Hello
Title: Hello
Pairing: Onew/Taemin, Minho/Key
Word Count: 10,714 - this is a monster guys, and I’m really really proud of myself for getting it out @_@
Rating: R/NC-17
Notes: 9th installment in my personal ‘write a fic for each song on the new album’… including repackage keke.
--
“You’re perfect.”
Taemin blinked and looked up from his homework, the chaos of the cafeteria turning into a dull roar around him. Standing on the other side of the table was a guy, a cute guy, older than Taemin with a bright smile and warm eyes. He had a friendly appearance… if it weren’t for the studs decorating his jean vest, the leather cuffs on his wrists and the black skinny jeans.
Taemin sat up a bit straighter, a delicate brow arching as the guys’ face brightened with the fact he was acknowledged. They… were in completely different crowds, weren’t they? This guy looked like he belonged in the rocker crowd, maybe he was part of a band, and Taemin… well Taemin was a dancer and he hated math and he was slightly socially awkward. So why was this older, cooler guy looking like his world was alight when Taemin gave him attention?
“Excuse me?” the younger finally said, tilting his head a bit, some of his blond fringe falling into his eyes.
“You’re perfect,” the guy said again, and he sat down across from Taemin, that smile only getting sweeter with how sunny it was and Taemin found himself smiling in return, like it was contagious.
“Uhm…” Taemin let out a small chuckle. “Ok…? Thanks?” He shook his head and pulled his notebook closer to him, returning his eyes to his calculus book and not really seeing the numbers or letters.
“I’m Jinki.”
Taemin sat back a bit and glanced up again, his tongue running over the upper row of his teeth in thought as he assessed the situation. This guy, Jinki, a stranger, had approached him out of nowhere, told him he was perfect, introduced himself, and was now sitting with him. The younger counted backwards from five - his head was spinning from the suddenness of it - and then offered a polite smile.
“I’m sorry, I’m not interested in dating anyone right now,” he said, his pen finally moving on the paper to finish the problem he’d been in the middle of solving. That wasn’t the response he had wanted to give… but no one just came right up and asked him out. It was a bit weird, he just didn’t know how to take it.
Jinki fell quiet opposite him and for a second Taemin thought he left, but when he glanced up the older man was still there, his hair falling prettily and parted slightly off to the side, caramel in color. He was really attractive, Taemin would give him that, but the younger hadn’t dated anyone since high school and… alright he wouldn’t say he wasn’t interested because that just wasn’t fair but --
“I don’t want to date you.”
The look on Jinki’s face was slightly confused, and Taemin mirrored it, his brows furrowing and his eyes blinking a few times before he leaned forward on an elbow.
“… You don’t want to date me?”
Jinki shook his head, and soon the bright smile was on his thick lips again, and it was cute, his teeth white and pristine.
“No, I want to love you.”
Taemin couldn’t respond to that. No one had said that to him before, and as Jinki stood up a bit awkwardly, fighting to get both feet out from the bench attached to the table, Taemin just stared stupidly. Jinki waved and gave a small bow, before turning around and walking away - right into another student who, thankfully, managed to catch their lunch - and then continue on after apologizing profusely and hanging his head in mild embarrassment as he returned to the table he was sitting at.
Today was the first of many strange encounters with Lee Jinki.
--
The next day Taemin ran into Jinki, and it wasn’t in the cafeteria, and it’s no joke to say that he ‘ran into Jinki’. They were both sprawled on the floor in the corridor, Taemin’s athletic bag dropped and his shoes about five feet apart from each other on the floor, because somehow tripping and falling meant that your gym bag opened up and exploded all of its contents everywhere. Jinki’s books and papers were all strewn about and as he sat up and apologized, mumbling and helping Taemin pick up his things, their eyes connected and something was different today about Jinki.
“Where are all your spikes and leather?” Taemin asked stupidly, and then wanted to smack himself in the face.
Yeah… he definitely needed to socialize more.
Jinki frowned a bit, and then grinned and let out a sweet chuckle. “Oh, I wear that for concerts and band practice…”
He was dressed, today, casually in jeans and a grey v-neck sweater, his hair tame and combed, any trace of his bad boy persona gone. He looked… good. Really good. Taemin averted his eyes - he had rejected the guy yesterday and his pride wouldn’t let him check him out twenty-four hours later - and then gathered his things and stood up.
“Oh.” He said, before turning on his heel and heading into the direction of the dance studio.
“Wait!”
Jinki’s fingers were warm around Taemin’s arm as he halted the younger boy, and Taemin turned around, eyes all wide and slightly confused, Jinki’s expression looking a bit bashful.
“I wanted to a-apologize for yesterday…” Jinki said, glancing down at the ground, his fingers still holding onto Taemin’s bicep. The blond couldn’t help but notice how sturdy Jinki’s fingers looked, how warm his palm was against his shirt, the heat seeping through to his skin. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong.”
“It’s alright,” Taemin found himself saying before he could stop himself. “Really.”
Jinki looked even more ashamed as he finally let go of the younger, eyes downcast. “I won’t bug you like that again; you get enough confessions in one day.”
Taemin wanted to call Jinki back as he walked away but couldn’t find his voice, he wanted to shout out “no one confesses anything to me”, but he couldn’t, his lips falling into a soft frown instead as he started towards the dance hall once more, trying to figure out why Lee Jinki was the way he was.
--
Lee Jinki was a liar.
He was a liar because just yesterday he had said he wouldn’t bug Taemin anymore but there he was, standing in the same lunch line. Taemin wasn’t about to hold it against him, that would be mean, but like the first day they met Jinki was wearing denim and leather and his hair was unruly, like a magnificent lion’s mane and it looked really soft and Taemin wondered if it’d be creepy if he just went up and combed his fingers through it.
Jinki was standing in line with his buddies, laughing along with some joke that this annoying short dude said and the short dude was between Jinki and Taemin and that wasn’t enough space, to be honest, in Taemin’s humble opinion.
There wasn’t enough space because when someone walked by Taemin and bumped into his thin frame, he bumped into that short guy in front of him, who went into Jinki’s chest with an indignant noise. Taemin blushed in embarrassment, his satchel hanging off of his shoulder a bit as he corrected his posture and waved his hand to try and silently apologize, cheeks flushed and eyes bright as his gaze caught Jinki’s - and Jinki looked mildly amused, his usually bright smile a bit dimmer as he righted the other guy and dusted his shoulder off, asking him if he was alright.
Taemin couldn’t stand that gaze on him because Lee Jinki was a liar, his almond shaped eyes hooding in slight affection as he gave Taemin one last glance before continuing on in the line.
Taemin got out of line and decided to skip lunch for the day.
