[SJFF] Stuck With You - Chapter 29
Title: Stuck With You
Characters: Zhou Mi, Sungmin, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Type: Novel
Summary: What happens when you suddenly get pulled out of a band that you've known for years, just to be placed with a trainee and is expected to help her rise to fame the fast way?
~ * ~
Chapter 29
The taller male unceremoniously pushed Sungmin’s arm away when they had arrived at the rooftop, absolutely disliking the way he had been dragged out of the Super Junior dorms just moments earlier. He never liked to be handled in such a manner. It didn’t help that he kept tripping over his own feet because of the speed the older male was zipping away at.
“What is it this that you need to talk to me about, Ming? Couldn’t we have engaged in this discussion downstairs?” he scowled, automatically heading to the railing and leaned against it so that he could watch the other man’s every action carefully. Judging by how pissed off Sungmin looked, he sincerely hoped that he could leave this place in one piece, sans bruises.
“Do you really need to ask?” Sungmin deadpanned. “You knew that my girlfriend left the dorms late last night, and you didn’t even bother telling me about it?”
Zhou Mi frowned at that. “First of all, to clarify things, she didn’t leave last night. Do you think I would’ve quietly allowed her to walk out into the streets when it was close to midnight? I’m not stupid, hyung,” he retorted. “Huiying left early today morning, if that’s what you want to know. I made sure of it,” the Chinese man then informed his friend.
He did, after all, bunk out in the living room over the night in order to prevent Huiying from taking her leave while he was asleep. It wasn’t as though the woman didn’t try to reason with him that it would be difficult for her to leave in the morning when everyone was out and about, but he would have none of that. Her safety was of utmost priority after all. He even took the liberty of checking on her every few hours to ensure that she was still in bed before daybreak, though he couldn’t wake up in time to see her off. He was completely exhausted by the time 5am loomed.
“Then if you already knew she wanted to leave, why didn’t you talk her out of it?” the other man snapped again, feeling frustrated that Huiying didn’t even bother discussing about the matter with him. He was upset that she didn’t value their relationship enough, opting instead to walk away silently.
“Let’s put this matter in a better perspective, Sungmin. You and I both know how stubborn she is when it comes to making decisions. Do you honestly think I could have managed to persuade her to stay?” Zhou Mi offered, rolling his eyes at the shorter man. “Besides, I don’t have the authority to change her mind. You’re the most important person in her life,” he then added silently as an afterthought.
“Right, look how important I am to her. She told you about her decision, but didn’t even consider about me in that equation,” he scoffed sarcastically. Although Sungmin knew that it was unfair for him to push all the blame on Zhou Mi, he couldn’t help himself. The mixed emotions were clouding up his judgment, and the sentiments that both his girlfriend and one of his closest friends had betrayed him made it worse.
He really was trying to prevent such feelings from escalating. He wasn’t sure what would transpire from it if they did.
“Could you please listen to the entire story first before you wantonly jump into conclusions?” Zhou Mi said irately. While he was trying to remain as civil as possible with his friend, the older man was making it difficult for him to do so.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t understand the reasons behind his irascibility, however. They were both in love with the same girl, and were worrying greatly about her after the scandal had broke out after all. To make things worse, her whereabouts were currently unknown, and no one could contact her at all. It seemed as if Lin Huiying had disappeared from the face of the world, though unbeknownst to the rest of the public.
Despite the fact that he was the last person who saw Huiying before she disappeared from the dorms, Zhou Mi didn’t actually know the gravity of the situation. She merely told him that she had to leave as soon as possible because someone was threatening her - and had been doing so for the past month - that they would ruin both her life and the lives of the people who were most important to her in Korea.
The anonymous person would only stop on one condition: Huiying needs to disappear from eyes of the public. She had no choice.
“Pray tell,” Sungmin commented again, this time taking up the position next to Zhou Mi. The latter watched him sceptically, wondering whether he would suddenly go on the offense. The older man merely grunted disapprovingly at the apparent lack of trust Zhou Mi had in him. “I’m not going to do anything to you, Mi.”
Only after Sungmin’s reassurance did Zhou Mi relax slightly. “Fine, I’ll trust you on this.” Sungmin snorted disbelievingly at that.
“So what exactly happened? I’m counting on you to tell me everything so don’t you even attempt to leave out any of the details,” he warned, narrowing his eyes at the Chinese man.
