The Pink Sweater (2/?); Yoomin
Title: The Pink Sweater (2/?)
Pairing: Yoochun/Changmin
Rating: PG-13
Genre: High school fic (this is a genre, I swear)
A/N: Any and all con-crit is more than welcome.
Summary: How was Yoochun supposed to know returning the disgusting pink sweater would lead to Shim Changmin thinking he had the hots for him?
After a morning involving waking up, seeing there was only ten minutes to get to school before being late, and scrambling around frantically only to find the clock was an hour ahead, Yoochun realized something.
Today was not going to be a good day.
Begrudgingly, he drove to school, with his cheerful brother Yoohwan next to him chattering away and the too-bright sun shining in his face and the bright blue birds screaming in his ear.
By the end of the car ride, Yoochun was more than ready for the day to end, and to finally be able to lay his head against his pillow and simply forget things like the upcoming exam in pre-calc he wasn’t ready for, or that Junsu needed to be driven home again today and he would have to stay after school. Feeling a pounding migraine coming on, Yoochun stepped out of his car and into the chill of the morning.
Stepping into the building, he headed straight for his locker. As he fiddled with the combination, he heard a commotion not too far behind him. Turning to look, he saw Junsu sheepishly helping up another guy, whom he had obviously collided with.
“Look, I’m really sorry.”
Junsu apologetically smiled as he heedlessly picked up the fallen books. Looking up, he saw Yoochun and waved energetically.
“Hey! You look like shit.”
Walking over and helping Junsu pick up the books, Yoochun nodded, “Yeah. I woke up an hour ahead, and didn’t know it, so I thought I was late.”
Junsu grimaced before turning to the unacknowledged boy next to him, “I’m surprised you were carrying all these books by yourself. I don’t think I could hold them all, ha! Where do you want us to take them?”
The boy looked surprised, “Oh, uh, just to the library. I bring in the new shipments, which is why I had so many. Here, let me take some so you won’t strain yourselves.”
Grabbing four books from each of the boys, they started towards the library.
“So, I never caught your name?” Junsu was friendly, and seemed to have broken the shell surrounding the boy slightly.
“It’s Taemin.”
Junsu grinned, “You’re younger than Yoochun and me, so that would make you…?”
Taemin nodded, “I’m in ninth. It’s why I was so surprised you helped me out with this. I, uh, I really appreciate it, so thank you for being so kind.”
Reaching the library, they set the books down on the table in the front. Checking the time, Yoochun saw there was about five minutes left until class started.
“Okay, we should get going now.”
Although he seemed very upset about it, Junsu nodded. Waving bye to Taemin, the two turned to leave the library.
As they pushed open the door, they heard Taemin call out, “If there’s ever anything you need help with, don’t hesitate to ask!”
Sparing a quick glance behind, Taemin was cheerfully waving them bye.
“How much time do we have left?”
Checking his watch, Yoochun frowned, “Three minutes now.”
Unanimously, the decision was made to bolt to the classroom. Teachers yelled, and several students protested as they were pushed aside, but by the time the bell rang the two of them were comfortably seated.
Junsu was still grinning as the teacher picked on an overeager student to pass out the papers for the day’s lessons.
“So, I’m guessing you like this Taemin kid?”
Junsu nodded and sighed nostalgically, “He reminded me of myself when I was his age.”
“You sound like a creepy old man.”
“Maybe I am one.”
Yoochun turned and grabbed Junsu’s plump cheeks, and roughly pulled.
“Agh, stop!”
“You face feels real enough. I don’t think you’re an old man in disguise.”
Rubbing his sore and red cheeks, Junsu glowered at his best friend, “What the hell? Why did you have to pull so hard?”
“Masks can be on pretty tight. I wanted to be sure.”
“Is it possible for you to take a joke? And possibly respond in a way that doesn’t involve hurting me in some form?”
Barely sparing him a glance, Yoochun flicked Junsu’s nose, “It’s more fun this way.”
“One day, when I leave you, you’ll regret abusing me.”
“We’re not going out, idiot.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t leave you!”
“But it’s not the same.”
“Yeah it is!”
“Are we having sex?”
Junsu looked aghast, “No!”
Yoochun shrugged, “You can’t hold that against me if you leave, so it’s different.”
“It’s the principle.”
“It’s the sex.”
Junsu stared, seemingly stunned silent.
“Wait. I’m supposed to be the creepy old man in this relationship?”
“I’m perverted. S’different.”
“Hey! I’m not the one who went through the entire mall, hoping to find some young girl. That definitely sounds like something a creepy old pedophile would do.”
Yoochun turned away, offended, “I was returning something.”
Suddenly, Junsu started grinning, “Oh, yeah, that reminds me…are you going to watch her practice or not? You know either way, you’re in trouble. If you don’t go, you’re still stuck with me and Changmin during soccer practice. If you go, he’ll see you for the creep you really are when he goes to pick up his sister.”
Yoochun had paled considerably now, “Shit. Shit. I completely forgot about that!”
Junsu stifled a laugh as the teacher passed by them. He nudged Yoochun violently and the two easily began to pretend to be working on the experiment. The teacher smiled and nodded in their direction, before descending on two unfortunate girls who were giggling, and had yet to even put on their goggles.
As soon as the teacher had become occupied with scolding the girls, Junsu laughed softly, “You’re fucked.”
