Learning to Breathe // Chp. 1: New Surroundings
Title: Learning to Breathe / / Chapter One: New Surroundings
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Romance
Focus: eventual!JongHo and SulTae - singular/separate focuses for this part
Sub-Focus: some minor character appearances, most notably Hwang Chansung and a Suju Member. (can you spot him?)
Notes: I totally have more important things to do like homework but they begged. I’m serious. My biases begged, complete with puppy dog eyes and wagging tails. ^^ So hopefully, this totally isn’t fail. Mkay? **Oh! And Sulli goes back and forth between Sulli and Jinri but it’s mainly just Sulli for probably most of this. She'll mostly just be Sulli though.
She had only stepped onto campus for all of two seconds and she was wondering why she had agreed to her brother’s request in the first place. Around her roared the noise that was normal of a college university campus the size of a small town and yet all she could hear was all the little things that no one else did. The crinkling of paper as someone crushed their homework, the foreign babble of confused transfer students from overseas - “Cola, I swear-“ and “What the hell does Hyung mean?!” - the sound of a ball flying through the air, directly at her.
Her body was about to move, instinct spurring her and she jumped almost out of her skin when a hand gently gripped her waist and she was yanked aside. In front of her eyes she noticed a blur of blue and black and maybe white and the next thing she knew, she was standing straight on her feet. A hand was still at her waist keeping her steady and as her blurry vision adjusted, she noted the white and black soccer ball underneath a sneaker-clad foot. She looked up.
“Alright there?” the voice was a light tenor-baritone mix and she blinked at the obviously older boy. He smiled, his lips tilting into a curve, his hand dropping from the curve of her hip and she blinked again. His black hair was arranged somewhat in neat order and he was dressed quite like a normal kid; blue jeans, black hoodie, an odd glove on his left hand. His brows furrowed, lips tilting down when she didn’t answer right away and he almost leaned in closer. Instead, he patted her head. “Hey, that spin there didn’t knock a few screws loose right?”
“Ah! N-No,” she felt her cheeks flush and she bowed. “Thanks. I totally didn’t see it coming,”
“Just watch yourself from now on okay new girl?” his lips curled again into a smile and she found herself smiling back. He grinned a little wider before hefting his backpack higher onto his shoulders and his foot lashed out. She watched as it connected with the soccer ball and it soared through the air. He cupped a hand around his mouth and hollered, “Yah! Sunbae-nim! What where you’re kicking that! There are pedestrians walking here!”
“Yeah, yeah we will! But it shouldn’t matter right!? You’ll always be there to save someone!” was the resounding cry back and the youth laughed softly.
“Play hard Sunbae! Hwaiting!” She laughed softly when he pumped a fist into the air and she found herself following, her crystal clear, “Hwaiting Sunbae!” ringing out behind his. He grinned at her and said simply, “You’re not bad new girl. Good lungs. I think you’d be good on the Cheerleading squad,”
“Not interested,” was her answer and the stranger laughed, ruffling her hair.
“I like you new girl,” and she blinked a little bit surprised because the gesture was rather foreign to her. He grinned then he looked at the watch on his left hand, just slightly under his single glove. “Crap. I’m going to be late for physics and Kim-songsaengnim isn’t nice if you’re late. Haha, see you round new girl,”
And she watched the handsome tall young man dash off, his tall form disappearing quickly around a corner.
“Jin-ah!” for the second time of the day, Choi Jinri nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun on her heels, hair flying over her shoulders and for just a split second, her eyes locked with someone’s in the distance. Time seemed to stop, seemed to pull her forward…and then, it ended and she smiled at the curly haired young man bounding up the steps towards her. She waved and clutched the strap of her book bag. He looked up and kind of just glowered. “I thought I told you to wait for me,”
“You did and I did. But then you were too slow oppa,” she replied easily. He scowled for a moment before he grinned and lightly clapped her shoulder before he said, “It’s great to have you here Jin-ah,”
She grinned and tried to feel the same amount of enthusiasm her brother showed. It was a lot harder than she thought initially, being thrown into such a normal setting.
