Fic: Lost in Translation (3/?)
PART 1
He didn’t end up going home with Sungmin. They were halfway into the subway, grinding against each other, not caring about the few stares from drunks they were getting when Sungmin had detached himself and teasingly pushed Zhou Mi the rest of the way into the subway car. He had promised to call on Friday, and he had. They went to another restaurant and then walked around, through the park, and then up through a mall. They did the same Saturday night, and would have done it again on Sunday if Sungmin hadn’t had to go south for another concert.
And each night ended the same, with Sungmin not coming home with him. Zhou Mi kept coming back though, because he remembered the feeling of Sungmin’s tongue on his cock and it made him hard, even during school when he was helping Henry through more note reading and trying to not go sharp every time he held a note for too long. Kyuhyun’s constant presence didn’t help at all.
Especially with the way he made sure to make a point of avoiding Zhou Mi, even when they were both helping the same person. He also enjoyed showing Seohyun off, inviting her to stay after with them, because she could play piano better than Zhou Mi, or so Kyuhyun always reminded him.
She seemed to think that she made Henry awkward, because she would always glance at him, and his completely frightened expression at the idea of her being there, and shake her head. Zhou Mi always felt like he should hug Henry after each lesson just on that alone. That probably would have made him completely break though, and Zhou Mi was beginning to see progress in how he handled himself, around both of them and when Ryeowook would stop by to drop off notes from Jongwoon.
At home Zhou Mi split his time between obsessively grading homework, the few times he did hand it out, and he was beginning to think maybe he should give out more just to occupy his time better, and catching up with Sungmin. He always had a new story to tell each night, ranging from a new CD he had bought, to a new band they had seen while on tour, or just how their drummer had skipped morning practice to go to church.
All in all, Zhou Mi thought he was doing a pretty decent job of getting over Kyuhyun. He even managed to grunt out Sungmin’s name one night as he came in the shower; he’d felt particularly victorious and celebrated by demanding that Sungmin take him out when he returned.
“Of course!” Sungmin’s text message said. “I’ll take you to one of my favourite restaurants.”
Zhou Mi laughed as he replied, “You have a lot of favourite restaurants.”
“Do you know where we are?” Sungmin asked, pulling him out up the stairs of the subway.
Zhou Mi looked around, noticing a few familiar buildings. It was near Kyuhyun’s work. He shook his head, looking at Sungmin. “No idea.”
Sungmin grinned, tugging on his wrist. “Perfect.”
Zhou Mi laughed. “I’m beginning to think you enjoy dragging me to places I don’t know so that way I can’t escape.”
“You’ve found me out,” Sungmin said, nodding solemnly. “I just can’t let you go.”
Zhou Mi rolled his eyes as his stomach began to drop. Sungmin was leading him right to Kyuhyun’s work. Zhou Mi really hoped he wasn’t working, except right now was his shift. He took a deep breath as Sungmin pulled them into the bar.
Kyuhyun was singing when they walked in, his eyes closed. Zhou Mi couldn’t look away from him even as Sungmin took him by the elbow and led him to the table. He was grinning.
“I knew you’d like this place,” he said as he pressed Zhou Mi into the chair. Zhou Mi tore his eyes away from Kyuhyun and looked at Sungmin.
“It’s a nice place,” he said, making sure he didn’t catch the bartender’s eye as the waitress came over.
Sungmin leaned over the table, brushing their fingers together for a moment. Zhou Mi had to stop himself from pulling his hands away and tucking them in his pants pocket as he repeated to himself over and over again that Kyuhyun couldn’t see him.
“Why are you so stiff?” Sungmin asked as he sat up, frowning. Zhou Mi swallowed and gave a sigh of relief as the piano cut off and Kyuhyun stepped off of the platform. Sungmin looked over, still frowning. “Is it the singer?”
Zhou Mi couldn’t stop himself as he looked towards the bar because that’s where Kyuhyun always went after a performance to get a drink. When he looked back Sungmin’s face was serious. Zhou Mi ran over the lies he could say; he hadn’t thought about the idea of Sungmin ever finding out about Kyuhyun. Or even meeting him. Zhou Mi tore into the napkin and Sungmin’s face darkened.
“The singer. He’s a student of mine.” Zhou Mi let out in a rush. “They aren’t supposed to have jobs.”
Sungmin’s face relaxed and he reached across the table, but then seemed to think better of it. “Oh, so that’s why he’s shooting you dirty looks.”
Zhou Mi laughed weakly and edged his chair over so he couldn’t even risk glancing to see Kyuhyun. “Yeah.”
Sungmin laughed and gave a tiny wave, half hidden by the napkin holder. Zhou Mi couldn’t see Kyuhyun’s reaction; he didn’t want to see it. Sungmin sat up straight, still smiling.
“I think you’re going to have to talk to him.” Sungmin said, fixing his eyes back on Zhou Mi. “He doesn’t look too happy at being caught.”
