[FF] Eyes Wide Shut
Title: Eyes Wide Shut
Pairing: Suho/D.O.
Genre: University! AU, Fluff, Crack
Rating: PG-13
Summary: 4630 words. Do Kyungsoo is the socially awkward student team manager of the Green Hunters' Men's Basketball Team. Let's say Joonmyun is the team captain and a shoujo manga plot follows.
Note: Set in the same verse as One on One but can be read as a standalone fic.
It is almost nightfall. Outside the gymnasium is an empty car park where the drizzle that had fallen earlier in the afternoon has faintly erased the mark of vehicular tires that smeared the still damp asphalt road. The street lamps surrounding the area have started to flicker and just moments after a complete darkness dominates with a moon-less sky, the lights turn on.
Joonmyun parks his silver car on the spot farthest from the gym's entrance, grabbing his dark green duffel bag and a pair of white Nike sneakers stuffed inside his car's compartment. He has taken a liking to park on a particular spot, with a tall bushy tree shadowing the small line-painted area, yellow leaves falling as the wind blows as if it was testing how the tree’s sturdiness.
The illuminated gym looks a little different from that spot, with a lit-up logo of the Green Hunters shining brightly from afar. But what Joonmyun actually likes is the short walk along the red bricked sidewalk leading to the gym's entrance.
During daylight, he likes taking note of the structures of the buildings around, how they have so many windows, how the mosses creep up from the ground, how the paint looks fading. However, during nights like this one, he likes listening to the sound of the rustling leaves and of cicadas chirping, or looking for patterns of stars in the skies, of night lights and bokeh.
He halts when he reaches the gym's door, carefully sliding it open. His eyes narrow at the sight of a familiar young boy clad in a simple pair of jeans, an oversized black shirt and worn-out sneakers, singing in a beautiful melody as he runs around the gym with a mop in his hands.
Joonmyun smiles slightly, not expecting anyone to be around in a special school holiday on a Friday, especially not the boy inside the gym. While his teammates have chosen to make use of the day to rest, or maybe to party with Chanyeol, Joonmyun has decided to use his spare time for alone time/practice time, his own version of a stress reliever.
He enters the gym quietly, trying his best not to disturb the boy, as he sits down to the nearest bench he finds. He puts on his shoes, his curious eyes still not leaving the other person who seems to still not notice his presence, a bit busy with the task of mopping the floor while lost in his own music. Joonmyun smiles because the other boy doesn't sound bad at all, in fact, he sings really well.
Just as when the boy is about to belt a high note for the chorus, he accidentally trips on the stick, landing face flat on the floor.
"Oww," the boy groans, barely managing to sit up while rubbing his aching nose.
Joonmyun tries to hide a chuckle from his corner, witnessing the entire scene, but fails upon unintentionally announcing his presence. The realization that he isn't alone quickly hits the boy and stares at Joonmyun, who has decided to come to the other's aid, with a horrified look.
"Here, let me help you up," Joonmyun smiles gently, his eyes curving up along. He offers a hand to the singer who looks at him like a deer caught in the headlights, the thick eyeglasses the boy is wearing earlier forgotten on the floor.
"You didn't tell me you can sing."
The boy hesitates for a moment but Joonmyun reaches his hand again, closer to him this time.
"T-thank you," the boy stutters, finally taking Joonmyun's hand to stand up, cheeks flushing bright red.
Joonmyun pulls up the other easily, his eyes flickering and lips curling in amusement. He bends down again to pick up the pair of now crooked eyeglasses near the boy's feet and slowly puts it on the boy, against his small reddish nose probably caused by the fall. He can't help but keep a grin, when he eyes the messy hair of the boy looking as if he just got out of bed.
Before Joonmyun realizes, he slowly reaches out his hand to fix the other's hair, not really thinking aside from the fact that this boy in front of him looks everything that shouts cute. The boy opposite him stands dazed, as if his brain is trying to process what is happening.
He flinches when Joonmyun's finger makes an accidental touch to the boy's left ear.
"Ah!" The boy cries, almost sounding like a moan. He quickly covers his mouth, clapping it with both hands, eyes growing wider.
Joonmyun quickly retracts his hand at takes a step back, even startled at his own actions. "I'm sorry!" He mumbles when the words come out of him. "You look different without your eyeglasses on. You are…beautiful."
The boy flushes in an even brighter shade of red. They stand in moments of awkward silence before the other bows ninety degrees to Joonmyun before saying, "I- I should go."
He runs out of the gym, leaving Joonmyun alone and stunned.
***
"Hyung! Have you heard?" Jongin hops enthusiastically, draping an arm over Joonmyun's shoulder. "We have a new student team manager this season!"
"Oh?" Joonmyun asks slightly disinterested. He is just about to start doing some body stretching in preparation for today's practice session when Jongin comes to him like a kid high on sugar, which is actually his normal self. He spares the younger yet taller sophomore who is grinning wide with a questioning look.
Jongin leans closer and whispers as if revealing his darkest secrets, "And I really hope he's hot."
Joonmyun rolls his eyes and frees himself of Jongin's arms who pouts upon getting shrugged off. "Maybe the reason Taemin quit was because of your harassment."
Joonmyun sits down in a V position, aiming to stretch his leg muscles for warm-up. Seeing this, Jongin places both palms against Joonmyun's back and pushes the other gently, allowing Suho's hands to touch his own feet, even exceeding his normal flexibility limit.
"What? It's not considered harassment if the consent was mutual."
Joonmyun groans. "God, I don't even want to know the details. I've had enough horror stories from Chanyeol about him and his Chinese prince from the blue side, of all schools."
The younger pushes his back with a bit more force. He feels the tension gathering on his leg muscles before Jongin releases and Joonmyun allows his legs to relax.
"Kris is definitely sexy though," Jongin snorts. "I give Chanyeol credit for his outstanding stalking effort to finally land the guy he has been wet-dreaming of all his puberty life."
