Super Junior {bandfic ; The Art of Daring (3/4)}
Title: The Art Of Daring ("All is fair in love, war, and being a whore") (3/4)
Fandom: Super Junior; DBSK, SHINee, SNSD (AU, !girls)
Pairing: Hankyung/Heechul, Kyuhyun/Sungmin, Kibum/Donghae, Kangin/Eeteuk, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Eunhyuk/Junsu, background Yunho/Jaejoong, Jonghyun/Key
Word count: 6,545
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "You know this whole bet was just thought up to see if you would kiss me?" Sungmin's voice was muffled against the skin of Kyuhyun's hip.
A/N: Without tokyolights this au wouldn't have even been thought of, and idk whether I love or hate that, but I do know that ilh and she has been so patient :'D ♥
The Art Of Daring (3/4)
("All is fair in love, war, and being a whore")
Donghae abandoned her previous plan on how to go about kissing Kibum the very day after she tried them out. It was too much hassle to do her hair like that every day, too much hassle to get changed before every Chemistry lesson. Anyway, so many people had commented on her transformation that she began to get worried that it was perhaps a little too obvious, what she was up to. That was why on the second day, she wore her normal uniform but sat at the back of the classroom in her seat sucking on a lollipop.
On the third day, she dropped something near he was sitting and bent down to pick it up, making sure he was looking at her legs before she did so.
On the fourth day, Kibum went out for a drink with Changmin, who taught Maths in the boy's sector, and proceeded to drink himself almost into a stupor before Changmin asked what the hell was wrong.
"I think I'm being seduced," muttered Kibum, his chin pressed to the edge of the bar. Changmin laughed at him, but then he didn't know the true horror of what was happening in Kibum's life.
"Sounds like a positive to me," said Changmin cheerfully.
"By one of my students," said Kibum.
"Oh," said Changmin in a tone of deep understanding. "Which one?"
"Lee Donghae," groaned Kibum, and Changmin winced.
"Man," he said. "She's friends with Yunho in my tutor group, and I see them sometimes if she comes to see him after school and -- is it just me, or is she not all there?"
"Donghae?" Kibum glanced up at him in confusion. "Oh, Donghae's all there. She's completely sane. I just don't think her mind works on the same level; it's like it's wired to notice things that the rest of us miss."
"You seem interested," noted Changmin with a wry smile. Kibum flipped him off.
"She's one of the best students in my class," he said. "Of course I've noticed her. I just didn't think that my noticing her was enough to cause a budding crush."
"You're perfectly aware that most of the students in my school hate you, because all of the girls you teach are in love with you?" Changmin laughed at the surprised expression on Kibum's face and ordered a new round of drinks. "You mean you never noticed?"
"I never notice women," said Kibum, non-plussed. "I just teach them and let them go at the end of the lesson."
"You want to be careful," said Changmin. "I bet if you smiled once in a while, the entire class would faint." He sighed heavily. "I envy you teaching in a girl's school."
"I don't -- I'm not a pervert like you," said Kibum. "I -- I don't look at my students in that way."
"Sure you don't," said Changmin, grinning. "Donghae's a pretty thing, isn't she?"
"I don't know you," said Kibum, turning resolutely away. "I am not having this conversation, it is absurd."
"Haven't you heard the rumours?" asked Changmin, leaning over the bar. "Apparently there's a dare going around your school, I overheard some of the boys talking about it. I think they were hoping to get picked, I don't know. According to them, a group of girls -- headed by Heechul and Sungmin, obviously -- got together and have dared each other to kiss whoever it is that they like."
"Which means--" Kibum turned white. "If Donghae does have a crush on me, then she could be targeting me?"
"Probably," said Changmin.
"You don't think she'd really do it?" asked Kibum nervously. "Do you?"
"I don't know," said Changmin, calmly taking a sip of his drink. "You know Lee Donghae better than I do."
"Oh my god," said Kibum, horrified.
"I can't take this anymore," said Kyuhyun in Chinese to Zhou Mi as she threw her bag onto her desk in Physics and then slumped down into her chair. She said it in Chinese so that no one could overhear and run off and spread the gossip. "It's like she's trying to make it hard for me."
"Who?" asked Zhou Mi, completely confused, having seen nothing of Kyuhyun since their first period singing lesson.
"Lee Sungmin," said Kyuhyun darkly.
"Unni?" Zhou Mi was even more confused now. "What's she done? Sungmin-unni never does anything horrible or mean."
"That's exactly the point," said Kyuhyun. "She's being the exact opposite of horrible and mean."
"Huh?"
"She just caught me in the corridor and said that she was sorry that I had to leave the party on Saturday early, and that she hadn't thought I'd get that drunk. Then she leant against the wall, stuck her chest out, and said, looking under her eyelashes at me, that she found people who really couldn't handle their alcohol unbelievely attractive, before she laughed, blew me a kiss and sauntered off down the corridor."
"Blew you a kiss?" Zhou Mi's mind was desperately trying to piece the story together. "Do you mean -- does Sungmin-unni like you?"
"I doubt it," said Kyuhyun miserably. "Probably Heechul worked it out and told her and now she thinks it's a hilarious game."
"Worked what out?" asked Zhou Mi, looking at Kyuhyun curiously. Kyuhyun straightened up to give Zhou Mi a pointed look, and it hit Zhou Mi like a truck. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and then clapped her hands to her mouth as a couple of girls in the class looked over in interest. Zhou Mi removed her hands slowly. "Sorry," she whispered to Kyuhyun, who was glaring at her.
"There's a reason I'm having this conversation in Chinese, you know," she said in a disgruntled tone. "I don't want the rest of the school to know."
"But you like -- oh my god, that is just--"
"I get it!" said Kyuhyun, laughing because she was certain that if she didn't laugh, she'd cry. "I know, it's stupid. Liking someone like Sungmin is just ridiculous, I know. But -- I don't think I can help it."
"She's very good looking," said Zhou Mi.
"She's gorgeous," said Kyuhyun, and there was something wistful in her tone.
"And she's very nice," said Zhou Mi.
Kyuhyun snorted. "Yeah, when she's not being a whore." Zhou Mi didn't say anything, and Kyuhyun sighed. "There's the problem," she said softly. "Lee Sungmin certainly isn't going to go for me -- I'm a girl."
"But the dare--" began Zhou Mi, but Kyuhyun cut her off sharply.
"I'm not taking part in that," she said. "I can't possibly do that. It's okay for, I don't know, Heechul or Ryeowook, who have at least a change of the person they kiss liking them back. What good would kissing Lee Sungmin do for me? I'd be -- everyone would know, then, how I felt, and she's so popular, I'd be bound to be looked down on. At worst, I'd just be another person to have fallen under the spell of Lee Sungmin, slut extraordinaire."
Zhou Mi still didn't say anything, and Kyuhyun put her head down on the table. "I already have," she said. "I'm so stupid."
"I'm sorry," said Zhou Mi softly.
"Hey," said Kyuhyun, suddenly lifting her head up to smirk at Zhou Mi. "I should just kiss you, it will solve all of our problems."
"Okay, ew," said Zhou Mi, and almost pushed Kyuhyun off her chair.
"Well, you're going to have to do something soon," said Jaejoong, mouth open as she put her eyeliner on using the mirrors in the bathroom. "The deadline is this Saturday, and it's Tuesday now."
"I know," hissed Yehsung. "Don't keep going on about it, it's not like I'm not stressed enough."
"I'm just saying," said Jaejoong, casually ignoring the annoyed tone in Yehsung's voice. "It would be a shame if all your hard work went down the drain because you missed the deadline."
"It's okay for you," said Yehsung grumpily. "You don't even have to take part."
"Just ask her out or something!" said Jaejoong. "It's not that hard."
"Have you heard what you're asking me to do?" Jaejoong had never heard Yehsung's voice be so high with fear. "This isn't some guy from the boy's sector. This is Kim Ryeowook. This is a girl. She's going to look at me like I'm something she stepped in."
"She won't," said Jaejoong, but she didn't seem convinced.
"Two weeks isn't enough time," moaned Yehsung. "It might be enough if you're someone like Sungmin but I fall over all the time, I'm just -- I make Onew from the First Years look positively coordinated."
"Whatever," said Jaejoong. "Just do something, quick? I think spending so much time in the library is drying out my complexion."