Miserably Yoochun covered his face, as if he were trying to disappear. A deep groan came from him, and he uttered softly, “I agree.”
Several minutes later, the bell rang and Junsu cheerfully got up for his next class.
The next several classes went by, each one going painfully quickly for Yoochun. It seemed like every class, there was one more person who needed to have their suspicions about what had happened between Yoochun and Changmin cleared. Junsu, Jaejoong and Heechul had all done a sickeningly good job of spreading the news around.
As school slowly winded down, Yoochun’s last class had begun. This class, thankfully, had none of his close friends to jeer at him about the afternoon and remind him of what might happen.
Finally, palms sweaty, Yoochun watched as the minute hand ticked closer and closer to the twelve. He stared down the clock, hoping it would stop and the bell wouldn't go off and he could stay in the classroom forever. However, the school seemed to be going completely against Yoochun, and the bell rang a minute early.
As every other student gleefully ran out of the class, Yoochun simply sat, stunned and horrified, as the realization came unto him that he needed to go outside and watch Sooyeon practice. Sure, normally he could have simply not gone, but today he had to take Junsu home and the soccer field was right next to the practice area for the cheerleaders and worse still, Changmin would quite possibly be there.
Feeling a sense of doom, Yoochun got up and began to slowly walk outside, in the direction of the field. As the soccer field came into view, Yoochun almost turned around for his car. He could see the figures in the field, blue soccer jerseys and cheer uniforms, one on the field kicking balls and the other in the cliché human pyramid. It was the single most terrifying sight ever.
Steeling himself, he swiftly directed himself in the direction of the bleachers that were blinding in the sun. Thankfully the cheer team was right in front of the bleachers, and much farther away from soccer practice.
Sitting down, Yoochun cautiously looked over at the soccer field, and quickly spotted Junsu. Just as quickly, he turned away for fear of seeing someone else. Turning his attention to the brightly colored skirts flying up and shorts flashing him underneath them, he was placated.
Falling back now, Sooyeon grinned and ran over to sit down. She was lively chatting with her friends when she turned around and finally noticed Yoochun.
“Oh, hi!” she was smiling brightly, and she swiftly ran up the steps to properly greet him. Her friends giggled behind her at the sight of the cute boy.
“Hey, Yoochun. I’m so glad you came! For a moment, I thought you wouldn’t…especially after…well, never mind.”
Yoochun resisted flinching at the mention of what he decided to dub ‘The Incident’ and smiled back at her, “I wouldn’t dream of disappointing a pretty girl like you.”
She smiled widely, and he noticed that she looked a lot like her brother. Thinking of the boy was nearly enough for Yoochun to feel like he was being watched, and moreover by the angry, suspicious, overprotective brother.
“So, uh, are you done with practice?”
She nodded cheerfully, causing her body (this included her hair, her large earrings, and her even larger breasts) to bounce, “Yep, I’m done with my part. I was hoping we could stay and chat for a little while…?”
Obviously helpless to her seductive powers, Yoochun nodded dumbly. Sooyeon smiled and began chattering away as her friends squealed loudly. She talked on and on, about school, cheerleading, family and friends.
Yoochun was unaware that any person could be so talkative, let alone so toothache-sweet. While most girls Yoochun flirted with would talk about partying and how many dicks they had sucked, Sooyeon was sweet and naïve. Alarmingly so.
As an hour passed, and cheerleading practice ended, Yoochun came to a stunning revelation. There was no way he could have any sort of romantic relationship with Sooyeon. Not only was she too innocent, but she felt strangely sisterly to him.
Yoochun was so caught up with this thought, he failed to notice that soccer practice had ended too, and two people were walking together towards Sooyeon and him. He finally noticed when it was too late, and Sooyeon had excitedly called out her brother’s name, starting to drag Yoochun along with her down the bleachers.
Screaming bloody murder in his head, he kept his head down the whole way. As he saw his foot come in contact with the soft grass, he warily looked up.
The first thing he saw was Junsu, who was wearing a grin that was simply begging to be punched off. The next person he saw was Changmin.
At least, he thought it was. The facial structure seemed the same however, now that there was no long hair in the way, it seemed harder to tell.
Next to him, Sooyeon giggled, “Changmin cut off all his hair after you called him an, uh, what was it…?”
“‘Your equally beautiful friend.’” Changmin helpfully supplied, with an only slightly resentful smile, “If I’m not wrong, my hair threw you off. I didn’t want you to get confused next time.”
The sardonic remark was scathing to Yoochun’s pride, and all he could do was smile apologetically, “Y-You really didn’t have to, you know…I’m just an idiot.”
“Oh, but of course it’s not your fault! I mean, anyone could mistake someone with long hair for a girl! The fault is all mine, I should’ve known better.”
Yoochun decided he was done with taking shit from Changmin, “Look, it was a fucking accident. I was just trying to be polite, and compliment some nice girl. If I had known you were a guy, I definitely wouldn’t have said it!”
Changmin sneered, “Of course you can’t compliment a guy. Because that would mean you’re a fag, right? And no one wants to be called that. Maybe that’s why you seemed so wound up over this shit; you don’t like homos, huh?”
Yoochun could feel the anger swell up in his chest, “I didn’t fucking say that-!”
Junsu calmly cut in, “Hey, cool down, both of you. I already told you that Yoochun happens to be a little too loose with his tongue, and I hope you can forgive him. This is just a misunderstanding, and I hope we can all come together and get over it.”
