Guide to Relationship for Dummies (Kyuhyun/Sungmin + many other Sungmin pairings, PG-13)
Title: Guide to Relationship for Dummies
Author: emo_what97
Recipient: hime24
Characters/Pairings: KyuMin, HanMin, HenMin, ShiMin, MiMin, HaeMin and friendship!HyukMin
Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Romance, comedy, slight angst at the end
Warnings: Implied sexual situations.
Author's note: I tried my best to incorporate most of the prompts and pairings that were given and into this story while keeping some originality. I do hope you like it :) Tried to not make it as depressing as what my usual style is. The idea for this story didn't really form until it just hit me one day. At 3 in the morning. Yes, I'm a very sad person with no life. I blame my long, unproductive holidays for all this. The ending is up for interpretation and you'll see what I mean later. I honestly wanted the options to be open when I wrote it.
1.
It was a universal fact that Sungmin was a hopeless romantic and a believer of love at first sight.
There was the first boyfriend, Zhou Mi. Now boyfriend number 1 A.K.A Zhou Mi and Sungmin had met during a wedding of a friend of Sungmin's. It was that hard to notice the tall Chinese man, seeing as his outfit looked like a clash between a suit and a mop but seemed to look exactly right on him. Eunhyuk had saw him eyeing the taller man and pushed him to his direction. "Go introduce yourself! Tall and elegant isn't going to wait there forever, you know!" Eunhyuk had whispered before pushing him towards said man and disappearing into the mass of guests.
As Sungmin was mentally killing Eunhyuk in his mind, the other had finally decided to take the first step.
"Hi, I'm Zhou Mi," he said, smiling. "Your friend thought I should talk to you. Said you might die of boredom or something similar."
Sungmin scratched the back of his neck, silently eyeing to see if he could find the blonde head of hair anywhere. "Well, he says a lot of things. But," Sungmin extended his hand. "I'm Sungmin, freelancing photographer who desperately wants to kill that friend of mine right now." How hard was it to find him anyway? As far as Sungmin remembered, the dance instructor was the only one with blonde hair and stood out in crowds whenever the two went out together.
Zhou Mi chuckled, red hair covering his eyes that Sungmin wanted to brush back. "What could he have done to make such a pretty thing like you so aggravated?" There was something in the way he said it that just made Sungmin want to swoon.
"By being a major granny who can't stop butting into people's personal lives," Sungmin said, words not really processing until they had came out. He could almost feel the blush that tainted his cheeks when he had finally realised what he had said.
But all Zhou Mi does is grin knowingly at him instead of the usual crazy person reaction that usually follow most of the people he's met in his life. Suddenly, Sungmin feels like he should be silently thanking Eunhyuk- even if he still did almost end up murdering the poor blonde had Donghae not intervene.
"Could I get your number?" Zhou Mi had popped up the question while they were randomly chatting about old classical movies, the initial awkwardness ebbing away.
He had almost immediately taken out his phone the moment the question had been asked that Sungmin was almost reminded of the crazy stalkers/killers in the horror movies that Eunhyuk loved so much.
And that was all it had all started. The dates, the intimate little meetings, the candlelight dinners. And they couldn't have been more perfect... At least until the truth got out.
He still wonders what would have happened if he had not went to Zhou Mi's house 15 minutes earlier than usual. Sungmin was glad that he had found out about this before anything had happened but in all honesty, he would have liked to scrub the image of sweaty, tangled limbs and bare skin that made him slightly thankful that they hadn't pushed too far that one make-out sessions just two nights ago.
He could still remember the way Zhou Mi had scrambled to get his clothes the moment he had noticed Sungmin's presence. "I can explain!" was what Zhou Mi had said.
Sungmin scoffed, eyeing the other man lying on the bed. "What is there to explain? In case you don't know, I clearly understand the concept of sex and what just happened here."
"It's complicated to explain but if you would listen to me, you'd-" Sungmin cut him off.
"Of course it's complicated. You have him," Sungmin gestured wildly to his bed, whoever it was still lying there and eyeing the two with a lazy smirk as if he were enjoying a rather fascinating show. "A total lack of clothing, a box of condoms on your side table and me being the odd one out in this weird equation. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to leave you two here to continue whatever it was you were doing so I can go scrub my eyes in hope that this image doesn't stay."
If he were honest with himself, it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would be, having Zhou Mi cheat on him. When he went through the rough sketch of their relationship for those 4 months, there was still a lot about Zhou Mi he didn't know and it was nice when he didn't try to constantly critisize on Sungmin's choice of clothing.
Zhou Mi had left him at least a minimum of 20 messages everyday for at least 3 weeks before he went silent. Sungmin could remember sighing in relief when Zhou Mi's number had stopped flashing across the screen of his phone.
"He probably didn't have enough phone credit," Eunhyuk commented nonchalantly and Sungmin only glared at him.
"You were the one who told me to talk to him in the first place!" Before aiming his battered copy of Insomnia at the other's head.
2.
After 6 months, Sungmin had started his second relationship.
Henry. Now Sungmin honestly didn't know what was on his mind when he had agreed to go on a date with the younger man. Moreover when he was suppose to be tutoring him, one of Sungmin's side jobs to pay off the rent that he and Eunhyuk shared.
He had never expected the a confession from the Canadian-born Chinese, especially not while Sungmin was explaining to him about the Chinese Communist Party and the Long March. But he did, with puffed-out cheeks and innocent eyes, fidgeting nervously under Sungmin's gaze.
"I'd love to," Were the words that had tumbled out and he knew he couldn't pass it off as a slip of his tongue when the younger had smiled so brightly at him.
Their first date was at a small cafe, located quite a distance away from the city, to avoid recognition. After that, they had went for a movie and stargazing. It had felt good and light and Sungmin didn't mind doing all that again for a second time. Even the hesitant but still sweet peck on the lips that Henry had gave when he had sent him back home.
But like all sweet things, their relationship ended after a good 6 months and Sungmin regretted nothing when the younger had finally decided to break it off. It was puppy love, after all. He knew that it would not have lasted in the long run.
Eunhyuk smirked when Sungmin had told him of their break-up. "Well, at least you had your way with him, right?"
"What kind of question is that anyway?"
"Min, he's in my dance class. That boy can obviously move and you're telling me you left him totally untouched and still a virgin?" Eunhyuk had asked with such an expression of shock that Sungmin almost wanted to question whatever if was that went in that mind of his.
"Unlike you, I don't whore myself out or sleep with the guy in the bar that I've met for a maximum of 15 minutes," Sungmin replied as went through a bunch of processed photos in his hand.