It was on the tip of Zhou Mi’s tongue to continue talking about Kyuhyun. To talk about how he could get kicked out and it would be shame because he has a nice voice and he’s a good student, and why yes he has stayed after for practice once or twice, but no, there had never been any tongues down throats. Sungmin would laugh, thinking it was all a joke and he’d rib Zhou Mi for the rest of the night, until pushing him into the door of his bedroom.
“Let’s not talk about Kui Xian right now. I want to hear more about the song you’re composing.”
Sungmin straightened, and his face lit up as he slowly began to talk. Zhou Mi listened, attentive like a good boyfriend, as Sungmin went on about chords and having to learn the drums from Siwon and Jungmo.
“It’s harder than I thought. You know, I just assumed it was a bunch of beating a stick on a tarp but there is a beat to it that I don’t understand.”
Zhou Mi nodded, because this was a point of conversation where you nodded, and not look over at your ex-boyfriend drilling holes into you. Zhou Mi reached across the table, entwining his fingers with Sungmin’s as he talked and he didn’t need to glance to the side to know that Kyuhyun had gotten up and left. The sound of a stool hitting hardwood floor told him that.
Sungmin’s fingers flexed in his hand. “Your student just stormed off in a rage.”
“He does that sometimes.” Zhou Mi finally could look, because Sungmin had mentioned him, and he watched Kyuhyun come out of the backroom changed and walk briskly to the door, backpack slung over his shoulder. Zhou Mi turned back to Sungmin with a smile. “He’s the one that threatened me because I was mean to his girlfriend.”
“Oh, him.” Sungmin’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “Very noble.”
“I’m sure he tries to be.”
With Kyuhyun gone it was slightly easier to enjoy the dinner, and Sungmin had no problem filling in the gaps. After dinner, they continued their tradition of walking around, going through a side alley to look at merchant carts filled with wood carved instruments. Sungmin strummed the strings of a tiny ukulele, much to Zhou Mi’s enjoyment. When it finally came for what Zhou Mi knew would be good night, he couldn’t help but squeeze Sungmin’s wrist, hoping to entice him.
“Come back to my place tonight?” Sungmin shook his head, pulling away. Zhou Mi tangled their fingers up and tugged him back. “Why not? No pressure.”
Sungmin just continued to shake his head. “I like to take things slow.”
That cause Zhou Mi to arch his eyebrow and he flashed to backstage. “A blow job backstage at your concert is slow?”
“No that was to keep you interested.” Sungmin let out a laugh but quickly sobered up. He looked into Zhou Mi’s eyes as he spoke. “I get a lot of people just using me for sex so when I really like someone, I have to hold off. To see if they’re interested, you know?”
Zhou Mi zeroed in on the I really like someone and he swallowed as he realized that Sungmin was probably falling for him, and the feelings were not mutual. Yet. He nodded, giving Sungmin’s hand a squeeze. “I understand. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Sungmin laughed again, as he stroked Zhou Mi’s cheek. “It’s okay. I’m not offended, just now that you know, you’ll know not to push it. Right?” His nose crinkled up before he kissed Zhou Mi’s lips lightly. “I like relationships working.”
“Me too,” Zhou Mi said dumbly, not sure what else to say. “I want to make this work.”
Sungmin’s grin lit up his whole face. “Me too.” He pulled himself away from Zhou Mi’s embrace and scuffed his shoes. “Call me when you get home.”
“I will,” Zhou Mi said as he laughed, pulling Sungmin back in for a kiss. “Good night.”
“Night.”
As Zhou Mi walked down to the subway he kept his mind on Sungmin, and what “making it work” entailed. He thought about their dates, and their phone calls, and tried not to focus on the eventual sex because this was an adult relationship, and something potentially long term. He wanted that. Sungmin would give him that. He needed to make sure Sungmin knew that’s how he felt, because communication was important.
The first thing that Zhou Mi noticed when his Voice II class walked in was that there was a huddle around Seohyun. He frowned, unsure what was going on, and it wasn’t any of his business to ask. He knew it didn’t have to do with Tiffany wanting to protect her from his critiques because he had been sure to make any comment towards Seohyun not as malicious as it used to be.
The whispers started soon enough though.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Right before class.”
“Couldn’t he have waited?”
“I’m going to cut his balls off.”
That comment made him pause and he looked directly at Tiffany. “Something you need to share with the class?” Tiffany shot a glare towards the boys’ sections, and Zhou Mi followed her gaze to where it focused on Changmin. He looked back at her, waiting for her answer. “Well?”
“No Mr. Joo. Nothing anyone here needs to hear.”
“Then can we all please look at measure 143 and start from there?” Zhou Mi looked at Seohyun for the first time all class, purposefully avoiding it because he really didn’t want to know, and he blinked at her red eyes. She sniffed quietly, opening the songbook to the proper measure and he wondered if she could even sing like that.
What in the world had happened?
“Seohyun?” He skipped right over politeness, too concerned. “Are you going to be able to stay in class?”
She nodded her head, grabbing onto Jessica’s hand. “I’ll be fine Mr. Joo. It is just allergies.”
