just the sight of you; [donghae/kyuhyun]
just the sight of you
donghae/kyuhyun; pg-13
3,932 words
Even before the fateful party, Kyuhyun knows he's found the one to shake up his world. Companion piece to Oh My (Super Boy) but can be read as a stand-alone. It's basically the story told in Kyuhyun's POV with some added backstory. Zhou Mi also played an unexpectedly huge part in this lol.
There is something to be said about relationships: he never gets the same results. Last month was a depressing run, some months back it was peaceful, and some more months back, it felt like it wasn't there.
So when he comes in to a new university, with unfamiliar faces and an entirely different atmosphere, he wavers between relief and loneliness. Schooled in his hometown province all his life, he's never had the opportunity to see the big city lights and wonders. Suffice it to say that he cared little about such things - being involved with emotionally-stunted, closeted or, god help him, mentally unstable boys taught him not to expect much out of anybody or put his faith in little things like a smile and a handshake.
However, something compelled him to acquiesce to this boy, all chinky eyes and dimpled cheeks, gently prodding at his shoulder with a finger.
"Hey, you." The boy leans in, seemingly with no regard to personal space, lowering his head. "Don't fall asleep. This professor throws things when he's unhappy. Trust me, you do not want to see him unhappy."
He hums inarticulately, deftly spinning a pen between his fingers. "I already know everything he's talking about. This class is boring."
This show of resolute confidence usually had his peers sneering contemptuously, the asinine bastards, and he doesn't expect any different from this one. So he's more than a little surprised when the boy has the gall to lean in even more closely and chuckle to his face.
"Word, man," the boy says, then he sighs exaggeratedly. "If I could I'd drop this class faster than you can say 'absolute bull.' Have to keep the GPA up, you know?"
He frowns, paying a little more attention now. "Then why are you here?"
"Only free elective available in my schedule." The boy looks at him with a tinge of envy in his eyes. "I wish I already knew everything like you did, just so I could throw back everything this nutjob says and still ace his exams the next day."
He blinks, then bites his lip to fight down the huge grin spreading. "You're interesting."
The other boy gives him a positively cheeky smile before holding out a hand. "I'm Zhou Mi."
He takes it without a trace of hesitation, without knowing that this is the start of his downward spiral into a hole of madness. "Cho Kyuhyun."
Zhou Mi, as it turns out, is part of an exclusive clique that everyone else and their mother deemed popular enough to worship. At least that's how the appearance of randomly swooning girls (and some guys, to his astonishment) were explained to him as they walked down the crowded hall to the cafeteria. As Kyuhyun understands it, they avoided eating lunch together like most normal friends (or else there would be mass hysteria). Their camaraderie was due to the common denominator of suffering brought on by extreme fan adulation.
"That's... really weird," Kyuhyun remarks, careful to mask his curiosity. The guys Zhou Mi hung out with then must be greek gods, though he seriously doubted it. Really, how stupid could people there be?
He surveyed Zhou Mi in his peripheral vision. He was tall, fair and had a definite charm about him, but other than that, Kyuhyun didn't want to know his other attributes, thank you very much.
"Oh!" Zhou Mi suddenly halts in his tracks, wringing his hands. "Is it okay if we swing by the dance hall? I have to get back something a friend borrowed, or else I'm dead for next period."
Kyuhyun shrugs. "Sure, I don't mind."
They wedge past another insistent mob of girls before reaching their destination. Kyuhyun looks over Zhou Mi's shoulder and comes to recognize the hall where he'd usually spend most hours in.
"You a music major?" Zhou Mi asks, following his gaze.
He nods. "Advanced music program for voice."
Zhou Mi whistles under his breath and gives him another appraising look. "You just leave everyone in the dust, don't you?"
"I wouldn't say that -"
"Pssh." Zhou Mi waves a disregarding hand. "Modesty is overrated. You're a bit like my friend here. He's practically a professional dancer and he always goes oh, no, no, I'm not that great when he can dance up a storm with eyes closed and hands tied to a bed."
Kyuhyun wonders about two things: how anyone can dance while tied to a bed, and how Zhou Mi manages to talk so fast and so animatedly without passing out from lack of breath.
" - Want to come inside with me? I'll introduce you to my friend," Zhou Mi is saying, cutting into his train of thought. "He's great, I swear. You'll fall in love with him, everyone does."
Kyuhyun highly doubts that. He's slightly affronted how Zhou Mi, who thinks so much of his intelligence, can so clearly underestimate his skepticism, which is the mark of real smarts in the first place. He shakes his head emphatically. "I'll pass," he says.
Zhou Mi's lower lips juts out. "You sure?"
"Maybe some other time." He's simply not in the mood to make nice with another hyperactive talker right now, which he supposes Zhou Mi's friend must be in order for them to get along so splendidly.
"Suit yourself, then. I'll be back in a few," Zhou Mi says, pushing the heavy oak doors open, only partially closing it as he enters.
