[valentines] i've liked you for 1000 years
i've liked you for 1000 years
infinite, always-a-girl sunggyu/hoya
pg, 1304w
high school au. kim sunkyu's last school festival is hoya's last chance to confess.
--for fanxings ♥
--plumtree, "scott pilgrim"
The band was supposed to go on at 1:15, but it’s already 1:20 and they’re still setting up. Beside Hoya, Sungyeol keeps looking up at the clock on the gym wall. “I told Nam Jihyun I’d be back at the toast stand by one-thirty,” he says. “Tell your girlfriend to hurry up.”
“No one’s forcing you to stay,” says Hoya, ignoring the girlfriend comment. He’s pressed for time, too - the dance club is meeting at 1:45 for one last run-through before their performance at 2:30. But right now he’s too busy staring under the scoreboard, where Kim Sunkyu is standing at the mic, waiting for the other guys to finish tuning their instruments. He’s seen her hanging around with the guys in third year who always wear guitar bags on their backs, but he hadn’t known she was in a band with them until he’d seen the lineup for the music performances at their school’s fall festival. “Some stalker you are,” Sungyeol had said, before choking on his lunch in what Hoya thought was an act of divine justice.
There are maybe a hundred students sitting on the floor in front of them, and Hoya and Sungyeol are somewhere in the middle of the mass, surrounded on all sides. Hoya’s armpits prickle, and he rolls his shoulders back and pulls at the collar of his uniform shirt. “It’s fucking hot in here.”
Sungyeol flaps the white balloon he’d been handed earlier beside his face in an attempt to fan himself. “It’s probably your extreme fascination with a girl with weird teeth who is three thousand places ahead of you in school.”
“Shut up.”
“Your desperation is heating up the room.”
“Shh.” Hoya watches Sunkyu adjust the mic stand. She’s still wearing her uniform, like the rest of the band, but he thinks she’s put some more makeup on than usual, something around her eyes. She looks pretty and a little alien. She glances up at the audience, and for a second her eyes meet Hoya’s.
Sungyeol whacks him on the head with his balloon, breaking his concentration. “So you’re gonna tell her, right? Tell me now in case I gotta leave after.” Hoya opens his mouth, and then there’s a squeal of guitar noise from the front of the room and both their heads swivel automatically.
Kim Sunkyu grips the mic on its stand, then leans forward. “Hello, everyone,” she says, her eyes somewhere on the ground in front of her. She grins. “Uh, we are Beat.” She turns to look at the guy playing guitar beside her and mouths a count of three, and then they start.
They’re not amazing, even Hoya can tell, and the sound in the gym is shit, but Sunkyu looks so cool in front of the band, even doing a little dance during the parts when she’s not singing, and he can’t look away, his mouth hanging open a little. Hoya wonders if she’d be impressed if he offered to teach her how to dance. It’s far from the kind of music he dances to - though he knows one of his hyungs is into rapping over rock music - but he thinks he could come up with some stage moves for her. He thinks about being alone with her in the studio, his hands on her hips and their eyes meeting in the mirror, and his mouth goes dry.
Even though this is only his first year at the same school as her, he’s noticed Kim Sunkyu since her class volunteered to deliver milk once a week to his middle school. He’d been entranced the moment he saw her, with her pin-straight black hair and carefully coordinating headband and polite full bows to their teacher before she left. But he’d seen another kid in his class get bullied for telling the other guys she was the prettiest of the milk delivery girls, so he’d kept his mouth shut. Even now, he’s kept his mouth shut; Sungyeol had only figured it out from watching him in the cafeteria one day, though he’d insisted it was extremely obvious.
But after this year, she graduates, and he knows he probably won’t see her again unless he says something - maybe even if he does say something, but if he doesn’t, he’ll never know. She’s smiling as she’s singing, making her eyes into crescents. Hoya knows she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but the fact that he can’t tell who she’s looking at makes him nervous all of a sudden. He wishes he could say he’s captivated by the music, but he’s not, only by her.
At 1:33, just as Beat finishes their last song, Sungyeol pokes Hoya in the side. “I gotta go,” he says. “Good luck, eh? May your children have your teeth and not hers.” Hoya gives him the finger as he gets up and steps away over the crowd.
After they finish, Sunkyu thanks the crowd and bows, and then they shut off their amps and the next band starts setting up. Hoya waits a few minutes, steeling himself, and then he gets up.
Sunkyu’s out in the hallway with her band mates, just outside the gym doors. She’s eating something from a skewer in her hand, probably from one of the food stands outside. Hoya grimaces and his head feels all cold - he doesn’t have anything to give her, he realizes, not even a letter.
