I love her acting though, have you seen Hana Kimi? Nobuta wo Produce? She's amazing," Amber said, flipping through her Japanese magazines. I glanced at the picture she was pointing to.
"Horikita Maki? She's cute, I guess."
"She's not just cute, she's gorgeous. You have horrible tastes, hyung."
It was strange to be called hyung by a girl at first, but I got used to it. Amber said that Oppa sounded too girly so I better learn to deal with it. I'm also used to her calling girls hot and saying some other things that you would normally hear in a conversation between guys.
"What's up with you and Japanese stuff?"
"What's up with you and Korean stuff?" she retorts.
"Maybe because I'm Korean," I say. Taemin doesn't seem to have any interest in our conversation. He stares out the window, quiet.
"Hey, I'm Chinese and American, fool. I still like Korean stuff so what's wrong with Japanese stuff?"
"Damn, you can speak three languages or something? That's really hot."
"Not when she's on the phone with one of her friends from America," Taemin pipes up with a scowl, receiving a playful hit from Amber. "The don't appreciate me talking to you in Korean either, buddy."
I glance around and spot Kibum in the back, listening to his ipod. The bus was starting to heat up now, the windows fogging up. It was eight in the morning but we weren't at the lofts yet. I try to wipe the sleep from my eyes but to no avail.
I sniff and shove my hands in to my thin coat. "I wish I would have worn my padded jacket instead."
"Quit complaining, we'll be there in few," Amber smiles. "You know this whole trip isn't just a paradise, right?"
"Huh?"
"Onew kinda tricked you guys. We're gonna be practicing a lot more, there's a competition coming up soon. You losers aren't ready," she says but the insult wasn't as bad as it sounded coming from her. Taemin's face lights up with excitement but my jaw drops. "That bastard. . . Only Onew would pull something like that!"
"Taemin's great," Amber says and then looks me up and down, "but you, Jonghyun. . . We have a lot of work to do on that ass."
"What the- Are you stupid? You're worse than a guy, I swear," I growl.
"I meant your footwork and rhythm. Your actual dancing, not your badonkadonk." Taemin almost chokes with laughter and I feel like I'm missing something.
"What the hell is that?! Tell me Taemin," I say but he just shakes his head and Amber continues looking through her magazine.
We stay like that, just chatting away but my eyes keep finding Kibum. Luckily, Taemin's occupied with the window and Amber doesn't seem to notice. My heart leaps when Kibum glances over, meeting my eyes. I look away quickly, the stupidest thing you can do. It makes it obvious you were caught staring.
The bus stops for a restroom and lunch break. Amber crashes on her seat and Taemin follows me off the bus.
"I heard the hot dogs at this place are good, want to buy some before the bus heads off again?"
He nods.
As Taemin tells me about an episode of Star Idol with Ga In he saw the other night I feel something gnawing at me. Taemin's expressions are different, his eyes are cloudy, his smiles aren't full, his bags are heavier. What happened to my best friend? Am I doing something wrong? Should I ask him?
I'm not sure how to deal with it though. What if something really is happening at home that I shouldn't know about. . . We leave the restaurant and wander the shops together since the bus didn't leave yet. We go in to a little antique store, full of tiny charms, old collectibles, dusty books. Taemin likes that kind of stuff.
He oogles at a tiny lion and tiger figurine. The tiger's eyes a cobalt blue, icy yet gentle and the lion had a calm fire in it's ruby eyes. The two were running at each other but it was hard to tell if they were about to fight or not. Taemin continues down the isle, making "ooooh' and "aaah" noises.
I could tell the artist of this tiny statue knew exactly what he wanted the expressions of the two beasts to be like. The tiger was cold yet soft and the lion was fierce yet understanding. It was amazing.
"Jonghyun? You ready? Look at this awesome antique watch, it's got English written on the front. Maybe Amber can translate it. Hey, you gettin' that?"
I pick the little statue up and brush the dust off, "yeah. I like it."
On the way to the bus I can't help but stare at the snow colored tiger's eyes, the blue specks in the glass sparkling under the sun. Taemin glances at the statue, "it's weird for you to get that, Jonghyun. . . Is it a present for a girl or something?"
"I wouldn't give a girl something like this!" I say. "I just like it, ok?"
"Ok, calm down," he says and buys his watch. We get back on the bus and Amber tells us the watch says 'don't let them stop you, be free.'
The rest of the ride passes quickly, everyone drifting in and out of sleep.
:::
"I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this-"
"Taemin, you'll be fine! Just go! Amber said she was going to push you down the mountain herself if she got back and you were still here," I groan.
We finally got to the lodge! Taemin and I were gonna share a room and Amber was sharing with Nicole. The first thing on Onew's list was to make us snowboard. Taemin was scared out of his mind, the complete opposite of Amber and to be honest I didn't care. My limbs were still stiff from the bus ride when we got to the top of the slope after renting equipment.