A minute passes, and another. And another. It doesn't take long before he's at his wits end. One can only take hosting an internal running commentary on passers-by and cracking knuckles for so long before growing tired. The fluorescent glow of the hall lights are in stark contrast to the dusty dark of the hallway, and he's tempted to enter and soak in some of the light. He supposes it wouldn't hurt to peek a little bit. Carefully jostling the door open an inch more, he surveys the room for Zhou Mi.
He finds Zhou Mi in the corner a good distance ahead with an arm atop a shorter boy's bare shoulder, both of their backs turned. The first thing Kyuhyun notices is the other boy's black tank top riding tight on the curve of his lean muscled back, and his eyes are eventually led to the curve of a backside hugged by loose sweatpants.
Turn around, Kyuhyun catches himself wishing. Nay, he demanded that they turn around. He has to see if the face is as appealing as, ahem, other things.
Zhou Mi, true to form, is gesturing elaborately punctuated with short spikes of laughter. Kyuhyun is momentarily seized with paranoia - they couldn't be laughing about him, could they?
His worries fly out the window when they do turn around and are in line with his gaze.
Zhou Mi may be impetuous, incessantly chatty and too loud, but he certainly isn't a liar. True to Zhou Mi's promise, Kyuhyun finds himself just a little bit in love with this unknown, incredibly sexy boy, if the deafening thumping in his chest is any indication.
Maybe there is something to expect from this place, after all.
The unknown boy, Kyuhyun finds out (through sweet-talking Zhou Mi, eavesdropping on classmates and googling online), is none other than Lee Donghae, a junior Human Kinetics student majoring in dance. He did average on subjects like Chemistry and Calculus, but he received a scholarship anyway for his athletic merits. Kyuhyun will deny it later, but he scrolled through page after page of Donghae's photos on the school website. It displayed him in various dancing forms as he won dance competitions left and right for the university. Because of it, Zhou Mi caught him touching his laptop screen one afternoon in the library, much to his eternal embarrassment.
"You're cute when you're daydreaming, Kyuhyunnie," Zhou Mi teases three weeks later, and he snaps back to reality to grant Zhou Mi a withering look.
"For your information, smart ass, I was not daydreaming," he replies icily.
Undaunted, Zhou Mi only laughs. "Right, you were just thinking about whipped cream, cherries and chocolate on Donghae's -"
"Are you insane?" Kyuhyun hisses, shooting out of his chair to clap a hand over Zhou Mi's mouth. "What if someone hears? I could get mauled by fangirls or something."
"Oh, please," Zhou Mi says, rolling his eyes the moment Kyuhyun removes his hand. "No one cares, Kyuhyunnie. I know a few boys who've had the hots for Donghae, it's no big deal."
"A few?" Kyuhyun, against all his principles, feels the green monster clamping its claws tight on his heart. "Who?"
"I don't kiss and tell." Zhou Mi has a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'm afraid you'll maul them to the ground."
Kyuhyun, usually calm, cool and collected, admits that Zhou Mi is probably right. It's frankly amazing how well the other boy reads him even after less than month of friendship.
"You now know the biggest mistake of your young life, my friend," his friend says, wagging a finger at him, "and that is you being stubborn enough to stay outside when I offered to introduce you to him. You could be having hot sex right now if only you weren't going all tight ass on me."
"You don't even know if he'll like my face," Kyuhyun says dryly.
"Sure he will!" Zhou Mi asserts, ruffling his hair affectionately, a move that used to annoy Kyuhyun but which he'd now gotten used to. "What's not to like? You're smart, cool and far from bad-looking."
"Thanks for the grocery list of my positive qualities," he mutters. There are many things anyone will find disagreeable about his person, as evidenced by his multiple break-ups over the years - his caustic sarcasm for one. He was prone to masking his fears too much, seeing the world with passive eyes, sometimes content in his little bubble of routine. He was filled to the brim with pride and that got on people's nerves. He loved video games possibly more than any average person did. He had a weird, bow-shaped mouth. He could stand to gain a little more meat on his bones.
"Anyway, you'll have a chance this weekend, since there's a party -"
He closes his eyes and shakes his head, standing up to try and clear the thoughts tangling around his mind. "I need to go," he says, leaving behind a puzzled Zhou Mi.
Ironically, it's a visit to the dance hall that calms his down. When he sneaks in, nobody notices as per usual; everyone is too busy crowding around the choreographer. He takes his usual spot in a non-descript corner and spots Donghae in the middle of the room, head angled just so, listening intently and nodding every so often, face flushed with sweat.
Kyuhyun bets that he also smells of sex, a thought he desperately quashes after blood travels to his ears.
Most days he watches Donghae performing popping hip-hop routines and other contemporary styles, his reported niche, but today the choreographer barks that for an upcoming regional competition they are to dance a jazz routine.
Donghae flashes a thumbs-up and a toothy grin, and Kyuhyun swallows thickly.
