Battle of Pride (15/?)
Title: Battle of Pride
Pairing: KyuMin
Genre: Angst, Romance, Friendship
Rating: PG-13
Warning: genderswitch
Chapter Summary: Sometimes, we have to be in the most desperate and serious situation before we confess our feelings, right?
Previous Chapters:
1 ♦ 2 ♦ 3 ♦ 4 ♦ 5 ♦ 6 ♦ 7 ♦ 8 ♦ 9 ♦ 10 ♦ 11 ♦ 12 ♦ 13 ♦ 14
Ryeowook gaped at the guy, her lips slightly parted. Kyuhyun was staring at her deeply and seriously that even if she snaps her fingers in front of the guy’s eyes, he will not blink once.
She gulped as she tried gaining courage and formed the right words in her mind. “So?” She doesn’t know why that was the only thing she said after long seconds of deliberation.
She saw Kyuhyun frown. He finally blinked.
She kind of jerked when the other spoke. “Uh… what? That’s it? No explanation?”
“Why would I explain? You already know why, Kyuhyun-sshi,”
Kyuhyun palmed his forehead, groaning. “Look, this is not about you,”
Ryeowook scoffed, carelessly slumping her back to the backrest of the chair, “I know. I’m just concerned about Sungmin unnie, not me, not you,” Knowing that Kyuhyun will respond, she continued, “Don’t tell me that ‘past is past’ because I will never forget it.”
She felt guilt creeping her chest when Kyuhyun bit his lips and lowered his head down. Kyuhyun is still a child, after all.
“Kyuhyun-ah,” Her formality was suddenly gone, and was replaced with her usual soft one, “You’re already going to become a father, so I hope to see changes from you. I haven’t said sorry yet, right?” Kyuhyun snapped his head up to look at the girl, “You don’t need to-”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for this, and I’m sorry for what I did before. I knew I should have just given you a chance, but I was such a coward. It is my fault that you turned out like that… I’m sorry, Kyuhyunnie…”
“Wookie…”
“But I’m glad that Sungmin unnie came by your life, so don’t hurt her again, okay? I swear I will slice you to pieces if you do that.”
Kyuhyun nervously chuckled; Ryeowook could cook well, that’s why she could handle knives. “I won’t. I want to die a peaceful death, and I still want to see my child.” They both laughed.
“Do you have a boyfriend now?” the brunet asked lightly. He got a short chortle from the blushing Ryeowook.
_____________________________________
“It is a boy, right? Then, it should be named after me!”
“Why you?! I am his uncle! It should be at least near to mine!”
“If you want your precious nephew to look good, he should follow my name!”
“I’m also good-looking!”
“In which part? I can’t see it.”
Donghae rolled her eyes at the two bickering guys beside her. To stop them from arguing, there is only one thing she thought of doing, no, saying. “Shut up! Shouldn’t the name come from Sungmin’s and Kyuhyun’s names because they are the parents?!” It worked.
“She’s right, you know,” Shindong remarked from the side while munching the snack he stole from Yesung.
Eunhyuk snorted, “Kyuhyun doesn’t have the right to. He’s a bastard.” Heechul tapped his flaring dongsaeng’s shoulder, “Eunhyukkie, calm down…”
But the younger didn’t listen. Instead, he faced his sister, who just stopped caressing her belly - it became a habit of hers. “Sungmin, don’t meet with that Cho Kyuhyun ever again, except for classes, of course. Or else, I will be forced to pull you out from that school.”
“WHAT?!” Sungmin shrieked, making Donghae hold her arm. “But, oppa…! You know how much I have dreamed of entering that university!”
“Yes, I know that very well. That is why you have to follow my conditions if you still want to continue studying there.”
Sungmin just kept quiet; she has to obey her brother for it is the only way she could repay her brother’s kindness to her. Eunhyuk stopped schooling just for her to continue it. She knows she is stubborn… her heart and mind are stubborn. Even if Kyuhyun keeps on hurting her, she just keeps on loving him. That’s what you get when you let your stupid heart beat, huh…
“Why, Hyuk, do you want Sungmin to be a single mother? Do you want your nephew to grow up without a father? Do you want them to suffer because you don’t want to give Kyuhyun a chance to prove himself?” Yesung suddenly butted in, making his friends at the visitors’ area look at him.
“Is he even trying to prove himself worthy?” Sungmin’s brother retorted.
“What if he did?”