Zhou Mi blinked, not believing her for a second, but she refused to leave so he continued with class.
By the end of the day he still didn’t know what had happened. Even Kyuhyun showing up in Voice IV didn’t help him because no one gossiped in that class. At least not openly. He resigned himself to not knowing, and just assuming and he didn’t feel good just assuming.
He dismissed Voice IV and Kyuhyun stayed in his seat. Zhou Mi blinked because that was odd, usually Kyuhyun left and came back, with Seohyun in tow, but today he just sat there, backpack at his feet.
“Is everything alright?” Zhou Mi finally ventured.
“Yup. Did you enjoy dinner last night?” Kyuhyun didn’t look at him as he said this.
“I did.” Zhou Mi refused to mention Sungmin.
“Good. I’m glad. Are we going to run through a song with Henry finally?”
Zhou Mi looked at his notes for his lesson with Henry and he slowly nodded. “I planned on it. We’ll be doing the one they are doing in Voice II.”
“Can I see it?”
Pointless chitchat got them nowhere, and it didn’t get any further once Henry showed up, out of breath. He pressed his palms to his knees as he caught his breath, panting out the explanation that he had left his history textbook in his friend’s locker.
“Just start warming up,” Zhou Mi said with a sigh.
Henry nodded, putting his backpack down. He was halfway through the scales when the door opened and Jongwoon walked in, stack of papers in hand.
“Mi, I need your help.”
Zhou Mi blinked, staring at the stack of papers. He almost didn’t notice Henry tensing up. “With? Don't you have a class right now?”
“I do. And these are the different solo music sheets I found. I know they have about two months left of this term to prepare but we should start auditioning the soloists now.”
“And, how can I help? Henry keep doing your scales.” Zhou Mi barely noticed Kyuhyun poke Henry in the side, whispering something in his ear as Jongwoon put half the stack on his desk.
“I need you to look through these and pick out which ones you want to see people do. I’m also thinking we may pick a couple higher end students to sing a duet, or something. I don’t know. There are ideas in my head, and you, I and Ryeowook need to sit down and figure all this out.”
Henry cracked at the mention of Ryeowook and Zhou Mi almost pitied him because it had been over a month and he was still upset. Jongwoon’s presence right then probably didn’t help.
“Alright, do you want to meet up over the weekend to touch base?”
Jongwoon’s answer was cut off by the door swinging open and Tiffany stepping into the room. Her eyes locked onto Kyuhyun and she pointed her finger, storming forward with enough force to make her pigtails bounce.
“Kyuhyun Cho I need to have some words with you.”
Zhou Mi and Jongwoon exchanged looks, not sure what was going on. Kyuhyun looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she got within arms reach of him.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you yes me. You know exactly why I’m here. Don’t think you didn’t expect this. She spent four periods crying. Hiding out in the library during lunch doesn’t change that.”
Kyuhyun shrugged. “I didn’t do it for her sake. I did it because I didn’t need to hear you yell at me.”
“Well you’re going to get it because you can’t just break one of my closest friends’ hearts and not get chewed out by me.”
Kyuhyun let out a sigh. “ I broke up with her. It happens. We’re kids. What? Were you expecting us to get married and have little babies together?”
“No I don’t expect you to marry her, but you took her first kiss and then you just dump her? That’s not cool Kyuhyun.”
“What’s so big a deal about a first kiss? It’s not like it was her last.”
Tiffany looked close to chucking her math book at Kyuhyun’s head and Zhou Mi couldn’t figure out how to stop it. Jongwoon looked just as lost. “She’s a girl, you jackass. A first kiss is everything to a girl, and Seohyun especially. She never expected to date anyone in high school, let alone someone she found attractive.” Tiffany took a deep breath and it looked like she was honestly trying to calm down. “Couldn’t you have at least picked a better time, or a better way to break up with her? Right before class, a day after your one month anniversary is not a good time.”
“What can I say? I got bored. I’d rather break up with her instead of-” He didn’t get to finish because Tiffany seemed to have enough and she chucked her book at him. That seemed to snap Jongwoon into motion and as Kyuhyun dodged the math book Jongwoon began to bark orders.
“Ms. Hwang with me. Mr. Cho you stay with Mr. Joo. Detention for both of you for at least the next two days.”
Tiffany huffed, clutching her other books to her chest and Zhou Mi waited for Kyuhyun to protest his detention until it sunk in who Jongwoon was going to make him sit through detention with.
“Mi do you mind? I know he’s like your prized student so you should be able to keep him under control, right?” Jongwoon was pushing Tiffany out of the classroom, not even letting her take her math book.
Zhou Mi swallowed, not sure what to say, so he just nodded, staring at the door shut.
“I’ll take Tiffany her math book, okay?” Henry said, not looking at either one of them. “And then, I should probably go home.”
Zhou Mi nodded. “Yeah. Lesson is cancelled for today. Maybe tomorrow Henry.”
