Fanfiction: Growing Pains
Title: Growing Pains
Pairing: OT5, hopefully. Eventually. Um.
Rating: PG-13, for now
HAHAHAHAHA -points at title and dies laughing- here it is, the highschool!fic and um. It's going to be chaptered, and I hope I actually get around to writing the next chapter, because ugh I suspect it's going to be really hard to somehow make it OT5 XD Thank you all for the positive comments, as always, and I welcome any prompts =D
Shim Changmin is a genius, they whisper behind their hands, and when they say that about him they do mean it quite literally. Shim Changmin skipped another grade last year and is now part of the graduating batch. He’s not just taking advanced classes with students two years older than he is, mind you, but also acing them, seemingly effortlessly. The same way he wins over all the girls he meets, the senior boys mutter sourly, age notwithstanding. Jung Yunho watches the younger boy, head buried in his book -Nabokov, he notes, impressed- and listens absently to the furtive whispers and giggles of the girls in class. They all know what Changmin’s like when he’s immersed in a book. Not even the most coy flirtations can get Changmin to even spare them a glance. Yunho leans back in his chair and loosens his tie and tries to ignore the almost predatory glances cast his way by about half the female population in the class, and wonders wryly, not for the first time, how they’ve managed to group themselves into two different camps -one for him, and one for Changmin- so effectively, and he frowns slightly, trying not to make it obvious that he’s watching the other boy. Term has just started, and before this Yunho’s never even heard of Changmin before, but already Changmin intrigues him.
Jung Yunho is used to competition. He’s grown up in a family rife with it. The Jung Corporation has flourished since the last generation of the family decided to venture out of law and into business -where the real money is- and Yunho’s spent a lifetime competing against various upstart young cousins. So far he seems to be winning, but Yunho has learned early on - the hard way, too- to never be complacent. While he’s always relied on his quick, analytical mind to allow him to coast through exams, he thinks, for the first time, that perhaps topping this Changmin could be quite a challenge.
Changmin looks up from his book, suddenly, as if Yunho’s thoughts are a summons, and catches Yunho’s gaze on him, even as Yunho swears silently. Too late to look away now without appearing both shifty and guilty. To his surprise, Changmin offers him a small quirk of the lips - oddly full lips, for a boy- and the look in his dark eyes are so shrewd and knowing, as if he’s heard Yunho’s every thought, that Yunho has to keep his eyes from narrowing. Mercifully, Changmin looks away a second later, setting a bookmark carefully in his book to mark his page before slipping it back into his bag, then turning and gracing a group of girls, causing them to flail rather inelegantly, with a boyish, dazzlingly brilliant smile that is so at odds with his previous expression -mere seconds ago, too- that Yunho can’t help but wonder at his complete and sudden transformation.
Oh yes, he is intrigued, very intrigued indeed.
---
“So you’re the boy genius.”
Changmin glances up from his lunch, annoyed at being disturbed while at his repast but determined to keep his cool. He is greeted by an amused grin as the older boy moves to sit next to him in the soft grass, and Changmin sifts his memory for a name. He knows this boy. Jung Yunho’s friend, yes. Park? Yes, yes, Park, Park Yoochun.
“Yoochun-sshi”, Changmin nods, polite. “I’d prefer if you’d just call me Changmin.”
“Yoochun-sshi?” The other boy laughs, then, and shakes his head. “Such a polite boy. You can call me hyung, if you want.” Yoochun’s eyes sparkle mischieviously at Changmin’s look. “Or not. Why, boy genius doesn’t sit well with you?”
Changmin smiles wryly, and is oddly surprised to find that he quite likes this Park Yoochun and his wit. “Intelligent, yes, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself a genius. I’m far from that, really. Besides, sometimes I think people forget that I’m smart.”
Yoochun grins, then, wide and wicked. “I can see why. It’d be easy to forget, with a face as pretty as that.”
Changmin is horrified to find himself flushing and for the first time in his life can’t seem to string a coherent thought together, much less make his mouth move. He doesn’t believe he’s ever been called pretty before, much less by another boy.
