!fic meme: of yoghurt and oranges
pg-13 // minjung/jonghyun // ~7k w
-- wherein high school fluff is abused
in this fic. :)
credit to whoever this fanart belongs to
music shake it out by florence + the machine
inspired by this comment on my fic meme entry submitted by sharpersong ♥
So there's this guy. And he's kind of amazing.
His name is Lee Taemin and he's a senior, a year higher than Minjung. From Minjung's thorough and (what she would like to think is) subtle questioning, she found out long ago that Lee Taemin weighs 62 kilograms, is 5"9, has had his appendix removed when he was a freshman, partakes in several organizations in school, is left handed, and likes the color red. The last fact she sort of guesses from averaging the color of his shirts every Friday, which is the only day that they're allowed to not wear their uniforms on campus.
But yeah. Lee Taemin.
Choi Minjung has spoken to Lee Taemin a total of two times in her entire 4 years in the school.
The first time was when she had just enrolled and was taking the exams that she missed since she enrolled late in the year. So, she was in the library, being all new and kind of hating it because she was so awkward she could make inanimate objects uncomfortable in her presence, when Lee Taemin walked over to her table and welcomed her to the school.
Apparently Haneul, the school she just enrolled in, was barely graced with new faces so even if you were a crack on the pavement, as long as you were new, you'd stick out like a sore thumb.
Minjung did this thing where she bowed for way too long that he had to ask if she was crying or something. Then she smiled too big and ended up laughing and knocking her things over and they tumbled down the floor and he bent down to help her with her things and, like, oh god, he smells like sunflowers. It was probably just some store brand cologne that Minjung smelled everywhere, but on him it was heavenly.
When he left, she could only see him on her test paper. She still aced it, though.
The second time was during the Open House event that was held yearly at Haneul where students placed a variety of booths, like a Jail Booth, Dedication Booth, that kind of thing. It was rather festive, all of the students participating by making sure they didn't step on the inconspicuous exes on the court placed by the people who ran the Jail Booth.
Minjung was setting up her booth with Sunyoung where they sold sweets and stuff like that then out of nowhere one of the members of the Chain Booth came over and began to drag Minjung to the booth where she found Lee Taemin waiting for her.
They were chained at the wrist with a plastic thingamajig that wouldn't come off and they had to pay a 1000 Won if they wanted it to be cut off. Minjung had a 1000 Won on here easy, but seriously, it was a waste having to pay that amount when a scissor can solve their problems for free. Minjung apologized several times while Lee Taemin smiled at her and told her that it was okay.
She didn't say how she suspected one of her friends to be the reason why Lee Taemin and her were in such a predicament but she only ever told one person how she felt about him; Sunyoung, she was going to die before this day ended.
Minjung didn't talk to Lee Taemin the entire time they were chained together. She kept her face hidden behind her hair, afraid that if Lee Taemin took one look at her, he would mistake her cheeks for tomatoes. The back of his hand rubbed against hers the entire time he let her lead him to one of the classrooms where she kept her things, a scissor somewhere in her backpack. She damned Sunyoung's future children when she found her bag scissor-free, that impossibly clever friend of hers must have managed to fish the pair of scissors out in favor of her plan.
Eventually Minjung found a pair of scissors from an abandoned classroom and cut the plastic. Lee Taemin exited the classroom moments after he thanked her and said, "Really, Choi Minjung sshi, I didn't mind at all."
When the door closed, Minjung took the plastic thingamajig and placed it in her pocket for keeps.
Only two times yet, during those brief encounters, nothing hurt at all.
∞
"This is depressing." Sunyoung's voice lifts Minjung's attention from the window where she is watching Lee Taemin on the basketball court, shooting hoops with his friends.
"Mm?"
"This." Sunyoung waves her chopsticks in a circular motion around Minjung's face. "Watching this. It makes suicide letters look like comic books."
Minjung frowns as she looks down at the mandarin in her hands.
They have 40 minutes of lunch time before their next class and while most of their classmates flow in the direction of the canteen or the court, Minjung and Sunyoung enjoy their lunch on their desks, pushed together.
"You should talk to him." Sunyoung finally says a minute later.
Minjung shakes her head. "What? And say 'hey I'm Minjung and I was in love with you ever since you were thirteen and I was twelve and I've MASHed our names together several times, we drive a tricycle, live in a haunted house, have 12 babies, and get married in Prince's backyard?'"
"It's a start." Sunyoung grins. "Besides, it'll be a big improvement from whatever this is."
"I'm admiring him from afar." Minjung adamantly props her chin on her hand.
"I think I read that on a stalker's bumper sticker once."
"It's not that easy, okay?" Minjung sets the mandarin on the table, staring back out to watch as Lee Taemin steals the ball and dribbles. "I see how girls confess to him all the time. I don't want to be a casualty."
Sunyoung is about to reply when a burp erupts from the other table, disrupting their conversation. Sunyoung and Minjung divert their attention to the source of the noise. They find Kim Jonghyun with his half blonde streaks of hair and perpetual pout, pouring water into his empty yoghurt container.
He must have sensed the pair of eyes he garnered since he halts midway, plucks one of his earphones from his ear and returns Minjung's baffled expression.
"What." He says when neither party speaks up.
"Nothing." Minjung blinks as she picks up her mandarin and begins to peel it.
Jonghyun rolls his eyes and goes back to his work, pouring water into the container until it reaches the brim where Sunyoung observes the water slightly translucent due to the yoghurt bits floating about.
"What are you doing?" Sunyoung asks finally.
Jonghyun closes his eyes and sighs, takes his earphone out again and raises a brow at Sunyoung. "I'm putting water in this cup."
"Why?"
Jonghyun squints at her like she just insulted his family or something, "To drink."
"Why not just drink directly from the bottle." Sunyoung shakes her hair from her eyes while Minjung tries to figure out how to kick her leg from underneath the table without Jonghyun noticing.
"Because I want to make sure I've licked all my yoghurt clean."
He's about to down the contents of the yogurt cup when Sunyoung releases an almost silent, "Ew."
Jonghyun takes the cup away and narrows his eyes at Sunyoung. "Yoghurt doesn't come cheap."
Sunyoung raises her hands in mock defeat. "Whatever floats your boat, Jjong. Whatever floats your boat."
When Jonghyun drinks the concoction, Sunyoung and Minjung look away and make barfing noises.
∞
The reason why Minjung finds herself in school on a Saturday is because there's an audition to join the dance troupe at 11 am. No, well, actually, Minjung hates dancing.
But Lee Taemin is going to be the head of the dance troupe this year since he's a senior and has been a member since his freshman year so. Here she is.
She's about to pick up a form from the table outside of the classroom that the dance troupe rented when another hand appears next to hers, reaching for the same form.
"Choi Minjung sshi?"
Jonghyun's giving her this blatantly shocked look from beside her, his hand retreating into his pocket as he allows her the form. Minjung takes it and tucks it under her chin.
"Kim Jonghyun sshi, good morning." She bows, all of her hair falling to the front. She straightens every strand back down when she curls up, Jonghyun, unresponsive to the formal greeting.
"Where's Sunyoung?"
"At home."
"Oh."
Jonghyun and Sunyoung knew each other even before they reached their elementary years. Apparently, Minjung entered the school just in time because Jonghyun was just finding his place in the boy's group while Sunyoung was learning how to fit in with the girls her age.
"Funny running into you here." Jonghyun observes. He grabs the next blank form and gestures for Minjung to follow him to the two vacant seats in the hallway.
"You're auditioning?" Minjung settles on the seat next to Jonghyun, the form layered lightly on her bag. She takes a pen from the pocket of her bag and scribbles her name on the form.
"You too?" Jonghyun props his ankle atop the knee of his other leg and places his form on his shin.
While Minjung confirms with a nod, Jonghyun is palming his jacket pockets for a pen. "Shit."
"What?" Minjung looks up.
Jonghyun is staring at his shoe like he's been defeated. "I forgot to bring a pen."
Minjung reaches in her bag for an extra blue pen she has with her and offers it to Jonghyun. Jonghyun stares at it contemplatively before taking it in his hand and saying, "I'll give it back to you later."
"That's ok, you can keep it." Minjung answers as she returns to her form. "I have tons of pens at home from my dad's office. He has a stack of them that he brings home."
Jonghyun purses his lips together, pushed upward, following the direction of his brows as he nods slowly in understanding. "Thanks."
∞
Minjung saw this Britney Spears video with Madonna in it on MTV once. She recorded it and practiced what she could pick up from the routine all for preparation for today.
Minjung doesn't know how exactly, but even with Lee Taemin and a couple of other seniors in the room, she manages to pull off the entire routine on the first go. She doesn't need a mirror to show her that she probably looks as stupid as she feels but by the end of her dance, Lee Taemin is clapping and smiling and is clearly pleased. Minjung doesn't care, like, she would do the chicken dance in a roasted chicken suit if it kept him smiling at her like that.
She bows, sweat beads clinging to her fringe.
"Thanks, Minjung sshi, that was great." Lee Taemin says. "How long have you been dancing for?"
Two days, although it's the honest to god truth, is not the most appealing answer it seems. So Minjung opts for another version of it, "I just started recently."
"Cool, cool. And you're okay with practicing every Saturdays when an event comes up?"