Changmin roughly stuck out his hand, “Alright, truce?”
Looking over at Sooyeon who had a hopeful expression, Yoochun also stuck out his hand and shook hands with Changmin rather unwillingly.
Instantly cheering up, Junsu broke out into a smile, “Okay, let’s go out to eat now!”
Yoochun frowned, “No way, I always end up paying for you!”
Junsu pouted miserably, “But I’m broke, you know that! You have to support me; I’m your best friend!”
“It’s your own fault. You spend all your money on soccer magazines and new cleats.”
Junsu clenched a fist, “It’s my passion! What else can you do, but support me?”
“Let you starve.”
Junsu’s eyes began to water, “B-But Yoochun…how will I be able to pass my physical if I don’t eat? And then I won’t be able to play on the team, and then all my dreams will fall apart! Oh, Yoochun, how could you do this to meeeeeeeee?”
Ignoring his moaning, Yoochun started to walk away. Turning his head, he called out to Junsu.
“Come on. I’m leaving.”
Junsu jumped up, “I promised Changmin I’d be able to get transportation for him and his sister.”
Yoochun stared at Junsu, staggered.
“Today I was supposed to take you, and only you home! Do you remember the size of my car? It’s tiny. When Yoohwan needs to be taken home along with you, you take up all the back! How do you expect me to take all fucking three of you home?”
Junsu shrugged, “Two trips?”
“You’re unbelievable. I’m not paying for gas, idiot!”
“I’ll pay you back, I swear!”
Feeling yet another migraine coming on, Yoochun nodded.
“Fine. Fine, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore, no, of course not! Because people are just going to be driven around like I’m so fucking taxi or something, but it’s fine. Of course, I’m fine!”
Junsu looked bewildered, “O…kay. I’ll be right back.”
Running back over to where Changmin and Sooyeon were talking, he made some excited hand motions and said something to them, before all three started walking back towards Yoochun.
“I don’t trust you alone with my sister but Junsu has to get home soon and Sooyeon has to be at her friend’s house, so he and Sooyeon will go with you first.” Changmin seemed pleased that everyone would be following his directions.
Simply glad he didn’t have to deal with Changmin anymore, Yoochun nodded happily and started heading towards his car again.
“Cool, let’s go!”
Getting in the front seat, he watched amusedly as Junsu somehow managed to squish himself into the backseat.
“I hate your car.” Junsu said, sounding suffocated.
“Then get the hell out.”
“I couldn’t if I tried.”
Sooyeon carefully slid into the passenger seat, and smiled her usual, serene smile.
“Alright, let us begin the drive to Sooyeon’s friend’s place…”
Pulling out of the parking lot, Yoochun was tempted to stick his head out the window and taunt Changmin, because he felt a sense of victory. However, looking at the glowering expression on his face, he thought better of it. Still, here he was, driving Sooyeon, and there wasn’t a single thing he could do if Yoochun so chose to flirt a little, not that he truly wanted to any more.
The ride was slow, but at the very least it would only be to Junsu’s neighborhood, because Sooyeon’s friend lived close to his house. When he dropped her off, she waved happily before running into the house. Junsu hastily pushed himself forward into the passenger side and let out a sigh of relief.
“I swear the back of your car makes me claustrophobic. I feel like I’m gonna die.”
Yoochun laughed as he pulled into Junsu’s driveway, “Okay, get out.”
Junsu cheerfully jumped out and began to exaggeratedly stretch, “Oh, this feels so nice. Too bad you’re stuck in your cramped car until you drop off Changmin, eh? Don’t they live pretty far from the school?”
Yoochun slumped against the steering wheel, “I fucking hope not. It already sucks I’m stuck in a car with him for any amount of time. Can’t I just leave him? He’s on the soccer team; he has enough stamina to run home!”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. He’s held some pretty nasty grudges against people.”
“I simply cannot win this week.”
Junsu shrugged, “You’ll be fine. See ya later!”
Pulling out of the driveway, Yoochun started to drive towards the school. He felt anxious, not knowing what Changmin was going to do on what would probably seem like a horribly long ride. Within the twenty minute ride back to school, he had more than enough time to come up with the numerous ways Changmin could torture him.
He parked the car in front of the school, and saw Changmin lying on a bench, apparently sleeping. Annoyed, Yoochun got out of the car to wake up the boy. As he neared him, he was surprised to hear him softly singing. The lyrics were typical bubblegum pop, and Yoochun had to hold back his laughter.
“Hey! Stop with the singing, or else I’m leaving without you.”
Changmin sat up quickly, and a blush covered his cheeks at being caught. Yoochun was fondly reminded of Sooyeon, and was only slightly thrown off by the thought that if Changmin weren’t such an ass, he might have been cuter.
‘Anyone who looks like Sooyeon would obviously be cute.’ Yoochun reassured himself.
“I never pinned you as the type to listen to such peppy music.”
Shooting him yet another dirty look, Changmin snapped, “First, it doesn’t matter what I listen to and second, it’s the only song like that I listen to. A guilty pleasure, if you will.”
“Sure. Once you stop bullshitting yourself, come talk to me. I have plenty of ‘guilty pleasures’ but I don’t get all defensive and shit over it. Now, would you like to be driven home?”
Changmin grunted, and violently opened the door open.
“Yes, and please break my car while you’re at it.”