“Geez, you need to relax, hyung. Huiying didn’t make me swear to silence. She just didn’t want you to know that she was leaving.” Because she knows that you’re the one who could change her mind. “Anyway, she received a call late yesterday night while I was talking to her, and she literally paled after answering it. I don’t know who the other person was or what they said to her, but Ying refused to tell me anything else but the fact that she had been harassed on a daily basis since we came back from Singapore.”
Sungmin frowned at the information. “Didn’t you notice that she was acting weird in the dorms for the past month?” he asked.
“I’m not her babysitter, hyung. Don’t forget that you and I have the exact same schedules, so it’s pretty impossible for me to keep a close watch on her too,” Zhou Mi deadpanned.
The older man nodded slightly in understanding and agreement. “Is that really everything that she had told you? Did she know that such an article was going to be published today?” he therefore questioned grimly.
Zhou Mi shrugged helplessly. “Like I said, she refused to tell me anything about the contents of the conversation. I really don’t know whether she knew about the article; probably not. She told me she was given the ultimatum to leave before morning loomed today.”
An irate grunt escaped Sungmin’s throat when he heard what his friend had to say, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He really couldn’t guess who could be threatening Huiying in such a manner. Now that he thought about it, there were a large number of things which he didn’t know about his girlfriend, especially pertaining about her past. He couldn’t name which province in China was she from, nor her school, nor her fondest childhood memories. He only knew she had an ex-boyfriend by the name of Zhiming, and nothing else. They hardly ever talked about their past after all.
This made him feel even more frustrated at himself. He had failed to carry the role as a boyfriend perfectly, and it was all because he was preoccupied about keeping himself happy.
“Is… is there no way we can find her?” Sungmin finally gulped when he was able to keep his emotions in check. He didn’t like to break down in front of others, and he certainly wasn’t going to allow his weak side to claw its way to the surface this time either.
“No, I don’t think so,” Zhou Mi shook his head dejectedly. “I have absolutely no idea where she lives. But in any case, she asked me to hand this over to you,” he then informed, pulling a neatly sealed letter out of his jacket and handed it over to Sungmin.
Sungmin had a slight frown on his face as he received the item, feeling a wave of emotions surge within him as he recognised the neat handwriting printed on the envelope. He looked up at Zhou Mi once again, trying to search for a possible explanation for the object, though the latter could only afford to reply with a thin smile.
“It’s all yours to read, Sungmin hyung. Ying spent quite a large amount of time penning that for you yesterday night. Don’t let her feelings go to waste,” he said, patting the older man on the shoulder before he headed downstairs again. He knew that nothing else could be said between him and Sungmin; the letter would possibly explain everything that needs to be clarified.
Even though Zhou Mi didn’t exactly read the letter, he knew the gist of it. It was, after all, written after he had advised her to at least leave a message for her boyfriend on paper, citing that it wouldn’t be fair if Huiying left without saying anything at all. She hesitated for a short moment, before finally agreeing to compose one such letter.
He vividly remembered how much she was crying on the previous night, head bent at an awkward angle over the pieces of paper that contained her heartfelt feelings for Sungmin so that the tears wouldn’t drench them. Of course, several stray tears managed to land on the papers, leaving traces of her sadness for having to leave in such an abrupt manner.
Zhou Mi honestly wished he could’ve convinced her to stay, but who was he to do so?
* * * * *
The Super Junior boys waited with bated breath for two of their group members to return to the dorms, all anxious about what had happened during the course of their conversation. Despite the fact that Sungmin would seem docile most of the time, when he gets angry, he could turn really scary just like a certain angelic leader whom isn’t very angelic at times.
This was one of those rare instances where they feared that Sungmin would lose control over his temper. It’s no secret that he was head over heels in love with Huiying, so having to hear that she had left quietly on top of having their relationship exposed on the media probably riled him up quite a lot. The expression worn on his face before he left the dorms with Zhou Mi in tow was scarier than any other times they have ever seen him being angry.
“Hyung, you don’t think that they would get into a brawl upstairs, do you? Should we go take a look?” Ryeowook finally found his voice close to half an hour since Sungmin had dragged the Chinese man out of the house, shattering the silence that had settled in at the Super Junior dorms.
He had been fidgeting in his seat for quite some time now, feeling extremely worried that the two older men would end up in a fist fight in the midst of their conversation. They all knew just how much Sungmin and Zhou Mi both liked the same girl, so any misunderstandings or clashing of opinions would probably end up in an ugly situation.