"You just don't care," said Yehsung miserably, leaning her head against the cool surface of the mirror. "Why am I even friends with you?"
"Look, stop complaining," said Jaejoong. "Sung, you're just going to have to do it, you know that you don't want to be at the mercy of Heechul if you fail. She'll make it double-vicious, just because it's you."
"Fuck," said Yehsung, hitting her head against the mirror. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Anyway," said Jaejoong, in what was probably supposed to be a soothing tone and was instead rather patronizing. "From what I've heard, Ryeowook is a nice person. Really nice. She'll probably just blush and stutter and run away."
"Oh, hey, thanks," muttered Yehsung. "Nice to know that you have such confidence in me."
Jaejoong grinned at her and ran a hand through her hair to fluff it out before she started putting her make-up back into her bag. She was just about to put the last bit away when the door swung open and Ryeowook stepped through, and then stopped suddenly. Yehsung removed her head from the mirror casually, like it was perfectly normal to have your forehead pressed up against one. Jaejoong dropped the lipgloss she had been holding into the bag quickly and then disappeared into one of the cubicles. Her laughter was audible, despite her attempts at smothering it against her hand.
"Hi," said Yehsung, smiling brightly. Ryeowook hesitated by the door and then took a step further in. Then she stopped again, and looked curiously at Yehsung.
"You aren't smoking?" she asked quietly.
"No?" Yehsung was, honestly, just confused. "I don't smoke."
"Oh," said Ryeowook, and broke into a smile, which Yehsung thought was slightly strange but then she was kind of struggling to think anyway, with Ryeowook looking her in that way. It wasn't even as though it was a special way, it was just a friendly smile, but something took hold of Yehsung's throat and squeezed so she just kind of choked, and really, Ryeowook must be thinking she's a complete moron right now, she should probably just go and hang herself from the school roof.
"That's good," said Ryeowook. "I'm glad."
Yehsung blinked. "You are?"
"Yeah," said Ryeowook shyly, and she blushed, and then seemed to realise that she was doing so, and some sort of a farewell tumbled out of her mouth and then she was practically running out of the bathroom. Jaejoong let herself out of the cubicle, looking after Ryeowook with some amusement.
"Wow," she said. "That was awkward."
"Yeah," said Yehsung, kind of all dreamy because Ryeowook had spoken to her, and Ryeowook had smiled at her. Jaejoong just sighed and rolled her eyes.
Kyuhyun really couldn't take it anymore. It was Wednesday; therefore, only four days had passed since the party, but she was already ready to get drunk again and hopefully the alcohol would force any thoughts of Lee Sungmin (and Lee Sungmin's smile and Lee Sungmin's laugh and Lee Sungmin's oh-so-perfect body) from her mind. Hopefully, but Kyuhyun didn't hold much onto hope.
Still, this was probably a bad idea, she reflected as she climbed out of the car and looked up at the four storeys of the Lee family home; it was an old stone town house, with a flight of stairs leading to a grand front entrance. It was a far cry from the penthouse that Kyuhyun lived in on top of her father's clothing store, and she found that she was rather nervous when she rang the doorbell. A maid answered the door, took her name and then sent a message up to Sungmin. A minute later, Kyuhyun was allowed to climb the three flights of stairs that led to Sungmin's bedroom.
Sungmin came out to greet her, and really, Kyuhyun was beginning to wish that she hadn't bothered because her mind, on seeing Sungmin, just kind of ground to a halt -- but that was because of the outfit Sungmin was wearing. When Kyuhyun got home from school she just threw anything on, regardless of how they looked, but apparently Sungmin needed to look her very best at all times. Or maybe -- and Kyuhyun thought this was probably true, which just sucked, to be honest -- Sungmin just looked good and sexy in anything. Her jogging bottoms, sugar pink, fit in all the right places, emphasising every curve, and Kyuhyun wasn't aware that sweatpants were supposed to be able to do. Her cream camisole seemed to stop too suddenly, her stomach completely flat and tanned; there was a scar on her right hip, Kyuhyun noticed before she ripped her eyes away.
"Hi," said Sungmin, her smile happy but slightly confused. "I didn't know that you knew where I lived."
"I didn't," said Kyuhyun, voice almost automatically cool. She just couldn't help it. "Zhou Mi told me."
"Oh, okay," said Sungmin, and she stepped back and her smile didn't fade any, although Kyuhyun was wincing internally at how she had sounded there. "Come in."
Kyuhyun stepped into the room and wasn't surprised to find that it was pink. It was, however, tasteful, which Kyuhyun hadn't exactly been expecting; pale pink walls and light wooden flooring, with pale furniture and pink sofas and a pale pink bedspread on the four poster bed hung over with endless drapes in various shades of pink. Sungmin walked up to her stereo and switched the music she had been listening to off, before she sat down on her bed and crossed her legs and closed the book she had been reading. Kyuhyun, after looking around for a couple of seconds, took off her coat, lay it over the back of a chair and then sat down on it. There was a brief pause.
"I like your top," said Sungmin conversationally.
Kyuhyun looked down and then pulled at the ice blue chiffon lightly to stop it creasing. "Yeah," she said quietly. "My father made it."
"He owns that clothing design, doesn't he?" asked Sungmin, sounding impressed. "I love his stuff. His designs are beautiful."
You're interested in fashion? Kyuhyun almost asked, but that would have been stupid because that was obvious, Sungmin always looked perfect, so she stopped herself, and just made a vague noise of agreement.
"So is this just a social call?" asked Sungmin, tucking her hair behind her eyes and looking slightly amused. "Or is there a specific reason?"
"There's a reason," said Kyuhyun.
"Oh," said Sungmin. She sounded disappointed.
"You need to stop it," said Kyuhyun, sitting up a little straighter. Sungmin frowned a little.
"What?" she asked.
"I don't know who has told you," said Kyuhyun, ignoring the interruption. "I don't know what they've told you, and whether any of it is actually true, but you need to stop because it's just -- I thought you were nice, you know, and the way you're acting is just awful."
"Awful? I don't know what you mean," said Sungmin, sounding honestly confused.
"The flirting?" Kyuhyun sighed. "The way you keep -- it's like you're messing with me, and I just can't take it anymore."
"But I--"
"If you -- I don't mind who has told you, but just stop playing around with me, okay? Find someone else to practice your techniques on, someone who doesn't have an invested interest or whatever."
"What?" Sungmin's voice was soft, full of awe, as she scrunched her nose up in uncertainty. "Do you -- do you mean you actually like me?"
Kyuhyun hesitated, and then sighed. "Yeah," she said. "Yes, I do. So now you know for certain and you understand why I can't keep just putting up with the way you're acting around me." She stood up and picked up her coat. "I'll go now," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that." And she began to pull her coat onto her arms and over her shoulders.
"No!" said Sungmin desperately, and that was enough to make Kyuhyun stop in surprise, and then Sungmin was hanging onto her wrist, pulling the sleeves of her coat down, trying to remove it. "I'm sorry," she was saying, almost incoherent. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to take it like that, I didn't know, I had no idea, I wouldn't have -- I just wanted to know if you felt the same way, and I -- I don't know any other way, flirting has always worked before and--"
Kyuhyun stopped staring at her in complete shock and finally managed to find her voice from somewhere. "What?"
"I didn't know how else to find out," said Sungmin, her fingertips pressed to the bone of Kyuhyun's wrist as if trying to hold her on the spot.
"Find out what?" asked Kyuhyun, almost desperate for Sungmin to stop touching her, but unsure as to how to go about it because it was common knowledge that Sungmin was a master at martial arts, and it was one of the reasons that she had never been taken advantage of -- everything had always been on her terms. Kyuhyun wasn't sure how to react, seeing Sungmin so out of it. "What do you mean, you didn't know? Why would you bother if you--" She broke off.
Sungmin smiled at her and then pressed upwards to press her lips to Kyuhyun's, pulling away slowly to smile at her -- and there was something shy in that smile, something that made Kyuhyun's heart stutter even as it was struggling to calm down. Seeing the shocked expression on her face, Sungmin's smile suddenly became a lot more confident, a lot more aware -- she knew what that kiss had done to Kyuhyun, and for a second Kyuhyun wondered if it had just been part of a ploy, some sort of a game because Sungmin had been bored, but then Sungmin ran her fingers through Kyuhyun's hair and pulled her down to kiss her again, and Kyuhyun remembered with a sudden sharp shock that Sungmin wasn't like that; this was real.