The assistant coach arrives just as when Joonmyun is thinking whether he should kick Jongin's shins to teach him how to shut his mouth or maybe consider sparing him. He decides to go with the latter option when the assistant coach calls for the team to gather for an announcement.
Joonmyun's eyes fall to a short person clad in a baggy shirt and old fading denim pants with a long-for-a-guy messy hair and deformed eyeglasses, trailing behind assistant coach Lee. The boy walks rather gawky, his head bowed down entirely like he can trip on air anytime.
"Kyungsoo right here will be our student team manager for this season," he claps the boy's shoulders as the boy jumps out a little with a soft squeak. "Everyone, I trust you to be nice to him."
"I am always nice to people!" Jongin comments loudly and the whole team sniggers.
Joonmyun can tell with the way how their new student team manager digs his foot on the floor that Kyungsoo is already contemplating a plan to escape, as if he never wanted to be there in the first place.
Kyungsoo's face can be barely seen behind a bushy hair, even made more hidden with a pair of round thick, old-fashioned eyeglasses. Kyungsoo has managed to keep his gaze on the ground, even after assistant coach Lee has introduced him to the whole team, nervously picking imaginary dirt on his neatly trimmed nails.
Beside Joonmyun, Jongin makes a soft comment, "Not what I am expecting, a bit nerdy even."
He leans closer and shamelessly whispers to Joonmyun's ears, "But would you look at that perfectly shaped ass. I'd tap that."
He glares at Jongin before the younger retreats quickly to save his own life.
***
All Do Kyungsoo wants is to graduate from college. While he still has two more years before he finishes his degree in Applied Mathematics, he doesn't really want any form of distractions or worse, obstacles that will block the goals he has set for himself.
If he graduates from one of the top, not to mention, elite universities in South Korea, with top grades or flying colors, if things go his way, everything will eventually follow. Everything has already been planned out in Kyungsoo's mind. Graduating will lead him to find a high-paying job that will eventually help him feed his family.
This is not to say Kyungsoo's family is downright poor, but they aren't exactly rich either; at least not enough to send him to an elite university like the home of the Green Hunters. So when a scholarship grant only offered to crème of the crop high school students reached his humble home's mailbox, he was more than willing to accept it with the only condition of maintaining his grades and doing enough service hours for the school.
He panics when one day he gets called to report in the Office of the Dean for a 'special task,' the secretary says. The sense of urgency of the call has just been confirmed when the Dean personally tells him he is specially tasked to be this season's student team manager of the Green Hunters Men's Basketball Team.
Kyungsoo tries not to faint in front of the Dean and nods uncertainly.
"Did you just say you're going to be a student team manager for the Green Hunters this season?!" Jongdae screams at him over the phone.
Kyungsoo flinches away, thinking his eardrum just broke because of his overreacting best friend. "Would you please calm down?" He says, placing the phone back to his right ear after rubbing it.
"How could I calm down when you could probably be the Cupid that will get me to date Byun Baekhyun?!"
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. Jongdae is probably jumping up and down his bed at this moment. Just Jongdae and his fantasies. "Kim Jongdae, please, you are not helping me address this situation at all."
He hears Jongdae sighing at the other line, "I don't get what's so bad about it. I mean, you have close to perfect grades and you don't even do extra-curricular activities."
"I'm going to get less study time."
"You study all the time," Jongdae emphasizes."You have so much time in your hands Kyungsoo. You are just thinking too much."
"I don't even care about basketball."
"But I bet you would care about a hot basketball player." Jongdae sniggers.
"Of all things, I am least interested in getting a boyfriend!" Kyungsoo feels scandalized.
"Say that when you mean it," and Jongdae hangs up on him.
***
There is one thing Kyungsoo has forgotten to consult Jongdae, his rich and genius best friend since they were still in diapers, about.
Kyungsoo is a socially awkward person. And it does not help his only, with emphasis on the word only, friend isn't studying in the same university as him. Jongdae has decided to pursue a degree in Molecular Biology in the home of the Maroon Fighters, the school that breeds only geniuses of his kind, located in the opposite side of South Korea.
But despite not having his best friend physically around him, he has already gotten pretty comfortable in solitude in college. Making friends just does not appeal to Kyungsoo when he already has Jongdae. First, it's more convenient; second, people are considered distractions.
But being a student team manager of the Green Hunters requires so much social skills on his part, to the point that it is driving him crazy. For one thing, he learns that basketball players are quite touchy. He spots Chanyeol, the tall guy with a permed hair, do a chest bump with the smaller Baekhyun, whom he recognizes as Jongdae's dream boy, when he scored a rimless three pointer.
He cringes when he sees Jongin casually patting Chanyeol's behind, perhaps a secret body language among these athletes when they recognize each other's little achievements, which Kyungsoo's almost perfect GPA could not even rationalize.
His everyday life duty as a student team manager has become a difficult process of social adaptation for him.
But everything drastically changes when Joonmyun happens to significantly enter his life.
It begins one night when Kyungsoo has been left alone in the gym for clean-up duties after everyone has left once the the practice session is over. He picks up the basketballs left scattered on the floor and brings them to the steel cage for keeping. He makes his way to the storage room, fetching a mop stick when he hears the sound of the gym door opening.
Joonmyun stands in the doorway, looking just as surprised to see the younger boy still in the gym.
"You're still here." Joonmyun says, sounding like stating an obvious fact rather asking a question. He gives Kyungsoo a faint smile and Kyungsoo feels his heart leap a bit. This is the first time the team captain has spoken to him and it makes him more nervous than he already is.
"Uh, yes." Kyungsoo answers softly, his voice slightly croaking upon being addressed to. "C-Cleaning duties."
Joonmyun glances over Kyungsoo's hand that's holding the mop stick. "You don't have to do it. We have the school's maintenance crew to do that."
"Mmm," Kyungsoo shakes his head. "It's alright. I want to do it."
Joonmyun laughs, "Wow, you have a lot of free time in your hands then."
Kyungsoo frowns and Joonmyun is a bit surprised. This is probably the longest conversation he has had with the student team manager. He is even more amazed that the boy even knows how to speak sentences, when he only answers with one-liners every time he is addressed upon, let alone make cute facial expressions.
