Quaint (2/?)
TITLE: Quaint
Author: ailaling1017
Genre: romance, fluff, college AU
Warning: genderswitch, minor language, cursing
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior...although I wish I did.xD * bricked*
Rating: PG-13
Status/Length: Incomplete; Chaptered, 3426W
Pairing: KyuMin; girl!Min; side: EunHae; girl!Hyuk; ninja!YeWook; girl!Wook; broken!KiHae; girl!Kibum; ninja!HanChul girl!Heechul
Summary:They had clashing personalities, not to mention, different hobbies and ideals. Two parallel lines that wouldn't meet. Needless to say, they belonged to different cliques - Kyuhyun being in the high class and Sungmin, well, the lower class. They were opposite ends of a line - except that, Cho Kyuhyun and Lee Sungmin were the best of friends.
A/N: I'm sorry for the super late update. Lazy bitch is lazy. But hey, I finally made it. It was a blessing in disguise that the internet connection died last night so I was able to finish a couple of chapters without the temptation that is tumblr. HAHAHAHA. Self-beta-ed as usual. Grammatical errors are a must!
" Siwon. Choi Siwon." the man said while he flashed a heart-stopping smile that made Sungmin's face burn. She hastily shifted her gaze to Professor Geng who cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Okay settle down everyone. As you can see, we have a new member amongst us."
Everyone's eyes darted to the newcomer and he returned it with a small smile and stood up to introduce himself.
"Good afternoon everyone. I am Choi Siwon and I am an exchange student from Beijing University. Please take care of me." he then bowed at a ninety-degree angle to the whole of the room.
“Okay then Siwon-sshi. So guys, as you’ve heard, Siwon here is a transfer student from Beijing University wherein he was President of the prestigious Beijing University Martial Arts Club. He is the national representative for Taekwondo in the South East Asian Games last year and is the reigning gold medalist in that category. Having him here in our institution is a great honor and will greatly help us in winning the national cup that we’ve been aiming for so long.” Professor Geng said dreamily - more to himself than to the rest of the class.
Everybody in the room fell silent at the prior knowledge and gave him looks that could only be construed as appreciative. Except for Kang-in, the president of the Martial Arts Club who half-glared at him as if sizing him up and Shindong whose mouth was agape.
Siwon on the other hand seemed indifferent to all the attention. He was unperturbed by Kang-in’s death glare and was pretty oblivious to the admiring stares of the other two girls in the group - Sooyoung and Yuri. Instead, he turned his attention to Sungmin who was the only one who wasn’t gawking at him as if he was some animal on display in the zoo. Said girl was staring out of the window, absorbed in her own thoughts and she seemed to be miles away.
Sungmin suddenly became conscious of a presence and felt that she was being watched. As she turned to her right, she was surprised to see Siwon, in all his stunning glory, staring up at her with his cheek resting on his palms while his elbow rested on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. She was so flustered and she couldn’t help the blush that crept to her cheek.
"Uh, is something on my face?” she stammered.
Siwon smiled sheepishly then winked at her which made her feel somewhat dizzy - she could literally see stars as the boy before her finally averted his gaze to Professor Geng who was still discussing about the upcoming Taekwondo National Cup with great fervor.
As soon as Professor Geng declared the meeting adjourned, Sungmin darted to the door in hopes of eluding the suffocating presence of the man he just met. She didn’t know why she felt like this - he was basically a stranger after all - a very hot stranger that is. Sungmin had to mentally slap herself for thinking such and focused on remembering the fastest way to get out of the building through the shortcuts she’s learned in the past four years of her life in the said university.
She barely made it out of the school gates when she felt a hand gently tap her shoulder. She turned to the person behind her to find the now familiar stance of the man who made her lungs run out of air.
God clearly hated her.
How could he have catched up with her so easily? She literally stormed out of the room in a brisk walk but Siwon seemed to be breathing normally as he reached her. It must be attributed to the fact that he had long strides. Damn these short legs, Sungmin muttered to herself.
“Sungmin-sshi?” Siwon snapped her out of her daze.
“Yes?” she managed to choke out.
“You see, I‘m sorry if I kinda scared you back there. I wasn’t trying to be blunt or forward. It’s just that I really want to make friends with you. You remind me of someone. And I wasn’t joking when I told you that I think you’re beautiful. So can we start over and be friends?” Sungmin just managed to keep her mouth from hanging wide-open as he accepted Siwon’s offer at a handshake. This time, it was more comfortable and Sungmin welcomed the pressure of the slight squeeze that Siwon gave her hand before he let go. “So, Sungmin-sshi, have you had dinner yet?” Just then, Sungmin’s stomach made an audible sound which made Siwon chuckle.