The other boys stirred in their positions, all casting questioning looks at the eternal maknae. Heechul, however, was the first person to answer him. Ryeowook didn’t specify a name after all. “They’re both grown men, Wookie. They can solve their problems and animosity in their own way. If they want to punch the living daylights out of each other before they can arrive at a common understanding, then so be it,” he waved lazily.
Jungsoo threw a dark look at the man who was nine days younger than him, not quite agreeing with his statements. “While I agree that they should find a way to solve any problems they may have with each other, violence isn’t the solution, Chullie,” he grounded out.
“Teukkie hyung is right. We can’t possibly sit back and allow themselves to hurt each other, can we? For one, the managers would be furious,” Siwon interjected, casually flipping through the other sections of the newspaper in his hands in search of an interesting article to read.
Shindong nodded in agreement. “The make-up noonas would probably murder them if they gave each other bruises on their faces and arms,” he commented.
“And then the noonas would turn on us instead for not pulling them apart,” Henry spoke up next. He shuddered when the mental images of them being scolded and possibly mauled during their album jacket shooting popped up in his mind. The wrath of the stylist team was something that he wouldn’t even dream of incurring. He wasn’t feeling suicidal and wanted to live on much longer.
“If that’s the case, then why don’t one of you head upstairs and check on them?” Heechul snorted, wondering why no one made the first move if they were indeed so concerned in preventing a fight between Sungmin and Zhou Mi. No one seemed to have considered the possibility of that happening.
“I would rather not risk my neck if by any chance Sungmin hyung is going ballistic upstairs,” Donghae said, earning Hyukjae’s agreement. The other boys who were in the living room also nodded along, especially those who have experienced the extent of Sungmin’s anger before.
They therefore turned their attentions to the only person who had been completely detached from their discussion all this while. Said person looked up from the computer screen when a shiver ran down his spine, feeling that he was being watched closely. A frown was etched on Kyuhyun’s face when his suspicions were confirmed. “What?” he blurted.
“Have you been listening to our conversation, or have you been preoccupied with Starcraft again?” Jongwoon queried, shooting an amused look at the younger male; one that made the latter feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
“Take a wild guess?” Kyuhyun grinned sheepishly, quickly pulling his headphones down and putting on an extremely innocent expression. No one was fooled by that, however, for they all made a face at him.
“You’re forever either occupied with Starcraft, or with Jin Ri,” Siwon scoffed. “There’s not much of a need to guess, is there?”
“Jealous now, are we?’ the younger male therefore smirked, though he cried foul when Hyukjae smacked him across the arm. He glared at the latter, silently demanding for an explanation for his actions.
Nevertheless, before Hyukjae could make any comments about that, Heechul cut him off. “So it’s decided then!” he cheerfully quipped, flashing the most devious smirk ever at Kyuhyun. His eyes widened in fear, wondering what the older man was scheming at the moment.
“What’s decided? Am I missing something here?” he blurted, looking around helplessly.
“It’s your fault for not listening, Kyuhyun,” Henry laughed.
“You’ve been chosen to go check on Sungmin and Zhou Mi upstairs,” Shindong supplemented. “Good luck.”
“Why me?!” Kyuhyun therefore protested. Of all things, this was one of those instances where he didn’t want to get embroiled in Sungmin and Zhou Mi’s conflict. They might make him choose a side, and quite frankly, choosing sides between the two of them was one thing that he couldn’t do. They were both important friends to him.
“Because you’re the closest with Sungmin and-” Jongwoon began explaining, though all of their attentions were diverted towards the main entrance of the dorms when a questioning voice came from that direction.
“Are you guys talking about me behind my back again?” Sungmin’s slightly annoyed pout came into full view as he kicked off his shoes, eyeing his group members sceptically.
“Hyung, you’re not hurt!” Ryeowook happily exclaimed once he had taken a good look of the older male, though the other members quickly clamped his mouth shut before he could say anything else about their discussion earlier. Sungmin narrowed his eyes at them.
“Why would I be hurt?” he questioned, feeling confused about his group members’ less-than-normal actions.
Jungsoo laughed nervously at that, waving the younger male off. “I don’t think Ryeowook’s thinking clearly at the moment, just ignore him. Where’s Zhou Mi?”
“I… have no idea? He left the rooftop before I did. Didn’t he return to the dorms?” Sungmin said, scanning the faces in the room for Zhou Mi’s. That was when he realised that the long-legged male was indeed not around.