--
Lee Jinki didn’t know Taemin’s name.
That much was obvious when they bumped into each other in a cliché way in the hallway, rounding the corners and nearly colliding faces and Jinki stumbled back, apologizing, stuttering over his words.
Taemin felt a bit bad for Jinki - he looked awkward in his own skin, like he knew he was good looking but didn’t know how to act good looking, like he retained this wholesome goodness from his adolescent years and it was endearing, really, it was. But Taemin was still huffy about Jinki’s bold declaration of love, he was still huffy that the next day Jinki revoked it (Taemin was pushing aside the notion that he had initially rejected Jinki), and he was even huffier still that he and Jinki kept bumping into each other.
“It’s fine,” Taemin finally said, offering a small smile and bowing away, headed to his next class.
He missed Jinki punching the nearest wall in frustration, and he also missed the resounding “OUCH!” as Jinki yelped and cradled his throbbing hand.
--
Lee Taemin was an idiot.
It was blistering hot and he was standing at the bus stop waiting for the usual bus he took home - he didn’t live in the dorms simply because his parents’ house was close enough - and the bus was ten minutes late and it just sucked. Sweat was making Taemin’s blond hair stick to his neck and his forehead and he kept brushing it away, getting disgusted at the wetness on his fingertips and wiping them on his jeans, then getting mad that he decided to wear jeans today but was it his fault it was Autumn and the Earth decided to have a day of ninety-degree weather?
No, it wasn’t.
Taemin checked his watch and then he glanced up at the wall of the booth he was taking shelter in from the sun, only just now noticing the news bulletin.
Lee Taemin was an idiot because today’s buses were canceled due to some city labor holiday.
Groaning, he thunked his head against the opening of the bus stop booth, shoulders sagging, satchel sliding off of his shoulder to flop pathetically on the ground. He gave another pout and crouched down to pick it up, slinging it over his shoulder and then nearly jumped out of his skin as a loud roar suddenly sounded in front of him, rumbling him to the core and making his hair nearly stand straight up.
Lee Taemin was an idiot because Lee Jinki looked so, so damn good on a motorcycle, the visor to his helmet flipped up to reveal his smiling eyes as his booted foot kept himself propped up on the street in front of the bus stop.
“Need a ride?”
And Lee Taemin was an idiot because he turned on his heel in all of his haughty teenaged angst and started to walk in the opposite direction, which was also the opposite direction of his house, leaving Jinki behind him.
He didn’t see the crestfallen look on the older boy’s face, but he heard that engine roar before Jinki took off in the same direction as Taemin’s house.
--
Taemin wasn’t normally an unhappy kid. He didn’t have any friends, being a freshman in college and having moved to this new city just before school started, but that didn’t bother him, it was just… hard. No one in his old town wanted to date him but apparently dying his hair and cutting it had been the trick because here people were wanting to date him - it was like since Lee Jinki took notice of him, so did the rest of the student body, and now they were tripping over themselves around Lee Taemin.
Literally.
He stepped over the fallen girl carefully, keeping his books held tight to his chest as she sobbed and crawled after him, tugging on the bottom of his pant leg, her big teary eyes looking up at him and gross, snot was dripping down to her upper lip. He shook his leg in an attempt to get her off but she howled and wrapped her arms around his calf and Taemin stumbled a bit, his books falling and as he sailed forward he prepared to make friends with the concrete -
But it never happened.
Instead, warm arms encircled him, strong, sturdy arms and Taemin blinked up to see Jinki with a scowl on his face and… well that was weird, usually Jinki was smiling. His lips were moving and Taemin finally realized what he was saying and why he was scowling, as his gaze drifted down to the girl whose face was being nudged away from Taemin’s leg by Jinki’s foot none too nicely.
“…crazy fangirl he’s not a celebrity, he’s just a kid, you’re going to break his leg…”
Taemin shook his leg, his foot knocking into the girl’s face next to Jinki’s and she let out a yelp not unlike a wounded dog before she scampered off down the hallway and around the corner.
Blinking, wide-eyed with his jaw slightly agape, Taemin made a noncommittal sound.
“Huh, that was weird.”
He turned to thank Jinki for saving him, but the man was gone, and Taemin clenched his teeth and wrinkled his nose.
“God damn it either love me or stay the fuck away from me!”
“TAEMINNIE, NUNA LOVES YOU!!!!!” a chorus of female voices cried out, and Taemin rolled his eyes before he ducked into his math classroom, away from the hoards and finding solace in his seat.
Well… it was solace until his female professor decided to ask him if he wanted to participate in an ‘extra credit lesson’ after class since he had a rather low grade.
He opted to do it online.
--
The look on Jinki’s face was priceless, when Taemin grabbed him by the collar of that stupid, studded denim vest and slammed him up into a row of lockers. His squinty eyes were widened in slight fear and Taemin’s knuckles were turning white with his death grip on the man’s clothing, teeth bared in a snarl and Jinki reached up to grip the younger’s dainty wrists lightly with his thick fingers.
“W-What did I do?”
“You don’t even know my name!” Taemin hissed, jerking Jinki with surprising strength, ramming Jinki’s back into the lockers again. “You don’t know my name, you tell me you want to love me, and then all of a sudden the whole fucking university wants to date me and then you just turn your back on me and get all aloof and shit and if you wanted to fucking love me then you should stick to your word!”
Jinki blinked a few times, before he easily removed Taemin’s hands from his collar with the jaws of life that were his bulging biceps and strong fingers. They were both silent for a few moments - well, as silent as could be with Taemin heaving in breaths through his mouth and out his nose and Jinki chuckling softly.
“You’re perfect.”
“What does that even mean?” Taemin whined, slumping and resting his forehead on Jinki’s chest, his wrists still being held by Jinki’s fingers.
“It means what I said,” Jinki said cryptically, and Taemin scrunched up his nose and pouted and whined some more and rubbed his forehead all over Jinki’s chest, making pathetic noises before Jinki grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back so he could look the younger in the eye. “It means you’re perfect. And I love you.”
Frustrated tears welled in Taemin’s eyes, “You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re that cute blond kid that sits alone at lunch and crams for his next exam at the last minute,” Jinki started, letting go of Taemin’s shoulders. “I know you’re the transfer student that doesn’t talk to anyone or hang out with anyone. I know you’re insecure about anyone liking you because you think everyone’s only noticing you because you cut your hair and colored it.”
Taemin’s heart stuttered a bit, “How…?”
Jinki’s eyes squinted with his stupid smile, “And I know we have the last name!”
Taemin shoved Jinki back into the lockers and stalked off to dance practice.
