Title: Stars
Rating: pg
Pairing: Jongho
Genre: fluffy fluff and stuff
Author/Artist Note: Minho is a girl and Jonghyun kind of sucks at life. Co-written by my favorite writer and wifey
linnhe.
Jonghyun hated Minjeong because she was taller, and taller made her a better soccer player than him. Actually Minjeong was a better soccer player than everyone. Despite being the only girl on the soccer team she managed to hold her own. She was pretty quiet normally but she got crazy out on the field in a way that made Jonghyun crazy.
She was so fucking annoying with her stupid ass ponytail and the way she would celebrate like a douche when she scored a goal. Everything she did was just lame and her limbs were so awkward and if she wasn’t the star player no one would have been friends with her. At least that’s what Jonghyun told her when they made out.
Minjeong didn’t have a car and no one in her family could -or wanted to- drive her to practice. The team needed her though so the coaches made the other boys take turns driving. Jonghyun only had to a handful of times since he didn’t really live close by, so it was only when literally no one else could.
He was the one that made the first move, suddenly grabbing her face and just going for it. They never said anything about it. He wrote it off as too much testosterone after practice. She never told anyone because honestly who was she going to tell?
That winter Jonghyun got Minjeong for secret Santa. He didn’t want to do it in the first place, preferring to just ignore underclassmen instead of being paired off like in a big brother big sister program. And to make it worse he now had to get a gift for his least favourite person.
“It’ll be good for you,” Onew smiled when Jonghyun tried to switch.
He ended up forgetting about it until the team Christmas party, which he was over an hour late to. He walked in to find her standing awkwardly by a table full of food Onew’s mom had been kind enough to make.
He was an awful person.
Minjeong was the only underclassmen left, a carefully wrapped thank you present clutched tightly between both hands. He felt himself get mad. Her stupid misshapen eyes made him want to yell at her for being so embarrassing. For just standing there like an idiot.
She had even made a poor attempt at dressing up, her hair kind of half curled and it looked dumb but at least she hadn’t tried to apply any makeup. She had on a red velvety dress that didn’t look so bad despite being straight out of the nineties and somehow making her look even taller with the way it showed off so much of her long legs in black stockings. Finally there were black velvety booties with little kitten heels and Jonghyun walked up to her to let her know how much he hated them.
“You look like a freak.”
She looked over at him with such defeat in her eyes, like she already knew, and it was so pitiful he just wanted it to all stop.
“Are you my secret Santa?” her voice sounded sad and ready to go home.
If she would just fucking stand up for herself he wouldn’t have felt like such a dick but all the times he got pissed at her for no reason were flooding back to him and weighing on his conscious. There was no way it was easy being new to the team, and to be the first ever girl just made it even harder.
“Yeah.”
She nodded a little before handing him the present with one hand. “They told me you weren’t going to get me anything.”
He went to open his mouth, the present in his hands feeling like a bomb now, one he just wanted to get rid of.
“Look it’s fine, I get it,” she said.
A couple of their teammates were starting to listen in a now and he wanted to scream at all of them to just fuck off.
“No, Minjeong.”
“It’s cool, I’ll walk.”
One of the boys laughed as she walked out past him. He caught up to her outside on the driveway.
“Minjeong, I do have a Christmas gift for you. I came to ask you if I could take you out to dinner. Please, I really didn’t forget.”
Minjeong looked down at him, her face sad.
“You’re making it worse.”
She left him there and as bad as he felt, it didn’t feel like it was enough to be what he deserved.
The soccer season came to an end and Jonghyun barely saw Minjeong anymore. They didn’t have other activities together and the school was far too big. He tried to figure out what classes she had so he could run into her in the halls, but there was no way to know without asking around, and he didn’t feel like he could do that.
He saw her when he was driving home one day, standing on the bridge by the edge, staring down. He pulled over quickly, jumping out of the car while trying to remember if anyone had ever told him what to say to someone who wanted to kill themselves, who you had previously been nothing but a dick too.
“Don’t jump!”
She looked over as he slammed the car door and started running towards her, a puzzled look on her face. He stopped mid-step and stared back at her as she started to laugh.
“How much do you really think my life sucks?”
He didn’t respond so she pointed down towards the water. “There’s a family of ducks. I was just watching them.”
He sighed as tears welled up in his eyes, overwhelmed with relief, having just gone through a range of emotions.