Henry nodded absently, not looking at either of them as he picked up his backpack and then Tiffany’s book and shuffled out the door. Zhou Mi collapsed onto his desk, not sure what to do. He heard Kyuhyun take a seat and he wanted to ask why loudly. He wanted to shake Kyuhyun to figure out what was going on in his mind and he just wanted to curl up and go to sleep because this was too much to process.
“How long am I staying?”
“I don’t know.” He finally looked at Kyuhyun, and Zhou Mi swallowed. “Until six. And then until six tomorrow too.”
“You know I don’t deserve the detention Mr. Joo.”
Zhou Mi said nothing as he stood up and circled around to sit in his chair. “Just get out your homework and get to work on it.” He was so drained.
He was expecting Kyuhyun to argue with him, and so he tried to distract himself by flipping through the music that Jongwoon had left on his desk. He just stared at the notes though as his mind was completely focused on every rustle from Kyuhyun. He looked up after a minute to see Kyuhyun had pulled out some homework and was using a music stand as a makeshift desk. Zhou Mi let out a whoosh of air, relaxing as he saw that Kyuhyun wasn’t trying to fight him.
“I’m finished Mr. Joo,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi glanced at the clock to see he had thirty minutes left.
“You did all your homework?”
“Yes Mr. Joo, I’m not in elementary school.” Kyuhyun held up his notebook. “Though if you would feel better checking that it’s finished…” He trailed off as Zhou Mi shook his head.
“No I trust you.” Zhou Mi realized how bad it sounded once the words were out of his mouth but he couldn’t stop them. Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow as he put his books away in his backpack.
“Then can I leave?”
“You need to stay until six.”
“No one will know Mr. Joo. It’s not like you’re going to tell the headmaster that I have detention for getting a book thrown at me.”
“You provoked her.”
“By telling her the truth, Mr. Joo.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him that he hadn’t told her the truth, because Zhou Mi wanted to hear Kyuhyun say that he broke up with Seohyun because of him, he needed to hear it, but he held back. He had Sungmin now, he reminded himself.
“Do something to entertain yourself for the next half hour and then you can go.”
Kyuhyun arched an eyebrow. “Anything?”
“Sure,” Zhou Mi said, purposely looking back down at his music sheet. Thirty minutes would pass quickly if he just indulged himself in music notes. “Anything.”
Kyuhyun laughed and Zhou Mi got a very bad feeling. “You might want to watch me then Mr. Joo.”
Zhou Mi tried not to shoot his head up, but he did and he was frozen watching Kyuhyun slowly push his pants down, his hand pulling his half hard cock out. His eyes were locked on Zhou Mi as he began to stroke himself and Zhou Mi couldn’t tear his eyes away. His own cock was getting hard and he clenched his fist to stop it from reaching down and relieving the pressure.
Kyuhyun licked his lips as he shifted his hips, fingers going slow up and down. Zhou Mi watched them, every single stroke, and every squeeze that Kyuhyun gave and he imagined they were his fingers. All he would have to do was stand up and take a few steps and they would be his fingers.
Zhou Mi pushed his chair back, feet planted on the ground and Kyuhyun shifted again, smirking.
“Stop.”
“You don’t want me to stop,” Kyuhyun said with a chuckle that quickly turned into a moan as his thumb rubbed over the slit of his cock. Zhou Mi could see the pre-come and couldn’t stop himself from licking his lips, his hips unconsciously bucking.
“Please Kui Xian…” Zhou Mi trailed off, fingers twitching because he wanted to touch himself, and he wanted to touch Kyuhyun but he couldn’t.
“What? Please what.” Kyuhyun moved his hand faster, eyes shutting as he bucked his hips up.
“Stop,” Zhou Mi repeated weakly. He was losing any resolve he had as he watched Kyuhyun. “You need to stop.”
“No,” Kyuhyun said, and he broke off in a moan, head thrown back and Zhou Mi drank in the sight of him coming, staining his shirt at the stomach.
His cock was pressed painfully against the teeth of his zipper and he needed to do something about it. He tried to think unattractive thoughts, but they had never worked for him before so he was left hard and his hand was right there.
He pressed the palm to the bulge, gasping loudly and his eyes stayed on Kyuhyun even as guilt racked through him. Kyuhyun smirked, pants still undone even as he shifted to stand and Zhou Mi pulled his hand away, pushing his chair forward so his lap was under the desk.
“Leave.” Kyuhyun frowned, not expecting that, and Zhou Mi repeated himself. “Leave now. Detention is over. You don’t need to come tomorrow.” Kyuhyun stood there, pants almost falling down to his ankles and Zhou Mi looked away. “Don’t make me say it one more time Kui Xian.”
Kyuhyun made a disgusted sound and Zhou Mi didn’t watch him pull up his pants and grab his bag. Kyuhyun didn’t say anything and Zhou Mi didn’t look up until he heard the door slam. His erection was still there, and the image of Kyuhyun bucking his hips in the chair was burned into the back of his eyes. He clenched his fists hard, his nails digging into the flesh of his palm, but he still couldn’t will it away.
