Secrets Worth Keeping [4/15]
secrets worth keeping [4/15]
Pairings: Kris/Lay, Xiumin/Luhan, one sided!Taoris, Kris/Chanyeol
Genre: High School!AU
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2,290
Summary: Wu Fan is the star player of the school’s basketball team and a known ladies man. But Yixing discovers that it’s not all quite what it seems.
prologue | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | {xiuhan side story} | eight | nine | ten | eleven | twelve | {taochen side story} | thirteen | fourteen | fifteen
Wu Fan doesn’t turn up to school at all on Tuesday - Yixing supposes that it must take too much time to travel to the other school and play. They only host about three basketball matches per season at their own school and the rest are held all around the area at the other schools which participate in the tournament. Their school usually hosts the final though, most probably because they are always playing in it.
When Thursday comes around, Yixing is in a fairly good mood for most of the day due to the fact that they got their English homework back in the morning.
“Guess what?” Yixing says as he walks into the classroom after school, waving a paper in his hand, “I passed the homework assignment.”
Wu Fan’s lips pull into a genuine smile.
“That’s great! See, if you can do that in only a week, imagine what you’re capable of,” he says as Yixing slides into the chair next to him with a short burst of laughter.
“You sound like you should be a motivational speaker.”
Yixing grins and hands his homework over to Wu Fan who clucks approvingly.
“This is much better,” he says, turning to look at Yixing who feels a trickle of pride at his words.
“Thanks. But it’s only because of you.”
Wu Fan’s smile is a little shy as he hands the paper back.
“Hey, how did your basketball match go?” Yixing asks. He is slightly amused by the way Wu Fan’s eyes light up at the mention of basketball.
“It went well actually. I thought they would be more difficult than they were, but they didn’t put up a very good fight.”
Yixing grins. “Look at you all cocky.”
“Shut up,” Wu Fan says shoving at Yixing lightly, frowning despite the smile still dancing on his lips.
“It’s okay, you’re kind of allowed to be. I mean, you are good at it.” There’s a small silence where Yixing realises he’s already complimented Wu Fan twice in the past five minutes. He wonders vaguely if it’s some sort of illness.
Wu Fan looks a little surprised, but the smile is still there, albeit a little softer now.
“Thanks,” he says, “I’m glad you think so.” He fiddles with his pen for a moment before he speaks up again.
“What do you do then?”
“Hm?”
“Everyone has their thing - mine is basketball, what’s yours?” Wu Fan explains, watching him closely.
“I play guitar, and I dance.”
Wu Fan laughs, but it isn’t cruel - something more stemmed from amusement laced with surprise.
“You can dance?”
“Yeah, I love it.” He can’t help the way his voice tenses, taut at the edge of his words, expecting some sort of mocking response. He’s heard it all before - apparently boys dancing isn’t entirely accepted by society’s standards. But Wu Fan doesn’t say anything like that at all.
“I’d love to see you one day,” he says and Yixing blinks in shock.
“What?”
“Well, you’ve seen me play basketball, so I’d like to see you dance.”
He doesn’t really know how to respond, so Yixing just stares at him blankly and then something clicks in his head - the realisation that he has judged Wu Fan completely wrong.
“Okay,” he says, “maybe one day.”
*
Yixing gets to school a little early the next morning and sits on one of the benches in the playground, deciding to make some notes while he is waiting for his friends to arrive. He is so lost in concentration that he barely notices when someone sits down beside him, until said person touches him on the arm.
“Good morning.”
Yixing starts and one of his pens goes flying off the table. His head snaps around to see Wu Fan smiling beside him.
“Hi?” he responds, because it’s a bit disconcerting to see Wu Fan outside their tutoring times and without a flock of girls hovering around him.
Wu Fan looks over his shoulder, arms crossed on the bench as he leans forward.
“Are you doing English?”
Yixing hums, “Yeah, I thought I’d get some extra practice in while I wait for my friends to get here. Why are you so early?”
“I’m always early,” he says, “I usually come to play basketball in the morning.”
“Ah I see.”
Silence settles on them - it’s not awkward though, more of a patient wait as Yixing neatly puts his books back into his bag. There aren’t many people around so early, only a few scattered throughout the playground, the low calls of birds the only sound against the stillness.