Still, he starts walking closer. “Excuse me,” he calls. His voice is rough and too quiet. “Excuse me, Kim Sunkyu sunbaenim.”
She turns, surprised. “Yes?” The guys behind her laugh, but she shushes them around the food in her mouth, then swallows. “What is it?”
“Sunbaenim,” he repeats. He glances up at her face briefly before looking back down somewhere around her waist. He’s not sure he’s ever been this close to her before. Now he thinks Sungyeol might’ve been right; it’s very warm out here, too, and it’s all because of him. “Congratulations on your performance.”
One of the guys snorts, and Sunkyu elbows him. “Yah. Leave him alone, will you?”
They seem to take the hint. “We’ll see you outside,” the drummer says, and they start walking down the hall, still glancing over their shoulders.
Now it’s just the two of them, and Hoya’s not sure if this is better or worse. “Thank you,” she says. “It could’ve been better, but it was a lot of fun, so that’s what matters, right?” She tilts her head. “Do you play in a band? What’s your name?”
She’s definitely wearing some kind of sparkly makeup on her eyes. It makes them look brighter than usual. Hoya presses his lips together before speaking. “Lee Howon, and I don’t play in a band.” He takes a breath, then says, “I dance, though.”
“Oh, yeah?” He can’t tell if she sounds interested or just polite. But, he thinks, he’ll never get to stand this close to her again. Unless...
“Yeah,” he says. He looks at the hall clock above the lockers. “Um, the dance club is performing at two-thirty in the auditorium if you’re free. I’m performing,” he adds. “And if sunbaenim wants to come...”
She giggles. “Ah. Well, I have to help out my class for a bit, but I’ll see what I can do, okay?” Hoya bites his lip, but she’s smiling. It’s a promise, not a dismissal.
“Okay,” he says.
He practically runs to the auditorium after that, and he’s still a few minutes late for rehearsal. He can barely concentrate, and it just feels like he’s moving through the motions. Then at 2:31, he steps out onto the stage and sees Kim Sunkyu standing by one of the walls, craning her neck to see. Their eyes meet, and Hoya can’t help but grin, and she smiles back.
notes:
- why do i use a different girl name for sunggyu every time? who knows
- anyway this is small but i hope you like it :>
infinite, always-a-girl sunggyu/hoya
pg, 1304w
high school au. kim sunkyu's last school festival is hoya's last chance to confess.
--for fanxings ♥
--plumtree, "scott pilgrim"
The band was supposed to go on at 1:15, but it’s already 1:20 and they’re still setting up. Beside Hoya, Sungyeol keeps looking up at the clock on the gym wall. “I told Nam Jihyun I’d be back at the toast stand by one-thirty,” he says. “Tell your girlfriend to hurry up.”
“No one’s forcing you to stay,” says Hoya, ignoring the girlfriend comment. He’s pressed for time, too - the dance club is meeting at 1:45 for one last run-through before their performance at 2:30. But right now he’s too busy staring under the scoreboard, where Kim Sunkyu is standing at the mic, waiting for the other guys to finish tuning their instruments. He’s seen her hanging around with the guys in third year who always wear guitar bags on their backs, but he hadn’t known she was in a band with them until he’d seen the lineup for the music performances at their school’s fall festival. “Some stalker you are,” Sungyeol had said, before choking on his lunch in what Hoya thought was an act of divine justice.
There are maybe a hundred students sitting on the floor in front of them, and Hoya and Sungyeol are somewhere in the middle of the mass, surrounded on all sides. Hoya’s armpits prickle, and he rolls his shoulders back and pulls at the collar of his uniform shirt. “It’s fucking hot in here.”
Sungyeol flaps the white balloon he’d been handed earlier beside his face in an attempt to fan himself. “It’s probably your extreme fascination with a girl with weird teeth who is three thousand places ahead of you in school.”
“Shut up.”
“Your desperation is heating up the room.”
“Shh.” Hoya watches Sunkyu adjust the mic stand. She’s still wearing her uniform, like the rest of the band, but he thinks she’s put some more makeup on than usual, something around her eyes. She looks pretty and a little alien. She glances up at the audience, and for a second her eyes meet Hoya’s.
Sungyeol whacks him on the head with his balloon, breaking his concentration. “So you’re gonna tell her, right? Tell me now in case I gotta leave after.” Hoya opens his mouth, and then there’s a squeal of guitar noise from the front of the room and both their heads swivel automatically.
