Precious [Part 2, Section 1]
Title: Precious
Author: exogenitals
Pairing: Jongho, Onkey
Summary: At the start of each new year of high school, a new senior class is born. This year the senior class incorporated the all famous Kim Jonghyun and his right hand man, Lee Jinki. The two had been waiting for the end of their high school career since they had entered it. It was now their last chance to mess with the lives of their innocent classmates all while blowing off their studies, just like every other school year they’d sat through. This year was different, however. Jonghyun's newest prank invovled a certain Choi Minho, his heart, and a fake relationship that would go all haywire.
Rating: PG-13
WARNINGS: Bad teenage drama and very badly written smut in part 2.
Feedback: Please.
Dislaimer: I own Dom's ass and Minho is my slave.
Author's Notes: Um, this is for the MUSE Bingo, again. I started this before the bingo cards were out, but yeah. NOTE: part 2 is broken into pieces since it's so long too....
Freshman year of college was a time of change and new experiences in the foreign world of young adulthood, or, so Minho had been told. He didn’t really see a difference between university and high school besides the fact that many of his classmates lived on campus like himself. He still found himself struggling to make new friends as he and Kibum tried to hang out as much as possible before the workload separated them.
Minho was a molecular biology major whereas Kibum was studying interior design. They were on completely opposite sides of campus once their classes began, but that wouldn’t stop their friendship, or, Minho hoped it wouldn’t. Ever since the drama at the end of his high school career, Minho became the most unfavorable person to know, but Kibum stuck by him until the end and here they still were.
“I can’t believe classes start tomorrow,” Kibum whined as they stood in line at the local student cafe to buy themselves lunch.
“It’ll be okay, Kibum. It could be worse. You could be a science major,” Minho joked, elbowing Kibum softly in the ribs.
“Yah! It’s not my fault you chose the hardest major besides math to pursue. Your stupidity isn’t my fault.”
“It will be when my paycheck is covering your design flaws.”
Kibum was about to slap Minho across the face when the cashier called for Kibum to order his food next. He ordered, Minho following, soon forgetting about the difference in their majors when they sat down with trays full of food. They ate together in silence until Minho looked up, a white streak catching his eye that he did not want to believe he was seeing.
“Oh my g-god,” Minho sputtered, hiding his face under his ballcap, shoving food in his mouth quickly.
“What is it? Minho? What is it-”
“Shut u-up, Kibum,” Minho hissed under his breath.
“What did you say? What the hell is going on? Why can’t you look up?” Kibum asked, confused and not following Minho’s lead.
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Kibum I forgot,” Minho whispered hurriedly.
“What is it?!” Kibum sighed, obviously annoyed at this point.
Minho quickly dared to glance up, catching a glint of that pearly white smile shining against that tanned skin and felt his stomach churn. How was he feeling this way still? Why was he feeling this way still? He couldn’t? He would never.....would he? Minho was becoming more confused with himself by the minute
Finishing his meal as quick as possible, Minho sped off to the trashcan, leaving Kibum confused and slightly frazzled. Minho ran outside, clutching his chest for a moment as he finished chewing before he looked back. Minho had gone undetected this time, but how could he be so unlucky to see him even if they were going to the same school? There were so many other students, without proper planning, it was hard to run into the same person twice, let alone the same person who ruined your life. Minho groaned to himself as he began to worry. He had remained undetected this time, but what about the next time? With a cluttered mind, he began wandering towards the dorms, searching for a distraction from the boy he had been trying to avoid all summer.
~*~*~
An angry Kibum burst through the door of Minho’s small dorm room, without a knock or a hello before he started yelling.
“Minho what the hell was that?!” Kibum yelled loud enough to wake up the whole floor.
“Hello again to you too, Kibum. How nice of you to join me in my dorm unannounced,” Minho said from behind his laptop screen as he surfed the web.
“Oh please, Minho. You love me. You never answered my question though....what was that back there?!”
Minho sighed loudly, closing his laptop, tossing it aside before saying, “Don’t laugh, but I saw Jonghyun and freaked out.”
“You more than freaked out. You ate your food in less than a minute. Are you sure this is going to be healthy for you? What is he even majoring in?”
“I don’t know. Should I just phone him and ask him out for tea while I’m at it?! I haven’t talked to him since that joke. I didn’t plan on seeing him here even if I knew he was going to this university. It’s not my fault I only got into this school.”
“I guess you are right, but why are you overreacting? Didn’t he say he loved you even after the joke ended? Oh, whatever. You are too good for him.”
“I guess so...I just still get really sad and I hope I just don’t see him again.”
“First loves are the hardest,” Kibum sighed.