"It's almost depressing," muttered Sungmin against Kyuhyun's mouth, pressed up against Kyuhyun's front so hard that Kyuhyun had to take hold of her waist to stop them from toppling over. "I did everything I could to show that I was interested in you, and yet you thought I was treating it as a joke. All that trying to make you jealous, for nothing."
"I didn't think it was real," protested Kyuhyun. "Why would you be interested in me, I'm just -- the Ice Princess or whatever they call me, I'm nothing for Lee Sungmin to be interested in--" She broke off as Sungmin kissed up her jaw to her ear.
"I can see straight through that," whispered Sungmin. "I can -- break right through that." And then she took hold of Kyuhyun's wrist again and pulled her forward, pulled her onto the bed, and all Kyuhyun could think was wow this is fast as Sungmin slipped her shirt off and carefully dropped it by the side of the bed, and then ohmygod as Sungmin pressed her lips to Kyuhyun's collarbone. Kyuhyun's hands flumbled a little with the bottom of the camisole but then Sungmin's hands were guiding her, helping her pull it up over Sungmin's head and then tossing it aside, and Kyuhyun touched her hand softly to Sungmin's stomach, and Sungmin shivered against her and kissed her fiercely.
"You know this whole bet was just thought up to see if you would kiss me?" Sungmin's voice was muffled against the skin of Kyuhyun's hip.
"And I think I have problems," said Kyuhyun, hands fisted in Sungmin's hair.
Jaejoong was Not Happy but Yehsung thought it was rather funny, actually. After the past few days of constant teasing from her friend, it felt rather nice to see the tables turned and Jaejoong the unsure one.
"I just don't understand why she's got to hang around him all the time," complained Jaejoong, glaring in Donghae's direction, but Donghae was leaning against one of the pillars fronting the entrance of the boy's school and had her headphones in and so couldn't hear a word that Jaejoong was saying -- luckily, Yehsung thought.
"They're friends, Jae," said Yehsung, struggling to hide her laughter.
"I bet she's going to kiss him," said Jaejoong, glowering at Donghae. "I bet that's why she's waiting for him."
"They go to the same dance club, Jae!" said Yehsung. "They even live in the same street! Get a grip."
"Are you seriously telling me to get a grip?" Jaejoong suddenly stopped being annoyed and turned amused. "I'm not the one who can't even look at Kim Ryeowook without blushing."
"Shut up," muttered Yehsung, and lay back against another pillar, much like Donghae was doing. The movement seemed to remind Jaejoong of what she was angry about, and turned to glare at Donghae again, until Yunho actually came out of the school gates with Yoochun and Jonghyun; Jonghyun was immediately accosted by a girl who could only have been Key, who was followed more sedately by the first years Onew and Minho. Yehsung gave a nod to Onew -- the failures had to stick together.
Donghae was so absorbed in her music that she didn't even notice that Yunho had come out, and so Jaejoong took her chance. She sidled up to him, pressed up against his side and waited until he had slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her on her cheek before she looked at Donghae triumphantly. Apparently Donghae realised then because she ripped out her headphones and skipped up to Yuhno and immediately started chattering on about some dance routine that the two were working on -- completely unaware of the glares that Jaejoong was sending towards her.
The younger ones walked along behind, as they were too part of the same dance group (along with a girl from the Middle School, who Heechul seemed to have noticed and now everyone spent a lot of time keeping Taemin out of Heechul's way, because Taemin was innocent) and Yehsung trailed at the edge of the senior group, watching with an almost insane amount of amusement as Yunho and Donghae talked like the good friends that they were, and Jaejoong's eyes narrowed with every 'oppa' that came out of Donghae's mouth. She was so amused that she almost missed hearing something important from the conversation behind her.
"So you think Henry's going to be the one?" came Key's voice.
"I think so," said Jonghyun. "At least, that's what everyone else seems to think. He doesn't think so."
"Does he even like Ryeowook-unni?" asked Key, and then Yehsung was paying attention with a ferocity that was probably frightening.
"I'm not sure." Jonghyun sounded doubtful, and that wasn't good enough for Yehsung, who span around. The younger group stopped dead, staring at her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. Jaejoong stopped and looked around at her curiously, and that made Yunho and Donghae stop.
"Hm?" Jonghyun frowned at her. "Oh, just that dare thing that's going around your school."
"I know that," said Yehsung, and she prayed to whatever deity she could think of that her voice wasn't as strained as she thought it sounded. "What about Ryeowook, though?"
"We think she's going to kiss Henry," said Key, and the breezy tone of her voice almost killed Yehsung.
"Who's Henry?" she asked.
"He's a boy in my class," said Jonghyun, looking at Yehsung as if she were mad. "He's in the dance group, too, but he plays violin and he's been working on something with Ryeowook for the past couple of weeks, and we think that Ryeowook likes him."
"What?" whispered Yehsung.
"Sung?" Jaejoong put a hand on her shoulder. "Sung, I don't think it's true, I really think--"
"Working on what?" asked Yehsung, shaking off the hand. "What?"
"I don't know," said Jonghyun. "Some music piece, I think. Ryeowook's singing."
"Oh fuck," said Yehsung.
"They're in the music rooms at school now," said Key, who maybe got where Yehsung was going with this. Key seemed to be a drama queen. Minho didn't say anything, she just watched the whole thing with quiet eyes that seemed to be assessing everything. Yehsung preferred Minho.
"Hold this," said Yehsung, and pushed her bag at Jaejoong, who caught hold of it but protested all the way, and shouted out after Yehsung as she ran back down to the school. Yehsung ignored her, and continued to run until she was racing up the stairs to the music rooms and along the corridor to the only one that had light still streaming out, and she couldn't hear any music which seemed to make her panic grab her by the throat and shake her, screaming "THEY'RE KISSING AND YOU HAVE NO CHANCE" and then she was throwing open the door and --
And Ryeowook looked up from the piano she was sitting at, startled, and Henry lowered the violin he was holding, looking at Yehsung in absolute confusion, and Yehsung suddenly remembered that the music rooms were sound-proofed and realised that the two had just been practicing and that, once again, she had made a complete fool of herself. Ryeowook was frowning at her. "Eh," said Yehsung, and she hoped that Ryeowook took her blush to be because she was innocent or something. "Sorry, I thought -- someone else was in here. I'll...go now."
Neither of the room's occupents paid her any heed as she left, but she didn't feel like going home, not now. Jaejoong was right; she couldn't keep running from this, she had to do something quickly, because it wasn't like she saw Ryeowook outside of school and it was now Thursday, and besides, what other chance was she going to get? There was no way she'd be able to do it in front of anybody, so she'd just have to hope that Ryeowook was truthful about it if anyone came to ask her for the proof.
It took a nail-biting half hour for the two to finish whatever they were playing, and Yehsung hunkered down outside the door and put her headphones in her ears and tried to drown out the chatter of feelings and thoughts in her head, trying to drown out the voice that whispered that she should just forget it and take whatever punishment Sungmin and Heechul came up with. But Yehsung was through with running from things, through with just being happy with hanging in the library and catching glances here and there. Even if it went wrong, at least she had tried.
Henry was the only one to leave the room at the end of the session, and he seemed amused when he saw Yehsung still sitting in the corridor, her legs crossed and fingers tapping to the rhythm of her music against the floor. He didn't say anything to Yehsung, but instead stuck his head back into the music room and said something in Chinese to Ryeowook, and then laughed at whatever Ryeowook said back. Ryeowook didn't sound annoyed, but then Yehsung couldn't understand Chinese. Henry waved jauntily at Yehsung as he walked down the corridor, and Yehsung suddenly wanted to scratch his eyes out.
There was no further sound from the room as the door swung shut again, and Yehsung stared at it for a couple of seconds before she put her hand on the handle and pushed it down and stepped nervously into the room. Ryeowook looked up from where she was putting her music sheets away, and when she saw Yehsung, she looked away quickly and continued and didn't even look up when Yehsung cleared her throat.
"Can I talk to you?" asked Yehsung, voice nervous.
Ryeowook straightened up, and then sat down in front of the piano, fingers picking out a random tune that Yehsung thought she might have heard once but couldn't place; she didn't turn to face Yehsung when she said, "Sure."
