Strictly Business

Photo Freeze

Jiyong's POV

I instinctively reach up to touch my lips at the memory. Sometimes I wonder how people, such as myself, can be so naive to things that must have been hinted at for much too long. Everyone needs to go through that young and stupid phase once in their life don't they? We make mistakes, we are only human. This is just one of the few things I don't find myself regretting.

**************************************

Age 12

Jiyong's POV

"Hyungseung!" 

The short black haired boy turned at the call of his name. Eyes still dawning that same frightened puppy expression which immediately turned into a warm eye smile as they landed on me and my 4 friends each holding a different flavored smoothie. Me; being the one who called him to attention in the first place, waved hysterically to the old friend so he'd come over.

Abandoning his spot next to the foot court washroom, he gave us all a non-over-the-top man hug which I quickly interrupted with a light ruffle to the hair.

"Hey! Long time no see ever since you've switched schools. I didn't know you were in town!" I blurted out with giddy energy, it was good to see one of my first friends again. He nodded before scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, I just came to hang out with my girlfriend is all."

The 5 of us stood wide-eyed at the forbidden word that just left Hyungseung's mouth. Isn't it a little... early? What happened to all the cootie talk just a couple years ago?

"Aren't we a little young?" Youngbae voiced my silent opinion. Turning to see Hyungseung's a reaction, he only shook his head. "Back home, everyone is dating already."

I tried to imagine it, girls and boys holding hands together as they acted like in all those dramas my mom loves to watch every night. I shuddered at the thought. Does that mean Hyungseung started out hating the girl too? So cliche.

"Where is she then?" Daesung asked, taking a long and noisy slurp from his banana shake. The other pointed towards the bathroom entrance. "I was waiting for her." He explained, eyes suddenly flashing wickedly. "And guess what?"

We all leaned in to anticipate what he had to say next, only to be shocked my his answer.

"Just now, we had our first kiss!" Hyungseung clapped his hands together like a little school girl. I wasted his joy by gaping at him, and it seems that the others were doing the same. Noticing our lack of a response, he pouted and crossed his arms.

"Oh come oh, as if you guys have never kissed someone before" He said doubtingly. When I was about to state otherwise, I saw the 4 agree with his proclamation. What was this, did they have a whole 'nother life that I didn't know about? Apparently so.

A girl walking up to the crowd basically brought closure to the debate. Introductions were made as we exchanged small talk with Hyungseung's girlfriend. Allowing the pair to enjoy their alone time once more, we soon ditched the mall for my spacious back yard. Joking heartenedly about our encounter with Hyungseung as Seungri droned on about his envy, the 5 of us laid in a small circle letting the sun bathe down on our content faces.

"I was just wondering..." I started, about to express something that has been eating at the back of my mind, "When you guys had your first kisses..." I distracted myself with finishing up my apple flavored drink as I waited for their reply. Daesung was the first to speak up.

"Well, this is kind of embarrassing, but mine was with my babysitter" before we can go all vomit on him, he held his hands up in defense. "She was really REALLY pretty..."

It didn't stop us from killing ourselves with gaging noises as he attempted to lift the distress from his features.  "I bet you begged!" Seungri sang as he continued to roll on the grass. More blush appeared on Daesung's face indicating that he probably did, only encouraging our spirits further. 

Youngbae to the rescue, managed to quit laughing just enough to be able to speak properly. "It's okay Daesung, mine was a lot worse." Successfully tearing our attention away from the reddening boy, we opened our ears for what Youngbae had to share next.

"My first kiss was with my cousin..." He began, trying to increase the volume of his voice to make it sound less pathetic. "We just finished watching a romance film on people getting married, and I guess we kind of wanted to... Imitate?" Cue laughter and insults galore as he burrowed his face deep into the soil probably regretting saving Daesung.

"Isn't that considered ?" I had to comment, the rest of them followed with more interbreeding jokes; Seunghyun being the loudest. Taking the moment to push the teasing elsewhere, Youngbae quickly shot out: "What was your first kiss like then Seunghyun?"

Another story to tell, we quiet down for him to talk. "It was rather recent actually," Seunghyun said coolly. Maybe his wasn't as bad as the others. "High shcool is unlike innocent elementary, there is a whole different world there then right now."

"Well?" Daesung rather anxiously pushed, realizing how antsy he was acting and relaxed himself. Twitching an eyebrow upwards, Seunghyun send him a long, wary stare before advancing.

"It was a game of 'kiss me in the closet', the first one I've ever attended myself. Someone by some means got me into the dresser with a random girl I barely knew. They threatened to lock us in there forever if we didn't kiss, so we just did." He said nonchalantly, but sometimes beneath his confident facade snapped his eyes to Daesung questionably because of all the weird faces the other was making throughout his tale.

"ahem..." Seunghyun coughed to break the muteness to what awaited us at secondary school. I gulped as I directed myself to something other then next year, meeting Seungri's concerned gaze.

"What about your first kiss Seungri?" I asked for the sake of something to do. Flustered by my question, his eyes popped open then looked down on the ground. "I uh... Truth or dare" he said as if it was self explanatory. It kind of was, so I didn't press for it.