“I guess not.”
Sungmin wanted the ground to swallow her whole. What a very good first impression to leave your crush with. Wait, what? Did she just say crush!? No, of course not. He’s just good-looking, anyone else would completely feel the same, she reasoned with herself.
“Okay, so where do you wanna eat?” he said as he led the way towards the sidewalk. “Uhm, anywhere you’d like.” “Come on, don’t be shy. Besides, I don’t really know much about this place yet. I’ve been living on instant ramen for the past two days since I’ve arrived here. I lived here when I was young but we moved to China when I was six so…” he trailed off. “Oh that! Sorry I forgot. Well, there’s this fancy little café at the corner of the street. It’s called Café SuJu - they serve dinner too. It’s in front of the children’s playground beside the day care I used to go to when I was young.”“Wait, are you talking about Miss Kim’s day care center?” he suddenly stopped and faced Sungmin with an eager look. “Hmmm, yes. Is there any day care center in this place anyway?” Sungmin felt herself chuckle at an inward joke. Miss Kim’s Day care center has been there for who knows how-long. All the kids in their town basically went there in their preschool days and has therefore gone under the strict supervision of Miss Kim Jaejoong - not that she was scary like a monster that she’d let them believe would eat them when they wouldn’t eat their vegetables or when they didn't want to finish their homework when they were young. Miss Kim was a sweet lady and she was very patient with kids. It’s just that she has this imposing air which made all the children behave whenever she was around. This of course, favored her as she had to run the day care all by herself. She was an old maid, you see. Sungmin brushed the thoughts of herself succeeding over Miss Kim’s position as soon as she grew old enough to be called an ahjumma as she hasn’t even had her first boyfriend and she is nearing twenty, she has considered being an old maid quite a few times. She cringed at the thought of living alone forever with her three cats while taking care of other people’s children when she wouldn't even have children of her own. She willed the odd thoughts away and focused back to the conversation that she left hanging. Siwon was beaming at her for some reason she didn’t know that she had to ask him again if there was something stuck on her face.
“No, I mean, you said Miss Kim? Miss Kim as in Miss Kim Jaejoong’s day care center?” Siwon chirped, his voice a little jumpy.
“Yes, why?” “Oh my god! I went there before we moved to China! How old are you again?” “Errr… nineteen? Going on twenty early next year.”
Again, she felt bad at the reminder that she wasn’t getting any younger soon.
“We’re same-aged friends! So that means we were in the same class!”
Then he suddenly picked a lock of Sungmin’s shoulder-length brown hair and placed it on her forehead as if creating bangs. Sungmin went stock still at the fast turn of events as the man before him widened his eyes as if he had just had an epiphany of some sort.
“Minnie! Minnie-ah! Is that you!?" Sungmin merely nodded as she was still confused. Only Kyuhyun her closest friends called her that. Her eyes widened when the man before her enclosed her in a hug so tight that it made her lungs feel out of air - literally, this time around.
“I knew you looked familiar! Minnie! It’s me! It’s Wonnie! You know, your seatmate!”
“But Henry was my seatmate back then.” she muttered silently - her face scrunched up in confusion as she couldn’t fathom how that chubby-cheeked boy became muscular like the man before her. Surely he wasn’t Henry? Sure, they used their nicknames back then but she could specifically remember that Henry was called Mochi and not Wonnie.
“No! I was your seatmate on the other side. Henry was on your left. I was the one on your right.”
“Oh!” Then Sungmin’s eyes widened as she has dawned upon a realization.
The only reason she could remember Henry very well was because even as a child, she has always had this habit of staring out of windows and the window in the room in the day care was on the left side of the room which is why that’s the only part of the room she paid attention to. That, and the fact that everybody in the school knew who Henry was. Who wouldn’t know the kid who basically fell off his chair everyday and managed to trip even when he was just walking down the hallway. Poor thing - that may be the reason why he transferred to another school as they started elementary.
“Wonnie… Wonnie…..” Siwon looked at her expectantly. Holding his breath as if waiting for the announcement of the winners in the Taekwondo competition he has taken part in. In fact, he didn’t even hold his breath when that actually happened, but now, facing Sungmin, he looked like a helpless puppy waiting for its master to remember to feed it.