“That’s impossible, hyung,”
Yesung’s tone went firm. “What if he asked for another chance sincerely?” Eunhyuk gulped at the sight of those cold eyes of his Yesung hyung boring deeply to his. Yesung is the type who could control his temper, but when it reaches its peak, Yesung could be one of the persons you would ever fear on… after Heechul, of course.
He avoided the older guy’s stares and unconsciously muttered, “I’ll think about it…” Donghae clapped her hands once, a wide grin on her face, “You said that!” Eunhyuk waved his hands in front of his chest, stuttering, “I… i-it’s… I… w-wait! If… that’s… if Sungmin forgives him!” Everybody turned to the pregnant girl with an anticipating look. Sungmin plainly stared back at them with no words to speak.
Heechul then grabbed Sungmin’s wrist and dragged her somewhere, yelling excitedly, “Come on, we’re gonna search the net for your baby’s name! It can be Heesung, Sunghee, wait, that’s a girl’s name… whatever!”
_____________________________________
Kyuhyun lazily entered his room, pausing for a while when he met gazes with Kibum, who was sitting on the couch, watching TV with a box popcorn on his lap. The latter smiled and extended the hand which holds the box to Kyuhyun, “Let’s watch? I know you’re bored,” Kyuhyun lightly chuckled before sitting beside his roommate.
“I didn’t know you like Titanic,” he first commented after settling, waving his hand to decline the popcorn offered to him. Kibum shrugged as he shoved some to his mouth, “I just felt like being dramatic today…”
“So, when are you going to confess to Sungmin?” Kibum started, earning a raised eyebrow from his roommate. He lightly laughed at the other’s reaction, “You know, now that things are starting to reveal itself, I guess you should tell Sungmin what you really feel for her. You are now given a chance to correct all the mistakes you’ve done. Don’t waste it, Kyuhyun. Use it wisely.”
The brunet bowed his head, uncertainty is full on his voice. “But I don’t know if Sungmin will still accept me…”
“Then do all means for her to accept you. I am going to repeat what I said to you last night since you probably forgot it now: I really don’t fucking know why Sungmin still loves you. For once, push your pride aside and think of your happiness and future. You want to be with Sungmin and your child, right? Then, before it is too late, say sorry to her and say how much you love her! Do everything!”
Kibum let out a sigh when the other isn’t still reacting, the movie is now ignored. “I am giving Sungmin to you. I know that she will be happier with you than with me,”
“But-”
“One more ‘but’ and I’ll take Sungmin away from you for sure. I can do that, Kyuhyun.”
His anxiousness was replaced by relief when Kyuhyun immediately stormed out of the room, finding the guy hilarious because he clumsily tripped by the stand of the television.
_____________________________________
Sungmin groaned at the sound of the doorbell ringing. She groggily stood up from her bed, and rubbed her eyes whilst yawning mutely. As the door was opened, she straightened her face at the recognition of her female visitor.
“Oh, hey, Wookie… what are you doing here?”
The smaller woman smiled, “Nothing really. I just want to check up on you. I heard from Donghae unnie… are you sleeping? I can come back later…”
“No! No! It’s okay, Wook! Come inside!” Sungmin beamed and lightly pushed her friend inside the room, immediately leading her to the small sofa on the corner.
After handing Ryeowook a glass of orange juice, she sat next to the younger, “So, what brings you here?” Suddenly, Ryeowook heaved a deep sigh and turned to the raven-haired with a nervous look, “I just want to say sorry, unnie.”
The older girl tilted her head, eyebrows furrowing, “For what?” Ryeowook fidgeted with her fingers, her gaze landing on the inanimate liquid, “I… I was… I was the one who told Hae unnie and Hyuk oppa that… that you went out with Kyuhyun yesterday…”
“So?”
Ryeowook snapped her head to her friend with a mixture of confused and surprised look, “You aren’t mad?”
“Why would I?”
“Unnie, I was the reason why Hyuk oppa is forbidding you to see Kyuhyun!”
“Wasn’t he really forbidding me to see Kyuhyun even before this?”
“But, unnie…”
“Why did you do it, anyways?”
Ryeowook doesn’t know if Sungmin is an idiot or she’s really that kind-hearted. Even her tone when she asked that latest question doesn’t seem to be accusing or mad. She must have been a saint in her past life.
She hesitated to speak, but did it, after all. That was the reason why she went here in the first place.
“It is regarding Kyuhyun and me.”