Yoochun swiftly walked over to his side, looking fearfully at Changmin as he did so. If the boy made a move for the gas pedal, he was ready to leap out of the way. When he was finally situated in his seat, the uneasiness was barely calmed.
He turned to Changmin, “Um…where do you live?”
“I’ll just tell you where to turn. The ride should be about forty minutes.”
Yoochun’s heart felt like it stopped. He thought back to Junsu’s sly smile and he was so sure it was to get back at him from sixth grade when he told everyone he still wet the bed and slept with stuffed animals. While this wasn’t true, it prevented Junsu from getting any sort of girlfriend for the next three years.
Above him, the sky darkened, and Yoochun felt a sense of doom. It had begun to pelt rain down, and the windshield wipers seemed to not be able to move fast enough. Everyone seemed to be losing their minds, and with several accidents, it was taking much longer than forty minutes.
Worse still, the gas level seemed to be dwindling dangerously close to E. The last gas station was five miles behind them and Changmin’s house was an indefinite distance away, since the boy seemed completely unwilling to admit where exactly he lived.
“Look, we’re about to be out of gas in another mile or so, so how far away is your house from here?”
Changmin thought for a moment, “It’s seven miles from here. Probably a bit less.”
Yoochun grimaced, “I don’t know if the gas will last us…”
It seemed like Changmin was ignoring him as he directed that Yoochun should take a left on the next intersection. Taking his nonchalance as a sign that he thought they would make it, Yoochun continued driving. As ten minutes passed, the car was running on empty. Normal cars could last quite some time on empty, but his beat up old piece of crap only lasted about six minutes.
“Look, the car’s about to stall, so I’m just gonna pull over here…”
Changmin looked a little scared now, “Wait, what? There’s not any more fucking gas? Shit…”
“We’ll be fine. We’re what, three miles away from your house? We can get out and start pushing, and we’ll be there in no time.”
Changmin expression turned malevolent, “What the fuck? You expect me to get out in the rain and push this piece of shit? It’s not my fault you’re the idiot who didn’t put any gas in a car that was already low in gas!”
Yoochun slammed his fist against the dashboard, “What the hell is wrong with you? Did I pick on you as a kid? Did I fuck your mom? Because I’m really lost as to why you act like such a dick to me. Sure, I made one little comment, but I know you don’t let shit like that bother you. So please, enlighten me as to what I did to make you so pissed.”
Changmin looked stunned, before a slight smile appeared on his face.
“You know what? I’m not really sure what it is. I mean, you mistook me for a girl, relentlessly hit on my sister as if I weren’t there, and then hit on me. You act offended at the thought of hitting on a guy, but now, all that seems like stupid excuses to get angry. What I think truly pissed me off was the sweater.”
Yoochun was dumbfounded, and Changmin laughed at his expression.
“I hated that sweater with a burning passion. Sooyeon’s ex-boyfriend bought it for her. He was a real sleaze, worse than you. After three weeks, he tried to have sex with her. She definitely wasn’t ready for that, so he broke up with her. She was so heartbroken, and she would still wear that gross thing all the time. I decided it was time to help her break it off, so I took it, and while at the library, just threw it wherever.”
Yoochun still looked confused, “Wait. So, you were pissed because after all the stuff she went through, you were pissed because I brought it - along with all the memories - back?”
Changmin shook his head, “It wasn’t really that. You came, with your knight in shining armor routine, and I didn’t want anymore assholes messing with Sooyeon. I kinda realized now that you’re not that bad, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t catch you sneaking a peak up her skirt.”
“Your devotion to your sister seems to border on incest to me.”
Surprisingly, this earned him a playful, if hard, punch.
“Shut up. Now…do we still have to push the car? I figure it will just get stuck in the mud or something, so we shouldn’t bother. I’ll go to sleep, actually.” Changmin reclined his seat as far as possible and closed his eyes.
Yoochun waved a hand around, “Oh, so now you decide to act sane, instead of bitching at me. You could’ve acted like that from the start and this would have been easier.”
“You’d still like my sister, so not really.”
“Hey, I actually talked to her today, and if it helps, I seem to only think of her as a sister.”
Changmin opened one eye, “That’s incest, ya know?”
Yoochun smiled widely, “Hey, the hard-ass has a sense of humor!”
“I was always funny. You just happened to be my choice of the person I was going to make an ass of, so you didn’t enjoy the as much.”
Changmin was sitting up now, and grinning. Yoochun couldn’t help but feel strange. Never had he gone through such a turn around, going from enemies to sort-of friends.
As Yoochun and Changmin took turns taking cracks at each other’s sleaziness or virginity, respectively, they both felt strangely close. They had similar senses of humor, and they seemed to be able to talk about a lot of different things, as they waited out the rain.
Throwing his head back and laughing, Changmin was a little red-faced and seemed overly energetic. Yoochun was again struck by how similar he and his sister looked, but he came to a new realization. It came from a shared innocence in their faces, although Sooyeon’s seemed more childish and Changmin seemed like a tested innocence, even with the vulgar speech on his part.
Suddenly, it didn’t seem much like Changmin looked like Sooyeon, but more the other way around. Changmin’s smiles were less bright, but even more beautiful. His laugh was brasher, but filled with more life. Changmin wasn’t feminine at all, yet Yoochun couldn’t help but feel an attraction to him.
Considering how often he stressed his heterosexuality, this would seem strange; however, as he smiled and laughed along with Changmin, it didn’t feel strange at all.