He missed the way Jinki’s face fell into a pout as he mumbled “… I thought it was cool…”
--
“If anything, having the same last name would make you two like, distant cousins or something, right? Gross, incest.”
Taemin thunked his head on the surface of the table in the library he was sitting at, groaning inaudibly as he tugged at his hair. Kibum, the resident student librarian, was sitting next to Taemin, listening to the freshman’s story as he filed his nails and tried to satiate his need for the latest gossip. They weren’t friends… but Kibum was a good hyung and he was the first person to talk to Taemin when he transferred to this college.
Well… he didn’t talk so much as scold him for wearing a beanie with a t-shirt, saying that beanies should only be worn either in the winter time or with winter-slash-fall style clothing.
They weren’t best friends but they weren’t strangers and Kibum was kind enough to listen to Taemin’s tale of Lee Jinki for the past ten minutes, and as Taemin seemed to be defeated Kibum rubbed his back soothingly, reminding the youth of how his mother used to comfort him.
“Now, now, Taemin. Incest is being frowned upon less and less nowadays.”
Taemin whimpered.
“I’m just kidding,” Kibum rolled his eyes and set down the nail file, forcing Taemin up by his shoulders, giving him a good shake. “Snap out of it. Jinki is like, way hot, ok? Go for it or just snub him out completely so someone else can have a chance at him.”
Taemin whined, “But I DID reject him!”
“Did you really?” Kibum asked, arching a fine brow, before he picked up his nail file and sauntered away from the table towards the desk where a tall, big-eyed kid was holding a rather giant soccer biography, the two of them getting into a conversation as Taemin stared after the librarian.
“… I DID reject him!”
“SHHHHHHHHHH!”
Taemin grabbed his shit and stomped out of the library, slamming the door, causing another chorus of hushes to follow him.
“YOUR SHUSHING IS LOUDER THAN MY STOMPING OR YELLING, YOU FUCKS.”
--
Today Taemin decided to eat lunch outside in the hopes that he’d be able to avoid Jinki. So far so good - he was enjoying a cup of yogurt as he flipped through his biology text book, using his cheat notes to read only what he needed to and nothing more.
Well… so far, so good, until he felt the creepy crawlies give his skin goosebumps and make his hair stand on end.
“AIEEE!!!!”
Taemin scrambled, throwing his books aside and leaping up off of the grass, his hand coming down to swat the ant off of his ankle. His skin was hot from embarrassment immediately because yeah… a guy freaking out on the lawn about a tiny little bug crawling on him was kind of pathetic but good God it scared him!
The ant scurried away in its innocent glory and Taemin slumped, sitting back down where he had been and tugging his pant legs down to cover his ankles. He picked up his books again and started reading once more but it only took about three seconds for him to register something… crawling up his back!?
Taemin shrieked even louder than before as he made to jump up, but arms encircled his waist and kept him in place as he tried to get away. Stunned by the fact someone wasn’t going to let him get away from a gross creepy crawly bug and the fact that whoever was holding him had really nice arms and a strong chest, Taemin yelped and threw his elbow backwards, met with a surprised choking sound and rewarded with those arms letting him go.
When he stood, he regretted it.
Jinki lay on his side, hair askew as his hand pressed against his ribcage, obviously trying to quell the pain of a bruised bone or internal injury or something. Taemin dropped to his knees and reached out, hands hovering, not sure if he should touch the older man.
“Omo, I’m - I’m so sorry hyung, I didn’t mean to, I just really hate-”
“Hyung?”
Taemin’s apology was cut short by Jinki’s blinding smile.
The youth blinked.
“You called me hyung.”
Taemin blushed so dark he felt himself get light headed.
Jinki sat up and dusted off his shirt, suddenly cured from whatever pain he had been feeling just seconds before. He reached out and, to Taemin’s horror, ruffled the blond locks before he stood up and started to walk away with an extra bounce in his step.
Taemin missed Jinki tripping on air and toppling over into a garbage can because he was too busy trying to forget how warm and secure he had briefly felt in the older man’s embrace, rubbing his arms and mumbling to himself that Jinki had just almost tried to murder him by keeping him pinned to an ant nest
He also missed Kibum helping Jinki out of the garbage can and whispering mysteriously into his ear.
--
Taemin was at his bus stop again, caught in the rain. Well he had been caught in the sudden down pour that happened out of nowhere on a perfectly sunny day, and then he ducked into the covered bench, trying to ignore the way the guy next to him sort of smelled like a mix of mustard and onions, the blond tugging his hoodie up over his slightly damp hair.
The bus came and he let everyone on before him but when he got up to the door the driver held up a hand and stopped Taemin from advancing, announcing that the bus was full and Taemin would have to wait for the next round.
Taemin blinked.
“Can buses even be over-capacity!?”
Apparently they could because Taemin was sent back out into the rain, his cheeks full of air, annoyance written on his features as the bus rumbled away, nice enough to kick up a puddle and splash onto Taemin’s jeans. The rain seemed to pour a bit harder and Taemin was getting soaked through, and just as a frustrated growl was rumbling low in his chest, the rain suddenly stopped, and he glanced up only to see a bright yellow canvas above his head with little white bunnies printed onto it.
Holding onto the umbrella was none other than Lee Jinki, and the growl that had been rumbling finally came out.
Jinki blinked, shocked by the noise, and then offered his mega-watt smile that made Taemin briefly forget that today was all muggy and grey.
“Can I walk you home?”
“No!”
Taemin made to stomp away, and when he turned around, he was exasperated to see Jinki following him.
“Can’t you get the hint?!”
“But…” Jinki’s face almost fell, and Taemin almost felt bad. “I live in this direction.”
The blond wrinkled his nose to try and hide his embarrassment, as he turned around and folded his soggy arms over his soggy chest, huffing.
“Fine.”
Jinki was next to him in a half a second, holding the umbrella over them both once again as they started to walk towards Taemin’s neighborhood.
“Do you want my jacket?” Jinki offered, making to unbutton his dry pea coat.
Taemin shook his head, “I’m fine.”
“It’s cold,” Jinki persisted, and Taemin shot him a glare, which melted into a giggle when he saw the earnest, concerned look in the older man’s eyes.
“I’m fine, I live close.”
“I know.”
Taemin stumbled a bit, giving a few extra inches between himself and Jinki as he arched a suspicious brow at the other man.
“How do you know?”
Jinki tilted his head, “We’re neighbors.”
“… What.”
Sure enough, as they turned the corner onto Taemin’s street and walked down a few houses, Jinki stopped in front of the house right next to the blond’s and pointed at his motorcycle, covered by a fancy tarp in the driveway.