Eunhyuk was silent for a few seconds before answering. "30 minutes. It's hard to find an empty toilet stall sometimes and I tried to avoid hallways if I can."
The only reply he got was a groan and, "How did we even become best friends in the first place?"
3.
"You'll like him," Was all Eunhyuk said before pushing Sungmin inside the quaint-looking coffee shop.
So here he was, sitting in front of a complete stranger, trying his best to ignore the awkward silence.
"Um, did Hyukjae send you?" the brunette had finally decided speak up, an accent that suggested he wasn't from around this part of Korea.
Sungmin blinked. He knew Eunhyuk never told anyone his real name, his only answer being that the name held a lot of his past that he wanted to erase and forget. "Uh, I guess you could say that."
The other sighed. "He's never going to forgive me, isn't he?"
Almost as if Eunhyuk could hear from a mile away, Sungmin's phone beeped and he looked to see that he had 1 new message.
From: The annoying monkey
Just play along hyung, please? I'll tell you whatever you want to know after you get back.
"Well, um, my name's Sungmin?" Sungmin said, almost wanting to hit himself at how pathetic it sounded.
The brunette smiled, although Sungmin could tell that it was pained. "I'm Donghae."
"Well, truth to be told, Eunhyuk didn't tell me much about what I was suppose to be doing here. Are you an old friend of his?" He avoided telling him the fact that Eunhyuk had told him that this was a blind date he had set him up on. Not when this person was looking for his roommate isn't of him.
"I suppose you could call us that." There was something in that statement that made Sungmin doubt that their past was as trivial as that.
"How long has it been since you've last seen each other, Donghae-sshi?" Sungmin asked.
Donghae chuckled. "6 years, give or take? God, this is so messed-up..."
After a few more minutes of trivial questions and answers, Donghae checked his watch and stood up, saying that he had an important meeting to attend to.
There was hesitation in his voice as he voiced out his question. "Sungmin-sshi, if you don't mind, could you pass this to Hyu- Eunhyuk for me?" before handing Sungmin an envelope, Lee Hyukjae written in careful block letters on the front.
"Sure," he had said, smiling as he took the envelope, watching Donghae's retreating back as he left.
The moment he had entered their shared apartment and saw Eunhyuk flipping through his old yearbook, Sungmin pounced. "Tell me everything. NOW."
Eunhyuk's laugh was bitter. "So what did he tell you about himself anyway?"
"Nothing much, I didn't really pry. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was looking for you instead of me. He seemed really desperate to talk to you."
"Huh," was all Eunhyuk could say.
Sungmin rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm going to go shower and scrap up some stuff for dinner," he said before noticing that he was still holding Donghae's envelope in his hand. "Oh yeah, he asked me to give this to you. If you won't talk to him, at least take it and open it, will you?"
He left it on the coffee table, right in front of him before heading to the showers.
It wasn't until a week and a half later that Sungmin saw Donghae again, both him and Eunhyuk at each other's necks, not noticing him as he stood there at the doorway.
"You just left, Hae! What did you expect me to do? You left me there and it took me 2 years to pick up the broken pieces that you didn't want anymore!" Eunhyuk shouted, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Even now, it's so hard to forget. Why can't you let me forget? Why can't you just let me move on?"
"Because I don't want you to move on. Because I still love you."
Eunhyuk shook his head furiously. "No, no, no," he kept on saying, more to himself than anyone.
And that's when Donghae stepped forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde. Eunhyuk struggled for awhile but Donghae just held on tight, refusing to let go before Eunhyuk just gave up, burying his head in the crook of the other's neck, silent tears escaping as Donghae muttered so softly that Sungmin almost didn't catch the words. "Sometimes it's not easy to take chances. But it's all I want. A second chance is all I want, Hyuk. And I promise to not let go this time."
Sungmin left, allowing the two some privacy. I suppose I could crash at Wookie's and Jongwoon's place for awhile.
When he came back the next morning, he wasn't surprised to see Donghae still there, donned in Eunhyuk's old, overstretched football jersey from his college years, Eunhyuk asleep on his shoulder.
"So, how was last night?" Sungmin asked Donghae casually when the other had noticed him entering, going into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
When he came back to the living room, Donghae was blushing. "Nothing much. We just talked about stuff and uh, yeah. That's all."
"I see... So Eunhyuk got bitten by some pretty bad bug last night?" Sungmin pointed to the rather obvious discoloured patch of skin on Eunhyuk's neck.
"..."
4.
He wanted to cry. Badly.
"I assure you, he's nice, loves dancing and has a dog. That's perfect boyfriend material all laid out for you."
"Are you sure it isn't another guy who's looking for you? I promise not to tell Donghae if it's true."
Eunhyuk socked Sungmin to the arm. "Shut up, Mr. I'm-so-single-and-will-die-alone-with-5-cats. I arranged this date because the last one doesn't count."
"Fine," Sungmin whined, rubbing his arm. "What's his name again?"
All smiles, Eunhyuk answered, "Hangeng. But he has a Korean name since he thought it be easier to say. So it's Hankyung."
So Sungmin was now at the park, trying to find the person that matched the description that he had given him.
How hard is it to find a Chinese man with a black skinny tie in the middle of the park anyway?
It wasn't until 10 minutes of aimless walking later when Sungmin was about to give up and just go back when he felt a light but firm tap on his shoulder and he turned.
Wow was the first word that had echoed in Sungmin's mind when his eyes landed on Hankyung. The man was definitely good enough to be a model, with his lean figure and long legs- even if they weren't as long as Zhou Mi's, a voice at the back of Sungmin's mind noted.
"You must be Sungmin," Hankyung said, his accent adding strangely to his charm. "I'm Hankyung. Eunhyuk has told me a lot about you."
"Good things, I hope. Your Korean is excellent, by the way. How long have you been staying here?"
"For around 4 years now. It's like a second home to me now," he smiled, and there was something about that smile that made Sungmin like him immediately.
And it wasn't until 4 hours later that Sungmin decided that God hated him.
He honestly had no idea what had happened. All he had done was goes to the toilet before their movie and as soon as he had stepped out, he could see Hankyung and another man talking, a frown clearly etched on the Chinese man's face.
"Excuse me, is something wrong?" Sungmin asked as he stepped closer and finally saw the other man's face. "It's you! Weren't you the guy with Zhou Mi?"
The other smirked. "Yeah, I remember you." Hankyung frown only deepened as he heard Sungmin's words. "So this is the person you're dating now, Hannie? Makes you the same as everyone else, doesn't it?"