_____________________________________
Sungmin’s gaze followed her best friend’s actions - from the time Donghae entered the room, placed her bag on the table, went to the bathroom, but then threw her body to the bed.
“Min…” Donghae breathily said, making the other hum in response, now getting back to what she was reading and to rubbing her belly.
“I broke up with Siwon,” this made Sungmin stop what she was doing, and look at the girl, whose head was comfortably lying on her stretched leg. “What? Why?”
The blonde dryly chuckled, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, “I realized that I should stop hurting him and forcing myself loving someone while trying to forget that monkey brother of yours. Until I am completely sure of my feelings for Siwon, that would be the only time I would go back to him… if he still accepts me.”
“Well… what did he say?”
“Nothing. He’s too kind. He didn’t even push me away or something after telling him the truth. Is he a god?”
Sungmin silently laughed, feeling glad that Donghae is okay. “He looks like one, anyways.” She should have been happy that Siwon is already out of the way from her ‘EunHae’ project, but what Kyuhyun said before, about not forcing someone to love another person, echoes in her mind.
Then, her phone rang, and her eyes flew wide open as she read the caller ID. Donghae noticed that the phone had been ringing for a while now, so she peeked on her best friend and found her staring at the screen of her phone. “Yah, why aren’t you answering it? Who is that?”
“Kyuhyun,” Sungmin nervously said.
Finally. Donghae raised an eyebrow, “Answer it. Who knows, he will say something important…” But Sungmin remained immobile, so she patted her friend’s leg while she resumed using Sungmin’s other leg as a pillow, “I won’t tell it to monkey. I promise,”
Sungmin hesitatingly pressed the ‘Answer’ button and slowly pressed the phone on her ears, her heart skipping when she heard that soothing baritone voice, “Sungmin?”
“H-Hey…” Wow, congratulations for stuttering, Lee Sungmin.
“Can we go out? This won’t take for awhile… I just… I just need to say something…”
“Can’t… can’t you say it here on the phone?”
“Is your brother there?”
“N-No… Only Donghae…”
“Oh.”
Hearing the mention of her name, Donghae sat up properly, looked, and winked at Sungmin, “Go with him. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Sungmin beamed and mouthed a ‘thank you’ to her best friend before going back to the guy on the other line, “I’ll just put on my sweater, okay? W-where a-are you?”
“Outside your dorm building,”
“WHAT?! Gosh, wait!” She panicked, making her almost fall from her bed, making Donghae and Kyuhyun worry. “Hey, Min? Are you alright? What happened?” Kyuhyun said.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Sungmin choked whilst grinning sheepishly at the glaring fish.
“Be careful.” For a while, Sungmin thought of Kyuhyun as a father… no, more like a husband… and it made her happy and excited.
“Sorry… I… I have to go… wait for me there…” she said with a pout… as if Kyuhyun could see it.
“Sungmin, I have been keeping my feelings for you for the past weeks… but I can truly now say that I am ready to love again… and I want it to be with you… would you like to spend your lifetime with me?”
Kyuhyun scrunched his nose after muttering those to himself, finding himself so unreasonably corny. Sungmin would probably freak out if he said that. “This is so not you, Kyuhyun.” He, once again, whispered to himself in disgust.
“Aish, what’s the use of practicing when I won’t really be able to say these later?!” he irritatingly grunted whilst ruffling his hair.
He cleared his throat before whispering, “Min, believe me when I tell you this… I am more than willing to take the responsibility for our baby because I lo-”
“Kyuhyun?”
He jumped in surprise as he heard Sungmin’s voice, his eyes equally widened as hers.
“Are you… talking to… yourself?” asked Sungmin curiously, unconsciously lifting a finger up.
He faked an innocent expression, his hand making its way up his head to scratch it, “Uh… what? Did you hear me talking?”
She tilted her head, still giving skeptic looks to the guy, “But you were-”
“Let’s go! Someone might see us here!” Kyuhyun said while grabbing Sungmin’s wrist and gently pulled her to walk, nervously chuckling after.
They stopped at an unoccupied playground - because it is already night time - and sat on the swing - individually, of course. There was sheer silence for the next few minutes, only the faint sound of the swing moving could be heard. Kyuhyun counted the people passing by, judging if they’re good looking or not thru their thick scarves which covered half of their faces. On the other hand, Sungmin decided to play with the swing, her hands gripping the chains, while staring at the dark blue night sky.