“Especially when you can’t get over them,” Minho mumbled, curling his knees up to his chest so he could hug them. Kibum walked over to his friend and embraced him, sitting next to him until he felt comforted.
Minho could tell this was going to be another long year. He was sure he wasn’t ready for this again.
~*~*~
Class started promptly at 12 o’clock noon for Minho, him deciding to take classes later in the day rather than early in the morning. He was never a morning person and hoped the allowed sleep in time would help him be more rested for his mood and his classmate’s sake.
The class that would start off today was entry level biology for science majors otherwise called Molecular Biology. It was the first of many science classes that Minho would have to take with a lab attached one way or another. He was excited all the same, ready to tackle a class pertaining to his major. When he entered the class, there were already a few students clustered together towards the center desks, happy talking and gossiping about how their summers had been. Minho assumed they already knew each other and, by the looks of it, had been in college longer than he had. It was his first day after all and they looked in their early twenties.
Minho decided to stay away from the already formed cluster and took a seat in the far back corner, slouching in his chair, listening to his iPod while he waited for the professor to enter class. He watched one by one as the students filed in, taking their seats, some talking loudly, some avoiding eye contact, some falling straight asleep.
The professor came in, making his way to the front of the class, a stack of syllabuses in one hand, an overly large textbook labelled ‘Campbell Biology’ in the other. He walked up to the podium in front of the lecture hall, setting his things down and briefly introducing himself and mentioning a billion and one times how he had a doctorate in genetics. Minho was just about to start tuning him out until he handed out the class requirements when the door swung open abruptly next to Minho. In walked a platinum prince, walking to the center aisle of the lecture hall, looking for a spot to sit.
“Nice of you to show up. Please take a seat quickly Mr...” the professor began.
“Jonghyun,” he eye smiled, trying to charm the professor.
“Mr. Jonghyun. Next time don’t be late or it will be points off your grade,” the professor said sternly before returning to his lecture about his academic achievements and successful research projects.
Jonghyun looked around briefly once more spotting the only empty seat - next to the one and only Choi Minho. Minho glared at Jonghyun as he took the seat next to him, both of them hesitating for the slightest second as Jonghyun got as comfortable as the situation would allow. Minho tried to focus on the professor now, but felt a pair of eyes on the side of his face. He wanted to look, but Minho knew in his best interest he shouldn’t.
That never stopped him before. It didn’t stop him now. He glanced over for a brief second, catching Jonghyun’s gaze for the tiniest second, making his heart melt into a gooey liquid similar to a cytoplasm. If he had looked any longer, Minho was sure he would have melted completely, pooling on the floor where no one could see him blush and cringe under the spell Jonghyun still had him under.
The rest of the class was filled with untold amounts of tension. Both boys were constantly pretending the other didn’t exist or were doing the complete opposite and staring uncontrollably at each other. Even after a huge falling out at prom and a summer apart, the two boys felt for each other. Even after all the bitterness and regret, they still remembered the laughter and happiness they felt when they were together.
When class finally let out, neither got up, hoping the other would leave first. Jonghyun awkwardly scratched his neck, clutching his backpack strap closer to his shoulder. He smiled a small smile, melting Minho’s heart for the second time that day.
“So, Minho,” Jonghyun began, letting the words fall off his tongue as he stared at the boy across from.
Minho however, stood up abruptly, slamming his chair in against the desk while muttering something about having to leave, leaving Jonghyun alone and confused in the classroom.
~*~*~
Kibum and Minho agreed to meet up in Kibum’s dorm, clear across campus on the art side of the college to reflect on their first day together. They hoped they wouldn’t be separated too much, since they were best friends after all.
Kibum was excited to see Minho, ready to tell him all of what happened during his day to every single detail, but Minho’s little encounter with Jonghyun earlier that day left him grumpier than usual. Nonetheless, Kibum rambled on a hundred miles per hour about how he made new friends who were the same or similar majors as him and how he couldn’t wait for this term to really start.
“You know I really, really want to try that smoothie place by the performing arts center. What about you Minho? How was your day?” Kibum paused and looked over at his friend who hadn’t made a sound during his whole story. Something was off. “Choi, what’s wrong?!”
Minho sighed, shoulders heaving up and down as he did, while he stared at his feet and continued to ignore Kibum. It’s not that he didn’t want to listen to Kibum’s stories, but Minho’s mind was in other places...the past to be precise.
“I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me so you might as well just spit it out,” Kibum said, tapping his fingers on his cheek as he rested his head on his palm. Reluctantly, Minho sat up and gathered himself to tell Kibum about his day.