"Uh... I just realized I had to be home by 4 today for something." Seungri quickly poked up from his lying position and stretched, taking his strawberry slushy with him. The others and I gave him confused looks, but he just shrugged.

"Well, I better go too," Youngbae said following in his example. "I'll see you guys later." Before long, everyone was getting up and announcing to take their leave. Seunghyun offered to walk Daesung home, who gladly accepted. Seungri and Youngbae decided to accompany one another as well, leaving me sitting alone in the field staring up at the darkening sky. No one bothered to ask who my first kiss was with.

*the next day*

Somehow I felt that Seungri wasn't telling the exact truth, and curiosity was chewing up my entire soul for the real answer. It was bright and early in the morning as I found myself lying on my bed. With my hand itching to my newly acquired cell phone, I pressed number one on my speed dial and bit my lip for the alternative to pick up.

"Hey Jiyong" Seungri expressed cheerfully. His excitement in the morning added energy to my motions as well. I grinned as the fresh electricity ran through my veins from his greeting. 

"Hey Seungri! Want to hang out today?" 

"Sure. Are the others coming?" I froze up, were they? I contemplated my reply to what fit my mood at the moment, that being a big fat no.

"No... Just us two" There was a long, depressing silence that filled the atmosphere in my room. What if he refuses because he doesn't want to meet solo?

"That's cool. I'll see you at the forest in a couple minutes." Exhaling the deep breath that was stuck in my lungs, I smiled and nodded even though he could not see. "Okay, bye."

The forest, one of the many get together spots the group had discovered whenever we would play 'adventure'. Now being a little too old for the game, but we still play from time to time. It was a small patch of green with nothing interrupting except for the occasional squirrel or bird, the trees providing thick privacy that filled all our little heart's content.

I arrived to find that Seungri was already laying there with his eyes closed. His dark circles underneath the eyelids being very evident that day, reminding me more like my old stuffed panda that I keep on the back of my shelf to reminisce. I stopped needing it a long time ago ever since I discovered that the life sized boy made better companionship. I approached him quietly, tip toeing to the spot beside and giving the boy a couple jabs.

"Boo." I muttered unenthusiastically, Seungri's eyes fluttering open to meet mine right next to him. He flashed a warm smile. 

"Hey".

We chatted about random things, sometimes even talking about nothing at all entertaining us further. We would comment on the surrounding clouds and trees, praising this hide out to be one of the best we've uncovered in all our hunts. We would talk and talk until there was nothing left to say, and even then we were satisfied with just being the each other's company. It was one of those times when I decided it was the perfect instant to bring the topic up.

"Seungri, tell me how your first kiss was like?" I pondered aloud, feeling the other stiff up as the words left my mouth. Was it really that embarrassing to lecture about? I waited patiently for him to answer my far too thought out question. For a second I assumed he would never respond to me, but instead of a detailed list of emotions he felt during the peck; it was a confession.

"To be honest with you... I never had my first kiss before yet." Making a scene with how dramatic he was stating the acknowledgement, it made me feel ten times worse about not kissing someone either. I always thought I was too young to be worrying about this stuff.

"So? I've never kissed anyone either." I said spitefully, glaring up at the sky as if it was the one who caused my misery. But in fact it was not that, it was the boy next to me who was too mature for his own good.

"You haven't?" the brightness in his voice made me shrink lower in my seat. 

"Nope."

I expected a 'that's great! Now I'm not the only loser!', but Seungri stayed silent. "it's not so bad..." His voice however contradicted with his statement. Stealing the chance to look at him, it was really anything but 'fine' in the little world of Seungri. He was the type to want to do what everyone else is doing first, better, and bigger. Being behind in this really puts a damper in his reputation.

"Do you think that you'd want-" I bit hard onto my tongue to stop it from going on, what was I thinking? I should really stop doing something rash before imagining scenarios ahead of time. Force of habit I guess.

"What?" Seungri asked, curious about what I had not continued. I shook my head stubbornly to conclude my statement, but Seungri wouldn't have any of it. After many attempts at cracking my shield, it finally worked as I yanked handfuls of grass from the ground in frustration.

"Fine! I was just thinking-"

"That we should kiss...?" He finished off for me. I fought myself to look into his eyes, as much as I didn't want to. They displayed confusion, worry, and something else in there... Excitement? Couldn't be, it's Seungri's dream to have his first kiss with a girl. Yet he didn't exactly seem hesitant with the idea.

"Never mind, it's dumb" I said before we could do anything we would grief over, but he just kept shaking his head. "You mean you actually WANT to do it?" I asked incredulously. He does not say a thing as his line of sight followed two chirping love birds that flew across the meadow at that very moment.

"I just want to get it over with."

I sat up now, getting more and more astonished by the notion. "So it's strictly business then!" I exclaimed a little too insistently. He nodded immediately after as we both burned holes into the other with our eyes.

"O-okay..." I scrutinized his lips now, looking for the best and easiest way possibly to do this. He rolled his eyes as if he was the older hyung and not I. 

