Stray Cardboard Boxes (12/?)
12
“I would be a fool to deny this any longer.”
His vision was blurred as he caught the man shift from the corner of his eyes. Kyuhyun lowered his gaze, his heart sinking inside his chest.
Soft, firm lips pressed against his own as he felt the body shift closer. He had thought Geng was going to leave! Feeling his heart jumping skywards, he averted his gaze to the older man. Kyuhyun felt himself flushed in embarrassment at the heated, yearning look on Geng’s face.
“What was that all about?”
He breathed out, slightly pleased that he hadn’t stammered and paused.
“I thought you were going to leave. You were thinking about it weren’t you?”
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, a thin frown placed on his pale features as he looked to the Chinese man. He was relieved that Geng hadn’t left, but he wanted to know why.
Geng smiled softly, the gentle smile that Kyuhyun secretly loved. Whenever Geng smiled, his eyes would do that crinkle that he loved so much. “I was, but it wouldn’t matter. You would only pursue me again.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but one look from the older male told him to close it.
“Give me a week to decide, okay? That’s all I’m asking for, a week.” Faces centimeters apart, he closed the gap between them, planting another soft kiss on the man’s lips.
_
“He kissed you!” The tall, lanky man squawked in shock as he pointed an accusing finger at the younger male. “I can tell! Don’t lie to me Kui Xian! I know the look on your face! The face of someone getting kissed!”
He glared back at his friend, loving how Zhou Mi was especially loud when in public. He cast him one withering stare before pushing his eyesight to the side. “Yeah, so what?” He mumbled, shifting his eyes around.
“Kui Xian!” The Chinese man whined as he sat back down, scooting closer to Kyuhyun who only tempted to scoot away in annoyance. “Look, you and I both know that was your first kiss! And by first kiss, I mean someone willing to kiss you back!” He hissed, crossing his arms as he shot the snarky male a scandalous look.
Glaring back, he growled, scooting back closer to Zhou Mi. “Shut up will you! I don’t need the whole world to know!” It was his turn to cross his arms dejectedly, a sour look on his pale features as he looked away.
Zhou Mi sighed softly, shaking his head gently before looking over to his friend. “You don’t know how to act if he were to return you feelings. Would you know how? I know you, Kui Xian. You’re very aggressive and determined, but if someone were to actually return your feelings you would fumble and stumble.”
“Shut up. I will learn somehow.” He shot a look at the man before lowering his gaze to the bench they were sitting on. Kyuhyun hated to admit it, but Zhou Mi was right. This was his first time that someone just might return his feelings back. He didn’t have many crushes and he was sure this was no simple crush.
“As a friend, I have to remind you of your goals.”
He snapped his gaze back to Zhou Mi, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
The tall Chinese man smiled. “See, you’ve forgotten already. I’m supposed to remind you about your dreams, Kui Xian.”
He narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze to the side. “I know what my dreams are.”
“Oh really? Look, I know you know what you’re dreams are…But Kui Xian, you know if you win this they’ll ship you off to England or America to study English. It could be six months it could be a year. The thing is; what if you get too attached to this master of yours? You’re going to have to leave him eventually if you want to pursue your dreams…And he has his own life.”
Zhou Mi was awfully silent now, much to his annoyance. He stared at the man, part of him wanted to shake the man or smack him. Sighing softly, he ran a hand through his hair in irritation. “I know, okay?”
Zhou Mi shot him a serious look that Kyuhyun rarely saw. He figured he didn’t quite like it on the usually bubbly man.
“Good.”
_
“Hyung, watch me. I have auditions this week and I want your opinion.”
Geng was once more diverted from his tedious yet absorbing task. He sighed softly and reluctantly averted his gaze towards his pet. “Make it quick will you; I can’t seem to get the leg together.” He glanced back to his poorly built gundam and sighed softly. He would never master the art of gundam building!