"I have something I want to tell you," said Yehsung, and for a second Ryeowook's fingers paused and then she was playing again, along with the other hand now, and Yehsung took a deep breath and said; "I like you."
Ryeowook's fingers paused again but this time it was accompanied by a sudden crash of chords and she span around in her chair, eyes wide and shocked. "What?" she asked, voice shaking.
"I like you," said Yehsung. "Please don't make me say it a third time, I'm not sure my heart can take the humiliation."
"How can you like me?" asked Ryeowook, voice rather hoarse.
"How can I not?" said Yehsung before she could stop herself. "It's not even that you're totally beautiful, you're just like, amazing at everything and you have this voice and it drives me crazy and I would give anything for you to just be able to look at me like I'm something worth looking at."
"But I already do," said Ryeowook softly.
"I -- what?"
"I already think you're worth looking at," said Ryeowook, blushing bright red. "I couldn't get any work done on those days you came to the library because I was too busy watching you over the top of my book and I thought that maybe you felt the same way but I wasn't sure, and I wasn't going to say anything and I thought that even if I failed the dare, Sungmin-unni would be nice to me and Heechul-unni wouldn't be that mean to me so I was just...going to leave it."
"I wish I could," said Yehsung, slightly choked now. "If I didn't manage it, Heechul would make me run through the school naked, I think that is likely anyway, and I can't do that, so -- it won't freak you out, right, if I do this?"
"Do what?" asked Ryeowook, looking suddenly more than a little worried, and Yehsung just shook her head and strode forward and put her hands on Ryeowook's shoulders and kissed her. Ryeowook's noise of surprise, a gasp of air, was smothered quickly as she then reached up and fisted her hands in Yehsung's collar and pulled her closer, and when they broke apart, Yehsung thought that Ryeowook's smile could break hearts (and capture them too).
If either Yehsung or Ryeowook had looked out of the window (and they didn't, with Ryeowook's back pressed against the piano and their mouths pressed together), they probably wouldn't have believed what they were seeing. After all, it was simple common knowledge that Eeteuk didn't do sport or running or anything that required her arms and legs to work in sync. Even Eeteuk was fairly certain that what Kangin had her doing was a bad idea -- and it seemed that Kangin was coming to the same conclusion.
"It's not that hard, Eeteuk," he said, with good natured exasperation. "Just run forward while kicking the ball."
Eeteuk looked down at the football at her foot and then dubiously back at Kangin. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, I can't run, you know that."
"I believe in you," said Kangin, dead-pan, and Eeteuk sighed and thought that this had better be worth it, because when she had thought up her plan for kissing Kangin, it had not involved running in any form. Although, to be honest, Eeteuk's plan had been heavily flawed to begin with, because she had thought it up while daydreaming on the bus on the way to school one morning when she was still half asleep. The daydream had involved Eeteuk being alone with Kangin after school, and somehow Kangin confessing his undying love to her and kissing her with a passion that made her knees shake -- and then the bus driver had honked at Donghae on her bike who had cut in front of him at great risk to her life that she didn't seem to notice and Eeteuk had woken up suddenly, a half-baked idea in her mind.
The session after school was not supposed to involve actual physical exercise.
"Just try," said Kangin encouragingly, and Eeteuk sighed and began to run forward, taking the ball with her. Kangin cheered after her, and Eeteuk grinned and sped up, and then looked back over her shoulder at him -- and then tripped over the football, her ankle folding underneath her with a painful crack. She fell to the floor with a scream, winding herself in the process, and for a couple of seconds she couldn't see or breathe, and then Kangin was pulling her into a sitting position and was trying to untie her trainer, fingers fumbling slightly with the laces. Eeteuk leant back against his arm and took a deep breath. Then she yelped and clutched at the arm attempting to unfasten her shoe as the pain in her ankle registered.
"It hurts," she wailed, and Kangin shook her off and finally managed to pull the shoe off, ignoring Eeteuk's yell of pain as he did so. He took her ankle in his hands gently and looked it it -- Eeteuk was in tears by this point -- and then grimaced at the way it was swelling.
"You've broken it," he said.
"It can't be broken!" Eeteuk managed through her tears. "I've probably just sprained it, you can just bandage it up, can't -- let go of it, please."
Kangin sighed and lay her foot back on the floor. "You'll have to get a cast," he said. "I can't just bandage something like that up."
"But a cast!" wailed Eeteuk. "They'll give me crutches and I'll have to hobble around everywhere and people will point to me in the street and call me a cripple."
"No they won't," said Kangin, and hooked his arm under her knees and lifted her up, and through the pain radiating from her ankle Eeteuk had a moment of ohmygod. He seemed to have no trouble carrying her back to the school, although she kept shifting, uncomfortable, horribly aware of the feeling of his arm against the skin at the back of her thighs, horribly aware of the blush on her face, horribly aware of the racing of her heart. Kangin didn't seem to notice anything, but then Eeteuk was also horribly aware that Kangin wasn't the most perceptive of men and probably wouldn't have noticed that Eeteuk had a crush on him if she'd paraded around the gym naked apart from a sign that said "TAKE ME NOW KANGIN".
He placed her carefully on a chair and went to get his car keys to take her to hospital. The pain was now beginning to hurt Eeteuk's head. She thought that that was why she did it. She wasn't thinking straight, she wasn't in her right mind, she wasn't able to think it through and choose the right time; later, she would lie awake and try to come up with a reason why. Maybe she was just grateful that Kangin hadn't laughed at her when she'd fallen over. Whatever it was, all she knew was that when Kangin came back and went to help her up, she threw herself forward and kissed him full on the mouth.
Kangin kissed back.
Eeteuk wrapped her arms around his neck, eyes shut as Kangin's mouth moved against hers, his hands against hips and pulling her up to him so for a minute she was suspended off the floor; but that couldn't last forever, and she slid down, his head dropping to keep their mouths together, and then she stood down on her ankle and flailed backwards, unable to stop her scream of pain.
The noise seemed to jerk Kangin back to what they were doing and he almost pushed Eeteuk away desperately before he realised what he was doing and quickly picked her back up to take the weight off her hurt ankle. There were tears in Eeteuk's eyes again but they weren't just from the pain this time; she took a handful of the material of his t-shirt and clutched at it. He began to walk out the door, not looking at her. "That shouldn't have happened," he said.
"Ow," said Eeteuk.
"You're my student, for god's sake," said Kangin. "There are laws against it."
"My ankle hurts," said Eeteuk.
"For fuck's sake!" said Kangin, stopping suddenly. "Eeteuk, are you even listening to me?"
"Yes," said Eeteuk desperately. "Yes, I am, I just wish you'd stop because you're going to ruin it and I don't want you to."
Kangin started walking again, slow, measured footsteps. "It's wrong," he said. "You're only eighteen."
"And you're only twenty-two," said Eeteuk, aware that her voice sounded sulky.
Kangin pulled his car keys from his pocket and unlocked the doors with the press of a button. He fumbled slightly with pulling the door open and then lay Eeteuk across the back seat, before he walked to the boot, picked out a blanket and put it under Eeteuk's ankle carefully. The pain made her lay back now, unable to stop her tears -- pain and frustration and disappointment -- from streaming down her face. Kangin got into the front seat and lay his head against the steering wheel for a couple of seconds.
"We really can't," he said. "It's -- not right."
"But I like you," said Eeteuk softly.
"I thought you were supposed to be the clever one," said Kangin, sounding angry. "I thought you were the responsible one. I didn't think you'd get involved in that -- dare, or whatever." He stopped and lifted his head up to look out the window. "I didn't think I'd be stupid enough to do this."
His voice was so resigned that Eeteuk felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry," she said, and she was. "I just -- I really like you."
"I like you too, Eeteuk," said Kangin, voice low, and Eeteuk couldn't help it, her heart jumped in her chest. Kangin sighed. "I guess," he said. "I can -- we can try something. You'll be leaving this spring." He turned, a slight smile on his face. "Maybe, after you graduate. We can -- see." He grinned at the smile that grew over Eeteuk's face, and turned and started the engine. "Let's get you to the hospital."
Eeteuk almost began crying again three hours later at home, her ankle in a cast, when she realised that she had forgotten to get evidence of the kiss. She rang Heechul in a panic; Heechul was unsympathetic.