"It's not like that, Heechul ah. If you'd just listen to me, you'd understand that it wasn't my choice," Hankyung said almost desperately.
Clearly about to walk away, Hankyung grabbed Heechul's arm while Sungmin just stood there.
"You know something, kid?" Heechul looked at Sungmin, eyes fierce, arm still held by Hankyung. "If you want things, all you have to do is be rich and come from a good family background. No one ever gives the prostitute a second look. Now let go of me, Hangeng. Your date's still here."
Sungmin felt a blush rise up his cheeks at the statement, feeling like this was not his place.
"I'm sorry," he found himself saying. "Just.. Continue. I'll go." Leaving the two as he saw Hankyung's fingers dig tighter into the other's flesh.
Eunhyuk and Donghae were silent the moment Sungmin slammed the door to the apartment, signalling his presence.
Eunhyuk immediately gushed out his apology. "I'm so sorry! Hankyung called back and told me what happened and he feels real bad you had to see all that. And Heechul feels a little bad himself."
The pink-lover just shrugged his shoulders, hugging a pillow to his chest. "Do you think that if I start now, I could manage to afford those 5 cats that'll live with me when you two marry and I die alone?
There was a thoughtful look on Donghae's face before he replied, "Maybe you could buy up a whole animal sanctuary and stay with all the animals." Eunhyuk facepalmed.
"Maybe you weren't meant for him, Sungmin ah. Maybe you were meant for somebody else. I'm sure whoever that person is will appear soon," Eunhyuk said soothingly at his best friend, sending a glare to his lover who looked back at him, clueless as ever.
5.
When Sungmin heard the knock on the door, he quickly scrambled out of his bed, ignoring the fact that he was still clad in his pink one-piece dress with messy bedhead hair.
As soon as he opened the door however, he wished he had worn something more appealing and straightened out the mess his hair was currently in.
"Hi, I just moved in the next door so I thought I'd come over and say hello. I'm Siwon," the Adonis-like figure said, a bright smile across his face.
And what had he done? He had slammed the door in his face and hyperventilated at that same spot for a good 10 minutes. It was just his luck that Siwon had asked Eunhyuk as he was coming back if he had done something wrong and Eunhyuk was nice enough to at least be in their apartment before bursting out in laughter.
"I can't believe you slammed the door in his face!" Eunhyuk finally managed to blurt out while laughing so hard that Sungmin honestly thought he looked like he was about to die. "Great way to introduce yourself."
"Just shut up," Sungmin's scream muffled by the pillow he had buried his face in.
After Sungmin had wallowed in his misery for a few good minutes and Eunhyuk had finally regained his senses, he spoke up. "So, was he really that pretty to you?"
Sungmin contemplated the question for a few seconds before looking up at Eunhyuk, answering, "Prettier than those girls that go to your classes not wanting to dance and just to stare at you instead. And now I've probably ruined whatever chance I've gotten to even being his friend," before landing face first back onto the pillow.
Eunhyuk patted his back reassuringly. "There, there. Don't lose hope! He sounded really sincere when he asked if he had done anything wrong. And no, I did not tell him that your way of telling a guy that he's hot is by slamming the door in his face. I don't think he'd be able to comprehend that."
"Still, I slammed a door in his face! He probably thinks I'm crazy as it is!" he almost wailed.
The glint in Eunhyuk's eyes if Sungmin had seen it, would have probably left shivers up his spine and an uneasy feeling for days. "Don't worry about that."
It wasn't until 4 nights later that Sungmin had found out exactly what Eunhyuk had meant. And he freaked. But in all honesty, was it really his fault that he had just stood there for around 5 minutes when he had seen Siwon sitting there with Eunhyuk on their couch?
"Sungmin, you're back! Say hello to Siwon. I invited him over for dinner, since Hae said he couldn't come over tonight and I already cooked his share." He was definitely going to wrangle the blonde's neck later for doing this behind his back.
"Hi," Sungmin voiced out pathetically, waving weakly. He knew better than trying to run when his roommate was determined to get something done.
So that's how he had found himself sitting on opposite ends of the couch with Siwon, Eunhyuk out for an "emergency call". They just sat there in silence, Sungmin fiddling around with a loose thread at the edge of his sleeve when he had finally snapped.
"Alright, you might think I'm some crazy person and it's perfectly understandable," Sungmin said, turning to face Siwon.
"Uh..." The look on Siwon's face blank.
Sungmin just continued. "I mean, I don't usually slam doors in people faces but do you even know how you looked like? You, all pretty and god-like, standing right in front of my front door while I was wearing a goddamn dress. What else was I suppose to do besides slam that darn door and squeal like some high school girl only to cry later at what I did?"
"Sung-" Siwon tried to voice out.
"I know, I know! You probably want to run away. I'll do it for you and retreat into some dark corner of my room-"
"SUNGMIN!"
Sungmin blinked a few times. "Yeah?"
"I don't think you're crazy," the other was finally able to voice out.
"Oh."
"And if it makes you feel better, you look amazing, with or without a dress."
"Oh."
"And since you're probably experiencing shock right now, I assume now would be a bad time to say I really want to kiss you, right?"
Was he honestly asking that? Sungmin thought to himself. "Probably," was what he replied before wounding his arms around Siwon's neck, pushing him forward. "But I've always thought the word was a little overrated," before pressing his lips against the other.
It didn't take much for it to proceed to some hot make-out session that would have probably involved a lot less clothes if Eunhyuk had came back 5 minutes later.
"Not that I'm not ecstatic that you guys made out or anything," Eunhyuk said as he looked at the two blushing people. "But could you guys have at least moved it to a less public area?"
And that's how the heated kisses at the corner of every empty room had started, stuff that was just one step away from being sex. Hell, it was already like it and they hadn't even reached foreplay yet. There were only so many silent, heated nights Sungmin could endure with his own hands as company.
So, when Eunhyuk back with Donghae to their hometown to spend Christmas, Sungmin had pushed Siwon against the wall that night and kissed him all hot and steamy, tongue tracing the insides of his mouth.
"What's with the sudden force tonight?" Siwon gasped out as they parted for air, trying his best to catch his breath as Sungmin lowered his head and traced patterns with his tongue on Siwon's exposed collarbone.
"I just want you all to myself for a moment, is that wrong?" It was getting harder for Siwon to think when that mouth had decided to leave a mark on his skin, soothing laps against bruised skin. "We've got the apartment all to ourselves and we're really not going to use it?"
It was when Sungmin had trailed those delicate hands of his down south, Siwon thought it was a great idea that Eunhyuk and Donghae had left them all alone.