“I live next door to you. You never noticed?” Jinki asked, and the way he was talking made it seem like it was common knowledge that they lived next to each other.
Taemin shoved Jinki in the shoulder lightly, “Of course I didn’t notice, I wouldn’t have asked.”
Jinki smiled.
Taemin actually found himself smiling back. He didn’t know what caused it, he didn’t know why he was smiling when in actuality he felt bad that he hadn’t noticed his neighbor before. But he was smiling back and Jinki’s smile brightened and Taemin’s smiled brightened and the moment of smiles just turned into a moment of retards grinning at each other in the middle of a down pour and just as swiftly as Taemin noticed he was smiling so much his cheeks hurt, Jinki leaned down and kissed one of those slightly rosy cheeks before pulling back and waving, heading up his driveway into his house.
Taemin’s cheeks were rosy from the cold, he told himself, as he walked into his house to change into some dry clothes.
His cheeks were rosy from the cold, he told himself, an hour later as he cuddled up in some very warm blankets on the couch and watched an old romance movie.
--
With the knowledge that Jinki was his neighbor, and the fact that Taemin now was aware of this knowledge, Jinki was exercising said knowledge by making a point of ruining Taemin’s personal life.
Alright he wasn’t ruining it but standing on Taemin’s door step in a frilly apron with a tray of freshly baked cookies shaped like little bunny heads…
It was just weird, ok?
But Taemin loved cookies, he loved home made sweets, and Jinki had just opened a Pandora’s box as Taemin ushered Jinki inside and brought him into the kitchen. Jinki set the tray on the counter by the stove and Taemin opened up the fridge to get some milk to go with the treats, turning around and putting the gallon jug on the floating island counter in the middle of the kitchen.
“Your parents are gone a lot,” Jinki commented, and Taemin figured the older would mention something about his parents being gone, seeing as how the house was deathly silent and no cars were in the driveway.
“They like to vacation when the weather gets bad,” Taemin said, shrugging as he moved to the cabinet to grab two glasses.
The frown was evident in Jinki’s voice, “Should they leave you alone so often?”
Taemin wanted to rebuke with something long the lines of ‘I don’t need a babysitter’ but he could only concentrate on how different Jinki sounded when his lips weren’t turned upright, when they weren’t pulling at the corners with a smile, when you couldn’t see in your mind’s eye that his eyes were so squinty with his constant happiness that you couldn’t even tell what color they were.
“Your voice doesn’t sound as nice when you frown.”
That… was not what Taemin had wanted to say at all.
And when he glanced up to see a slightly shocked Jinki, Taemin blushed furiously, pouring the milk and handing the older man his glass without a word.
But that was the day Taemin’s final wall broke down.
--
Over the following weeks, with Taemin’s walls crumbled, he reverted back to how he was before he became a reclusive angsty teen living in a new town and attending a new school. It helped that Taemin and Kibum had gotten marginally closer, the librarian having developed some twisted motherly affection for the blond. It helped that Minho, who was the tall mysterious guy that Kibum had been hanging on lately, sort of fell into the older brother role. It helped that Jinki stopped trying so hard and was just being himself.
What didn’t help, was the guy sitting next to Taemin in his biology lesson, blatantly staring at the freshman with hungry puppy eyes.
The Taemin from a few weeks ago would have been snarky and asked what the guys’ problem was, but the original meek and easily pressured Taemin crumbled slightly, shifting his papers away from the guy he shared a desk with, as well as scooted his chair a bit.
The guy scooted closer.
“Hey, are you any good at biology?” the guy asked, just as the professor handed back their tests.
A big fat D was circled at the top of Taemin’s paper, and he gave the brunet an even, dead stare.
“It’s my best subject.”
The guy rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, finally giving Taemin space, clucking his tongue and looking at his C on his own paper.
“I need at least a B…”
“There’s tutor sessions for stuff like that,” Taemin said, trying to dismiss the topic of conversation, and any conversation therein.
“Yeah but all the chicks are ugly. You can’t help me?”
Taemin glanced over, meekness erased and replaced with mild irritation and bewilderment.
“Why would you want my help?”
“Because you’re not an ugly chick.”
Taemin bristled, “You’re only going to be tutored by attractive people?”
“Attractive chicks,” the guy nodded.
Taemin counted backwards from one hundred.
He reached ninety-five when he noticed the guys’ gaze drop to his chest.
“MY EYES ARE UP HERE!” Taemin screeched, shoving the older boy’s shoulder before he gathered his stuff and stood up, holding his books to his chest as he hastily scrambled out of their row of desks.
“WAIT!” the guy wailed. “ I NEED A HOT CHICK TO TUTOR ME!”
“I AM A BOY!!”
--
In the library, Taemin and his new friends were all seated at a table, listening to the blond complain about the idiot in his biology class and how he thought cutting his hair would relieve some of the ‘you’re so pretty you could be a girl!’ comments. Kibum listened as well as he could with Minho’s hand not-so-subtly creeping up his thigh, Minho always had that impassive expression on his face, and Jinki, who had just finished practice for his musical, was still dressed in his rocker garb as he listened with a very concerned expression.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Jinki offered, glancing to the library door as if he was debating searching out this guy and giving him a stern talking to.
That thought made Taemin snort and giggle, and he waved a hand, “Ah, no. I’ll just sit somewhere else tomorrow… and he looked pretty horrified when I said I was a boy so maybe he won’t bother me anymore.”
Jinki still looked like he was ready to take action, in his denim vest and leather gloves and tight pants and combat boots, and without thinking Taemin reached out to wrap skinny fingers halfway around the older man’s bicep.
“It’s alright,” Taemin offered a small smile. “He’s an idiot anyway.”
“Sounds like that loser Jonghyun,” Kibum finally spoke up, his chin resting in his hand as he took his gaze away from Minho and arched a brow at Taemin. “Was he short and had a permanent derpy expression on his face?”
“Derpy?” Jinki asked.
“Yeah,” Taemin said, snapping his fingers. “With brown hair and a bean nostril?”
Kibum nodded and rolled his eyes, “Ugh for Halloween last year I crossdressed and he could NOT keep his hands off of me. Found out I was a dude and he avoids me like the plague.”
Minho frowned and leaned over to nibble at Kibum’s earlobe and whisper something to him. Taemin watched them curiously, while Jinki whined and tugged on Taemin’s sweater.
“What does ‘derpy’ mean?”
“It’s that look you give me when I call you hyung,” Taemin said airily, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder, waving to his friends before he headed off to his next class.