They then broke the stillness of the place, accidentally saying the same thing at the same time, “Hey,” Both laughed at their silliness; they are so awkward with each other.
Again, they said in sync “You go first,”
“No, I’ll go first,”
Sungmin giggled before covering Kyuhyun’s mouth using her hand, “You talk. After all, you are the one who asked me to go out because… you will say something?”
“Oh, right,” said Kyuhyun after Sungmin’s hand was removed from his lips.
“Uhhh…” He suddenly forgot everything he mentally noted; just by looking at Sungmin’s face could make him speechless. “I… Su…Sungmin…” Sungmin inclined her head sideward, anticipating for what the guy will say. “Shit. I don’t know how to say it.” He murmured.
“It’s okay, Kyu… take your time…”
He then faced the girl with a determined look, making Sungmin sit straightly. “No. I have no time. I really, really have to say it!”
She raised an eyebrow. “Okay… then… say it…”
He took a deep breath to gain the courage, for this is now or never. Just like what Kibum said, he shouldn’t waste the chance given to him.
“Before anything else, there is something you need to know… this is about me and Ryeowook… we… well, she is my first girlfriend,” he shifted his gaze to somewhere at the back of Sungmin that he didn’t notice that Sungmin didn’t say anything. “She was the one who told Donghae that we… went out… yesterday… probably… no, surely because of what I did before…”
Still, Sungmin remained silent and continued listening intently.
“…we were classmates on our first year of high school when we got together… I really loved her… because she is cute, sweet, and thoughtful… we were happy on our first months… but when we reached our fifth month, I… I tried getting intimate with her, but she doesn’t want to…”
Sungmin instinctively stroked her tummy whilst she leaned on the chains to hear Kyuhyun clearer; Kyuhyun is almost whispering.
“...I respected that because I don’t want to do to her what I did to… you. I was hurt when she didn’t talk to me for the next days… and then a week after, she broke up with me without even telling me why. I was so anxious at that… maybe that was the reason why I started going out with different girls since then.”
He then had the guts to look at Sungmin, and found her cutely staring at him, as if waiting for more. Weirdly, it made his heart skip a beat.
“Why don’t you look surprised?” this question of his made Sungmin laugh.
Her head still pressed on the chains, she answered with a soft voice to complement with their sad atmosphere, “Wookie told me everything… and I’m glad that both of you said the same thing, meaning, no one told a lie.”
Because of this, Kyuhyun avoided her gaze again and dropped his head down to hide his face, “You must despise me more now, huh,”
“A bit… but not because of that,” she sighed when he looked at her with a questioning expression. “She explained to me why she did that… she asked me to tell you this for she still can’t tell you that she was a total coward that time. She got scared at you and didn’t give you a chance to change. Do you know that she blames herself for your change that she tried separating me from you?” This time, Kyuhyun was the one quiet and the one listening.
“You know, I remembered back on the first day of classes, after you… confessed… to me at the cafeteria, she told me that you are a playboy and that I shouldn’t go near you… she said that her reason was because she doesn’t want me to become your victim or something. Funny, right? Wookie is so cute.”
“You found that cute?”
“Because she is helping both of us. Me, so that I won’t be hurt, while you, she probably wants you to stop doing those. It’s like hitting two birds at one shot. It’s cute, isn’t it?”
Kyuhyun blinked twice, a small smile formed on his thin lips, shaking his head slightly, “You are so weird,” Sungmin heartily laughed at that, her hand went back to rubbing her abdomen.
This is it. Kyuhyun thought. He isn’t that nervous now.
“You know, after that… I swore to myself not to fall in love again… until you came,” he got Sungmin wide eyed. He placed his elbows on his lap, clasped his hands, and there he stared at it, “I admit that I really wasn’t serious with you at the start. But when I spent more time with you, I started liking you… but I am still Kyuhyun… I am still that Cho Kyuhyun everybody knew and as much as I dislike it, you saw me with Seohyun.
I wanted to run after you, to tell you that it is nothing… that you are the one I like… that I am sorry… but my pride stopped me from doing so and let Kibum take you away from me. I tried stopping my growing feelings for you, only to realize that it hurts me more. The more you were away from me, the more I yearn for you. To be honest, I was telling the truth when I said I am jealous on Yesung for being so close with you. Everything that I said when we were at the rooftop was all true.