~*~*~
“Yah, who were you watching a moment ago?” black strands flickered into dark amber eyes and the youth hummed, his eyes flickering close and he slapped the hand waving in his face. His eyes flickered and he smiled at the shorter man walking with him.
“No one hyung but it seems as if we’ve got a new student. I mean, I don’t recognize her,” that drew a low whistle from the shorter man. His brows furrowed and he asked in annoyance, “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you make it your job to remember every face on campus to the point that even our professors come to you when they need to give a note or paper to a student,” he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “But we actually have a new girl coming in. The entire campus has been twittering about it, both literally and figuratively, about her all week. She’s apparently a natural genius like you,”
His mouth dropped into a light “oh” and he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly from its neat style. He hummed and his eyes flickered. The man he was walking with gave him a light smirk as he replied, “I see,”
“I see is about right,” the other locked his hands behind his head as they walked towards the main part of campus. “I think it’ll be an interesting year don’t you?”
“I personally prefer the dull boring years we’ve been having to be honest,” he admitted and the other just laughed. “I’m not too fond of “interesting years” while we’re here hyung,”
The older man just grinned at him, lightly patting his arm.
“Me neither Min-ah. Me neither,”
~*~*~
Sulli was the first person in her classroom, surprising for someone who didn’t really know her way around. She gently pushed open the door and walked into the room with a soft, “Hello?” and at the chalkboard, a man turned. Her instructor smiled, a dimple appearing at his left cheek and he asked, “You’re Choi Jinri right? Minho-goon’s little sister?”
“Y-yes,” she stammered before she bowed at the waist. “Hello Songsaeng-nim. Choi Jinri imnida. You’re welcome to call me Sulli,”
“Sulli? That’s cute,” the voice came at her shoulder and Sulli squeaked, leaping off to the side, her head snapping around to see the speaker. The handsome youth smirked lightly before he raised a one handed salute to the professor as he entered the room behind her. “Sup Teukie-hyung,”
“Songsaeng-nim Taemin-ah,” the older man rebutted lightly but he was grinning nonetheless. “I’m surprised you showed up on time today Taemin-ah. You usually come in at the end of class and then charm your way to getting notes from Sooyoung-yang. What changed?”
“I was bored. I was running out of movies to watch on the Internet,” was the cheeky reply and Sulli was a little bit surprised at the gentle, playful smile that suddenly made its way onto the youth’s face. It made him look…kind of devilish, in this weird way. Her head tilted of its own accord and she watched him for a moment as he maneuvered easily around some desks towards one that seemed to be his own. She blinked in surprise, stepping back slightly when he looked at her, his bag dropping on the desk and he just smirked. “Lee Taemin, Sulli-yang. Pleased to make your acquaintance,”
“N-Nice to meet you?” Sulli squeaked and his odd smirk-smile combo widened. His eyes flickered over her and she shivered faintly.
“Nice to meet you too Sulli-yang,” Sulli wondered for a moment if it was her imagination or if his voice had actually dropped maybe half an octave to a whole octave, because it sounded as though his voice lowered in pitch, his words rolling out in a pleasing purr that sent shivers up her spine. His eyes flashed and he murmured softly, “Nice to meet you too,”
Sulli didn’t have time to think on it as other students started piling in and some stared at her in curiosity. She felt her cheeks flush and a hand settled on her shoulder, her instructor still smiling with that dimpled smile of his and he gently motioned for her to take a seat. Her eyes flickered and of their own accord, Sulli found herself moving towards an empty seat next to one Lee Taemin. He smiled at her as she put her stuff down and Sulli felt as if he was looking right through her. She shivered.
~*~*~
Choi Minho didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He was totally missing his physics class, a class he shared with a youth who constantly claimed that he was younger than he looked, just to watch a freaking stranger. A freaking handsome stranger. In the middle of an empty music classroom. Where Minho himself was hiding behind some instruments. And he had been watching and hiding for the last hour almost. Minho wasn’t sure if he was completely hidden but he was sure that the handsome stranger at the piano couldn’t see him. At all.