He missed the way Jinki stared after him, he missed his eyes lingering on his ass, but he heard the yelp Jinki let out as a result of Kibum smacking him upside the head.
part two
Pairing: Onew/Taemin, Minho/Key
Word Count: 10,714 - this is a monster guys, and I’m really really proud of myself for getting it out @_@
Rating: R/NC-17
Notes: 9th installment in my personal ‘write a fic for each song on the new album’… including repackage keke.
--
“You’re perfect.”
Taemin blinked and looked up from his homework, the chaos of the cafeteria turning into a dull roar around him. Standing on the other side of the table was a guy, a cute guy, older than Taemin with a bright smile and warm eyes. He had a friendly appearance… if it weren’t for the studs decorating his jean vest, the leather cuffs on his wrists and the black skinny jeans.
Taemin sat up a bit straighter, a delicate brow arching as the guys’ face brightened with the fact he was acknowledged. They… were in completely different crowds, weren’t they? This guy looked like he belonged in the rocker crowd, maybe he was part of a band, and Taemin… well Taemin was a dancer and he hated math and he was slightly socially awkward. So why was this older, cooler guy looking like his world was alight when Taemin gave him attention?
“Excuse me?” the younger finally said, tilting his head a bit, some of his blond fringe falling into his eyes.
“You’re perfect,” the guy said again, and he sat down across from Taemin, that smile only getting sweeter with how sunny it was and Taemin found himself smiling in return, like it was contagious.
“Uhm…” Taemin let out a small chuckle. “Ok…? Thanks?” He shook his head and pulled his notebook closer to him, returning his eyes to his calculus book and not really seeing the numbers or letters.
“I’m Jinki.”
Taemin sat back a bit and glanced up again, his tongue running over the upper row of his teeth in thought as he assessed the situation. This guy, Jinki, a stranger, had approached him out of nowhere, told him he was perfect, introduced himself, and was now sitting with him. The younger counted backwards from five - his head was spinning from the suddenness of it - and then offered a polite smile.
“I’m sorry, I’m not interested in dating anyone right now,” he said, his pen finally moving on the paper to finish the problem he’d been in the middle of solving. That wasn’t the response he had wanted to give… but no one just came right up and asked him out. It was a bit weird, he just didn’t know how to take it.
Jinki fell quiet opposite him and for a second Taemin thought he left, but when he glanced up the older man was still there, his hair falling prettily and parted slightly off to the side, caramel in color. He was really attractive, Taemin would give him that, but the younger hadn’t dated anyone since high school and… alright he wouldn’t say he wasn’t interested because that just wasn’t fair but --
“I don’t want to date you.”
The look on Jinki’s face was slightly confused, and Taemin mirrored it, his brows furrowing and his eyes blinking a few times before he leaned forward on an elbow.
“… You don’t want to date me?”
Jinki shook his head, and soon the bright smile was on his thick lips again, and it was cute, his teeth white and pristine.
“No, I want to love you.”
Taemin couldn’t respond to that. No one had said that to him before, and as Jinki stood up a bit awkwardly, fighting to get both feet out from the bench attached to the table, Taemin just stared stupidly. Jinki waved and gave a small bow, before turning around and walking away - right into another student who, thankfully, managed to catch their lunch - and then continue on after apologizing profusely and hanging his head in mild embarrassment as he returned to the table he was sitting at.
Today was the first of many strange encounters with Lee Jinki.
--
The next day Taemin ran into Jinki, and it wasn’t in the cafeteria, and it’s no joke to say that he ‘ran into Jinki’. They were both sprawled on the floor in the corridor, Taemin’s athletic bag dropped and his shoes about five feet apart from each other on the floor, because somehow tripping and falling meant that your gym bag opened up and exploded all of its contents everywhere. Jinki’s books and papers were all strewn about and as he sat up and apologized, mumbling and helping Taemin pick up his things, their eyes connected and something was different today about Jinki.
“Where are all your spikes and leather?” Taemin asked stupidly, and then wanted to smack himself in the face.
Yeah… he definitely needed to socialize more.
Jinki frowned a bit, and then grinned and let out a sweet chuckle. “Oh, I wear that for concerts and band practice…”
He was dressed, today, casually in jeans and a grey v-neck sweater, his hair tame and combed, any trace of his bad boy persona gone. He looked… good. Really good. Taemin averted his eyes - he had rejected the guy yesterday and his pride wouldn’t let him check him out twenty-four hours later - and then gathered his things and stood up.
“Oh.” He said, before turning on his heel and heading into the direction of the dance studio.
“Wait!”
Jinki’s fingers were warm around Taemin’s arm as he halted the younger boy, and Taemin turned around, eyes all wide and slightly confused, Jinki’s expression looking a bit bashful.
“I wanted to a-apologize for yesterday…” Jinki said, glancing down at the ground, his fingers still holding onto Taemin’s bicep. The blond couldn’t help but notice how sturdy Jinki’s fingers looked, how warm his palm was against his shirt, the heat seeping through to his skin. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong.”
“It’s alright,” Taemin found himself saying before he could stop himself. “Really.”
Jinki looked even more ashamed as he finally let go of the younger, eyes downcast. “I won’t bug you like that again; you get enough confessions in one day.”
Taemin wanted to call Jinki back as he walked away but couldn’t find his voice, he wanted to shout out “no one confesses anything to me”, but he couldn’t, his lips falling into a soft frown instead as he started towards the dance hall once more, trying to figure out why Lee Jinki was the way he was.
--
Lee Jinki was a liar.
He was a liar because just yesterday he had said he wouldn’t bug Taemin anymore but there he was, standing in the same lunch line. Taemin wasn’t about to hold it against him, that would be mean, but like the first day they met Jinki was wearing denim and leather and his hair was unruly, like a magnificent lion’s mane and it looked really soft and Taemin wondered if it’d be creepy if he just went up and combed his fingers through it.
Jinki was standing in line with his buddies, laughing along with some joke that this annoying short dude said and the short dude was between Jinki and Taemin and that wasn’t enough space, to be honest, in Taemin’s humble opinion.
There wasn’t enough space because when someone walked by Taemin and bumped into his thin frame, he bumped into that short guy in front of him, who went into Jinki’s chest with an indignant noise. Taemin blushed in embarrassment, his satchel hanging off of his shoulder a bit as he corrected his posture and waved his hand to try and silently apologize, cheeks flushed and eyes bright as his gaze caught Jinki’s - and Jinki looked mildly amused, his usually bright smile a bit dimmer as he righted the other guy and dusted his shoulder off, asking him if he was alright.
Taemin couldn’t stand that gaze on him because Lee Jinki was a liar, his almond shaped eyes hooding in slight affection as he gave Taemin one last glance before continuing on in the line.
Taemin got out of line and decided to skip lunch for the day.