Yoochun is standing, then, and Changmin notices, absently, the slight smudges of paint on Yoochun’s white shirt and the shine of his dark hair in the sun, before Yoochun is saying, “I’ll see you around, boy genius”, before turning and walking back into the school, Changmin’s eyes on his retreating back.
---
Kim Jaejoong is new and has to stand in front of the class, alone and awkward, forty pairs of eyes boring into him with a vengeance. He absently adjusts the god-awful tie and tries his best not to fidget, and wishes the teacher would just get on with it already so he can sit down and be unseen once more. The teacher frowns slightly at Jaejoong’s wrinkled shirt, buttons done up all wrong, and sleep-fogged eyes, but wisely decides not to say anything, scanning the room before pointing.
“There, an empty seat. You’ll sit next to Junsu-sshi.”
Jaejoong fights a yawn and shuffles over, slouching bonelessly the moment he’s in the chair. His head is pounding from a slight hangover, and he can’t believe he got up at seven today for this. If the old man hadn’t threatened to cut him off he wouldn’t even be here. He senses someone staring, out of the corner of his eye, and turns abruptly, glaring, causing the other boy to gasp and nearly tumble from his chair in fright.
What, never seen someone hungover and sleepy before? Jaejoong wants to say, but doesn’t. He feels it would be a bit cruel, considering how stricken the other boy -who is sort of good-looking, all large eyes and long lashes, he notes absently- already looks, so he softens his expression and smiles slightly. “Sorry.”
“Ah! It- it’s okay. I’m Junsu.” And the boy is checking surreptitiously to see the teacher’s back is still turned, before extending a hand over the intervening space which Jaejong grasps, oddly uncertain.
“I’m Jaejoong”, he says, and is graced with a brilliant smile. Just like that, the ice is broken, and Jaejoong listens, amused, as Junsu chatters on about school and asks Jaejoong endless questions -which Jaejoong would find probing, coming from someone else, but only endearing, coming from chripy, almost child-like Junsu- and by the time the lesson is over Junsu has offered to show him around practically the entire town.
---
“I talked to this Changmin of yours today.”
Yunho raises an eyebrow questioningly, eyeing his best friend as he moves around the room, stacking canvases together, picking up stray paintbrushes. “You talked to Shim Changmin?”
“How many Changmins do you know?” Yoochun smirks over his shoulder, holding a painting up to the light to examine it.
Yunho refuses to rise to the bait. “Well? What did you think?”
Yoochun shrugs, setting the painting down carefully on an easel before dusting his hands. “He was pretty.”
Yunho shakes his head in exasperation. “God, Chun, don’t tell me you tried to flirt with him.”
Yoochun attempts to look wounded and fails when a huge smile breaks out on his face. “Of course I flirted with him, who do you think you’re talking to here?”
Yunho signs in resignation. “Yes, well, what did you think of him besides pretty?”
Yoochun frowns as he moves to pull a chair close to Yunho and then sits down, straddling it and leaning his arms on the back of it. “Mature for a boy his age. Quite shrewd, I’d say. Doesn’t like being called a boy genius. Why so interested, though? Afraid he’ll beat you in class?”
“Hardly.” Yunho snorts, then falls silent, contemplative. Why is he so intrigued by this Changmin, then? It is definitely more than just his intelligence, Yunho thinks, even if it is quite intimidating having someone like Changmin around.
“Well, then, you won’t mind if I…get to know him better, will you?”
Yunho feigns a shudder. “Please, keep me out of your sordid affairs. You’re free to get to know anyone you want. Aren’t you getting to know this Kim Junsu, though?”
Yoochun laughs and tips him a wink. “Junsu’s cute, but nobody said it was exclusive”, and laughs when Yunho rolls his eyes at him.
---
“Tutoring?”
The principal nods gravely. “You’re one of the best students we have, Changmin-sshi, and while we know this may be a difficult task, the fact remains that this boy’s father is one of the heads of the school’s board and hopes his son’s grades will improve with some help from the school itself. Of course, you’ll be getting extra credit for this. I don’t believe you need it, but you’ll get it, all the same.”