Holy crap, she's in? "Yes!" Minjung says, high pitched without meaning to and it makes one of the seniors laugh. "I mean, yes. Yes, please. I'll… yeah."
"Okay." Lee Taemin folds her form and places it in a folder. "Your number's in here so I'll just text you for any updates."
Minjung thinks that this might be the best day of her life, her new favorite moment with Lee Taemin, and she just cannot wait to go over to Sunyoung's and scream at her face about the events that just happened today.
Minjung bows on her way out, the door hitting her backside as she makes her exit. She doesn't notice Jonghyun on the other side, just barely managing to back away before the door slams in his face.
Minjung pats her fringe down and beams at Jonghyun so wide that her face is about to split in half. "You're up."
"It went well then?" Jonghyun chuckles as he holds the door open.
"You could say that." She doesn't even realize that she just spoke informally to him.
"You're heading home?"
"I'm going over to Sunyoung's." Minjung slides her other arm through the strap of her backpack. "I wanna be the first to tell her the good news."
"Okay." Jonghyun nods. "Wish me luck."
Minjung's already making her way down the hall when she spins around, walking backwards as she plunges her fist in the air, "HWAITING, Kim Jonghyun!"
Jonghyun shakes his head in embarrassment for the both of them before disappearing behind the door.
∞
It's not Jonghyun's fault. So, Minjung shouldn't be mad at him. But she's young and like most teenage girls, she's got a lot of misplaced feelings.
She entered the dance troupe and danced to Britney freaking Spears to find a way to maybe bond with Lee Taemin, maybe even be a part of his senior circle at best. Somehow, the end result had turned out completely twisted from the reality she wanted.
Two people from the four year levels, one boy and one girl, were selected to practice the newly choreographed steps with the seniors one Saturday. So, Minjung, being as excited as she was to be one of the lucky selections, entered the room with a smile and a skip in her rather skip-less step, only to be paired up with Jonghyun because that made sense what with Jonghyun being a Junior and her being a Junior.
She couldn't even concentrate on the steps, she was so disappointed. And she's pretty sure she stepped on Jonghyun's toe more than once which is ridiculous because this is a hip hop routine.
By the end of the session, everyone begins to disburse. Jonghyun is being complimented as he makes his way to his bag, people clapping him on the shoulder and all. Minjung can't deny that Jonghyun can dance and that's surprising to her seeing as Jonghyun never joined any troupes or dance contests before.
But then again, Jonghyun and she aren't really friends.
"Minjung." Jonghyun snaps his fingers in front of her face, waking her from her current daze. Minjung blinks rapidly, adjusting her focus to fix on Jonghyun's stare. "You ready?"
They never asked for permission or anything to talk informally to one another, it just happened. And Minjung isn't exactly feeling violent towards the development so she just lets it be. "What?"
"I said, are you ready." Jonghyun repeats as he uncaps his bottle of water and takes a generous sip.
"For what?" The room has already been emptied and they are the only two left inside.
Jonghyun's expression turns grim as he reaches for her shoulder, his touch slightly cold, stolen from the moist of the water bottle. He nears his lips to her ear and whispers, "To bury the body."
"What?" Minjung pushes away from Jonghyun, his grin on full display as he topples back and takes another sip from his bottle.
"To practice at my house." Jonghyun tries again.
"Oh." Minjung exhales. "Right." She remembers him letting her know, in between their practice earlier, that they have to practice the steps before next Saturday when they teach it to the other Juniors in the dance troupe.
"Right." Jonghyun rolls his eyes in this slow, kind of off putting way, then he tosses the bottle up and catches it midway, "Let's go."
Jonghyun's already heading for the door while Minjung jogs to her own bag and takes a hand towel out for her sweat. Jonghyun turns the doorknob and pushes the door open, only then noticing that Minjung isn't behind him. He turns around, keeping his foot to stop the door from closing as he watches Minjung pat her face dry.
"Double time, Choi."
When did his voice become so irritating.
"I get it." Minjung says, placing her towel back in her bag, zipping it up and slipping it on her shoulders.
∞
"Why are we practicing at your house?" She only realizes this once they're outside of the campus.
"You see this building?" He waves at the building across from the school.
"Yeah?"
"I live here." He walks ahead while Minjung stares at the building, then at their school literally a few feet away from her, then back at the building. She shrugs then falls back into step with Jonghyun.
The building is dim from the inside, the halls narrow. They make their way up the stairs, Jonghyun leading the way until the fourth floor. They stop in front of a door with the number 401 plastered below the peephole.
Jonghyun shrugs his bag off and slips his hand in the pockets for his keys.
The apartment is humble, living room greeting their entry. "I'm just gonna grab my speakers. We're gonna head up in a sec. You can leave your stuff in my room if you want."
Minjung picks up one of the picture frames on the shelves nearest her, a picture of Jonghyun and his older sister, Yuri, inside. Yuri is a senior at their school and is also in the dance troupe. She was actually Lee Taemin's partner earlier today. Minjung never noticed how long and perfect her hair was until she saw this picture of her.
"Minjung, hey." Jonghyun is already behind her, taking the picture from her hand and settling it back down on the shelf. She places her hands in her jacket pockets and looks at Jonghyun with a slight flush in her cheeks. "You're really out of it today."
"No I'm not." Minjung says instantly.
Jonghyun snorts a laugh, tugging her sleeves as he moves past her to the door. "Whatever."
Jonghyun takes her to the following floor level, which is the rooftop. It was cluttered with several satellite dishes, bordered with cement walls that reach the height of Minjung's waist. She quietly peers over one of the borders and finds the quadrangle of their school as the main view. She makes a face at the sight. She can just imagine being up here, pretending she was God playing Sims on the people at school.
"Don't stand there."
Minjung turns her head to face Jonghyun who is currently plugging in his speakers. "Why not?"
"That's our satellite dish." Jonghyun points at the dish settled to the right of Minjung's legs.
"So?"
"So," Jonghyun half groans when he lifts back up to his feet. "you're interrupting incoming waves."
"Bullshit." Minjung smirks, dropping her bag to the gravel.
"I'm serious. Also, the static's bad for your eggs."
"My what?"
"You know, eggs? Like, your ovulating eggs for kids? If procreation isn't your thing then by all means, you can lie on the damn thing."
Minjung steps out of the way, nearing Jonghyun.
They try the routine once and Minjung misses most of the steps. Jonghyun teaches her the whole routine again, one combination at a time, and she finally understands it. Doesn't mean that she can dance it, but she understands it.
Half an hour in and she's panting on one of the folding chairs Jonghyun brought up, just soaking in her sweat when Jonghyun returns from the inside, a plastic bag of mandarins and two waters in his hands.
He tosses one bottle of water to Minjung. She doesn't see it coming so it ends up bouncing on her tummy. Jonghyun laughs his apology out while Minjung can't even find the strength to get mad.
Minutes later, Minjung is peeling a mandarin and taking in the citrus zest scent.
"So, you're kind of anal, huh?" Jonghyun asks through half a mound of mandarin plumps.
"Why?" Minjung concentrates on her peeling.
"You ever notice how you peel oranges a certain way? From up here, all the way around in a circle, then both sides."
Minjung sniffs, "I peel it neatly."
"You peel it with a pattern. That's disconcerting."
"How so?"
"I don't know. I just learned what disconcerting meant. I wanted to use it."
Minjung takes a piece of the peel and shoots it at Jonghyun's chest.
Five mandarins and a bunch of failed jokes supplied by Jonghyun later, Minjung's back on her feet and ready to take on the world. They try the routine one more time, Minjung finally getting into the same rhythm as Jonghyun.
"That was better."
"I am a dancing queen." Minjung praises herself in English, shuffling her feet the way she thinks river dancers do.
"Am I the dancing king, then?" Jonghyun tries to imitate her albeit a bit more excited.
Minjung laughs but doesn't stop dancing. "Depends. Can you do this?" Minjung lies on the gravel (regretting it later when she heads home and finds bits of dirt in her hair) and stretches to a crab walk position. She makes it to the cement border and falls back down, standing up and smoothing her shirt down.
"Child's play." Jonghyun does a cartwheel and finishes with a wink.
"Not bad. You can be the royal jester."
They end up doing a dance off that should never be imitated by none professionals and, dear god, they're idiots, because Minjung tries so hard and Jonghyun tries even harder. Clearly, Jonghyun wins so Minjung resorts to threatening to bash his satellite dish to shreds-- "Admit defeat or lose one hundred channels!"
Before 6:30 pm, they manage to make plans for Sunday to, you know, practice. However, when Minjung arrives, the first thing Jonghyun does is boast the different channels on TV so they end up watching a Japanese cooking show that stirs Minjung's craving for sweet egg rolls. Jonghyun orders pizza.
Usually, Minjung eats half a slice and pretends to be full, not just around guys but around relatives. But today, she ate half of the contents of the pizza box while Jonghyun polished the rest. And when he says he has cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer, Minjung asks where the spoons are.
They talk about school, then about friends. They talk about Sunyoung and how she's great but at the same time, not so great, but the great outweighs the not so great so it's all good. They talk about dancing, how Jonghyun has always shied away from his opportunities until this year and how Minjung is developing it as a hobby. Jonghyun talks about a girl he dated before and Minjung reveals her relationship with her books. She's close to telling him about Lee Taemin but she somehow finds the confession to be unnecessary for the time being. She doesn't mention him at all.
