(no subject)
1. It starts out like how any testing would start, with an innocent proposal. “Let’s call it an experiment,” Donghae says, smiling brightly as though what he was suggesting would be as simple as the soil test they did in lab earlier this semester.
“An experiment?” you repeat somewhat doubtfully. What on earth would the outcome prove?
He responds less confidently than before, with flushed cheeks and a head bowed in embarrassment rather than a devil-may-care grin and a head-on stare. “I want to know what being kissed feels like,” he confesses. When you don’t respond, Donghae looks up and playfully wiggles his eyebrows, goading you with a sly, “You’ve never wondered?”
And the truth is (though it would be in bad taste to admit it at this point) that you have wondered maybe once or twice, but only because he thinks a lot and he has a habit of pursing (and biting, and puckering, and licking) his lips while thinking. “Would you like me to do it now,” you respond, smiling tolerantly, “or do you want a minute to make a data table?”
Donghae’s lips quirk upward in a gentle smirk. “Surprise me.”
2. The experiment takes place two days after the initial proposal, some time after lunch, in the greenhouse after Donghae measures his plant. The kiss is quick and simple and Donghae’s forehead wrinkles in consternation before he laughs, remembering what the kiss is for.
“What’s wrong with you?” you ask because you like to think of yourself as a passable kisser and this isn’t exactly the reaction you had in mind.
Donghae shrugs and smoothes the smile from his lips with his fingers. “People make a huge fuss over it,” he answers, “it’s really nothing special.”
Perhaps you’re more affronted than you pretend to be because you then propose a second kiss. “To compare,” you point out. The thing about experiments, you remember as you pull Donghae closer, is that they have to be repeated for them to count.
3. It’s Donghae’s experiment but you’re the one who ends up making all the observations. Kissing someone for the first time, you note, can be compared to drinking alcohol for the first time: It’s a strange sensation and for awhile it feels as though nothing has happened but when you least expect it, the alcohol bites you in the back and you’re totally intoxicated and left aching for more.
The realization hits you in the middle of a study session, when you snap back to reality and discover that you’ve been staring at Donghae for the past twenty minutes instead of working on the probability of picking an unemployed male from a population of 546. You look down at the problem and figure that maybe you could procrastinate for a couple of minutes more so you lean back in your seat and continue to watch:
Math has never been Donghae’s strong point and so he struggles, shifting every few minutes, chewing on his bottom lip and occasionally twirling random strands of hair. He rubs his lips with his finger, deep in thought, and this simple action sends a jolt of something unidentifiable down your spine.
“Did you get number five?” he asks, startling you out of your reverie. He smiles when he realizes that you haven’t been paying attention. “What’s wrong with you?”
I want to repeat our experiment, you want to say. Instead, you shake your head and return to the Math problem, wondering what this strange obsession means and hoping that the hangover would leave soon.
4. The answer comes unexpectedly and because your mind is in Donghae’s words, “kinda analytical like that,” the theory comes soon after. With sweaty palms and a racing heart, you call his out. “I think I have a theory about our experiment,” you say and this really isn’t anything like the presentations you have to do at lab. Oral post-labs are less nerve-racking, for one thing and you honestly never thought that a single person could make you feel this tense.
“Really?” Donghae asks and oddly enough, his smile makes you want to smack him and hug him at the same time. “I have one too, but you can go first.”
You expel a deep, held-in breath. “I think I like kissing you,” you confess and it’s actually a confession to your sneakers rather than to Lee Donghae but you would really not rather look at anything else at the moment.
“I don’t think that’s a theory.” He gently touches your cheek, and moves your face so that you’re looking at him rather than your shoes. The smile is still there although this one is considerably gentler than the first. Gentler, you note, and nicer. He leans closer so that his breath warms your lips when he says:
“But we can test it if you want.”