Changmin tries not to sigh. So much for having time off in the afternoons to read. “Of course I’ll do it, sir. Who am I supposed to tutor?”
The principal frowns and sorts through some papers on his desk, before seizing on one. “Oh, oh yes. Yes, the new boy. His name is Kim Jaejoong.”
---
Jaejoong, of course, resents the idea of tutoring.
It’s ridiculous, he thinks, tuition on the first day of school. Junsu pouts when Jaejoong professes he has to go, but quickly perks up when he latches onto the arm of his best friend, one Lee Hyukjae (who Jaejoong’s met earlier, and thinks is hilarious) and tows him off towards the soccer field, waving madly. Jaejoong waves back, amused, then trudges back into school and up the stairs.
He enters the classroom and is surprised to find a younger boy already there, fingers tapping absently on the cover of his textbook, and Jaejoong backs up to check the plaque on the door. Nope, not the wrong room. He enters again, and this time the boy is looking up.
“Er, I’m looking for Shim Changmin”, Jaejoong begins, and the boy nods, even as he stands up.
“You must be Jaejoong-sshi. I’m Changmin.”
Jaejoong tries not to goggle. “Er. You’re…tutoring me.” It comes out as a statement, and Jaejoong tugs at his tie to hide his embarrassment.
Changmin smiles wryly. “I get that quite a lot. I’m actually in the senior class. I skipped a couple of grades.”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrow, even as he can’t help being slightly impressed. Who skips grades?
“Well.” And Changmin is sitting down again, and flipping open the textbook, his tone brisk and no-nonsense. “Let’s start on kinetics, shall we?”
Jaejoong groans inwardly, but pulls up a chair and sits down obediently.
Two hours later Changmin is still not in the slightest bit hoarse from speaking, Jaejoong’s head is swimming, and he is fighting to keep his eyes open.
Changmin stops in mid-sentence with a sigh. “You know, it’d really help if you’d focus. I’ve repeated this three times, as it is.”
Jaejoong bristles. “Yes, well, not all of us are smart enough to skip grades”, and immediately regrets being so harsh, but Changmin only laughs.
“You’re hardly stupid, Jaejoong-sshi.”
“Just Jaejoong, please.” Jaejoong yawns then, and rubs ineffectually at his eyes. “Look, it’s late. Let’s just stop for today, okay?”
Changmin shrugs and begins putting away his things. “Okay, then. But I suggest you go home and read the chapter again, it’ll help.”
Jaejoong stretches and groans as his muscles loosen. “Same time tomorrow, then?”
“Day after, actually.” Changmin is slipping the books into his bag as he stands. “I have a swim meet tomorrow.”
Jaejoong tries not to stare, to no avail. “You swim?” For some reason an image of Changmin, clad only in a tiny pair of swimming shorts, surfaces in his mind and he has to mentally slap the image away. For the love of all that is sane. He is not about to start perving on a younger boy. Who just happens to be his tutor, to boot.
“On the team, actually. Why?” Changmin tries not to laugh at Jaejoong’s actutely uncomfortable expression. For some reason he finds the dark-haired boy, with his pale skin and lithe form, oddly attractive.
“Oh, er. You seem too smart to be an athlete”, Jaejoong manages tactfully, face burning. Damn this Shim Changmin and his ability to so unsettle him!
Changmin smirks as he heads out of the room. “I get that a lot, too”, relishing Jaejoong’s utterly disgruntled expression, and waits until he is out of earshot of the classroom before dissolving into laughter.
---
“Why are we here, again?” Yunho almost has to shout to be heard over the loud music and he catches hold of Yoochun’s shirt before he can lose Yoochun in the press of bodies. Of mostly male bodies, he notes. “And why are we in a gay bar, exactly?”
Yoochun grins and flutters his eyelashes flirtatiously. “Because we’re gay, Yunho-ah.”
Yunho gives him a shove, other hand still fisted in Yoochun’s shirt. “Speak for yourself”, and Yoochun snorts derisively.
