(oneshot) i hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
i hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
minho/yuri
pg-13, 5660w
college au! The thing is with Minho, despite how terribly attractive he is (above average, Kibum had sniffed, before sweeping out of their room with a flourish), he is also terribly awkward.
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The thing is with Minho, despite how terribly attractive he is (above average, Kibum had sniffed, before sweeping out of their room with a flourish), he is also terribly awkward.
He seesaws from two sides of the spectrum, either being completely stoic or rambling about some obscure subject (he almost always ends up talking about insects and their, for lack of an euphemism, shitting habits) until someone throws water at his face. There is, sadly, no middle ground and Minho forever has his foot in his mouth wherever he goes.
That's why most of the time he coops himself up in his dorm room, refusing to go to any party he's been invited to (which aren't very many, but Kibum and Jonghyun try to drag him along as their cool but nerdy bio friend, to no avail) and opting to stay in and work on his thesis about micro-organisms. It's a bit lonely and definitely not what he expected college to be like, but it's comfortable routine, and Minho likes the quiet he gets when Kibum isn't in the room complaining about the bitch in his textiles class.
It's a Saturday night, and everyone he knows or knows of is at Nichkhun's legendary welcome-back-from-spring-break party, which is just another excuse for everyone to drink and pretend they were still on spring break.
Which mean Minho has the entire dorm to himself.
He ignores the odd ache in his chest when he strains his ears and the only thing he can hear is the drip of the tap and the hum of his computer. He likes it this way, Minho reminds himself. He doesn't mind that there is no one around him, and that very few want to be around him, and he's okay with that.
So when he hears a decidedly loud crash outside his door, followed by a stream of cursing that he's sure even Kibum's never heard of, Minho springs out of his seat, half out of surprise and half of fear (Minho tells him they're practically the same thing, but there's a voice that snaps back that no, surprise obviously means that he's hoping for...something).
He shuffles out of his ergonomically-designed chair (Taemin built it for a project and he had stolen it after it got an A) and peeks through the peephole (because he couldn't possibly just approach people, could he now?).
Minho is right, because the moment he lays his eyes on the person disturbing his quiet (lonely) night of studying (classes haven't even started), he chokes on his own breath.
She is beautiful, incredibly, terribly so. She is the kind of beautiful that people write books and poems and songs about, or at least try to (Minho can already imagine paragraph upon paragraph about her flowing, dark hair, legs that never seem to end and the way her eyes glitter under the hallway lights - he can also hear Taemin snorting).
Before he knows it he's opening the door, and before he can stop himself he's opening his mouth.
"Um - hi."
The girl looks up, her lips already half-formed in whatever colourful word she was going to say next, before she tucks a lock of hair behind her bashfully and smiles blindingly, brilliantly, back.
At him.
"Hi," her cheeks are pinking in the most adorable way and Minho can barely hear her over the thundering of his heart in his ears. "Um - sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I didn't think anyone would be here considering it's a Saturday night and all I've seen since I've arrived is about this huge party going on tonight that everyone was going to."
"Well, obviously not," Minho blurts out, before backpedalling at the taken aback expression on her face. "Oh god, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry - I mean - um - my friends tell me I'm really awkward?"
The girl raises an eyebrow, before bursting out laughing. Minho joins in, partly because it's infectious (she's infectious), partly because he wants to keep himself from not talking because somehow that always ruins it.
She stops eventually, but her eyes are still curved into crescent moon and Minho can see dimples at the corner of her smile. She tilts her head, regarding him as if she were a predator deciding how to make the next move on its prey.
Minho lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding when she sticks out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Kwon Yuri. I just transferred and just moved in, obviously."
He takes her hand, hoping she doesn't notice how sweaty his are.
"I'm C-Choi M-Minho."
She laughs again, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Did you just stutter your own name?" she asks, part incredulously, part teasingly.
Minho flushes beet red.
"Um - no?"
Yuri nods, her smile stretching wider. There's an awkward beat where she looks like it's starting to hurt her and Minho is mentally calculating how long it would take for him to screw this up. She shifts on the spot as the moment stretches on before -
"Well, I gotta -"
"Do you need any help?"
Minho is pleased that he came up with something to say that wasn't offensive or insensitive. Yuri blinks.
"Um - no, it's okay," she says, gesturing vaguely to his room. "I'm sure you have a lot of things to do - I wouldn't want to disturb you. I'll manage."
Minho looks over his shoulder. He sees his computer glowing with a report that isn't due until the end of the semester, and his pet turtle staring mournfully at him. He turns back to Yuri, the pretty, pretty girl who hasn't been scared off yet, and closes the door, grinning in a way he hopes isn't creepy.
"It's fine - really." he picks up one of the boxes by her feet before she even says a word, and starts off down the hall before stopping. "Um - where do you live?"
Yuri gapes, looking at him as if he has two heads. Minho thinks this might the moment that she'll scream, slap him and maybe even move out before she even moves in, but all she does is laugh and pick up another box.
"Three rooms down to your right."
Nothing happens, not that he expected anything would. He helps her move the last of her boxes into her room, she thanks him, and then he goes back to feed his turtle.
"You -" Kibum points a fork at him. "- are fucking hopeless. With that kind of bone structure and height, you should have girls throwing themselves at you. Instead, you repel them by doing nothing at all."
Minho sinks in his seat. Taemin pats his shoulder comfortingly as he steals the last of his fries.
"Don't mind him, he's just being a bitch because Amber refused to hook up with him last night," Jinki says kindly, shooting a reproachful glare at an indignant Kibum. "I'm sure you still have a shot with her. You never know - you just have to make a move."
"Oh, I do know," Minho deadpans, reaching for Kibum's chocolate pudding only to have his hand slapped at. "You've seen my moves, hyung. They're not exactly smooth."
Kibum snorts.
"Remember the time you tried to pat Luna on the arm and ended up groping Victoria's boobs instead?" Taemin chirps helpfully.
"Nichkhun gave you one hell of a black eye after that."
Minho is about to melt into the ground in embarrassment when Jonghyun bounds up to the table, slamming his bookbag, nostrils flaring in excitement.
"Guys," he hisses not unlike a velociraptor. "Guys. It's time."
"Time for what?" Jinki asks, not even looking up from his law textbook.
Jonghyun splutters. Minho and Taemin slap their palms to their foreheads.
"Now you've done it." Kibum sighs, shaking his head.
"TIME? TIME? HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY NOT KNOW, YOU -" Jonghyun takes a deep breath as Taemin surreptitiously wipes spit off his face. "It's cheerleading tryouts time."
The reaction is instantaneous. Taemin leaps over the table and sprints out the door. Kibum bulldozes over Jonghyun in an attempt to catch up to the younger boy. Jinki shoves his once-precious textbooks unceremoniously into his bag before racing out the cafeteria. Jonghyun pops right up from the floor and leaves with him.