“Wonnie! But you wore glasses!”
Siwon finally exhaled and hugged Sungmin once more. This time, he let go after a short moment and brought his hands on either side of Sungmin’s shoulders.
“Yes Minnie! It’s me!”
He looked as if he just won the lottery as he smiled ear to ear at the confused Sungmin who stared at him unblinkingly.
“You… you look… different.”
“Oh yeah. I kind of lost a few pounds when I got into Taekwondo. And uh, I had laser eye surgery to correct my eyesight.”
Sungmin thought that what Siwon called a few didn’t quite fit to what she believed a few to be. She could vaguely remember the fat chubby kid next to her several years back. The kid had horn-rimmed eyeglasses which was half the size of his own face and he had three chins, a belly so big that he was exempted from their daily morning exercise as he couldn’t even reach his toes when it’s time for toe touch exercise, and short legs which made him look like a penguin whenever he waddled walked about.
Sungmin remembers being annoyed at the kid next to her who kept on following her around in the playground until that day Miss Kim said that they should get to know their seatmates - and get to know each other they did. She could remember one instance when they had drawing time and she had asked Wonnie what he was drawing. Said boy quickly flipped his paper upside-down to hide his work which had upset Sungmin so much since they were supposed to be “best friends” - they had this pairing system in preschool wherein your seatmate becomes your best bud since you share crayons and stuff - that she didn’t talk to him for the rest of the day.
An exasperated Wonnie came to school the next day with a pink bunny in hand which he gave to Sungmin as a peace offering. The week after that, Sungmin never heard of him again, not until now.
As she faced the Siwon of today, she couldn’t help but stare at him with an awestruck expression etched on every feature of her face. To say that he is the epitome of change would be an understatement. The glasses weren’t there anymore and there was now an actual neck in the place where the three chins he had as a child would have been. His big belly, no, there was no big belly anymore, instead, she was greeted by a lean abdomen free of any of the folds that used to be there. Sungmin could imagine the abs that lay underneath the soft material of the plaid polo shirt he was wearing and she had to shake her head from side to side to snap out of ogling at the other’s body. And as she looked back up at Siwon, she realized that he was much taller than her. Even much taller than Kyuhyun had been and she cursed her legs for being too short again. The legs on Siwon were a far cry from the ones in his childhood which could only be described as stout. Sungmin wanted to face palm herself. How come growing up favored everyone else but her?
“Minnie-ah? Are you okay?” Siwon slightly shook her with his hands which were still perched on either side of Sungmin’s shoulder.
“Yes. I am. I…just… Sorry.” Sungmin shrugged off Siwon’s hands and started to resume their walking.
“It’s okay. People here barely recognize me. Others don’t recognize me at all. I’m so glad you even remember me. I guess I’ve changed so much. But look at you! You haven’t changed a bit. You’re still pretty.” he smiled genuinely at her.
Sungmin couldn’t help but feel elated at Siwon’s words but she kept her face straight and only allowed herself a slight smile. She didn’t know what to feel, how to react when you see someone from your past, to deal with someone you felt had betrayed you. Yes, Sungmin felt betrayed because as young as she was, she valued friendship and she didn’t understand why her best friend would leave her all of a sudden without warning. Of course she couldn’t get mad at Siwon for this now so she blurted out the first thing that came on her mind.
“Ya! Remember that one day when we were in drawing class and I got mad at you?”
“Hmmm. What about it?”
“What did you actually draw that you didn’t want me to see, huh?” she said indignantly.
Siwon doubled over in laughter as he stared at her as if she grew two heads or something. Sungmin couldn’t help but join in the laughter as soon as she realized how stupid her questions must have been. At this point, it felt as if they've recovered the friendship they had which has been buried through the years. Sungmin felt as if they hadn’t been apart at all. Maybe, the person in front of him was still the boy she considered her best friend so long a time ago.
After a full-minute of laughing, Siwon finally got a hold of himself and regained his composure. He patted Sungmin’s head and pulled her closer against him as he slid his right arm over Sungmin’s shoulders.
“You still haven’t changed, eh?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sungmin said turning to Siwon and blinked questioningly.
Siwon’s expression turned serious as he muttered: “No swearing please… and what I mean by you not changing one bit is that you still are nosy.” he answered and he pinched Sungmin’s nose slightly which made the girl whimper a little.