Yixing finishes putting his books away and turns around on the bench so that he’s facing Wu Fan, back pressed against the table.
“Say something in English,” he asks suddenly and Wu Fan glances at him, amusement in his eyes.
“Why?”
“Well I’ve never heard you speak English properly, only a few words and sentences. Say something!”
He laughs and Yixing smiles - there’s something strangely satisfying about seeing Wu Fan let himself relax like this.
“I don’t know, what do you want me to say?”
Yixing rests his elbow on the bench and blinks at him, smile wide.
“Whatever.”
Wu Fan laughs again, seemingly embarrassed. He coughs into his hand and says a few sentences and although Yixing can’t understand it completely, he is able to understand the basic implication.
“Did you just call me stupid?”
Wu Fan answers him with a grin.
“I hate you,” Yixing says and pokes him in the side. There’s a pause where Wu Fan just looks at him with a frown, and then he is laughing so loudly that he sends a flurry of birds fluttering into the air.
“You should laugh more often,” Yixing says, stretching his arms behind his head with a yawn - it’s far too early in the morning to be awake, he thinks hazily.
“I do laugh?” Wu Fan replies, puzzlement etching itself onto his face. Yixing shakes his head.
“Not like that, not so freely.”
For a moment, Yixing thinks he might have upset him because Wu Fan’s smile fades and his lips press into a thin line. But then he nods, exhaling slowly through his nose.
“You’re right. I just…” He trails off and frowns, “Nothing, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this with you.” It’s slightly disappointing when his eyes close off and the relaxed boy Yixing saw before is hidden once again behind a cold exterior. Yixing fights the rising urge to sigh loudly. Instead, he busies himself by letting his eyes drift over Wu Fan’s face, following the line of his jaw, curving over his cheek bones, noticing the way he blinks readily, as though forcing restraint on himself.
“I don’t care about - you know, you being gay,” Yixing says and although his voice is only soft, Wu Fan jerks as though he has shouted and his hand clenches at the bench top so tightly that Yixing can see the whites of his knuckles, a stark contrast against the wood.
“Well you shouldn’t, it’s none of your business really.”
His voice is curt and strained and his gaze has drifted up to the sky, lingering on the clouds streaked through the blue.
Yixing does sigh then. “I know that. I just wanted to say, that it doesn’t bother me.” Wu Fan doesn’t look at him so Yixing reaches across and places his hand on top of Wu Fan’s, a touch of affection and sincerity.
Wu Fan’s head snaps down to their joined hands and then flickers across to Yixing, a haze of surprise fluttering across his eyes. He looks like he’s about to say something but shuts his mouth.
“I have friends you know, who are gay too,” Yixing continues, not entirely sure if he’s making the situation more comfortable or achieving the opposite. “And I’m fine with that.” He regrets to tell him that one of his friends is also head over heels in love with Wu Fan.
Wu Fan’s lips twist in such a way that Yixing isn’t sure whether he is suppressing a smile or a grimace. “You should let go of my hand,” he says quietly, and Yixing immediately pulls back, watching him with concern. Wu Fan goes to stand up, fingers curled loosely into fists at his side as he looks at Yixing for a long moment before his lips finally tug into a small smile.
“Thank you,” he says before he walks away.
*
Wu Fan doesn’t mention their talk again, but Yixing feels as though something has shifted between them, even if only slightly. It’s as though Wu Fan is tentatively loosening up around Yixing, testing the limit to which he can trust the other boy. And Yixing realises that he wants to be that person Wu Fan can trust with anything, because Wu Fan desperately needs someone like that.
They sit in the abandoned classroom, Wu Fan rambling on about sentence structure, but Yixing isn’t really paying attention. He didn’t go to bed until two in the morning because Lu Han wanted to have an in-depth Skype conversation about soccer, so Yixing is focusing more on staying awake rather than what comes out of Wu Fan’s mouth. His eyes lazily trace Wu Fan’s face as he nods with faux interest, watching the way his eyebrows pull together in concentration as he speaks. Wu Fan trails off mid-sentence and jerks back a little, a frown creasing into his forehead.