Minjung laughs with her mouth wide open, hands clutching her stomach while Jonghyun laughs with his nose creased up and his eyes disappearing into upturned slits. And by the time Minjung finally remembers what they have to do, it's almost 7 pm and she has to head home.
∞
Jonghyun and Minjung are passing each other notes in Physics because Mr. Hwang's bald spot is especially shiny today-- "He puts mirrors to shame."
Sunyoung notices this and being a dear friend, she goes, "So you and Jonghyun…" because friends don't beat around the bush.
Minjung spoons her rice around her lunchbox dreamily, the only things in her head being the steps that she needs to memorize before Saturday. "What of it?"
"I'm just saying." Sunyoung leans back in her chair, arms folded across her chest.
Minjung tilts her head to the right. "You're not saying anything."
"Just. You're getting. Comfy." She ends with a scrunch of her nose.
Minjung nibbles on her bottom lip. She half shrugs, "Yeah, I guess."
"Okay." Sunyoung's gaze drops to her food, but her devious smile doesn't go unnoticed.
"What?"
"What."
"What are you thinking?"
"Minjung."
"Huh?"
"And Jonghyun."
"What are you--"
"Sitting in a tree."
"-- oh dear god--"
"K-I-S-S--"
"You're dead to me."
∞
Saturday came a lot faster than Minjung expected. She was there early, putting Jonghyun to shame as he entered with his sunglasses and bed hair-- "And I live ten thousand miles from here too."
They taught three other Juniors the steps that they needed to know, everyone picking up the choreography fine. It was actually a really good fit, Minjung couldn't help but notice, because when Minjung was about to miss a step she remembered something Jonghyun said about a certain move that mimics fishing or sweeping the floor or something. And when Jonghyun can't explain how to execute a combination eloquently, Minjung chips in with Jonghyun demonstrating.
After the quick practice, Lee Taemin comes in with Yuri and they watch as Jonghyun and Minjung, along with the juniors, run the routine one time.
"Good job today, you guys." Lee Taemin announces afterwards. "So, no practice for the next couple of Saturdays since we'll be supervising the sophomores and freshmen's progress. We have a final practice on the third Saturday then it's show time on Wednesday."
Jonghyun takes Minjung out for yoghurt to celebrate. As soon as she's done scooping the last of her yoghurt from her cup, he promptly pours water inside it and suggests, "Just try it, it's not as bad as it looks."
"I can't, Jjong, just look at it."
"You girls always imagine the worst." Jonghyun presses the rim of the cup towards her. Minjung resists for the next few minutes until Jonghyun catches her off guard.
She spits the foggy liquid out even before she could manage to push Jonghyun's hand away.
∞
When their dance routine goes well during the event, the draining days Minjung spent on Jonghyun's rooftop practicing finally seemed worth it. They added a few days after classes to practice with the rest of the juniors who were willing to invest the time, and although it was partly the dancing that kept Minjung spent for the next few days, Jonghyun acting like a dork around her contributed just as much.
A month passes and Lee Taemin is seen having dinner with Yuri. Sunyoung tells Minjung that nothing's final so don't flip the shit until it hits the fan.
But then a week later Lee Taemin is waiting at the gates every morning for Yuri to come to school and carry her bag to class and Jonghyun tells Sunyoung who passes the message to Minjung, "Apparently, Lee Taemin's been holding a torch for her all this time. That's why he's been turning down all those confessions. Minjung, I'm so sorry."
She says sorry but Minjung's not thinking clearly. All she hears is a different version of Sunyoung in her mind going, "I told you so!" repeatedly. She was right, Sunyoung 2.0, she did say so. And Minjung should have just sucked it up and talked to him. Or maybe she was right to hold it off because she would only be making a fool of herself.
For whatever reason, Minjung ends up in Jonghyun's rooftop that night, bawling her eyes out. Jonghyun notices the static in his reception so he goes up to check whatever's in the way of his satellite. Turns out it's a crying girl.
"Minjung?"
"Sorry!" Minjung's head flies up, she wipes at her tears and sniffs a few times. "I just. It's really quiet up here. I was at- at school late. And I thought- I thought I'd- I mean, I just needed…" Her sentence is cut off by another series of sobs.
Jonghyun lets his hand hover above her back before allowing it to land. He pats her twice, kind of choreographed awkwardly, before placing his hand by his side. "Uhm. Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'm gonna be fine, don't worry about it, I'm clearly at my most stable right now!"
"Really?"
"No! of course not, are you an idiot- I can't even- even breathe." Jonghyun knows that she's been crying really hard for more than 10 minutes because she's hyperventilating through her sentences.
"Okay, Jesus." Jonghyun shifts his weight around his feet. He scuffs a heel on the gravel when he says, "Do you want a hug or something?"
Minjung slowly looks up, her hair is sticking to her cheeks, her eyes puffy.
Jonghyun frowns, hands automatically reaching for her cheeks to wipe at her tears. "Come here."
Jonghyun's shirt ends up as her handkerchief. She clings to the fabric of his shirt by his back, humming as she cries while Jonghyun rests his cheek on the crown of her head.
He lets her have a few moments, pressing firmer into the hug when a breeze passes by. Later he asks, "Why are you crying?"
He can feel her breath on his chest as she murmurs, "Because I'm not your sister."
Jonghyun smirks through his confusion. Then he finally gets it, his smirk melting to a frown. He closes his eyes and doesn't realize that he's hugging her just that much tighter. "For whatever it's worth, I'm glad you're not my sister."
Minjung hears him correctly it, but comprehends the context wrong so she just laughs and punches him lightly as she pulls away.
He notices her clutching onto something. "What's that?"
Minjung stares at her hand like she's seeing it for the first time. "I. It's this plastic lock thing from, uhm, Open House last year. Lee Taemin and I were, uhm, chained. Together."
"… why did you keep that?"
Minjung smiles with tears forming in her eyes again. "His hands are really soft." She says unhelpfully.
Jonghyun wonders how someone as smart as Choi Minjung can say some very stupid things. "Do you mind?" He reaches a hand out for the plastic.
Minjung wipes her nose with her sleeve then hands the plastic lock over to Jonghyun who takes it with both hands and holds it close to his face where he studies the part where the plastic is cut.
"Who cut this?"
"I did." Minjung exhales.
Jonghyun walks back, crumpling the plastic in both his hands.
Minjung looks at him, taking two steps forward, slightly alarmed. "What are you doing?"
"Just think of it this way." Jonghyun turns around and leans over one side of the cement borders. "If you can let him go once then you can probably do it again." When Minjung shouts for Jonghyun not to do it, Jonghyun chucks the plastic into the open air.
"You- Oh my god!" Minjung stands on her toes to incline her stomach over the border.
"You'll thank me one day."
She doesn't speak to him for three days.
∞
Three months later and Lee Taemin is still very much causing a stir with Yuri strung along his arm.
And Minjung swears that if she overhears another one of the freshmen saying how perfect they are for each other she's going to replace everyone's drinking water with nitrous.
"How are you holding up?" Sunyoung means well when she asks this, but Minjung always finds it condescending. So she just shakes her head and buries her nose in her books where she understands everything and nothing resembles Lee Taemin and Kim Yuri holding hands.
∞
Dancing proved to be rather useful to Minjung when she felt restless. She was out of her mind when she danced in her room. Like a mad man in search of bear to slander, kind of. She jumped on her bed, punched her pillows, fell to her knees, and when she sweats and pants, that was when she felt the most light. She skipped dance troupe meetings for a couple of times. When Lee Taemin would text her why she was absent she'd give a half true response about school. When Jonghyun texts her, she leaves his message to rot in her inbox.
∞
There are many things that Minjung doesn't understand. She accepts that. But that doesn't mean that she's at peace with most of them. Like, she doesn't understand why out of the blue, she doesn't want to be around Jonghyun. It's like even being in class with him makes her want to kick his seat away. Every time she hears him laughing around or senses him near, she wants to bury her head in the soil like a freaking ostrich.
And when Sunyoung asks her why she's being such a bitch to Jonghyun, Minjung resorts to the time on the roof when he threw her plastic lock out without consulting her. Sunyoung says that Minjung is being incredibly petty.
So, Minjung defends her side and manages to convince herself in the midst of it. But then she goes home and lies on her bed and rethinks everything she just said.
She sees Lee Taemin on the bleachers with his friends and Yuri. Minjung feels this inevitable pang in her chest but she stares at them anyway because she thinks that she needs some tough love. She wants to snap out of this too.
Then Jonghyun passes by and Yuri calls him over. Minjung averts her gaze and goes back to reading.
∞
What's worse is when Jonghyun notices the static in his TV again and goes up the rooftop to find Minjung fiddling with the satellite, he goes back down, grabs a can of beer and offers Minjung one… and she doesn’t refuse.
But, wait, no. That's not the worst part. The worst part is when Minjung says, "Why is your gender confusing and mean?"
And Jonghyun replies, "I'm not confusing and mean."
And so they get into a half hearted argument until Jonghyun arrives to what he thinks is the most logical conclusion, "You should probably date me."
Minjung laughs because she's buzzed.
"What?" Jonghyun looks dumbfounded. "I'll have you know, I'm an excellent significant other."
"I'm sure."
Jonghyun turns the can around in his hands. "You've never thought about it?"