“Am not!”
“Yes you are!”
“Okay. Fine. Whatever. You still haven’t answered my question.”
Siwon sighed in defeat as if resigned to the fact that Sungmin would always get what she wants - just like when they were kids.
“Don’t laugh, okay?”
Sungmin merely nodded in response.
“I was… I was… drawing you.”
An awkward silence ensued after that and Sungmin felt Siwon stiffen beside her. After a few moments, Sungmin managed to find the courage to break the silence.
“Why? Did you draw me so hideously that you didn’t want me to see!?”
“Yeah. That.”
Siwon’s smile looked more like a grimace.
~
They continued walking for a few more minutes before they finally reached the quaint little coffee shop at the corner of the street. Siwon saw the words Café SuJu emblazoned on the front glass panel of the shop which was adorned with series lights and he couldn’t help but feel that he made the right decision in coming back to Korea.
~
They chatted the night away - talking about their childhood as they ate and drank. Time seemed to slip away as two friends reunited after so long. They decided to visit the playground thereafter and Sungmin sat on the swing while Siwon pushed her from behind - just like the old times.
It was ten o’clock when Sungmin noticed the time. She frantically stood up from the swing and faced an equally shocked-looking Siwon.
“Oh my gosh. It’s already ten. I… I… I need to go home. The last trip is at ten! Oh my! Oh my!” she squeaked as she paced left to right, panicking.
“Minnie-ah. Minnie-ah.” Siwon had to hold her in place since she wouldn’t stop pacing.
“What do I do?” she sighed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take you home. You don’t mind walking back to the school, do you? I parked my car there.”
“Oh of course not. Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. What are friends for right?” he smiled at her and once again, she thought that if good-looks could kill, she’d already been dead by the time Siwon first greeted her at the meeting a few hours ago.
Sungmin let Siwon lead the way back to the school’s parking lot and she slid into the passenger’s seat as Siwon held out the car door for her. This was the first time someone showed her any act of chivalry and she couldn’t help but feel as if she was being treated like a princess.
Siwon’s car was simple but elegant, just like its owner. It was a sheer black and it shone as the light from the street lights reflected on it. The interior was just as clean as the exterior, if not more. An LCD screen is in the place of where the car stereo should be and it had something graphic on it which Sungmin later realized as the map of Seoul.
“So, you still live in the same place?”
“Yes. How do you... Do you know where it is?”
“Well, I do have a good memory when it comes to things I care about. And besides, we live in the same direction, the school bus used to drop you off before me.” he smiled at Sungmin and she couldn’t help but blush for the umpteenth time that evening.
“Oh. Yes. I haven’t moved anywhere else ever since.”
“All right then. Let’s go.” he started the engine and drove away.
~
“Minnie-ah. Minnie-ah.” Siwon murmured as he shook her awake.
Sungmin felt a slight tugging as she let her eyes flutter open.
“We’re here.” she was greeted by Siwon’s angelic smile.
“Am I dead? Are we in heaven?”
Siwon merely chuckled.
“No you silly. We’re at your apartment now.” Sungmin allowed herself to straighten on the car seat only to feel pain on her neck as she did so. She must’ve stayed long in that position as she slept.
“Ow.”
“Are you okay?” Siwon asked, concerned.
“Oh yes I’m fine. Thank you very much Wonnie. What would I ever do without you?” Sungmin blurted out before she could stop herself.
“I…I…didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I couldn’t have gone home if you didn’t… Sorry.”
Siwon nodded in understanding.
“It’s okay. I know.” and Sungmin could somehow sense disappointment in his tone.
“Uhm, would you like to come in for coffee or something?” she offered. She mentally congratulated herself for going grocery shopping the day before.
“There’s really no need to. Your place is on the way anyway.”
“I insist. It’s the least I could do to repay your kindness. And you wouldn’t even let me pay for dinner.” she pouted.
“Okay! Okay! And why would you think I’d let you pay!?” he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly got out of the car to open the door for Sungmin as she herself got out.
Little did they know they were being watched.