6.
There was something about the saying that distance only makes the heart grow fonder that Sungmin felt totally associated with his feelings right now.
It was that one single thought that had caused him to collide with something solid, heavy and very breathing He quickly scrambled off and got up on his feet, blushing slightly as he extended a hand to the redhead. "I'm sorry, had stuff running across my mind and I wasn't really looking."
"It's alright. I wasn't really paying attention myself," a vaguely familiar voice said as the man brushed himself off. There was something about his face that seemed to remind him of...
"Kyuhyun?"
The redhead turned to stare at him. "How did you know my- Omo, Sungmin, is that you?"
Sungmin smiled widely, quick to envelop the younger man into a hug. "God, I missed you! It's been ages! How are you?"
He felt Kyuhyun stiffen before tentatively wrapping his arms around him and finally relaxing. There was something in the way Kyuhyun was hugging him that seemed a little desperate, almost as if he didn't believe he was real.
"I'm fine. Finished my degree and I'm working as an accountant," Kyuhyun said once Sungmin had allowed the other to slip away from his grasp.
Unable to resist the urge, Sungmin ruffled his hair. "God, it's been so long since I did this!"
Kyuhyun frowned and shoved Sungmin's hand away while shouting, "Gah! Don't have to remind me!"
It took a few moments of silence and the tinkle of Sungmin's laughter for Kyuhyun to speak out his next words.
"So how are your parents?"
Sungmin froze slightly at the question before straightening up and giving Kyuhyun a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. "Everything's fine."
Kyuhyun knew more than anything that the statement meant anything but. It was like that time Sungmin's grandmother had passed away and Sungmin hadn't shed a tear during her funeral, saying everything was fine. Like when his sister had gotten married and left him alone to fend himself and he just passed it all off with a smile and everyone had truly believed he was ok.
But it was Kyuhyun who had stayed up during those long nights when Sungmin's walls would break, holding the older in his arms as salty tears made their way down his face, when crying alone in an empty house just felt unbearable.
Suddenly, a thrill ring could be heard and Sungmin fisted his phone out of his pocket, smiling slightly as he saw the name that flashed across the screen. Kyuhyun was curious to who it was as he heard Sungmin answer, "Hi Siwon... Yeah... Tomorrow afternoon?... Alright, I'll see you then. I love you... Bye."
"Hey, are you free tomorrow afternoon, Kyu?" Sungmin asked, a bright smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah, I am."
"Good! You're having lunch with me tomorrow and meeting Siwon too!"
The look on Kyuhyun's face remained enigmatic as he silently nodded.
___________________________________________________________________________
There was a funny look on Kyuhyun's face when he had shook hands with Siwon that Sungmin had noticed.
"What's wrong with you today?" Sungmin has asked as Siwon had left after an emergency call from his company. Kyuhyun and him were sitting face-to-face, with Kyuhyun mindlessly nudging his food.
"How much do you honestly know about Siwon?" Kyuhyun had suddenly asked out of the blue, his eyes still trained on his untouched plate.
Sungmin was confused at the random question. "Enough to know he's a good person. Why, Kyu?"
Kyuhyun scoffed. "Are you serious?"
Sungmin's prompt reply was, "Yes, you ass." He had never liked it when Kyuhyun would get mad, especially when he had done nothing wrong.
"Then you're an absolutely idiot," Kyuhyun said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"Alright, you're attitude today is seriously off. There's something you're not telling me, Cho Kyuhyun. Why are you absolutely against Siwon?"
"Because your dear Choi Siwon has been cheating behind your back!" Kyuhyun almost shouted to Sungmin, attracting the attention from the other guests in the restaurant.
Kyuhyun had expected Sungmin to cry or at least make a fit about his statement but all he got were two words that seemed to weight more than the other two. "You're jealous."
"I'm not! I'm just concerned for an idiot who doesn't seem to know the truth!"
He knew Sungmin has snapped the moment he stood up while saying, "That's it, I'm going. Have a nice lunch," before walking off.
Maybe, he thought at the back of his mind, that he should have never left the bunny alone in the first place.
____________________________________________________________________________
Kyuhyun always believed that good things never came when it was raining heavily.
He wasn't a superstitious person but nothing good had ever came to him whenever it rained, especially in sheets.
Almost as if reading his thoughts, he had heard a knock on the door.
"Coming!"
And when he had swung that door open and was greeted with a familiar set of doe eyes rimmed with tears, he had quickly ushered him in, away from the cold and harsh weather.
"Eunhyuk told me your address," Sungmin had silently said after Kyuhyun had made him remove his clothes and handed him a pair of his own clothes to keep dry before going off to make some tea. "I wasn't thinking when I came here, I'm sorry."
As Kyuhyun placed the steaming mug of amber liquid in front of him, he fiddled nervously with his fingers, smooth limbs tangling with one another. "You were right. You were right and I was stupid, so very stupid. I must look like such an idiot right now, right?" Sungmin's laugh was bitter and almost non-existent.
"No, you don't," Kyuhyun said, wrapping his arms around Sungmin as the inevitable tears came.
"W-Was I ugly? Was I n-not e-enough?" Kyuhyun had heard the smaller man mumble between sobs, arms tightening as his body shook harder.
"Maybe I-I was meant t-to end up a-alone," he continued, and Kyuhyun broke.
"You're such a cruel person, Lee Sungmin. So very cruel," Kyuhyun said, a slight smile on his face as those arms still stayed around the other. "It's so easy to see you love him. But does he love you? Why can't you see me as him and love me as you love him?"
And then Sungmin suddenly stills, the words coming out from Kyuhyun hitting him like a ton of bricks that makes him realise all those moments that he had shared with the snarky younger man, of how he had passed off the affection as just simple brotherly love.
Despite the nagging voice that was telling him to push the younger man away in hopes of retaining their friendship, of keeping things simple and uncomplicated, it those next words uttered that hold him down.
"It's always been you for me."
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Kyuhyunnie ah, can you promise me something?" the dark-haired 10 year old asked, looking up from the long math equations he had been forced to do. He'd honestly never understand the reason for school.
The younger just gave him a small grunt in response, eyes glued to the game console in his hand.
Sungmin had never expected to ask him like this but, like his mother had always said, there was no time like the present. "Promise me you'll never leave, no matter what."
Maybe it was the tone of his voice or maybe it was the slight look of desperation in the other's eyes when he taken his eyes off the colourful screen in front of him that had him responding with something totally unlike him.
"Always. It'll always be you for me."