"I should disown you," she said. "That is pathetic."
"Oh, don't," wailed Eeteuk.
Fandom: Super Junior; DBSK, SHINee, SNSD (AU, !girls)
Pairing: Hankyung/Heechul, Kyuhyun/Sungmin, Kibum/Donghae, Kangin/Eeteuk, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Eunhyuk/Junsu, background Yunho/Jaejoong, Jonghyun/Key
Word count: 6,545
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "You know this whole bet was just thought up to see if you would kiss me?" Sungmin's voice was muffled against the skin of Kyuhyun's hip.
A/N: Without tokyolights this au wouldn't have even been thought of, and idk whether I love or hate that, but I do know that ilh and she has been so patient :'D ♥
The Art Of Daring (3/4)
("All is fair in love, war, and being a whore")
Donghae abandoned her previous plan on how to go about kissing Kibum the very day after she tried them out. It was too much hassle to do her hair like that every day, too much hassle to get changed before every Chemistry lesson. Anyway, so many people had commented on her transformation that she began to get worried that it was perhaps a little too obvious, what she was up to. That was why on the second day, she wore her normal uniform but sat at the back of the classroom in her seat sucking on a lollipop.
On the third day, she dropped something near he was sitting and bent down to pick it up, making sure he was looking at her legs before she did so.
On the fourth day, Kibum went out for a drink with Changmin, who taught Maths in the boy's sector, and proceeded to drink himself almost into a stupor before Changmin asked what the hell was wrong.
"I think I'm being seduced," muttered Kibum, his chin pressed to the edge of the bar. Changmin laughed at him, but then he didn't know the true horror of what was happening in Kibum's life.
"Sounds like a positive to me," said Changmin cheerfully.
"By one of my students," said Kibum.
"Oh," said Changmin in a tone of deep understanding. "Which one?"
"Lee Donghae," groaned Kibum, and Changmin winced.
"Man," he said. "She's friends with Yunho in my tutor group, and I see them sometimes if she comes to see him after school and -- is it just me, or is she not all there?"
"Donghae?" Kibum glanced up at him in confusion. "Oh, Donghae's all there. She's completely sane. I just don't think her mind works on the same level; it's like it's wired to notice things that the rest of us miss."
"You seem interested," noted Changmin with a wry smile. Kibum flipped him off.
"She's one of the best students in my class," he said. "Of course I've noticed her. I just didn't think that my noticing her was enough to cause a budding crush."
"You're perfectly aware that most of the students in my school hate you, because all of the girls you teach are in love with you?" Changmin laughed at the surprised expression on Kibum's face and ordered a new round of drinks. "You mean you never noticed?"
"I never notice women," said Kibum, non-plussed. "I just teach them and let them go at the end of the lesson."
"You want to be careful," said Changmin. "I bet if you smiled once in a while, the entire class would faint." He sighed heavily. "I envy you teaching in a girl's school."
"I don't -- I'm not a pervert like you," said Kibum. "I -- I don't look at my students in that way."
"Sure you don't," said Changmin, grinning. "Donghae's a pretty thing, isn't she?"
"I don't know you," said Kibum, turning resolutely away. "I am not having this conversation, it is absurd."
"Haven't you heard the rumours?" asked Changmin, leaning over the bar. "Apparently there's a dare going around your school, I overheard some of the boys talking about it. I think they were hoping to get picked, I don't know. According to them, a group of girls -- headed by Heechul and Sungmin, obviously -- got together and have dared each other to kiss whoever it is that they like."
"Which means--" Kibum turned white. "If Donghae does have a crush on me, then she could be targeting me?"
"Probably," said Changmin.
"You don't think she'd really do it?" asked Kibum nervously. "Do you?"
"I don't know," said Changmin, calmly taking a sip of his drink. "You know Lee Donghae better than I do."
"Oh my god," said Kibum, horrified.
"I can't take this anymore," said Kyuhyun in Chinese to Zhou Mi as she threw her bag onto her desk in Physics and then slumped down into her chair. She said it in Chinese so that no one could overhear and run off and spread the gossip. "It's like she's trying to make it hard for me."
"Who?" asked Zhou Mi, completely confused, having seen nothing of Kyuhyun since their first period singing lesson.
"Lee Sungmin," said Kyuhyun darkly.
"Unni?" Zhou Mi was even more confused now. "What's she done? Sungmin-unni never does anything horrible or mean."
"That's exactly the point," said Kyuhyun. "She's being the exact opposite of horrible and mean."
"Huh?"
"She just caught me in the corridor and said that she was sorry that I had to leave the party on Saturday early, and that she hadn't thought I'd get that drunk. Then she leant against the wall, stuck her chest out, and said, looking under her eyelashes at me, that she found people who really couldn't handle their alcohol unbelievely attractive, before she laughed, blew me a kiss and sauntered off down the corridor."
"Blew you a kiss?" Zhou Mi's mind was desperately trying to piece the story together. "Do you mean -- does Sungmin-unni like you?"
"I doubt it," said Kyuhyun miserably. "Probably Heechul worked it out and told her and now she thinks it's a hilarious game."
"Worked what out?" asked Zhou Mi, looking at Kyuhyun curiously. Kyuhyun straightened up to give Zhou Mi a pointed look, and it hit Zhou Mi like a truck. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and then clapped her hands to her mouth as a couple of girls in the class looked over in interest. Zhou Mi removed her hands slowly. "Sorry," she whispered to Kyuhyun, who was glaring at her.
"There's a reason I'm having this conversation in Chinese, you know," she said in a disgruntled tone. "I don't want the rest of the school to know."
"But you like -- oh my god, that is just--"
"I get it!" said Kyuhyun, laughing because she was certain that if she didn't laugh, she'd cry. "I know, it's stupid. Liking someone like Sungmin is just ridiculous, I know. But -- I don't think I can help it."
"She's very good looking," said Zhou Mi.
"She's gorgeous," said Kyuhyun, and there was something wistful in her tone.
"And she's very nice," said Zhou Mi.
Kyuhyun snorted. "Yeah, when she's not being a whore." Zhou Mi didn't say anything, and Kyuhyun sighed. "There's the problem," she said softly. "Lee Sungmin certainly isn't going to go for me -- I'm a girl."
"But the dare--" began Zhou Mi, but Kyuhyun cut her off sharply.
"I'm not taking part in that," she said. "I can't possibly do that. It's okay for, I don't know, Heechul or Ryeowook, who have at least a change of the person they kiss liking them back. What good would kissing Lee Sungmin do for me? I'd be -- everyone would know, then, how I felt, and she's so popular, I'd be bound to be looked down on. At worst, I'd just be another person to have fallen under the spell of Lee Sungmin, slut extraordinaire."
Zhou Mi still didn't say anything, and Kyuhyun put her head down on the table. "I already have," she said. "I'm so stupid."
"I'm sorry," said Zhou Mi softly.
"Hey," said Kyuhyun, suddenly lifting her head up to smirk at Zhou Mi. "I should just kiss you, it will solve all of our problems."
"Okay, ew," said Zhou Mi, and almost pushed Kyuhyun off her chair.
"Well, you're going to have to do something soon," said Jaejoong, mouth open as she put her eyeliner on using the mirrors in the bathroom. "The deadline is this Saturday, and it's Tuesday now."
"I know," hissed Yehsung. "Don't keep going on about it, it's not like I'm not stressed enough."
"I'm just saying," said Jaejoong, casually ignoring the annoyed tone in Yehsung's voice. "It would be a shame if all your hard work went down the drain because you missed the deadline."
"It's okay for you," said Yehsung grumpily. "You don't even have to take part."
"Just ask her out or something!" said Jaejoong. "It's not that hard."
"Have you heard what you're asking me to do?" Jaejoong had never heard Yehsung's voice be so high with fear. "This isn't some guy from the boy's sector. This is Kim Ryeowook. This is a girl. She's going to look at me like I'm something she stepped in."
"She won't," said Jaejoong, but she didn't seem convinced.
"Two weeks isn't enough time," moaned Yehsung. "It might be enough if you're someone like Sungmin but I fall over all the time, I'm just -- I make Onew from the First Years look positively coordinated."
"Whatever," said Jaejoong. "Just do something, quick? I think spending so much time in the library is drying out my complexion."
"You just don't care," said Yehsung miserably, leaning her head against the cool surface of the mirror. "Why am I even friends with you?"