Kim Sunkyu grips the mic on its stand, then leans forward. “Hello, everyone,” she says, her eyes somewhere on the ground in front of her. She grins. “Uh, we are Beat.” She turns to look at the guy playing guitar beside her and mouths a count of three, and then they start.
They’re not amazing, even Hoya can tell, and the sound in the gym is shit, but Sunkyu looks so cool in front of the band, even doing a little dance during the parts when she’s not singing, and he can’t look away, his mouth hanging open a little. Hoya wonders if she’d be impressed if he offered to teach her how to dance. It’s far from the kind of music he dances to - though he knows one of his hyungs is into rapping over rock music - but he thinks he could come up with some stage moves for her. He thinks about being alone with her in the studio, his hands on her hips and their eyes meeting in the mirror, and his mouth goes dry.
Even though this is only his first year at the same school as her, he’s noticed Kim Sunkyu since her class volunteered to deliver milk once a week to his middle school. He’d been entranced the moment he saw her, with her pin-straight black hair and carefully coordinating headband and polite full bows to their teacher before she left. But he’d seen another kid in his class get bullied for telling the other guys she was the prettiest of the milk delivery girls, so he’d kept his mouth shut. Even now, he’s kept his mouth shut; Sungyeol had only figured it out from watching him in the cafeteria one day, though he’d insisted it was extremely obvious.
But after this year, she graduates, and he knows he probably won’t see her again unless he says something - maybe even if he does say something, but if he doesn’t, he’ll never know. She’s smiling as she’s singing, making her eyes into crescents. Hoya knows she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but the fact that he can’t tell who she’s looking at makes him nervous all of a sudden. He wishes he could say he’s captivated by the music, but he’s not, only by her.
At 1:33, just as Beat finishes their last song, Sungyeol pokes Hoya in the side. “I gotta go,” he says. “Good luck, eh? May your children have your teeth and not hers.” Hoya gives him the finger as he gets up and steps away over the crowd.
After they finish, Sunkyu thanks the crowd and bows, and then they shut off their amps and the next band starts setting up. Hoya waits a few minutes, steeling himself, and then he gets up.
Sunkyu’s out in the hallway with her band mates, just outside the gym doors. She’s eating something from a skewer in her hand, probably from one of the food stands outside. Hoya grimaces and his head feels all cold - he doesn’t have anything to give her, he realizes, not even a letter.
Still, he starts walking closer. “Excuse me,” he calls. His voice is rough and too quiet. “Excuse me, Kim Sunkyu sunbaenim.”
She turns, surprised. “Yes?” The guys behind her laugh, but she shushes them around the food in her mouth, then swallows. “What is it?”
“Sunbaenim,” he repeats. He glances up at her face briefly before looking back down somewhere around her waist. He’s not sure he’s ever been this close to her before. Now he thinks Sungyeol might’ve been right; it’s very warm out here, too, and it’s all because of him. “Congratulations on your performance.”
One of the guys snorts, and Sunkyu elbows him. “Yah. Leave him alone, will you?”
They seem to take the hint. “We’ll see you outside,” the drummer says, and they start walking down the hall, still glancing over their shoulders.
Now it’s just the two of them, and Hoya’s not sure if this is better or worse. “Thank you,” she says. “It could’ve been better, but it was a lot of fun, so that’s what matters, right?” She tilts her head. “Do you play in a band? What’s your name?”
She’s definitely wearing some kind of sparkly makeup on her eyes. It makes them look brighter than usual. Hoya presses his lips together before speaking. “Lee Howon, and I don’t play in a band.” He takes a breath, then says, “I dance, though.”
“Oh, yeah?” He can’t tell if she sounds interested or just polite. But, he thinks, he’ll never get to stand this close to her again. Unless...
“Yeah,” he says. He looks at the hall clock above the lockers. “Um, the dance club is performing at two-thirty in the auditorium if you’re free. I’m performing,” he adds. “And if sunbaenim wants to come...”
She giggles. “Ah. Well, I have to help out my class for a bit, but I’ll see what I can do, okay?” Hoya bites his lip, but she’s smiling. It’s a promise, not a dismissal.
“Okay,” he says.
He practically runs to the auditorium after that, and he’s still a few minutes late for rehearsal. He can barely concentrate, and it just feels like he’s moving through the motions. Then at 2:31, he steps out onto the stage and sees Kim Sunkyu standing by one of the walls, craning her neck to see. Their eyes meet, and Hoya can’t help but grin, and she smiles back.
notes:
- why do i use a different girl name for sunggyu every time? who knows
- anyway this is small but i hope you like it :>