“I like you Minjeong. I should have admitted it a lot longer ago. I kept the shirt you got me for Christmas. I wear it all the time. I miss driving you around. I miss you and I like you, I want to take you out, and I want to tell other people about it.”
She smiled like it was funny.
“You have to admit the other part too.”
He looked back at her, confused.
“The part about me that turns you on.”
“You’re really in shape?”
“Oh my god Jonghyun, now I am going to jump.”
“I mean, I like that you’re taller than me! I like it a lot! A lot, a lot, lot lot! Okay, are you happy? Holy fuck, please get off of that ledge Minjeong.”
She stepped down and towards him.
“You know, I told myself you didn’t like me for the longest time. That everyone else was right.”
Jonghyun blinked at her, hands on his knees, trying to take even breaths.
“What made you change your mind?”
“Just now.”
Jonghyun took a deep breath before he responded.
“I do like you, a lot. I like looking up at you, and I like how you’re better at soccer than me, and I like that your hair is short, and I like that your eyes are uneven and that you have a little scar under your eye and I’m sorry I was such a dick before. I like you Minjeong, so much.” He felt happier and lighter than he had ever felt finally being able to tell her that. To mean it.
Her smile faded a little. “I’m with someone now.”
Jonghyun felt the air go out of him.
“What?”
“I’m with someone. He’s just as tall as me so he never gets self-conscious about it.”
“But I-”
“Hey I got to get home soon, but thanks for telling me you like me and all. It means a lot.”
Minjeong smiled at him as she readjusted the straps on her backpack.
“I hope you tell the next person you like a lot sooner.”
Jonghyun nodded dumbly as he watched her walk off on him for a second time.
He hoped so too.
--
“I can’t believe she’s dating,” Jonghyun whined, his voice laced with disgust. “I bet it’s a dumb guy too. I bet he has a stupid nose.”
“What do you want me to say,” Onew contemplated, dragging his fingers through the pond they were sitting by, before noting something in a calculus book.
“I don’t know, something encouraging.”
“It’s your fault.”
“That is not encouraging!”
“You’re a moron for letting her slip through your fingers. You realize she’s been mooning over you for the past year?”
Jonghyun groaned, letting himself fall onto the grass. “No.”
“Liar.”
“Will you please just tell me how to get her back?”
Onew sighed, scrunching up his nose a little. “You can’t.”
“Hyung,” Jonghyun whined, poking Onew in the side.
“No, stop! It’s more than a little obvious, I don’t know why you need me to spell it out for you. Just show her you still like her and aren’t giving up that easily. Like that is it.”
“Oh, right, because it’s that easy,” Jonghyun scoffed, prodding Onew’s leg now.
“What are you guys talking about?” a new voice asked.
“You,” Onew responded, almost drowned out by Jonghyun shouting: “Nothing!”
Minjeong raised an eyebrow. “Right.”
An awkward silence settled over them, and Jonghyun was in the middle of thinking I should say something, should I say something, maybe now, no now, now, definitely now when Minjeong shrugged and let out a weird cough.
“Well, okay, it was nice running into you guys, but I have to go. Bye.” They watched her walk off, Jonghyun’s face adopting one of his more pitiful expressions before he flopped back down.
“Nooo,” he moaned into his hands, while Onew patted him on his shoulder.
“I think you’re fucked,” the older boy helpfully added.
--
“Minjeong! Hey, Minjeong!”
Minjeong came to a halt and turned around, smiling when she caught sight of Jonghyun.
“Oh hey. What’s up?”
Jonghyun stopped right in front of her, holding up one of his hands as he tried to catch his breath.
“You,” he squeezed out.
“Yes?” she offered.
“Me. Go out,” he managed, wheezing on the last word.
“What?” she asked, sounding incredulous.
Jonghyun leaned back, holding his kidneys. They were stinging something bad. “I said-”
“No, I know what you said,” she interrupted him, sounding a little angry now. “And the answer is no. Didn’t I make it clear I have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Bye, Jonghyun,” she said calmly, before turning around and walking off, looking stupid and wonderful as ever.
Well, fuck.
--
“I tried everything!”
Onew briefly looked up from their homework, giving Jonghyun an appraising look.
“Okay, so I asked her out.”
He shook his head.
“Once.”
He clacked his tongue.
“And I didn’t try very hard.”
Onew nodded and concentrated on the math again.
“But I’m shit out of ideas, okay? I mean, how else do you get girls to date you? This has always worked before.”
