Doll House 2/?
"Do you have a minute, Jonghyun?"
It was in the empty courtyard that Taemin decides it's about time to find out some things about the most popular guy in school. At around lunch time, he asks Jonghyun if they can talk alone, which was rather embarrassing. Everyone knows about Taemin's ex boyfriend so it isn't exactly a secret that he likes guys.
There's an awkward tension in the air as Jonghyun's friends stare down at him.
"What makes you think he has time to talk to you, fag?"
"Jonghyun's not gonna get in your pants, go to the corner tonight for that."
"Hurry and get the fuck out of our face!"
Taemin covers his face but it doesn't stop the empty can from hitting him. It doesn't hurt, not physically, but inside he feels upset and angry. Why are people like this? Why do they love to feel superior? He would never understand.
"Stop being noisy," a drowsy voice mumbles.
Jonghyun hops up from the bench, his buddies moving out of the way in confusion. Taemin stares at him and realizes that the girls in his class didn't exaggerate. He really was gorgeous. His fierce eyes are that of a lion's and he walks with confidence instead of arrogance. Taemin feels his courage starting to diminish.
"Um. . . I asked to talk to you in private," he says quietly.
Jonghyun blinks a few times and brushes pass Taemin.
"Sure."
As Jonghyun moves lazily pass him, stretching his arms out and mumbling something about sleep, Taemin's glad. So he's not like his friends, huh. . . I feel better knowing that, for Key's sake.
"Do you like Kim Kibum?" Taemin asks bluntly, opening up a fresh can of Pepsi. The hissing sound of the can opening fills the silence and he wonders if Jonghyun is thinking or just doesn't want to answer. The sun moves behind the clouds and the air around them gets cooler. Taemin takes a long sip, mostly to keep from looking at Jonghyun, and sighs. Maybe he asked too quickly? Should I talk about something else first? Maybe I'll ask him how he did on his Geometry test last Friday!
"Ahh, last Friday did you-"
"Taemin," Jonghyun says in a serious tone. His eyes look lost and cold. Taemin grips the can harder, "Hm?"
"Does that guy. . . hate me?"
A few birds fly by and Taemin isn't sure how to respond. His eyes stay glued to the ground.
"Yeah, he does."
:::
"I don't know what's wrong with me lately! I keep failing my tests in Science class! It's definitely that new girl's fault. My teacher made me pair up with her on the last project because he wants me to influence the bimbo! Aish, I shouldn't be punished like this for being smart! You know what I mean?! It's just so damn- Taemin? Taemin, are you listening?"
Kibum raises a brow at his friend who's just staring in to space.
"If you're gonna blank out on me at least warn me so I don't waste my breath. . . "
"Eh?" Taemin's shakes his head and laughs. "That's such a funny story, Key! Ahahaha!"
Something's up with him lately. . . Ever since that day he didn't eat lunch with me to go make up a test. He's hiding something. But it's weird, he never lies to me.
"Yeah, such a funny story," Key says sarcastically.
After the bell, Kibum and Taemin walk home together as usual. Taemin's in the middle of telling Kibum about 2pm's new album when a voice interrupts him.
"Kibum!"
They turn around to see somebody running in their direction.
"Isn't that Minho?" Taemin asks and Key sighs.
"Fuck my life."
"Shut the fuck up, Kibum," Minho glares, trying to catch his breath. He gives Taemin a glance and then stretches his arm out. Kibum stares dumbly at the paper in his hand and finally takes it.
"It's a love letter," Minho explains and Taemin's eyes widen. Kibum reads over it with a blank expression. Taemin isn't sure if he should walk away or not, he didn't even know that Minho was gay. Kibum raises his eyes to Minho's.
"You're the last person I expected to have a crush on me, Minho."
"Fuck you. It's from Sarah, she was too shy to give it to you. Jesus, girls are so troublesome."
Kibum slips the letter in to nearest trash can and Taemin hits him. "That's someone confessing to you! How would you feel if you wrote a love letter and the person you liked ripped it up? You're so heartless sometimes, you know?"
"If she likes me so much, she should tell me to my face. It's rude to confess through writing"
Minho shrugs and whips out a lighter along with a box of cigarettes. "Yeah, I hate getting letters. They're so pointless-"
His lighter suddenly vanishes and appears in the trash can. Kibum and Minho look at Taemin in awe as he drops it in the trash. He scolds Minho about not smoking, getting really passionate about the topic.