I was shocked that time you came to school with a different look. God, you don’t know how my jaw dropped when you looked at me! But then, all I saw in your eyes was anger… there was no love anymore… and it hurts. I went out with girls again to forget you, but I just can’t… especially when I discovered that you are that girl from five years ago. I was blinded with fear and resentment that you were just using me all this time that is why I bore anger at you…”
He shifted his gaze at her, and deeply looked at her round doe eyes… those alluring eyes that captured his heart, his expression softening as soon as he met with her teary orbs.
“…However, I realized that I was wrong. When I knew that you are pregnant with my child, I changed what I thought of you. To think of it, if you really hate me that much, you could have just aborted the child… but you didn’t. I… I was happy… because you are still carrying a piece of me every day. I was very happy to know that we will have a baby… that is why since then, I took care of you more. I made sure that you eat right, you don’t stress yourself too much, and you are in a good condition. It may sound like I’m a stalker, but who cares? You have my baby, then even if you don’t want to, I will take care of you…
…And I just fell for you completely.”
Sungmin can’t hold back her tears anymore. It was like Kyuhyun’s words served as the one who turned the faucet inside her eyes open. All her bottled feelings burst out from her thru her tears that she doesn’t even care sobbing hard in a public place, making the guy worry and kneel in front of her and wiped her tears.
“I’m sorry, Sungmin… I am sorry for everything…”
Those are the words she was longing to hear from Kyuhyun. Happiness is an understatement. Only God could explain how light she is feeling now after hearing those from her loved one. She, still, is a human who loves someone from the bottom of her heart. It was actually still unknown on how a simple word as ‘sorry’ could make us feel reassured that we won’t be hurt anymore. Still, fate is really playful; we get hurt after it… but we keep on forgiving. Hilarious, isn’t it?
She held the guy’s hand and nuzzled on it, her head hung low, “I’m sorry too, Kyuhyun… I… I didn’t know… I’m so sorry…” Kyuhyun then pressed their foreheads together and gave Sungmin’s nose a peck before capturing her sweet lips mixed with her salty tears.
The kiss was nothing passionate. It was just a long pressing of soft lips with no movement. However, it was the sweetest they had.
Kyuhyun moved away and cupped her cheeks to make her look at him as he says, “I love you, Sungmin…. I love you so much… please let me be with you and our baby… let’s be a happy family… can we date… officially?” Sungmin gripped the guy’s wrists whilst she nodded vigorously, trying to tell Kyuhyun she loves him back and she would love to be in a relationship with him, but she still can’t speak due to her sobbing.
Kyuhyun got her message, anyways. He, once again, kissed her, but this time, is a deeper one.
Their long-awaited moment was then interrupted when Sungmin suddenly yelped, earning a half-frustrated and half-worried look from the guy. She then beamed and placed a hand on her tummy as she looked at Kyuhyun, “Kyu, I think the baby just kicked!”
Kyuhyun’s eyes sparkled as his eyes landed on the slight bulge on Sungmin’s womb area, “Can I feel it?” Sungmin giggled, “Of course! Maybe he is happy because his umma and appa are together~”
“He?” Kyuhyun asked the moment his hand made contact with Sungmin’s belly, his heart feeling the same joy he once experienced back at the clinic when Sungmin fainted.
“Yes, he. Our baby is a boy!”
Kyuhyun was about to hug Sungmin, but he felt something poke his hand, making him stare wide-eyed at the woman, who just laughed at his reaction, “You felt that?” she asked with pure amusement in her tone.
“God, I really am going to be a father!!!” he cheekily said as he encased Sungmin in his arms.
TBC
A-10-TION!
-This is rushed and unbeta-ed. Forgive the grammatical errors. They don’t want to stay away from me. Ugh. OTL
-I think there are less than ten chapters left for this…? Dunno. Most probably. Hehehe I don’t like writing long chaptered stories except ‘My Doll ’:DDD
-I will not be writing the requested fics until I finish the last chapter of ‘Full Moon’ because I need to focus on it. Don’t you worry, there are only two chapters left!
-‘I Love Hyung’s’ update might be postponed because of ‘Full Moon’ I desperately wanted it to end! Hahaha! I admit that was the most angst story I wrote.
-The FIC REQUEST page is TEMPORARILY CLOSED. I will not accept requests for now until I finished writing all of those lined up.
-Follow me on twitter to get updates from me and to be friends with me, of course. Hehehe~ don’t worry, I’m nice. I just tweet too much. But I don’t follow back if you ask me to unless I know you that well. Talk to me first, okay? :D
-Did you enjoy the chapter? Comments please! :)))