This entry was originally posted at http://sujuexchange.dreamwidth.org/7726.html?mode=reply. Please comment there using OpenID (i.e., your LJ account's URL).
Author: emo_what97
Recipient: hime24
Characters/Pairings: KyuMin, HanMin, HenMin, ShiMin, MiMin, HaeMin and friendship!HyukMin
Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Romance, comedy, slight angst at the end
Warnings: Implied sexual situations.
Author's note: I tried my best to incorporate most of the prompts and pairings that were given and into this story while keeping some originality. I do hope you like it :) Tried to not make it as depressing as what my usual style is. The idea for this story didn't really form until it just hit me one day. At 3 in the morning. Yes, I'm a very sad person with no life. I blame my long, unproductive holidays for all this. The ending is up for interpretation and you'll see what I mean later. I honestly wanted the options to be open when I wrote it.
1.
It was a universal fact that Sungmin was a hopeless romantic and a believer of love at first sight.
There was the first boyfriend, Zhou Mi. Now boyfriend number 1 A.K.A Zhou Mi and Sungmin had met during a wedding of a friend of Sungmin's. It was that hard to notice the tall Chinese man, seeing as his outfit looked like a clash between a suit and a mop but seemed to look exactly right on him. Eunhyuk had saw him eyeing the taller man and pushed him to his direction. "Go introduce yourself! Tall and elegant isn't going to wait there forever, you know!" Eunhyuk had whispered before pushing him towards said man and disappearing into the mass of guests.
As Sungmin was mentally killing Eunhyuk in his mind, the other had finally decided to take the first step.
"Hi, I'm Zhou Mi," he said, smiling. "Your friend thought I should talk to you. Said you might die of boredom or something similar."
Sungmin scratched the back of his neck, silently eyeing to see if he could find the blonde head of hair anywhere. "Well, he says a lot of things. But," Sungmin extended his hand. "I'm Sungmin, freelancing photographer who desperately wants to kill that friend of mine right now." How hard was it to find him anyway? As far as Sungmin remembered, the dance instructor was the only one with blonde hair and stood out in crowds whenever the two went out together.
Zhou Mi chuckled, red hair covering his eyes that Sungmin wanted to brush back. "What could he have done to make such a pretty thing like you so aggravated?" There was something in the way he said it that just made Sungmin want to swoon.
"By being a major granny who can't stop butting into people's personal lives," Sungmin said, words not really processing until they had came out. He could almost feel the blush that tainted his cheeks when he had finally realised what he had said.
But all Zhou Mi does is grin knowingly at him instead of the usual crazy person reaction that usually follow most of the people he's met in his life. Suddenly, Sungmin feels like he should be silently thanking Eunhyuk- even if he still did almost end up murdering the poor blonde had Donghae not intervene.
"Could I get your number?" Zhou Mi had popped up the question while they were randomly chatting about old classical movies, the initial awkwardness ebbing away.
He had almost immediately taken out his phone the moment the question had been asked that Sungmin was almost reminded of the crazy stalkers/killers in the horror movies that Eunhyuk loved so much.
And that was all it had all started. The dates, the intimate little meetings, the candlelight dinners. And they couldn't have been more perfect... At least until the truth got out.
He still wonders what would have happened if he had not went to Zhou Mi's house 15 minutes earlier than usual. Sungmin was glad that he had found out about this before anything had happened but in all honesty, he would have liked to scrub the image of sweaty, tangled limbs and bare skin that made him slightly thankful that they hadn't pushed too far that one make-out sessions just two nights ago.
He could still remember the way Zhou Mi had scrambled to get his clothes the moment he had noticed Sungmin's presence. "I can explain!" was what Zhou Mi had said.
Sungmin scoffed, eyeing the other man lying on the bed. "What is there to explain? In case you don't know, I clearly understand the concept of sex and what just happened here."
"It's complicated to explain but if you would listen to me, you'd-" Sungmin cut him off.
"Of course it's complicated. You have him," Sungmin gestured wildly to his bed, whoever it was still lying there and eyeing the two with a lazy smirk as if he were enjoying a rather fascinating show. "A total lack of clothing, a box of condoms on your side table and me being the odd one out in this weird equation. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to leave you two here to continue whatever it was you were doing so I can go scrub my eyes in hope that this image doesn't stay."
If he were honest with himself, it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would be, having Zhou Mi cheat on him. When he went through the rough sketch of their relationship for those 4 months, there was still a lot about Zhou Mi he didn't know and it was nice when he didn't try to constantly critisize on Sungmin's choice of clothing.
Zhou Mi had left him at least a minimum of 20 messages everyday for at least 3 weeks before he went silent. Sungmin could remember sighing in relief when Zhou Mi's number had stopped flashing across the screen of his phone.
"He probably didn't have enough phone credit," Eunhyuk commented nonchalantly and Sungmin only glared at him.
"You were the one who told me to talk to him in the first place!" Before aiming his battered copy of Insomnia at the other's head.
2.
After 6 months, Sungmin had started his second relationship.
Henry. Now Sungmin honestly didn't know what was on his mind when he had agreed to go on a date with the younger man. Moreover when he was suppose to be tutoring him, one of Sungmin's side jobs to pay off the rent that he and Eunhyuk shared.
He had never expected the a confession from the Canadian-born Chinese, especially not while Sungmin was explaining to him about the Chinese Communist Party and the Long March. But he did, with puffed-out cheeks and innocent eyes, fidgeting nervously under Sungmin's gaze.
"I'd love to," Were the words that had tumbled out and he knew he couldn't pass it off as a slip of his tongue when the younger had smiled so brightly at him.
Their first date was at a small cafe, located quite a distance away from the city, to avoid recognition. After that, they had went for a movie and stargazing. It had felt good and light and Sungmin didn't mind doing all that again for a second time. Even the hesitant but still sweet peck on the lips that Henry had gave when he had sent him back home.
But like all sweet things, their relationship ended after a good 6 months and Sungmin regretted nothing when the younger had finally decided to break it off. It was puppy love, after all. He knew that it would not have lasted in the long run.
Eunhyuk smirked when Sungmin had told him of their break-up. "Well, at least you had your way with him, right?"
"What kind of question is that anyway?"
"Min, he's in my dance class. That boy can obviously move and you're telling me you left him totally untouched and still a virgin?" Eunhyuk had asked with such an expression of shock that Sungmin almost wanted to question whatever if was that went in that mind of his.
"Unlike you, I don't whore myself out or sleep with the guy in the bar that I've met for a maximum of 15 minutes," Sungmin replied as went through a bunch of processed photos in his hand.