"Look, I didn't mean it in an offensive way," Joonmyun smiles sheepishly, placing a hand behind his neck. "I forgot my textbook in the locker and I have a quiz in Philosophy tomorrow. But I think I can spare my time and give you a hand at that."
Kyungsoo looks at him behind his thick eyeglasses and furrows his eyebrows. And before he could react, Joonmyun quickly snatches the mop stick from his grip and starts mopping the floor.
For the first time as well, Joonmyun witnesses how Kyungsoo's lips curve into the most beautiful and mysterious smile he has ever seen.
***
Their friendship develops from that point onwards. Kyungsoo is still awkward in front of people, but always shows a whole new side to Joonmyun whenever they are left alone.
Joonmyun has started to stay behind every after practice, always lending a helping hand to the student team manager and finishing not-really-his-but-does-it-anyway duties together. Sometimes when it's not too late in the evening, they even drop by the café nearby and study together, with Joonmyun cramming to write an analysis paper for Psychology while Kyungsoo deals with the Mathematical functions in front of him.
Kyungsoo slowly begins to look forward to the nightly practice sessions in the school's gymnasium too, not noticing how this has made a drastic difference to his usual school-library-dorm routine. But Jongdae is right, of course. He can actually afford to spare some of his studying time for this. He has so much excess time in his hands that he only uses to study, study and study.
Now, he uses his extra time to get to know people, get to know Joonmyun. It's a whole new experience on his part, how he feels a weird churning sensation in his stomach every time Joonmyun smiles, or how the way his eyes twinkle when he laughs.
The feeling is very new to Kyungsoo, weird and confusing even. That's why it comes as overwhelming when one day, during a declared school holiday inside the gym of the empty campus, Joonmyun appears in front of him and tells him with his sincere eyes that he's beautiful. It scares him. He doesn't know how to respond so does the only thing he can think of and runs away.
He doesn't understand why he suddenly feels uncomfortable with the idea of Joonmyun hating him because he is an awkward boy who freaked out because of Joonmyun's touch, of how Joonmyun looks as him and he doesn't deserve it.
"It felt like the best thing to do, and now I feel horrible. What if he starts to hate me?"
Jongdae lets out a sigh over the phone. "You, my friend, are awkwardly in love with no less than the Captain Green Hunter."
Kyungsoo barely hears Jongdae's next string of words because the drumming sound of his heartbeat has overtaken his senses.
"I'm not," Kyungsoo groans, bringing a hand on his face, as if trying to rub off the blush creeping on his face.
"Definitely in love and awkward," Jongdae sighs again. "Just because I love you in a purely platonic sense Do Kyungsoo, I am coming over tomorrow to fix that heart of yours."
Because Jongdae is always right, Kyungsoo agrees.
***
Kyungsoo doesn't understand why of all things, Jongdae has decided to take him to Myeongdong the moment he arrives from his three-hour travel to Kyungsoo's dorm. It is a Sunday morning and people are just starting to crowd the shopping district but Jongdae doesn't seem to care about Kyungsoo's protests.
Jongdae quickly enters an optical shop and buys his friend a pair of clear contact lenses, insisting that he throws away those old ugly eyeglasses. Kyungsoo frowns because he has never worn contacts before and he doesn't think he'll ever get used to the sensation of a foreign object directly in contact with his eyes. Jongdae shuts him up with a sharp look.
He then takes him to a clothing store and gets Kyungsoo to try on God knows how many outfits and decides to buy them all, swiping his parents' platinum credit card to his satisfaction. Kyungsoo tells Jongdae he'll pay him back but Jongdae just laughs it off and with a huge grin says, "Think of it as charity work."
"Bastard," Kyungsoo smiles.
When Jongdae heads toward a hair salon, Kyungsoo is already preparing to run for it, but he comes a little bit too late when his friend literally drags him by the arm and pulls him in. He hears Jongdae giving specific instructions to the stylist and passes her a generous amount of cash as tip.
"Say hello to the new Kyungsoo," Jongdae grins, removing his hands that cover his friend's eyes. Kyungsoo stands in a full-length mirror in front of him, gaping at his own reflection.
He looks like a different person, his hair trimmed in a boyish way that highlights the shape of his face he never thought he had. He blinks and it feels a bit weird that he isn't wearing eyeglasses. He fights the urge to scratch an imaginary itching sensation that forms in his eyes. Jongdae has made him wear a white v-neck with a pair of fitted dark denims and white sneakers. The outfit is simple, not too overboard; just the way Kyungsoo likes it.
"See," Jongdae drapes an arm over his friend, talking to him through the mirror. "You look beautiful. You just don't see it yourself. But then Joonmyun comes and he tells you that you are beautiful. He is right, you are beautiful Kyungsoo. You just have to believe you are, and I do."
Kyungsoo's tears are warm on his cheeks but his heart is even warmer. He pulls his best friend to a tight hug and cries against the other's shoulder. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Jongdae rubs circle against Kyungsoo's back, smiling. "Or actually, you could still set me up on a date with Byun Baekhyun."
Kyungsoo smiles and thinks he really has the best, best friend in the whole world. "Silly."
***
Monday comes and Kyungsoo nervously goes straight to the practice session after class. It's a new weird feeling to get acknowledged by the people who used to not pay attention of his existence before. One girl from his class has even walked over his desk to ask if he's new and how come she never sees him. He just gives her a shy smile and answers with a timid “No.”
It's almost the same scenario when he slides the gym door open and everyone's eyes fall on him.
"Excuse me, handsome boy," Jongin says with a flirtatious smile, walking toward his direction. "But outsiders are not allowed in here."
"Uhm," Kyungsoo bashfully points to himself and says without thinking, "It's me."
"Oh. It's me too," Jongin sneers. "Seriously though, your cuteness doesn't make you exempted from the rule. I'll just give you my number since you are cute and maybe we can go on a da--"
"Oh my God. Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun suddenly gawks at him, suddenly appearing behind Jongin.