A few days ago, Eunhyuk had brought his miniature gundam model and to say the least, Geng was intrigued. The gummy smiling man was very happy in turning his favorite Chinese man over to the gundam Gods and had bought Geng his very own gundam to build.
“Don’t worry about that, just put it down. I can do the leg and the rest for you if you want. I’m pro at those.” The younger remarked, dismissing Geng’s gundam as if it was nothing. The thing was getting more attention than he was!
Earning a reluctant look from the older man, he sighed. “Look, I’ll help you right after I show you my performance, okay? Like I said, I’m pro at those. I use to build those in my spare time.” He didn’t really want to mention that he had been through a phase where he had splurged on countless gundam models.
Finally believing the male, Geng placed the thing down, turning to look to the younger.
“I want nobody, nobody, but you!”
He laughed softly as he wriggled his hips, moving his hands to go with it.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Geng chuckled as he watched his pet attempt the dance. “Ah, I should really yell at Heechul for that. He keeps sending that damn video whenever I get online.”
Scurrying over to where his master was, he kneeled down, looking up at Geng. “What? You don’t think I can make it with that song?”
“I don’t think you can make it with that kind of dancing.”
He laughed once more as Kyuhyun moved to smack him on the head, clearly annoyed. They both had just a few more days to act normal.
“I won’t help you on your gundam!”
_
“I have the papers here, Mr.Choi.” He placed the papers down, looking to his boss with disguised hatred. It wasn’t really hatred, but he didn’t really like the man.
“Thank you and Siwon is just fine, Kibum.” The older man replied, giving Kibum a dimpled smile. The younger attempted a half hearted smile. “So is there anything else?” He asked casually, his gaze doing a survey of the room. Being a higher up really did have its perks.
“No…I don’t really have anything. It’s nothing, really.”
He could feel the pause in his voice as he shot a glance back at the older. “I’m guessing you haven’t told him yet?” He held his hands behind his back, staring fully at Siwon now.
“No, I haven’t yet. I was thinking of the perfect way to, perfect timing and all.” The older man mumbled, distracted by his thoughts as he leaned back into his seat.
“Well, you did tell me and I’m going to suggest that you tell him soon. Preferably this week, or it’ll be too late.” Kibum smiled once more and turned his back to Siwon. “I think I’ll be going now Mr.Choi. Call me up if you need anything.”
The handsome man sighed, slouching in his seat as he kicked the desk gently.
“It’s Siwon.”
_
“Thank you for the gundam, you really didn’t have to.”
Eunhyuk smiled back, feeling joy in his heart. He was finally having a one on one with just Geng and himself. It was just the two of them if he ignored the poorly hidden figures in the area. Sungmin was lurking behind the corner, popping his face out once every while to glare at Eunhyuk. Donghae was hiding under the desk for no apparent reason.“It’s my pleasure really. I hoped you liked it.” He said, giving Geng a gummy smile in return.
“Yes, I did. It was a little challenging to build it, but it was fun nonetheless.”
He had spent two hours connecting the legs together. In the end Kyuhyun had scoffed at him and told him to shove aside. The younger male had finished the thing for him in a matter of minutes.
Eunhyuk beamed at the older man, beyond happy that he had gotten Geng interested in gundams. That was another excuse to hang with him!
Taking out a small scrap of paper and a pen, he scribbled his number down, and handed it to the male. “I have to get going now, but if you have any questions you can just ask me. We should hang out sometimes. Catch you later Geng.” Giving the Chinese man one last gummy smile, he made an effort to leave, only to be dragged back to the corner by an angry Sungmin and smiling Donghae.
Geng blinked, watching them go with an awkward way. “Ah, don’t forget the project is to be finished by…tomorrow.” He finished lamely as he watched the kidnapping.
Smiling softly to himself, he turned around, catching sight of Siwon standing there in the hall. He dropped the smile on his features, eyes boring into the younger man as he stared at him. Giving him a curt nod, he turned around.