The stranger in question was an older student he remembered seeing around campus. If he wasn’t mistaken, this stranger was in the same year as that one young man who claimed to be younger than he looked (that person’s name was Hwang Chansung by the way, maybe Chansung wouldn’t mind him copying his notes later) which made him a Year 2 to Minho’s Year 1 at SM University. He was slightly shorter than Minho’s some odd 6’ height, with a head of black hair and mesmerizing amber-brown eyes and Minho could swear that that man’s fingers were godsend; with the way they were moving across the ivory keys of the piano in front of him.
Minho shifted and he froze when his hip bumped into something and it clattered to the ground. He cursed inwardly and ducked, diving behind a set of drums and the young man at the piano jerked his head up, fingers stilling across the keys. He pressed down on a set of chords before he stood, the chair/stool he was on scraping across the floor. His dark eyes flickered, resting for a moment, a split second at the drum set and Minho’s heart seized in his chest.
Fuck he wasn’t-
“Who’s there?” the voice was soft, the light tenor-baritone ringing out in the room and for reasons unknown, Minho felt his legs turn to jelly and he clutched at a drum, his knuckles turning white on it. The older male moved forward, his steps hesitant and he didn’t seem to want to completely leave the piano’s side. His eyes dropped, flickering over the instruments before he sighed. He ran a hand through his black hair and he returned to the piano. He pressed down on a few keys, a strange mournful melody ringing out before he tucked his hands into his pockets.
His eyes flickered over the drum set before he grabbed his bag from the ground. He paused in the middle of slinging his bag across his shoulders before he sighed again and slipped from the room and Minho watched him go, his heart beating madly in the confines of his chest. Phew. Looks like he wasn’t caught.
Outside the room, Kim Jonghyun frowned faintly, adjusting the strap to his bag, his brows furrowing as he made his way towards his literature class that was to start in 10 minutes. He shook his head, the frown being replaced by a faint smile and he chuckled softly, earning an odd look from a few students he passed.
Did the school’s star athlete seriously think Jonghyun didn’t know he was there?
Author: Kurokitsune09
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Romance
Focus: eventual!JongHo and SulTae - singular/separate focuses for this part
Sub-Focus: some minor character appearances, most notably Hwang Chansung and a Suju Member. (can you spot him?)
Notes: I totally have more important things to do like homework but they begged. I’m serious. My biases begged, complete with puppy dog eyes and wagging tails. ^^ So hopefully, this totally isn’t fail. Mkay? **Oh! And Sulli goes back and forth between Sulli and Jinri but it’s mainly just Sulli for probably most of this. She'll mostly just be Sulli though.
She had only stepped onto campus for all of two seconds and she was wondering why she had agreed to her brother’s request in the first place. Around her roared the noise that was normal of a college university campus the size of a small town and yet all she could hear was all the little things that no one else did. The crinkling of paper as someone crushed their homework, the foreign babble of confused transfer students from overseas - “Cola, I swear-“ and “What the hell does Hyung mean?!” - the sound of a ball flying through the air, directly at her.
Her body was about to move, instinct spurring her and she jumped almost out of her skin when a hand gently gripped her waist and she was yanked aside. In front of her eyes she noticed a blur of blue and black and maybe white and the next thing she knew, she was standing straight on her feet. A hand was still at her waist keeping her steady and as her blurry vision adjusted, she noted the white and black soccer ball underneath a sneaker-clad foot. She looked up.
“Alright there?” the voice was a light tenor-baritone mix and she blinked at the obviously older boy. He smiled, his lips tilting into a curve, his hand dropping from the curve of her hip and she blinked again. His black hair was arranged somewhat in neat order and he was dressed quite like a normal kid; blue jeans, black hoodie, an odd glove on his left hand. His brows furrowed, lips tilting down when she didn’t answer right away and he almost leaned in closer. Instead, he patted her head. “Hey, that spin there didn’t knock a few screws loose right?”