Jongin looks at Baekhyun and creases his forehead. "What are you talking about Baekhyun, he can't b--" Jongin takes one look at Kyungsoo again, eyes widening in realization. "Oh my God! You're Kyungsoo!"
Jongin jumps back and tries to pick up his jaw from the floor.
"Damn babe," Baekhyun laughs, patting Kyungsoo's back and the boy wonders what's so funny. "I didn't know you are hiding an explosive bomb inside your nerd shell."
Kyungsoo merely gives Baekhyun a demure smile as an answer.
"What is happening here?" A voice asks from behind and Kyungsoo stiffens, because of course he knows that speaking voice by heart.
Baekhyun turns around to face a curious Joonmyun and with a huge grin on his face says, "Captain, our student team manager has finally reached puberty!" He uses his lips to point Kyungsoo out, causing Joonmyun to raise a confused eyebrow.
"You mean, Kyungsoo?" Kyungsoo feels the warmth of a hand placed gently on his shoulder. He takes this cue to nervously turn around, the sound of his own heartbeat betraying him.
He looks up to meet Joonmyun's gaze studying at him from head to toe. Kyungsoo swears he hears a "What's so different about him?" before Joonmyun looks away and heads to the locker room.
He feels a twitch in his heart. It hurts.
***
Joonmyun tries to avoid him the whole practice session. Kyungsoo has never even met the other's gaze once, not even during break time when he has passed him a bottle of Gatorade and their fingers brush accidently. Kyungsoo jolts a little at the contact, blushing hard but the just elder stands up and props himself on the other bench.
For the first time in his life, he wants the attention, he wants to be looked at, to be noticed, but Joonmyun won't even spare him a glance.
"Kyungsoo-ssi, I need you to take note of the each team member's weight and height. It's necessary for their diet plan that shall be implemented next week," assistant coach Lee tells him, handing him a clipboard with a paper that lists down the names of the Green Hunter's basketball players.
"Just go straight to the locker room, I've already told them to prepare for this earlier."
Kyungsoo isn't really feeling well. There's a certain sensation in his stomach that makes him uncomfortable as all he wants to do is to go back to the dorm and sleep. But he doesn't have the will to excuse himself so he complies instead and walks in to the locker room.
The locker room reeks of a contrast between the stench of sweat and a fresh from shower scent. The non-stop chattering of the crowd makes him feel a little bit dizzy. Kyungsoo tries not to wobble his way to corner where the weighing scale has been set-up.
The boys continue to bicker as he enters, shouting comments along the lines of "Kyungsoo is so hot," or "I can't believe he's the same person," or "Let's go out drinking later." But Kyungsoo is so out of it, his head is already pulsing that he can barely pay attention to what the others are saying until Jongin drapes an arm over him and everything goes black.
The last thing he remembers is the pair of strong arms that lift him up.
***
Kyungsoo wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize. There are trophies and medals displayed on a cabinet opposite the bed, where shounen mangas of different titles are also neatly stacked-up. He also spots a couple of Gundam figures just below where the mangas are located. A huge poster of Jeremy Lin, Kyungsoo knows him because he is Asian, is plastered against the apple green wall surrounded with more posters of other NBA players whom Kyungsoo cannot name.
He has this slightest bit of an idea where he is but he thinks it's silly so he goes lying back on the bed instead. It is not until Joonmyun walks into the room with a bowl of steaming egg soup in both hands that his speculation gets confirmed.
Kyungsoo quickly shuts his eyes before Joonmyun can even notice.
He hears the hushed footsteps of Joonmyun coming into the room, lightly placing the bowl of soup on the table beside him. He feels the rustling of the bed when Joonmyun sits on the edge and places the back of his hand gently against Kyungsoo's forehead.
Kyungsoo tries not to move when Joonmyun's hands caresses his cheeks, wiping the tears that are not there. Joonmyun's hands are rough against his cheek, but they are warm, comforting and gentle. Kyungsoo hopes the blush that is threatening to creep up his face does not give him away.
"I'm sorry," Kyungsoo hears Joonmyun whisper. "I am an idiot, Kyungsoo. I'm a bastard."
"I don't know why I even acted like that earlier, maybe I'm jealous. God okay, I am jealous," Joonmyun snickers, covering half of his face with his palm. "Because I have been looking at you all this time and now everybody's eyes are all on you. Because finally Kyungsoo, you've finally realized how beautiful you are. And I hate it. I hate sharing what is supposed to be mine and you are not even mine yet. I am so stupid."
"Y-You are," Kyungsoo says, his voice croaking. He slowly opens his eyes and gazes towards the elder, his shadow hovering above him.
Kyungsoo has expected Joonmyun to wear an astonished look, but instead, he is met by the elder's angelic smile.
"I am," Joonmyun says as he pulls Kyungsoo for a hug. He tightens the hug and whispers next to Kyungsoo's ears. "And I really like you Do Kyungsoo."
Maybe his blushing face betrayed him again.
***
Everybody from Kyungsoo's class is staring outside the window; he can hear the girls in front of him whispering about it, that the school celebrity, Captain Green Hunter is outside their classroom and is waiting for someone.
The school bell rings and Kyungsoo inwardly panics because his classmates don't look like they are planning to leave yet. But when Joonmyun spots him from the crowd and waves at him with his trademark smile, he decides he doesn't want to keep him waiting.
Everybody's eyes are on him, but he doesn't seem to care. He runs toward Joonmyun and intertwines their fingers together as they walk towards the gym for practice.
***
A/N: EXO's Parent Couple! I call them D-Ho, because it sounds so gangstah ayoo waddup d-ho, while most people call it SuDO/KyungMyeon hehe. Also, a tiiiiny KaiSoo and SuKai just because I can ninja sail my OT3 ship >:D
Written for the entertainment of Nina lessvocals who gave me this amusing prompt which I butchered to fit a shoujo manga dokidoki moe moe plot and seconded by my strict-with-this-fic beta mara_ciro Clara.