He bears witness to Donghae sliding against a female dancer; he dips her with precision and strength. When he takes her back up, his hand glides across the expanse of her arm before abruptly pulling her taut against him in one smooth move.
This time, Kyuhyun feels the blood rush southward. He turns around and leaves. It's the shortest time he's ever spent in the dance hall.
"This is it, Kyuhyunnie!" Zhou sing-songs, giddily jumping like he is high on horse drugs. "You'll finally meet the boy of your dreams face-to-face!"
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes, unknown to Zhou Mi since his eyes are partly obscured by a gray fedora. "I am not a 12-year-old girl and neither are you. Stop acting like -"
Their voices are drowned out by the incredibly loud, thumping beat of the bass the moment they step inside. Strobe lights strategically hung in the room flashes blinding in their faces, and he has to shield his eyes for a brief moment, blinking rapidly. He pads to the safest place in the room with an arm held up - the snack table, because no one dares knock over the alcohol and food - and isn't that surprised to discover that Zhou Mi is no longer trailing him, but is instead knocking fists with two dancing boys.
He exhales slightly, crossing his arms. Well, he'd try to have fun, too. He makes a grab for one of the few remaining bottles of beer and downs a good amount in one gulp. He grimaces to himself, making a face; he's never liked the taste of beer.
Zhou Mi comes back a few minutes later with a handsome boy in tow. From the looks of it, this one had already drunk too many bottles for one night.
"Kyuhyunnie," he begins, and Kyuhyun doesn't miss the arm around the other boy's waist in an effort to keep him steady, "this is Choi Siwon. He's a Philosophy major and head of the university bible study group."
"Nice to meet you," Siwon slurs with a stupid smile, holding out a shaky hand.
Kyuhyun can hold his alcohol just fine, but he must have been either going deaf from the music or getting drunk fast because he feels a tinge of childish amusement. "Pleasure to meet you, too."
"Believe me, sweetheart," Siwon says, and even Zhou Mi looks at him in mild disturbance. "It's my pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, Siwon-ah, why don't you go over to Henry and Ryeowook," Zhou Mi says, pointing Siwon in the direction of the the two boys Kyuhyun had seen him with earlier.
Siwon nods, winks at Kyuhyun for good measure, and ambles off sluggishly. Zhou Mi turns to Kyuhyun and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry about that." He hardly sounds apologetic. "He's usually all angelic and pure, but he gets wild at parties."
They eventually end up on the balcony after Kyuhyun complains of his ears ringing. At first, they manage to talk about inconsequential things, like the latest girl Zhou Mi hooked up with, or how Kyuhyun's professor almost chucked chalk at his face the other day. However, the discussion inevitably shifts when, with their backs to railing, cold air hitting their cheeks, they watch as Donghae, the host of the party, serves drinks with a genial smile, dances with everyone and enthusiastically hugs most of the newcomers.
"He's a pretty awesome guy." Kyuhyun begins to think that Zhou Mi secretly has mind-reading abilities, the way he almost always says what he's thinking. "I told you you'd fall in love."
"Everyone does," Kyuhyun continues, hollowly echoing what Zhou Mi said to him all those weeks ago.
"I don't get why you don't just go up and introduce yourself." His friend sighs, taking a swig of his beer. "You're an awesome guy, too, in case you didn't know."
He has to smile at his friend's attempt to cheer him on. "Thanks," he says, and he means it. "Now let me enjoy this night in peace, then we can get back to the dorms."
"Yeah freaking right," Zhou Mi suddenly exclaims. "I'm not letting you get out of here without a proper introduction, and if you don't wanna do it, then I guess it's up to me to do all your dirty work."
Before he can voice out his opposition to the idea, Zhou Mi has already slid open the glass doors and is crossing the room, moving past a dancing mass of limbs to get to Donghae.
Oh god, oh god. He closes his eyes, counts to ten, twenty. Breathe, Kyuhyun, breathe. When he opens them, Zhou Mi is dragging a befuddled-looking Donghae by the elbow. He wills his face into a veneer of calm, hoping that the interminable galloping in his chest will slow itself as Zhou Mi, with Donghae in front, slides the door shut.
"What was that for?" Donghae is laughing at first, but he lowers his head after a second. Kyuhyun is grateful for this; he needed that extra second to compose himself into something with actual dignity.
"It was too loud," Zhou Mi replies, looking at Kyuhyun with twinkling eyes. "You can't miss out on one second with this guy."
"That is such a lie." He's pleasantly startled by the placid quality his voice comes out as. "Don't lead him on. False expectations are not cool."
Donghae, after a long moment, tilts his head up and looks him in the eyes. Kyuhyun stares back and it's the first time he realizes that Donghae is shorter than him - and also even more handsome up close. He balls his free hand into a fist, willing all the tension in his body to surge in into his palm.
"Hi," Donghae rasps - Kyuhyun still thinks that even like this, Donghae couldn't have sounded better - "You're beautiful."