“No… but maybe he went out or something without telling us,” Donghae explained. All of them nodded in agreement, and dispersed shortly after when they realised that there was no longer anything to be concerned of.
* * * * *
“Your old habits really don’t die that fast, do they?” he irately snapped when the door had opened up, revealing a familiar face behind it.
The woman looked at him with a surprised expression, thereby ignoring his question completely. “M… Mi! What are you doing here?” she asked, moving forward to pull him into her embrace. A frown took over her expressions when he deftly stepped out of her reach, a cold expression left hanging on his face.
“Don’t feign innocence with me, Jingxi. I know you’ve been expecting me to pay you a visit,” Zhou Mi growled, casting a disinterested look at her outfit. It was one of those dresses that he used to love seeing her in, but the mere thought of it at the moment revolted him.
“True, I won’t deny that I’ve been looking forward to your visit after that fateful day,” she laughed quietly, referring to the day when she was caught cheating on him with another man in this very room. “But I honestly don’t know why you’ve suddenly decided that you would drop by today.”
Zhou Mi scoffed at her answer. He really could not bring himself to believe in anything that left her lips any longer. “Do you seriously think that’s going to work on me, Jingxi? I know you well enough to figure out when you’re lying to me.”
“It didn’t seem as though you knew before this, though,” Jingxi commented, flashing a mocking smile at her ex-boyfriend.
“You mean your shameless flings? I merely chose not to say anything about it.”
“Whatever, Mi. What’s the whole idea about you coming here? Surely you have more to say to me,” she laughed again. He thought it absolutely disgusting that she was acting in such a manner.
“I’ll keep this short and sweet, then. Stay out of my life, and stop messing up Huiying’s and Sungmin’s. I know the reporter obtained their sources from you. I told you that we’re done for - stop trying to force your way back in through underhanded methods. I’m not going to forgive you if you attempt anything funny again,” he said bluntly, the anger clear as daylight in his voice.
Jingxi folded her arms in front of her chest as she watched him walk away from her for the second time, feeling every bit as affronted by his words and warnings. Despite his recurrent denials about having feelings for Huiying, she knew better. His actions and mannerisms betrayed his words.
Characters: Zhou Mi, Sungmin, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Type: Novel
Summary: What happens when you suddenly get pulled out of a band that you've known for years, just to be placed with a trainee and is expected to help her rise to fame the fast way?
~ * ~
Chapter 29
The taller male unceremoniously pushed Sungmin’s arm away when they had arrived at the rooftop, absolutely disliking the way he had been dragged out of the Super Junior dorms just moments earlier. He never liked to be handled in such a manner. It didn’t help that he kept tripping over his own feet because of the speed the older male was zipping away at.
“What is it this that you need to talk to me about, Ming? Couldn’t we have engaged in this discussion downstairs?” he scowled, automatically heading to the railing and leaned against it so that he could watch the other man’s every action carefully. Judging by how pissed off Sungmin looked, he sincerely hoped that he could leave this place in one piece, sans bruises.
“Do you really need to ask?” Sungmin deadpanned. “You knew that my girlfriend left the dorms late last night, and you didn’t even bother telling me about it?”
Zhou Mi frowned at that. “First of all, to clarify things, she didn’t leave last night. Do you think I would’ve quietly allowed her to walk out into the streets when it was close to midnight? I’m not stupid, hyung,” he retorted. “Huiying left early today morning, if that’s what you want to know. I made sure of it,” the Chinese man then informed his friend.
He did, after all, bunk out in the living room over the night in order to prevent Huiying from taking her leave while he was asleep. It wasn’t as though the woman didn’t try to reason with him that it would be difficult for her to leave in the morning when everyone was out and about, but he would have none of that. Her safety was of utmost priority after all. He even took the liberty of checking on her every few hours to ensure that she was still in bed before daybreak, though he couldn’t wake up in time to see her off. He was completely exhausted by the time 5am loomed.
“Then if you already knew she wanted to leave, why didn’t you talk her out of it?” the other man snapped again, feeling frustrated that Huiying didn’t even bother discussing about the matter with him. He was upset that she didn’t value their relationship enough, opting instead to walk away silently.