“You just don’t know it yet”, he declares, and Yunho shakes his head. Yoochun continues. “And, to answer your question, we’re here because of a certain Kim Junsu who is working here and whom I want to see very much.”
“Ah, so I’m finally going to meet this mysterious Junsu.” For weeks Yoochun has been surprisingly secretive about Junsu and Yunho, despite his best efforts, just hasn’t managed to pry anything good out of Yoochun yet. He only knows that Junsu goes to their school, and has to muse a moment on why a regular student would choose to work in a place like this by night.
Yoochun is leading him to the bar, and they stop while still in sight of it, and points. “There! Look, there’s Junsu”, and Yunho looks, and well, he thinks, as he watches the boy behind the counter mixing up a convoluted cocktail, Yoochun does have good taste, and he says so to Yoochun, who grins and rolls his eyes, as if it’s almost sacrilegious for Yunho to expect any less of him. He nudges Yoochun’s hip, then, and gives him a firm push, hand on his lower back, towards the counter. “Go. I’ll catch up.”
Yoochun doesn’t need to be told twice, and Yunho closes his eyes as the beat of the song begins to work its way into his head, and his limbs start moving almost of their own accord. Thank god there isn’t school tomorrow.
---
“Ah- Junsu-ah!”
Junsu looks up from his mixing to see a visibly startled Kim Jaejoong and almost drops the bottles onto the floor as he lets out a high-pitched squeak.
“Jaejoong-ah! What’re you doing here!”
“I could ask you the same question.” Jaejoong slides onto a stool, then runs an appraising eye over Junsu, from head to foot, taking in the sleeveless vest and the tight, tight leather pants, and Junsu shifts uncomfortably. Jaejoong looks up then, and the look in his eyes is entirely appreciative. “Nice pants.”
Junsu flushes. “It’s the uniform”, he mumbles, even as he can’t quite help the giddy smile that surfaces, unbidden, at the look in his new friend’s eyes, and he has to tear his eyes away with an effort. “I really shouldn’t be serving you anything, but I won’t tell if you won’t.” His smile is playful then, even as he sets a drink down in front of another waiting customer. “What do you want?”
Jaejoong tells him, and lets Junsu’s bright chatter sweep over him as he leans against the counter and scans the crowd and- oh. Right there. The boy in the loose black pants. Mm, very nice. Jaejoong absently reaches for his shot and downs it in one gulp. Good dancer, he notes, and particularly likes the way his short black shirt keeps riding up. He barely hears Junsu’s gasp of “Oh! Yoochun-ah! Why is everyone turning up all of a sudden, tonight”, as he slips off the stool and makes his way purposefully to the dance floor.
---
Yunho isn’t sure what just happened. One minute he’s dancing alone -albeit being circled several times, vulture-like, by several different men, who give up after he steadfastly ignores all their advances- and the next he’s dancing with a boy pretty enough to pass off as a girl. One minute he’s simply dancing close, and the next he has his hands on Yunho’s hips.
Yunho jerks involuntarily, but the boy only laughs, the sound low and husky and sending shivers down Yunho’s spine, even as he pulls him even closer. His eyes are remarkably pretty up close, Yunho notes, deep liquid pools he wishes he could see the depths of. “What’s your name?” He finds himself blurting, and curses himself for being so forward.
The shorter boy laughs again, and leans up to breathe in his ear. “Jaejoong. My name is Jaejoong”, and Yunho almost wants to push him away then, and god, he’s never thought a voice could affect him this way.
Jaejoong presses up against him, arms curling about his lower back, and Yunho can barely register what he’s saying. “You’re a great dancer”, and Yunho thinks maybe, just maybe he should say something back. Not to reply would be rude, after all.
“Ah, um. Thank you.” He manages, and flushes, thankful Jaejoong can’t see his face in the dimness. Jaejoong laughs as if sensing his awkwardness, and then he is leaning up to press a kiss to Yunho’s cheek, and Yunho feels almost light-headed despite not having had a drop, and follows, almost dazed, when Jaejoong takes his hand and starts leading him towards a quiet corner of the club.