"But it's just so far down! You go first then, hyung. Please?"
"Hell no, do you see how far down that is? I'm gonna die-" I stop quickly, "I mean. . . I would go but your the baby so I need to watch you from behind. We don't want you to get hurt and what not, you know?"
"Hyung," he glares. I throw up a thumbs up. He gives me a puppy dog look.
"Hey! You know I can't resist your sad face, stop that!"
He smiles and then tries to pout again but before I could give in, Taemin goes flying down the slope, snow spurring off of his board. I watch in amazement as he manages not to fall, his fear being the only thing keeping him alive.
"Bwahahaha! Did you see his face?! If only I had a camera with me!"
"Wow, I didn't know Taemin could go so fast!"
Amber wipes happy tears from her eyes and then follows Taemin down the hill. Of course, her snow boarding was more graceful.
I take a second to admire the scenery. It's cold and the ground has a blanket of snow on it that's almost blinding to look at from the reflection of the sun.
"Have you ever gone snowboarding before?"
I jump at the voice, losing my balance and falling back in to the snow.
"Oops, sorry."
I look up and of course it had to be Kibum that saw me fall over. He moves slightly, in a way that I think he's going to help me up but then he decides against it. I get up awkwardly and brush the snow off of my pants.
"Since when are you so uncool?" I turn to see Onew and feel a little annoyed. I wanted to be alone with Kibum. . .
"No, I've never been snowboarding," I tell Kibum, ignoring Onew's comment. Kibum looks like he's about to respond but here comes Onew-
"No wonder you fell. Well, your balance is shit during practice so I guess it wouldn't change on a snowboard. Here I can help you."
I'm starting to really dislike this kid. . . Why couldn't it have been Key that asked to help me? Damn you Onew! Ah well, I guess Key would never do something like that anyways.
"First of all, your legs are too stiff and-"
"Onew hyung! Can you help me adjust this strap!" Nicole yells from a few yards away. Don't let me forget to give Nicole a huge kiss later- Onew glances over and then back at me. "I gotta go attend to another problem, Kibum can you help him?"
"Isn't that just another way of saying 'lol bye bitch, I'm about to hit it up with the cutest girl in class'?"
"Pretty much! See ya~"
I shake my head, how can a guy like that be a leader? I start to tie my laces when I see Key hasn't left yet. Weird. .. Oh yeah, he's supposed to help me! I want to say something but it seems weird. What if I say something stupid?! Or my strange feelings for him start to pour out?! Oh god what if I tell him about the time I accidently asked Amber when his birthday was?! And that it wasn't an accident!
"You're tying it wrong, Jonghyun."
I glance down in confusion. My fingers are all tangled up in my shoe strings. Augh, now he thinks I can't even tie my shoes. I laugh in embarrassment, "I- I know how to tie my shoes! I guess these boots are just. . . "
My voice grows faint.
Kibum's. . . Tying my shoes for me?!
Even if lacing up snow boots wasn't hard, Key made it look ten times easier. Everything about him is graceful. Less than a minute goes by but to me it seems like forever. My face must be beet red. He finishes and stands up, locking eyes with me.
"Sorry."
Sorry?
Sorry?!
"You don't need to apologize, you didn't do anything. Why would you say that?" I ask, dumbstruck.
"I think I was in your personal space. . . Right?"
EEEEEEH?! Did he just say that?! I mean it was kinda weird to do but- I want you to be in my personal space!
"What?" Key asks, his cheeks turning a slight pink. Did I just. . . Say that out loud? Oh fuck.
"I mean," I laugh nervously, "we're friends so you shouldn't be afraid to you know. . . Be in my bubble or whatever! I mean if you would have hugged me or something it would have been different!" Ohoho my reaction would have been far different. "Not that I don't want you to hug me or anything, I would be perfectly fine with it actually. But not in a let's have a pants party together kind of way, you know what I mean? Hahahaha!"
Kibum's expression remains indifferent but who knows what's going on in his head.
"Ok. . . I'll remember that. . . Bye."
I tried to yell wait or something but no words came out. I'm such a loser, what the fuck!> Pants party?! I feel like crying, he must think I'm a total creep. I went down the mountain, meeting Taemin and Amber at the bottom who were pestering me about how slow I was and just when I thought the day couldn't get worse here comes Minho. Taemin looks like he's about to shit bricks.
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Sorry this took so long >O<
I had eye surgery and school and uuuugh so much stuff going on~ I was starting to get bored with this story but if I get enough comments I'll keep writing it. . . I promise to update faster, SERIOUSLY. I also need to make longer chapters! I hope it was okay, I didn't feel creative but I went ahead and did it :D
r&r please ^o^ <3