Minho blinks, picks up Kibum's forgotten pudding and ambles his way out.
It's practically tradition, the public viewing of the spring cheerleading tryouts. Half of the students turn up to watch, because half of the college's population is male. The football oval is packed around the edges as Minho makes his way towards his friends. He squints in the distance, estimating about thirty girls huddled together in the middle of the field.
"Good turn out this year," Jonghyun mumbles through a handful of popcorn. Minho doesn't even want know where he got it from. "At least twenty of them are hot."
Taemin raises an eyebrow.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?"
Jonghyun smiles widely.
"Exactly. She's one of twenty." he waves at Se Kyung, who rolls her eyes good-naturedly.
Minho settles into his seat just as the girls break formation. Victoria leads them to the edge of the field, her high ponytail swishing as she winks at Nichkhun in the crowd before turning back to the hopefuls.
"There are only five spots open on the team, " Victoria says, calm and detached. "I've seen each and every one of your auditions - but those were prepared. Now we're going to see how well you do under pressure," she sweeps her arm around the field, smirking when the audience (boys) roar. "I will perform a short routine once, and then you guys have to remember as much as you can and perform in front of everyone. Start the music!"
Victoria steps in front of the visibly shocked pack and begins to dance, all fluid and intricate movements that remind the rest of the male population why Nichkhun is the luckiest man in the world. She finishes with a split kick in the air, before whirling around to face the stunned girls. She has the decency to look apologetic, as if she hadn't meant to make things even more difficult.
"Alright, your turn. Hit it!" she claps her hands together, and the entire crowd leans forward in anticipation.
The music starts to blare again, and there is a terrified, panicked moment when all the girls flit around aimlessly before some attempt to mimic what they had just seen. Victoria scrutinises each girl with the experienced eyes of a hawk. Most are flailing in an a horrific imitation of the routine. Some have the basic steps, and Victoria nods once at the three at the front that are actually in time.
But then there is a collective whisper spreading in the crowd, before Kibum actually has the audacity to stand up, point and shout, "Vic-noona! Over there! She actually remembered all of it!"
Minho's jaw drops. On the far right of the field, standing slightly in front of everyone else, is Yuri, in all her long-legged glory, twisting and twirling in an exact replica of Victoria's routine. Her eyes are bright and there is a confident, sexy smirk on her face that kind of takes his breath away.
The music fades to a stop, and everyone is staring. Minho feels a surge of something - something like stop looking and leering and checking her out because I saw her first - and it doesn't make sense because it's not like he has a claim on her, or ever will.
Victoria walks up to Yuri, blank-faced at the now-hesitant girl, before sticking out her hand and smiling widely.
"Congratulations - you're on the team."
There is cheering and then there is Yuri's surprised face, and Minho feels like he's lost something even though he didn't have anything to begin with.
Rumours spread and there is an invasive and borderline illegal (actually, if it's coming from Jay Park's "sources", it probably is) profile search, and suddenly there is everything to know about Kwon Yuri whispered through the hallowed hallways of the campus dormitories.
She is a second year history major from some back-alley univeristy in Goyang, was part of a glee club called "Girls' Generation" and had won numerous dance competitions. She has an older brother and likes to play elaborate pranks. She is smart and sassy and beautiful and a whole lot of other things that nobody has found out yet, but everyone wants to.
So when Yuri walks into Minho's requisite English class, there is mild pandemonium as boys scramble to make the seat next to them look as free and inviting as possible. Yuri blinks, clutching her textbooks close to her chest. Minho sighs, hunching over his notes and pulling his beanie down over his ears. It wasn't like she was going to pick him, not when Siwon or Taecyeon or Jiyong are vying for her attention. Even he had been the one to help her move her couch, or reorganised her cutlery or -
"Hi," Yuri smiles nervously, chewing on her bottom lip in a way that Minho tries to ignore. "Um, do you mind if I sit next to you?"
His jaw may or may not have dropped, as well as everyone else's. There is a moment when she shifts awkwardly on her feet (oh, how the tables have turned) before Minho opens his mouth.
"Um - yeah - I mean - it's not like anyone really sits next to me - not because I'm a loner or anything!" Minho can't stop and he really, really wants to because everyone is looking at him like he's grown two heads and Yuri just looks amused. "It's just - uh, you know - my friends don't take this class and and - you - you should just sit." Minho sinks low into his chair, unable to meet her eyes.
Great. Now the only girl that has ever voluntarily wanted to sit with him is probably creeped out by now. Minho is resigned to being awkwardly silent for the rest of the lesson (well, it was infinitely better than him talking again) when Yuri giggles.
"You're funny," she smiles as she sits down beside him, bare knees knocking against his own clothed ones. "Terribly awkward, but funny."
Yuri says this in the most earnest, honest way that Minho can't help but blush under her gaze. She turns to face the front, before furrowing her brows.
"Uh - where's the professor?"
Minho snorts.
"Professor Jung is always late. She's usually napping in her office." he says matter-of-factly.
Yuri raises an eyebrow, before laughing again. Minho wonders if she can tell how fast his heart is pounding and the way he can't keep his eyes off of her.
"Um," she's whispering now, and it gives Minho a reason to lean in towards her, his right hand brushing against her arm. "Why are people staring at us?"
Minho swivels his head to find at least twenty or so familiar (well, acquainted, at least) faces blatantly gaping at him.
"They're not staring at us," he chuckles, shaking his head. "They're staring at you."
Yuri's eyes widen comically, as if she didn't know the effect she had on people (boys).
"Why?"
"Um, well," Minho coughs, slightly reddening (even more) and mentally prepares himself for the backlash. "You're kind of beautiful."
She doesn't slap him or laugh in his face or pat his head like he's a child. Instead, Yuri flushes a pretty pink and ducks her head shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I - um - thank you," she murmurs softly, fiddling with the hem of her dress. "That was really - nice."
Minho can't stop the smile from spreading across his face. Yuri offers him this bashful little smile, and he feels something swell in his chest. He's about to open his mouth to say something equally smooth (or, you know, not) when Professor Jung finally walks in, shooting rapid-fire questions in English for students caught off-guard to answer.
They don't speak for the rest of the lesson, not unless it's in broken English, but her legs sometimes bump into his and there's this rush, heady and inescapable and it makes Minho lose focus all the same.
He's trying so hard not to seem like a creep (staring at her legs wouldn't help his cause) and focusing on how to pronouciate 'hospital' without spitting everywhere that he doesn't even notice Yuri waving a hand in front of his face.
"Um - Minho?" she giggles when he blinks, wide in confusion. "Class finished."
Minho looks around, rubbing his neck sheepishly to find the lecture room practically empty.