Pairing: OT5, hopefully. Eventually. Um.
Rating: PG-13, for now
HAHAHAHAHA -points at title and dies laughing- here it is, the highschool!fic and um. It's going to be chaptered, and I hope I actually get around to writing the next chapter, because ugh I suspect it's going to be really hard to somehow make it OT5 XD Thank you all for the positive comments, as always, and I welcome any prompts =D
Shim Changmin is a genius, they whisper behind their hands, and when they say that about him they do mean it quite literally. Shim Changmin skipped another grade last year and is now part of the graduating batch. He’s not just taking advanced classes with students two years older than he is, mind you, but also acing them, seemingly effortlessly. The same way he wins over all the girls he meets, the senior boys mutter sourly, age notwithstanding. Jung Yunho watches the younger boy, head buried in his book -Nabokov, he notes, impressed- and listens absently to the furtive whispers and giggles of the girls in class. They all know what Changmin’s like when he’s immersed in a book. Not even the most coy flirtations can get Changmin to even spare them a glance. Yunho leans back in his chair and loosens his tie and tries to ignore the almost predatory glances cast his way by about half the female population in the class, and wonders wryly, not for the first time, how they’ve managed to group themselves into two different camps -one for him, and one for Changmin- so effectively, and he frowns slightly, trying not to make it obvious that he’s watching the other boy. Term has just started, and before this Yunho’s never even heard of Changmin before, but already Changmin intrigues him.
Jung Yunho is used to competition. He’s grown up in a family rife with it. The Jung Corporation has flourished since the last generation of the family decided to venture out of law and into business -where the real money is- and Yunho’s spent a lifetime competing against various upstart young cousins. So far he seems to be winning, but Yunho has learned early on - the hard way, too- to never be complacent. While he’s always relied on his quick, analytical mind to allow him to coast through exams, he thinks, for the first time, that perhaps topping this Changmin could be quite a challenge.
Changmin looks up from his book, suddenly, as if Yunho’s thoughts are a summons, and catches Yunho’s gaze on him, even as Yunho swears silently. Too late to look away now without appearing both shifty and guilty. To his surprise, Changmin offers him a small quirk of the lips - oddly full lips, for a boy- and the look in his dark eyes are so shrewd and knowing, as if he’s heard Yunho’s every thought, that Yunho has to keep his eyes from narrowing. Mercifully, Changmin looks away a second later, setting a bookmark carefully in his book to mark his page before slipping it back into his bag, then turning and gracing a group of girls, causing them to flail rather inelegantly, with a boyish, dazzlingly brilliant smile that is so at odds with his previous expression -mere seconds ago, too- that Yunho can’t help but wonder at his complete and sudden transformation.
Oh yes, he is intrigued, very intrigued indeed.
---
“So you’re the boy genius.”
Changmin glances up from his lunch, annoyed at being disturbed while at his repast but determined to keep his cool. He is greeted by an amused grin as the older boy moves to sit next to him in the soft grass, and Changmin sifts his memory for a name. He knows this boy. Jung Yunho’s friend, yes. Park? Yes, yes, Park, Park Yoochun.
“Yoochun-sshi”, Changmin nods, polite. “I’d prefer if you’d just call me Changmin.”
“Yoochun-sshi?” The other boy laughs, then, and shakes his head. “Such a polite boy. You can call me hyung, if you want.” Yoochun’s eyes sparkle mischieviously at Changmin’s look. “Or not. Why, boy genius doesn’t sit well with you?”
Changmin smiles wryly, and is oddly surprised to find that he quite likes this Park Yoochun and his wit. “Intelligent, yes, but I certainly wouldn’t call myself a genius. I’m far from that, really. Besides, sometimes I think people forget that I’m smart.”
Yoochun grins, then, wide and wicked. “I can see why. It’d be easy to forget, with a face as pretty as that.”
Changmin is horrified to find himself flushing and for the first time in his life can’t seem to string a coherent thought together, much less make his mouth move. He doesn’t believe he’s ever been called pretty before, much less by another boy.