Cheese.
Pairing: Suho/D.O.
Genre: University! AU, Fluff, Crack
Rating: PG-13
Summary: 4630 words. Do Kyungsoo is the socially awkward student team manager of the Green Hunters' Men's Basketball Team. Let's say Joonmyun is the team captain and a shoujo manga plot follows.
Note: Set in the same verse as One on One but can be read as a standalone fic.
It is almost nightfall. Outside the gymnasium is an empty car park where the drizzle that had fallen earlier in the afternoon has faintly erased the mark of vehicular tires that smeared the still damp asphalt road. The street lamps surrounding the area have started to flicker and just moments after a complete darkness dominates with a moon-less sky, the lights turn on.
Joonmyun parks his silver car on the spot farthest from the gym's entrance, grabbing his dark green duffel bag and a pair of white Nike sneakers stuffed inside his car's compartment. He has taken a liking to park on a particular spot, with a tall bushy tree shadowing the small line-painted area, yellow leaves falling as the wind blows as if it was testing how the tree’s sturdiness.
The illuminated gym looks a little different from that spot, with a lit-up logo of the Green Hunters shining brightly from afar. But what Joonmyun actually likes is the short walk along the red bricked sidewalk leading to the gym's entrance.
During daylight, he likes taking note of the structures of the buildings around, how they have so many windows, how the mosses creep up from the ground, how the paint looks fading. However, during nights like this one, he likes listening to the sound of the rustling leaves and of cicadas chirping, or looking for patterns of stars in the skies, of night lights and bokeh.
He halts when he reaches the gym's door, carefully sliding it open. His eyes narrow at the sight of a familiar young boy clad in a simple pair of jeans, an oversized black shirt and worn-out sneakers, singing in a beautiful melody as he runs around the gym with a mop in his hands.
Joonmyun smiles slightly, not expecting anyone to be around in a special school holiday on a Friday, especially not the boy inside the gym. While his teammates have chosen to make use of the day to rest, or maybe to party with Chanyeol, Joonmyun has decided to use his spare time for alone time/practice time, his own version of a stress reliever.
He enters the gym quietly, trying his best not to disturb the boy, as he sits down to the nearest bench he finds. He puts on his shoes, his curious eyes still not leaving the other person who seems to still not notice his presence, a bit busy with the task of mopping the floor while lost in his own music. Joonmyun smiles because the other boy doesn't sound bad at all, in fact, he sings really well.
Just as when the boy is about to belt a high note for the chorus, he accidentally trips on the stick, landing face flat on the floor.
"Oww," the boy groans, barely managing to sit up while rubbing his aching nose.
Joonmyun tries to hide a chuckle from his corner, witnessing the entire scene, but fails upon unintentionally announcing his presence. The realization that he isn't alone quickly hits the boy and stares at Joonmyun, who has decided to come to the other's aid, with a horrified look.
"Here, let me help you up," Joonmyun smiles gently, his eyes curving up along. He offers a hand to the singer who looks at him like a deer caught in the headlights, the thick eyeglasses the boy is wearing earlier forgotten on the floor.
"You didn't tell me you can sing."
The boy hesitates for a moment but Joonmyun reaches his hand again, closer to him this time.
"T-thank you," the boy stutters, finally taking Joonmyun's hand to stand up, cheeks flushing bright red.
Joonmyun pulls up the other easily, his eyes flickering and lips curling in amusement. He bends down again to pick up the pair of now crooked eyeglasses near the boy's feet and slowly puts it on the boy, against his small reddish nose probably caused by the fall. He can't help but keep a grin, when he eyes the messy hair of the boy looking as if he just got out of bed.
Before Joonmyun realizes, he slowly reaches out his hand to fix the other's hair, not really thinking aside from the fact that this boy in front of him looks everything that shouts cute. The boy opposite him stands dazed, as if his brain is trying to process what is happening.
He flinches when Joonmyun's finger makes an accidental touch to the boy's left ear.
"Ah!" The boy cries, almost sounding like a moan. He quickly covers his mouth, clapping it with both hands, eyes growing wider.
Joonmyun quickly retracts his hand at takes a step back, even startled at his own actions. "I'm sorry!" He mumbles when the words come out of him. "You look different without your eyeglasses on. You are…beautiful."
The boy flushes in an even brighter shade of red. They stand in moments of awkward silence before the other bows ninety degrees to Joonmyun before saying, "I- I should go."
He runs out of the gym, leaving Joonmyun alone and stunned.
***
"Hyung! Have you heard?" Jongin hops enthusiastically, draping an arm over Joonmyun's shoulder. "We have a new student team manager this season!"
"Oh?" Joonmyun asks slightly disinterested. He is just about to start doing some body stretching in preparation for today's practice session when Jongin comes to him like a kid high on sugar, which is actually his normal self. He spares the younger yet taller sophomore who is grinning wide with a questioning look.
Jongin leans closer and whispers as if revealing his darkest secrets, "And I really hope he's hot."
Joonmyun rolls his eyes and frees himself of Jongin's arms who pouts upon getting shrugged off. "Maybe the reason Taemin quit was because of your harassment."
Joonmyun sits down in a V position, aiming to stretch his leg muscles for warm-up. Seeing this, Jongin places both palms against Joonmyun's back and pushes the other gently, allowing Suho's hands to touch his own feet, even exceeding his normal flexibility limit.
"What? It's not considered harassment if the consent was mutual."
Joonmyun groans. "God, I don't even want to know the details. I've had enough horror stories from Chanyeol about him and his Chinese prince from the blue side, of all schools."
The younger pushes his back with a bit more force. He feels the tension gathering on his leg muscles before Jongin releases and Joonmyun allows his legs to relax.
"Kris is definitely sexy though," Jongin snorts. "I give Chanyeol credit for his outstanding stalking effort to finally land the guy he has been wet-dreaming of all his puberty life."
The assistant coach arrives just as when Joonmyun is thinking whether he should kick Jongin's shins to teach him how to shut his mouth or maybe consider sparing him. He decides to go with the latter option when the assistant coach calls for the team to gather for an announcement.