"What are you, my mother? I'll smoke if I sure as hell want to!"
They start to argue so Kibum walks away from the scene. Taemin and Minho were strange together. They hung out sometimes and talked but Taemin denied being friends with the guy. On the way home, Kibum face palms. None other than Jonghyun is walking on the sidewalk across from him. A sick feeling enters his stomach as he forces himself to stare at the ground. It wasn't surprising to see Jonghyun really. . . They live across the street from each other but. . .
Crap, I have to go down that street to get home! Augh, why do we live so close?!
Kibum waits for traffic to die before crossing the street and walking a safe distance behind his best friend, the boy who stole his heart. At night, Kibum would wake up with tears streaming down his face because on the outside he was strong and he didn't let anything bother him but inside he was falling apart. He knows that Jonghyun won't return his feelings but he isn't strong enough to be just friends with him anymore and he hates it.
Kibum snaps back to reality when he bumps in to something and stumbles back.
"S-sorry!"
He says and looks up. The wind blows through his hair, his cheeks flare up and his fingers start to tremble. Jonghyun.
"You that lost in thought. . ?" he asks and Key just laughs the question off.
"You could have told me to wait up or something, we're going to the same place," he tries again with a smile but Kibum can see through it. He could see that Jonghyun wanted to ask what was going on? He wanted to know why his calls weren't being returned, why he was being avoided on a daily basis, why he's had to walk to school by himself for this long. I guess he doesn't want to ask me why I've been avoiding him right off the bet. . .
Kibum shrugs and they start to walk together. What could it hurt? Don't let his charm sway you, Kibum!
Jonghyun shoves his hands in his jacket pockets and starts to hum, an attempt at breaking the ice. Kibum loves the sound of his voice, it always calmed him. Whenever Kibum felt upset but didn't want to talk about it, Jonghyun would hum. They both knew what he was doing but nobody ever acknowledged it.
After a while, Key found himself humming with him. SID, huh? There favorite Jrock group in middle school, ah the days.
"You still listen to them?" Key asks and Jonghyun nods.
"What kind of fan gives up on their favorite band?"
"Me," Kibum smiles. He stopped listening to them when they started high school. Another tie with Jonghyun he dropped.
"I see," Jonghyun replies with a calm expression. It's hard to tell if he cares or not. The wind starts to pick up and Kibum shivers. Aw man, I left my coat at school. . .
"Wanna wear my jacket?" Jonghyun asks. Jonghyun in general was a nice guy but he would only lend his favorite jacket to Key. Key loved how special Jonghyun made him feel, another reason he fell in love with him. But it wasn't fair because Kibum was only a friend in Jonghyun's eyes. Just a very good friend. He's so calm about everything! Why does that make me feel flustered but he doesn't feel anything? Oh right, I'm in love with him . . .
"That's okay," Kibum says.
Jonghyun frowns and moves closer to Kibum, slinging his arm around his shoulders. Kibum's heart bursts at the contact. Aish! Calm down! We've held hands and slept in the same bed before when we were little! This isn't anything!
"You don't want my jacket so this is the only way I can keep you from catching a cold," Jonghyun grins, making Kibum blush further. It actually did make him feel warmer, having him so close like that. But it just didn't feel right. It didn't seem right that Jonghyun was such a good friend and Kibum was thinking of this all wrong. There were no kinds of feelings involved with the gesture. Kibum feels tears start to form in his eyes at what he was about to do. He took Jonghyun's hand and removed his arm, looking away.
"Don't touch me, Jonghyun. Alright?"
"Huh?"
"It's annoying."
Kibum moves away and leaves Jonghyun behind, his heart shattering. He's hurting Jonghyun and he hates himself for it. Why did he fall in love? Why couldn't he just like girls like all the normal high school boys? Why didn't he just accept one of those girl's letters and return their feelings?
Jonghyun stands there, watching his best friend pace away. He runs a hand through his hair and looks up at the bright sky. He remembers what Taemin told him earlier that day and smiles.
I won't give up on you that easily, Key. You forget who you're dealing with.