[fic: exo] nothing to go
gen [tao, yixing, kris];
pg;
1200w;
femmexo, college au
.x.
the ambient noise in her head is nice, yixin thinks, absently playing with the loose threads on the end of tao’s skirt. with her good ear pressed against tao’s thigh, and her aid turned off (it was making the battery low beeping noise, and she feels safe enough around tao to go without hearing), everything around her is a low hum, soft and comforting.
she’s drifting off to sleep, tao’s hand sliding through her hair, when a lower hum presses through the fog and curls softly around her ears. there’s a rasp to it, like trying to sing when you first wake up, and yixin peeks a bleary eye open and tilts her head up.
and up.
and up.
yixin vaguely recognizes the girl in front of her, tall and broad with brown hair pulled into a loose bun on the top of her head. the large 00 on the front of the jersey is familiar, and yixin fiddles with the aid just in time to hear tao’s “-game, kris?”
ah, and there it is. kristina wu fan, commonly known as kris, and one of the four chinese foreign exchange students at the school besides tao, xiao liu, and herself. also captain of the basketball team, and intimidating to boot.
kris shakes her head, and yixin watches absently as a few pieces of hair fall out around her face.
"no, not until tomorrow. which is why chanmi needs you, i think."
the rasp is milder now, and yixin thinks, in some far off corner of her brain, that kris has a nice voice. they’ve never really talked before, running in different circles; kris is a basketball player majoring in astronomy, and yixin’s majoring in dance with a minor in anatomy. they’ve had a few classes together, calculus 3 and economics, she thinks, but yixin stays quiet and tucked into the front corner of her classes, close enough to hear but not close enough to draw attention to herself. the only reason she even knows of kris is because she used to be liu’s roommate.
tao’s hand through her hair slows, stops, and yixin knows the apologetic smile on tao’s face before she’s said anything.
"sorry."
"it’s okay."
tao grimaces at her, and yixin laughs softly, brushes a kiss to tao’s hairline that she barely even notices. tao’s already ran off with a “i’ll be by later, unnie!” by the time yixin is sitting up and fidgeting with her sweater, rearranging it so it isn’t twisted around her torso, and pushing her hair behind her ear and over one shoulder. a section of it gets stuck on her aid, and she frowns as she untangles them, fingers expertly plucking the thick strands of hair out.
she’s humming to herself, her song for her upcoming performance playing in her head as she visualizes her movements, when there’s a hesitant clearing of a throat.
kris is standing there when she looks up again, looking confused, with her eyebrows dipped low and her mouth twisted.
"you’re, uh. you’re yixin, right?"
yixin blinks, halfway through the braid she’s tying into her hair, and kris just stares back at her.
"yes."
the silence stretches, uncomfortable (to kris at least, yixin finds all silence to be comforting), and yixin tilts her head, blinks at kris again. she’s not sure what the other girl wants, and neither is kris, apparently, because she reaches up and runs a large hand through her bangs.
"you’re kristina."
it’s not a question, and kris half smiles half grimaces, tucking her hands into her pockets.
"everyone calls me kris."
"you can sit down, you know."
yixin shifts as she says it, pulls her legs in towards her to make room on the couch and finishes her braid, fishing a hair band out of her bag to tie it off.
kris sits, keeps her knees spread and leans her elbows on them. she isn’t very pretty, especially in the light, with a sharp nose and dark eyebrows and a mouth that doesn’t seem to smile much, but yixin has the sudden urge to trace her cheekbones with her fingers anyway.
"we had math together two semesters ago, with ms. kim," yixin reminds her after the silence goes on for long enough, watching as kris’ shoulders tense and relax in fractions of seconds. "7:30 am on tuesdays and thursdays."
"shit time for math, really," kris grumbles, and yixin is surprised to find that she hides a laugh behind her hand at that, sweeping loose hairs away from her face.
kris seems surprised too, turns towards her with a dark eyebrow cocked. yixin just shrugs, ducks her shoulders to hide her face in her sweater, and digs her stocking clad toes into the split between the couch cushions.