Eunhyuk was silent for a few seconds before answering. "30 minutes. It's hard to find an empty toilet stall sometimes and I tried to avoid hallways if I can."
The only reply he got was a groan and, "How did we even become best friends in the first place?"
3.
"You'll like him," Was all Eunhyuk said before pushing Sungmin inside the quaint-looking coffee shop.
So here he was, sitting in front of a complete stranger, trying his best to ignore the awkward silence.
"Um, did Hyukjae send you?" the brunette had finally decided speak up, an accent that suggested he wasn't from around this part of Korea.
Sungmin blinked. He knew Eunhyuk never told anyone his real name, his only answer being that the name held a lot of his past that he wanted to erase and forget. "Uh, I guess you could say that."
The other sighed. "He's never going to forgive me, isn't he?"
Almost as if Eunhyuk could hear from a mile away, Sungmin's phone beeped and he looked to see that he had 1 new message.
From: The annoying monkey
Just play along hyung, please? I'll tell you whatever you want to know after you get back.
"Well, um, my name's Sungmin?" Sungmin said, almost wanting to hit himself at how pathetic it sounded.
The brunette smiled, although Sungmin could tell that it was pained. "I'm Donghae."
"Well, truth to be told, Eunhyuk didn't tell me much about what I was suppose to be doing here. Are you an old friend of his?" He avoided telling him the fact that Eunhyuk had told him that this was a blind date he had set him up on. Not when this person was looking for his roommate isn't of him.
"I suppose you could call us that." There was something in that statement that made Sungmin doubt that their past was as trivial as that.
"How long has it been since you've last seen each other, Donghae-sshi?" Sungmin asked.
Donghae chuckled. "6 years, give or take? God, this is so messed-up..."
After a few more minutes of trivial questions and answers, Donghae checked his watch and stood up, saying that he had an important meeting to attend to.
There was hesitation in his voice as he voiced out his question. "Sungmin-sshi, if you don't mind, could you pass this to Hyu- Eunhyuk for me?" before handing Sungmin an envelope, Lee Hyukjae written in careful block letters on the front.
"Sure," he had said, smiling as he took the envelope, watching Donghae's retreating back as he left.
The moment he had entered their shared apartment and saw Eunhyuk flipping through his old yearbook, Sungmin pounced. "Tell me everything. NOW."
Eunhyuk's laugh was bitter. "So what did he tell you about himself anyway?"
"Nothing much, I didn't really pry. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was looking for you instead of me. He seemed really desperate to talk to you."
"Huh," was all Eunhyuk could say.
Sungmin rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm going to go shower and scrap up some stuff for dinner," he said before noticing that he was still holding Donghae's envelope in his hand. "Oh yeah, he asked me to give this to you. If you won't talk to him, at least take it and open it, will you?"
He left it on the coffee table, right in front of him before heading to the showers.
It wasn't until a week and a half later that Sungmin saw Donghae again, both him and Eunhyuk at each other's necks, not noticing him as he stood there at the doorway.
"You just left, Hae! What did you expect me to do? You left me there and it took me 2 years to pick up the broken pieces that you didn't want anymore!" Eunhyuk shouted, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Even now, it's so hard to forget. Why can't you let me forget? Why can't you just let me move on?"
"Because I don't want you to move on. Because I still love you."
Eunhyuk shook his head furiously. "No, no, no," he kept on saying, more to himself than anyone.
And that's when Donghae stepped forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde. Eunhyuk struggled for awhile but Donghae just held on tight, refusing to let go before Eunhyuk just gave up, burying his head in the crook of the other's neck, silent tears escaping as Donghae muttered so softly that Sungmin almost didn't catch the words. "Sometimes it's not easy to take chances. But it's all I want. A second chance is all I want, Hyuk. And I promise to not let go this time."
Sungmin left, allowing the two some privacy. I suppose I could crash at Wookie's and Jongwoon's place for awhile.
When he came back the next morning, he wasn't surprised to see Donghae still there, donned in Eunhyuk's old, overstretched football jersey from his college years, Eunhyuk asleep on his shoulder.
"So, how was last night?" Sungmin asked Donghae casually when the other had noticed him entering, going into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
When he came back to the living room, Donghae was blushing. "Nothing much. We just talked about stuff and uh, yeah. That's all."
"I see... So Eunhyuk got bitten by some pretty bad bug last night?" Sungmin pointed to the rather obvious discoloured patch of skin on Eunhyuk's neck.
"..."
4.
He wanted to cry. Badly.
"I assure you, he's nice, loves dancing and has a dog. That's perfect boyfriend material all laid out for you."
"Are you sure it isn't another guy who's looking for you? I promise not to tell Donghae if it's true."
Eunhyuk socked Sungmin to the arm. "Shut up, Mr. I'm-so-single-and-will-die-alone-with-5-cats. I arranged this date because the last one doesn't count."
"Fine," Sungmin whined, rubbing his arm. "What's his name again?"
All smiles, Eunhyuk answered, "Hangeng. But he has a Korean name since he thought it be easier to say. So it's Hankyung."
So Sungmin was now at the park, trying to find the person that matched the description that he had given him.
How hard is it to find a Chinese man with a black skinny tie in the middle of the park anyway?
It wasn't until 10 minutes of aimless walking later when Sungmin was about to give up and just go back when he felt a light but firm tap on his shoulder and he turned.
Wow was the first word that had echoed in Sungmin's mind when his eyes landed on Hankyung. The man was definitely good enough to be a model, with his lean figure and long legs- even if they weren't as long as Zhou Mi's, a voice at the back of Sungmin's mind noted.
"You must be Sungmin," Hankyung said, his accent adding strangely to his charm. "I'm Hankyung. Eunhyuk has told me a lot about you."
"Good things, I hope. Your Korean is excellent, by the way. How long have you been staying here?"
"For around 4 years now. It's like a second home to me now," he smiled, and there was something about that smile that made Sungmin like him immediately.
And it wasn't until 4 hours later that Sungmin decided that God hated him.
He honestly had no idea what had happened. All he had done was goes to the toilet before their movie and as soon as he had stepped out, he could see Hankyung and another man talking, a frown clearly etched on the Chinese man's face.
"Excuse me, is something wrong?" Sungmin asked as he stepped closer and finally saw the other man's face. "It's you! Weren't you the guy with Zhou Mi?"
The other smirked. "Yeah, I remember you." Hankyung frown only deepened as he heard Sungmin's words. "So this is the person you're dating now, Hannie? Makes you the same as everyone else, doesn't it?"