Yoochun is standing, then, and Changmin notices, absently, the slight smudges of paint on Yoochun’s white shirt and the shine of his dark hair in the sun, before Yoochun is saying, “I’ll see you around, boy genius”, before turning and walking back into the school, Changmin’s eyes on his retreating back.
---
Kim Jaejoong is new and has to stand in front of the class, alone and awkward, forty pairs of eyes boring into him with a vengeance. He absently adjusts the god-awful tie and tries his best not to fidget, and wishes the teacher would just get on with it already so he can sit down and be unseen once more. The teacher frowns slightly at Jaejoong’s wrinkled shirt, buttons done up all wrong, and sleep-fogged eyes, but wisely decides not to say anything, scanning the room before pointing.
“There, an empty seat. You’ll sit next to Junsu-sshi.”
Jaejoong fights a yawn and shuffles over, slouching bonelessly the moment he’s in the chair. His head is pounding from a slight hangover, and he can’t believe he got up at seven today for this. If the old man hadn’t threatened to cut him off he wouldn’t even be here. He senses someone staring, out of the corner of his eye, and turns abruptly, glaring, causing the other boy to gasp and nearly tumble from his chair in fright.
What, never seen someone hungover and sleepy before? Jaejoong wants to say, but doesn’t. He feels it would be a bit cruel, considering how stricken the other boy -who is sort of good-looking, all large eyes and long lashes, he notes absently- already looks, so he softens his expression and smiles slightly. “Sorry.”
“Ah! It- it’s okay. I’m Junsu.” And the boy is checking surreptitiously to see the teacher’s back is still turned, before extending a hand over the intervening space which Jaejong grasps, oddly uncertain.
“I’m Jaejoong”, he says, and is graced with a brilliant smile. Just like that, the ice is broken, and Jaejoong listens, amused, as Junsu chatters on about school and asks Jaejoong endless questions -which Jaejoong would find probing, coming from someone else, but only endearing, coming from chripy, almost child-like Junsu- and by the time the lesson is over Junsu has offered to show him around practically the entire town.
---
“I talked to this Changmin of yours today.”
Yunho raises an eyebrow questioningly, eyeing his best friend as he moves around the room, stacking canvases together, picking up stray paintbrushes. “You talked to Shim Changmin?”
“How many Changmins do you know?” Yoochun smirks over his shoulder, holding a painting up to the light to examine it.
Yunho refuses to rise to the bait. “Well? What did you think?”
Yoochun shrugs, setting the painting down carefully on an easel before dusting his hands. “He was pretty.”
Yunho shakes his head in exasperation. “God, Chun, don’t tell me you tried to flirt with him.”
Yoochun attempts to look wounded and fails when a huge smile breaks out on his face. “Of course I flirted with him, who do you think you’re talking to here?”
Yunho signs in resignation. “Yes, well, what did you think of him besides pretty?”
Yoochun frowns as he moves to pull a chair close to Yunho and then sits down, straddling it and leaning his arms on the back of it. “Mature for a boy his age. Quite shrewd, I’d say. Doesn’t like being called a boy genius. Why so interested, though? Afraid he’ll beat you in class?”
“Hardly.” Yunho snorts, then falls silent, contemplative. Why is he so intrigued by this Changmin, then? It is definitely more than just his intelligence, Yunho thinks, even if it is quite intimidating having someone like Changmin around.
“Well, then, you won’t mind if I…get to know him better, will you?”
Yunho feigns a shudder. “Please, keep me out of your sordid affairs. You’re free to get to know anyone you want. Aren’t you getting to know this Kim Junsu, though?”
Yoochun laughs and tips him a wink. “Junsu’s cute, but nobody said it was exclusive”, and laughs when Yunho rolls his eyes at him.
---
“Tutoring?”
The principal nods gravely. “You’re one of the best students we have, Changmin-sshi, and while we know this may be a difficult task, the fact remains that this boy’s father is one of the heads of the school’s board and hopes his son’s grades will improve with some help from the school itself. Of course, you’ll be getting extra credit for this. I don’t believe you need it, but you’ll get it, all the same.”