“Let’s put this matter in a better perspective, Sungmin. You and I both know how stubborn she is when it comes to making decisions. Do you honestly think I could have managed to persuade her to stay?” Zhou Mi offered, rolling his eyes at the shorter man. “Besides, I don’t have the authority to change her mind. You’re the most important person in her life,” he then added silently as an afterthought.
“Right, look how important I am to her. She told you about her decision, but didn’t even consider about me in that equation,” he scoffed sarcastically. Although Sungmin knew that it was unfair for him to push all the blame on Zhou Mi, he couldn’t help himself. The mixed emotions were clouding up his judgment, and the sentiments that both his girlfriend and one of his closest friends had betrayed him made it worse.
He really was trying to prevent such feelings from escalating. He wasn’t sure what would transpire from it if they did.
“Could you please listen to the entire story first before you wantonly jump into conclusions?” Zhou Mi said irately. While he was trying to remain as civil as possible with his friend, the older man was making it difficult for him to do so.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t understand the reasons behind his irascibility, however. They were both in love with the same girl, and were worrying greatly about her after the scandal had broke out after all. To make things worse, her whereabouts were currently unknown, and no one could contact her at all. It seemed as if Lin Huiying had disappeared from the face of the world, though unbeknownst to the rest of the public.
Despite the fact that he was the last person who saw Huiying before she disappeared from the dorms, Zhou Mi didn’t actually know the gravity of the situation. She merely told him that she had to leave as soon as possible because someone was threatening her - and had been doing so for the past month - that they would ruin both her life and the lives of the people who were most important to her in Korea.
The anonymous person would only stop on one condition: Huiying needs to disappear from eyes of the public. She had no choice.
“Pray tell,” Sungmin commented again, this time taking up the position next to Zhou Mi. The latter watched him sceptically, wondering whether he would suddenly go on the offense. The older man merely grunted disapprovingly at the apparent lack of trust Zhou Mi had in him. “I’m not going to do anything to you, Mi.”
Only after Sungmin’s reassurance did Zhou Mi relax slightly. “Fine, I’ll trust you on this.” Sungmin snorted disbelievingly at that.
“So what exactly happened? I’m counting on you to tell me everything so don’t you even attempt to leave out any of the details,” he warned, narrowing his eyes at the Chinese man.
“Geez, you need to relax, hyung. Huiying didn’t make me swear to silence. She just didn’t want you to know that she was leaving.” Because she knows that you’re the one who could change her mind. “Anyway, she received a call late yesterday night while I was talking to her, and she literally paled after answering it. I don’t know who the other person was or what they said to her, but Ying refused to tell me anything else but the fact that she had been harassed on a daily basis since we came back from Singapore.”
Sungmin frowned at the information. “Didn’t you notice that she was acting weird in the dorms for the past month?” he asked.
“I’m not her babysitter, hyung. Don’t forget that you and I have the exact same schedules, so it’s pretty impossible for me to keep a close watch on her too,” Zhou Mi deadpanned.
The older man nodded slightly in understanding and agreement. “Is that really everything that she had told you? Did she know that such an article was going to be published today?” he therefore questioned grimly.
Zhou Mi shrugged helplessly. “Like I said, she refused to tell me anything about the contents of the conversation. I really don’t know whether she knew about the article; probably not. She told me she was given the ultimatum to leave before morning loomed today.”
An irate grunt escaped Sungmin’s throat when he heard what his friend had to say, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He really couldn’t guess who could be threatening Huiying in such a manner. Now that he thought about it, there were a large number of things which he didn’t know about his girlfriend, especially pertaining about her past. He couldn’t name which province in China was she from, nor her school, nor her fondest childhood memories. He only knew she had an ex-boyfriend by the name of Zhiming, and nothing else. They hardly ever talked about their past after all.
This made him feel even more frustrated at himself. He had failed to carry the role as a boyfriend perfectly, and it was all because he was preoccupied about keeping himself happy.
“Is… is there no way we can find her?” Sungmin finally gulped when he was able to keep his emotions in check. He didn’t like to break down in front of others, and he certainly wasn’t going to allow his weak side to claw its way to the surface this time either.
“No, I don’t think so,” Zhou Mi shook his head dejectedly. “I have absolutely no idea where she lives. But in any case, she asked me to hand this over to you,” he then informed, pulling a neatly sealed letter out of his jacket and handed it over to Sungmin.
Sungmin had a slight frown on his face as he received the item, feeling a wave of emotions surge within him as he recognised the neat handwriting printed on the envelope. He looked up at Zhou Mi once again, trying to search for a possible explanation for the object, though the latter could only afford to reply with a thin smile.