"It's not like that, Heechul ah. If you'd just listen to me, you'd understand that it wasn't my choice," Hankyung said almost desperately.
Clearly about to walk away, Hankyung grabbed Heechul's arm while Sungmin just stood there.
"You know something, kid?" Heechul looked at Sungmin, eyes fierce, arm still held by Hankyung. "If you want things, all you have to do is be rich and come from a good family background. No one ever gives the prostitute a second look. Now let go of me, Hangeng. Your date's still here."
Sungmin felt a blush rise up his cheeks at the statement, feeling like this was not his place.
"I'm sorry," he found himself saying. "Just.. Continue. I'll go." Leaving the two as he saw Hankyung's fingers dig tighter into the other's flesh.
Eunhyuk and Donghae were silent the moment Sungmin slammed the door to the apartment, signalling his presence.
Eunhyuk immediately gushed out his apology. "I'm so sorry! Hankyung called back and told me what happened and he feels real bad you had to see all that. And Heechul feels a little bad himself."
The pink-lover just shrugged his shoulders, hugging a pillow to his chest. "Do you think that if I start now, I could manage to afford those 5 cats that'll live with me when you two marry and I die alone?
There was a thoughtful look on Donghae's face before he replied, "Maybe you could buy up a whole animal sanctuary and stay with all the animals." Eunhyuk facepalmed.
"Maybe you weren't meant for him, Sungmin ah. Maybe you were meant for somebody else. I'm sure whoever that person is will appear soon," Eunhyuk said soothingly at his best friend, sending a glare to his lover who looked back at him, clueless as ever.
5.
When Sungmin heard the knock on the door, he quickly scrambled out of his bed, ignoring the fact that he was still clad in his pink one-piece dress with messy bedhead hair.
As soon as he opened the door however, he wished he had worn something more appealing and straightened out the mess his hair was currently in.
"Hi, I just moved in the next door so I thought I'd come over and say hello. I'm Siwon," the Adonis-like figure said, a bright smile across his face.
And what had he done? He had slammed the door in his face and hyperventilated at that same spot for a good 10 minutes. It was just his luck that Siwon had asked Eunhyuk as he was coming back if he had done something wrong and Eunhyuk was nice enough to at least be in their apartment before bursting out in laughter.
"I can't believe you slammed the door in his face!" Eunhyuk finally managed to blurt out while laughing so hard that Sungmin honestly thought he looked like he was about to die. "Great way to introduce yourself."
"Just shut up," Sungmin's scream muffled by the pillow he had buried his face in.
After Sungmin had wallowed in his misery for a few good minutes and Eunhyuk had finally regained his senses, he spoke up. "So, was he really that pretty to you?"
Sungmin contemplated the question for a few seconds before looking up at Eunhyuk, answering, "Prettier than those girls that go to your classes not wanting to dance and just to stare at you instead. And now I've probably ruined whatever chance I've gotten to even being his friend," before landing face first back onto the pillow.
Eunhyuk patted his back reassuringly. "There, there. Don't lose hope! He sounded really sincere when he asked if he had done anything wrong. And no, I did not tell him that your way of telling a guy that he's hot is by slamming the door in his face. I don't think he'd be able to comprehend that."
"Still, I slammed a door in his face! He probably thinks I'm crazy as it is!" he almost wailed.
The glint in Eunhyuk's eyes if Sungmin had seen it, would have probably left shivers up his spine and an uneasy feeling for days. "Don't worry about that."
It wasn't until 4 nights later that Sungmin had found out exactly what Eunhyuk had meant. And he freaked. But in all honesty, was it really his fault that he had just stood there for around 5 minutes when he had seen Siwon sitting there with Eunhyuk on their couch?
"Sungmin, you're back! Say hello to Siwon. I invited him over for dinner, since Hae said he couldn't come over tonight and I already cooked his share." He was definitely going to wrangle the blonde's neck later for doing this behind his back.
"Hi," Sungmin voiced out pathetically, waving weakly. He knew better than trying to run when his roommate was determined to get something done.
So that's how he had found himself sitting on opposite ends of the couch with Siwon, Eunhyuk out for an "emergency call". They just sat there in silence, Sungmin fiddling around with a loose thread at the edge of his sleeve when he had finally snapped.
"Alright, you might think I'm some crazy person and it's perfectly understandable," Sungmin said, turning to face Siwon.
"Uh..." The look on Siwon's face blank.
Sungmin just continued. "I mean, I don't usually slam doors in people faces but do you even know how you looked like? You, all pretty and god-like, standing right in front of my front door while I was wearing a goddamn dress. What else was I suppose to do besides slam that darn door and squeal like some high school girl only to cry later at what I did?"
"Sung-" Siwon tried to voice out.
"I know, I know! You probably want to run away. I'll do it for you and retreat into some dark corner of my room-"
"SUNGMIN!"
Sungmin blinked a few times. "Yeah?"
"I don't think you're crazy," the other was finally able to voice out.
"Oh."
"And if it makes you feel better, you look amazing, with or without a dress."
"Oh."
"And since you're probably experiencing shock right now, I assume now would be a bad time to say I really want to kiss you, right?"
Was he honestly asking that? Sungmin thought to himself. "Probably," was what he replied before wounding his arms around Siwon's neck, pushing him forward. "But I've always thought the word was a little overrated," before pressing his lips against the other.
It didn't take much for it to proceed to some hot make-out session that would have probably involved a lot less clothes if Eunhyuk had came back 5 minutes later.
"Not that I'm not ecstatic that you guys made out or anything," Eunhyuk said as he looked at the two blushing people. "But could you guys have at least moved it to a less public area?"
And that's how the heated kisses at the corner of every empty room had started, stuff that was just one step away from being sex. Hell, it was already like it and they hadn't even reached foreplay yet. There were only so many silent, heated nights Sungmin could endure with his own hands as company.
So, when Eunhyuk back with Donghae to their hometown to spend Christmas, Sungmin had pushed Siwon against the wall that night and kissed him all hot and steamy, tongue tracing the insides of his mouth.
"What's with the sudden force tonight?" Siwon gasped out as they parted for air, trying his best to catch his breath as Sungmin lowered his head and traced patterns with his tongue on Siwon's exposed collarbone.
"I just want you all to myself for a moment, is that wrong?" It was getting harder for Siwon to think when that mouth had decided to leave a mark on his skin, soothing laps against bruised skin. "We've got the apartment all to ourselves and we're really not going to use it?"
It was when Sungmin had trailed those delicate hands of his down south, Siwon thought it was a great idea that Eunhyuk and Donghae had left them all alone.