He hated this.
Chapter 4
He didn’t end up going home with Sungmin. They were halfway into the subway, grinding against each other, not caring about the few stares from drunks they were getting when Sungmin had detached himself and teasingly pushed Zhou Mi the rest of the way into the subway car. He had promised to call on Friday, and he had. They went to another restaurant and then walked around, through the park, and then up through a mall. They did the same Saturday night, and would have done it again on Sunday if Sungmin hadn’t had to go south for another concert.
And each night ended the same, with Sungmin not coming home with him. Zhou Mi kept coming back though, because he remembered the feeling of Sungmin’s tongue on his cock and it made him hard, even during school when he was helping Henry through more note reading and trying to not go sharp every time he held a note for too long. Kyuhyun’s constant presence didn’t help at all.
Especially with the way he made sure to make a point of avoiding Zhou Mi, even when they were both helping the same person. He also enjoyed showing Seohyun off, inviting her to stay after with them, because she could play piano better than Zhou Mi, or so Kyuhyun always reminded him.
She seemed to think that she made Henry awkward, because she would always glance at him, and his completely frightened expression at the idea of her being there, and shake her head. Zhou Mi always felt like he should hug Henry after each lesson just on that alone. That probably would have made him completely break though, and Zhou Mi was beginning to see progress in how he handled himself, around both of them and when Ryeowook would stop by to drop off notes from Jongwoon.
At home Zhou Mi split his time between obsessively grading homework, the few times he did hand it out, and he was beginning to think maybe he should give out more just to occupy his time better, and catching up with Sungmin. He always had a new story to tell each night, ranging from a new CD he had bought, to a new band they had seen while on tour, or just how their drummer had skipped morning practice to go to church.
All in all, Zhou Mi thought he was doing a pretty decent job of getting over Kyuhyun. He even managed to grunt out Sungmin’s name one night as he came in the shower; he’d felt particularly victorious and celebrated by demanding that Sungmin take him out when he returned.
“Of course!” Sungmin’s text message said. “I’ll take you to one of my favourite restaurants.”
Zhou Mi laughed as he replied, “You have a lot of favourite restaurants.”
“Do you know where we are?” Sungmin asked, pulling him out up the stairs of the subway.
Zhou Mi looked around, noticing a few familiar buildings. It was near Kyuhyun’s work. He shook his head, looking at Sungmin. “No idea.”
Sungmin grinned, tugging on his wrist. “Perfect.”
Zhou Mi laughed. “I’m beginning to think you enjoy dragging me to places I don’t know so that way I can’t escape.”
“You’ve found me out,” Sungmin said, nodding solemnly. “I just can’t let you go.”
Zhou Mi rolled his eyes as his stomach began to drop. Sungmin was leading him right to Kyuhyun’s work. Zhou Mi really hoped he wasn’t working, except right now was his shift. He took a deep breath as Sungmin pulled them into the bar.
Kyuhyun was singing when they walked in, his eyes closed. Zhou Mi couldn’t look away from him even as Sungmin took him by the elbow and led him to the table. He was grinning.
“I knew you’d like this place,” he said as he pressed Zhou Mi into the chair. Zhou Mi tore his eyes away from Kyuhyun and looked at Sungmin.
“It’s a nice place,” he said, making sure he didn’t catch the bartender’s eye as the waitress came over.
Sungmin leaned over the table, brushing their fingers together for a moment. Zhou Mi had to stop himself from pulling his hands away and tucking them in his pants pocket as he repeated to himself over and over again that Kyuhyun couldn’t see him.
“Why are you so stiff?” Sungmin asked as he sat up, frowning. Zhou Mi swallowed and gave a sigh of relief as the piano cut off and Kyuhyun stepped off of the platform. Sungmin looked over, still frowning. “Is it the singer?”
Zhou Mi couldn’t stop himself as he looked towards the bar because that’s where Kyuhyun always went after a performance to get a drink. When he looked back Sungmin’s face was serious. Zhou Mi ran over the lies he could say; he hadn’t thought about the idea of Sungmin ever finding out about Kyuhyun. Or even meeting him. Zhou Mi tore into the napkin and Sungmin’s face darkened.
“The singer. He’s a student of mine.” Zhou Mi let out in a rush. “They aren’t supposed to have jobs.”
Sungmin’s face relaxed and he reached across the table, but then seemed to think better of it. “Oh, so that’s why he’s shooting you dirty looks.”
Zhou Mi laughed weakly and edged his chair over so he couldn’t even risk glancing to see Kyuhyun. “Yeah.”
Sungmin laughed and gave a tiny wave, half hidden by the napkin holder. Zhou Mi couldn’t see Kyuhyun’s reaction; he didn’t want to see it. Sungmin sat up straight, still smiling.
“I think you’re going to have to talk to him.” Sungmin said, fixing his eyes back on Zhou Mi. “He doesn’t look too happy at being caught.”