Onew tapped on his paper. “I’m trying to concentrate here. Do you think you can figure it out by yourself? In silence?”
Jonghyun stomped out of the room, getting angrier when he could feel Onew’s smile burning into his back. Why didn’t he have any proper friends?
And then it hit him.
--
“Hi there.”
Minjeong looked up from her lunch. “Jonghyun,” she said, a little apprehensively.
“No, no, I’m not here to ask you out again.”
“Really?”
“Hello, I am not desperate. You made it clear, you do not want to date me.”
“Nope.”
“Right now.”
“More like ever, actually.”
“Anyways,” Jonghyun raised his voice. “I thought we could just hang out.”
Minjeong smiled as she took a bite out of her sandwich, blinking up at him with her embarrassingly big cow eyes.
“And what would we do, exactly?” she finally inquired, swallowing her bite of sandwich.
“We could, um. Hang out.”
“Doing what, again?”
Jonghyun opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He frowned. Opened his mouth once more.
“Right. I don’t think I will hang out with you,” Minjeong provided, getting up. “Sounds boring, to be honest.”
Then she walked off, and Jonghyun only thought to close his mouth when a girl made a buzzing sounds right by his ear. It was Sulli, a particularly annoying albeit hot freshman. At least she wouldn’t mind dating him.
“You’re gonna catch flies like that, fishboy,” she said, sending her group of girlfriends into near hysterics.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
--
“You can’t just ask someone to be your friend,” Onew provided, very helpfully, after the fact.
“I realize this now. Wait, then how did we become friends?”
Onew laughed.
“We’re not friends.”
“Very funny, haha,” Jonghyun started, but then he saw Onew’s face. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Yes, I am,” Onew said, adopting a grave tone. “We’re not friends.”
“Then why do we hang out all the time?” Jonghyun demanded, sounding a little shell-shocked.
“I tutor you in math, Jonghyun. Well, I try,” he trailed off, looking at the text book sitting in his lap.
“Why can’t we be friends while you tutor me?”
“Jonghyun, you don’t know the first thing about me,” Onew pointed out.
“I do!” Jonghyun countered.
“Fine. What’s my name. If you can tell me my name, I will admit that we’re friends.”
Jonghyun blinked. “Huh.”
“Say it. My actual given name.”
He felt dread sinking into his stomach when he realized his mistake. Onew was always right about this kind of stuff, and by denying it he’d only made it worse.
“It’s not Onew-”
Onew shook his head, getting up. “I gotta go. See you around, Jonghyun.”
--
“Jonghyun?”
He let out a muffled sob, drowning it in his bottle of soju. Soju was good. Soju was his friend.
“Cantchoo see I’m having a drink with my friend. Goway.”
“It is you.”
Minjeong sat down next to him, shoving him a little so she could comfortably fit on the stoop.
“What are you doing out here? There’s no practice. There won’t be for another few months.”
“Iunno. I jus wanted. Look at stars,” Jonghyun muttered, holding up his bottle to the sky.
“Yeah. They’re nice tonight.”
Jonghyun nodded, but it made the whole world nod and he dropped his bottle in his haste to hold his head. “Spizzy,” he commented.
Minjeong picked up his now emptied bottle and held it between her hands, turning it over and over.
“There’s something I want to say to you. And now is not a good time but if I don’t say it now I might never.”
Jonghyun nodded wisely, vaguely repeating her.
“I dumped my boyfriend.”
Jonghyun nodded again, focusing on seeing just one of Minjeong. For some reason seeing two felt more natural. He’d like two Minjeongs. One to laugh at and one to kiss. Then he realized Minjeong was looking at him in an expectant way.
“Snice,” he spluttered.
“I dumped him for you.”
“Oh.”
Then Minjeong leaned in and kissed him, obviously not giving herself time to think it through. When she pulled back Jonghyun was grinning.
“Finally dumped fake boyfriend? Ahaha.”
Minjeong’s eyes grew wider when she realized what Jonghyun had just said. Then she shoved him, and he fell back, hard.
“Fuck you Kim Jonghyun! I hope you choke on your own dick and die!”
“Owch,” Jonghyun half-shouted at a retreating Minjeong.
She so liked him.
--
After I first showed linnhe this she asked if I had based if off this picture. I actually hadn't seen this yet but obviously it was destiny because this art is gorgeous and I adore it :D