“What is it? Why are you staring at me?”
Yixing shakes his head with a yawn.
“I’m just tired.”
“We can leave it for today if you want?”
Yixing smiles guiltily, “I’m sorry, I was up all night.”
Wu Fan raises an eyebrow and it takes a moment for Yixing to process the words through his fuzzy brain.
”Oh no I mean I was talking to my friend all night!” He laughs and shakes his head, running a hand down his face. “I don’t even have a girlfriend Wu Fan, god.”
“That’s alright,” Wu Fan says, a smile on his lips, beginning to put all of his stuff into his bag. “If you’re not taking in anything, there’s no reason to keep going.” Yixing nods and stands up, stretching out with another yawn, blinking rapidly when his eyes water a little.
“I need a coffee,” Yixing says, voice laced with the heaviness of sleep. Wu Fan looks up.
“Do you want to go get one then? Since we’re not doing anything else.”
There is a hint of vulnerability in his words; a hesitant quality which makes Yixing think Wu Fan isn’t that great at friendships. It almost makes Yixing like him more.
“Sure! There’s a great place that’s just on the corner of the street. They make the best caramel lattes.”
Wu Fan grins and slings his bag over his shoulder.
“Sounds great,” he says.
*
The coffee shop is warm; a nice change from the weather outside where the wind slams leaves against the pavement and sends them hurtling into the air. The clouds that roll over head are dark too, a grey interspersed with smudges of black. Yixing can see blurred spots of rain in the distance and hopes he can get home in time to avoid it.
“You’re right, this is good,” Wu Fan says after taking a long sip of his latte. He smiles softly and looks up, and Yixing can almost see the guard in his eyes visibly slipping away. It is against his better judgement to bring up their short conversation from the other day but there’s a strange sort of need which plagues him; a desire to help, to be the one Wu Fan can talk to.
“How did it start with Chanyeol?” Yixing asks and Wu Fan makes a strange face, choking on his drink. He frowns, coughing a few times to clear his throat.
“What.” His posture is tense now, rigid in his position as his gaze fixates on the coffee swirling inside his cup.
Yixing drums his fingers nervously against the table. “I’m sorry. I just - you can talk about that with me you know. If you want.”
Wu Fan’s gaze drifts out of the window, watching as people outside struggle against the wind with their umbrellas flipped inside out. Something tweaks at the corners of his lips, a nostalgic smile of contentment and Yixing marvels in the way that his face softens, his eyes unwrinkling and the creases in his forehead smoothing out. Neither of them say anything for a few minutes and Yixing is about to brush past it when Wu Fan speaks up.
“I met him this year. He came to watch us practice basketball for a few weeks in a row and after one of our practices, he came down to talk to me.” Wu Fan pauses and glances up as though testing Yixing’s reaction. Yixing nods at him to continue.
“Well anyway, before he left, he slipped a piece of paper with his phone number into my hand and smiled so bright I thought I might go blind.” He pauses again and bites his lip, the hint of a wider smile slipping across his lips. “And then I called him.”
Wu Fan’s eyes flicker over to him, a flash of uncertainty across his irises. Yixing props himself up on his elbows, leaning slightly further across the table with a smile.
“That’s so sweet,” he says, grinning when Wu Fan blinks in astonishment.
“You really don’t care?”
Yixing scoffs and flicks his arm.
“I wasn’t lying Wu Fan, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Wu Fan’s smile widens, and his eyes crinkle up at the corners,
“I’m so glad it was you who saw us,” he says and Yixing feels a golden swirl of contentment settle on his heart.