Those cliche movies where the world stops turning after a few well chosen words? Where the heroes stare into each other's eyes as only silence reigned supreme? Kyuhyun abhorred those movies, but he now sees that they might actually be on to something when the same thing happens to him.
Zhou Mi, the bastard, has the nerve to break the dream-like silence when he convulses with hearty laughter. "See, what did I tell you, Kyu," he gasps, and Kyuhyun irately thinks of punching him in the face, "Donghae is even more awesome in person."
Well. Kyuhyun certainly can't argue with that.
"So let me get this straight, " Donghae is saying moments after Zhou Mi has left the both of them to join Siwon. He wants to ask what the hell Zhou Mi whispered to Donghae before he left to make Donghae's eyes go wide like saucers, but he supposes it would be rude. "Mimi isn't your boyfriend?"
He shakes his head, careful to keep a straight face but fails magnificently as he shoots Donghae a pointed look. "Not even close. Zhou Mi and I shared a class, that's all."
He still can't believe that he's actually speaking, actually interacting with this boy, who smiled so brilliantly, who danced like he owned the room - no, the world. It was surreal and fantastical and shit he needs to be more drunk for this to continue, because it surely had to be some kind of crazy daydream. And if he didn't ingest more alcohol, Donghae could fade away. He takes a small sip of his already warm beer, feeling the tiny portion quell the butterflies in his stomach just a bit.
"That your first bottle?" Donghae asks, startling him out of his reverie.
He nervously thumbs the bottle neck and nods once, stiffly. Donghae must have noticed by now how fucking anxious he is. "I'm not much of a drinker. The advanced music program doesn't encourage it."
"I haven't seen you around before." Donghae sure did love transitioning from topic to topic without warning. He turns to stare at the night sky in an effort to hide at least half of his face from the other boy.
"I'm a transferee," he starts, "I just got here a semester ago."
When he turns his full gaze at Donghae, he notices the other boy is watching him carefully, like he is a fascinating specimen. Kyuhyun liked it.
"Sometimes, since the music hall's only a few rooms from the dance hall, I -" he catches himself just in time. Fuck, he swears mentally. His feelings seem too big for his body, tall as he is, and it's bursting out his heart in tidal waves. He bites his lip, a habit he'd acquired as of late when he is too nervous to be coherent, and breathes out a quiet "sorry" - to Donghae, but mostly to himself for being so goddamned stupid.
Donghae doesn't say anything back, but just looks at him. He knows, fuck, he knows, Kyuhyun thinks, horrified. If Donghae walked out without beating him up senseless, then he could still consider the night as 'passable.'
He isn't prepared for what comes out of Donghae's mouth next. "So, I heard you like french kissing."
Random. But very, very much appreciated.
It takes a lot of willpower for him not to jump Donghae on the spot. He recovers from the shock fairly quickly, the knots in his body slowly unraveling. He tips forward, lets his breath brush the shell of Donghae's ear. "Only if it's with you."
Donghae is looking at him again, but this time, his gaze is unusually heated, not that Kyuhyun had any problem with that.
"You wanna take this someplace else? I'm not sure I'm comfortable hooking up in a place where half the school's population can see," he murmurs, not knowing where the courage to proposition had sprung from, but not complaining about it either.
Donghae, mouth set in a tight line and eyes carnal, hastily ushers him back to the party. They walk past a hooting Zhou Mi, who has taken over the karaoke mic, and a still surprisingly conscious Siwon. They almost crash into a girl in a red dress on the way to Donghae's bedroom (Kyuhyun doesn't want to know why the girl had taken one look at them both and smirked like she knew something), and before he knows it, Donghae has backed him into a wall, kissing him hungrily.
It occurs to him that Donghae's mouth moving against his is soft and gentle and so, so warm. He cradles the back of Donghae's head with a shaky hand and sighs into the kiss.
They pull apart, and Kyuhyun lets out a soft mewl - a humiliating sound that he shouldn't ever be making, but he's too lost in a haze of pleasure to care. When Donghae leans in again, slides an arm tight around his waist, and kisses him for a second time, his entire body goes slack, until Donghae's free hand slithers to his hip, squeezing and oh fuck, right there. He is keenly aware that he's surrendered all control to pure instinct as rolls his hips forward to press against Donghae's.
"I think," Donghae pants, mouth against his neck, eyes bright, "I think I like french kissing, too."
He's stamped it into his head that he is probably just some random hook-up, a notch on his bedpost like many others before him. Expecting too much always had its complications, and he didn't like going through heartbreak so many times. So when Donghae appears before him the next day at the music hall, he doesn't bother to pretend to be completely unruffled.
"I believe you owe me a secret," Donghae says, a small, hopeful smile tugging at his lips.
Kyuhyun blinks, allowing his world to be shaken once more. Maybe he could take a leap of faith with this one. He returns Donghae's smile with one of his own - "I'll tell you over dinner."