“It’s all yours to read, Sungmin hyung. Ying spent quite a large amount of time penning that for you yesterday night. Don’t let her feelings go to waste,” he said, patting the older man on the shoulder before he headed downstairs again. He knew that nothing else could be said between him and Sungmin; the letter would possibly explain everything that needs to be clarified.
Even though Zhou Mi didn’t exactly read the letter, he knew the gist of it. It was, after all, written after he had advised her to at least leave a message for her boyfriend on paper, citing that it wouldn’t be fair if Huiying left without saying anything at all. She hesitated for a short moment, before finally agreeing to compose one such letter.
He vividly remembered how much she was crying on the previous night, head bent at an awkward angle over the pieces of paper that contained her heartfelt feelings for Sungmin so that the tears wouldn’t drench them. Of course, several stray tears managed to land on the papers, leaving traces of her sadness for having to leave in such an abrupt manner.
Zhou Mi honestly wished he could’ve convinced her to stay, but who was he to do so?
* * * * *
The Super Junior boys waited with bated breath for two of their group members to return to the dorms, all anxious about what had happened during the course of their conversation. Despite the fact that Sungmin would seem docile most of the time, when he gets angry, he could turn really scary just like a certain angelic leader whom isn’t very angelic at times.
This was one of those rare instances where they feared that Sungmin would lose control over his temper. It’s no secret that he was head over heels in love with Huiying, so having to hear that she had left quietly on top of having their relationship exposed on the media probably riled him up quite a lot. The expression worn on his face before he left the dorms with Zhou Mi in tow was scarier than any other times they have ever seen him being angry.
“Hyung, you don’t think that they would get into a brawl upstairs, do you? Should we go take a look?” Ryeowook finally found his voice close to half an hour since Sungmin had dragged the Chinese man out of the house, shattering the silence that had settled in at the Super Junior dorms.
He had been fidgeting in his seat for quite some time now, feeling extremely worried that the two older men would end up in a fist fight in the midst of their conversation. They all knew just how much Sungmin and Zhou Mi both liked the same girl, so any misunderstandings or clashing of opinions would probably end up in an ugly situation.
The other boys stirred in their positions, all casting questioning looks at the eternal maknae. Heechul, however, was the first person to answer him. Ryeowook didn’t specify a name after all. “They’re both grown men, Wookie. They can solve their problems and animosity in their own way. If they want to punch the living daylights out of each other before they can arrive at a common understanding, then so be it,” he waved lazily.
Jungsoo threw a dark look at the man who was nine days younger than him, not quite agreeing with his statements. “While I agree that they should find a way to solve any problems they may have with each other, violence isn’t the solution, Chullie,” he grounded out.
“Teukkie hyung is right. We can’t possibly sit back and allow themselves to hurt each other, can we? For one, the managers would be furious,” Siwon interjected, casually flipping through the other sections of the newspaper in his hands in search of an interesting article to read.
Shindong nodded in agreement. “The make-up noonas would probably murder them if they gave each other bruises on their faces and arms,” he commented.
“And then the noonas would turn on us instead for not pulling them apart,” Henry spoke up next. He shuddered when the mental images of them being scolded and possibly mauled during their album jacket shooting popped up in his mind. The wrath of the stylist team was something that he wouldn’t even dream of incurring. He wasn’t feeling suicidal and wanted to live on much longer.
“If that’s the case, then why don’t one of you head upstairs and check on them?” Heechul snorted, wondering why no one made the first move if they were indeed so concerned in preventing a fight between Sungmin and Zhou Mi. No one seemed to have considered the possibility of that happening.
“I would rather not risk my neck if by any chance Sungmin hyung is going ballistic upstairs,” Donghae said, earning Hyukjae’s agreement. The other boys who were in the living room also nodded along, especially those who have experienced the extent of Sungmin’s anger before.
They therefore turned their attentions to the only person who had been completely detached from their discussion all this while. Said person looked up from the computer screen when a shiver ran down his spine, feeling that he was being watched closely. A frown was etched on Kyuhyun’s face when his suspicions were confirmed. “What?” he blurted.
“Have you been listening to our conversation, or have you been preoccupied with Starcraft again?” Jongwoon queried, shooting an amused look at the younger male; one that made the latter feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
“Take a wild guess?” Kyuhyun grinned sheepishly, quickly pulling his headphones down and putting on an extremely innocent expression. No one was fooled by that, however, for they all made a face at him.