"Oh."
Yuri is moving, already packed up and ready to leave. Minho deflates a little inside, because he still hadn't thought of a way to ask her to lunch. She stops though, biting her lip as if she's the one that should be nervous.
"Um," Yuri's kind of blushing now, and it's kind of fucking adorable. "do you think you could help me with English? It's just - this course is a lot more advanced than at my old college and I really need to catch up. I wouldn't bother you - but you're kind of the only person I know here."
Minho is gaping. Yuri flushes.
"I get that you're busy -" she starts to backpedal, before he does this kind of flaily, gangly thing with his arms.
"NO! I'm free - I'm free all the time! I mean -" Minho coughs, inwardly cringing. "I don't mind helping you, really."
He thinks he might have just blown his chance, but Yuri doesn't look fazed or slightly horrified. Instead, she's giving him this brilliant smile that makes his knees a little weak.
"Great!" she sounds so genuine that Minho can't help but smile back. "So when can we start?"
"Um," he mentally sorts through the days Kibum has night classes. "How about tonight?"
It's a bit awkward at first, but somehow it turns into something that Minho is quite happy to work into his usual routine. The first time Yuri turns up, she's holding three textbooks under her right arm and two pizzas balanced on the other.
"I never got around to thanking you for helping me move in," she says in this breathy little voice (probably from all the weight - get your head out of the gutter, Choi Minho!). "And for taking out the time to tutor me."
They settle into a comfortable routine - two hours every second day after dinner - and it's...nice. That's all that Minho can think to describe it.
There's something so terribly easy about being around Yuri. It's as if he's not as awkward or shy or weird, or it's just less obvious.
Or if he is, she just brushes it off as some adorable quirk he has.
She's even hung out with the rest of his friends one night, crowing when she beats Taemin at Mario Kart, letting Kibum use her as a model, and even helping Jonghyun put pudding into Jinki's shoes when he isn't looking.
She's always genuinely interested in what he has to say, and he finds himself stumbling under her curious gaze.
Yuri somehow fits, with his friends and his routine and his life, so well that Minho sometimes forgets that she shouldn't.
She's the most wanted girl on campus - the mysterious Kwon Yuri, who smiles and dances on the field like a confident vixen in tiny shorts and pom-poms. She could have any boy she wanted but she chooses to spend her time with him - awkward, gangly Choi Minho, whose only sometimes handsome and sometimes funny.
He tells her this one night, some Saturday night they (read: Yuri) should be at a party but are going over passive verb tenses instead. Yuri looks up at him through dark lashes, an amused smile twitching at the corners of her lips.
"Maybe I just like doing this instead," she says, gesturing vaguely at the papers on the floor around them, before winking cheekily. "Maybe I just like being around you."
Minho flushes. This is also part of their routine - Yuri teasing and flirting and being coy, and him not knowing how to deal with it. He nudges her with his foot.
"Come on Yuri," he rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "There's got to be another reason why you never go to parties even though everyone wants you there. And don't even say it's my sparkling personality that keeps you here." he deadpans.
Yuri closes her mouth, eyes twinkling mischeviously, before the smile fades and she looks away. She plays with the hem of her shirt and all of a sudden, the air is far too serious for Minho to properly understand.
"I guess," she starts in this small voice, and it kind of scares Minho because this isn't the Yuri he knows, the bright, bubbly, kind of dorky girl he keeps telling himself he's not in love with. "I guess I never really feel like myself at those kind of places. It's like, I always have to keep up some kind of persona - someone prettier and funnier and smarter than I really am." she gives him this sad little smile before ducking her head. "I'm always scared someone will see through to the real me and realise that they don't want that."
Minho blinks slowly, as if trying to comprehend the words coming out her mouth, before bursting out in laughter. Yuri is taken aback at the guffawing boy, a little hurt and confused that he was laughing at the most honest confession she had given in years. She huffs, standing up to leave before Minho catches her wrist, eyes curved into crescent moons.
"I wasn't laughing at you!" he protests, but his shoulders are still shaking. "It's just - it's you, Yuri. Of all people, you should know that you don't need to put on any kind of mask for anyone."
Yuri is quiet, letting Minho tug her to sit back down. His eyes are dark and serious now, as if it meant the world to him for her to understand.
"You should know that everyone wants to know you - the real you. And the ones that don't want the real you - well, they're even stupider than I thought, because the real you is amazing."
Yuri is staring at him with an unreadable expression, and Minho fidgets under her piercing gaze.
"Um -" he stammers, reddening slowly. " - unless you haven't been the real you around me - which is perfectly okay! I mean, it's not like we're that close - you're not obliged to show me anything - it's more than enough that you're -"
"It's me," she cuts him off with a harsh whisper, eyes glittering like precious stones that haven't been discovered yet. "It's all - me."
Now it's decidedly awkward. It's been four days since Minho's seen or spoken to Yuri, after she left his room when he couldn't reply to her...statement.
He's left reeling, in a limbo of shock and not understanding but hoping. Kibum looks at him with something akin with pity and disgust.
"Look at you," he crows one night, flinging a coat hanger at the boy still sitting at his computer. "You have a perfectly gorgeous, amazing girl that wants you and you're sitting there like you have nothing better to do than to feed your goddamn turtle!"
Minho refuses to look at his roommate.
"I - I don't know what you're talking about. Yuri - Yuri doesn't think of me like that," he stammers, before laughing mirthlessly. "Why would she?"
Kibum rolls his eyes.
"Nobody knows why - all they know is she does," he sighs. "Don't you get it, Minho? She likes you. She really, really does - why on earth do you think she comes over everyday to get 'tutored'?"
Minho slowly swivels his chair around to face Kibum.
"Um - because she needs help with English?"
Kibum fixes him with a hard glare.
"Taecyeon offered to help her, but she turned him down."
It clicks, then. Minho's eyes widen, before he stands up too quickly and bangs his head on his desk lamp.
"Ow - fuck! - I have to find her!" he exclaims, ignoring the throbbing pain on his forehead. "Oh god - what if she's changed her mind because I haven't talked to her in days - you don't think -"
Kibum holds up a hand, effectively sliencing Minho's babbling, before thrusting into his hand an outfit he obviously put together earlier.
"Wear this," he instructs, and Minho nods obediently. "Then brush your teeth, put on those nice sneakers you never wear because they're too expensive and then Jonghyun's going to drive us to Junho's party. In which Yuri is going to be there." he adds when Minho opens his mouth.
Minho blinks, before a goofy grin spreads across hs face.
"You're the best, Kibummie." he says earnestly, reaching out to ruffle the other boy's hair before his hand gets slapped away.
"What have I told you? DON'T TOUCH THE HAIR!"