“Wait! Don’t go yet.”
The younger man walked over, taking Geng’s hand gently.
“Please. I need to explain. I have to tell you. Just let me, I beg you.” His mind was too much in a jumble to properly form sentences. Catching sight of Geng’s smiling face had stopped all thinking process in his mind and increased the beats in his heart.
“I don’t want to hear it, Mr.Choi. Please save your words in a document and have it sent to me if you need to address something.” He yanked his hand away and glared hard at the taller man.
Siwon gulped at the glare. He never knew Geng was capable of such intense glares. It made him almost nervous and small. He shook the feeling off and stood his ground.
“No. I’m sorry, I can’t take no for an answer. You’re going to stay here and listen to what I have to say. That’s an order.” Siwon didn’t like the tone that was coming from his mouth. He was abusing his power and using it on Geng, but it had to be done. There was no other way for the male to listen and he didn’t want to send an email or a messenger of sorts. That was a coward’s way.
He paused, a bewildered look in his eyes as he stared at Siwon in surprise. “You! I can’t believe you! Fine, spit it out and let me be.” Frowning softly, Geng crossed his arms and glared at Siwon. “Start talking. Now.”
The younger man sighed, allowing his expression to drop. “First, I have to say I’m sorry. Deeply and terribly sorry. I was wrong and I paid the price for it.”
His glare softened as he noticed Siwon’s features. From afar, the man looked impeccable. Up close was a different story. He had slight shadows under his tired looking eyes; his hair wasn’t exactly combed into neatness, but just combed for the sake of getting it combed.
“Go on.” He ushered the male gently, watching him intently now.
Siwon looked to him and took a deep breath before sighing once more.
“You may not believe me, but I was visited by your roommate, Kyuhyun.”
Geng narrowed his eyes at the mention of his pet’s name, standing close to Siwon as he stared at him suspiciously. “What do you mean by that?”
“He told me things…He said he had history with you…That you two were lovers back in China and he wanted me to stay away from you.” He shook his head, a distressed look apparent on his features.
“Look, Geng. I just want to apologize. I didn’t dare ask him if it was true. It was foolish of me to believe him and not ask you or believe that it wasn’t true. Instead I just assumed it was and did what he wanted. I broke it off with you. I broke it off with you because I was too scared to find out the truth, and I’m so stupid that it took me this long to realize that it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you had a past relationship with him or not. All I care is right now, the present, this moment. But I have to say, if you really are with him, then I’ll stop myself from seeing or thinking about you. I don’t want to interfere if you don’t want me to.”
He didn’t know how to feel. He had simply stood there and allowed Siwon to spill it out. Shock filled him initially, but it was soon replaced by anger. “I see.” He murmured; his tone frosty and devoid of any emotion as he lowered his gaze to the ground. “I see. I understand now.”
Siwon blinked as he stared at the shorter man, slightly surprised. “You do?” He asked, baffled and relief that Geng seemed to be at eased by it.
“Choi Siwon, I can’t believe you’re such a fool to believe that and I almost-! It doesn’t matter. Friday, 7 sharp, don’t be late and take me somewhere nice. I want flowers too. Make them red and painful.” The older man babbled as he shot Siwon a look before moving past him.
He stood there in shock and turned around, watching Geng’s retreating back.
What was that all about?
_
After he turned the corner, he had stumbled back into his cubicle. Geng had sat himself down, slamming his face into the keyboard. He couldn’t believe it!
Anger tore his insides as feelings of betrayal flooded his mind. He was furious yet greatly saddened. He had trusted Kyuhyun! He had almost agreed to Kyuhyun’s offer! Pulling himself up, he slumped back into the chair, and stared up at the ceiling.
Geng couldn’t believe Kyuhyun was so selfish. He knew he liked Siwon yet he still interfere. He was sure he had told him not to, to leave his life alone. Eyes flashing dangerously, he growled, and slapped the stack of papers off his desk, sending them flying to the floor.