*
AN: OKAY SO HERES THE STORY the day after I posted the last chapter, I accidently saved an old version of swk over the real version of swk AND LOST 8,000 WORDS ;; So ive been re-writing it all week to the best of my ability. but pretty much everything after this chapter had to be re-written and ugh, some parts I cant get right again. anyway, i'm almost back up to where I was before I lost all of my work so I guess thats good~
(I hope there aren't many mistakes in this. I edited it but im dead tired from working all day so ugh, it wouldn't surprise me really ;;)
ALSO GUYS feel free to freak out over kpop with me on twitter and tumblr (im so addicted to twitter its not even funny) :3
Pairings: Kris/Lay, Xiumin/Luhan, one sided!Taoris, Kris/Chanyeol
Genre: High School!AU
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2,290
Summary: Wu Fan is the star player of the school’s basketball team and a known ladies man. But Yixing discovers that it’s not all quite what it seems.
prologue | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | {xiuhan side story} | eight | nine | ten | eleven | twelve | {taochen side story} | thirteen | fourteen | fifteen
Wu Fan doesn’t turn up to school at all on Tuesday - Yixing supposes that it must take too much time to travel to the other school and play. They only host about three basketball matches per season at their own school and the rest are held all around the area at the other schools which participate in the tournament. Their school usually hosts the final though, most probably because they are always playing in it.
When Thursday comes around, Yixing is in a fairly good mood for most of the day due to the fact that they got their English homework back in the morning.
“Guess what?” Yixing says as he walks into the classroom after school, waving a paper in his hand, “I passed the homework assignment.”
Wu Fan’s lips pull into a genuine smile.
“That’s great! See, if you can do that in only a week, imagine what you’re capable of,” he says as Yixing slides into the chair next to him with a short burst of laughter.
“You sound like you should be a motivational speaker.”
Yixing grins and hands his homework over to Wu Fan who clucks approvingly.
“This is much better,” he says, turning to look at Yixing who feels a trickle of pride at his words.
“Thanks. But it’s only because of you.”
Wu Fan’s smile is a little shy as he hands the paper back.
“Hey, how did your basketball match go?” Yixing asks. He is slightly amused by the way Wu Fan’s eyes light up at the mention of basketball.
“It went well actually. I thought they would be more difficult than they were, but they didn’t put up a very good fight.”
Yixing grins. “Look at you all cocky.”
“Shut up,” Wu Fan says shoving at Yixing lightly, frowning despite the smile still dancing on his lips.
“It’s okay, you’re kind of allowed to be. I mean, you are good at it.” There’s a small silence where Yixing realises he’s already complimented Wu Fan twice in the past five minutes. He wonders vaguely if it’s some sort of illness.
Wu Fan looks a little surprised, but the smile is still there, albeit a little softer now.
“Thanks,” he says, “I’m glad you think so.” He fiddles with his pen for a moment before he speaks up again.
“What do you do then?”
“Hm?”
“Everyone has their thing - mine is basketball, what’s yours?” Wu Fan explains, watching him closely.
“I play guitar, and I dance.”
Wu Fan laughs, but it isn’t cruel - something more stemmed from amusement laced with surprise.
“You can dance?”
“Yeah, I love it.” He can’t help the way his voice tenses, taut at the edge of his words, expecting some sort of mocking response. He’s heard it all before - apparently boys dancing isn’t entirely accepted by society’s standards. But Wu Fan doesn’t say anything like that at all.
“I’d love to see you one day,” he says and Yixing blinks in shock.
“What?”
“Well, you’ve seen me play basketball, so I’d like to see you dance.”
He doesn’t really know how to respond, so Yixing just stares at him blankly and then something clicks in his head - the realisation that he has judged Wu Fan completely wrong.
“Okay,” he says, “maybe one day.”
*
Yixing gets to school a little early the next morning and sits on one of the benches in the playground, deciding to make some notes while he is waiting for his friends to arrive. He is so lost in concentration that he barely notices when someone sits down beside him, until said person touches him on the arm.
“Good morning.”
Yixing starts and one of his pens goes flying off the table. His head snaps around to see Wu Fan smiling beside him.
“Hi?” he responds, because it’s a bit disconcerting to see Wu Fan outside their tutoring times and without a flock of girls hovering around him.
Wu Fan looks over his shoulder, arms crossed on the bench as he leans forward.
“Are you doing English?”
Yixing hums, “Yeah, I thought I’d get some extra practice in while I wait for my friends to get here. Why are you so early?”
“I’m always early,” he says, “I usually come to play basketball in the morning.”
“Ah I see.”
Silence settles on them - it’s not awkward though, more of a patient wait as Yixing neatly puts his books back into his bag. There aren’t many people around so early, only a few scattered throughout the playground, the low calls of birds the only sound against the stillness.