“Ah! N-No,” she felt her cheeks flush and she bowed. “Thanks. I totally didn’t see it coming,”
“Just watch yourself from now on okay new girl?” his lips curled again into a smile and she found herself smiling back. He grinned a little wider before hefting his backpack higher onto his shoulders and his foot lashed out. She watched as it connected with the soccer ball and it soared through the air. He cupped a hand around his mouth and hollered, “Yah! Sunbae-nim! What where you’re kicking that! There are pedestrians walking here!”
“Yeah, yeah we will! But it shouldn’t matter right!? You’ll always be there to save someone!” was the resounding cry back and the youth laughed softly.
“Play hard Sunbae! Hwaiting!” She laughed softly when he pumped a fist into the air and she found herself following, her crystal clear, “Hwaiting Sunbae!” ringing out behind his. He grinned at her and said simply, “You’re not bad new girl. Good lungs. I think you’d be good on the Cheerleading squad,”
“Not interested,” was her answer and the stranger laughed, ruffling her hair.
“I like you new girl,” and she blinked a little bit surprised because the gesture was rather foreign to her. He grinned then he looked at the watch on his left hand, just slightly under his single glove. “Crap. I’m going to be late for physics and Kim-songsaengnim isn’t nice if you’re late. Haha, see you round new girl,”
And she watched the handsome tall young man dash off, his tall form disappearing quickly around a corner.
“Jin-ah!” for the second time of the day, Choi Jinri nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun on her heels, hair flying over her shoulders and for just a split second, her eyes locked with someone’s in the distance. Time seemed to stop, seemed to pull her forward…and then, it ended and she smiled at the curly haired young man bounding up the steps towards her. She waved and clutched the strap of her book bag. He looked up and kind of just glowered. “I thought I told you to wait for me,”
“You did and I did. But then you were too slow oppa,” she replied easily. He scowled for a moment before he grinned and lightly clapped her shoulder before he said, “It’s great to have you here Jin-ah,”
She grinned and tried to feel the same amount of enthusiasm her brother showed. It was a lot harder than she thought initially, being thrown into such a normal setting.
~*~*~
“Yah, who were you watching a moment ago?” black strands flickered into dark amber eyes and the youth hummed, his eyes flickering close and he slapped the hand waving in his face. His eyes flickered and he smiled at the shorter man walking with him.
“No one hyung but it seems as if we’ve got a new student. I mean, I don’t recognize her,” that drew a low whistle from the shorter man. His brows furrowed and he asked in annoyance, “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you make it your job to remember every face on campus to the point that even our professors come to you when they need to give a note or paper to a student,” he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “But we actually have a new girl coming in. The entire campus has been twittering about it, both literally and figuratively, about her all week. She’s apparently a natural genius like you,”
His mouth dropped into a light “oh” and he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly from its neat style. He hummed and his eyes flickered. The man he was walking with gave him a light smirk as he replied, “I see,”
“I see is about right,” the other locked his hands behind his head as they walked towards the main part of campus. “I think it’ll be an interesting year don’t you?”
“I personally prefer the dull boring years we’ve been having to be honest,” he admitted and the other just laughed. “I’m not too fond of “interesting years” while we’re here hyung,”
The older man just grinned at him, lightly patting his arm.
“Me neither Min-ah. Me neither,”
~*~*~
Sulli was the first person in her classroom, surprising for someone who didn’t really know her way around. She gently pushed open the door and walked into the room with a soft, “Hello?” and at the chalkboard, a man turned. Her instructor smiled, a dimple appearing at his left cheek and he asked, “You’re Choi Jinri right? Minho-goon’s little sister?”
“Y-yes,” she stammered before she bowed at the waist. “Hello Songsaeng-nim. Choi Jinri imnida. You’re welcome to call me Sulli,”
“Sulli? That’s cute,” the voice came at her shoulder and Sulli squeaked, leaping off to the side, her head snapping around to see the speaker. The handsome youth smirked lightly before he raised a one handed salute to the professor as he entered the room behind her. “Sup Teukie-hyung,”
“Songsaeng-nim Taemin-ah,” the older man rebutted lightly but he was grinning nonetheless. “I’m surprised you showed up on time today Taemin-ah. You usually come in at the end of class and then charm your way to getting notes from Sooyoung-yang. What changed?”