"Look, stop complaining," said Jaejoong. "Sung, you're just going to have to do it, you know that you don't want to be at the mercy of Heechul if you fail. She'll make it double-vicious, just because it's you."
"Fuck," said Yehsung, hitting her head against the mirror. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Anyway," said Jaejoong, in what was probably supposed to be a soothing tone and was instead rather patronizing. "From what I've heard, Ryeowook is a nice person. Really nice. She'll probably just blush and stutter and run away."
"Oh, hey, thanks," muttered Yehsung. "Nice to know that you have such confidence in me."
Jaejoong grinned at her and ran a hand through her hair to fluff it out before she started putting her make-up back into her bag. She was just about to put the last bit away when the door swung open and Ryeowook stepped through, and then stopped suddenly. Yehsung removed her head from the mirror casually, like it was perfectly normal to have your forehead pressed up against one. Jaejoong dropped the lipgloss she had been holding into the bag quickly and then disappeared into one of the cubicles. Her laughter was audible, despite her attempts at smothering it against her hand.
"Hi," said Yehsung, smiling brightly. Ryeowook hesitated by the door and then took a step further in. Then she stopped again, and looked curiously at Yehsung.
"You aren't smoking?" she asked quietly.
"No?" Yehsung was, honestly, just confused. "I don't smoke."
"Oh," said Ryeowook, and broke into a smile, which Yehsung thought was slightly strange but then she was kind of struggling to think anyway, with Ryeowook looking her in that way. It wasn't even as though it was a special way, it was just a friendly smile, but something took hold of Yehsung's throat and squeezed so she just kind of choked, and really, Ryeowook must be thinking she's a complete moron right now, she should probably just go and hang herself from the school roof.
"That's good," said Ryeowook. "I'm glad."
Yehsung blinked. "You are?"
"Yeah," said Ryeowook shyly, and she blushed, and then seemed to realise that she was doing so, and some sort of a farewell tumbled out of her mouth and then she was practically running out of the bathroom. Jaejoong let herself out of the cubicle, looking after Ryeowook with some amusement.
"Wow," she said. "That was awkward."
"Yeah," said Yehsung, kind of all dreamy because Ryeowook had spoken to her, and Ryeowook had smiled at her. Jaejoong just sighed and rolled her eyes.
Kyuhyun really couldn't take it anymore. It was Wednesday; therefore, only four days had passed since the party, but she was already ready to get drunk again and hopefully the alcohol would force any thoughts of Lee Sungmin (and Lee Sungmin's smile and Lee Sungmin's laugh and Lee Sungmin's oh-so-perfect body) from her mind. Hopefully, but Kyuhyun didn't hold much onto hope.
Still, this was probably a bad idea, she reflected as she climbed out of the car and looked up at the four storeys of the Lee family home; it was an old stone town house, with a flight of stairs leading to a grand front entrance. It was a far cry from the penthouse that Kyuhyun lived in on top of her father's clothing store, and she found that she was rather nervous when she rang the doorbell. A maid answered the door, took her name and then sent a message up to Sungmin. A minute later, Kyuhyun was allowed to climb the three flights of stairs that led to Sungmin's bedroom.
Sungmin came out to greet her, and really, Kyuhyun was beginning to wish that she hadn't bothered because her mind, on seeing Sungmin, just kind of ground to a halt -- but that was because of the outfit Sungmin was wearing. When Kyuhyun got home from school she just threw anything on, regardless of how they looked, but apparently Sungmin needed to look her very best at all times. Or maybe -- and Kyuhyun thought this was probably true, which just sucked, to be honest -- Sungmin just looked good and sexy in anything. Her jogging bottoms, sugar pink, fit in all the right places, emphasising every curve, and Kyuhyun wasn't aware that sweatpants were supposed to be able to do. Her cream camisole seemed to stop too suddenly, her stomach completely flat and tanned; there was a scar on her right hip, Kyuhyun noticed before she ripped her eyes away.
"Hi," said Sungmin, her smile happy but slightly confused. "I didn't know that you knew where I lived."
"I didn't," said Kyuhyun, voice almost automatically cool. She just couldn't help it. "Zhou Mi told me."
"Oh, okay," said Sungmin, and she stepped back and her smile didn't fade any, although Kyuhyun was wincing internally at how she had sounded there. "Come in."
Kyuhyun stepped into the room and wasn't surprised to find that it was pink. It was, however, tasteful, which Kyuhyun hadn't exactly been expecting; pale pink walls and light wooden flooring, with pale furniture and pink sofas and a pale pink bedspread on the four poster bed hung over with endless drapes in various shades of pink. Sungmin walked up to her stereo and switched the music she had been listening to off, before she sat down on her bed and crossed her legs and closed the book she had been reading. Kyuhyun, after looking around for a couple of seconds, took off her coat, lay it over the back of a chair and then sat down on it. There was a brief pause.
"I like your top," said Sungmin conversationally.
Kyuhyun looked down and then pulled at the ice blue chiffon lightly to stop it creasing. "Yeah," she said quietly. "My father made it."
"He owns that clothing design, doesn't he?" asked Sungmin, sounding impressed. "I love his stuff. His designs are beautiful."
You're interested in fashion? Kyuhyun almost asked, but that would have been stupid because that was obvious, Sungmin always looked perfect, so she stopped herself, and just made a vague noise of agreement.
"So is this just a social call?" asked Sungmin, tucking her hair behind her eyes and looking slightly amused. "Or is there a specific reason?"
"There's a reason," said Kyuhyun.
"Oh," said Sungmin. She sounded disappointed.
"You need to stop it," said Kyuhyun, sitting up a little straighter. Sungmin frowned a little.
"What?" she asked.
"I don't know who has told you," said Kyuhyun, ignoring the interruption. "I don't know what they've told you, and whether any of it is actually true, but you need to stop because it's just -- I thought you were nice, you know, and the way you're acting is just awful."
"Awful? I don't know what you mean," said Sungmin, sounding honestly confused.
"The flirting?" Kyuhyun sighed. "The way you keep -- it's like you're messing with me, and I just can't take it anymore."
"But I--"
"If you -- I don't mind who has told you, but just stop playing around with me, okay? Find someone else to practice your techniques on, someone who doesn't have an invested interest or whatever."
"What?" Sungmin's voice was soft, full of awe, as she scrunched her nose up in uncertainty. "Do you -- do you mean you actually like me?"
Kyuhyun hesitated, and then sighed. "Yeah," she said. "Yes, I do. So now you know for certain and you understand why I can't keep just putting up with the way you're acting around me." She stood up and picked up her coat. "I'll go now," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that." And she began to pull her coat onto her arms and over her shoulders.
"No!" said Sungmin desperately, and that was enough to make Kyuhyun stop in surprise, and then Sungmin was hanging onto her wrist, pulling the sleeves of her coat down, trying to remove it. "I'm sorry," she was saying, almost incoherent. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to take it like that, I didn't know, I had no idea, I wouldn't have -- I just wanted to know if you felt the same way, and I -- I don't know any other way, flirting has always worked before and--"
Kyuhyun stopped staring at her in complete shock and finally managed to find her voice from somewhere. "What?"
"I didn't know how else to find out," said Sungmin, her fingertips pressed to the bone of Kyuhyun's wrist as if trying to hold her on the spot.
"Find out what?" asked Kyuhyun, almost desperate for Sungmin to stop touching her, but unsure as to how to go about it because it was common knowledge that Sungmin was a master at martial arts, and it was one of the reasons that she had never been taken advantage of -- everything had always been on her terms. Kyuhyun wasn't sure how to react, seeing Sungmin so out of it. "What do you mean, you didn't know? Why would you bother if you--" She broke off.
Sungmin smiled at her and then pressed upwards to press her lips to Kyuhyun's, pulling away slowly to smile at her -- and there was something shy in that smile, something that made Kyuhyun's heart stutter even as it was struggling to calm down. Seeing the shocked expression on her face, Sungmin's smile suddenly became a lot more confident, a lot more aware -- she knew what that kiss had done to Kyuhyun, and for a second Kyuhyun wondered if it had just been part of a ploy, some sort of a game because Sungmin had been bored, but then Sungmin ran her fingers through Kyuhyun's hair and pulled her down to kiss her again, and Kyuhyun remembered with a sudden sharp shock that Sungmin wasn't like that; this was real.