Minjung's eyes go round. "No, of course not."
"What do you mean 'of course not'?"
"I mean, no." Minjung takes another sip. "I've never thought about it."
She looks over her shoulder to find Jonghyun just staring at her with a half smile that's almost charming.
"What?" Minjung hiccups.
"You've never thought about it."
Minjung shakes her head.
"Really."
"Really." After a few minutes, "Why, have you?"
Jonghyun's smirk disappears when he takes a sip of his beer and Minjung isn't quite sure if he's blushing because of the weather, because of the alcohol or because of the conversation. "I don't know, sometimes, I guess."
"Yeah?" She can't deny the way her chest sort of lifts at the admittance, but then she remembers that she still kind of hates him for reasons that she can't figure out yet.
He nods, eyes on his beer, slowly leading up to her face. He looks honest for the first time in a while.
Minjung blinks then looks away. "What are you saying?" It's just above a whisper.
"… I like you, Minjung."
She doesn't know if it's appropriate but she smiles regardless. "No."
"Yeah." He says above her voice.
"No."
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Since…" Jonghyun squints at the night sky. "Freshmen year."
Minjung suspects her cheeks heating up so she pats them with her hands to cool them down. "Why didn't you tell me then?"
"Because I'm telling you now."
They don't move, don't speak, just stay like that. Until Minjung downs the rest of her beer and stands up dizzily.
She doesn't realize that he stood up with her until she nearly trips but he breaks her fall by grabbing her waist and keeping her steady.
Her hands find his shoulders, fighting for balance. She closes her eyes, opening them slowly. She's faced with Jonghyun's eyes, so calm and deep as they search her features. And for once, she's finally scared because she knows that he's not kidding.
"I should head home." She walks back, away from his touch.
Jonghyun remains quiet, his hands in his pockets as he studies her back, walking down to the fire exit.
∞
"He keeps looking at you during class." Sunyoung says from her desktop computer.
Minjung is lounging on her bed, reading one of her books.
"Just because you're about to quit the dance troupe doesn't mean you won't have to speak to him or see him again."
"I've managed to pull this off for a week." Minjung reads the last line and turns the page. "I can manage a few more."
"Why don't you just admit that you like him and be done with it?"
"I don't like him."
"Then tell him that. You have a serious problem with talking to people, you know that?" Sunyoung swivels her chair around to face Minjung. "Listen, I've known the guy since he was a chubby kid who thought he owned the world. He doesn't go off saying he likes someone he doesn't like."
"I don't know what to do with that." Minjung sighs, her book landing on her stomach as she covers her eyes with the crook of her arm. "I hate how he's turning me into a bitch."
"Minjung, look at me." Sunyoung crawls on the bed and pulls Minjung's arm off her eyes. "Try it again. Do you like him? Honestly."
Minjung takes a moment. She likes being around him. Those times when she was practicing with him on his rooftop, she meant every word, every endearment. She wasn't faking the joy she felt being near him. But, see, she'll always compare him to Lee Taemin. She'll always feel like she's settling. "I don't know."
∞
Thursday morning, Minjung excuses Lee Taemin during his lunch to talk to him about her resignation from the dance troupe.
"Why?" Is all he asks. Minjung can't look him in the eye.
"Uhm, it's kind of personal, you could say." Minjung severely digs her teeth onto her bottom lip.
Lee Taemin nods slowly. "Is it like, family personal or girly stuff personal?" He leans against the lockers behind him.
"You make it sound so shallow." Minjung smiles.
"So the second one then?" Lee Taemin mirrors her smile. "Whatever it is, I'm sure that it'll--"
"No, I." Minjung cuts him off. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For disappointing you." Minjung shakes her head then places a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"I'm not disappointed at you, Choi Minjung sshi, just at the fact that you want leave. I know that dancing isn't exactly something that you've liked since before, but I thought that it might have grown on you."
"What?"
"Come on." Lee Taemin crosses his arms. "I know that you're not fond of dancing like I am and that it just came into your mind recently. But you're good at it. And I know that it makes you happy in some way, doesn't it?"
"It does." Minjung nods. "But, I. I mean, I've never dreamt of being a dancer or, you know, had this as a hobby. I just thought I'd try it out."
"And now that you have?"
Minjung hugs her stomach. "I don't know. I like it, but."
"Can I call you Minjung?" Lee Taemin pushes from the lockers. Minjung blinks disbelievingly then nods. "Minjung, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. But there are very few things in life that will make you happy. That's why they're so precious. And there's nothing wrong with surrounding yourself with the things that make you happy. If you want to dance then dance. It shouldn't matter if you didn't like dancing before or never thought of it, or if you liked something better than dancing but failed at it so you sought this as a last resort. There's always going to be a reason for why you're here and not there, you know what I mean?"
Minjung scratches her elbow, staring blankly at the floor. "What if… what if I get sick of it along the way?"
"You owe it to dancing to know yourself better before making any rash decisions. Like this one. Sleep on it. Then if you still feel the same way, you can talk to me again when you're ready." He touches her shoulder. "Okay?"
∞
She goes to a trip with her family to Daegu for a whole week. On her trip she familiarizes herself with the facts.
Fact number one: she's a dumbass. She should have known this sooner but she always pegged herself to be rational. Turns out that her rationalization failed her this time around. Immensely.
Fact number two: it dons on her that the reason why she probably disliked Jonghyun or didn't want to see him was because she always did. Or because she had this notion that Jonghyun would always be there and that pressured her to the point of suffocation. But then she thought of how impulsive the guy was. How just because he said he liked her since before doesn't mean that he's liked her all this time. What if he liked her during freshmen year then started to hate her during their sophomore year. What if he doesn't feel the same way about her now as he did when he said those things on his rooftop that night?
It's not impossible seeing as Minjung changes her mind all the time. What Jonghyun is to her is completely different from what Taemin is to her and she doesn't have to push them into the same algorithm.
Fact number three: she doesn't want Jonghyun to like anyone else. Seeing Taemin with Yuri, her lungs shrink and she gets jealous, yes, but just thinking about Jonghyun being playful with someone else kills her.
∞
The first day she comes back to class, Jonghyun is in one corner of the room talking to group of guys while Sunyoung greets her at the door. "Did you bring me anything?"
"You can have my lunch." Minjung walks to her desk, eyeing Jonghyun until he looks her way. He doesn't. And when Minjung realizes how scared she is that she might have already lost him, it occurs to her that he must be worth it.
She waits until their lunch break to go up to him and place 2 six packs of yoghurt on his desk. He pokes the pack dubiously then looks up at her from his seat.
Minjung brightens up and takes the seat next to him. "I didn't know which flavor you liked more."
"Don't worry about it." Jonghyun's already tearing one of the yoghurt cups from the pack. "You had a good trip?"
"Yeah." Minjung watches Jonghyun peel the cover from the yoghurt cup and lick one side of it clean. "I thought about a lot of things."
"Like what?"
"Like what you said a few nights ago."
Jonghyun does a good job of pretending that his only concern is the yoghurt in his hands. He licks the rim. "And?"
Minjung takes a deep breath. "Do you wanna see a movie on Saturday, after practice?"
Jonghyun sucks his thumb clean. "I thought you quit the dance troupe."
"I was going to but I realized that I would be quitting for all the wrong reasons."
"So you're staying then."
"Yeah." Minjung's brows knit together because Jonghyun's ignoring her question. "Yeah, I'm staying- Jjong, will you go out with me or what?"
"We have a new routine so you should get on that."
"Jonghyun." Minjung stomps her foot and tries not to whine.
"I don't wanna go out on Saturday."
Minjung's this close to retrieving the packs of yoghurt. "Why the hell not?"
"I don't wanna wait 'til Saturday when I'm free today."
Or better yet, he can keep the yoghurt. He can have more if he asks for it. "I kind of have something with Sunyoung today."
Jonghyun slams the yoghurt cup on the desk, some of the pinkish cream jumping to drizzle down his fingers. He indignantly licks them clean.
Minjung widens her eyes at the act then ventures, "Or I could just tell her that something came up."
Jonghyun grins, that same way that Minjung confirms is actually very charming, not just almost. He hands her a yoghurt cup from the pack. "Fuckin' A."
∞
Sunyoung forces an outfit on Minjung that reveals the length of her legs.
Jonghyun and Minjung argue in front of the movie theater because Minjung wants to see a horror film while Jonghyun argues that he's never seen this Harry Potter installment before.
Minjung's on a roll, saying that Harry Potter will be on the theater listings for weeks while this movie is local and will probably be out of the listing by tomorrow so they might as well--
Jonghyun shuts her up with his lips, and she fights not to hum into the kiss, but she does take note of the soft moisture and how it leaves her listless.
After that kiss that sent Minjung to silence and Jonghyun to his premature thoughts of victory, Minjung tugs on his arm just as he's about to get the Harry Potter tickets and kisses him again. This time she does hum, low in her throat and musses his hair.
So yeah, they end up in the horror flick movie theater, but Minjung never finds out how the movie ends.
*masterficlist | tumblr | comment here to be added
-- so i'm so sorry if this sucks some serious butt.
i wrote this in a bit of a rush because i thought
that minjung and jonghyun would be a cute
hs pairing to write and agghhh... i don't know. i got
all frustrated with this fic. i dunno if it showed.
anyways, i hope it turned out okay for you guys.