~TBC~
P.S. Sorry ~ no KyuMin in this chappie but there will be lots on the next I promise ~ this was totally outta plan but once I started writing I just arrived at this IDEKW ~ and this is getting longer than I thought. I'm not sure if I could finish the story in three chapters so I might end up changing it to chaptered - until Chapter 6 maybe? Boring chapter is boring. Mianhe. *bricked*
COMMENTS AND BRICKS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!xD
Author: ailaling1017
Genre: romance, fluff, college AU
Warning: genderswitch, minor language, cursing
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior...although I wish I did.xD * bricked*
Rating: PG-13
Status/Length: Incomplete; Chaptered, 3426W
Pairing: KyuMin; girl!Min; side: EunHae; girl!Hyuk; ninja!YeWook; girl!Wook; broken!KiHae; girl!Kibum; ninja!HanChul girl!Heechul
Summary:They had clashing personalities, not to mention, different hobbies and ideals. Two parallel lines that wouldn't meet. Needless to say, they belonged to different cliques - Kyuhyun being in the high class and Sungmin, well, the lower class. They were opposite ends of a line - except that, Cho Kyuhyun and Lee Sungmin were the best of friends.
A/N: I'm sorry for the super late update. Lazy bitch is lazy. But hey, I finally made it. It was a blessing in disguise that the internet connection died last night so I was able to finish a couple of chapters without the temptation that is tumblr. HAHAHAHA. Self-beta-ed as usual. Grammatical errors are a must!
" Siwon. Choi Siwon." the man said while he flashed a heart-stopping smile that made Sungmin's face burn. She hastily shifted her gaze to Professor Geng who cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Okay settle down everyone. As you can see, we have a new member amongst us."
Everyone's eyes darted to the newcomer and he returned it with a small smile and stood up to introduce himself.
"Good afternoon everyone. I am Choi Siwon and I am an exchange student from Beijing University. Please take care of me." he then bowed at a ninety-degree angle to the whole of the room.
“Okay then Siwon-sshi. So guys, as you’ve heard, Siwon here is a transfer student from Beijing University wherein he was President of the prestigious Beijing University Martial Arts Club. He is the national representative for Taekwondo in the South East Asian Games last year and is the reigning gold medalist in that category. Having him here in our institution is a great honor and will greatly help us in winning the national cup that we’ve been aiming for so long.” Professor Geng said dreamily - more to himself than to the rest of the class.
Everybody in the room fell silent at the prior knowledge and gave him looks that could only be construed as appreciative. Except for Kang-in, the president of the Martial Arts Club who half-glared at him as if sizing him up and Shindong whose mouth was agape.
Siwon on the other hand seemed indifferent to all the attention. He was unperturbed by Kang-in’s death glare and was pretty oblivious to the admiring stares of the other two girls in the group - Sooyoung and Yuri. Instead, he turned his attention to Sungmin who was the only one who wasn’t gawking at him as if he was some animal on display in the zoo. Said girl was staring out of the window, absorbed in her own thoughts and she seemed to be miles away.
Sungmin suddenly became conscious of a presence and felt that she was being watched. As she turned to her right, she was surprised to see Siwon, in all his stunning glory, staring up at her with his cheek resting on his palms while his elbow rested on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. She was so flustered and she couldn’t help the blush that crept to her cheek.
"Uh, is something on my face?” she stammered.
Siwon smiled sheepishly then winked at her which made her feel somewhat dizzy - she could literally see stars as the boy before her finally averted his gaze to Professor Geng who was still discussing about the upcoming Taekwondo National Cup with great fervor.
As soon as Professor Geng declared the meeting adjourned, Sungmin darted to the door in hopes of eluding the suffocating presence of the man he just met. She didn’t know why she felt like this - he was basically a stranger after all - a very hot stranger that is. Sungmin had to mentally slap herself for thinking such and focused on remembering the fastest way to get out of the building through the shortcuts she’s learned in the past four years of her life in the said university.
She barely made it out of the school gates when she felt a hand gently tap her shoulder. She turned to the person behind her to find the now familiar stance of the man who made her lungs run out of air.
God clearly hated her.
How could he have catched up with her so easily? She literally stormed out of the room in a brisk walk but Siwon seemed to be breathing normally as he reached her. It must be attributed to the fact that he had long strides. Damn these short legs, Sungmin muttered to herself.
“Sungmin-sshi?” Siwon snapped her out of her daze.
“Yes?” she managed to choke out.
“You see, I‘m sorry if I kinda scared you back there. I wasn’t trying to be blunt or forward. It’s just that I really want to make friends with you. You remind me of someone. And I wasn’t joking when I told you that I think you’re beautiful. So can we start over and be friends?” Sungmin just managed to keep her mouth from hanging wide-open as he accepted Siwon’s offer at a handshake. This time, it was more comfortable and Sungmin welcomed the pressure of the slight squeeze that Siwon gave her hand before he let go. “So, Sungmin-sshi, have you had dinner yet?” Just then, Sungmin’s stomach made an audible sound which made Siwon chuckle.