"It's almost depressing," muttered Sungmin against Kyuhyun's mouth, pressed up against Kyuhyun's front so hard that Kyuhyun had to take hold of her waist to stop them from toppling over. "I did everything I could to show that I was interested in you, and yet you thought I was treating it as a joke. All that trying to make you jealous, for nothing."
"I didn't think it was real," protested Kyuhyun. "Why would you be interested in me, I'm just -- the Ice Princess or whatever they call me, I'm nothing for Lee Sungmin to be interested in--" She broke off as Sungmin kissed up her jaw to her ear.
"I can see straight through that," whispered Sungmin. "I can -- break right through that." And then she took hold of Kyuhyun's wrist again and pulled her forward, pulled her onto the bed, and all Kyuhyun could think was wow this is fast as Sungmin slipped her shirt off and carefully dropped it by the side of the bed, and then ohmygod as Sungmin pressed her lips to Kyuhyun's collarbone. Kyuhyun's hands flumbled a little with the bottom of the camisole but then Sungmin's hands were guiding her, helping her pull it up over Sungmin's head and then tossing it aside, and Kyuhyun touched her hand softly to Sungmin's stomach, and Sungmin shivered against her and kissed her fiercely.
"You know this whole bet was just thought up to see if you would kiss me?" Sungmin's voice was muffled against the skin of Kyuhyun's hip.
"And I think I have problems," said Kyuhyun, hands fisted in Sungmin's hair.
Jaejoong was Not Happy but Yehsung thought it was rather funny, actually. After the past few days of constant teasing from her friend, it felt rather nice to see the tables turned and Jaejoong the unsure one.
"I just don't understand why she's got to hang around him all the time," complained Jaejoong, glaring in Donghae's direction, but Donghae was leaning against one of the pillars fronting the entrance of the boy's school and had her headphones in and so couldn't hear a word that Jaejoong was saying -- luckily, Yehsung thought.
"They're friends, Jae," said Yehsung, struggling to hide her laughter.
"I bet she's going to kiss him," said Jaejoong, glowering at Donghae. "I bet that's why she's waiting for him."
"They go to the same dance club, Jae!" said Yehsung. "They even live in the same street! Get a grip."
"Are you seriously telling me to get a grip?" Jaejoong suddenly stopped being annoyed and turned amused. "I'm not the one who can't even look at Kim Ryeowook without blushing."
"Shut up," muttered Yehsung, and lay back against another pillar, much like Donghae was doing. The movement seemed to remind Jaejoong of what she was angry about, and turned to glare at Donghae again, until Yunho actually came out of the school gates with Yoochun and Jonghyun; Jonghyun was immediately accosted by a girl who could only have been Key, who was followed more sedately by the first years Onew and Minho. Yehsung gave a nod to Onew -- the failures had to stick together.
Donghae was so absorbed in her music that she didn't even notice that Yunho had come out, and so Jaejoong took her chance. She sidled up to him, pressed up against his side and waited until he had slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her on her cheek before she looked at Donghae triumphantly. Apparently Donghae realised then because she ripped out her headphones and skipped up to Yuhno and immediately started chattering on about some dance routine that the two were working on -- completely unaware of the glares that Jaejoong was sending towards her.
The younger ones walked along behind, as they were too part of the same dance group (along with a girl from the Middle School, who Heechul seemed to have noticed and now everyone spent a lot of time keeping Taemin out of Heechul's way, because Taemin was innocent) and Yehsung trailed at the edge of the senior group, watching with an almost insane amount of amusement as Yunho and Donghae talked like the good friends that they were, and Jaejoong's eyes narrowed with every 'oppa' that came out of Donghae's mouth. She was so amused that she almost missed hearing something important from the conversation behind her.
"So you think Henry's going to be the one?" came Key's voice.
"I think so," said Jonghyun. "At least, that's what everyone else seems to think. He doesn't think so."
"Does he even like Ryeowook-unni?" asked Key, and then Yehsung was paying attention with a ferocity that was probably frightening.
"I'm not sure." Jonghyun sounded doubtful, and that wasn't good enough for Yehsung, who span around. The younger group stopped dead, staring at her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. Jaejoong stopped and looked around at her curiously, and that made Yunho and Donghae stop.
"Hm?" Jonghyun frowned at her. "Oh, just that dare thing that's going around your school."
"I know that," said Yehsung, and she prayed to whatever deity she could think of that her voice wasn't as strained as she thought it sounded. "What about Ryeowook, though?"
"We think she's going to kiss Henry," said Key, and the breezy tone of her voice almost killed Yehsung.
"Who's Henry?" she asked.
"He's a boy in my class," said Jonghyun, looking at Yehsung as if she were mad. "He's in the dance group, too, but he plays violin and he's been working on something with Ryeowook for the past couple of weeks, and we think that Ryeowook likes him."
"What?" whispered Yehsung.
"Sung?" Jaejoong put a hand on her shoulder. "Sung, I don't think it's true, I really think--"
"Working on what?" asked Yehsung, shaking off the hand. "What?"
"I don't know," said Jonghyun. "Some music piece, I think. Ryeowook's singing."
"Oh fuck," said Yehsung.
"They're in the music rooms at school now," said Key, who maybe got where Yehsung was going with this. Key seemed to be a drama queen. Minho didn't say anything, she just watched the whole thing with quiet eyes that seemed to be assessing everything. Yehsung preferred Minho.
"Hold this," said Yehsung, and pushed her bag at Jaejoong, who caught hold of it but protested all the way, and shouted out after Yehsung as she ran back down to the school. Yehsung ignored her, and continued to run until she was racing up the stairs to the music rooms and along the corridor to the only one that had light still streaming out, and she couldn't hear any music which seemed to make her panic grab her by the throat and shake her, screaming "THEY'RE KISSING AND YOU HAVE NO CHANCE" and then she was throwing open the door and --
And Ryeowook looked up from the piano she was sitting at, startled, and Henry lowered the violin he was holding, looking at Yehsung in absolute confusion, and Yehsung suddenly remembered that the music rooms were sound-proofed and realised that the two had just been practicing and that, once again, she had made a complete fool of herself. Ryeowook was frowning at her. "Eh," said Yehsung, and she hoped that Ryeowook took her blush to be because she was innocent or something. "Sorry, I thought -- someone else was in here. I'll...go now."
Neither of the room's occupents paid her any heed as she left, but she didn't feel like going home, not now. Jaejoong was right; she couldn't keep running from this, she had to do something quickly, because it wasn't like she saw Ryeowook outside of school and it was now Thursday, and besides, what other chance was she going to get? There was no way she'd be able to do it in front of anybody, so she'd just have to hope that Ryeowook was truthful about it if anyone came to ask her for the proof.
It took a nail-biting half hour for the two to finish whatever they were playing, and Yehsung hunkered down outside the door and put her headphones in her ears and tried to drown out the chatter of feelings and thoughts in her head, trying to drown out the voice that whispered that she should just forget it and take whatever punishment Sungmin and Heechul came up with. But Yehsung was through with running from things, through with just being happy with hanging in the library and catching glances here and there. Even if it went wrong, at least she had tried.
Henry was the only one to leave the room at the end of the session, and he seemed amused when he saw Yehsung still sitting in the corridor, her legs crossed and fingers tapping to the rhythm of her music against the floor. He didn't say anything to Yehsung, but instead stuck his head back into the music room and said something in Chinese to Ryeowook, and then laughed at whatever Ryeowook said back. Ryeowook didn't sound annoyed, but then Yehsung couldn't understand Chinese. Henry waved jauntily at Yehsung as he walked down the corridor, and Yehsung suddenly wanted to scratch his eyes out.
There was no further sound from the room as the door swung shut again, and Yehsung stared at it for a couple of seconds before she put her hand on the handle and pushed it down and stepped nervously into the room. Ryeowook looked up from where she was putting her music sheets away, and when she saw Yehsung, she looked away quickly and continued and didn't even look up when Yehsung cleared her throat.
"Can I talk to you?" asked Yehsung, voice nervous.
Ryeowook straightened up, and then sat down in front of the piano, fingers picking out a random tune that Yehsung thought she might have heard once but couldn't place; she didn't turn to face Yehsung when she said, "Sure."