END
this was longer than i expected it to become, wew. comments are absolute ♥!
donghae/kyuhyun; pg-13
3,932 words
Even before the fateful party, Kyuhyun knows he's found the one to shake up his world. Companion piece to Oh My (Super Boy) but can be read as a stand-alone. It's basically the story told in Kyuhyun's POV with some added backstory. Zhou Mi also played an unexpectedly huge part in this lol.
There is something to be said about relationships: he never gets the same results. Last month was a depressing run, some months back it was peaceful, and some more months back, it felt like it wasn't there.
So when he comes in to a new university, with unfamiliar faces and an entirely different atmosphere, he wavers between relief and loneliness. Schooled in his hometown province all his life, he's never had the opportunity to see the big city lights and wonders. Suffice it to say that he cared little about such things - being involved with emotionally-stunted, closeted or, god help him, mentally unstable boys taught him not to expect much out of anybody or put his faith in little things like a smile and a handshake.
However, something compelled him to acquiesce to this boy, all chinky eyes and dimpled cheeks, gently prodding at his shoulder with a finger.
"Hey, you." The boy leans in, seemingly with no regard to personal space, lowering his head. "Don't fall asleep. This professor throws things when he's unhappy. Trust me, you do not want to see him unhappy."
He hums inarticulately, deftly spinning a pen between his fingers. "I already know everything he's talking about. This class is boring."
This show of resolute confidence usually had his peers sneering contemptuously, the asinine bastards, and he doesn't expect any different from this one. So he's more than a little surprised when the boy has the gall to lean in even more closely and chuckle to his face.
"Word, man," the boy says, then he sighs exaggeratedly. "If I could I'd drop this class faster than you can say 'absolute bull.' Have to keep the GPA up, you know?"
He frowns, paying a little more attention now. "Then why are you here?"
"Only free elective available in my schedule." The boy looks at him with a tinge of envy in his eyes. "I wish I already knew everything like you did, just so I could throw back everything this nutjob says and still ace his exams the next day."
He blinks, then bites his lip to fight down the huge grin spreading. "You're interesting."
The other boy gives him a positively cheeky smile before holding out a hand. "I'm Zhou Mi."
He takes it without a trace of hesitation, without knowing that this is the start of his downward spiral into a hole of madness. "Cho Kyuhyun."
Zhou Mi, as it turns out, is part of an exclusive clique that everyone else and their mother deemed popular enough to worship. At least that's how the appearance of randomly swooning girls (and some guys, to his astonishment) were explained to him as they walked down the crowded hall to the cafeteria. As Kyuhyun understands it, they avoided eating lunch together like most normal friends (or else there would be mass hysteria). Their camaraderie was due to the common denominator of suffering brought on by extreme fan adulation.
"That's... really weird," Kyuhyun remarks, careful to mask his curiosity. The guys Zhou Mi hung out with then must be greek gods, though he seriously doubted it. Really, how stupid could people there be?
He surveyed Zhou Mi in his peripheral vision. He was tall, fair and had a definite charm about him, but other than that, Kyuhyun didn't want to know his other attributes, thank you very much.
"Oh!" Zhou Mi suddenly halts in his tracks, wringing his hands. "Is it okay if we swing by the dance hall? I have to get back something a friend borrowed, or else I'm dead for next period."
Kyuhyun shrugs. "Sure, I don't mind."
They wedge past another insistent mob of girls before reaching their destination. Kyuhyun looks over Zhou Mi's shoulder and comes to recognize the hall where he'd usually spend most hours in.
"You a music major?" Zhou Mi asks, following his gaze.
He nods. "Advanced music program for voice."
Zhou Mi whistles under his breath and gives him another appraising look. "You just leave everyone in the dust, don't you?"
"I wouldn't say that -"
"Pssh." Zhou Mi waves a disregarding hand. "Modesty is overrated. You're a bit like my friend here. He's practically a professional dancer and he always goes oh, no, no, I'm not that great when he can dance up a storm with eyes closed and hands tied to a bed."
Kyuhyun wonders about two things: how anyone can dance while tied to a bed, and how Zhou Mi manages to talk so fast and so animatedly without passing out from lack of breath.
" - Want to come inside with me? I'll introduce you to my friend," Zhou Mi is saying, cutting into his train of thought. "He's great, I swear. You'll fall in love with him, everyone does."
Kyuhyun highly doubts that. He's slightly affronted how Zhou Mi, who thinks so much of his intelligence, can so clearly underestimate his skepticism, which is the mark of real smarts in the first place. He shakes his head emphatically. "I'll pass," he says.
Zhou Mi's lower lips juts out. "You sure?"
"Maybe some other time." He's simply not in the mood to make nice with another hyperactive talker right now, which he supposes Zhou Mi's friend must be in order for them to get along so splendidly.
"Suit yourself, then. I'll be back in a few," Zhou Mi says, pushing the heavy oak doors open, only partially closing it as he enters.