One of the main reasons why Minho doesn't go to parties is because of the music. It's this weird doof-doof thing that repeats itself for hours on end though people protest that it sounds different.
It doesn't.
The moment Minho arrives there is a drink shoved in his face and condoms shoved down his pocket, Junho hollering for good luck, boys! before disappearing in the crowd.
Jonghyun happily tucks his packet away. Even Kibum shrugs and pockets them. Minho looks incredulously at them.
"Junho knows how to provide for the crowd." Jonghyun says, shrugging, before leaving to find his girlfriend.
Kibum claps a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, it's all up to you now, Minho. So make sure you get her, because that's my leather jacket you're wearing," Kibum salutes him, before spotting Amber by the kitchen. "Good luck, man!"
And then Minho's alone, in a crowd of people that he doesn't know and trying to find a girl he's trying to get to know. He sighs, squaring his shoulders, and begins to search the house for Yuri. He squeezes past couples grinding and dancing to pounding music (he's pretty sure that's Taemin groping Suzy, but maybe it's a trick of the light, or lack of) and passes a room full of people playing Band Hero (Jinki looks quite pleased having Taeyeon and Jessica fight over who gets to have him in their band), but he still can't find Yuri.
Minho is about to give up and retreat to his dorm for another night of researching his dissertation when he bumps into the girl he's been trying to look for the entire night.
Literally.
His hands instinctively steady the girl at the waist, tightening slightly when he sees that it's Yuri. She has this surprised half-smile going, before it blooms into a grin when she realises it's him.
"Minho! You're actually at a party!" she exclaims excitedly.
Minho chuckles.
"So are you." he quips, and they laugh like it's a secret only they know.
This is the moment, he thinks, the moment he confesses everything - his heart, his soul - and the moment she takes it and never lets go. Minho opens his mouth and -
"There you are Yuri!" Taecyeon appears by her side, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "I was looking for you! Hey, Eunjung just came through -"
Minho doesn't know what he's doing anymore. All he knows is that something inside him snaps and a fist is coming out to punch Taecyeon square in the jaw.
Oh wait, that's his hand.
Taecyeon reels back, holding the left side of his face in shock, before his eyes narrow. Minho barely has time to react before a much larger and much more powerful punch lands itself on his cheek.
Wow, my one sucked, is the last thing he thinks before he blacks out.
Minho slowly opens his eyes, groaning groggily. The room swims before him as he tries to sit up.
"Finally awake, huh?"
Minho furrows his brows. That voice - that dangerously sweet, lilting, familiar voice.
He turns to his left to find Yuri sitting beside him, eyebrow raised and arms crossed, looking decidedly not happy at him.
"Uh," he winces as he feels his right cheek burn in pain. Not to mention embarrassment. "Hi."
Yuri glares at him.
"What on earth were you thinking?" she hisses, and Minho cringes at the anger in her voice. "Were you thinking at all? You just punched Taecyeon out of nowhere! He did nothing except come up and talk -"
"He was with you!" Minho bursts out, dark eyes flashing dangerously. "The only reason I hit him was because he was with you."
"Don't blame your overbearing alpha-male tendencies on me!" she snaps irritably. "You did a stupid thing tonight, getting into a fight over nothing. Not to mention embarrassing yourself." Yuri rolls her eyes.
Minho begins to open his mouth to argue when Yuri catches his wrist, her eyes softening.
"Why did you do that, Minho?" she asks quietly, unassuming and a little unsure. "Why would try to take on Taecyeon when you knew you couldn't?"
Minho can't meet her eyes, instead looks at his feet and tries to lose himself in the way she thumbs circles around his pulse.
"I already told you," he mumbles. "He was with you."
Yuri shakes her head ruefully.
"Not good enough. Tell me the real reason." she murmurs.
Minho looks at her incredulously, tearing away from the grip.
"The real reason?" he's standing up now, ignoring how dizzy he feels, almost yelling. "How can you not know the real reason? Are you so blind that you can't see - tell - how I feel about you? I punched him because I like you, okay? I really, really like you, and I was going to tell you that tonight before you turned up with Taecyeon and -"
"Are you so blind that you can't tell how I feel about you?" Yuri yells right back, standing close enough for him to make out her lashes. "I like you too, if you hadn't realised, you idiot. But you were oblivious to every move I was making that I thought you weren't even interested!"
"Is that why you were with Taecyeon tonight?" he fires back, not even registering what Yuri had said.
"Oh, for God's sake!" she throws up her arms in frustration. "I went with Taecyeon to this party to help him get Eunjung to notice him! I was never with him!"
And with that, Minho deflates. His shoulders sink and he's left staring at the red-faced, angry girl he might be in love with who might just love him back.
"Yuri..." Minho ducks hs head, avoiding her eyes. "I had no idea. About...any of this. Of the thing with Taecyeon or...how you felt."
Yuri cups his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. She has this small, wry smile on her face and her eyes are shining with unshed tears.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I like you?" she whispers, a breath away from his lips.
"Because you're you," he says desperately. "You're beautiful and smart and funny and amazing, and you can have anyone you want. And I'm just...me."
Yuri brushes a gentle thumb over his bruising cheek, and Minho suppresses a shiver.
"But I want you."
And that's enough for Minho to lean down and capture her lips with his. Something inside swells, filling his entire chest until it feels so full he could burst. Yuri pushes herself onto her tiptoes, wrapping an arm around his neck and threading a hand through his hair as she parts her lips and - oh.
They break apart when oxygen becomes vital. Yuri beams, kiss-swollen lips and flushed skin and Minho has never seen anything more beautiful.
"Hi." she whispers, almost shyly, and her breathy, husky voice is a question he wants to spend his whole life answering.
It's almost as if they were reenacting the first time they met, out in the hallway filled with awkwardness and insecurity. Except this time, Minho is willing to take the leap.
He tugs her towards him, arms wrapped securely around her waist and foreheads leaning gently against each other. Minho grins cheekily.
"Hi." he murmurs back, before pressing his lips against her in a searing kiss.
Nothing changes, not really. Minho is still painfully awkward, still feeds his turtle every night, still can never beat Jinki at Mario Kart despite using as many cheats as possible.
But there is Yuri, who watches him practice soccer on the sidelines, cheering for him and ignoring the coach's can't you see you're distracting my players?, who makes him take up dance classes just to laugh at him when he tries to pop and lock, who stays by his side until the morning, buried in the crook of his neck and murmuring things that make his skin hum.
She is not his everything (not yet), but she is a lot of things. She is his reminder, of reality and beauty and life, of things that are yet to be experienced and of things that would be - could be - should be - his.
So Minho lets himself get pulled into another one of her and Jonghyun's elaborate pranks, lets himself fall in love with her and let her fall in love with him, and thinks, this is what college is supposed to be like.