Yixing finishes putting his books away and turns around on the bench so that he’s facing Wu Fan, back pressed against the table.
“Say something in English,” he asks suddenly and Wu Fan glances at him, amusement in his eyes.
“Why?”
“Well I’ve never heard you speak English properly, only a few words and sentences. Say something!”
He laughs and Yixing smiles - there’s something strangely satisfying about seeing Wu Fan let himself relax like this.
“I don’t know, what do you want me to say?”
Yixing rests his elbow on the bench and blinks at him, smile wide.
“Whatever.”
Wu Fan laughs again, seemingly embarrassed. He coughs into his hand and says a few sentences and although Yixing can’t understand it completely, he is able to understand the basic implication.
“Did you just call me stupid?”
Wu Fan answers him with a grin.
“I hate you,” Yixing says and pokes him in the side. There’s a pause where Wu Fan just looks at him with a frown, and then he is laughing so loudly that he sends a flurry of birds fluttering into the air.
“You should laugh more often,” Yixing says, stretching his arms behind his head with a yawn - it’s far too early in the morning to be awake, he thinks hazily.
“I do laugh?” Wu Fan replies, puzzlement etching itself onto his face. Yixing shakes his head.
“Not like that, not so freely.”
For a moment, Yixing thinks he might have upset him because Wu Fan’s smile fades and his lips press into a thin line. But then he nods, exhaling slowly through his nose.
“You’re right. I just…” He trails off and frowns, “Nothing, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this with you.” It’s slightly disappointing when his eyes close off and the relaxed boy Yixing saw before is hidden once again behind a cold exterior. Yixing fights the rising urge to sigh loudly. Instead, he busies himself by letting his eyes drift over Wu Fan’s face, following the line of his jaw, curving over his cheek bones, noticing the way he blinks readily, as though forcing restraint on himself.
“I don’t care about - you know, you being gay,” Yixing says and although his voice is only soft, Wu Fan jerks as though he has shouted and his hand clenches at the bench top so tightly that Yixing can see the whites of his knuckles, a stark contrast against the wood.
“Well you shouldn’t, it’s none of your business really.”
His voice is curt and strained and his gaze has drifted up to the sky, lingering on the clouds streaked through the blue.
Yixing does sigh then. “I know that. I just wanted to say, that it doesn’t bother me.” Wu Fan doesn’t look at him so Yixing reaches across and places his hand on top of Wu Fan’s, a touch of affection and sincerity.
Wu Fan’s head snaps down to their joined hands and then flickers across to Yixing, a haze of surprise fluttering across his eyes. He looks like he’s about to say something but shuts his mouth.
“I have friends you know, who are gay too,” Yixing continues, not entirely sure if he’s making the situation more comfortable or achieving the opposite. “And I’m fine with that.” He regrets to tell him that one of his friends is also head over heels in love with Wu Fan.
Wu Fan’s lips twist in such a way that Yixing isn’t sure whether he is suppressing a smile or a grimace. “You should let go of my hand,” he says quietly, and Yixing immediately pulls back, watching him with concern. Wu Fan goes to stand up, fingers curled loosely into fists at his side as he looks at Yixing for a long moment before his lips finally tug into a small smile.
“Thank you,” he says before he walks away.
*
Wu Fan doesn’t mention their talk again, but Yixing feels as though something has shifted between them, even if only slightly. It’s as though Wu Fan is tentatively loosening up around Yixing, testing the limit to which he can trust the other boy. And Yixing realises that he wants to be that person Wu Fan can trust with anything, because Wu Fan desperately needs someone like that.
They sit in the abandoned classroom, Wu Fan rambling on about sentence structure, but Yixing isn’t really paying attention. He didn’t go to bed until two in the morning because Lu Han wanted to have an in-depth Skype conversation about soccer, so Yixing is focusing more on staying awake rather than what comes out of Wu Fan’s mouth. His eyes lazily trace Wu Fan’s face as he nods with faux interest, watching the way his eyebrows pull together in concentration as he speaks. Wu Fan trails off mid-sentence and jerks back a little, a frown creasing into his forehead.