“I went to Biology today right? No big deal? Well guess who came to class late and sat right next to me?” Minho sighed, hoping that he didn’t sound pathetic for reacting this way.
“That hot ass guy who speaks like a million languages, Taecyeon?!”
Minho stared at Kibum, confused. “What?”
“Nothing!” Kibum burst out. “I mean...who was it?”
“Jonghyun.”
“Oh. I thought it was someone attractive,” Kibum murmured, earning a punch to the shoulder from Minho.
“This is serious Kibum,” Minho whined, looking down at his feet again, hiding his flushed cheeks.
“We are on this again!? Why don’t you just get over him? He’s not even that hot,” Kibum nagged. “You’ve been hung up on him for so long and you guys dated, but that turned out to be a big fat lie.”
“Jeez, way to put it nicely.”
“You know I didn’t mean it that way,” Kibum defended as Minho shot him a glance. “Okay, maybe I did mean it, but still. I feel like you could do so much better Minho. There are so many guys who would date you in a heartbeat and treat you so much better than he did.”
“He never treated me terrible....it was mostly Jinki.”
“Keep telling yourself that sweetie. Don’t let him bring you down anymore.”
“Kibum,” Minho sighed, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
“No,” Kibum said, grabbing Minho’s arm. “I’m tired of seeing you torn over him. I’m not going to let you go through that again so I can clean up the mess he leaves behind.”
“What if he has changed?”
“What if he hasn’t?”
Minho laid back on the bed they were sitting on, swinging his feet on the side of the bed, covering his eyes with his hands. He didn’t want to think about these feelings anymore, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe this crush was far too intense if it was just a one sided thing. Maybe Kibum was right...
~*~*~
Jinki lived off campus. There was a sense of freedom of having your own apartment that dorm living did not provide. The fact that the dorms were on the campus made it feel as if he was still being baby sat with amenities offered in dorm life that are not offered in the real world, whereas the apartment offered a sense of freedom he did not have living on campus or at home. Jinki was his own boss when it came to how he ran his life for the past month and he was loving it.
This new way of living was beginning to have a set pattern. That’s why when the doorbell rang as Jinki settled down on the couch after his first day of college, he became puzzled. Reluctantly, Jinki got up and shuffled his way over to the door peering through the peephole to see none other than Jonghyun waiting for the door to be opened.
“I didn’t remember telling you where I lived,” Jinki stated opening the door.
“You didn’t. Your mom did,” Jonghyun beamed, taking a step in, waiting for Jinki to move.
Jinki allowed him to enter, moving just enough so he could pass before closing the door. Remind yourself to yell at her later, Jinki thought to himself. He watched Jonghyun walk around the connected living room and kitchen, admiring the amount of space Jinki had in his apartment compared to the on campus dorms.
“Wah, this place is so nice and spacious. We should’ve been roomies!” Jonghyun concluded after searching down the hallway, inspecting the two bedrooms and bathrooms.
“How about no because I don’t need to see you that much,” Jinki grunted, flopping back down on the couch. “Why did you come?”
“Well, I have some bad news and some good news.”
“What’s the good news?”
“There’s a really hot guy in my biology class.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“His name is Choi Minho.”
“What?!” Jinki shrieked, nearly lunging off the couch at Jonghyun as he sat up.
“Also I forgot to buy the textbook for chemistry and that class is in an hour,” Jonghyun continued, unphased by Jinki’s reaction.
“Shit, forget chemistry, Jonghyun. We are in deep shit. This is like high school all over again, but this time Choi already knows what went on.”
“Well of course he knows what went on and I admit I really fucked up. We both did. We pulled a prank on him and I assumed he was a loser, but now I regret it all...you know better than anyone what I did after that night at prom.”
“The part where you wouldn’t stop crying while you puked all night long from all the alcohol you drank or the part where you punched me and said you never wanted to see me again because I ruined your relationship?”
“Both. Both are relevant. Mostly the crying though,” Jonghyun chuckled awkwardly avoiding Jinki’s glare.
“Uh-huh. I see. Well we are still somehow friends. To be honest you should’ve told me you liked the kid before I made that huge scene,” Jinki noted for the hundredth time since the incident.
“Like I said before: I really fucked up.”
“Well is he still angry?”
“Yes, of course he is.”
“How do you know? Did you talk to him?”
“Well not really...I started to talk to him...”
“Well how the hell do you know if he’s mad if you didn’t talk to him?!” Jinki interrupted, shaking his head at his friend.
“I was going to tell you if you’d let me finish,” Jonghyun sassed, glaring at Jinki. Jinki sat back further into the couch pretending to lock his lips and throwing the key away. “Thank you. As I was saying I started to talk to him and then he got up and like ran away slamming the chair into the desk really hard. I’m sure I heard him mutter he had to leave, but I think I was just humoring myself so I didn’t feel as bad.”