-
minho/yuri
pg-13, 5660w
college au! The thing is with Minho, despite how terribly attractive he is (above average, Kibum had sniffed, before sweeping out of their room with a flourish), he is also terribly awkward.
-
The thing is with Minho, despite how terribly attractive he is (above average, Kibum had sniffed, before sweeping out of their room with a flourish), he is also terribly awkward.
He seesaws from two sides of the spectrum, either being completely stoic or rambling about some obscure subject (he almost always ends up talking about insects and their, for lack of an euphemism, shitting habits) until someone throws water at his face. There is, sadly, no middle ground and Minho forever has his foot in his mouth wherever he goes.
That's why most of the time he coops himself up in his dorm room, refusing to go to any party he's been invited to (which aren't very many, but Kibum and Jonghyun try to drag him along as their cool but nerdy bio friend, to no avail) and opting to stay in and work on his thesis about micro-organisms. It's a bit lonely and definitely not what he expected college to be like, but it's comfortable routine, and Minho likes the quiet he gets when Kibum isn't in the room complaining about the bitch in his textiles class.
It's a Saturday night, and everyone he knows or knows of is at Nichkhun's legendary welcome-back-from-spring-break party, which is just another excuse for everyone to drink and pretend they were still on spring break.
Which mean Minho has the entire dorm to himself.
He ignores the odd ache in his chest when he strains his ears and the only thing he can hear is the drip of the tap and the hum of his computer. He likes it this way, Minho reminds himself. He doesn't mind that there is no one around him, and that very few want to be around him, and he's okay with that.
So when he hears a decidedly loud crash outside his door, followed by a stream of cursing that he's sure even Kibum's never heard of, Minho springs out of his seat, half out of surprise and half of fear (Minho tells him they're practically the same thing, but there's a voice that snaps back that no, surprise obviously means that he's hoping for...something).
He shuffles out of his ergonomically-designed chair (Taemin built it for a project and he had stolen it after it got an A) and peeks through the peephole (because he couldn't possibly just approach people, could he now?).
Minho is right, because the moment he lays his eyes on the person disturbing his quiet (lonely) night of studying (classes haven't even started), he chokes on his own breath.
She is beautiful, incredibly, terribly so. She is the kind of beautiful that people write books and poems and songs about, or at least try to (Minho can already imagine paragraph upon paragraph about her flowing, dark hair, legs that never seem to end and the way her eyes glitter under the hallway lights - he can also hear Taemin snorting).
Before he knows it he's opening the door, and before he can stop himself he's opening his mouth.
"Um - hi."
The girl looks up, her lips already half-formed in whatever colourful word she was going to say next, before she tucks a lock of hair behind her bashfully and smiles blindingly, brilliantly, back.
At him.
"Hi," her cheeks are pinking in the most adorable way and Minho can barely hear her over the thundering of his heart in his ears. "Um - sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I didn't think anyone would be here considering it's a Saturday night and all I've seen since I've arrived is about this huge party going on tonight that everyone was going to."
"Well, obviously not," Minho blurts out, before backpedalling at the taken aback expression on her face. "Oh god, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry - I mean - um - my friends tell me I'm really awkward?"
The girl raises an eyebrow, before bursting out laughing. Minho joins in, partly because it's infectious (she's infectious), partly because he wants to keep himself from not talking because somehow that always ruins it.
She stops eventually, but her eyes are still curved into crescent moon and Minho can see dimples at the corner of her smile. She tilts her head, regarding him as if she were a predator deciding how to make the next move on its prey.
Minho lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding when she sticks out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Kwon Yuri. I just transferred and just moved in, obviously."
He takes her hand, hoping she doesn't notice how sweaty his are.
"I'm C-Choi M-Minho."
She laughs again, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Did you just stutter your own name?" she asks, part incredulously, part teasingly.
Minho flushes beet red.
"Um - no?"
Yuri nods, her smile stretching wider. There's an awkward beat where she looks like it's starting to hurt her and Minho is mentally calculating how long it would take for him to screw this up. She shifts on the spot as the moment stretches on before -
"Well, I gotta -"
"Do you need any help?"
Minho is pleased that he came up with something to say that wasn't offensive or insensitive. Yuri blinks.
"Um - no, it's okay," she says, gesturing vaguely to his room. "I'm sure you have a lot of things to do - I wouldn't want to disturb you. I'll manage."
Minho looks over his shoulder. He sees his computer glowing with a report that isn't due until the end of the semester, and his pet turtle staring mournfully at him. He turns back to Yuri, the pretty, pretty girl who hasn't been scared off yet, and closes the door, grinning in a way he hopes isn't creepy.
"It's fine - really." he picks up one of the boxes by her feet before she even says a word, and starts off down the hall before stopping. "Um - where do you live?"
Yuri gapes, looking at him as if he has two heads. Minho thinks this might the moment that she'll scream, slap him and maybe even move out before she even moves in, but all she does is laugh and pick up another box.
"Three rooms down to your right."
Nothing happens, not that he expected anything would. He helps her move the last of her boxes into her room, she thanks him, and then he goes back to feed his turtle.
"You -" Kibum points a fork at him. "- are fucking hopeless. With that kind of bone structure and height, you should have girls throwing themselves at you. Instead, you repel them by doing nothing at all."
Minho sinks in his seat. Taemin pats his shoulder comfortingly as he steals the last of his fries.
"Don't mind him, he's just being a bitch because Amber refused to hook up with him last night," Jinki says kindly, shooting a reproachful glare at an indignant Kibum. "I'm sure you still have a shot with her. You never know - you just have to make a move."
"Oh, I do know," Minho deadpans, reaching for Kibum's chocolate pudding only to have his hand slapped at. "You've seen my moves, hyung. They're not exactly smooth."
Kibum snorts.
"Remember the time you tried to pat Luna on the arm and ended up groping Victoria's boobs instead?" Taemin chirps helpfully.
"Nichkhun gave you one hell of a black eye after that."
Minho is about to melt into the ground in embarrassment when Jonghyun bounds up to the table, slamming his bookbag, nostrils flaring in excitement.
"Guys," he hisses not unlike a velociraptor. "Guys. It's time."
"Time for what?" Jinki asks, not even looking up from his law textbook.
Jonghyun splutters. Minho and Taemin slap their palms to their foreheads.
"Now you've done it." Kibum sighs, shaking his head.
"TIME? TIME? HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY NOT KNOW, YOU -" Jonghyun takes a deep breath as Taemin surreptitiously wipes spit off his face. "It's cheerleading tryouts time."
The reaction is instantaneous. Taemin leaps over the table and sprints out the door. Kibum bulldozes over Jonghyun in an attempt to catch up to the younger boy. Jinki shoves his once-precious textbooks unceremoniously into his bag before racing out the cafeteria. Jonghyun pops right up from the floor and leaves with him.
