Up & Down
Title: Up & Down
Pairing: Minho/Key (Gwiboon)
Rating: NC-17 (overall)
Length: 1/9
Summary: Gwiboon is having a horrible day. It’s snowing (she hates snow), it’s cold (she hates the cold), and she forgot her scraper for her frozen block of ice that is posing as a car. When a handsome stranger saves her sanity (and her designer boots), she starts to question everything she knows.
Stuck in the dingier part of town, Gwiboon was uncomfortable. Designer boots were out of place on the cracked pavement, parts of the sidewalk bare of snow where canopies covered doorways and shop windows. Bundled up to her nose, she exited the building she was interning at and started the three-block trek to her car. Work wouldn’t give her a parking pass since she wasn’t a paid employee yet, but they let her know about a safe alley nearby. Safe as it was, in the cold weather Gwiboon wished she would have risked her cars’ hubcaps just for a shorter walk.
Wrapping her scarf around her chin to cover her mouth, she made her way to her car, which was covered in a good six inches of snow. Cursing under her breath, she used a gloved hand to brush off the door handle, unlocking it and carefully pulling it open a few inches. Sliding her purse off her shoulder and into the passenger seat, she reached further to try and grab the ice scraper that she had put on the center console.
Well, that’s where she thought it was.
Shifting to peek through the crack in the door, trying not to get any snow in her car or on herself, she didn’t see the scraper anywhere. Or the brush.
“Damn it,” Gwiboon whined and straightened, kicking the wheel of the car.
At this rate her boots were going to soak through - they were Gucci, not Carhartt. Resigning herself to her fate, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at her buried car. There was no way she was going to use her arm to brush off the snow, she’d freeze with a soaked jacket arm and wouldn’t even get warm since the heater in her car went out last week.
She kicked the wheel again for good measure, huffing and whining.
“My curls are going to flatten!”
--
The music was low in the car as Minho tapped his thumbs idly on the wheel, barely listening to the music so much as using it as background. Tonight had been a rather rough practice, Minho’s coach drilling him a bit harder than usual about how sloppy his footwork was getting. Indoor soccer wasn’t as big of a deal as outdoor for Minho, but the coach’s words still stung and his pride had taken a blow as the other team mates found relish in their captain’s scolding. Instead of listening to the music, Minho was running over plays in his head, seeing his footwork in his mind’s eye and playing it over and over again, trying to figure out what was sloppy about it.
Distraction came, though, when a construction detour in the street forced Minho to go down a small alley he had never driven on before. Paying attention to the surroundings now, he noticed one other car in the alley, and what he assumed was its owner standing on the sidewalk. He could tell it was a girl, and he could tell she was distressed; if her holding a phone up to her ear and making wild hand gestures was anything to go by.
Slowing down, he put his car in park and let the engine idle as he opened his door and got out. A snowflake landed on his nose, the bitter cold of the evening far from his mind as he focused on what the girl was saying.
“I don’t care if you’re fucking, can’t you just come down here please?” she didn’t sound happy at all, with her back turned to Minho. Anger was radiating off her frame and Minho guessed she was locked out of her car, with how desperately she was begging the person on the other end of the phone. “Fuck, fine! I hope you get her pregnant!” her phone snapped shut and she whirled around, Minho halting in his approach as he took in her features.
Porcelain skin was flushed from the cold and feline eyes were glittering with unmasked surprise, the scarf over her mouth falling a bit to reveal rosy lips. Her wavy brown hair was pulled to the side in a low ponytail, a knitted cap on her head and very fashionable attire adorning the rest of her frame.
“What,” she snapped, breaking Minho out of his trance.
“Do you need help?” he asked, motioning to her car.
Reluctant as she looked to even let a stranger help (smart girl, Minho amended), she nodded as she pocketed her phone.
“I don’t have my scraper or my brush,” she said, sounding like a kicked puppy as she stared forlornly at her car.
“…” Minho couldn’t help it, but he let out a few soft chuckles. That was it? “Just brush the snow off with your hand, you’ll be fine.”
She fumed, doing a complete one-hundred-eighty degree flip in personality, “Excuse you? Brush it off with my hand? Does this look like snow-friendly clothing to you?” She waved her arms around as if to prove her point.
They looked like normal clothes to Minho.
“Men are so dense, no wonder I can’t get any help!” she rattled on, huffing and starting to rant about her brother and about dumb men in general.
Turning around, Minho went back to his idling car and opened up the backdoor, procuring his scraper brush. Walking over to the girl’s car, he took his time in brushing off all of the snow from the windows, and even went so far as to scrape off the thin layer of ice that could easily be melted if she ran the defrost and used her wipers. Her rambling faded and then stopped altogether as she quietly watched him, and he smiled as he tossed the scraper brush over to her.