“You probably were humoring yourself, you big goof.”
“What am I going to do Jinki?” Jonghyun whined, shaking his friend back and forth by the arm.
“I’d say hope nothing terrible happens between you two and try to get him back.”
“Let’s knock on wood. Oh shit, gotta go to chemistry. Come visit me though, yeah? Not too good for me now that you’ve got your own place right?”
“I suppose,” Jinki sighed, sprawling out on the couch once Jonghyun got up. “It is a hard life, being an undeclared major apartment owner and everything. I’ll have to plan you into my schedule.”
With one last roll of his eyes and a smack to the side of Jinki’s head, Jonghyun was jogging out the door back to campus to hide out in the science labs for the rest of the night.
~*~*~
Speech class had to be more of an irrelevant prerequisite required for nearly every major than the white crayon was in a pack of crayons. Kibum was nearly falling asleep listening to the lecture over how speaking was important in everyday interactions. It was literally a course repeating the same information over and over again on a skill everyone already possessed. Speaking was not a secret only shared with the upper class, so why Kibum had to take a speech course for an arts major, he did not understand.
Kibum was nearly about to doze off again when his phone vibrated with a text from Minho asking if he was bored out of his mind yet and wanted to join him in the food court. Already the second day of classes and I’m skipping, Kibum thought to himself as he quickly, yet quietly shoved his belongings into his bag and walked out of the classroom. What Minho didn’t tell him was what food court he wanted to meet at. There were multiple food courts spread throughout the campus since it was a massive campus and students got hungry frequently.
Without really knowing, Kibum walked towards the one nearest to his speech class, and ordered a bowl of noodles, hoping Choi would show up soon, too. He didn’t, however, leaving Kibum alone, staring down an enormous bowl of noodles. He began slurping away, headphones in his ears, off in his own little world.
From a nearby table, Jinki looked up from his textbook after staring at it aimlessly for god knows how long. Across the dining room, he saw the blonde eating his bowl of noodles alone, listening to music. Maybe Choi is coming to meet him, Jinki thought to himself. Wouldn’t they have already been together, though? He’s eating all alone.
Before thoughts could be processed, Jinki gathered his belongings and found himself seated across from Kibum, staring expectantly at the boy. Kibum peered up through his long eyelashes to be shocked by his new companion. Jinki smiled at him softly waving from across the table.
“Can I help you,” Kibum sneered, looking around for Jonghyun. “I don’t think your little puppy is around.”
“Who? Oh, I’m not looking for Jonghyun,” Jinki chuckled.
“Why are you here then? Come to ask me out as a prank too? Well sorry, but I’m not as soft hearted as my best friend. You can leave now.”
“No, I wasn’t going to ask you out as a joke, Kibum. That’s high school. This is college.”
“Is it? Because I’m seeing the same old drama already starting back up,” Kibum scoffed, resuming eating his noodles.
“Oh you heard about their biology class, too?” Jinki asked before being shot down by Kibum’s daggered gaze. “Okay, of course you did. Sorry.”
“You should be.”
“Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you.”
“Never did anything to me?! Ha! You ruined my best friend’s love life and self esteem through your friend and I was the one who had to pick up the pieces. I still am. I’m getting tired of it, but I still take care of the mess you made. You should be more than sorry to me Lee Jinki.”
“I shouldn’t be sorry to anyone, Kim Kibum,” Jinki mocked, pretending to be angry like Kibum.
“I don’t have time to sit here and listen to you talk shit,” Kibum spat, standing up quickly, knocking over his leftover broth in the process.
The liquid raced across the table and all over Jinki’s sweater before either of them could react. In an instant, Kibum went from anger to apologetic, grabbing a wad of napkins from the dispenser nearby and rushing over to blot Jinki’s clothes. As Kibum worked on getting the liquids out of his sweater, Jinki smiled to himself, watching the other boy fuss over how the sweater was going to be ruined. Jinki placed a hand over Kibum’s shaky one whispering it was going to be okay. The blonde looked up into Jinki’s eyes, making eye contact for a brief second, looking down quickly at their hands, before pulling himself away from Jinki, blushing.
“I-I gotta go. I’m sorry,” Kibum apologized, before grabbing his bag and running off.
His legs carried him all the way across the courtyard connecting the performing arts and design buildings until he stopped in a scenic garden area, taking out his phone. He had a text from a minute ago.
From: Minnie
Let’s eat in the food court by my dorm. I don’t feel like walking far.
“Asshole,” Kibum cursed, trudging on his way to meet Minho.
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