Minho blinks, picks up Kibum's forgotten pudding and ambles his way out.
It's practically tradition, the public viewing of the spring cheerleading tryouts. Half of the students turn up to watch, because half of the college's population is male. The football oval is packed around the edges as Minho makes his way towards his friends. He squints in the distance, estimating about thirty girls huddled together in the middle of the field.
"Good turn out this year," Jonghyun mumbles through a handful of popcorn. Minho doesn't even want know where he got it from. "At least twenty of them are hot."
Taemin raises an eyebrow.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?"
Jonghyun smiles widely.
"Exactly. She's one of twenty." he waves at Se Kyung, who rolls her eyes good-naturedly.
Minho settles into his seat just as the girls break formation. Victoria leads them to the edge of the field, her high ponytail swishing as she winks at Nichkhun in the crowd before turning back to the hopefuls.
"There are only five spots open on the team, " Victoria says, calm and detached. "I've seen each and every one of your auditions - but those were prepared. Now we're going to see how well you do under pressure," she sweeps her arm around the field, smirking when the audience (boys) roar. "I will perform a short routine once, and then you guys have to remember as much as you can and perform in front of everyone. Start the music!"
Victoria steps in front of the visibly shocked pack and begins to dance, all fluid and intricate movements that remind the rest of the male population why Nichkhun is the luckiest man in the world. She finishes with a split kick in the air, before whirling around to face the stunned girls. She has the decency to look apologetic, as if she hadn't meant to make things even more difficult.
"Alright, your turn. Hit it!" she claps her hands together, and the entire crowd leans forward in anticipation.
The music starts to blare again, and there is a terrified, panicked moment when all the girls flit around aimlessly before some attempt to mimic what they had just seen. Victoria scrutinises each girl with the experienced eyes of a hawk. Most are flailing in an a horrific imitation of the routine. Some have the basic steps, and Victoria nods once at the three at the front that are actually in time.
But then there is a collective whisper spreading in the crowd, before Kibum actually has the audacity to stand up, point and shout, "Vic-noona! Over there! She actually remembered all of it!"
Minho's jaw drops. On the far right of the field, standing slightly in front of everyone else, is Yuri, in all her long-legged glory, twisting and twirling in an exact replica of Victoria's routine. Her eyes are bright and there is a confident, sexy smirk on her face that kind of takes his breath away.
The music fades to a stop, and everyone is staring. Minho feels a surge of something - something like stop looking and leering and checking her out because I saw her first - and it doesn't make sense because it's not like he has a claim on her, or ever will.
Victoria walks up to Yuri, blank-faced at the now-hesitant girl, before sticking out her hand and smiling widely.
"Congratulations - you're on the team."
There is cheering and then there is Yuri's surprised face, and Minho feels like he's lost something even though he didn't have anything to begin with.
Rumours spread and there is an invasive and borderline illegal (actually, if it's coming from Jay Park's "sources", it probably is) profile search, and suddenly there is everything to know about Kwon Yuri whispered through the hallowed hallways of the campus dormitories.
She is a second year history major from some back-alley univeristy in Goyang, was part of a glee club called "Girls' Generation" and had won numerous dance competitions. She has an older brother and likes to play elaborate pranks. She is smart and sassy and beautiful and a whole lot of other things that nobody has found out yet, but everyone wants to.
So when Yuri walks into Minho's requisite English class, there is mild pandemonium as boys scramble to make the seat next to them look as free and inviting as possible. Yuri blinks, clutching her textbooks close to her chest. Minho sighs, hunching over his notes and pulling his beanie down over his ears. It wasn't like she was going to pick him, not when Siwon or Taecyeon or Jiyong are vying for her attention. Even he had been the one to help her move her couch, or reorganised her cutlery or -
"Hi," Yuri smiles nervously, chewing on her bottom lip in a way that Minho tries to ignore. "Um, do you mind if I sit next to you?"
His jaw may or may not have dropped, as well as everyone else's. There is a moment when she shifts awkwardly on her feet (oh, how the tables have turned) before Minho opens his mouth.
"Um - yeah - I mean - it's not like anyone really sits next to me - not because I'm a loner or anything!" Minho can't stop and he really, really wants to because everyone is looking at him like he's grown two heads and Yuri just looks amused. "It's just - uh, you know - my friends don't take this class and and - you - you should just sit." Minho sinks low into his chair, unable to meet her eyes.
Great. Now the only girl that has ever voluntarily wanted to sit with him is probably creeped out by now. Minho is resigned to being awkwardly silent for the rest of the lesson (well, it was infinitely better than him talking again) when Yuri giggles.
"You're funny," she smiles as she sits down beside him, bare knees knocking against his own clothed ones. "Terribly awkward, but funny."
Yuri says this in the most earnest, honest way that Minho can't help but blush under her gaze. She turns to face the front, before furrowing her brows.
"Uh - where's the professor?"
Minho snorts.
"Professor Jung is always late. She's usually napping in her office." he says matter-of-factly.
Yuri raises an eyebrow, before laughing again. Minho wonders if she can tell how fast his heart is pounding and the way he can't keep his eyes off of her.
"Um," she's whispering now, and it gives Minho a reason to lean in towards her, his right hand brushing against her arm. "Why are people staring at us?"
Minho swivels his head to find at least twenty or so familiar (well, acquainted, at least) faces blatantly gaping at him.
"They're not staring at us," he chuckles, shaking his head. "They're staring at you."
Yuri's eyes widen comically, as if she didn't know the effect she had on people (boys).
"Why?"
"Um, well," Minho coughs, slightly reddening (even more) and mentally prepares himself for the backlash. "You're kind of beautiful."
She doesn't slap him or laugh in his face or pat his head like he's a child. Instead, Yuri flushes a pretty pink and ducks her head shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I - um - thank you," she murmurs softly, fiddling with the hem of her dress. "That was really - nice."
Minho can't stop the smile from spreading across his face. Yuri offers him this bashful little smile, and he feels something swell in his chest. He's about to open his mouth to say something equally smooth (or, you know, not) when Professor Jung finally walks in, shooting rapid-fire questions in English for students caught off-guard to answer.
They don't speak for the rest of the lesson, not unless it's in broken English, but her legs sometimes bump into his and there's this rush, heady and inescapable and it makes Minho lose focus all the same.
He's trying so hard not to seem like a creep (staring at her legs wouldn't help his cause) and focusing on how to pronouciate 'hospital' without spitting everywhere that he doesn't even notice Yuri waving a hand in front of his face.
"Um - Minho?" she giggles when he blinks, wide in confusion. "Class finished."
Minho looks around, rubbing his neck sheepishly to find the lecture room practically empty.