Changmin tries not to sigh. So much for having time off in the afternoons to read. “Of course I’ll do it, sir. Who am I supposed to tutor?”
The principal frowns and sorts through some papers on his desk, before seizing on one. “Oh, oh yes. Yes, the new boy. His name is Kim Jaejoong.”
---
Jaejoong, of course, resents the idea of tutoring.
It’s ridiculous, he thinks, tuition on the first day of school. Junsu pouts when Jaejoong professes he has to go, but quickly perks up when he latches onto the arm of his best friend, one Lee Hyukjae (who Jaejoong’s met earlier, and thinks is hilarious) and tows him off towards the soccer field, waving madly. Jaejoong waves back, amused, then trudges back into school and up the stairs.
He enters the classroom and is surprised to find a younger boy already there, fingers tapping absently on the cover of his textbook, and Jaejoong backs up to check the plaque on the door. Nope, not the wrong room. He enters again, and this time the boy is looking up.
“Er, I’m looking for Shim Changmin”, Jaejoong begins, and the boy nods, even as he stands up.
“You must be Jaejoong-sshi. I’m Changmin.”
Jaejoong tries not to goggle. “Er. You’re…tutoring me.” It comes out as a statement, and Jaejoong tugs at his tie to hide his embarrassment.
Changmin smiles wryly. “I get that quite a lot. I’m actually in the senior class. I skipped a couple of grades.”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrow, even as he can’t help being slightly impressed. Who skips grades?
“Well.” And Changmin is sitting down again, and flipping open the textbook, his tone brisk and no-nonsense. “Let’s start on kinetics, shall we?”
Jaejoong groans inwardly, but pulls up a chair and sits down obediently.
Two hours later Changmin is still not in the slightest bit hoarse from speaking, Jaejoong’s head is swimming, and he is fighting to keep his eyes open.
Changmin stops in mid-sentence with a sigh. “You know, it’d really help if you’d focus. I’ve repeated this three times, as it is.”
Jaejoong bristles. “Yes, well, not all of us are smart enough to skip grades”, and immediately regrets being so harsh, but Changmin only laughs.
“You’re hardly stupid, Jaejoong-sshi.”
“Just Jaejoong, please.” Jaejoong yawns then, and rubs ineffectually at his eyes. “Look, it’s late. Let’s just stop for today, okay?”
Changmin shrugs and begins putting away his things. “Okay, then. But I suggest you go home and read the chapter again, it’ll help.”
Jaejoong stretches and groans as his muscles loosen. “Same time tomorrow, then?”
“Day after, actually.” Changmin is slipping the books into his bag as he stands. “I have a swim meet tomorrow.”
Jaejoong tries not to stare, to no avail. “You swim?” For some reason an image of Changmin, clad only in a tiny pair of swimming shorts, surfaces in his mind and he has to mentally slap the image away. For the love of all that is sane. He is not about to start perving on a younger boy. Who just happens to be his tutor, to boot.
“On the team, actually. Why?” Changmin tries not to laugh at Jaejoong’s actutely uncomfortable expression. For some reason he finds the dark-haired boy, with his pale skin and lithe form, oddly attractive.
“Oh, er. You seem too smart to be an athlete”, Jaejoong manages tactfully, face burning. Damn this Shim Changmin and his ability to so unsettle him!
Changmin smirks as he heads out of the room. “I get that a lot, too”, relishing Jaejoong’s utterly disgruntled expression, and waits until he is out of earshot of the classroom before dissolving into laughter.
---
“Why are we here, again?” Yunho almost has to shout to be heard over the loud music and he catches hold of Yoochun’s shirt before he can lose Yoochun in the press of bodies. Of mostly male bodies, he notes. “And why are we in a gay bar, exactly?”
Yoochun grins and flutters his eyelashes flirtatiously. “Because we’re gay, Yunho-ah.”
Yunho gives him a shove, other hand still fisted in Yoochun’s shirt. “Speak for yourself”, and Yoochun snorts derisively.