"I have something I want to tell you," said Yehsung, and for a second Ryeowook's fingers paused and then she was playing again, along with the other hand now, and Yehsung took a deep breath and said; "I like you."
Ryeowook's fingers paused again but this time it was accompanied by a sudden crash of chords and she span around in her chair, eyes wide and shocked. "What?" she asked, voice shaking.
"I like you," said Yehsung. "Please don't make me say it a third time, I'm not sure my heart can take the humiliation."
"How can you like me?" asked Ryeowook, voice rather hoarse.
"How can I not?" said Yehsung before she could stop herself. "It's not even that you're totally beautiful, you're just like, amazing at everything and you have this voice and it drives me crazy and I would give anything for you to just be able to look at me like I'm something worth looking at."
"But I already do," said Ryeowook softly.
"I -- what?"
"I already think you're worth looking at," said Ryeowook, blushing bright red. "I couldn't get any work done on those days you came to the library because I was too busy watching you over the top of my book and I thought that maybe you felt the same way but I wasn't sure, and I wasn't going to say anything and I thought that even if I failed the dare, Sungmin-unni would be nice to me and Heechul-unni wouldn't be that mean to me so I was just...going to leave it."
"I wish I could," said Yehsung, slightly choked now. "If I didn't manage it, Heechul would make me run through the school naked, I think that is likely anyway, and I can't do that, so -- it won't freak you out, right, if I do this?"
"Do what?" asked Ryeowook, looking suddenly more than a little worried, and Yehsung just shook her head and strode forward and put her hands on Ryeowook's shoulders and kissed her. Ryeowook's noise of surprise, a gasp of air, was smothered quickly as she then reached up and fisted her hands in Yehsung's collar and pulled her closer, and when they broke apart, Yehsung thought that Ryeowook's smile could break hearts (and capture them too).
If either Yehsung or Ryeowook had looked out of the window (and they didn't, with Ryeowook's back pressed against the piano and their mouths pressed together), they probably wouldn't have believed what they were seeing. After all, it was simple common knowledge that Eeteuk didn't do sport or running or anything that required her arms and legs to work in sync. Even Eeteuk was fairly certain that what Kangin had her doing was a bad idea -- and it seemed that Kangin was coming to the same conclusion.
"It's not that hard, Eeteuk," he said, with good natured exasperation. "Just run forward while kicking the ball."
Eeteuk looked down at the football at her foot and then dubiously back at Kangin. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, I can't run, you know that."
"I believe in you," said Kangin, dead-pan, and Eeteuk sighed and thought that this had better be worth it, because when she had thought up her plan for kissing Kangin, it had not involved running in any form. Although, to be honest, Eeteuk's plan had been heavily flawed to begin with, because she had thought it up while daydreaming on the bus on the way to school one morning when she was still half asleep. The daydream had involved Eeteuk being alone with Kangin after school, and somehow Kangin confessing his undying love to her and kissing her with a passion that made her knees shake -- and then the bus driver had honked at Donghae on her bike who had cut in front of him at great risk to her life that she didn't seem to notice and Eeteuk had woken up suddenly, a half-baked idea in her mind.
The session after school was not supposed to involve actual physical exercise.
"Just try," said Kangin encouragingly, and Eeteuk sighed and began to run forward, taking the ball with her. Kangin cheered after her, and Eeteuk grinned and sped up, and then looked back over her shoulder at him -- and then tripped over the football, her ankle folding underneath her with a painful crack. She fell to the floor with a scream, winding herself in the process, and for a couple of seconds she couldn't see or breathe, and then Kangin was pulling her into a sitting position and was trying to untie her trainer, fingers fumbling slightly with the laces. Eeteuk leant back against his arm and took a deep breath. Then she yelped and clutched at the arm attempting to unfasten her shoe as the pain in her ankle registered.
"It hurts," she wailed, and Kangin shook her off and finally managed to pull the shoe off, ignoring Eeteuk's yell of pain as he did so. He took her ankle in his hands gently and looked it it -- Eeteuk was in tears by this point -- and then grimaced at the way it was swelling.
"You've broken it," he said.
"It can't be broken!" Eeteuk managed through her tears. "I've probably just sprained it, you can just bandage it up, can't -- let go of it, please."
Kangin sighed and lay her foot back on the floor. "You'll have to get a cast," he said. "I can't just bandage something like that up."
"But a cast!" wailed Eeteuk. "They'll give me crutches and I'll have to hobble around everywhere and people will point to me in the street and call me a cripple."
"No they won't," said Kangin, and hooked his arm under her knees and lifted her up, and through the pain radiating from her ankle Eeteuk had a moment of ohmygod. He seemed to have no trouble carrying her back to the school, although she kept shifting, uncomfortable, horribly aware of the feeling of his arm against the skin at the back of her thighs, horribly aware of the blush on her face, horribly aware of the racing of her heart. Kangin didn't seem to notice anything, but then Eeteuk was also horribly aware that Kangin wasn't the most perceptive of men and probably wouldn't have noticed that Eeteuk had a crush on him if she'd paraded around the gym naked apart from a sign that said "TAKE ME NOW KANGIN".
He placed her carefully on a chair and went to get his car keys to take her to hospital. The pain was now beginning to hurt Eeteuk's head. She thought that that was why she did it. She wasn't thinking straight, she wasn't in her right mind, she wasn't able to think it through and choose the right time; later, she would lie awake and try to come up with a reason why. Maybe she was just grateful that Kangin hadn't laughed at her when she'd fallen over. Whatever it was, all she knew was that when Kangin came back and went to help her up, she threw herself forward and kissed him full on the mouth.
Kangin kissed back.
Eeteuk wrapped her arms around his neck, eyes shut as Kangin's mouth moved against hers, his hands against hips and pulling her up to him so for a minute she was suspended off the floor; but that couldn't last forever, and she slid down, his head dropping to keep their mouths together, and then she stood down on her ankle and flailed backwards, unable to stop her scream of pain.
The noise seemed to jerk Kangin back to what they were doing and he almost pushed Eeteuk away desperately before he realised what he was doing and quickly picked her back up to take the weight off her hurt ankle. There were tears in Eeteuk's eyes again but they weren't just from the pain this time; she took a handful of the material of his t-shirt and clutched at it. He began to walk out the door, not looking at her. "That shouldn't have happened," he said.
"Ow," said Eeteuk.
"You're my student, for god's sake," said Kangin. "There are laws against it."
"My ankle hurts," said Eeteuk.
"For fuck's sake!" said Kangin, stopping suddenly. "Eeteuk, are you even listening to me?"
"Yes," said Eeteuk desperately. "Yes, I am, I just wish you'd stop because you're going to ruin it and I don't want you to."
Kangin started walking again, slow, measured footsteps. "It's wrong," he said. "You're only eighteen."
"And you're only twenty-two," said Eeteuk, aware that her voice sounded sulky.
Kangin pulled his car keys from his pocket and unlocked the doors with the press of a button. He fumbled slightly with pulling the door open and then lay Eeteuk across the back seat, before he walked to the boot, picked out a blanket and put it under Eeteuk's ankle carefully. The pain made her lay back now, unable to stop her tears -- pain and frustration and disappointment -- from streaming down her face. Kangin got into the front seat and lay his head against the steering wheel for a couple of seconds.
"We really can't," he said. "It's -- not right."
"But I like you," said Eeteuk softly.
"I thought you were supposed to be the clever one," said Kangin, sounding angry. "I thought you were the responsible one. I didn't think you'd get involved in that -- dare, or whatever." He stopped and lifted his head up to look out the window. "I didn't think I'd be stupid enough to do this."
His voice was so resigned that Eeteuk felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry," she said, and she was. "I just -- I really like you."
"I like you too, Eeteuk," said Kangin, voice low, and Eeteuk couldn't help it, her heart jumped in her chest. Kangin sighed. "I guess," he said. "I can -- we can try something. You'll be leaving this spring." He turned, a slight smile on his face. "Maybe, after you graduate. We can -- see." He grinned at the smile that grew over Eeteuk's face, and turned and started the engine. "Let's get you to the hospital."
Eeteuk almost began crying again three hours later at home, her ankle in a cast, when she realised that she had forgotten to get evidence of the kiss. She rang Heechul in a panic; Heechul was unsympathetic.
"I should disown you," she said. "That is pathetic."
"Oh, don't," wailed Eeteuk.