"Oh."
Yuri is moving, already packed up and ready to leave. Minho deflates a little inside, because he still hadn't thought of a way to ask her to lunch. She stops though, biting her lip as if she's the one that should be nervous.
"Um," Yuri's kind of blushing now, and it's kind of fucking adorable. "do you think you could help me with English? It's just - this course is a lot more advanced than at my old college and I really need to catch up. I wouldn't bother you - but you're kind of the only person I know here."
Minho is gaping. Yuri flushes.
"I get that you're busy -" she starts to backpedal, before he does this kind of flaily, gangly thing with his arms.
"NO! I'm free - I'm free all the time! I mean -" Minho coughs, inwardly cringing. "I don't mind helping you, really."
He thinks he might have just blown his chance, but Yuri doesn't look fazed or slightly horrified. Instead, she's giving him this brilliant smile that makes his knees a little weak.
"Great!" she sounds so genuine that Minho can't help but smile back. "So when can we start?"
"Um," he mentally sorts through the days Kibum has night classes. "How about tonight?"
It's a bit awkward at first, but somehow it turns into something that Minho is quite happy to work into his usual routine. The first time Yuri turns up, she's holding three textbooks under her right arm and two pizzas balanced on the other.
"I never got around to thanking you for helping me move in," she says in this breathy little voice (probably from all the weight - get your head out of the gutter, Choi Minho!). "And for taking out the time to tutor me."
They settle into a comfortable routine - two hours every second day after dinner - and it's...nice. That's all that Minho can think to describe it.
There's something so terribly easy about being around Yuri. It's as if he's not as awkward or shy or weird, or it's just less obvious.
Or if he is, she just brushes it off as some adorable quirk he has.
She's even hung out with the rest of his friends one night, crowing when she beats Taemin at Mario Kart, letting Kibum use her as a model, and even helping Jonghyun put pudding into Jinki's shoes when he isn't looking.
She's always genuinely interested in what he has to say, and he finds himself stumbling under her curious gaze.
Yuri somehow fits, with his friends and his routine and his life, so well that Minho sometimes forgets that she shouldn't.
She's the most wanted girl on campus - the mysterious Kwon Yuri, who smiles and dances on the field like a confident vixen in tiny shorts and pom-poms. She could have any boy she wanted but she chooses to spend her time with him - awkward, gangly Choi Minho, whose only sometimes handsome and sometimes funny.
He tells her this one night, some Saturday night they (read: Yuri) should be at a party but are going over passive verb tenses instead. Yuri looks up at him through dark lashes, an amused smile twitching at the corners of her lips.
"Maybe I just like doing this instead," she says, gesturing vaguely at the papers on the floor around them, before winking cheekily. "Maybe I just like being around you."
Minho flushes. This is also part of their routine - Yuri teasing and flirting and being coy, and him not knowing how to deal with it. He nudges her with his foot.
"Come on Yuri," he rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "There's got to be another reason why you never go to parties even though everyone wants you there. And don't even say it's my sparkling personality that keeps you here." he deadpans.
Yuri closes her mouth, eyes twinkling mischeviously, before the smile fades and she looks away. She plays with the hem of her shirt and all of a sudden, the air is far too serious for Minho to properly understand.
"I guess," she starts in this small voice, and it kind of scares Minho because this isn't the Yuri he knows, the bright, bubbly, kind of dorky girl he keeps telling himself he's not in love with. "I guess I never really feel like myself at those kind of places. It's like, I always have to keep up some kind of persona - someone prettier and funnier and smarter than I really am." she gives him this sad little smile before ducking her head. "I'm always scared someone will see through to the real me and realise that they don't want that."
Minho blinks slowly, as if trying to comprehend the words coming out her mouth, before bursting out in laughter. Yuri is taken aback at the guffawing boy, a little hurt and confused that he was laughing at the most honest confession she had given in years. She huffs, standing up to leave before Minho catches her wrist, eyes curved into crescent moons.
"I wasn't laughing at you!" he protests, but his shoulders are still shaking. "It's just - it's you, Yuri. Of all people, you should know that you don't need to put on any kind of mask for anyone."
Yuri is quiet, letting Minho tug her to sit back down. His eyes are dark and serious now, as if it meant the world to him for her to understand.
"You should know that everyone wants to know you - the real you. And the ones that don't want the real you - well, they're even stupider than I thought, because the real you is amazing."
Yuri is staring at him with an unreadable expression, and Minho fidgets under her piercing gaze.
"Um -" he stammers, reddening slowly. " - unless you haven't been the real you around me - which is perfectly okay! I mean, it's not like we're that close - you're not obliged to show me anything - it's more than enough that you're -"
"It's me," she cuts him off with a harsh whisper, eyes glittering like precious stones that haven't been discovered yet. "It's all - me."
Now it's decidedly awkward. It's been four days since Minho's seen or spoken to Yuri, after she left his room when he couldn't reply to her...statement.
He's left reeling, in a limbo of shock and not understanding but hoping. Kibum looks at him with something akin with pity and disgust.
"Look at you," he crows one night, flinging a coat hanger at the boy still sitting at his computer. "You have a perfectly gorgeous, amazing girl that wants you and you're sitting there like you have nothing better to do than to feed your goddamn turtle!"
Minho refuses to look at his roommate.
"I - I don't know what you're talking about. Yuri - Yuri doesn't think of me like that," he stammers, before laughing mirthlessly. "Why would she?"
Kibum rolls his eyes.
"Nobody knows why - all they know is she does," he sighs. "Don't you get it, Minho? She likes you. She really, really does - why on earth do you think she comes over everyday to get 'tutored'?"
Minho slowly swivels his chair around to face Kibum.
"Um - because she needs help with English?"
Kibum fixes him with a hard glare.
"Taecyeon offered to help her, but she turned him down."
It clicks, then. Minho's eyes widen, before he stands up too quickly and bangs his head on his desk lamp.
"Ow - fuck! - I have to find her!" he exclaims, ignoring the throbbing pain on his forehead. "Oh god - what if she's changed her mind because I haven't talked to her in days - you don't think -"
Kibum holds up a hand, effectively sliencing Minho's babbling, before thrusting into his hand an outfit he obviously put together earlier.
"Wear this," he instructs, and Minho nods obediently. "Then brush your teeth, put on those nice sneakers you never wear because they're too expensive and then Jonghyun's going to drive us to Junho's party. In which Yuri is going to be there." he adds when Minho opens his mouth.
Minho blinks, before a goofy grin spreads across hs face.
"You're the best, Kibummie." he says earnestly, reaching out to ruffle the other boy's hair before his hand gets slapped away.
"What have I told you? DON'T TOUCH THE HAIR!"