Pairing: Yoochun/Changmin
Rating: PG-13
Genre: High school fic (this is a genre, I swear)
A/N: Any and all con-crit is more than welcome.
Summary: How was Yoochun supposed to know returning the disgusting pink sweater would lead to Shim Changmin thinking he had the hots for him?
After a morning involving waking up, seeing there was only ten minutes to get to school before being late, and scrambling around frantically only to find the clock was an hour ahead, Yoochun realized something.
Today was not going to be a good day.
Begrudgingly, he drove to school, with his cheerful brother Yoohwan next to him chattering away and the too-bright sun shining in his face and the bright blue birds screaming in his ear.
By the end of the car ride, Yoochun was more than ready for the day to end, and to finally be able to lay his head against his pillow and simply forget things like the upcoming exam in pre-calc he wasn’t ready for, or that Junsu needed to be driven home again today and he would have to stay after school. Feeling a pounding migraine coming on, Yoochun stepped out of his car and into the chill of the morning.
Stepping into the building, he headed straight for his locker. As he fiddled with the combination, he heard a commotion not too far behind him. Turning to look, he saw Junsu sheepishly helping up another guy, whom he had obviously collided with.
“Look, I’m really sorry.”
Junsu apologetically smiled as he heedlessly picked up the fallen books. Looking up, he saw Yoochun and waved energetically.
“Hey! You look like shit.”
Walking over and helping Junsu pick up the books, Yoochun nodded, “Yeah. I woke up an hour ahead, and didn’t know it, so I thought I was late.”
Junsu grimaced before turning to the unacknowledged boy next to him, “I’m surprised you were carrying all these books by yourself. I don’t think I could hold them all, ha! Where do you want us to take them?”
The boy looked surprised, “Oh, uh, just to the library. I bring in the new shipments, which is why I had so many. Here, let me take some so you won’t strain yourselves.”
Grabbing four books from each of the boys, they started towards the library.
“So, I never caught your name?” Junsu was friendly, and seemed to have broken the shell surrounding the boy slightly.
“It’s Taemin.”
Junsu grinned, “You’re younger than Yoochun and me, so that would make you…?”
Taemin nodded, “I’m in ninth. It’s why I was so surprised you helped me out with this. I, uh, I really appreciate it, so thank you for being so kind.”
Reaching the library, they set the books down on the table in the front. Checking the time, Yoochun saw there was about five minutes left until class started.
“Okay, we should get going now.”
Although he seemed very upset about it, Junsu nodded. Waving bye to Taemin, the two turned to leave the library.
As they pushed open the door, they heard Taemin call out, “If there’s ever anything you need help with, don’t hesitate to ask!”
Sparing a quick glance behind, Taemin was cheerfully waving them bye.
“How much time do we have left?”
Checking his watch, Yoochun frowned, “Three minutes now.”
Unanimously, the decision was made to bolt to the classroom. Teachers yelled, and several students protested as they were pushed aside, but by the time the bell rang the two of them were comfortably seated.
Junsu was still grinning as the teacher picked on an overeager student to pass out the papers for the day’s lessons.
“So, I’m guessing you like this Taemin kid?”
Junsu nodded and sighed nostalgically, “He reminded me of myself when I was his age.”
“You sound like a creepy old man.”
“Maybe I am one.”
Yoochun turned and grabbed Junsu’s plump cheeks, and roughly pulled.
“Agh, stop!”
“You face feels real enough. I don’t think you’re an old man in disguise.”
Rubbing his sore and red cheeks, Junsu glowered at his best friend, “What the hell? Why did you have to pull so hard?”
“Masks can be on pretty tight. I wanted to be sure.”
“Is it possible for you to take a joke? And possibly respond in a way that doesn’t involve hurting me in some form?”
Barely sparing him a glance, Yoochun flicked Junsu’s nose, “It’s more fun this way.”
“One day, when I leave you, you’ll regret abusing me.”
“We’re not going out, idiot.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t leave you!”
“But it’s not the same.”
“Yeah it is!”
“Are we having sex?”
Junsu looked aghast, “No!”
Yoochun shrugged, “You can’t hold that against me if you leave, so it’s different.”
“It’s the principle.”
“It’s the sex.”
Junsu stared, seemingly stunned silent.
“Wait. I’m supposed to be the creepy old man in this relationship?”
“I’m perverted. S’different.”
“Hey! I’m not the one who went through the entire mall, hoping to find some young girl. That definitely sounds like something a creepy old pedophile would do.”
Yoochun turned away, offended, “I was returning something.”
Suddenly, Junsu started grinning, “Oh, yeah, that reminds me…are you going to watch her practice or not? You know either way, you’re in trouble. If you don’t go, you’re still stuck with me and Changmin during soccer practice. If you go, he’ll see you for the creep you really are when he goes to pick up his sister.”
Yoochun had paled considerably now, “Shit. Shit. I completely forgot about that!”
Junsu stifled a laugh as the teacher passed by them. He nudged Yoochun violently and the two easily began to pretend to be working on the experiment. The teacher smiled and nodded in their direction, before descending on two unfortunate girls who were giggling, and had yet to even put on their goggles.
As soon as the teacher had become occupied with scolding the girls, Junsu laughed softly, “You’re fucked.”
Miserably Yoochun covered his face, as if he were trying to disappear. A deep groan came from him, and he uttered softly, “I agree.”