It was on the tip of Zhou Mi’s tongue to continue talking about Kyuhyun. To talk about how he could get kicked out and it would be shame because he has a nice voice and he’s a good student, and why yes he has stayed after for practice once or twice, but no, there had never been any tongues down throats. Sungmin would laugh, thinking it was all a joke and he’d rib Zhou Mi for the rest of the night, until pushing him into the door of his bedroom.
“Let’s not talk about Kui Xian right now. I want to hear more about the song you’re composing.”
Sungmin straightened, and his face lit up as he slowly began to talk. Zhou Mi listened, attentive like a good boyfriend, as Sungmin went on about chords and having to learn the drums from Siwon and Jungmo.
“It’s harder than I thought. You know, I just assumed it was a bunch of beating a stick on a tarp but there is a beat to it that I don’t understand.”
Zhou Mi nodded, because this was a point of conversation where you nodded, and not look over at your ex-boyfriend drilling holes into you. Zhou Mi reached across the table, entwining his fingers with Sungmin’s as he talked and he didn’t need to glance to the side to know that Kyuhyun had gotten up and left. The sound of a stool hitting hardwood floor told him that.
Sungmin’s fingers flexed in his hand. “Your student just stormed off in a rage.”
“He does that sometimes.” Zhou Mi finally could look, because Sungmin had mentioned him, and he watched Kyuhyun come out of the backroom changed and walk briskly to the door, backpack slung over his shoulder. Zhou Mi turned back to Sungmin with a smile. “He’s the one that threatened me because I was mean to his girlfriend.”
“Oh, him.” Sungmin’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “Very noble.”
“I’m sure he tries to be.”
With Kyuhyun gone it was slightly easier to enjoy the dinner, and Sungmin had no problem filling in the gaps. After dinner, they continued their tradition of walking around, going through a side alley to look at merchant carts filled with wood carved instruments. Sungmin strummed the strings of a tiny ukulele, much to Zhou Mi’s enjoyment. When it finally came for what Zhou Mi knew would be good night, he couldn’t help but squeeze Sungmin’s wrist, hoping to entice him.
“Come back to my place tonight?” Sungmin shook his head, pulling away. Zhou Mi tangled their fingers up and tugged him back. “Why not? No pressure.”
Sungmin just continued to shake his head. “I like to take things slow.”
That cause Zhou Mi to arch his eyebrow and he flashed to backstage. “A blow job backstage at your concert is slow?”
“No that was to keep you interested.” Sungmin let out a laugh but quickly sobered up. He looked into Zhou Mi’s eyes as he spoke. “I get a lot of people just using me for sex so when I really like someone, I have to hold off. To see if they’re interested, you know?”
Zhou Mi zeroed in on the I really like someone and he swallowed as he realized that Sungmin was probably falling for him, and the feelings were not mutual. Yet. He nodded, giving Sungmin’s hand a squeeze. “I understand. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Sungmin laughed again, as he stroked Zhou Mi’s cheek. “It’s okay. I’m not offended, just now that you know, you’ll know not to push it. Right?” His nose crinkled up before he kissed Zhou Mi’s lips lightly. “I like relationships working.”
“Me too,” Zhou Mi said dumbly, not sure what else to say. “I want to make this work.”
Sungmin’s grin lit up his whole face. “Me too.” He pulled himself away from Zhou Mi’s embrace and scuffed his shoes. “Call me when you get home.”
“I will,” Zhou Mi said as he laughed, pulling Sungmin back in for a kiss. “Good night.”
“Night.”
As Zhou Mi walked down to the subway he kept his mind on Sungmin, and what “making it work” entailed. He thought about their dates, and their phone calls, and tried not to focus on the eventual sex because this was an adult relationship, and something potentially long term. He wanted that. Sungmin would give him that. He needed to make sure Sungmin knew that’s how he felt, because communication was important.
The first thing that Zhou Mi noticed when his Voice II class walked in was that there was a huddle around Seohyun. He frowned, unsure what was going on, and it wasn’t any of his business to ask. He knew it didn’t have to do with Tiffany wanting to protect her from his critiques because he had been sure to make any comment towards Seohyun not as malicious as it used to be.
The whispers started soon enough though.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Right before class.”
“Couldn’t he have waited?”
“I’m going to cut his balls off.”
That comment made him pause and he looked directly at Tiffany. “Something you need to share with the class?” Tiffany shot a glare towards the boys’ sections, and Zhou Mi followed her gaze to where it focused on Changmin. He looked back at her, waiting for her answer. “Well?”
“No Mr. Joo. Nothing anyone here needs to hear.”
“Then can we all please look at measure 143 and start from there?” Zhou Mi looked at Seohyun for the first time all class, purposefully avoiding it because he really didn’t want to know, and he blinked at her red eyes. She sniffed quietly, opening the songbook to the proper measure and he wondered if she could even sing like that.
What in the world had happened?
“Seohyun?” He skipped right over politeness, too concerned. “Are you going to be able to stay in class?”
She nodded her head, grabbing onto Jessica’s hand. “I’ll be fine Mr. Joo. It is just allergies.”