“I guess not.”
Sungmin wanted the ground to swallow her whole. What a very good first impression to leave your crush with. Wait, what? Did she just say crush!? No, of course not. He’s just good-looking, anyone else would completely feel the same, she reasoned with herself.
“Okay, so where do you wanna eat?” he said as he led the way towards the sidewalk. “Uhm, anywhere you’d like.” “Come on, don’t be shy. Besides, I don’t really know much about this place yet. I’ve been living on instant ramen for the past two days since I’ve arrived here. I lived here when I was young but we moved to China when I was six so…” he trailed off. “Oh that! Sorry I forgot. Well, there’s this fancy little café at the corner of the street. It’s called Café SuJu - they serve dinner too. It’s in front of the children’s playground beside the day care I used to go to when I was young.”“Wait, are you talking about Miss Kim’s day care center?” he suddenly stopped and faced Sungmin with an eager look. “Hmmm, yes. Is there any day care center in this place anyway?” Sungmin felt herself chuckle at an inward joke. Miss Kim’s Day care center has been there for who knows how-long. All the kids in their town basically went there in their preschool days and has therefore gone under the strict supervision of Miss Kim Jaejoong - not that she was scary like a monster that she’d let them believe would eat them when they wouldn’t eat their vegetables or when they didn't want to finish their homework when they were young. Miss Kim was a sweet lady and she was very patient with kids. It’s just that she has this imposing air which made all the children behave whenever she was around. This of course, favored her as she had to run the day care all by herself. She was an old maid, you see. Sungmin brushed the thoughts of herself succeeding over Miss Kim’s position as soon as she grew old enough to be called an ahjumma as she hasn’t even had her first boyfriend and she is nearing twenty, she has considered being an old maid quite a few times. She cringed at the thought of living alone forever with her three cats while taking care of other people’s children when she wouldn't even have children of her own. She willed the odd thoughts away and focused back to the conversation that she left hanging. Siwon was beaming at her for some reason she didn’t know that she had to ask him again if there was something stuck on her face.
“No, I mean, you said Miss Kim? Miss Kim as in Miss Kim Jaejoong’s day care center?” Siwon chirped, his voice a little jumpy.
“Yes, why?” “Oh my god! I went there before we moved to China! How old are you again?” “Errr… nineteen? Going on twenty early next year.”
Again, she felt bad at the reminder that she wasn’t getting any younger soon.
“We’re same-aged friends! So that means we were in the same class!”
Then he suddenly picked a lock of Sungmin’s shoulder-length brown hair and placed it on her forehead as if creating bangs. Sungmin went stock still at the fast turn of events as the man before him widened his eyes as if he had just had an epiphany of some sort.
“Minnie! Minnie-ah! Is that you!?" Sungmin merely nodded as she was still confused. Only Kyuhyun her closest friends called her that. Her eyes widened when the man before her enclosed her in a hug so tight that it made her lungs feel out of air - literally, this time around.
“I knew you looked familiar! Minnie! It’s me! It’s Wonnie! You know, your seatmate!”
“But Henry was my seatmate back then.” she muttered silently - her face scrunched up in confusion as she couldn’t fathom how that chubby-cheeked boy became muscular like the man before her. Surely he wasn’t Henry? Sure, they used their nicknames back then but she could specifically remember that Henry was called Mochi and not Wonnie.
“No! I was your seatmate on the other side. Henry was on your left. I was the one on your right.”
“Oh!” Then Sungmin’s eyes widened as she has dawned upon a realization.
The only reason she could remember Henry very well was because even as a child, she has always had this habit of staring out of windows and the window in the room in the day care was on the left side of the room which is why that’s the only part of the room she paid attention to. That, and the fact that everybody in the school knew who Henry was. Who wouldn’t know the kid who basically fell off his chair everyday and managed to trip even when he was just walking down the hallway. Poor thing - that may be the reason why he transferred to another school as they started elementary.
“Wonnie… Wonnie…..” Siwon looked at her expectantly. Holding his breath as if waiting for the announcement of the winners in the Taekwondo competition he has taken part in. In fact, he didn’t even hold his breath when that actually happened, but now, facing Sungmin, he looked like a helpless puppy waiting for its master to remember to feed it.