A minute passes, and another. And another. It doesn't take long before he's at his wits end. One can only take hosting an internal running commentary on passers-by and cracking knuckles for so long before growing tired. The fluorescent glow of the hall lights are in stark contrast to the dusty dark of the hallway, and he's tempted to enter and soak in some of the light. He supposes it wouldn't hurt to peek a little bit. Carefully jostling the door open an inch more, he surveys the room for Zhou Mi.
He finds Zhou Mi in the corner a good distance ahead with an arm atop a shorter boy's bare shoulder, both of their backs turned. The first thing Kyuhyun notices is the other boy's black tank top riding tight on the curve of his lean muscled back, and his eyes are eventually led to the curve of a backside hugged by loose sweatpants.
Turn around, Kyuhyun catches himself wishing. Nay, he demanded that they turn around. He has to see if the face is as appealing as, ahem, other things.
Zhou Mi, true to form, is gesturing elaborately punctuated with short spikes of laughter. Kyuhyun is momentarily seized with paranoia - they couldn't be laughing about him, could they?
His worries fly out the window when they do turn around and are in line with his gaze.
Zhou Mi may be impetuous, incessantly chatty and too loud, but he certainly isn't a liar. True to Zhou Mi's promise, Kyuhyun finds himself just a little bit in love with this unknown, incredibly sexy boy, if the deafening thumping in his chest is any indication.
Maybe there is something to expect from this place, after all.
The unknown boy, Kyuhyun finds out (through sweet-talking Zhou Mi, eavesdropping on classmates and googling online), is none other than Lee Donghae, a junior Human Kinetics student majoring in dance. He did average on subjects like Chemistry and Calculus, but he received a scholarship anyway for his athletic merits. Kyuhyun will deny it later, but he scrolled through page after page of Donghae's photos on the school website. It displayed him in various dancing forms as he won dance competitions left and right for the university. Because of it, Zhou Mi caught him touching his laptop screen one afternoon in the library, much to his eternal embarrassment.
"You're cute when you're daydreaming, Kyuhyunnie," Zhou Mi teases three weeks later, and he snaps back to reality to grant Zhou Mi a withering look.
"For your information, smart ass, I was not daydreaming," he replies icily.
Undaunted, Zhou Mi only laughs. "Right, you were just thinking about whipped cream, cherries and chocolate on Donghae's -"
"Are you insane?" Kyuhyun hisses, shooting out of his chair to clap a hand over Zhou Mi's mouth. "What if someone hears? I could get mauled by fangirls or something."
"Oh, please," Zhou Mi says, rolling his eyes the moment Kyuhyun removes his hand. "No one cares, Kyuhyunnie. I know a few boys who've had the hots for Donghae, it's no big deal."
"A few?" Kyuhyun, against all his principles, feels the green monster clamping its claws tight on his heart. "Who?"
"I don't kiss and tell." Zhou Mi has a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'm afraid you'll maul them to the ground."
Kyuhyun, usually calm, cool and collected, admits that Zhou Mi is probably right. It's frankly amazing how well the other boy reads him even after less than month of friendship.
"You now know the biggest mistake of your young life, my friend," his friend says, wagging a finger at him, "and that is you being stubborn enough to stay outside when I offered to introduce you to him. You could be having hot sex right now if only you weren't going all tight ass on me."
"You don't even know if he'll like my face," Kyuhyun says dryly.
"Sure he will!" Zhou Mi asserts, ruffling his hair affectionately, a move that used to annoy Kyuhyun but which he'd now gotten used to. "What's not to like? You're smart, cool and far from bad-looking."
"Thanks for the grocery list of my positive qualities," he mutters. There are many things anyone will find disagreeable about his person, as evidenced by his multiple break-ups over the years - his caustic sarcasm for one. He was prone to masking his fears too much, seeing the world with passive eyes, sometimes content in his little bubble of routine. He was filled to the brim with pride and that got on people's nerves. He loved video games possibly more than any average person did. He had a weird, bow-shaped mouth. He could stand to gain a little more meat on his bones.
"Anyway, you'll have a chance this weekend, since there's a party -"
He closes his eyes and shakes his head, standing up to try and clear the thoughts tangling around his mind. "I need to go," he says, leaving behind a puzzled Zhou Mi.
Ironically, it's a visit to the dance hall that calms his down. When he sneaks in, nobody notices as per usual; everyone is too busy crowding around the choreographer. He takes his usual spot in a non-descript corner and spots Donghae in the middle of the room, head angled just so, listening intently and nodding every so often, face flushed with sweat.
Kyuhyun bets that he also smells of sex, a thought he desperately quashes after blood travels to his ears.
Most days he watches Donghae performing popping hip-hop routines and other contemporary styles, his reported niche, but today the choreographer barks that for an upcoming regional competition they are to dance a jazz routine.
Donghae flashes a thumbs-up and a toothy grin, and Kyuhyun swallows thickly.
