could, and even though common sense told her to distance herself from him as quickly as possible, she stayed put and plucked and strummed along to his piano playing, joining in the singing for the second time that week.
Even her singing voice was similar to Donghae’s, Henry mused as they sang together. And even though he didn’t know her well at all, he found himself oddly attracted to her. Perhaps it was her striking resemblance to Donghae that endeared her to him.
When they stopped, they realised that more people had entered the shop and were watching their impromptu performance with approving smiles. The shop staff looked rather pleased at the increase in patronage.
“Uh, I kind of have to be going now.” Amber said, looking at her watch and seeing that her father would be expecting her to meet him soon.
“Oh.” Henry felt a pang of disappointment. “Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting my dad at the hardware store down the street.” She replied while carefully setting the guitar back in its place.
“Okay. Will you be coming to our school carnival? Donghae and I will be performing different items.” He asked hopefully.
Amber was pretty sure she couldn’t agree to go, because she couldn’t possibly spend the day at the carnival switching personas and clothing. “I’ll see if I’m free on that date. If I do go, I’ll be sure to catch your performance.” She added, and was rewarded with a happy smile that made Henry look like a cute hamster all over again.
“See you.” He waved as she left the shop, grinning like an idiot.
--
Kyuhyun pushed the door of the salon open, looking around a little apprehensively until he saw the person he’d been thinking of for the past week.
“Welcome!” A chirpy voice greeted him, as Zhou Mi cheerfully looked up to see the student standing nervously, and his eyes widened in recognition.
“Cho Kyuhyun-ssi, right?” Zhou Mi ushered him in. “Are you here to get your hair cut?”
“Um, yes.” Kyuhyun replied, not quite sure what to say to the tall hairstylist. It didn’t seem to matter, because it turned out that Zhou Mi could talk enough for the both of them.
“You know, Donghae convinced me to watch your performances from the campus version of Korean Idol.” Zhou Mi chatted while running his fingers through Kyuhyun’s hair, causing the younger boy to shiver slightly. “Did I mention that he’s a big fan of yours?”
“Yeah, you did.” Kyuhyun vividly remembered the short conversation they’d previously had. “One of our mutual friends brought him to meet me, and he actually asked me for my autograph.”
“Oh? And how did that go?” Zhou Mi asked in interest, having only heard Amber’s recap of the encounter.
“He seems like a nice guy, though I didn’t get to talk to him much.”
“He was probably too overcome with awe.” Zhou Mi laughed. “Oh, what kind of hairstyle were you thinking of getting?”
“I suppose whatever you think looks best is fine. I don’t really know much about hairstyling.” Kyuhyun admitted.
“Really?” Zhou Mi looked surprised. “Your hair always looked good in those performances I watched.”
Kyuhyun blushed slightly, not daring to meet the older man’s eyes in the mirror. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome! But when I’m done with you, all the girls will be falling at your feet.” Zhou Mi promised.
“What about the boys?” Kyuhyun asked, and then nearly slapped himself for such a stupid question.
Zhou Mi raised a brow. “Sure, the boys too, if that’s your preference.”
By the time Zhou Mi was done with Kyuhyun’s hair, Kyuhyun knew all about Zhou Mi’s family, childhood in China, favourite foods, opinions on varying hairstyles, love for fashion, and his dream of becoming a personal stylist for a celebrity. And bias notwithstanding, Zhou Mi was really good at what he did. Kyuhyun rather liked how he looked in the mirror.
“How much is it-” The question was barely out of his mouth when Zhou Mi started shaking his head firmly.
“It’s free. I couldn’t possibly charge Donghae’s idol.” He grinned widely. “Plus I had a good time talking to you.”
Kyuhyun blinked helplessly at the older man’s insistence. “Um, then let me treat you to something to eat, as a thank you.”
Zhou Mi considered his offer. He wasn’t sure if the young man meant anything more by that invitation, but decided to accept it anyway. “Okay.”
--
“Hey, guess what?” Henry asked the moment Amber returned to their room. He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn’t looking at his roommate’s sister again.
“What?” Amber replied, making her voice as low as possible.
“I met your twin sister today when I was guitar shopping.”
She put on a surprised expression. “Really? How did that happen?”
Henry looked rather sheepish. “Well, I actually mistook her for you - you guys look exactly alike!”
Amber nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we get that a lot. People normally think Amber’s a boy when they meet her.”
He felt bad that he’d jumped to that conclusion as well, though his excuse of assuming she was Donghae probably mitigated that a little. “She must hate that, huh?”
Amber pondered this for a moment. “Nah, I think she’s accepted the fact that she’s not pretty.” After all, not everyone could be as gorgeous as the Jung sisters.
“Wait, I didn’t say she’s not pretty.” Henry hastily protested.
“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t blaming you. Amber can’t help it that she was born looking like that.”
Henry frowned. “Dude, stop talking like your sister’s ugly. She’s actually quite cute. And, you know, you have the same face.”
Amber’s heart stopped beating for a second. “What?”
“You guys have the same face.” Henry repeated, but she shook her head violently.
“You think I’m- my sister is cute?”
“Uh…” Henry’s eyes widened, realising he’d violated some sort of bro code here. But he couldn’t exactly take back what he’d said, or else it might sound like he was insulting Donghae’s sister. Talk about a rock and a hard place. “…kind of?”
Amber tried to quell her rising excitement and remember that she was pretending to be her brother. “Oh. That’s cool with me.”
“Okay.”
--
Luna blushed furiously at her roommate’s absurd suggestion. “Are you crazy? I can’t just go up to Donghae and confess and kiss him!”
“Look, you haven’t progressed any further in your relationship with him.” Sulli pointed out bluntly as Luna winced. “Going out with Henry doesn’t seem to have made Donghae jealous enough to do anything…”
“Which was your theory, mind you.” Luna interjected.
“This means he’s either not seen you as a potential love interest, or just needs some more direct confrontation.” Sulli concluded. “Either way, if you confess to him, he’ll either reject you - in which case you won’t waste any more time pining over him, or he’ll admit to liking you back and everything will be alright.”
Luna wasn’t sure how well she’d handle rejection if it came. It occurred to her then that the boys who had approached her in the past to ask her out must have been pretty brave. Then again, Sulli wasn’t wrong, even if her suggestion was rather nerve-wracking. She would just have to chin up and do it.
**
A/N: return of the QMi! plus some real Henber interaction! please comment and tell me how you found this chapter!
in case it's confusing, Amber and Donghae's dad is Korean, and so Eunyoung is Amber's Korean name in this story, which I presume he would choose to use to address her by. apparently Amber's Korean friends gave that name to her, which she uses in Invincible Youth II :D