Zhou Mi blinked, not believing her for a second, but she refused to leave so he continued with class.
By the end of the day he still didn’t know what had happened. Even Kyuhyun showing up in Voice IV didn’t help him because no one gossiped in that class. At least not openly. He resigned himself to not knowing, and just assuming and he didn’t feel good just assuming.
He dismissed Voice IV and Kyuhyun stayed in his seat. Zhou Mi blinked because that was odd, usually Kyuhyun left and came back, with Seohyun in tow, but today he just sat there, backpack at his feet.
“Is everything alright?” Zhou Mi finally ventured.
“Yup. Did you enjoy dinner last night?” Kyuhyun didn’t look at him as he said this.
“I did.” Zhou Mi refused to mention Sungmin.
“Good. I’m glad. Are we going to run through a song with Henry finally?”
Zhou Mi looked at his notes for his lesson with Henry and he slowly nodded. “I planned on it. We’ll be doing the one they are doing in Voice II.”
“Can I see it?”
Pointless chitchat got them nowhere, and it didn’t get any further once Henry showed up, out of breath. He pressed his palms to his knees as he caught his breath, panting out the explanation that he had left his history textbook in his friend’s locker.
“Just start warming up,” Zhou Mi said with a sigh.
Henry nodded, putting his backpack down. He was halfway through the scales when the door opened and Jongwoon walked in, stack of papers in hand.
“Mi, I need your help.”
Zhou Mi blinked, staring at the stack of papers. He almost didn’t notice Henry tensing up. “With? Don't you have a class right now?”
“I do. And these are the different solo music sheets I found. I know they have about two months left of this term to prepare but we should start auditioning the soloists now.”
“And, how can I help? Henry keep doing your scales.” Zhou Mi barely noticed Kyuhyun poke Henry in the side, whispering something in his ear as Jongwoon put half the stack on his desk.
“I need you to look through these and pick out which ones you want to see people do. I’m also thinking we may pick a couple higher end students to sing a duet, or something. I don’t know. There are ideas in my head, and you, I and Ryeowook need to sit down and figure all this out.”
Henry cracked at the mention of Ryeowook and Zhou Mi almost pitied him because it had been over a month and he was still upset. Jongwoon’s presence right then probably didn’t help.
“Alright, do you want to meet up over the weekend to touch base?”
Jongwoon’s answer was cut off by the door swinging open and Tiffany stepping into the room. Her eyes locked onto Kyuhyun and she pointed her finger, storming forward with enough force to make her pigtails bounce.
“Kyuhyun Cho I need to have some words with you.”
Zhou Mi and Jongwoon exchanged looks, not sure what was going on. Kyuhyun looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she got within arms reach of him.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you yes me. You know exactly why I’m here. Don’t think you didn’t expect this. She spent four periods crying. Hiding out in the library during lunch doesn’t change that.”
Kyuhyun shrugged. “I didn’t do it for her sake. I did it because I didn’t need to hear you yell at me.”
“Well you’re going to get it because you can’t just break one of my closest friends’ hearts and not get chewed out by me.”
Kyuhyun let out a sigh. “ I broke up with her. It happens. We’re kids. What? Were you expecting us to get married and have little babies together?”
“No I don’t expect you to marry her, but you took her first kiss and then you just dump her? That’s not cool Kyuhyun.”
“What’s so big a deal about a first kiss? It’s not like it was her last.”
Tiffany looked close to chucking her math book at Kyuhyun’s head and Zhou Mi couldn’t figure out how to stop it. Jongwoon looked just as lost. “She’s a girl, you jackass. A first kiss is everything to a girl, and Seohyun especially. She never expected to date anyone in high school, let alone someone she found attractive.” Tiffany took a deep breath and it looked like she was honestly trying to calm down. “Couldn’t you have at least picked a better time, or a better way to break up with her? Right before class, a day after your one month anniversary is not a good time.”
“What can I say? I got bored. I’d rather break up with her instead of-” He didn’t get to finish because Tiffany seemed to have enough and she chucked her book at him. That seemed to snap Jongwoon into motion and as Kyuhyun dodged the math book Jongwoon began to bark orders.
“Ms. Hwang with me. Mr. Cho you stay with Mr. Joo. Detention for both of you for at least the next two days.”
Tiffany huffed, clutching her other books to her chest and Zhou Mi waited for Kyuhyun to protest his detention until it sunk in who Jongwoon was going to make him sit through detention with.
“Mi do you mind? I know he’s like your prized student so you should be able to keep him under control, right?” Jongwoon was pushing Tiffany out of the classroom, not even letting her take her math book.
Zhou Mi swallowed, not sure what to say, so he just nodded, staring at the door shut.
“I’ll take Tiffany her math book, okay?” Henry said, not looking at either one of them. “And then, I should probably go home.”
Zhou Mi nodded. “Yeah. Lesson is cancelled for today. Maybe tomorrow Henry.”