“Wonnie! But you wore glasses!”
Siwon finally exhaled and hugged Sungmin once more. This time, he let go after a short moment and brought his hands on either side of Sungmin’s shoulders.
“Yes Minnie! It’s me!”
He looked as if he just won the lottery as he smiled ear to ear at the confused Sungmin who stared at him unblinkingly.
“You… you look… different.”
“Oh yeah. I kind of lost a few pounds when I got into Taekwondo. And uh, I had laser eye surgery to correct my eyesight.”
Sungmin thought that what Siwon called a few didn’t quite fit to what she believed a few to be. She could vaguely remember the fat chubby kid next to her several years back. The kid had horn-rimmed eyeglasses which was half the size of his own face and he had three chins, a belly so big that he was exempted from their daily morning exercise as he couldn’t even reach his toes when it’s time for toe touch exercise, and short legs which made him look like a penguin whenever he waddled walked about.
Sungmin remembers being annoyed at the kid next to her who kept on following her around in the playground until that day Miss Kim said that they should get to know their seatmates - and get to know each other they did. She could remember one instance when they had drawing time and she had asked Wonnie what he was drawing. Said boy quickly flipped his paper upside-down to hide his work which had upset Sungmin so much since they were supposed to be “best friends” - they had this pairing system in preschool wherein your seatmate becomes your best bud since you share crayons and stuff - that she didn’t talk to him for the rest of the day.
An exasperated Wonnie came to school the next day with a pink bunny in hand which he gave to Sungmin as a peace offering. The week after that, Sungmin never heard of him again, not until now.
As she faced the Siwon of today, she couldn’t help but stare at him with an awestruck expression etched on every feature of her face. To say that he is the epitome of change would be an understatement. The glasses weren’t there anymore and there was now an actual neck in the place where the three chins he had as a child would have been. His big belly, no, there was no big belly anymore, instead, she was greeted by a lean abdomen free of any of the folds that used to be there. Sungmin could imagine the abs that lay underneath the soft material of the plaid polo shirt he was wearing and she had to shake her head from side to side to snap out of ogling at the other’s body. And as she looked back up at Siwon, she realized that he was much taller than her. Even much taller than Kyuhyun had been and she cursed her legs for being too short again. The legs on Siwon were a far cry from the ones in his childhood which could only be described as stout. Sungmin wanted to face palm herself. How come growing up favored everyone else but her?
“Minnie-ah? Are you okay?” Siwon slightly shook her with his hands which were still perched on either side of Sungmin’s shoulder.
“Yes. I am. I…just… Sorry.” Sungmin shrugged off Siwon’s hands and started to resume their walking.
“It’s okay. People here barely recognize me. Others don’t recognize me at all. I’m so glad you even remember me. I guess I’ve changed so much. But look at you! You haven’t changed a bit. You’re still pretty.” he smiled genuinely at her.
Sungmin couldn’t help but feel elated at Siwon’s words but she kept her face straight and only allowed herself a slight smile. She didn’t know what to feel, how to react when you see someone from your past, to deal with someone you felt had betrayed you. Yes, Sungmin felt betrayed because as young as she was, she valued friendship and she didn’t understand why her best friend would leave her all of a sudden without warning. Of course she couldn’t get mad at Siwon for this now so she blurted out the first thing that came on her mind.
“Ya! Remember that one day when we were in drawing class and I got mad at you?”
“Hmmm. What about it?”
“What did you actually draw that you didn’t want me to see, huh?” she said indignantly.
Siwon doubled over in laughter as he stared at her as if she grew two heads or something. Sungmin couldn’t help but join in the laughter as soon as she realized how stupid her questions must have been. At this point, it felt as if they've recovered the friendship they had which has been buried through the years. Sungmin felt as if they hadn’t been apart at all. Maybe, the person in front of him was still the boy she considered her best friend so long a time ago.
After a full-minute of laughing, Siwon finally got a hold of himself and regained his composure. He patted Sungmin’s head and pulled her closer against him as he slid his right arm over Sungmin’s shoulders.
“You still haven’t changed, eh?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sungmin said turning to Siwon and blinked questioningly.
Siwon’s expression turned serious as he muttered: “No swearing please… and what I mean by you not changing one bit is that you still are nosy.” he answered and he pinched Sungmin’s nose slightly which made the girl whimper a little.
“Am not!”