-- wherein high school fluff is abused
in this fic. :)
credit to whoever this fanart belongs to
music shake it out by florence + the machine
inspired by this comment on my fic meme entry submitted by sharpersong ♥
So there's this guy. And he's kind of amazing.
His name is Lee Taemin and he's a senior, a year higher than Minjung. From Minjung's thorough and (what she would like to think is) subtle questioning, she found out long ago that Lee Taemin weighs 62 kilograms, is 5"9, has had his appendix removed when he was a freshman, partakes in several organizations in school, is left handed, and likes the color red. The last fact she sort of guesses from averaging the color of his shirts every Friday, which is the only day that they're allowed to not wear their uniforms on campus.
But yeah. Lee Taemin.
Choi Minjung has spoken to Lee Taemin a total of two times in her entire 4 years in the school.
The first time was when she had just enrolled and was taking the exams that she missed since she enrolled late in the year. So, she was in the library, being all new and kind of hating it because she was so awkward she could make inanimate objects uncomfortable in her presence, when Lee Taemin walked over to her table and welcomed her to the school.
Apparently Haneul, the school she just enrolled in, was barely graced with new faces so even if you were a crack on the pavement, as long as you were new, you'd stick out like a sore thumb.
Minjung did this thing where she bowed for way too long that he had to ask if she was crying or something. Then she smiled too big and ended up laughing and knocking her things over and they tumbled down the floor and he bent down to help her with her things and, like, oh god, he smells like sunflowers. It was probably just some store brand cologne that Minjung smelled everywhere, but on him it was heavenly.
When he left, she could only see him on her test paper. She still aced it, though.
The second time was during the Open House event that was held yearly at Haneul where students placed a variety of booths, like a Jail Booth, Dedication Booth, that kind of thing. It was rather festive, all of the students participating by making sure they didn't step on the inconspicuous exes on the court placed by the people who ran the Jail Booth.
Minjung was setting up her booth with Sunyoung where they sold sweets and stuff like that then out of nowhere one of the members of the Chain Booth came over and began to drag Minjung to the booth where she found Lee Taemin waiting for her.
They were chained at the wrist with a plastic thingamajig that wouldn't come off and they had to pay a 1000 Won if they wanted it to be cut off. Minjung had a 1000 Won on here easy, but seriously, it was a waste having to pay that amount when a scissor can solve their problems for free. Minjung apologized several times while Lee Taemin smiled at her and told her that it was okay.
She didn't say how she suspected one of her friends to be the reason why Lee Taemin and her were in such a predicament but she only ever told one person how she felt about him; Sunyoung, she was going to die before this day ended.
Minjung didn't talk to Lee Taemin the entire time they were chained together. She kept her face hidden behind her hair, afraid that if Lee Taemin took one look at her, he would mistake her cheeks for tomatoes. The back of his hand rubbed against hers the entire time he let her lead him to one of the classrooms where she kept her things, a scissor somewhere in her backpack. She damned Sunyoung's future children when she found her bag scissor-free, that impossibly clever friend of hers must have managed to fish the pair of scissors out in favor of her plan.
Eventually Minjung found a pair of scissors from an abandoned classroom and cut the plastic. Lee Taemin exited the classroom moments after he thanked her and said, "Really, Choi Minjung sshi, I didn't mind at all."
When the door closed, Minjung took the plastic thingamajig and placed it in her pocket for keeps.
Only two times yet, during those brief encounters, nothing hurt at all.
∞
"This is depressing." Sunyoung's voice lifts Minjung's attention from the window where she is watching Lee Taemin on the basketball court, shooting hoops with his friends.
"Mm?"
"This." Sunyoung waves her chopsticks in a circular motion around Minjung's face. "Watching this. It makes suicide letters look like comic books."
Minjung frowns as she looks down at the mandarin in her hands.
They have 40 minutes of lunch time before their next class and while most of their classmates flow in the direction of the canteen or the court, Minjung and Sunyoung enjoy their lunch on their desks, pushed together.
"You should talk to him." Sunyoung finally says a minute later.
Minjung shakes her head. "What? And say 'hey I'm Minjung and I was in love with you ever since you were thirteen and I was twelve and I've MASHed our names together several times, we drive a tricycle, live in a haunted house, have 12 babies, and get married in Prince's backyard?'"
"It's a start." Sunyoung grins. "Besides, it'll be a big improvement from whatever this is."
"I'm admiring him from afar." Minjung adamantly props her chin on her hand.
"I think I read that on a stalker's bumper sticker once."
"It's not that easy, okay?" Minjung sets the mandarin on the table, staring back out to watch as Lee Taemin steals the ball and dribbles. "I see how girls confess to him all the time. I don't want to be a casualty."
Sunyoung is about to reply when a burp erupts from the other table, disrupting their conversation. Sunyoung and Minjung divert their attention to the source of the noise. They find Kim Jonghyun with his half blonde streaks of hair and perpetual pout, pouring water into his empty yoghurt container.
He must have sensed the pair of eyes he garnered since he halts midway, plucks one of his earphones from his ear and returns Minjung's baffled expression.
"What." He says when neither party speaks up.
"Nothing." Minjung blinks as she picks up her mandarin and begins to peel it.
Jonghyun rolls his eyes and goes back to his work, pouring water into the container until it reaches the brim where Sunyoung observes the water slightly translucent due to the yoghurt bits floating about.
"What are you doing?" Sunyoung asks finally.
Jonghyun closes his eyes and sighs, takes his earphone out again and raises a brow at Sunyoung. "I'm putting water in this cup."
"Why?"
Jonghyun squints at her like she just insulted his family or something, "To drink."
"Why not just drink directly from the bottle." Sunyoung shakes her hair from her eyes while Minjung tries to figure out how to kick her leg from underneath the table without Jonghyun noticing.
"Because I want to make sure I've licked all my yoghurt clean."
He's about to down the contents of the yogurt cup when Sunyoung releases an almost silent, "Ew."
Jonghyun takes the cup away and narrows his eyes at Sunyoung. "Yoghurt doesn't come cheap."
Sunyoung raises her hands in mock defeat. "Whatever floats your boat, Jjong. Whatever floats your boat."
When Jonghyun drinks the concoction, Sunyoung and Minjung look away and make barfing noises.
∞
The reason why Minjung finds herself in school on a Saturday is because there's an audition to join the dance troupe at 11 am. No, well, actually, Minjung hates dancing.
But Lee Taemin is going to be the head of the dance troupe this year since he's a senior and has been a member since his freshman year so. Here she is.
She's about to pick up a form from the table outside of the classroom that the dance troupe rented when another hand appears next to hers, reaching for the same form.
"Choi Minjung sshi?"
Jonghyun's giving her this blatantly shocked look from beside her, his hand retreating into his pocket as he allows her the form. Minjung takes it and tucks it under her chin.
"Kim Jonghyun sshi, good morning." She bows, all of her hair falling to the front. She straightens every strand back down when she curls up, Jonghyun, unresponsive to the formal greeting.
"Where's Sunyoung?"
"At home."
"Oh."
Jonghyun and Sunyoung knew each other even before they reached their elementary years. Apparently, Minjung entered the school just in time because Jonghyun was just finding his place in the boy's group while Sunyoung was learning how to fit in with the girls her age.
"Funny running into you here." Jonghyun observes. He grabs the next blank form and gestures for Minjung to follow him to the two vacant seats in the hallway.
"You're auditioning?" Minjung settles on the seat next to Jonghyun, the form layered lightly on her bag. She takes a pen from the pocket of her bag and scribbles her name on the form.
"You too?" Jonghyun props his ankle atop the knee of his other leg and places his form on his shin.
While Minjung confirms with a nod, Jonghyun is palming his jacket pockets for a pen. "Shit."
"What?" Minjung looks up.
Jonghyun is staring at his shoe like he's been defeated. "I forgot to bring a pen."
Minjung reaches in her bag for an extra blue pen she has with her and offers it to Jonghyun. Jonghyun stares at it contemplatively before taking it in his hand and saying, "I'll give it back to you later."
"That's ok, you can keep it." Minjung answers as she returns to her form. "I have tons of pens at home from my dad's office. He has a stack of them that he brings home."
Jonghyun purses his lips together, pushed upward, following the direction of his brows as he nods slowly in understanding. "Thanks."
∞
Minjung saw this Britney Spears video with Madonna in it on MTV once. She recorded it and practiced what she could pick up from the routine all for preparation for today.
Minjung doesn't know how exactly, but even with Lee Taemin and a couple of other seniors in the room, she manages to pull off the entire routine on the first go. She doesn't need a mirror to show her that she probably looks as stupid as she feels but by the end of her dance, Lee Taemin is clapping and smiling and is clearly pleased. Minjung doesn't care, like, she would do the chicken dance in a roasted chicken suit if it kept him smiling at her like that.
She bows, sweat beads clinging to her fringe.
"Thanks, Minjung sshi, that was great." Lee Taemin says. "How long have you been dancing for?"
Two days, although it's the honest to god truth, is not the most appealing answer it seems. So Minjung opts for another version of it, "I just started recently."
"Cool, cool. And you're okay with practicing every Saturdays when an event comes up?"
Holy crap, she's in? "Yes!" Minjung says, high pitched without meaning to and it makes one of the seniors laugh. "I mean, yes. Yes, please. I'll… yeah."