“What is it? Why are you staring at me?”
Yixing shakes his head with a yawn.
“I’m just tired.”
“We can leave it for today if you want?”
Yixing smiles guiltily, “I’m sorry, I was up all night.”
Wu Fan raises an eyebrow and it takes a moment for Yixing to process the words through his fuzzy brain.
”Oh no I mean I was talking to my friend all night!” He laughs and shakes his head, running a hand down his face. “I don’t even have a girlfriend Wu Fan, god.”
“That’s alright,” Wu Fan says, a smile on his lips, beginning to put all of his stuff into his bag. “If you’re not taking in anything, there’s no reason to keep going.” Yixing nods and stands up, stretching out with another yawn, blinking rapidly when his eyes water a little.
“I need a coffee,” Yixing says, voice laced with the heaviness of sleep. Wu Fan looks up.
“Do you want to go get one then? Since we’re not doing anything else.”
There is a hint of vulnerability in his words; a hesitant quality which makes Yixing think Wu Fan isn’t that great at friendships. It almost makes Yixing like him more.
“Sure! There’s a great place that’s just on the corner of the street. They make the best caramel lattes.”
Wu Fan grins and slings his bag over his shoulder.
“Sounds great,” he says.
*
The coffee shop is warm; a nice change from the weather outside where the wind slams leaves against the pavement and sends them hurtling into the air. The clouds that roll over head are dark too, a grey interspersed with smudges of black. Yixing can see blurred spots of rain in the distance and hopes he can get home in time to avoid it.
“You’re right, this is good,” Wu Fan says after taking a long sip of his latte. He smiles softly and looks up, and Yixing can almost see the guard in his eyes visibly slipping away. It is against his better judgement to bring up their short conversation from the other day but there’s a strange sort of need which plagues him; a desire to help, to be the one Wu Fan can talk to.
“How did it start with Chanyeol?” Yixing asks and Wu Fan makes a strange face, choking on his drink. He frowns, coughing a few times to clear his throat.
“What.” His posture is tense now, rigid in his position as his gaze fixates on the coffee swirling inside his cup.
Yixing drums his fingers nervously against the table. “I’m sorry. I just - you can talk about that with me you know. If you want.”
Wu Fan’s gaze drifts out of the window, watching as people outside struggle against the wind with their umbrellas flipped inside out. Something tweaks at the corners of his lips, a nostalgic smile of contentment and Yixing marvels in the way that his face softens, his eyes unwrinkling and the creases in his forehead smoothing out. Neither of them say anything for a few minutes and Yixing is about to brush past it when Wu Fan speaks up.
“I met him this year. He came to watch us practice basketball for a few weeks in a row and after one of our practices, he came down to talk to me.” Wu Fan pauses and glances up as though testing Yixing’s reaction. Yixing nods at him to continue.
“Well anyway, before he left, he slipped a piece of paper with his phone number into my hand and smiled so bright I thought I might go blind.” He pauses again and bites his lip, the hint of a wider smile slipping across his lips. “And then I called him.”
Wu Fan’s eyes flicker over to him, a flash of uncertainty across his irises. Yixing props himself up on his elbows, leaning slightly further across the table with a smile.
“That’s so sweet,” he says, grinning when Wu Fan blinks in astonishment.
“You really don’t care?”
Yixing scoffs and flicks his arm.
“I wasn’t lying Wu Fan, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
Wu Fan’s smile widens, and his eyes crinkle up at the corners,
“I’m so glad it was you who saw us,” he says and Yixing feels a golden swirl of contentment settle on his heart.
*
AN: OKAY SO HERES THE STORY the day after I posted the last chapter, I accidently saved an old version of swk over the real version of swk AND LOST 8,000 WORDS ;; So ive been re-writing it all week to the best of my ability. but pretty much everything after this chapter had to be re-written and ugh, some parts I cant get right again. anyway, i'm almost back up to where I was before I lost all of my work so I guess thats good~
(I hope there aren't many mistakes in this. I edited it but im dead tired from working all day so ugh, it wouldn't surprise me really ;;)
ALSO GUYS feel free to freak out over kpop with me on twitter and tumblr (im so addicted to twitter its not even funny) :3