Joonmyun's eyes fall to a short person clad in a baggy shirt and old fading denim pants with a long-for-a-guy messy hair and deformed eyeglasses, trailing behind assistant coach Lee. The boy walks rather gawky, his head bowed down entirely like he can trip on air anytime.
"Kyungsoo right here will be our student team manager for this season," he claps the boy's shoulders as the boy jumps out a little with a soft squeak. "Everyone, I trust you to be nice to him."
"I am always nice to people!" Jongin comments loudly and the whole team sniggers.
Joonmyun can tell with the way how their new student team manager digs his foot on the floor that Kyungsoo is already contemplating a plan to escape, as if he never wanted to be there in the first place.
Kyungsoo's face can be barely seen behind a bushy hair, even made more hidden with a pair of round thick, old-fashioned eyeglasses. Kyungsoo has managed to keep his gaze on the ground, even after assistant coach Lee has introduced him to the whole team, nervously picking imaginary dirt on his neatly trimmed nails.
Beside Joonmyun, Jongin makes a soft comment, "Not what I am expecting, a bit nerdy even."
He leans closer and shamelessly whispers to Joonmyun's ears, "But would you look at that perfectly shaped ass. I'd tap that."
He glares at Jongin before the younger retreats quickly to save his own life.
***
All Do Kyungsoo wants is to graduate from college. While he still has two more years before he finishes his degree in Applied Mathematics, he doesn't really want any form of distractions or worse, obstacles that will block the goals he has set for himself.
If he graduates from one of the top, not to mention, elite universities in South Korea, with top grades or flying colors, if things go his way, everything will eventually follow. Everything has already been planned out in Kyungsoo's mind. Graduating will lead him to find a high-paying job that will eventually help him feed his family.
This is not to say Kyungsoo's family is downright poor, but they aren't exactly rich either; at least not enough to send him to an elite university like the home of the Green Hunters. So when a scholarship grant only offered to crème of the crop high school students reached his humble home's mailbox, he was more than willing to accept it with the only condition of maintaining his grades and doing enough service hours for the school.
He panics when one day he gets called to report in the Office of the Dean for a 'special task,' the secretary says. The sense of urgency of the call has just been confirmed when the Dean personally tells him he is specially tasked to be this season's student team manager of the Green Hunters Men's Basketball Team.
Kyungsoo tries not to faint in front of the Dean and nods uncertainly.
"Did you just say you're going to be a student team manager for the Green Hunters this season?!" Jongdae screams at him over the phone.
Kyungsoo flinches away, thinking his eardrum just broke because of his overreacting best friend. "Would you please calm down?" He says, placing the phone back to his right ear after rubbing it.
"How could I calm down when you could probably be the Cupid that will get me to date Byun Baekhyun?!"
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. Jongdae is probably jumping up and down his bed at this moment. Just Jongdae and his fantasies. "Kim Jongdae, please, you are not helping me address this situation at all."
He hears Jongdae sighing at the other line, "I don't get what's so bad about it. I mean, you have close to perfect grades and you don't even do extra-curricular activities."
"I'm going to get less study time."
"You study all the time," Jongdae emphasizes."You have so much time in your hands Kyungsoo. You are just thinking too much."
"I don't even care about basketball."
"But I bet you would care about a hot basketball player." Jongdae sniggers.
"Of all things, I am least interested in getting a boyfriend!" Kyungsoo feels scandalized.
"Say that when you mean it," and Jongdae hangs up on him.
***
There is one thing Kyungsoo has forgotten to consult Jongdae, his rich and genius best friend since they were still in diapers, about.
Kyungsoo is a socially awkward person. And it does not help his only, with emphasis on the word only, friend isn't studying in the same university as him. Jongdae has decided to pursue a degree in Molecular Biology in the home of the Maroon Fighters, the school that breeds only geniuses of his kind, located in the opposite side of South Korea.
But despite not having his best friend physically around him, he has already gotten pretty comfortable in solitude in college. Making friends just does not appeal to Kyungsoo when he already has Jongdae. First, it's more convenient; second, people are considered distractions.
But being a student team manager of the Green Hunters requires so much social skills on his part, to the point that it is driving him crazy. For one thing, he learns that basketball players are quite touchy. He spots Chanyeol, the tall guy with a permed hair, do a chest bump with the smaller Baekhyun, whom he recognizes as Jongdae's dream boy, when he scored a rimless three pointer.
He cringes when he sees Jongin casually patting Chanyeol's behind, perhaps a secret body language among these athletes when they recognize each other's little achievements, which Kyungsoo's almost perfect GPA could not even rationalize.
His everyday life duty as a student team manager has become a difficult process of social adaptation for him.
But everything drastically changes when Joonmyun happens to significantly enter his life.
It begins one night when Kyungsoo has been left alone in the gym for clean-up duties after everyone has left once the the practice session is over. He picks up the basketballs left scattered on the floor and brings them to the steel cage for keeping. He makes his way to the storage room, fetching a mop stick when he hears the sound of the gym door opening.
Joonmyun stands in the doorway, looking just as surprised to see the younger boy still in the gym.
"You're still here." Joonmyun says, sounding like stating an obvious fact rather asking a question. He gives Kyungsoo a faint smile and Kyungsoo feels his heart leap a bit. This is the first time the team captain has spoken to him and it makes him more nervous than he already is.
"Uh, yes." Kyungsoo answers softly, his voice slightly croaking upon being addressed to. "C-Cleaning duties."
Joonmyun glances over Kyungsoo's hand that's holding the mop stick. "You don't have to do it. We have the school's maintenance crew to do that."
"Mmm," Kyungsoo shakes his head. "It's alright. I want to do it."
Joonmyun laughs, "Wow, you have a lot of free time in your hands then."
Kyungsoo frowns and Joonmyun is a bit surprised. This is probably the longest conversation he has had with the student team manager. He is even more amazed that the boy even knows how to speak sentences, when he only answers with one-liners every time he is addressed upon, let alone make cute facial expressions.