"Okay." Lee Taemin folds her form and places it in a folder. "Your number's in here so I'll just text you for any updates."
Minjung thinks that this might be the best day of her life, her new favorite moment with Lee Taemin, and she just cannot wait to go over to Sunyoung's and scream at her face about the events that just happened today.
Minjung bows on her way out, the door hitting her backside as she makes her exit. She doesn't notice Jonghyun on the other side, just barely managing to back away before the door slams in his face.
Minjung pats her fringe down and beams at Jonghyun so wide that her face is about to split in half. "You're up."
"It went well then?" Jonghyun chuckles as he holds the door open.
"You could say that." She doesn't even realize that she just spoke informally to him.
"You're heading home?"
"I'm going over to Sunyoung's." Minjung slides her other arm through the strap of her backpack. "I wanna be the first to tell her the good news."
"Okay." Jonghyun nods. "Wish me luck."
Minjung's already making her way down the hall when she spins around, walking backwards as she plunges her fist in the air, "HWAITING, Kim Jonghyun!"
Jonghyun shakes his head in embarrassment for the both of them before disappearing behind the door.
∞
It's not Jonghyun's fault. So, Minjung shouldn't be mad at him. But she's young and like most teenage girls, she's got a lot of misplaced feelings.
She entered the dance troupe and danced to Britney freaking Spears to find a way to maybe bond with Lee Taemin, maybe even be a part of his senior circle at best. Somehow, the end result had turned out completely twisted from the reality she wanted.
Two people from the four year levels, one boy and one girl, were selected to practice the newly choreographed steps with the seniors one Saturday. So, Minjung, being as excited as she was to be one of the lucky selections, entered the room with a smile and a skip in her rather skip-less step, only to be paired up with Jonghyun because that made sense what with Jonghyun being a Junior and her being a Junior.
She couldn't even concentrate on the steps, she was so disappointed. And she's pretty sure she stepped on Jonghyun's toe more than once which is ridiculous because this is a hip hop routine.
By the end of the session, everyone begins to disburse. Jonghyun is being complimented as he makes his way to his bag, people clapping him on the shoulder and all. Minjung can't deny that Jonghyun can dance and that's surprising to her seeing as Jonghyun never joined any troupes or dance contests before.
But then again, Jonghyun and she aren't really friends.
"Minjung." Jonghyun snaps his fingers in front of her face, waking her from her current daze. Minjung blinks rapidly, adjusting her focus to fix on Jonghyun's stare. "You ready?"
They never asked for permission or anything to talk informally to one another, it just happened. And Minjung isn't exactly feeling violent towards the development so she just lets it be. "What?"
"I said, are you ready." Jonghyun repeats as he uncaps his bottle of water and takes a generous sip.
"For what?" The room has already been emptied and they are the only two left inside.
Jonghyun's expression turns grim as he reaches for her shoulder, his touch slightly cold, stolen from the moist of the water bottle. He nears his lips to her ear and whispers, "To bury the body."
"What?" Minjung pushes away from Jonghyun, his grin on full display as he topples back and takes another sip from his bottle.
"To practice at my house." Jonghyun tries again.
"Oh." Minjung exhales. "Right." She remembers him letting her know, in between their practice earlier, that they have to practice the steps before next Saturday when they teach it to the other Juniors in the dance troupe.
"Right." Jonghyun rolls his eyes in this slow, kind of off putting way, then he tosses the bottle up and catches it midway, "Let's go."
Jonghyun's already heading for the door while Minjung jogs to her own bag and takes a hand towel out for her sweat. Jonghyun turns the doorknob and pushes the door open, only then noticing that Minjung isn't behind him. He turns around, keeping his foot to stop the door from closing as he watches Minjung pat her face dry.
"Double time, Choi."
When did his voice become so irritating.
"I get it." Minjung says, placing her towel back in her bag, zipping it up and slipping it on her shoulders.
∞
"Why are we practicing at your house?" She only realizes this once they're outside of the campus.
"You see this building?" He waves at the building across from the school.
"Yeah?"
"I live here." He walks ahead while Minjung stares at the building, then at their school literally a few feet away from her, then back at the building. She shrugs then falls back into step with Jonghyun.
The building is dim from the inside, the halls narrow. They make their way up the stairs, Jonghyun leading the way until the fourth floor. They stop in front of a door with the number 401 plastered below the peephole.
Jonghyun shrugs his bag off and slips his hand in the pockets for his keys.
The apartment is humble, living room greeting their entry. "I'm just gonna grab my speakers. We're gonna head up in a sec. You can leave your stuff in my room if you want."
Minjung picks up one of the picture frames on the shelves nearest her, a picture of Jonghyun and his older sister, Yuri, inside. Yuri is a senior at their school and is also in the dance troupe. She was actually Lee Taemin's partner earlier today. Minjung never noticed how long and perfect her hair was until she saw this picture of her.
"Minjung, hey." Jonghyun is already behind her, taking the picture from her hand and settling it back down on the shelf. She places her hands in her jacket pockets and looks at Jonghyun with a slight flush in her cheeks. "You're really out of it today."
"No I'm not." Minjung says instantly.
Jonghyun snorts a laugh, tugging her sleeves as he moves past her to the door. "Whatever."
Jonghyun takes her to the following floor level, which is the rooftop. It was cluttered with several satellite dishes, bordered with cement walls that reach the height of Minjung's waist. She quietly peers over one of the borders and finds the quadrangle of their school as the main view. She makes a face at the sight. She can just imagine being up here, pretending she was God playing Sims on the people at school.
"Don't stand there."
Minjung turns her head to face Jonghyun who is currently plugging in his speakers. "Why not?"
"That's our satellite dish." Jonghyun points at the dish settled to the right of Minjung's legs.
"So?"
"So," Jonghyun half groans when he lifts back up to his feet. "you're interrupting incoming waves."
"Bullshit." Minjung smirks, dropping her bag to the gravel.
"I'm serious. Also, the static's bad for your eggs."
"My what?"
"You know, eggs? Like, your ovulating eggs for kids? If procreation isn't your thing then by all means, you can lie on the damn thing."
Minjung steps out of the way, nearing Jonghyun.
They try the routine once and Minjung misses most of the steps. Jonghyun teaches her the whole routine again, one combination at a time, and she finally understands it. Doesn't mean that she can dance it, but she understands it.
Half an hour in and she's panting on one of the folding chairs Jonghyun brought up, just soaking in her sweat when Jonghyun returns from the inside, a plastic bag of mandarins and two waters in his hands.
He tosses one bottle of water to Minjung. She doesn't see it coming so it ends up bouncing on her tummy. Jonghyun laughs his apology out while Minjung can't even find the strength to get mad.
Minutes later, Minjung is peeling a mandarin and taking in the citrus zest scent.
"So, you're kind of anal, huh?" Jonghyun asks through half a mound of mandarin plumps.
"Why?" Minjung concentrates on her peeling.
"You ever notice how you peel oranges a certain way? From up here, all the way around in a circle, then both sides."
Minjung sniffs, "I peel it neatly."
"You peel it with a pattern. That's disconcerting."
"How so?"
"I don't know. I just learned what disconcerting meant. I wanted to use it."
Minjung takes a piece of the peel and shoots it at Jonghyun's chest.
Five mandarins and a bunch of failed jokes supplied by Jonghyun later, Minjung's back on her feet and ready to take on the world. They try the routine one more time, Minjung finally getting into the same rhythm as Jonghyun.
"That was better."
"I am a dancing queen." Minjung praises herself in English, shuffling her feet the way she thinks river dancers do.
"Am I the dancing king, then?" Jonghyun tries to imitate her albeit a bit more excited.
Minjung laughs but doesn't stop dancing. "Depends. Can you do this?" Minjung lies on the gravel (regretting it later when she heads home and finds bits of dirt in her hair) and stretches to a crab walk position. She makes it to the cement border and falls back down, standing up and smoothing her shirt down.
"Child's play." Jonghyun does a cartwheel and finishes with a wink.
"Not bad. You can be the royal jester."
They end up doing a dance off that should never be imitated by none professionals and, dear god, they're idiots, because Minjung tries so hard and Jonghyun tries even harder. Clearly, Jonghyun wins so Minjung resorts to threatening to bash his satellite dish to shreds-- "Admit defeat or lose one hundred channels!"
Before 6:30 pm, they manage to make plans for Sunday to, you know, practice. However, when Minjung arrives, the first thing Jonghyun does is boast the different channels on TV so they end up watching a Japanese cooking show that stirs Minjung's craving for sweet egg rolls. Jonghyun orders pizza.
Usually, Minjung eats half a slice and pretends to be full, not just around guys but around relatives. But today, she ate half of the contents of the pizza box while Jonghyun polished the rest. And when he says he has cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer, Minjung asks where the spoons are.
They talk about school, then about friends. They talk about Sunyoung and how she's great but at the same time, not so great, but the great outweighs the not so great so it's all good. They talk about dancing, how Jonghyun has always shied away from his opportunities until this year and how Minjung is developing it as a hobby. Jonghyun talks about a girl he dated before and Minjung reveals her relationship with her books. She's close to telling him about Lee Taemin but she somehow finds the confession to be unnecessary for the time being. She doesn't mention him at all.