6.
There was something about the saying that distance only makes the heart grow fonder that Sungmin felt totally associated with his feelings right now.
It was that one single thought that had caused him to collide with something solid, heavy and very breathing He quickly scrambled off and got up on his feet, blushing slightly as he extended a hand to the redhead. "I'm sorry, had stuff running across my mind and I wasn't really looking."
"It's alright. I wasn't really paying attention myself," a vaguely familiar voice said as the man brushed himself off. There was something about his face that seemed to remind him of...
"Kyuhyun?"
The redhead turned to stare at him. "How did you know my- Omo, Sungmin, is that you?"
Sungmin smiled widely, quick to envelop the younger man into a hug. "God, I missed you! It's been ages! How are you?"
He felt Kyuhyun stiffen before tentatively wrapping his arms around him and finally relaxing. There was something in the way Kyuhyun was hugging him that seemed a little desperate, almost as if he didn't believe he was real.
"I'm fine. Finished my degree and I'm working as an accountant," Kyuhyun said once Sungmin had allowed the other to slip away from his grasp.
Unable to resist the urge, Sungmin ruffled his hair. "God, it's been so long since I did this!"
Kyuhyun frowned and shoved Sungmin's hand away while shouting, "Gah! Don't have to remind me!"
It took a few moments of silence and the tinkle of Sungmin's laughter for Kyuhyun to speak out his next words.
"So how are your parents?"
Sungmin froze slightly at the question before straightening up and giving Kyuhyun a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. "Everything's fine."
Kyuhyun knew more than anything that the statement meant anything but. It was like that time Sungmin's grandmother had passed away and Sungmin hadn't shed a tear during her funeral, saying everything was fine. Like when his sister had gotten married and left him alone to fend himself and he just passed it all off with a smile and everyone had truly believed he was ok.
But it was Kyuhyun who had stayed up during those long nights when Sungmin's walls would break, holding the older in his arms as salty tears made their way down his face, when crying alone in an empty house just felt unbearable.
Suddenly, a thrill ring could be heard and Sungmin fisted his phone out of his pocket, smiling slightly as he saw the name that flashed across the screen. Kyuhyun was curious to who it was as he heard Sungmin answer, "Hi Siwon... Yeah... Tomorrow afternoon?... Alright, I'll see you then. I love you... Bye."
"Hey, are you free tomorrow afternoon, Kyu?" Sungmin asked, a bright smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah, I am."
"Good! You're having lunch with me tomorrow and meeting Siwon too!"
The look on Kyuhyun's face remained enigmatic as he silently nodded.
___________________________________________________________________________
There was a funny look on Kyuhyun's face when he had shook hands with Siwon that Sungmin had noticed.
"What's wrong with you today?" Sungmin has asked as Siwon had left after an emergency call from his company. Kyuhyun and him were sitting face-to-face, with Kyuhyun mindlessly nudging his food.
"How much do you honestly know about Siwon?" Kyuhyun had suddenly asked out of the blue, his eyes still trained on his untouched plate.
Sungmin was confused at the random question. "Enough to know he's a good person. Why, Kyu?"
Kyuhyun scoffed. "Are you serious?"
Sungmin's prompt reply was, "Yes, you ass." He had never liked it when Kyuhyun would get mad, especially when he had done nothing wrong.
"Then you're an absolutely idiot," Kyuhyun said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"Alright, you're attitude today is seriously off. There's something you're not telling me, Cho Kyuhyun. Why are you absolutely against Siwon?"
"Because your dear Choi Siwon has been cheating behind your back!" Kyuhyun almost shouted to Sungmin, attracting the attention from the other guests in the restaurant.
Kyuhyun had expected Sungmin to cry or at least make a fit about his statement but all he got were two words that seemed to weight more than the other two. "You're jealous."
"I'm not! I'm just concerned for an idiot who doesn't seem to know the truth!"
He knew Sungmin has snapped the moment he stood up while saying, "That's it, I'm going. Have a nice lunch," before walking off.
Maybe, he thought at the back of his mind, that he should have never left the bunny alone in the first place.
____________________________________________________________________________
Kyuhyun always believed that good things never came when it was raining heavily.
He wasn't a superstitious person but nothing good had ever came to him whenever it rained, especially in sheets.
Almost as if reading his thoughts, he had heard a knock on the door.
"Coming!"
And when he had swung that door open and was greeted with a familiar set of doe eyes rimmed with tears, he had quickly ushered him in, away from the cold and harsh weather.
"Eunhyuk told me your address," Sungmin had silently said after Kyuhyun had made him remove his clothes and handed him a pair of his own clothes to keep dry before going off to make some tea. "I wasn't thinking when I came here, I'm sorry."
As Kyuhyun placed the steaming mug of amber liquid in front of him, he fiddled nervously with his fingers, smooth limbs tangling with one another. "You were right. You were right and I was stupid, so very stupid. I must look like such an idiot right now, right?" Sungmin's laugh was bitter and almost non-existent.
"No, you don't," Kyuhyun said, wrapping his arms around Sungmin as the inevitable tears came.
"W-Was I ugly? Was I n-not e-enough?" Kyuhyun had heard the smaller man mumble between sobs, arms tightening as his body shook harder.
"Maybe I-I was meant t-to end up a-alone," he continued, and Kyuhyun broke.
"You're such a cruel person, Lee Sungmin. So very cruel," Kyuhyun said, a slight smile on his face as those arms still stayed around the other. "It's so easy to see you love him. But does he love you? Why can't you see me as him and love me as you love him?"
And then Sungmin suddenly stills, the words coming out from Kyuhyun hitting him like a ton of bricks that makes him realise all those moments that he had shared with the snarky younger man, of how he had passed off the affection as just simple brotherly love.
Despite the nagging voice that was telling him to push the younger man away in hopes of retaining their friendship, of keeping things simple and uncomplicated, it those next words uttered that hold him down.
"It's always been you for me."
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Kyuhyunnie ah, can you promise me something?" the dark-haired 10 year old asked, looking up from the long math equations he had been forced to do. He'd honestly never understand the reason for school.
The younger just gave him a small grunt in response, eyes glued to the game console in his hand.
Sungmin had never expected to ask him like this but, like his mother had always said, there was no time like the present. "Promise me you'll never leave, no matter what."
Maybe it was the tone of his voice or maybe it was the slight look of desperation in the other's eyes when he taken his eyes off the colourful screen in front of him that had him responding with something totally unlike him.
"Always. It'll always be you for me."
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