"sorry," she says softly, fiddling with her earrings. "it was a pretty bad time for math, though. i only got a 94% in the class."
“only a 94%?”
yixin smiles sheepishly, tucks her face into her collar and nods, fingers absently tracing the outline of the cats on her stockings.
kris looks pained for a moment, and then leans in, hands braced on the space of couch between them when she sighs, mumbles, “i have to retake math this semester, for the third time. can you-” she stops, curls her fingers into the fabric and tries, “can you help me? i tried to go to the tutoring center, but it’s not. um. anyway and tao told me you were good at math but i didn’t know you were 94% in a 7:30 am class with professor kim good, and i just. you know.”
(tao said something? yixin wasn’t aware tao talked about her to her friends. she should ask her about that tonight while they stay up and wait for the new f(x) mv to be released.)
yixin does know, but she waits patiently, and watches as kris grows more frustrated until eventually she lets out a deep breath and finishes, “i need to pass this class in order to keep my scholarship and i need help.”
yixin wonders how many people know that, and why kris looks so worried, lips twisted unpleasantly.
"i don’t mind tutoring you."
she watches in fascination as kris’ whole demeanour changes, shoulders slumping and hands lacing together to hang through the space between her knees.
"thank you."
yixin hmms, scrounges around in her bag for a pen and paper. she scrawls her phone number and email address onto it, signs it with her customary heart, and then hands it to kris when she stands, slinging her bag over her shoulder. her aid is beginning to beep softly in her ear, and she knows the battery is almost out.
"just let me know when’s a good time for you."
kris smiles, genuine tugs at the end of her mouth, and it’s a good look on her.
"thank you, really."
her bag rustles when yixin pulls it further up her shoulders and slips into her boots, laces untied and tucked beneath the tongue. she smiles at kris, resists the urge to smooth down the pieces of hair sticking up around her face, and then leaves with a wave.
(it’s not even a full two hours later when she gets a text from an unknown number that reads, “i have a game tomorrow, but is 10am wednesday in the science library ok?” and she surprises herself by how quickly she types back “of course! see you then! ^^”)
pg;
1200w;
femmexo, college au
.x.
the ambient noise in her head is nice, yixin thinks, absently playing with the loose threads on the end of tao’s skirt. with her good ear pressed against tao’s thigh, and her aid turned off (it was making the battery low beeping noise, and she feels safe enough around tao to go without hearing), everything around her is a low hum, soft and comforting.
she’s drifting off to sleep, tao’s hand sliding through her hair, when a lower hum presses through the fog and curls softly around her ears. there’s a rasp to it, like trying to sing when you first wake up, and yixin peeks a bleary eye open and tilts her head up.
and up.
and up.
yixin vaguely recognizes the girl in front of her, tall and broad with brown hair pulled into a loose bun on the top of her head. the large 00 on the front of the jersey is familiar, and yixin fiddles with the aid just in time to hear tao’s “-game, kris?”
ah, and there it is. kristina wu fan, commonly known as kris, and one of the four chinese foreign exchange students at the school besides tao, xiao liu, and herself. also captain of the basketball team, and intimidating to boot.
kris shakes her head, and yixin watches absently as a few pieces of hair fall out around her face.
"no, not until tomorrow. which is why chanmi needs you, i think."
the rasp is milder now, and yixin thinks, in some far off corner of her brain, that kris has a nice voice. they’ve never really talked before, running in different circles; kris is a basketball player majoring in astronomy, and yixin’s majoring in dance with a minor in anatomy. they’ve had a few classes together, calculus 3 and economics, she thinks, but yixin stays quiet and tucked into the front corner of her classes, close enough to hear but not close enough to draw attention to herself. the only reason she even knows of kris is because she used to be liu’s roommate.
tao’s hand through her hair slows, stops, and yixin knows the apologetic smile on tao’s face before she’s said anything.
"sorry."