--
Lee Jinki didn’t know Taemin’s name.
That much was obvious when they bumped into each other in a cliché way in the hallway, rounding the corners and nearly colliding faces and Jinki stumbled back, apologizing, stuttering over his words.
Taemin felt a bit bad for Jinki - he looked awkward in his own skin, like he knew he was good looking but didn’t know how to act good looking, like he retained this wholesome goodness from his adolescent years and it was endearing, really, it was. But Taemin was still huffy about Jinki’s bold declaration of love, he was still huffy that the next day Jinki revoked it (Taemin was pushing aside the notion that he had initially rejected Jinki), and he was even huffier still that he and Jinki kept bumping into each other.
“It’s fine,” Taemin finally said, offering a small smile and bowing away, headed to his next class.
He missed Jinki punching the nearest wall in frustration, and he also missed the resounding “OUCH!” as Jinki yelped and cradled his throbbing hand.
--
Lee Taemin was an idiot.
It was blistering hot and he was standing at the bus stop waiting for the usual bus he took home - he didn’t live in the dorms simply because his parents’ house was close enough - and the bus was ten minutes late and it just sucked. Sweat was making Taemin’s blond hair stick to his neck and his forehead and he kept brushing it away, getting disgusted at the wetness on his fingertips and wiping them on his jeans, then getting mad that he decided to wear jeans today but was it his fault it was Autumn and the Earth decided to have a day of ninety-degree weather?
No, it wasn’t.
Taemin checked his watch and then he glanced up at the wall of the booth he was taking shelter in from the sun, only just now noticing the news bulletin.
Lee Taemin was an idiot because today’s buses were canceled due to some city labor holiday.
Groaning, he thunked his head against the opening of the bus stop booth, shoulders sagging, satchel sliding off of his shoulder to flop pathetically on the ground. He gave another pout and crouched down to pick it up, slinging it over his shoulder and then nearly jumped out of his skin as a loud roar suddenly sounded in front of him, rumbling him to the core and making his hair nearly stand straight up.
Lee Taemin was an idiot because Lee Jinki looked so, so damn good on a motorcycle, the visor to his helmet flipped up to reveal his smiling eyes as his booted foot kept himself propped up on the street in front of the bus stop.
“Need a ride?”
And Lee Taemin was an idiot because he turned on his heel in all of his haughty teenaged angst and started to walk in the opposite direction, which was also the opposite direction of his house, leaving Jinki behind him.
He didn’t see the crestfallen look on the older boy’s face, but he heard that engine roar before Jinki took off in the same direction as Taemin’s house.
--
Taemin wasn’t normally an unhappy kid. He didn’t have any friends, being a freshman in college and having moved to this new city just before school started, but that didn’t bother him, it was just… hard. No one in his old town wanted to date him but apparently dying his hair and cutting it had been the trick because here people were wanting to date him - it was like since Lee Jinki took notice of him, so did the rest of the student body, and now they were tripping over themselves around Lee Taemin.
Literally.
He stepped over the fallen girl carefully, keeping his books held tight to his chest as she sobbed and crawled after him, tugging on the bottom of his pant leg, her big teary eyes looking up at him and gross, snot was dripping down to her upper lip. He shook his leg in an attempt to get her off but she howled and wrapped her arms around his calf and Taemin stumbled a bit, his books falling and as he sailed forward he prepared to make friends with the concrete -
But it never happened.
Instead, warm arms encircled him, strong, sturdy arms and Taemin blinked up to see Jinki with a scowl on his face and… well that was weird, usually Jinki was smiling. His lips were moving and Taemin finally realized what he was saying and why he was scowling, as his gaze drifted down to the girl whose face was being nudged away from Taemin’s leg by Jinki’s foot none too nicely.
“…crazy fangirl he’s not a celebrity, he’s just a kid, you’re going to break his leg…”
Taemin shook his leg, his foot knocking into the girl’s face next to Jinki’s and she let out a yelp not unlike a wounded dog before she scampered off down the hallway and around the corner.
Blinking, wide-eyed with his jaw slightly agape, Taemin made a noncommittal sound.
“Huh, that was weird.”
He turned to thank Jinki for saving him, but the man was gone, and Taemin clenched his teeth and wrinkled his nose.
“God damn it either love me or stay the fuck away from me!”
“TAEMINNIE, NUNA LOVES YOU!!!!!” a chorus of female voices cried out, and Taemin rolled his eyes before he ducked into his math classroom, away from the hoards and finding solace in his seat.
Well… it was solace until his female professor decided to ask him if he wanted to participate in an ‘extra credit lesson’ after class since he had a rather low grade.
He opted to do it online.
--
The look on Jinki’s face was priceless, when Taemin grabbed him by the collar of that stupid, studded denim vest and slammed him up into a row of lockers. His squinty eyes were widened in slight fear and Taemin’s knuckles were turning white with his death grip on the man’s clothing, teeth bared in a snarl and Jinki reached up to grip the younger’s dainty wrists lightly with his thick fingers.
“W-What did I do?”
“You don’t even know my name!” Taemin hissed, jerking Jinki with surprising strength, ramming Jinki’s back into the lockers again. “You don’t know my name, you tell me you want to love me, and then all of a sudden the whole fucking university wants to date me and then you just turn your back on me and get all aloof and shit and if you wanted to fucking love me then you should stick to your word!”
Jinki blinked a few times, before he easily removed Taemin’s hands from his collar with the jaws of life that were his bulging biceps and strong fingers. They were both silent for a few moments - well, as silent as could be with Taemin heaving in breaths through his mouth and out his nose and Jinki chuckling softly.
“You’re perfect.”
“What does that even mean?” Taemin whined, slumping and resting his forehead on Jinki’s chest, his wrists still being held by Jinki’s fingers.
“It means what I said,” Jinki said cryptically, and Taemin scrunched up his nose and pouted and whined some more and rubbed his forehead all over Jinki’s chest, making pathetic noises before Jinki grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back so he could look the younger in the eye. “It means you’re perfect. And I love you.”
Frustrated tears welled in Taemin’s eyes, “You don’t even know me.”
“I know you’re that cute blond kid that sits alone at lunch and crams for his next exam at the last minute,” Jinki started, letting go of Taemin’s shoulders. “I know you’re the transfer student that doesn’t talk to anyone or hang out with anyone. I know you’re insecure about anyone liking you because you think everyone’s only noticing you because you cut your hair and colored it.”
Taemin’s heart stuttered a bit, “How…?”
Jinki’s eyes squinted with his stupid smile, “And I know we have the last name!”
Taemin shoved Jinki back into the lockers and stalked off to dance practice.