Minjung laughs with her mouth wide open, hands clutching her stomach while Jonghyun laughs with his nose creased up and his eyes disappearing into upturned slits. And by the time Minjung finally remembers what they have to do, it's almost 7 pm and she has to head home.
∞
Jonghyun and Minjung are passing each other notes in Physics because Mr. Hwang's bald spot is especially shiny today-- "He puts mirrors to shame."
Sunyoung notices this and being a dear friend, she goes, "So you and Jonghyun…" because friends don't beat around the bush.
Minjung spoons her rice around her lunchbox dreamily, the only things in her head being the steps that she needs to memorize before Saturday. "What of it?"
"I'm just saying." Sunyoung leans back in her chair, arms folded across her chest.
Minjung tilts her head to the right. "You're not saying anything."
"Just. You're getting. Comfy." She ends with a scrunch of her nose.
Minjung nibbles on her bottom lip. She half shrugs, "Yeah, I guess."
"Okay." Sunyoung's gaze drops to her food, but her devious smile doesn't go unnoticed.
"What?"
"What."
"What are you thinking?"
"Minjung."
"Huh?"
"And Jonghyun."
"What are you--"
"Sitting in a tree."
"-- oh dear god--"
"K-I-S-S--"
"You're dead to me."
∞
Saturday came a lot faster than Minjung expected. She was there early, putting Jonghyun to shame as he entered with his sunglasses and bed hair-- "And I live ten thousand miles from here too."
They taught three other Juniors the steps that they needed to know, everyone picking up the choreography fine. It was actually a really good fit, Minjung couldn't help but notice, because when Minjung was about to miss a step she remembered something Jonghyun said about a certain move that mimics fishing or sweeping the floor or something. And when Jonghyun can't explain how to execute a combination eloquently, Minjung chips in with Jonghyun demonstrating.
After the quick practice, Lee Taemin comes in with Yuri and they watch as Jonghyun and Minjung, along with the juniors, run the routine one time.
"Good job today, you guys." Lee Taemin announces afterwards. "So, no practice for the next couple of Saturdays since we'll be supervising the sophomores and freshmen's progress. We have a final practice on the third Saturday then it's show time on Wednesday."
Jonghyun takes Minjung out for yoghurt to celebrate. As soon as she's done scooping the last of her yoghurt from her cup, he promptly pours water inside it and suggests, "Just try it, it's not as bad as it looks."
"I can't, Jjong, just look at it."
"You girls always imagine the worst." Jonghyun presses the rim of the cup towards her. Minjung resists for the next few minutes until Jonghyun catches her off guard.
She spits the foggy liquid out even before she could manage to push Jonghyun's hand away.
∞
When their dance routine goes well during the event, the draining days Minjung spent on Jonghyun's rooftop practicing finally seemed worth it. They added a few days after classes to practice with the rest of the juniors who were willing to invest the time, and although it was partly the dancing that kept Minjung spent for the next few days, Jonghyun acting like a dork around her contributed just as much.
A month passes and Lee Taemin is seen having dinner with Yuri. Sunyoung tells Minjung that nothing's final so don't flip the shit until it hits the fan.
But then a week later Lee Taemin is waiting at the gates every morning for Yuri to come to school and carry her bag to class and Jonghyun tells Sunyoung who passes the message to Minjung, "Apparently, Lee Taemin's been holding a torch for her all this time. That's why he's been turning down all those confessions. Minjung, I'm so sorry."
She says sorry but Minjung's not thinking clearly. All she hears is a different version of Sunyoung in her mind going, "I told you so!" repeatedly. She was right, Sunyoung 2.0, she did say so. And Minjung should have just sucked it up and talked to him. Or maybe she was right to hold it off because she would only be making a fool of herself.
For whatever reason, Minjung ends up in Jonghyun's rooftop that night, bawling her eyes out. Jonghyun notices the static in his reception so he goes up to check whatever's in the way of his satellite. Turns out it's a crying girl.
"Minjung?"
"Sorry!" Minjung's head flies up, she wipes at her tears and sniffs a few times. "I just. It's really quiet up here. I was at- at school late. And I thought- I thought I'd- I mean, I just needed…" Her sentence is cut off by another series of sobs.
Jonghyun lets his hand hover above her back before allowing it to land. He pats her twice, kind of choreographed awkwardly, before placing his hand by his side. "Uhm. Are you gonna be okay?"
"I'm gonna be fine, don't worry about it, I'm clearly at my most stable right now!"
"Really?"
"No! of course not, are you an idiot- I can't even- even breathe." Jonghyun knows that she's been crying really hard for more than 10 minutes because she's hyperventilating through her sentences.
"Okay, Jesus." Jonghyun shifts his weight around his feet. He scuffs a heel on the gravel when he says, "Do you want a hug or something?"
Minjung slowly looks up, her hair is sticking to her cheeks, her eyes puffy.
Jonghyun frowns, hands automatically reaching for her cheeks to wipe at her tears. "Come here."
Jonghyun's shirt ends up as her handkerchief. She clings to the fabric of his shirt by his back, humming as she cries while Jonghyun rests his cheek on the crown of her head.
He lets her have a few moments, pressing firmer into the hug when a breeze passes by. Later he asks, "Why are you crying?"
He can feel her breath on his chest as she murmurs, "Because I'm not your sister."
Jonghyun smirks through his confusion. Then he finally gets it, his smirk melting to a frown. He closes his eyes and doesn't realize that he's hugging her just that much tighter. "For whatever it's worth, I'm glad you're not my sister."
Minjung hears him correctly it, but comprehends the context wrong so she just laughs and punches him lightly as she pulls away.
He notices her clutching onto something. "What's that?"
Minjung stares at her hand like she's seeing it for the first time. "I. It's this plastic lock thing from, uhm, Open House last year. Lee Taemin and I were, uhm, chained. Together."
"… why did you keep that?"
Minjung smiles with tears forming in her eyes again. "His hands are really soft." She says unhelpfully.
Jonghyun wonders how someone as smart as Choi Minjung can say some very stupid things. "Do you mind?" He reaches a hand out for the plastic.
Minjung wipes her nose with her sleeve then hands the plastic lock over to Jonghyun who takes it with both hands and holds it close to his face where he studies the part where the plastic is cut.
"Who cut this?"
"I did." Minjung exhales.
Jonghyun walks back, crumpling the plastic in both his hands.
Minjung looks at him, taking two steps forward, slightly alarmed. "What are you doing?"
"Just think of it this way." Jonghyun turns around and leans over one side of the cement borders. "If you can let him go once then you can probably do it again." When Minjung shouts for Jonghyun not to do it, Jonghyun chucks the plastic into the open air.
"You- Oh my god!" Minjung stands on her toes to incline her stomach over the border.
"You'll thank me one day."
She doesn't speak to him for three days.
∞
Three months later and Lee Taemin is still very much causing a stir with Yuri strung along his arm.
And Minjung swears that if she overhears another one of the freshmen saying how perfect they are for each other she's going to replace everyone's drinking water with nitrous.
"How are you holding up?" Sunyoung means well when she asks this, but Minjung always finds it condescending. So she just shakes her head and buries her nose in her books where she understands everything and nothing resembles Lee Taemin and Kim Yuri holding hands.
∞
Dancing proved to be rather useful to Minjung when she felt restless. She was out of her mind when she danced in her room. Like a mad man in search of bear to slander, kind of. She jumped on her bed, punched her pillows, fell to her knees, and when she sweats and pants, that was when she felt the most light. She skipped dance troupe meetings for a couple of times. When Lee Taemin would text her why she was absent she'd give a half true response about school. When Jonghyun texts her, she leaves his message to rot in her inbox.
∞
There are many things that Minjung doesn't understand. She accepts that. But that doesn't mean that she's at peace with most of them. Like, she doesn't understand why out of the blue, she doesn't want to be around Jonghyun. It's like even being in class with him makes her want to kick his seat away. Every time she hears him laughing around or senses him near, she wants to bury her head in the soil like a freaking ostrich.
And when Sunyoung asks her why she's being such a bitch to Jonghyun, Minjung resorts to the time on the roof when he threw her plastic lock out without consulting her. Sunyoung says that Minjung is being incredibly petty.
So, Minjung defends her side and manages to convince herself in the midst of it. But then she goes home and lies on her bed and rethinks everything she just said.
She sees Lee Taemin on the bleachers with his friends and Yuri. Minjung feels this inevitable pang in her chest but she stares at them anyway because she thinks that she needs some tough love. She wants to snap out of this too.
Then Jonghyun passes by and Yuri calls him over. Minjung averts her gaze and goes back to reading.
∞
What's worse is when Jonghyun notices the static in his TV again and goes up the rooftop to find Minjung fiddling with the satellite, he goes back down, grabs a can of beer and offers Minjung one… and she doesn’t refuse.
But, wait, no. That's not the worst part. The worst part is when Minjung says, "Why is your gender confusing and mean?"
And Jonghyun replies, "I'm not confusing and mean."
And so they get into a half hearted argument until Jonghyun arrives to what he thinks is the most logical conclusion, "You should probably date me."
Minjung laughs because she's buzzed.
"What?" Jonghyun looks dumbfounded. "I'll have you know, I'm an excellent significant other."
"I'm sure."
Jonghyun turns the can around in his hands. "You've never thought about it?"