He bears witness to Donghae sliding against a female dancer; he dips her with precision and strength. When he takes her back up, his hand glides across the expanse of her arm before abruptly pulling her taut against him in one smooth move.
This time, Kyuhyun feels the blood rush southward. He turns around and leaves. It's the shortest time he's ever spent in the dance hall.
"This is it, Kyuhyunnie!" Zhou sing-songs, giddily jumping like he is high on horse drugs. "You'll finally meet the boy of your dreams face-to-face!"
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes, unknown to Zhou Mi since his eyes are partly obscured by a gray fedora. "I am not a 12-year-old girl and neither are you. Stop acting like -"
Their voices are drowned out by the incredibly loud, thumping beat of the bass the moment they step inside. Strobe lights strategically hung in the room flashes blinding in their faces, and he has to shield his eyes for a brief moment, blinking rapidly. He pads to the safest place in the room with an arm held up - the snack table, because no one dares knock over the alcohol and food - and isn't that surprised to discover that Zhou Mi is no longer trailing him, but is instead knocking fists with two dancing boys.
He exhales slightly, crossing his arms. Well, he'd try to have fun, too. He makes a grab for one of the few remaining bottles of beer and downs a good amount in one gulp. He grimaces to himself, making a face; he's never liked the taste of beer.
Zhou Mi comes back a few minutes later with a handsome boy in tow. From the looks of it, this one had already drunk too many bottles for one night.
"Kyuhyunnie," he begins, and Kyuhyun doesn't miss the arm around the other boy's waist in an effort to keep him steady, "this is Choi Siwon. He's a Philosophy major and head of the university bible study group."
"Nice to meet you," Siwon slurs with a stupid smile, holding out a shaky hand.
Kyuhyun can hold his alcohol just fine, but he must have been either going deaf from the music or getting drunk fast because he feels a tinge of childish amusement. "Pleasure to meet you, too."
"Believe me, sweetheart," Siwon says, and even Zhou Mi looks at him in mild disturbance. "It's my pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, Siwon-ah, why don't you go over to Henry and Ryeowook," Zhou Mi says, pointing Siwon in the direction of the the two boys Kyuhyun had seen him with earlier.
Siwon nods, winks at Kyuhyun for good measure, and ambles off sluggishly. Zhou Mi turns to Kyuhyun and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry about that." He hardly sounds apologetic. "He's usually all angelic and pure, but he gets wild at parties."
They eventually end up on the balcony after Kyuhyun complains of his ears ringing. At first, they manage to talk about inconsequential things, like the latest girl Zhou Mi hooked up with, or how Kyuhyun's professor almost chucked chalk at his face the other day. However, the discussion inevitably shifts when, with their backs to railing, cold air hitting their cheeks, they watch as Donghae, the host of the party, serves drinks with a genial smile, dances with everyone and enthusiastically hugs most of the newcomers.
"He's a pretty awesome guy." Kyuhyun begins to think that Zhou Mi secretly has mind-reading abilities, the way he almost always says what he's thinking. "I told you you'd fall in love."
"Everyone does," Kyuhyun continues, hollowly echoing what Zhou Mi said to him all those weeks ago.
"I don't get why you don't just go up and introduce yourself." His friend sighs, taking a swig of his beer. "You're an awesome guy, too, in case you didn't know."
He has to smile at his friend's attempt to cheer him on. "Thanks," he says, and he means it. "Now let me enjoy this night in peace, then we can get back to the dorms."
"Yeah freaking right," Zhou Mi suddenly exclaims. "I'm not letting you get out of here without a proper introduction, and if you don't wanna do it, then I guess it's up to me to do all your dirty work."
Before he can voice out his opposition to the idea, Zhou Mi has already slid open the glass doors and is crossing the room, moving past a dancing mass of limbs to get to Donghae.
Oh god, oh god. He closes his eyes, counts to ten, twenty. Breathe, Kyuhyun, breathe. When he opens them, Zhou Mi is dragging a befuddled-looking Donghae by the elbow. He wills his face into a veneer of calm, hoping that the interminable galloping in his chest will slow itself as Zhou Mi, with Donghae in front, slides the door shut.
"What was that for?" Donghae is laughing at first, but he lowers his head after a second. Kyuhyun is grateful for this; he needed that extra second to compose himself into something with actual dignity.
"It was too loud," Zhou Mi replies, looking at Kyuhyun with twinkling eyes. "You can't miss out on one second with this guy."
"That is such a lie." He's pleasantly startled by the placid quality his voice comes out as. "Don't lead him on. False expectations are not cool."
Donghae, after a long moment, tilts his head up and looks him in the eyes. Kyuhyun stares back and it's the first time he realizes that Donghae is shorter than him - and also even more handsome up close. He balls his free hand into a fist, willing all the tension in his body to surge in into his palm.
"Hi," Donghae rasps - Kyuhyun still thinks that even like this, Donghae couldn't have sounded better - "You're beautiful."