Surprised, she caught it with a small squeak.
“Now you don’t have to worry,” Minho said as he walked back to his car and got inside, shutting his door and putting it in gear before slowly pulling away.
In the rearview mirror he caught sight of her shaking the scraper brush angrily, and he couldn’t help but think she looked rather cute when she frowned.
--
“You look like you got hit by a truck.”
The response to Jonghyun’s greeting was a Louis Vuitton purse to the face, and he let out a surprised yelp as he tried (and failed) to dodge. He picked up the purse and put it down on the coffee table, watching as Gwiboon haughtily stepped out of her boots and started to unwrap her many layers of clothing.
“Was it really that bad?” Jonghyun asked, leaning back and putting an arm around his girlfriend, who was looking at Gwiboon with a rather worried expression.
“It was,” Gwiboon sniffed, throwing her scarf at Jonghyun as well. “Some stranger stopped by to help me because my own brother was too busy trying to get it in.”
Jonghyun’s girlfriend, Eunsook, squeaked and buried her face in her hands, apologizing profusely. Jonghyun just rolled his eyes and smirked.
“A handsome stranger?”
“Do you live in a fairy tale world or something?” Gwiboon snapped as she moved into the kitchen, putting a pot of water on the stove to start boiling water. Venomous as her words were, she couldn’t help but reflect on the (incredibly) handsome stranger that had stopped to help her. He had been so nice, too. But not nice nice, more like jackass nice. He had mocked her, then helped her, then mocked her again and left her with a parting gift.
Definitely a jackass.
Slamming a mug down on the counter, she took in a shuddery breath and tried to let it out as evenly as possible. Feeling someone entering the kitchen, she glanced up to see Eunsook hovering by the opposite counter, fidgeting with her thumbs.
“Unnie,” Gwiboon gave a faint smile, a soft gesture that she usually reserved for Eunsook, who was the closest thing to a sister Gwiboon had ever had.
“I tried to tell him to go help you,” Eunsook mumbled softly, staring down at the floor.
Tilting Eunsook’s chin up, Gwiboon smiled. “I’m glad he didn’t,” she said, a twinkle in her eyes that caught the older girls’ attention. “The most attractive guy stopped to help me.”
Eunsook brightened, taking Gwiboon’s hands, “Really? Omo, what’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” Gwiboon sighed and let go of the older girls’ hands, turning around to start gathering her tea leaves. “He left me his scraper, though…”
Squealing, Eunsook wrapped her arms from Gwiboon’s waist from behind, bouncing up and down in excitement, “That’s so romantic! Do you think you’ll see him again?”
“Maybe, usually people don’t go down that alley unless they’re familiar with that area,” Gwiboon shrugged as Eunsook let go of her to lean against the counter. Pouring the hot liquid into her mug, she arranged the tea leaves in her favorite strainer and inhaled. “But he was kind of a jerk.”
Raven tresses brushed the counter as Eunsook tilted her head, “But he helped you, he couldn’t be that bad.”
Gwiboon snorted, “He thought I was a sissy because I wouldn’t just use my arm to brush off my car.”
“… Why didn’t you?” Eunsook asked, eyes wide.
Gwiboon sniffed and turned her nose up, “You’re missing the point of my story, unnie.”
“Ah,” Eunsook fell quiet, grabbing the honey for Gwiboon when asked to. Her smile brightened, the kind of smile she always got when her innocent mind supplied her with naïve ideas. “I’m sure you’ll meet again!”
Chuckling, Gwiboon shrugged and stirred her tea before taking a sip. “Maybe.”
Bidding her brother and Eunsook goodnight, Gwiboon disappeared into her room and set her mug down on her bedside table while pulling back the covers on her mattress. Today had been stressful enough as is, and even though that guy had been kind of a jerk, he still seemed pretty nice. Right?
Lying down on her back, she turned her head to look out of the window into the grey sky, watching as fat, wet snowflakes fell down to the earth. A soft smile graced her lips as the scent of her strong tea filled the room, lulling her into a relaxed state, and the last thought on her mind before she drifted off was indeed if she would ever see that guy again.
--
At the same time, on the other side of town, Minho was settling into bed after a shower to wash all of the dirt, grime and sweat off of his body from a hard day of sports. Clad in only his boxers, the sheets didn’t get past his hips as he laced his fingers behind his neck and stared out of the window to watch the snow fall, briefly wondering if it was ever going to end.
His mind drifted to the girl in the alley, the one he had helped. She was really a piece of work, he decided, as he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.
And still, as he fell asleep with the aid of the day’s exhaustion, he couldn’t help but wonder if she parked in that alley every day. He might want his scraper back.