He missed the way Jinki’s face fell into a pout as he mumbled “… I thought it was cool…”
--
“If anything, having the same last name would make you two like, distant cousins or something, right? Gross, incest.”
Taemin thunked his head on the surface of the table in the library he was sitting at, groaning inaudibly as he tugged at his hair. Kibum, the resident student librarian, was sitting next to Taemin, listening to the freshman’s story as he filed his nails and tried to satiate his need for the latest gossip. They weren’t friends… but Kibum was a good hyung and he was the first person to talk to Taemin when he transferred to this college.
Well… he didn’t talk so much as scold him for wearing a beanie with a t-shirt, saying that beanies should only be worn either in the winter time or with winter-slash-fall style clothing.
They weren’t best friends but they weren’t strangers and Kibum was kind enough to listen to Taemin’s tale of Lee Jinki for the past ten minutes, and as Taemin seemed to be defeated Kibum rubbed his back soothingly, reminding the youth of how his mother used to comfort him.
“Now, now, Taemin. Incest is being frowned upon less and less nowadays.”
Taemin whimpered.
“I’m just kidding,” Kibum rolled his eyes and set down the nail file, forcing Taemin up by his shoulders, giving him a good shake. “Snap out of it. Jinki is like, way hot, ok? Go for it or just snub him out completely so someone else can have a chance at him.”
Taemin whined, “But I DID reject him!”
“Did you really?” Kibum asked, arching a fine brow, before he picked up his nail file and sauntered away from the table towards the desk where a tall, big-eyed kid was holding a rather giant soccer biography, the two of them getting into a conversation as Taemin stared after the librarian.
“… I DID reject him!”
“SHHHHHHHHHH!”
Taemin grabbed his shit and stomped out of the library, slamming the door, causing another chorus of hushes to follow him.
“YOUR SHUSHING IS LOUDER THAN MY STOMPING OR YELLING, YOU FUCKS.”
--
Today Taemin decided to eat lunch outside in the hopes that he’d be able to avoid Jinki. So far so good - he was enjoying a cup of yogurt as he flipped through his biology text book, using his cheat notes to read only what he needed to and nothing more.
Well… so far, so good, until he felt the creepy crawlies give his skin goosebumps and make his hair stand on end.
“AIEEE!!!!”
Taemin scrambled, throwing his books aside and leaping up off of the grass, his hand coming down to swat the ant off of his ankle. His skin was hot from embarrassment immediately because yeah… a guy freaking out on the lawn about a tiny little bug crawling on him was kind of pathetic but good God it scared him!
The ant scurried away in its innocent glory and Taemin slumped, sitting back down where he had been and tugging his pant legs down to cover his ankles. He picked up his books again and started reading once more but it only took about three seconds for him to register something… crawling up his back!?
Taemin shrieked even louder than before as he made to jump up, but arms encircled his waist and kept him in place as he tried to get away. Stunned by the fact someone wasn’t going to let him get away from a gross creepy crawly bug and the fact that whoever was holding him had really nice arms and a strong chest, Taemin yelped and threw his elbow backwards, met with a surprised choking sound and rewarded with those arms letting him go.
When he stood, he regretted it.
Jinki lay on his side, hair askew as his hand pressed against his ribcage, obviously trying to quell the pain of a bruised bone or internal injury or something. Taemin dropped to his knees and reached out, hands hovering, not sure if he should touch the older man.
“Omo, I’m - I’m so sorry hyung, I didn’t mean to, I just really hate-”
“Hyung?”
Taemin’s apology was cut short by Jinki’s blinding smile.
The youth blinked.
“You called me hyung.”
Taemin blushed so dark he felt himself get light headed.
Jinki sat up and dusted off his shirt, suddenly cured from whatever pain he had been feeling just seconds before. He reached out and, to Taemin’s horror, ruffled the blond locks before he stood up and started to walk away with an extra bounce in his step.
Taemin missed Jinki tripping on air and toppling over into a garbage can because he was too busy trying to forget how warm and secure he had briefly felt in the older man’s embrace, rubbing his arms and mumbling to himself that Jinki had just almost tried to murder him by keeping him pinned to an ant nest
He also missed Kibum helping Jinki out of the garbage can and whispering mysteriously into his ear.
--
Taemin was at his bus stop again, caught in the rain. Well he had been caught in the sudden down pour that happened out of nowhere on a perfectly sunny day, and then he ducked into the covered bench, trying to ignore the way the guy next to him sort of smelled like a mix of mustard and onions, the blond tugging his hoodie up over his slightly damp hair.
The bus came and he let everyone on before him but when he got up to the door the driver held up a hand and stopped Taemin from advancing, announcing that the bus was full and Taemin would have to wait for the next round.
Taemin blinked.
“Can buses even be over-capacity!?”
Apparently they could because Taemin was sent back out into the rain, his cheeks full of air, annoyance written on his features as the bus rumbled away, nice enough to kick up a puddle and splash onto Taemin’s jeans. The rain seemed to pour a bit harder and Taemin was getting soaked through, and just as a frustrated growl was rumbling low in his chest, the rain suddenly stopped, and he glanced up only to see a bright yellow canvas above his head with little white bunnies printed onto it.
Holding onto the umbrella was none other than Lee Jinki, and the growl that had been rumbling finally came out.
Jinki blinked, shocked by the noise, and then offered his mega-watt smile that made Taemin briefly forget that today was all muggy and grey.
“Can I walk you home?”
“No!”
Taemin made to stomp away, and when he turned around, he was exasperated to see Jinki following him.
“Can’t you get the hint?!”
“But…” Jinki’s face almost fell, and Taemin almost felt bad. “I live in this direction.”
The blond wrinkled his nose to try and hide his embarrassment, as he turned around and folded his soggy arms over his soggy chest, huffing.
“Fine.”
Jinki was next to him in a half a second, holding the umbrella over them both once again as they started to walk towards Taemin’s neighborhood.
“Do you want my jacket?” Jinki offered, making to unbutton his dry pea coat.
Taemin shook his head, “I’m fine.”
“It’s cold,” Jinki persisted, and Taemin shot him a glare, which melted into a giggle when he saw the earnest, concerned look in the older man’s eyes.
“I’m fine, I live close.”
“I know.”
Taemin stumbled a bit, giving a few extra inches between himself and Jinki as he arched a suspicious brow at the other man.
“How do you know?”
Jinki tilted his head, “We’re neighbors.”
“… What.”
Sure enough, as they turned the corner onto Taemin’s street and walked down a few houses, Jinki stopped in front of the house right next to the blond’s and pointed at his motorcycle, covered by a fancy tarp in the driveway.