Several minutes later, the bell rang and Junsu cheerfully got up for his next class.
The next several classes went by, each one going painfully quickly for Yoochun. It seemed like every class, there was one more person who needed to have their suspicions about what had happened between Yoochun and Changmin cleared. Junsu, Jaejoong and Heechul had all done a sickeningly good job of spreading the news around.
As school slowly winded down, Yoochun’s last class had begun. This class, thankfully, had none of his close friends to jeer at him about the afternoon and remind him of what might happen.
Finally, palms sweaty, Yoochun watched as the minute hand ticked closer and closer to the twelve. He stared down the clock, hoping it would stop and the bell wouldn't go off and he could stay in the classroom forever. However, the school seemed to be going completely against Yoochun, and the bell rang a minute early.
As every other student gleefully ran out of the class, Yoochun simply sat, stunned and horrified, as the realization came unto him that he needed to go outside and watch Sooyeon practice. Sure, normally he could have simply not gone, but today he had to take Junsu home and the soccer field was right next to the practice area for the cheerleaders and worse still, Changmin would quite possibly be there.
Feeling a sense of doom, Yoochun got up and began to slowly walk outside, in the direction of the field. As the soccer field came into view, Yoochun almost turned around for his car. He could see the figures in the field, blue soccer jerseys and cheer uniforms, one on the field kicking balls and the other in the cliché human pyramid. It was the single most terrifying sight ever.
Steeling himself, he swiftly directed himself in the direction of the bleachers that were blinding in the sun. Thankfully the cheer team was right in front of the bleachers, and much farther away from soccer practice.
Sitting down, Yoochun cautiously looked over at the soccer field, and quickly spotted Junsu. Just as quickly, he turned away for fear of seeing someone else. Turning his attention to the brightly colored skirts flying up and shorts flashing him underneath them, he was placated.
Falling back now, Sooyeon grinned and ran over to sit down. She was lively chatting with her friends when she turned around and finally noticed Yoochun.
“Oh, hi!” she was smiling brightly, and she swiftly ran up the steps to properly greet him. Her friends giggled behind her at the sight of the cute boy.
“Hey, Yoochun. I’m so glad you came! For a moment, I thought you wouldn’t…especially after…well, never mind.”
Yoochun resisted flinching at the mention of what he decided to dub ‘The Incident’ and smiled back at her, “I wouldn’t dream of disappointing a pretty girl like you.”
She smiled widely, and he noticed that she looked a lot like her brother. Thinking of the boy was nearly enough for Yoochun to feel like he was being watched, and moreover by the angry, suspicious, overprotective brother.
“So, uh, are you done with practice?”
She nodded cheerfully, causing her body (this included her hair, her large earrings, and her even larger breasts) to bounce, “Yep, I’m done with my part. I was hoping we could stay and chat for a little while…?”
Obviously helpless to her seductive powers, Yoochun nodded dumbly. Sooyeon smiled and began chattering away as her friends squealed loudly. She talked on and on, about school, cheerleading, family and friends.
Yoochun was unaware that any person could be so talkative, let alone so toothache-sweet. While most girls Yoochun flirted with would talk about partying and how many dicks they had sucked, Sooyeon was sweet and naïve. Alarmingly so.
As an hour passed, and cheerleading practice ended, Yoochun came to a stunning revelation. There was no way he could have any sort of romantic relationship with Sooyeon. Not only was she too innocent, but she felt strangely sisterly to him.
Yoochun was so caught up with this thought, he failed to notice that soccer practice had ended too, and two people were walking together towards Sooyeon and him. He finally noticed when it was too late, and Sooyeon had excitedly called out her brother’s name, starting to drag Yoochun along with her down the bleachers.
Screaming bloody murder in his head, he kept his head down the whole way. As he saw his foot come in contact with the soft grass, he warily looked up.
The first thing he saw was Junsu, who was wearing a grin that was simply begging to be punched off. The next person he saw was Changmin.
At least, he thought it was. The facial structure seemed the same however, now that there was no long hair in the way, it seemed harder to tell.
Next to him, Sooyeon giggled, “Changmin cut off all his hair after you called him an, uh, what was it…?”
“‘Your equally beautiful friend.’” Changmin helpfully supplied, with an only slightly resentful smile, “If I’m not wrong, my hair threw you off. I didn’t want you to get confused next time.”
The sardonic remark was scathing to Yoochun’s pride, and all he could do was smile apologetically, “Y-You really didn’t have to, you know…I’m just an idiot.”
“Oh, but of course it’s not your fault! I mean, anyone could mistake someone with long hair for a girl! The fault is all mine, I should’ve known better.”
Yoochun decided he was done with taking shit from Changmin, “Look, it was a fucking accident. I was just trying to be polite, and compliment some nice girl. If I had known you were a guy, I definitely wouldn’t have said it!”
Changmin sneered, “Of course you can’t compliment a guy. Because that would mean you’re a fag, right? And no one wants to be called that. Maybe that’s why you seemed so wound up over this shit; you don’t like homos, huh?”
Yoochun could feel the anger swell up in his chest, “I didn’t fucking say that-!”
Junsu calmly cut in, “Hey, cool down, both of you. I already told you that Yoochun happens to be a little too loose with his tongue, and I hope you can forgive him. This is just a misunderstanding, and I hope we can all come together and get over it.”