"Look, I didn't mean it in an offensive way," Joonmyun smiles sheepishly, placing a hand behind his neck. "I forgot my textbook in the locker and I have a quiz in Philosophy tomorrow. But I think I can spare my time and give you a hand at that."
Kyungsoo looks at him behind his thick eyeglasses and furrows his eyebrows. And before he could react, Joonmyun quickly snatches the mop stick from his grip and starts mopping the floor.
For the first time as well, Joonmyun witnesses how Kyungsoo's lips curve into the most beautiful and mysterious smile he has ever seen.
***
Their friendship develops from that point onwards. Kyungsoo is still awkward in front of people, but always shows a whole new side to Joonmyun whenever they are left alone.
Joonmyun has started to stay behind every after practice, always lending a helping hand to the student team manager and finishing not-really-his-but-does-it-anyway duties together. Sometimes when it's not too late in the evening, they even drop by the café nearby and study together, with Joonmyun cramming to write an analysis paper for Psychology while Kyungsoo deals with the Mathematical functions in front of him.
Kyungsoo slowly begins to look forward to the nightly practice sessions in the school's gymnasium too, not noticing how this has made a drastic difference to his usual school-library-dorm routine. But Jongdae is right, of course. He can actually afford to spare some of his studying time for this. He has so much excess time in his hands that he only uses to study, study and study.
Now, he uses his extra time to get to know people, get to know Joonmyun. It's a whole new experience on his part, how he feels a weird churning sensation in his stomach every time Joonmyun smiles, or how the way his eyes twinkle when he laughs.
The feeling is very new to Kyungsoo, weird and confusing even. That's why it comes as overwhelming when one day, during a declared school holiday inside the gym of the empty campus, Joonmyun appears in front of him and tells him with his sincere eyes that he's beautiful. It scares him. He doesn't know how to respond so does the only thing he can think of and runs away.
He doesn't understand why he suddenly feels uncomfortable with the idea of Joonmyun hating him because he is an awkward boy who freaked out because of Joonmyun's touch, of how Joonmyun looks as him and he doesn't deserve it.
"It felt like the best thing to do, and now I feel horrible. What if he starts to hate me?"
Jongdae lets out a sigh over the phone. "You, my friend, are awkwardly in love with no less than the Captain Green Hunter."
Kyungsoo barely hears Jongdae's next string of words because the drumming sound of his heartbeat has overtaken his senses.
"I'm not," Kyungsoo groans, bringing a hand on his face, as if trying to rub off the blush creeping on his face.
"Definitely in love and awkward," Jongdae sighs again. "Just because I love you in a purely platonic sense Do Kyungsoo, I am coming over tomorrow to fix that heart of yours."
Because Jongdae is always right, Kyungsoo agrees.
***
Kyungsoo doesn't understand why of all things, Jongdae has decided to take him to Myeongdong the moment he arrives from his three-hour travel to Kyungsoo's dorm. It is a Sunday morning and people are just starting to crowd the shopping district but Jongdae doesn't seem to care about Kyungsoo's protests.
Jongdae quickly enters an optical shop and buys his friend a pair of clear contact lenses, insisting that he throws away those old ugly eyeglasses. Kyungsoo frowns because he has never worn contacts before and he doesn't think he'll ever get used to the sensation of a foreign object directly in contact with his eyes. Jongdae shuts him up with a sharp look.
He then takes him to a clothing store and gets Kyungsoo to try on God knows how many outfits and decides to buy them all, swiping his parents' platinum credit card to his satisfaction. Kyungsoo tells Jongdae he'll pay him back but Jongdae just laughs it off and with a huge grin says, "Think of it as charity work."
"Bastard," Kyungsoo smiles.
When Jongdae heads toward a hair salon, Kyungsoo is already preparing to run for it, but he comes a little bit too late when his friend literally drags him by the arm and pulls him in. He hears Jongdae giving specific instructions to the stylist and passes her a generous amount of cash as tip.
"Say hello to the new Kyungsoo," Jongdae grins, removing his hands that cover his friend's eyes. Kyungsoo stands in a full-length mirror in front of him, gaping at his own reflection.
He looks like a different person, his hair trimmed in a boyish way that highlights the shape of his face he never thought he had. He blinks and it feels a bit weird that he isn't wearing eyeglasses. He fights the urge to scratch an imaginary itching sensation that forms in his eyes. Jongdae has made him wear a white v-neck with a pair of fitted dark denims and white sneakers. The outfit is simple, not too overboard; just the way Kyungsoo likes it.
"See," Jongdae drapes an arm over his friend, talking to him through the mirror. "You look beautiful. You just don't see it yourself. But then Joonmyun comes and he tells you that you are beautiful. He is right, you are beautiful Kyungsoo. You just have to believe you are, and I do."
Kyungsoo's tears are warm on his cheeks but his heart is even warmer. He pulls his best friend to a tight hug and cries against the other's shoulder. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Jongdae rubs circle against Kyungsoo's back, smiling. "Or actually, you could still set me up on a date with Byun Baekhyun."
Kyungsoo smiles and thinks he really has the best, best friend in the whole world. "Silly."
***
Monday comes and Kyungsoo nervously goes straight to the practice session after class. It's a new weird feeling to get acknowledged by the people who used to not pay attention of his existence before. One girl from his class has even walked over his desk to ask if he's new and how come she never sees him. He just gives her a shy smile and answers with a timid “No.”
It's almost the same scenario when he slides the gym door open and everyone's eyes fall on him.
"Excuse me, handsome boy," Jongin says with a flirtatious smile, walking toward his direction. "But outsiders are not allowed in here."
"Uhm," Kyungsoo bashfully points to himself and says without thinking, "It's me."
"Oh. It's me too," Jongin sneers. "Seriously though, your cuteness doesn't make you exempted from the rule. I'll just give you my number since you are cute and maybe we can go on a da--"
"Oh my God. Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun suddenly gawks at him, suddenly appearing behind Jongin.