Those cliche movies where the world stops turning after a few well chosen words? Where the heroes stare into each other's eyes as only silence reigned supreme? Kyuhyun abhorred those movies, but he now sees that they might actually be on to something when the same thing happens to him.
Zhou Mi, the bastard, has the nerve to break the dream-like silence when he convulses with hearty laughter. "See, what did I tell you, Kyu," he gasps, and Kyuhyun irately thinks of punching him in the face, "Donghae is even more awesome in person."
Well. Kyuhyun certainly can't argue with that.
"So let me get this straight, " Donghae is saying moments after Zhou Mi has left the both of them to join Siwon. He wants to ask what the hell Zhou Mi whispered to Donghae before he left to make Donghae's eyes go wide like saucers, but he supposes it would be rude. "Mimi isn't your boyfriend?"
He shakes his head, careful to keep a straight face but fails magnificently as he shoots Donghae a pointed look. "Not even close. Zhou Mi and I shared a class, that's all."
He still can't believe that he's actually speaking, actually interacting with this boy, who smiled so brilliantly, who danced like he owned the room - no, the world. It was surreal and fantastical and shit he needs to be more drunk for this to continue, because it surely had to be some kind of crazy daydream. And if he didn't ingest more alcohol, Donghae could fade away. He takes a small sip of his already warm beer, feeling the tiny portion quell the butterflies in his stomach just a bit.
"That your first bottle?" Donghae asks, startling him out of his reverie.
He nervously thumbs the bottle neck and nods once, stiffly. Donghae must have noticed by now how fucking anxious he is. "I'm not much of a drinker. The advanced music program doesn't encourage it."
"I haven't seen you around before." Donghae sure did love transitioning from topic to topic without warning. He turns to stare at the night sky in an effort to hide at least half of his face from the other boy.
"I'm a transferee," he starts, "I just got here a semester ago."
When he turns his full gaze at Donghae, he notices the other boy is watching him carefully, like he is a fascinating specimen. Kyuhyun liked it.
"Sometimes, since the music hall's only a few rooms from the dance hall, I -" he catches himself just in time. Fuck, he swears mentally. His feelings seem too big for his body, tall as he is, and it's bursting out his heart in tidal waves. He bites his lip, a habit he'd acquired as of late when he is too nervous to be coherent, and breathes out a quiet "sorry" - to Donghae, but mostly to himself for being so goddamned stupid.
Donghae doesn't say anything back, but just looks at him. He knows, fuck, he knows, Kyuhyun thinks, horrified. If Donghae walked out without beating him up senseless, then he could still consider the night as 'passable.'
He isn't prepared for what comes out of Donghae's mouth next. "So, I heard you like french kissing."
Random. But very, very much appreciated.
It takes a lot of willpower for him not to jump Donghae on the spot. He recovers from the shock fairly quickly, the knots in his body slowly unraveling. He tips forward, lets his breath brush the shell of Donghae's ear. "Only if it's with you."
Donghae is looking at him again, but this time, his gaze is unusually heated, not that Kyuhyun had any problem with that.
"You wanna take this someplace else? I'm not sure I'm comfortable hooking up in a place where half the school's population can see," he murmurs, not knowing where the courage to proposition had sprung from, but not complaining about it either.
Donghae, mouth set in a tight line and eyes carnal, hastily ushers him back to the party. They walk past a hooting Zhou Mi, who has taken over the karaoke mic, and a still surprisingly conscious Siwon. They almost crash into a girl in a red dress on the way to Donghae's bedroom (Kyuhyun doesn't want to know why the girl had taken one look at them both and smirked like she knew something), and before he knows it, Donghae has backed him into a wall, kissing him hungrily.
It occurs to him that Donghae's mouth moving against his is soft and gentle and so, so warm. He cradles the back of Donghae's head with a shaky hand and sighs into the kiss.
They pull apart, and Kyuhyun lets out a soft mewl - a humiliating sound that he shouldn't ever be making, but he's too lost in a haze of pleasure to care. When Donghae leans in again, slides an arm tight around his waist, and kisses him for a second time, his entire body goes slack, until Donghae's free hand slithers to his hip, squeezing and oh fuck, right there. He is keenly aware that he's surrendered all control to pure instinct as rolls his hips forward to press against Donghae's.
"I think," Donghae pants, mouth against his neck, eyes bright, "I think I like french kissing, too."
He's stamped it into his head that he is probably just some random hook-up, a notch on his bedpost like many others before him. Expecting too much always had its complications, and he didn't like going through heartbreak so many times. So when Donghae appears before him the next day at the music hall, he doesn't bother to pretend to be completely unruffled.
"I believe you owe me a secret," Donghae says, a small, hopeful smile tugging at his lips.
Kyuhyun blinks, allowing his world to be shaken once more. Maybe he could take a leap of faith with this one. He returns Donghae's smile with one of his own - "I'll tell you over dinner."
END
this was longer than i expected it to become, wew. comments are absolute ♥!