Minjung's eyes go round. "No, of course not."
"What do you mean 'of course not'?"
"I mean, no." Minjung takes another sip. "I've never thought about it."
She looks over her shoulder to find Jonghyun just staring at her with a half smile that's almost charming.
"What?" Minjung hiccups.
"You've never thought about it."
Minjung shakes her head.
"Really."
"Really." After a few minutes, "Why, have you?"
Jonghyun's smirk disappears when he takes a sip of his beer and Minjung isn't quite sure if he's blushing because of the weather, because of the alcohol or because of the conversation. "I don't know, sometimes, I guess."
"Yeah?" She can't deny the way her chest sort of lifts at the admittance, but then she remembers that she still kind of hates him for reasons that she can't figure out yet.
He nods, eyes on his beer, slowly leading up to her face. He looks honest for the first time in a while.
Minjung blinks then looks away. "What are you saying?" It's just above a whisper.
"… I like you, Minjung."
She doesn't know if it's appropriate but she smiles regardless. "No."
"Yeah." He says above her voice.
"No."
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Since…" Jonghyun squints at the night sky. "Freshmen year."
Minjung suspects her cheeks heating up so she pats them with her hands to cool them down. "Why didn't you tell me then?"
"Because I'm telling you now."
They don't move, don't speak, just stay like that. Until Minjung downs the rest of her beer and stands up dizzily.
She doesn't realize that he stood up with her until she nearly trips but he breaks her fall by grabbing her waist and keeping her steady.
Her hands find his shoulders, fighting for balance. She closes her eyes, opening them slowly. She's faced with Jonghyun's eyes, so calm and deep as they search her features. And for once, she's finally scared because she knows that he's not kidding.
"I should head home." She walks back, away from his touch.
Jonghyun remains quiet, his hands in his pockets as he studies her back, walking down to the fire exit.
∞
"He keeps looking at you during class." Sunyoung says from her desktop computer.
Minjung is lounging on her bed, reading one of her books.
"Just because you're about to quit the dance troupe doesn't mean you won't have to speak to him or see him again."
"I've managed to pull this off for a week." Minjung reads the last line and turns the page. "I can manage a few more."
"Why don't you just admit that you like him and be done with it?"
"I don't like him."
"Then tell him that. You have a serious problem with talking to people, you know that?" Sunyoung swivels her chair around to face Minjung. "Listen, I've known the guy since he was a chubby kid who thought he owned the world. He doesn't go off saying he likes someone he doesn't like."
"I don't know what to do with that." Minjung sighs, her book landing on her stomach as she covers her eyes with the crook of her arm. "I hate how he's turning me into a bitch."
"Minjung, look at me." Sunyoung crawls on the bed and pulls Minjung's arm off her eyes. "Try it again. Do you like him? Honestly."
Minjung takes a moment. She likes being around him. Those times when she was practicing with him on his rooftop, she meant every word, every endearment. She wasn't faking the joy she felt being near him. But, see, she'll always compare him to Lee Taemin. She'll always feel like she's settling. "I don't know."
∞
Thursday morning, Minjung excuses Lee Taemin during his lunch to talk to him about her resignation from the dance troupe.
"Why?" Is all he asks. Minjung can't look him in the eye.
"Uhm, it's kind of personal, you could say." Minjung severely digs her teeth onto her bottom lip.
Lee Taemin nods slowly. "Is it like, family personal or girly stuff personal?" He leans against the lockers behind him.
"You make it sound so shallow." Minjung smiles.
"So the second one then?" Lee Taemin mirrors her smile. "Whatever it is, I'm sure that it'll--"
"No, I." Minjung cuts him off. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For disappointing you." Minjung shakes her head then places a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"I'm not disappointed at you, Choi Minjung sshi, just at the fact that you want leave. I know that dancing isn't exactly something that you've liked since before, but I thought that it might have grown on you."
"What?"
"Come on." Lee Taemin crosses his arms. "I know that you're not fond of dancing like I am and that it just came into your mind recently. But you're good at it. And I know that it makes you happy in some way, doesn't it?"
"It does." Minjung nods. "But, I. I mean, I've never dreamt of being a dancer or, you know, had this as a hobby. I just thought I'd try it out."
"And now that you have?"
Minjung hugs her stomach. "I don't know. I like it, but."
"Can I call you Minjung?" Lee Taemin pushes from the lockers. Minjung blinks disbelievingly then nods. "Minjung, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. But there are very few things in life that will make you happy. That's why they're so precious. And there's nothing wrong with surrounding yourself with the things that make you happy. If you want to dance then dance. It shouldn't matter if you didn't like dancing before or never thought of it, or if you liked something better than dancing but failed at it so you sought this as a last resort. There's always going to be a reason for why you're here and not there, you know what I mean?"
Minjung scratches her elbow, staring blankly at the floor. "What if… what if I get sick of it along the way?"
"You owe it to dancing to know yourself better before making any rash decisions. Like this one. Sleep on it. Then if you still feel the same way, you can talk to me again when you're ready." He touches her shoulder. "Okay?"
∞
She goes to a trip with her family to Daegu for a whole week. On her trip she familiarizes herself with the facts.
Fact number one: she's a dumbass. She should have known this sooner but she always pegged herself to be rational. Turns out that her rationalization failed her this time around. Immensely.
Fact number two: it dons on her that the reason why she probably disliked Jonghyun or didn't want to see him was because she always did. Or because she had this notion that Jonghyun would always be there and that pressured her to the point of suffocation. But then she thought of how impulsive the guy was. How just because he said he liked her since before doesn't mean that he's liked her all this time. What if he liked her during freshmen year then started to hate her during their sophomore year. What if he doesn't feel the same way about her now as he did when he said those things on his rooftop that night?
It's not impossible seeing as Minjung changes her mind all the time. What Jonghyun is to her is completely different from what Taemin is to her and she doesn't have to push them into the same algorithm.
Fact number three: she doesn't want Jonghyun to like anyone else. Seeing Taemin with Yuri, her lungs shrink and she gets jealous, yes, but just thinking about Jonghyun being playful with someone else kills her.
∞
The first day she comes back to class, Jonghyun is in one corner of the room talking to group of guys while Sunyoung greets her at the door. "Did you bring me anything?"
"You can have my lunch." Minjung walks to her desk, eyeing Jonghyun until he looks her way. He doesn't. And when Minjung realizes how scared she is that she might have already lost him, it occurs to her that he must be worth it.
She waits until their lunch break to go up to him and place 2 six packs of yoghurt on his desk. He pokes the pack dubiously then looks up at her from his seat.
Minjung brightens up and takes the seat next to him. "I didn't know which flavor you liked more."
"Don't worry about it." Jonghyun's already tearing one of the yoghurt cups from the pack. "You had a good trip?"
"Yeah." Minjung watches Jonghyun peel the cover from the yoghurt cup and lick one side of it clean. "I thought about a lot of things."
"Like what?"
"Like what you said a few nights ago."
Jonghyun does a good job of pretending that his only concern is the yoghurt in his hands. He licks the rim. "And?"
Minjung takes a deep breath. "Do you wanna see a movie on Saturday, after practice?"
Jonghyun sucks his thumb clean. "I thought you quit the dance troupe."
"I was going to but I realized that I would be quitting for all the wrong reasons."
"So you're staying then."
"Yeah." Minjung's brows knit together because Jonghyun's ignoring her question. "Yeah, I'm staying- Jjong, will you go out with me or what?"
"We have a new routine so you should get on that."
"Jonghyun." Minjung stomps her foot and tries not to whine.
"I don't wanna go out on Saturday."
Minjung's this close to retrieving the packs of yoghurt. "Why the hell not?"
"I don't wanna wait 'til Saturday when I'm free today."
Or better yet, he can keep the yoghurt. He can have more if he asks for it. "I kind of have something with Sunyoung today."
Jonghyun slams the yoghurt cup on the desk, some of the pinkish cream jumping to drizzle down his fingers. He indignantly licks them clean.
Minjung widens her eyes at the act then ventures, "Or I could just tell her that something came up."
Jonghyun grins, that same way that Minjung confirms is actually very charming, not just almost. He hands her a yoghurt cup from the pack. "Fuckin' A."
∞
Sunyoung forces an outfit on Minjung that reveals the length of her legs.
Jonghyun and Minjung argue in front of the movie theater because Minjung wants to see a horror film while Jonghyun argues that he's never seen this Harry Potter installment before.
Minjung's on a roll, saying that Harry Potter will be on the theater listings for weeks while this movie is local and will probably be out of the listing by tomorrow so they might as well--
Jonghyun shuts her up with his lips, and she fights not to hum into the kiss, but she does take note of the soft moisture and how it leaves her listless.
After that kiss that sent Minjung to silence and Jonghyun to his premature thoughts of victory, Minjung tugs on his arm just as he's about to get the Harry Potter tickets and kisses him again. This time she does hum, low in her throat and musses his hair.
So yeah, they end up in the horror flick movie theater, but Minjung never finds out how the movie ends.
*masterficlist | tumblr | comment here to be added
-- so i'm so sorry if this sucks some serious butt.
i wrote this in a bit of a rush because i thought
that minjung and jonghyun would be a cute
hs pairing to write and agghhh... i don't know. i got
all frustrated with this fic. i dunno if it showed.
anyways, i hope it turned out okay for you guys.