“I was bored. I was running out of movies to watch on the Internet,” was the cheeky reply and Sulli was a little bit surprised at the gentle, playful smile that suddenly made its way onto the youth’s face. It made him look…kind of devilish, in this weird way. Her head tilted of its own accord and she watched him for a moment as he maneuvered easily around some desks towards one that seemed to be his own. She blinked in surprise, stepping back slightly when he looked at her, his bag dropping on the desk and he just smirked. “Lee Taemin, Sulli-yang. Pleased to make your acquaintance,”
“N-Nice to meet you?” Sulli squeaked and his odd smirk-smile combo widened. His eyes flickered over her and she shivered faintly.
“Nice to meet you too Sulli-yang,” Sulli wondered for a moment if it was her imagination or if his voice had actually dropped maybe half an octave to a whole octave, because it sounded as though his voice lowered in pitch, his words rolling out in a pleasing purr that sent shivers up her spine. His eyes flashed and he murmured softly, “Nice to meet you too,”
Sulli didn’t have time to think on it as other students started piling in and some stared at her in curiosity. She felt her cheeks flush and a hand settled on her shoulder, her instructor still smiling with that dimpled smile of his and he gently motioned for her to take a seat. Her eyes flickered and of their own accord, Sulli found herself moving towards an empty seat next to one Lee Taemin. He smiled at her as she put her stuff down and Sulli felt as if he was looking right through her. She shivered.
~*~*~
Choi Minho didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He was totally missing his physics class, a class he shared with a youth who constantly claimed that he was younger than he looked, just to watch a freaking stranger. A freaking handsome stranger. In the middle of an empty music classroom. Where Minho himself was hiding behind some instruments. And he had been watching and hiding for the last hour almost. Minho wasn’t sure if he was completely hidden but he was sure that the handsome stranger at the piano couldn’t see him. At all.
The stranger in question was an older student he remembered seeing around campus. If he wasn’t mistaken, this stranger was in the same year as that one young man who claimed to be younger than he looked (that person’s name was Hwang Chansung by the way, maybe Chansung wouldn’t mind him copying his notes later) which made him a Year 2 to Minho’s Year 1 at SM University. He was slightly shorter than Minho’s some odd 6’ height, with a head of black hair and mesmerizing amber-brown eyes and Minho could swear that that man’s fingers were godsend; with the way they were moving across the ivory keys of the piano in front of him.
Minho shifted and he froze when his hip bumped into something and it clattered to the ground. He cursed inwardly and ducked, diving behind a set of drums and the young man at the piano jerked his head up, fingers stilling across the keys. He pressed down on a set of chords before he stood, the chair/stool he was on scraping across the floor. His dark eyes flickered, resting for a moment, a split second at the drum set and Minho’s heart seized in his chest.
Fuck he wasn’t-
“Who’s there?” the voice was soft, the light tenor-baritone ringing out in the room and for reasons unknown, Minho felt his legs turn to jelly and he clutched at a drum, his knuckles turning white on it. The older male moved forward, his steps hesitant and he didn’t seem to want to completely leave the piano’s side. His eyes dropped, flickering over the instruments before he sighed. He ran a hand through his black hair and he returned to the piano. He pressed down on a few keys, a strange mournful melody ringing out before he tucked his hands into his pockets.
His eyes flickered over the drum set before he grabbed his bag from the ground. He paused in the middle of slinging his bag across his shoulders before he sighed again and slipped from the room and Minho watched him go, his heart beating madly in the confines of his chest. Phew. Looks like he wasn’t caught.
Outside the room, Kim Jonghyun frowned faintly, adjusting the strap to his bag, his brows furrowing as he made his way towards his literature class that was to start in 10 minutes. He shook his head, the frown being replaced by a faint smile and he chuckled softly, earning an odd look from a few students he passed.
Did the school’s star athlete seriously think Jonghyun didn’t know he was there?