[ Next]
Pairing: Minho/Key (Gwiboon)
Rating: NC-17 (overall)
Length: 1/9
Summary: Gwiboon is having a horrible day. It’s snowing (she hates snow), it’s cold (she hates the cold), and she forgot her scraper for her frozen block of ice that is posing as a car. When a handsome stranger saves her sanity (and her designer boots), she starts to question everything she knows.
Stuck in the dingier part of town, Gwiboon was uncomfortable. Designer boots were out of place on the cracked pavement, parts of the sidewalk bare of snow where canopies covered doorways and shop windows. Bundled up to her nose, she exited the building she was interning at and started the three-block trek to her car. Work wouldn’t give her a parking pass since she wasn’t a paid employee yet, but they let her know about a safe alley nearby. Safe as it was, in the cold weather Gwiboon wished she would have risked her cars’ hubcaps just for a shorter walk.
Wrapping her scarf around her chin to cover her mouth, she made her way to her car, which was covered in a good six inches of snow. Cursing under her breath, she used a gloved hand to brush off the door handle, unlocking it and carefully pulling it open a few inches. Sliding her purse off her shoulder and into the passenger seat, she reached further to try and grab the ice scraper that she had put on the center console.
Well, that’s where she thought it was.
Shifting to peek through the crack in the door, trying not to get any snow in her car or on herself, she didn’t see the scraper anywhere. Or the brush.
“Damn it,” Gwiboon whined and straightened, kicking the wheel of the car.
At this rate her boots were going to soak through - they were Gucci, not Carhartt. Resigning herself to her fate, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at her buried car. There was no way she was going to use her arm to brush off the snow, she’d freeze with a soaked jacket arm and wouldn’t even get warm since the heater in her car went out last week.
She kicked the wheel again for good measure, huffing and whining.
“My curls are going to flatten!”
--
The music was low in the car as Minho tapped his thumbs idly on the wheel, barely listening to the music so much as using it as background. Tonight had been a rather rough practice, Minho’s coach drilling him a bit harder than usual about how sloppy his footwork was getting. Indoor soccer wasn’t as big of a deal as outdoor for Minho, but the coach’s words still stung and his pride had taken a blow as the other team mates found relish in their captain’s scolding. Instead of listening to the music, Minho was running over plays in his head, seeing his footwork in his mind’s eye and playing it over and over again, trying to figure out what was sloppy about it.
Distraction came, though, when a construction detour in the street forced Minho to go down a small alley he had never driven on before. Paying attention to the surroundings now, he noticed one other car in the alley, and what he assumed was its owner standing on the sidewalk. He could tell it was a girl, and he could tell she was distressed; if her holding a phone up to her ear and making wild hand gestures was anything to go by.
Slowing down, he put his car in park and let the engine idle as he opened his door and got out. A snowflake landed on his nose, the bitter cold of the evening far from his mind as he focused on what the girl was saying.
“I don’t care if you’re fucking, can’t you just come down here please?” she didn’t sound happy at all, with her back turned to Minho. Anger was radiating off her frame and Minho guessed she was locked out of her car, with how desperately she was begging the person on the other end of the phone. “Fuck, fine! I hope you get her pregnant!” her phone snapped shut and she whirled around, Minho halting in his approach as he took in her features.
Porcelain skin was flushed from the cold and feline eyes were glittering with unmasked surprise, the scarf over her mouth falling a bit to reveal rosy lips. Her wavy brown hair was pulled to the side in a low ponytail, a knitted cap on her head and very fashionable attire adorning the rest of her frame.
“What,” she snapped, breaking Minho out of his trance.
“Do you need help?” he asked, motioning to her car.
Reluctant as she looked to even let a stranger help (smart girl, Minho amended), she nodded as she pocketed her phone.
“I don’t have my scraper or my brush,” she said, sounding like a kicked puppy as she stared forlornly at her car.
“…” Minho couldn’t help it, but he let out a few soft chuckles. That was it? “Just brush the snow off with your hand, you’ll be fine.”
She fumed, doing a complete one-hundred-eighty degree flip in personality, “Excuse you? Brush it off with my hand? Does this look like snow-friendly clothing to you?” She waved her arms around as if to prove her point.
They looked like normal clothes to Minho.
“Men are so dense, no wonder I can’t get any help!” she rattled on, huffing and starting to rant about her brother and about dumb men in general.
Turning around, Minho went back to his idling car and opened up the backdoor, procuring his scraper brush. Walking over to the girl’s car, he took his time in brushing off all of the snow from the windows, and even went so far as to scrape off the thin layer of ice that could easily be melted if she ran the defrost and used her wipers. Her rambling faded and then stopped altogether as she quietly watched him, and he smiled as he tossed the scraper brush over to her.