Changmin roughly stuck out his hand, “Alright, truce?”
Looking over at Sooyeon who had a hopeful expression, Yoochun also stuck out his hand and shook hands with Changmin rather unwillingly.
Instantly cheering up, Junsu broke out into a smile, “Okay, let’s go out to eat now!”
Yoochun frowned, “No way, I always end up paying for you!”
Junsu pouted miserably, “But I’m broke, you know that! You have to support me; I’m your best friend!”
“It’s your own fault. You spend all your money on soccer magazines and new cleats.”
Junsu clenched a fist, “It’s my passion! What else can you do, but support me?”
“Let you starve.”
Junsu’s eyes began to water, “B-But Yoochun…how will I be able to pass my physical if I don’t eat? And then I won’t be able to play on the team, and then all my dreams will fall apart! Oh, Yoochun, how could you do this to meeeeeeeee?”
Ignoring his moaning, Yoochun started to walk away. Turning his head, he called out to Junsu.
“Come on. I’m leaving.”
Junsu jumped up, “I promised Changmin I’d be able to get transportation for him and his sister.”
Yoochun stared at Junsu, staggered.
“Today I was supposed to take you, and only you home! Do you remember the size of my car? It’s tiny. When Yoohwan needs to be taken home along with you, you take up all the back! How do you expect me to take all fucking three of you home?”
Junsu shrugged, “Two trips?”
“You’re unbelievable. I’m not paying for gas, idiot!”
“I’ll pay you back, I swear!”
Feeling yet another migraine coming on, Yoochun nodded.
“Fine. Fine, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore, no, of course not! Because people are just going to be driven around like I’m so fucking taxi or something, but it’s fine. Of course, I’m fine!”
Junsu looked bewildered, “O…kay. I’ll be right back.”
Running back over to where Changmin and Sooyeon were talking, he made some excited hand motions and said something to them, before all three started walking back towards Yoochun.
“I don’t trust you alone with my sister but Junsu has to get home soon and Sooyeon has to be at her friend’s house, so he and Sooyeon will go with you first.” Changmin seemed pleased that everyone would be following his directions.
Simply glad he didn’t have to deal with Changmin anymore, Yoochun nodded happily and started heading towards his car again.
“Cool, let’s go!”
Getting in the front seat, he watched amusedly as Junsu somehow managed to squish himself into the backseat.
“I hate your car.” Junsu said, sounding suffocated.
“Then get the hell out.”
“I couldn’t if I tried.”
Sooyeon carefully slid into the passenger seat, and smiled her usual, serene smile.
“Alright, let us begin the drive to Sooyeon’s friend’s place…”
Pulling out of the parking lot, Yoochun was tempted to stick his head out the window and taunt Changmin, because he felt a sense of victory. However, looking at the glowering expression on his face, he thought better of it. Still, here he was, driving Sooyeon, and there wasn’t a single thing he could do if Yoochun so chose to flirt a little, not that he truly wanted to any more.
The ride was slow, but at the very least it would only be to Junsu’s neighborhood, because Sooyeon’s friend lived close to his house. When he dropped her off, she waved happily before running into the house. Junsu hastily pushed himself forward into the passenger side and let out a sigh of relief.
“I swear the back of your car makes me claustrophobic. I feel like I’m gonna die.”
Yoochun laughed as he pulled into Junsu’s driveway, “Okay, get out.”
Junsu cheerfully jumped out and began to exaggeratedly stretch, “Oh, this feels so nice. Too bad you’re stuck in your cramped car until you drop off Changmin, eh? Don’t they live pretty far from the school?”
Yoochun slumped against the steering wheel, “I fucking hope not. It already sucks I’m stuck in a car with him for any amount of time. Can’t I just leave him? He’s on the soccer team; he has enough stamina to run home!”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. He’s held some pretty nasty grudges against people.”
“I simply cannot win this week.”
Junsu shrugged, “You’ll be fine. See ya later!”
Pulling out of the driveway, Yoochun started to drive towards the school. He felt anxious, not knowing what Changmin was going to do on what would probably seem like a horribly long ride. Within the twenty minute ride back to school, he had more than enough time to come up with the numerous ways Changmin could torture him.
He parked the car in front of the school, and saw Changmin lying on a bench, apparently sleeping. Annoyed, Yoochun got out of the car to wake up the boy. As he neared him, he was surprised to hear him softly singing. The lyrics were typical bubblegum pop, and Yoochun had to hold back his laughter.
“Hey! Stop with the singing, or else I’m leaving without you.”
Changmin sat up quickly, and a blush covered his cheeks at being caught. Yoochun was fondly reminded of Sooyeon, and was only slightly thrown off by the thought that if Changmin weren’t such an ass, he might have been cuter.
‘Anyone who looks like Sooyeon would obviously be cute.’ Yoochun reassured himself.
“I never pinned you as the type to listen to such peppy music.”
Shooting him yet another dirty look, Changmin snapped, “First, it doesn’t matter what I listen to and second, it’s the only song like that I listen to. A guilty pleasure, if you will.”
“Sure. Once you stop bullshitting yourself, come talk to me. I have plenty of ‘guilty pleasures’ but I don’t get all defensive and shit over it. Now, would you like to be driven home?”
Changmin grunted, and violently opened the door open.
“Yes, and please break my car while you’re at it.”