“You’re forever either occupied with Starcraft, or with Jin Ri,” Siwon scoffed. “There’s not much of a need to guess, is there?”
“Jealous now, are we?’ the younger male therefore smirked, though he cried foul when Hyukjae smacked him across the arm. He glared at the latter, silently demanding for an explanation for his actions.
Nevertheless, before Hyukjae could make any comments about that, Heechul cut him off. “So it’s decided then!” he cheerfully quipped, flashing the most devious smirk ever at Kyuhyun. His eyes widened in fear, wondering what the older man was scheming at the moment.
“What’s decided? Am I missing something here?” he blurted, looking around helplessly.
“It’s your fault for not listening, Kyuhyun,” Henry laughed.
“You’ve been chosen to go check on Sungmin and Zhou Mi upstairs,” Shindong supplemented. “Good luck.”
“Why me?!” Kyuhyun therefore protested. Of all things, this was one of those instances where he didn’t want to get embroiled in Sungmin and Zhou Mi’s conflict. They might make him choose a side, and quite frankly, choosing sides between the two of them was one thing that he couldn’t do. They were both important friends to him.
“Because you’re the closest with Sungmin and-” Jongwoon began explaining, though all of their attentions were diverted towards the main entrance of the dorms when a questioning voice came from that direction.
“Are you guys talking about me behind my back again?” Sungmin’s slightly annoyed pout came into full view as he kicked off his shoes, eyeing his group members sceptically.
“Hyung, you’re not hurt!” Ryeowook happily exclaimed once he had taken a good look of the older male, though the other members quickly clamped his mouth shut before he could say anything else about their discussion earlier. Sungmin narrowed his eyes at them.
“Why would I be hurt?” he questioned, feeling confused about his group members’ less-than-normal actions.
Jungsoo laughed nervously at that, waving the younger male off. “I don’t think Ryeowook’s thinking clearly at the moment, just ignore him. Where’s Zhou Mi?”
“I… have no idea? He left the rooftop before I did. Didn’t he return to the dorms?” Sungmin said, scanning the faces in the room for Zhou Mi’s. That was when he realised that the long-legged male was indeed not around.
“No… but maybe he went out or something without telling us,” Donghae explained. All of them nodded in agreement, and dispersed shortly after when they realised that there was no longer anything to be concerned of.
* * * * *
“Your old habits really don’t die that fast, do they?” he irately snapped when the door had opened up, revealing a familiar face behind it.
The woman looked at him with a surprised expression, thereby ignoring his question completely. “M… Mi! What are you doing here?” she asked, moving forward to pull him into her embrace. A frown took over her expressions when he deftly stepped out of her reach, a cold expression left hanging on his face.
“Don’t feign innocence with me, Jingxi. I know you’ve been expecting me to pay you a visit,” Zhou Mi growled, casting a disinterested look at her outfit. It was one of those dresses that he used to love seeing her in, but the mere thought of it at the moment revolted him.
“True, I won’t deny that I’ve been looking forward to your visit after that fateful day,” she laughed quietly, referring to the day when she was caught cheating on him with another man in this very room. “But I honestly don’t know why you’ve suddenly decided that you would drop by today.”
Zhou Mi scoffed at her answer. He really could not bring himself to believe in anything that left her lips any longer. “Do you seriously think that’s going to work on me, Jingxi? I know you well enough to figure out when you’re lying to me.”
“It didn’t seem as though you knew before this, though,” Jingxi commented, flashing a mocking smile at her ex-boyfriend.
“You mean your shameless flings? I merely chose not to say anything about it.”
“Whatever, Mi. What’s the whole idea about you coming here? Surely you have more to say to me,” she laughed again. He thought it absolutely disgusting that she was acting in such a manner.
“I’ll keep this short and sweet, then. Stay out of my life, and stop messing up Huiying’s and Sungmin’s. I know the reporter obtained their sources from you. I told you that we’re done for - stop trying to force your way back in through underhanded methods. I’m not going to forgive you if you attempt anything funny again,” he said bluntly, the anger clear as daylight in his voice.
Jingxi folded her arms in front of her chest as she watched him walk away from her for the second time, feeling every bit as affronted by his words and warnings. Despite his recurrent denials about having feelings for Huiying, she knew better. His actions and mannerisms betrayed his words.