“I live next door to you. You never noticed?” Jinki asked, and the way he was talking made it seem like it was common knowledge that they lived next to each other.
Taemin shoved Jinki in the shoulder lightly, “Of course I didn’t notice, I wouldn’t have asked.”
Jinki smiled.
Taemin actually found himself smiling back. He didn’t know what caused it, he didn’t know why he was smiling when in actuality he felt bad that he hadn’t noticed his neighbor before. But he was smiling back and Jinki’s smile brightened and Taemin’s smiled brightened and the moment of smiles just turned into a moment of retards grinning at each other in the middle of a down pour and just as swiftly as Taemin noticed he was smiling so much his cheeks hurt, Jinki leaned down and kissed one of those slightly rosy cheeks before pulling back and waving, heading up his driveway into his house.
Taemin’s cheeks were rosy from the cold, he told himself, as he walked into his house to change into some dry clothes.
His cheeks were rosy from the cold, he told himself, an hour later as he cuddled up in some very warm blankets on the couch and watched an old romance movie.
--
With the knowledge that Jinki was his neighbor, and the fact that Taemin now was aware of this knowledge, Jinki was exercising said knowledge by making a point of ruining Taemin’s personal life.
Alright he wasn’t ruining it but standing on Taemin’s door step in a frilly apron with a tray of freshly baked cookies shaped like little bunny heads…
It was just weird, ok?
But Taemin loved cookies, he loved home made sweets, and Jinki had just opened a Pandora’s box as Taemin ushered Jinki inside and brought him into the kitchen. Jinki set the tray on the counter by the stove and Taemin opened up the fridge to get some milk to go with the treats, turning around and putting the gallon jug on the floating island counter in the middle of the kitchen.
“Your parents are gone a lot,” Jinki commented, and Taemin figured the older would mention something about his parents being gone, seeing as how the house was deathly silent and no cars were in the driveway.
“They like to vacation when the weather gets bad,” Taemin said, shrugging as he moved to the cabinet to grab two glasses.
The frown was evident in Jinki’s voice, “Should they leave you alone so often?”
Taemin wanted to rebuke with something long the lines of ‘I don’t need a babysitter’ but he could only concentrate on how different Jinki sounded when his lips weren’t turned upright, when they weren’t pulling at the corners with a smile, when you couldn’t see in your mind’s eye that his eyes were so squinty with his constant happiness that you couldn’t even tell what color they were.
“Your voice doesn’t sound as nice when you frown.”
That… was not what Taemin had wanted to say at all.
And when he glanced up to see a slightly shocked Jinki, Taemin blushed furiously, pouring the milk and handing the older man his glass without a word.
But that was the day Taemin’s final wall broke down.
--
Over the following weeks, with Taemin’s walls crumbled, he reverted back to how he was before he became a reclusive angsty teen living in a new town and attending a new school. It helped that Taemin and Kibum had gotten marginally closer, the librarian having developed some twisted motherly affection for the blond. It helped that Minho, who was the tall mysterious guy that Kibum had been hanging on lately, sort of fell into the older brother role. It helped that Jinki stopped trying so hard and was just being himself.
What didn’t help, was the guy sitting next to Taemin in his biology lesson, blatantly staring at the freshman with hungry puppy eyes.
The Taemin from a few weeks ago would have been snarky and asked what the guys’ problem was, but the original meek and easily pressured Taemin crumbled slightly, shifting his papers away from the guy he shared a desk with, as well as scooted his chair a bit.
The guy scooted closer.
“Hey, are you any good at biology?” the guy asked, just as the professor handed back their tests.
A big fat D was circled at the top of Taemin’s paper, and he gave the brunet an even, dead stare.
“It’s my best subject.”
The guy rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, finally giving Taemin space, clucking his tongue and looking at his C on his own paper.
“I need at least a B…”
“There’s tutor sessions for stuff like that,” Taemin said, trying to dismiss the topic of conversation, and any conversation therein.
“Yeah but all the chicks are ugly. You can’t help me?”
Taemin glanced over, meekness erased and replaced with mild irritation and bewilderment.
“Why would you want my help?”
“Because you’re not an ugly chick.”
Taemin bristled, “You’re only going to be tutored by attractive people?”
“Attractive chicks,” the guy nodded.
Taemin counted backwards from one hundred.
He reached ninety-five when he noticed the guys’ gaze drop to his chest.
“MY EYES ARE UP HERE!” Taemin screeched, shoving the older boy’s shoulder before he gathered his stuff and stood up, holding his books to his chest as he hastily scrambled out of their row of desks.
“WAIT!” the guy wailed. “ I NEED A HOT CHICK TO TUTOR ME!”
“I AM A BOY!!”
--
In the library, Taemin and his new friends were all seated at a table, listening to the blond complain about the idiot in his biology class and how he thought cutting his hair would relieve some of the ‘you’re so pretty you could be a girl!’ comments. Kibum listened as well as he could with Minho’s hand not-so-subtly creeping up his thigh, Minho always had that impassive expression on his face, and Jinki, who had just finished practice for his musical, was still dressed in his rocker garb as he listened with a very concerned expression.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Jinki offered, glancing to the library door as if he was debating searching out this guy and giving him a stern talking to.
That thought made Taemin snort and giggle, and he waved a hand, “Ah, no. I’ll just sit somewhere else tomorrow… and he looked pretty horrified when I said I was a boy so maybe he won’t bother me anymore.”
Jinki still looked like he was ready to take action, in his denim vest and leather gloves and tight pants and combat boots, and without thinking Taemin reached out to wrap skinny fingers halfway around the older man’s bicep.
“It’s alright,” Taemin offered a small smile. “He’s an idiot anyway.”
“Sounds like that loser Jonghyun,” Kibum finally spoke up, his chin resting in his hand as he took his gaze away from Minho and arched a brow at Taemin. “Was he short and had a permanent derpy expression on his face?”
“Derpy?” Jinki asked.
“Yeah,” Taemin said, snapping his fingers. “With brown hair and a bean nostril?”
Kibum nodded and rolled his eyes, “Ugh for Halloween last year I crossdressed and he could NOT keep his hands off of me. Found out I was a dude and he avoids me like the plague.”
Minho frowned and leaned over to nibble at Kibum’s earlobe and whisper something to him. Taemin watched them curiously, while Jinki whined and tugged on Taemin’s sweater.
“What does ‘derpy’ mean?”
“It’s that look you give me when I call you hyung,” Taemin said airily, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder, waving to his friends before he headed off to his next class.
He missed the way Jinki stared after him, he missed his eyes lingering on his ass, but he heard the yelp Jinki let out as a result of Kibum smacking him upside the head.
part two