"it’s okay."
tao grimaces at her, and yixin laughs softly, brushes a kiss to tao’s hairline that she barely even notices. tao’s already ran off with a “i’ll be by later, unnie!” by the time yixin is sitting up and fidgeting with her sweater, rearranging it so it isn’t twisted around her torso, and pushing her hair behind her ear and over one shoulder. a section of it gets stuck on her aid, and she frowns as she untangles them, fingers expertly plucking the thick strands of hair out.
she’s humming to herself, her song for her upcoming performance playing in her head as she visualizes her movements, when there’s a hesitant clearing of a throat.
kris is standing there when she looks up again, looking confused, with her eyebrows dipped low and her mouth twisted.
"you’re, uh. you’re yixin, right?"
yixin blinks, halfway through the braid she’s tying into her hair, and kris just stares back at her.
"yes."
the silence stretches, uncomfortable (to kris at least, yixin finds all silence to be comforting), and yixin tilts her head, blinks at kris again. she’s not sure what the other girl wants, and neither is kris, apparently, because she reaches up and runs a large hand through her bangs.
"you’re kristina."
it’s not a question, and kris half smiles half grimaces, tucking her hands into her pockets.
"everyone calls me kris."
"you can sit down, you know."
yixin shifts as she says it, pulls her legs in towards her to make room on the couch and finishes her braid, fishing a hair band out of her bag to tie it off.
kris sits, keeps her knees spread and leans her elbows on them. she isn’t very pretty, especially in the light, with a sharp nose and dark eyebrows and a mouth that doesn’t seem to smile much, but yixin has the sudden urge to trace her cheekbones with her fingers anyway.
"we had math together two semesters ago, with ms. kim," yixin reminds her after the silence goes on for long enough, watching as kris’ shoulders tense and relax in fractions of seconds. "7:30 am on tuesdays and thursdays."
"shit time for math, really," kris grumbles, and yixin is surprised to find that she hides a laugh behind her hand at that, sweeping loose hairs away from her face.
kris seems surprised too, turns towards her with a dark eyebrow cocked. yixin just shrugs, ducks her shoulders to hide her face in her sweater, and digs her stocking clad toes into the split between the couch cushions.
"sorry," she says softly, fiddling with her earrings. "it was a pretty bad time for math, though. i only got a 94% in the class."
“only a 94%?”
yixin smiles sheepishly, tucks her face into her collar and nods, fingers absently tracing the outline of the cats on her stockings.
kris looks pained for a moment, and then leans in, hands braced on the space of couch between them when she sighs, mumbles, “i have to retake math this semester, for the third time. can you-” she stops, curls her fingers into the fabric and tries, “can you help me? i tried to go to the tutoring center, but it’s not. um. anyway and tao told me you were good at math but i didn’t know you were 94% in a 7:30 am class with professor kim good, and i just. you know.”
(tao said something? yixin wasn’t aware tao talked about her to her friends. she should ask her about that tonight while they stay up and wait for the new f(x) mv to be released.)
yixin does know, but she waits patiently, and watches as kris grows more frustrated until eventually she lets out a deep breath and finishes, “i need to pass this class in order to keep my scholarship and i need help.”
yixin wonders how many people know that, and why kris looks so worried, lips twisted unpleasantly.
"i don’t mind tutoring you."
she watches in fascination as kris’ whole demeanour changes, shoulders slumping and hands lacing together to hang through the space between her knees.
"thank you."
yixin hmms, scrounges around in her bag for a pen and paper. she scrawls her phone number and email address onto it, signs it with her customary heart, and then hands it to kris when she stands, slinging her bag over her shoulder. her aid is beginning to beep softly in her ear, and she knows the battery is almost out.
"just let me know when’s a good time for you."
kris smiles, genuine tugs at the end of her mouth, and it’s a good look on her.
"thank you, really."
her bag rustles when yixin pulls it further up her shoulders and slips into her boots, laces untied and tucked beneath the tongue. she smiles at kris, resists the urge to smooth down the pieces of hair sticking up around her face, and then leaves with a wave.
(it’s not even a full two hours later when she gets a text from an unknown number that reads, “i have a game tomorrow, but is 10am wednesday in the science library ok?” and she surprises herself by how quickly she types back “of course! see you then! ^^”)