Jongin looks at Baekhyun and creases his forehead. "What are you talking about Baekhyun, he can't b--" Jongin takes one look at Kyungsoo again, eyes widening in realization. "Oh my God! You're Kyungsoo!"
Jongin jumps back and tries to pick up his jaw from the floor.
"Damn babe," Baekhyun laughs, patting Kyungsoo's back and the boy wonders what's so funny. "I didn't know you are hiding an explosive bomb inside your nerd shell."
Kyungsoo merely gives Baekhyun a demure smile as an answer.
"What is happening here?" A voice asks from behind and Kyungsoo stiffens, because of course he knows that speaking voice by heart.
Baekhyun turns around to face a curious Joonmyun and with a huge grin on his face says, "Captain, our student team manager has finally reached puberty!" He uses his lips to point Kyungsoo out, causing Joonmyun to raise a confused eyebrow.
"You mean, Kyungsoo?" Kyungsoo feels the warmth of a hand placed gently on his shoulder. He takes this cue to nervously turn around, the sound of his own heartbeat betraying him.
He looks up to meet Joonmyun's gaze studying at him from head to toe. Kyungsoo swears he hears a "What's so different about him?" before Joonmyun looks away and heads to the locker room.
He feels a twitch in his heart. It hurts.
***
Joonmyun tries to avoid him the whole practice session. Kyungsoo has never even met the other's gaze once, not even during break time when he has passed him a bottle of Gatorade and their fingers brush accidently. Kyungsoo jolts a little at the contact, blushing hard but the just elder stands up and props himself on the other bench.
For the first time in his life, he wants the attention, he wants to be looked at, to be noticed, but Joonmyun won't even spare him a glance.
"Kyungsoo-ssi, I need you to take note of the each team member's weight and height. It's necessary for their diet plan that shall be implemented next week," assistant coach Lee tells him, handing him a clipboard with a paper that lists down the names of the Green Hunter's basketball players.
"Just go straight to the locker room, I've already told them to prepare for this earlier."
Kyungsoo isn't really feeling well. There's a certain sensation in his stomach that makes him uncomfortable as all he wants to do is to go back to the dorm and sleep. But he doesn't have the will to excuse himself so he complies instead and walks in to the locker room.
The locker room reeks of a contrast between the stench of sweat and a fresh from shower scent. The non-stop chattering of the crowd makes him feel a little bit dizzy. Kyungsoo tries not to wobble his way to corner where the weighing scale has been set-up.
The boys continue to bicker as he enters, shouting comments along the lines of "Kyungsoo is so hot," or "I can't believe he's the same person," or "Let's go out drinking later." But Kyungsoo is so out of it, his head is already pulsing that he can barely pay attention to what the others are saying until Jongin drapes an arm over him and everything goes black.
The last thing he remembers is the pair of strong arms that lift him up.
***
Kyungsoo wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize. There are trophies and medals displayed on a cabinet opposite the bed, where shounen mangas of different titles are also neatly stacked-up. He also spots a couple of Gundam figures just below where the mangas are located. A huge poster of Jeremy Lin, Kyungsoo knows him because he is Asian, is plastered against the apple green wall surrounded with more posters of other NBA players whom Kyungsoo cannot name.
He has this slightest bit of an idea where he is but he thinks it's silly so he goes lying back on the bed instead. It is not until Joonmyun walks into the room with a bowl of steaming egg soup in both hands that his speculation gets confirmed.
Kyungsoo quickly shuts his eyes before Joonmyun can even notice.
He hears the hushed footsteps of Joonmyun coming into the room, lightly placing the bowl of soup on the table beside him. He feels the rustling of the bed when Joonmyun sits on the edge and places the back of his hand gently against Kyungsoo's forehead.
Kyungsoo tries not to move when Joonmyun's hands caresses his cheeks, wiping the tears that are not there. Joonmyun's hands are rough against his cheek, but they are warm, comforting and gentle. Kyungsoo hopes the blush that is threatening to creep up his face does not give him away.
"I'm sorry," Kyungsoo hears Joonmyun whisper. "I am an idiot, Kyungsoo. I'm a bastard."
"I don't know why I even acted like that earlier, maybe I'm jealous. God okay, I am jealous," Joonmyun snickers, covering half of his face with his palm. "Because I have been looking at you all this time and now everybody's eyes are all on you. Because finally Kyungsoo, you've finally realized how beautiful you are. And I hate it. I hate sharing what is supposed to be mine and you are not even mine yet. I am so stupid."
"Y-You are," Kyungsoo says, his voice croaking. He slowly opens his eyes and gazes towards the elder, his shadow hovering above him.
Kyungsoo has expected Joonmyun to wear an astonished look, but instead, he is met by the elder's angelic smile.
"I am," Joonmyun says as he pulls Kyungsoo for a hug. He tightens the hug and whispers next to Kyungsoo's ears. "And I really like you Do Kyungsoo."
Maybe his blushing face betrayed him again.
***
Everybody from Kyungsoo's class is staring outside the window; he can hear the girls in front of him whispering about it, that the school celebrity, Captain Green Hunter is outside their classroom and is waiting for someone.
The school bell rings and Kyungsoo inwardly panics because his classmates don't look like they are planning to leave yet. But when Joonmyun spots him from the crowd and waves at him with his trademark smile, he decides he doesn't want to keep him waiting.
Everybody's eyes are on him, but he doesn't seem to care. He runs toward Joonmyun and intertwines their fingers together as they walk towards the gym for practice.
***
A/N: EXO's Parent Couple! I call them D-Ho, because it sounds so gangstah ayoo waddup d-ho, while most people call it SuDO/KyungMyeon hehe. Also, a tiiiiny KaiSoo and SuKai just because I can ninja sail my OT3 ship >:D
Written for the entertainment of Nina lessvocals who gave me this amusing prompt which I butchered to fit a shoujo manga dokidoki moe moe plot and seconded by my strict-with-this-fic beta mara_ciro Clara.
Cheese.