"Go on you idiot." Seungri pushed, squeezing his eyes so hard that it hurt and puckered his lips out making his resemble a fish. I held back a laugh in order not to ruin to mood and slowly leaned.

The kiss was short and simple. I don't know what everyone was fussing about the butterflies and dumb things like that, all I felt were rocks being plummeting to the bottom of my stomach. I couldn't say I didn't enjoy the way our lips connected though, no matter how brief. But all I knew was that the racing of my heart is being poorly misplaced and the only logical explanation for it to belong there is my extreme embarrassment, being the equivalent of running a 50 km marathon. When I pulled back, I realized that it was much sooner than I really wanted to, psyching me out more. 

Seungri's eyes were still closed when our lips departed. It wasn't till I poked him awake again when he finally reopened them. We stared at the other, my heart never slowing down from my marathon phase making beads of sweat form in my scalp just thinking about it.

"Uhh... That was..." I tried to sum up all the feelings into one sentence, only to fail horribly and giving up.

"Strictly Business" Seungri reminded me, though the look inside his pupils showed bits of his heart being just as rushed as mine was at the time. When I couldn't take any more of the soul searching, I turned away from the boy and collapsed back to the ground. He fell after a while later as well.

"Have you ever been in love?" Seungri said curiously peeking at me through the blades of green. I chose the wrong time to look back at him, the light aligning with his face just right to create the halo effect; not going well with my pulse at all I've come to realize. 

If he had asked on any other day before this, I would have easily been able to say 'no'. I mean, I had no idea what love exactly was. If it was putting forth all the trust and happiness onto that person, then yes; I have been in love with many. I've been in love with Youngbae, Seunghyun, basically in everyone in the whole group. That includes Seungri. But that was only friendship kind of love, and I'm not sure if Seungri belonged in either categories now. 

"I.... don't know" I answered truthfully. Still staring down at the little boy I've met at the miniature house. Somehow we've grown a lot since then. He's matured, I've developed, we both had a little spot for each other in our minds. I silently puzzled if I could create room for him in my heart as well. 

"Not yet at least" I ended up saying as we zipped up our voice boxes to appreciated the wonders of nature. On my part, never taking my eyes off of the younger male. 

'not yet...'

Youngbae's POV

"I called Jiyong's phone 5 times already, and he didn't call back." Daesung frowned dejectedly. I sighed while rubbing my forehead a few times from my growing headache. Where could they be?

As if some greater force beyond signaled them, two figures appeared at the forest line from afar. My 20/20 vision pinpointing that it was indeed Seungri and Jiyong, ...linking pinkies?

"Guys look!" I gestured to the two behind me to the approaching shadows with smiles that were enough to rip right open. Daesung hopped up and down to get their attention, causing the two to take off into a sprint towards us; Never breaking fingers once.

"Where have you been?" I asked them as they bounced to reunite with us. There was a certain glint in Jiyong's eyes as he bored them onto Seungri's just as spring-like state. Trying to make sense of it all would just lead to a bigger migraine, so I decided to leave that mystery for another day.

"Just the usual" Seungri retaliated, shooting a knowing stare to Jiyong. The older turned his eyes into crescents that probably would give Daesung a run for his money at the younger's answer. Once again, the pounding in my skull cannot take much more of this. Being stuck with Daesung and Seunghyun was enough for a lifetime of discreet lovebird interaction, not these two too.

Because some things are better left a secret.

********************************************

We never told the guys the truth about that day. I guess it was pretty dumb of us to just say it meant absolutely nothing, because it did. It impacted me in many ways that at first I refused to accept or believe, but that's corresponds to another chapter in our lives. Maybe it wasn't so 'strictly business' after all.

A/N: Does this put todae at a disadvantage now? Sigh, hope you liked the fluff.

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
Fishy9
Added an edit... so yeah

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
srhoeyo
#1
Chapter 20: this story is soooo sweeeettt & sooo cuuuuuteee, i cried... good job
ILuvToDae #2
Chapter 20: Wow... This is one of the sweetest, most heartwarming fanfics I’ve ever read. I’m absolutely in love with every bit of it. It has definitely made my list of favorites. Thank you so much for writing this!
Your_fangirl #3
i don't know if it's creep you out or something, but i 'm crying as i read your story, it's really good and awesome, and fantastic!!!
felvton
#4
Chapter 1: Wow, they're so cute when they are talking about marriages~~~
tixhenataho #5
Chapter 20: whoaaa one of the best fanfics i've read 'til now :D :D it was so beautifully-written.. nothing more to say... i actually read it during the night.. i liked it that much! :D GOOD JOB!!
tixhenataho #6
Chapter 20: whoaaa one of the best fanfics i've read 'til now :D :D it was so beautifully-written.. nothing more to say... i actually read it during the night.. i liked it that much! :D GOOD JOB!!
Daesungee
#7
Chapter 21: Awww... The ending is soo nice. I love it. Gri especially needs more stories like this.
KangGwisoon #8
read this story a loooooong long time ago but forget to subscribe and upvote /slaps/ I really love this >W< I nearly cried when it was ended but yeah, it was a happy ending so it's ok XD