Surprised, she caught it with a small squeak.
“Now you don’t have to worry,” Minho said as he walked back to his car and got inside, shutting his door and putting it in gear before slowly pulling away.
In the rearview mirror he caught sight of her shaking the scraper brush angrily, and he couldn’t help but think she looked rather cute when she frowned.
--
“You look like you got hit by a truck.”
The response to Jonghyun’s greeting was a Louis Vuitton purse to the face, and he let out a surprised yelp as he tried (and failed) to dodge. He picked up the purse and put it down on the coffee table, watching as Gwiboon haughtily stepped out of her boots and started to unwrap her many layers of clothing.
“Was it really that bad?” Jonghyun asked, leaning back and putting an arm around his girlfriend, who was looking at Gwiboon with a rather worried expression.
“It was,” Gwiboon sniffed, throwing her scarf at Jonghyun as well. “Some stranger stopped by to help me because my own brother was too busy trying to get it in.”
Jonghyun’s girlfriend, Eunsook, squeaked and buried her face in her hands, apologizing profusely. Jonghyun just rolled his eyes and smirked.
“A handsome stranger?”
“Do you live in a fairy tale world or something?” Gwiboon snapped as she moved into the kitchen, putting a pot of water on the stove to start boiling water. Venomous as her words were, she couldn’t help but reflect on the (incredibly) handsome stranger that had stopped to help her. He had been so nice, too. But not nice nice, more like jackass nice. He had mocked her, then helped her, then mocked her again and left her with a parting gift.
Definitely a jackass.
Slamming a mug down on the counter, she took in a shuddery breath and tried to let it out as evenly as possible. Feeling someone entering the kitchen, she glanced up to see Eunsook hovering by the opposite counter, fidgeting with her thumbs.
“Unnie,” Gwiboon gave a faint smile, a soft gesture that she usually reserved for Eunsook, who was the closest thing to a sister Gwiboon had ever had.
“I tried to tell him to go help you,” Eunsook mumbled softly, staring down at the floor.
Tilting Eunsook’s chin up, Gwiboon smiled. “I’m glad he didn’t,” she said, a twinkle in her eyes that caught the older girls’ attention. “The most attractive guy stopped to help me.”
Eunsook brightened, taking Gwiboon’s hands, “Really? Omo, what’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” Gwiboon sighed and let go of the older girls’ hands, turning around to start gathering her tea leaves. “He left me his scraper, though…”
Squealing, Eunsook wrapped her arms from Gwiboon’s waist from behind, bouncing up and down in excitement, “That’s so romantic! Do you think you’ll see him again?”
“Maybe, usually people don’t go down that alley unless they’re familiar with that area,” Gwiboon shrugged as Eunsook let go of her to lean against the counter. Pouring the hot liquid into her mug, she arranged the tea leaves in her favorite strainer and inhaled. “But he was kind of a jerk.”
Raven tresses brushed the counter as Eunsook tilted her head, “But he helped you, he couldn’t be that bad.”
Gwiboon snorted, “He thought I was a sissy because I wouldn’t just use my arm to brush off my car.”
“… Why didn’t you?” Eunsook asked, eyes wide.
Gwiboon sniffed and turned her nose up, “You’re missing the point of my story, unnie.”
“Ah,” Eunsook fell quiet, grabbing the honey for Gwiboon when asked to. Her smile brightened, the kind of smile she always got when her innocent mind supplied her with naïve ideas. “I’m sure you’ll meet again!”
Chuckling, Gwiboon shrugged and stirred her tea before taking a sip. “Maybe.”
Bidding her brother and Eunsook goodnight, Gwiboon disappeared into her room and set her mug down on her bedside table while pulling back the covers on her mattress. Today had been stressful enough as is, and even though that guy had been kind of a jerk, he still seemed pretty nice. Right?
Lying down on her back, she turned her head to look out of the window into the grey sky, watching as fat, wet snowflakes fell down to the earth. A soft smile graced her lips as the scent of her strong tea filled the room, lulling her into a relaxed state, and the last thought on her mind before she drifted off was indeed if she would ever see that guy again.
--
At the same time, on the other side of town, Minho was settling into bed after a shower to wash all of the dirt, grime and sweat off of his body from a hard day of sports. Clad in only his boxers, the sheets didn’t get past his hips as he laced his fingers behind his neck and stared out of the window to watch the snow fall, briefly wondering if it was ever going to end.
His mind drifted to the girl in the alley, the one he had helped. She was really a piece of work, he decided, as he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.
And still, as he fell asleep with the aid of the day’s exhaustion, he couldn’t help but wonder if she parked in that alley every day. He might want his scraper back.
[ Next]