Henry nodded absently, not looking at either of them as he picked up his backpack and then Tiffany’s book and shuffled out the door. Zhou Mi collapsed onto his desk, not sure what to do. He heard Kyuhyun take a seat and he wanted to ask why loudly. He wanted to shake Kyuhyun to figure out what was going on in his mind and he just wanted to curl up and go to sleep because this was too much to process.
“How long am I staying?”
“I don’t know.” He finally looked at Kyuhyun, and Zhou Mi swallowed. “Until six. And then until six tomorrow too.”
“You know I don’t deserve the detention Mr. Joo.”
Zhou Mi said nothing as he stood up and circled around to sit in his chair. “Just get out your homework and get to work on it.” He was so drained.
He was expecting Kyuhyun to argue with him, and so he tried to distract himself by flipping through the music that Jongwoon had left on his desk. He just stared at the notes though as his mind was completely focused on every rustle from Kyuhyun. He looked up after a minute to see Kyuhyun had pulled out some homework and was using a music stand as a makeshift desk. Zhou Mi let out a whoosh of air, relaxing as he saw that Kyuhyun wasn’t trying to fight him.
“I’m finished Mr. Joo,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi glanced at the clock to see he had thirty minutes left.
“You did all your homework?”
“Yes Mr. Joo, I’m not in elementary school.” Kyuhyun held up his notebook. “Though if you would feel better checking that it’s finished…” He trailed off as Zhou Mi shook his head.
“No I trust you.” Zhou Mi realized how bad it sounded once the words were out of his mouth but he couldn’t stop them. Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow as he put his books away in his backpack.
“Then can I leave?”
“You need to stay until six.”
“No one will know Mr. Joo. It’s not like you’re going to tell the headmaster that I have detention for getting a book thrown at me.”
“You provoked her.”
“By telling her the truth, Mr. Joo.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell him that he hadn’t told her the truth, because Zhou Mi wanted to hear Kyuhyun say that he broke up with Seohyun because of him, he needed to hear it, but he held back. He had Sungmin now, he reminded himself.
“Do something to entertain yourself for the next half hour and then you can go.”
Kyuhyun arched an eyebrow. “Anything?”
“Sure,” Zhou Mi said, purposely looking back down at his music sheet. Thirty minutes would pass quickly if he just indulged himself in music notes. “Anything.”
Kyuhyun laughed and Zhou Mi got a very bad feeling. “You might want to watch me then Mr. Joo.”
Zhou Mi tried not to shoot his head up, but he did and he was frozen watching Kyuhyun slowly push his pants down, his hand pulling his half hard cock out. His eyes were locked on Zhou Mi as he began to stroke himself and Zhou Mi couldn’t tear his eyes away. His own cock was getting hard and he clenched his fist to stop it from reaching down and relieving the pressure.
Kyuhyun licked his lips as he shifted his hips, fingers going slow up and down. Zhou Mi watched them, every single stroke, and every squeeze that Kyuhyun gave and he imagined they were his fingers. All he would have to do was stand up and take a few steps and they would be his fingers.
Zhou Mi pushed his chair back, feet planted on the ground and Kyuhyun shifted again, smirking.
“Stop.”
“You don’t want me to stop,” Kyuhyun said with a chuckle that quickly turned into a moan as his thumb rubbed over the slit of his cock. Zhou Mi could see the pre-come and couldn’t stop himself from licking his lips, his hips unconsciously bucking.
“Please Kui Xian…” Zhou Mi trailed off, fingers twitching because he wanted to touch himself, and he wanted to touch Kyuhyun but he couldn’t.
“What? Please what.” Kyuhyun moved his hand faster, eyes shutting as he bucked his hips up.
“Stop,” Zhou Mi repeated weakly. He was losing any resolve he had as he watched Kyuhyun. “You need to stop.”
“No,” Kyuhyun said, and he broke off in a moan, head thrown back and Zhou Mi drank in the sight of him coming, staining his shirt at the stomach.
His cock was pressed painfully against the teeth of his zipper and he needed to do something about it. He tried to think unattractive thoughts, but they had never worked for him before so he was left hard and his hand was right there.
He pressed the palm to the bulge, gasping loudly and his eyes stayed on Kyuhyun even as guilt racked through him. Kyuhyun smirked, pants still undone even as he shifted to stand and Zhou Mi pulled his hand away, pushing his chair forward so his lap was under the desk.
“Leave.” Kyuhyun frowned, not expecting that, and Zhou Mi repeated himself. “Leave now. Detention is over. You don’t need to come tomorrow.” Kyuhyun stood there, pants almost falling down to his ankles and Zhou Mi looked away. “Don’t make me say it one more time Kui Xian.”
Kyuhyun made a disgusted sound and Zhou Mi didn’t watch him pull up his pants and grab his bag. Kyuhyun didn’t say anything and Zhou Mi didn’t look up until he heard the door slam. His erection was still there, and the image of Kyuhyun bucking his hips in the chair was burned into the back of his eyes. He clenched his fists hard, his nails digging into the flesh of his palm, but he still couldn’t will it away.
He hated this.
Chapter 4