Yoochun swiftly walked over to his side, looking fearfully at Changmin as he did so. If the boy made a move for the gas pedal, he was ready to leap out of the way. When he was finally situated in his seat, the uneasiness was barely calmed.
He turned to Changmin, “Um…where do you live?”
“I’ll just tell you where to turn. The ride should be about forty minutes.”
Yoochun’s heart felt like it stopped. He thought back to Junsu’s sly smile and he was so sure it was to get back at him from sixth grade when he told everyone he still wet the bed and slept with stuffed animals. While this wasn’t true, it prevented Junsu from getting any sort of girlfriend for the next three years.
Above him, the sky darkened, and Yoochun felt a sense of doom. It had begun to pelt rain down, and the windshield wipers seemed to not be able to move fast enough. Everyone seemed to be losing their minds, and with several accidents, it was taking much longer than forty minutes.
Worse still, the gas level seemed to be dwindling dangerously close to E. The last gas station was five miles behind them and Changmin’s house was an indefinite distance away, since the boy seemed completely unwilling to admit where exactly he lived.
“Look, we’re about to be out of gas in another mile or so, so how far away is your house from here?”
Changmin thought for a moment, “It’s seven miles from here. Probably a bit less.”
Yoochun grimaced, “I don’t know if the gas will last us…”
It seemed like Changmin was ignoring him as he directed that Yoochun should take a left on the next intersection. Taking his nonchalance as a sign that he thought they would make it, Yoochun continued driving. As ten minutes passed, the car was running on empty. Normal cars could last quite some time on empty, but his beat up old piece of crap only lasted about six minutes.
“Look, the car’s about to stall, so I’m just gonna pull over here…”
Changmin looked a little scared now, “Wait, what? There’s not any more fucking gas? Shit…”
“We’ll be fine. We’re what, three miles away from your house? We can get out and start pushing, and we’ll be there in no time.”
Changmin expression turned malevolent, “What the fuck? You expect me to get out in the rain and push this piece of shit? It’s not my fault you’re the idiot who didn’t put any gas in a car that was already low in gas!”
Yoochun slammed his fist against the dashboard, “What the hell is wrong with you? Did I pick on you as a kid? Did I fuck your mom? Because I’m really lost as to why you act like such a dick to me. Sure, I made one little comment, but I know you don’t let shit like that bother you. So please, enlighten me as to what I did to make you so pissed.”
Changmin looked stunned, before a slight smile appeared on his face.
“You know what? I’m not really sure what it is. I mean, you mistook me for a girl, relentlessly hit on my sister as if I weren’t there, and then hit on me. You act offended at the thought of hitting on a guy, but now, all that seems like stupid excuses to get angry. What I think truly pissed me off was the sweater.”
Yoochun was dumbfounded, and Changmin laughed at his expression.
“I hated that sweater with a burning passion. Sooyeon’s ex-boyfriend bought it for her. He was a real sleaze, worse than you. After three weeks, he tried to have sex with her. She definitely wasn’t ready for that, so he broke up with her. She was so heartbroken, and she would still wear that gross thing all the time. I decided it was time to help her break it off, so I took it, and while at the library, just threw it wherever.”
Yoochun still looked confused, “Wait. So, you were pissed because after all the stuff she went through, you were pissed because I brought it - along with all the memories - back?”
Changmin shook his head, “It wasn’t really that. You came, with your knight in shining armor routine, and I didn’t want anymore assholes messing with Sooyeon. I kinda realized now that you’re not that bad, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t catch you sneaking a peak up her skirt.”
“Your devotion to your sister seems to border on incest to me.”
Surprisingly, this earned him a playful, if hard, punch.
“Shut up. Now…do we still have to push the car? I figure it will just get stuck in the mud or something, so we shouldn’t bother. I’ll go to sleep, actually.” Changmin reclined his seat as far as possible and closed his eyes.
Yoochun waved a hand around, “Oh, so now you decide to act sane, instead of bitching at me. You could’ve acted like that from the start and this would have been easier.”
“You’d still like my sister, so not really.”
“Hey, I actually talked to her today, and if it helps, I seem to only think of her as a sister.”
Changmin opened one eye, “That’s incest, ya know?”
Yoochun smiled widely, “Hey, the hard-ass has a sense of humor!”
“I was always funny. You just happened to be my choice of the person I was going to make an ass of, so you didn’t enjoy the as much.”
Changmin was sitting up now, and grinning. Yoochun couldn’t help but feel strange. Never had he gone through such a turn around, going from enemies to sort-of friends.
As Yoochun and Changmin took turns taking cracks at each other’s sleaziness or virginity, respectively, they both felt strangely close. They had similar senses of humor, and they seemed to be able to talk about a lot of different things, as they waited out the rain.
Throwing his head back and laughing, Changmin was a little red-faced and seemed overly energetic. Yoochun was again struck by how similar he and his sister looked, but he came to a new realization. It came from a shared innocence in their faces, although Sooyeon’s seemed more childish and Changmin seemed like a tested innocence, even with the vulgar speech on his part.
Suddenly, it didn’t seem much like Changmin looked like Sooyeon, but more the other way around. Changmin’s smiles were less bright, but even more beautiful. His laugh was brasher, but filled with more life. Changmin wasn’t feminine at all, yet Yoochun couldn’t help but feel an attraction to him.
Considering how often he stressed his heterosexuality, this would seem strange; however, as he smiled and laughed along with Changmin, it didn’t feel strange at all.