He bit his lip, ignoring the fact that his eyes were getting watery.
He had almost fallen for him too.
_
“Cho Kyuhyun, was it? Please tell us what you will be performing today.”
He calmly stepped up and easing a smile from his lips as he looked towards the five figures sitting in front of him. Despite the uneasiness in his chest, he felt ready.
“I’ll be singing in Chinese.” He paused, watching as one in the middle beckoned him to begin.
“你的柔情似水.”
Your gentleness is like water.
He closed his eyes, allowing his emotions take over as he sang bit by bit.
“幾度讓我愛的沈醉 .毫無保留 不知道後悔..”
How much must I love to get drunk in it…
Without reservations, not knowing of regret…
His thoughts were of Geng as he sang, thinking of the man when he had first sang this song.
“不讓我的眼淚陪我過夜..”
Don't let my tears accompany me through the night..
“不讓你的吻留著餘味..”
Don't let your kiss leave behind remaining taste..
_
He wouldn’t admit it, but he was giddy. He had good news to tell, he had made it! They had immediately accepted him and Kyuhyun was positive that the fourth judge was in tears for some reason.
Taking out his keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door. He gazed around, noticing a lone figure on the couch.
“You’re back early.” Kyuhyun said as he kicked his shoes off and closed the door, walking over to where Geng was. He sat down and leaned close to the male, frowning softly. “What’s with you? Are you okay?” Concern was hidden in his tone as he watched Geng warily, shaking his right shoulder gently.
He blinked as the man had smacked it away. Standing up, Geng glared at the younger. “I want you out.” His voice barely audible as he eyed Kyuhyun coldly, pointing to the door.
Kyuhyun blinked again, a look of disbelief on his features. “Why? What did I do? I didn’t do anything.” He stood up; hands balled into fist as he shot the Chinese man an angry look.
A resounding slap was heard in the room. He stood there, frozen in shock as he clutched his face. “Wha-?”
“Don’t lie to me! No more lies. You know what you did. You tricked Siwon!” He lowered his hand and took a step towards the younger. With both hands, Geng shoved him away. “I want you out. Leave now. Don’t you dare come back, Cho Kyuhyun. I don’t want to see your face ever again.”
Kyuhyun stared in horror as the words slipped from the Chinese man’s lips. Questions ran through his mind as he pushed himself up, looking towards Geng, he stayed silent. He noticed that the man was shaking, probably in anger, Kyuhyun didn’t really know.
Wordlessly, he moved past Geng, but stopped once he reached the door. Ignoring the red sting on his left cheek, he looked towards Geng; the man glaring at the spot where he was at.
“I was selfish because I loved you. I’m in love with you. Is that so wrong?” He smiled sadly and swept his gaze over to the door.
Hearing the door closed, Geng slumped to the ground.
_
He zipped his sweater up as he walked out of the building and into the cold night. Bringing a hand to his injured cheek, he hissed painfully. Kyuhyun kept walking, clutching his cheek in pain. He blinked back the tears in his eyes, persuading himself that it was due to the slap that Geng had left him.
The soft ringtone of his cell phone broke him of his thoughts. Drawing the phone out with his free hand, he placed it against his ear.
“Hello?”
“Ah, Mr.Cho, as stated earlier, you’ve been chosen and I’m sure you already know that you would need to complete your training in England for a total of six months or more.”
He chuckled softly into the receiver. He couldn’t believe his luck.
“Yes, I know. Can you make it as soon as possible? England that is, I want to leave now.”
_
To Be Continued…
A/N: Here is the twelfth chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it. The song that Kyuhyun sang was a song that he sang at a performance. I don’t remember which. It’s by Qi Qin and the name is Bu Rang Wo De Yan Lei Pei Wo Guo Ye or Don't Let My Tears Accompany Me Through the Night. Comments are very much loved!