One of the main reasons why Minho doesn't go to parties is because of the music. It's this weird doof-doof thing that repeats itself for hours on end though people protest that it sounds different.
It doesn't.
The moment Minho arrives there is a drink shoved in his face and condoms shoved down his pocket, Junho hollering for good luck, boys! before disappearing in the crowd.
Jonghyun happily tucks his packet away. Even Kibum shrugs and pockets them. Minho looks incredulously at them.
"Junho knows how to provide for the crowd." Jonghyun says, shrugging, before leaving to find his girlfriend.
Kibum claps a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, it's all up to you now, Minho. So make sure you get her, because that's my leather jacket you're wearing," Kibum salutes him, before spotting Amber by the kitchen. "Good luck, man!"
And then Minho's alone, in a crowd of people that he doesn't know and trying to find a girl he's trying to get to know. He sighs, squaring his shoulders, and begins to search the house for Yuri. He squeezes past couples grinding and dancing to pounding music (he's pretty sure that's Taemin groping Suzy, but maybe it's a trick of the light, or lack of) and passes a room full of people playing Band Hero (Jinki looks quite pleased having Taeyeon and Jessica fight over who gets to have him in their band), but he still can't find Yuri.
Minho is about to give up and retreat to his dorm for another night of researching his dissertation when he bumps into the girl he's been trying to look for the entire night.
Literally.
His hands instinctively steady the girl at the waist, tightening slightly when he sees that it's Yuri. She has this surprised half-smile going, before it blooms into a grin when she realises it's him.
"Minho! You're actually at a party!" she exclaims excitedly.
Minho chuckles.
"So are you." he quips, and they laugh like it's a secret only they know.
This is the moment, he thinks, the moment he confesses everything - his heart, his soul - and the moment she takes it and never lets go. Minho opens his mouth and -
"There you are Yuri!" Taecyeon appears by her side, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "I was looking for you! Hey, Eunjung just came through -"
Minho doesn't know what he's doing anymore. All he knows is that something inside him snaps and a fist is coming out to punch Taecyeon square in the jaw.
Oh wait, that's his hand.
Taecyeon reels back, holding the left side of his face in shock, before his eyes narrow. Minho barely has time to react before a much larger and much more powerful punch lands itself on his cheek.
Wow, my one sucked, is the last thing he thinks before he blacks out.
Minho slowly opens his eyes, groaning groggily. The room swims before him as he tries to sit up.
"Finally awake, huh?"
Minho furrows his brows. That voice - that dangerously sweet, lilting, familiar voice.
He turns to his left to find Yuri sitting beside him, eyebrow raised and arms crossed, looking decidedly not happy at him.
"Uh," he winces as he feels his right cheek burn in pain. Not to mention embarrassment. "Hi."
Yuri glares at him.
"What on earth were you thinking?" she hisses, and Minho cringes at the anger in her voice. "Were you thinking at all? You just punched Taecyeon out of nowhere! He did nothing except come up and talk -"
"He was with you!" Minho bursts out, dark eyes flashing dangerously. "The only reason I hit him was because he was with you."
"Don't blame your overbearing alpha-male tendencies on me!" she snaps irritably. "You did a stupid thing tonight, getting into a fight over nothing. Not to mention embarrassing yourself." Yuri rolls her eyes.
Minho begins to open his mouth to argue when Yuri catches his wrist, her eyes softening.
"Why did you do that, Minho?" she asks quietly, unassuming and a little unsure. "Why would try to take on Taecyeon when you knew you couldn't?"
Minho can't meet her eyes, instead looks at his feet and tries to lose himself in the way she thumbs circles around his pulse.
"I already told you," he mumbles. "He was with you."
Yuri shakes her head ruefully.
"Not good enough. Tell me the real reason." she murmurs.
Minho looks at her incredulously, tearing away from the grip.
"The real reason?" he's standing up now, ignoring how dizzy he feels, almost yelling. "How can you not know the real reason? Are you so blind that you can't see - tell - how I feel about you? I punched him because I like you, okay? I really, really like you, and I was going to tell you that tonight before you turned up with Taecyeon and -"
"Are you so blind that you can't tell how I feel about you?" Yuri yells right back, standing close enough for him to make out her lashes. "I like you too, if you hadn't realised, you idiot. But you were oblivious to every move I was making that I thought you weren't even interested!"
"Is that why you were with Taecyeon tonight?" he fires back, not even registering what Yuri had said.
"Oh, for God's sake!" she throws up her arms in frustration. "I went with Taecyeon to this party to help him get Eunjung to notice him! I was never with him!"
And with that, Minho deflates. His shoulders sink and he's left staring at the red-faced, angry girl he might be in love with who might just love him back.
"Yuri..." Minho ducks hs head, avoiding her eyes. "I had no idea. About...any of this. Of the thing with Taecyeon or...how you felt."
Yuri cups his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. She has this small, wry smile on her face and her eyes are shining with unshed tears.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I like you?" she whispers, a breath away from his lips.
"Because you're you," he says desperately. "You're beautiful and smart and funny and amazing, and you can have anyone you want. And I'm just...me."
Yuri brushes a gentle thumb over his bruising cheek, and Minho suppresses a shiver.
"But I want you."
And that's enough for Minho to lean down and capture her lips with his. Something inside swells, filling his entire chest until it feels so full he could burst. Yuri pushes herself onto her tiptoes, wrapping an arm around his neck and threading a hand through his hair as she parts her lips and - oh.
They break apart when oxygen becomes vital. Yuri beams, kiss-swollen lips and flushed skin and Minho has never seen anything more beautiful.
"Hi." she whispers, almost shyly, and her breathy, husky voice is a question he wants to spend his whole life answering.
It's almost as if they were reenacting the first time they met, out in the hallway filled with awkwardness and insecurity. Except this time, Minho is willing to take the leap.
He tugs her towards him, arms wrapped securely around her waist and foreheads leaning gently against each other. Minho grins cheekily.
"Hi." he murmurs back, before pressing his lips against her in a searing kiss.
Nothing changes, not really. Minho is still painfully awkward, still feeds his turtle every night, still can never beat Jinki at Mario Kart despite using as many cheats as possible.
But there is Yuri, who watches him practice soccer on the sidelines, cheering for him and ignoring the coach's can't you see you're distracting my players?, who makes him take up dance classes just to laugh at him when he tries to pop and lock, who stays by his side until the morning, buried in the crook of his neck and murmuring things that make his skin hum.
She is not his everything (not yet), but she is a lot of things. She is his reminder, of reality and beauty and life, of things that are yet to be experienced and of things that would be - could be - should be - his.
So Minho lets himself get pulled into another one of her and Jonghyun's elaborate pranks, lets himself fall in love with her and let her fall in love with him, and thinks, this is what college is supposed to be like.
-