“You just don’t know it yet”, he declares, and Yunho shakes his head. Yoochun continues. “And, to answer your question, we’re here because of a certain Kim Junsu who is working here and whom I want to see very much.”
“Ah, so I’m finally going to meet this mysterious Junsu.” For weeks Yoochun has been surprisingly secretive about Junsu and Yunho, despite his best efforts, just hasn’t managed to pry anything good out of Yoochun yet. He only knows that Junsu goes to their school, and has to muse a moment on why a regular student would choose to work in a place like this by night.
Yoochun is leading him to the bar, and they stop while still in sight of it, and points. “There! Look, there’s Junsu”, and Yunho looks, and well, he thinks, as he watches the boy behind the counter mixing up a convoluted cocktail, Yoochun does have good taste, and he says so to Yoochun, who grins and rolls his eyes, as if it’s almost sacrilegious for Yunho to expect any less of him. He nudges Yoochun’s hip, then, and gives him a firm push, hand on his lower back, towards the counter. “Go. I’ll catch up.”
Yoochun doesn’t need to be told twice, and Yunho closes his eyes as the beat of the song begins to work its way into his head, and his limbs start moving almost of their own accord. Thank god there isn’t school tomorrow.
---
“Ah- Junsu-ah!”
Junsu looks up from his mixing to see a visibly startled Kim Jaejoong and almost drops the bottles onto the floor as he lets out a high-pitched squeak.
“Jaejoong-ah! What’re you doing here!”
“I could ask you the same question.” Jaejoong slides onto a stool, then runs an appraising eye over Junsu, from head to foot, taking in the sleeveless vest and the tight, tight leather pants, and Junsu shifts uncomfortably. Jaejoong looks up then, and the look in his eyes is entirely appreciative. “Nice pants.”
Junsu flushes. “It’s the uniform”, he mumbles, even as he can’t quite help the giddy smile that surfaces, unbidden, at the look in his new friend’s eyes, and he has to tear his eyes away with an effort. “I really shouldn’t be serving you anything, but I won’t tell if you won’t.” His smile is playful then, even as he sets a drink down in front of another waiting customer. “What do you want?”
Jaejoong tells him, and lets Junsu’s bright chatter sweep over him as he leans against the counter and scans the crowd and- oh. Right there. The boy in the loose black pants. Mm, very nice. Jaejoong absently reaches for his shot and downs it in one gulp. Good dancer, he notes, and particularly likes the way his short black shirt keeps riding up. He barely hears Junsu’s gasp of “Oh! Yoochun-ah! Why is everyone turning up all of a sudden, tonight”, as he slips off the stool and makes his way purposefully to the dance floor.
---
Yunho isn’t sure what just happened. One minute he’s dancing alone -albeit being circled several times, vulture-like, by several different men, who give up after he steadfastly ignores all their advances- and the next he’s dancing with a boy pretty enough to pass off as a girl. One minute he’s simply dancing close, and the next he has his hands on Yunho’s hips.
Yunho jerks involuntarily, but the boy only laughs, the sound low and husky and sending shivers down Yunho’s spine, even as he pulls him even closer. His eyes are remarkably pretty up close, Yunho notes, deep liquid pools he wishes he could see the depths of. “What’s your name?” He finds himself blurting, and curses himself for being so forward.
The shorter boy laughs again, and leans up to breathe in his ear. “Jaejoong. My name is Jaejoong”, and Yunho almost wants to push him away then, and god, he’s never thought a voice could affect him this way.
Jaejoong presses up against him, arms curling about his lower back, and Yunho can barely register what he’s saying. “You’re a great dancer”, and Yunho thinks maybe, just maybe he should say something back. Not to reply would be rude, after all.
“Ah, um. Thank you.” He manages, and flushes, thankful Jaejoong can’t see his face in the dimness. Jaejoong laughs as if sensing his awkwardness, and then he is leaning up to press a kiss to Yunho’s cheek, and Yunho feels almost light-headed despite not having had a drop, and follows, almost dazed, when Jaejoong takes his hand and starts leading him towards a quiet corner of the club.