“Yes you are!”
“Okay. Fine. Whatever. You still haven’t answered my question.”
Siwon sighed in defeat as if resigned to the fact that Sungmin would always get what she wants - just like when they were kids.
“Don’t laugh, okay?”
Sungmin merely nodded in response.
“I was… I was… drawing you.”
An awkward silence ensued after that and Sungmin felt Siwon stiffen beside her. After a few moments, Sungmin managed to find the courage to break the silence.
“Why? Did you draw me so hideously that you didn’t want me to see!?”
“Yeah. That.”
Siwon’s smile looked more like a grimace.
~
They continued walking for a few more minutes before they finally reached the quaint little coffee shop at the corner of the street. Siwon saw the words Café SuJu emblazoned on the front glass panel of the shop which was adorned with series lights and he couldn’t help but feel that he made the right decision in coming back to Korea.
~
They chatted the night away - talking about their childhood as they ate and drank. Time seemed to slip away as two friends reunited after so long. They decided to visit the playground thereafter and Sungmin sat on the swing while Siwon pushed her from behind - just like the old times.
It was ten o’clock when Sungmin noticed the time. She frantically stood up from the swing and faced an equally shocked-looking Siwon.
“Oh my gosh. It’s already ten. I… I… I need to go home. The last trip is at ten! Oh my! Oh my!” she squeaked as she paced left to right, panicking.
“Minnie-ah. Minnie-ah.” Siwon had to hold her in place since she wouldn’t stop pacing.
“What do I do?” she sighed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take you home. You don’t mind walking back to the school, do you? I parked my car there.”
“Oh of course not. Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. What are friends for right?” he smiled at her and once again, she thought that if good-looks could kill, she’d already been dead by the time Siwon first greeted her at the meeting a few hours ago.
Sungmin let Siwon lead the way back to the school’s parking lot and she slid into the passenger’s seat as Siwon held out the car door for her. This was the first time someone showed her any act of chivalry and she couldn’t help but feel as if she was being treated like a princess.
Siwon’s car was simple but elegant, just like its owner. It was a sheer black and it shone as the light from the street lights reflected on it. The interior was just as clean as the exterior, if not more. An LCD screen is in the place of where the car stereo should be and it had something graphic on it which Sungmin later realized as the map of Seoul.
“So, you still live in the same place?”
“Yes. How do you... Do you know where it is?”
“Well, I do have a good memory when it comes to things I care about. And besides, we live in the same direction, the school bus used to drop you off before me.” he smiled at Sungmin and she couldn’t help but blush for the umpteenth time that evening.
“Oh. Yes. I haven’t moved anywhere else ever since.”
“All right then. Let’s go.” he started the engine and drove away.
~
“Minnie-ah. Minnie-ah.” Siwon murmured as he shook her awake.
Sungmin felt a slight tugging as she let her eyes flutter open.
“We’re here.” she was greeted by Siwon’s angelic smile.
“Am I dead? Are we in heaven?”
Siwon merely chuckled.
“No you silly. We’re at your apartment now.” Sungmin allowed herself to straighten on the car seat only to feel pain on her neck as she did so. She must’ve stayed long in that position as she slept.
“Ow.”
“Are you okay?” Siwon asked, concerned.
“Oh yes I’m fine. Thank you very much Wonnie. What would I ever do without you?” Sungmin blurted out before she could stop herself.
“I…I…didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I couldn’t have gone home if you didn’t… Sorry.”
Siwon nodded in understanding.
“It’s okay. I know.” and Sungmin could somehow sense disappointment in his tone.
“Uhm, would you like to come in for coffee or something?” she offered. She mentally congratulated herself for going grocery shopping the day before.
“There’s really no need to. Your place is on the way anyway.”
“I insist. It’s the least I could do to repay your kindness. And you wouldn’t even let me pay for dinner.” she pouted.
“Okay! Okay! And why would you think I’d let you pay!?” he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly got out of the car to open the door for Sungmin as she herself got out.
Little did they know they were being watched.
~TBC~
P.S. Sorry ~ no KyuMin in this chappie but there will be lots on the next I promise ~ this was totally outta plan but once I started writing I just arrived at this IDEKW ~ and this is getting longer than I thought. I'm not sure if I could finish the story in three chapters so I might end up changing it to chaptered - until Chapter 6 maybe? Boring chapter is boring. Mianhe. *bricked*
COMMENTS AND BRICKS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!xD