Closer
Bring It, Kris Wu
My stomach immediately tied into a knot.
The endless chanting of "Ohhh"s only made it worse. Good thing it was kind of dark, or else my panic face would have been way too obvious.
"This is getting SO interesting." Chanyeol remarks from across me.
"Umm...sorry manager..." Sehun barely says, his only comfort coming from Luhan's hug.
"Anyways, truth or dare?" Xiumin spoke with his grin.
I guess this was my cue to sigh again, and I suddenly got scared as to what Kris was thinking.
Either way, I'm trapped. If I pick truth, they're gonna ask some ridiculously, embarrassing question about my supposed 'love life' or what not, but if I chose dare...it's just as bad.
Heck, I'll just get this over with.
"Dare." I said bluntly, to which everyone all widened their eyes in surprise.
"...seriously?" Suho barely voiced out. "Oh wow, we need to come up with something good."
I really don't know how I'm going to win this battle. I felt a hand pull on my arm and turned to see Kris, with his odd look of confusion.
"Why did you say that?" He whispers, enough for me to hear but quiet than the series of giggles around us.
"Does it matter?" I said back.
Kris leaned closer. "You know you could have just told you don't want to play."
"It's just a children's game, nothing to be scared of." I turned back to face the huddle of guys.
Kris leaned towards my ear again. "Yumi, you need to realize that you're a girl."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Look, you might be the manager and have more control, but any guy can overpower you physically. These guys are no exception." Kris sounded abnormally serious, but I just scoffed.
"They won't do anything to me." I said, but then turned to face Kris straight on. "Don't tell me you're jealous."
Instead of a look of disbelief, he chuckles.
"There's nothing to be jealous of." He smirks. "You're already mine."
"Wha--"
"OKAY!" Chen's voice booms which made me flinch in the most uncomfortable way. "We got a good one."
"It involves two people." Baekhyun adds. "Kris hyung, you're in it."
A chill went down my spine. I don't know if I should even be surprised.
"What does this have to do with me?" Kris asked, withdrawing his hand that was behind my arm.
"For extremely obvious reasons." Suho immediately remarks, earning more giggles from the circle of children.
"But don't worry, it's not that bad." D.O followed, "We dare you two to switch clothes."
Are you serious.
"He wouldn't even fit--"
"We're only talking about your shirt!" Xiumin cuts me off, "Unless if you want to switch everything...that's up to you."
I had a really difficult time coming up with words to say. For the most part, I was stuck, but an idea struck me.
A pretty good idea.
"Where do we change?" I asked all of a sudden.
As expected, all eyes were widened.
"...Uh...you can go to another room..." Chen slowly pronounced, suspicious but surprised.
"Alright." I said and stood up. Pulling Kris with me, I tugged him with me towards the door.
"Wha...wait...hold on, what? What's this all of a sudden?" Kris stumbled, right when we entered another empty room.
"I don't think they'll check on us for awhile." I answered back without taking my ears off the closed door. After making sure the outside completely quiet, I turned back to Kris, who was obviously confused.
He eyed me when a suspicious smirk formed. "Wait...don't tell me you want to--"
"Stop." I cut him off. "Whatever you're thinking...delete."
"Then why did you agree all of a sudden?" He asked, eyebrow raised.
"Because," I began walking around, "We're now free to run."
He kept silent for a bit. "And how does this make you a responsible manager?" He asked.
I sighed, "It's not as if staying here can convince them to go back to the dorms".
For awhile, he just sort of stared into space.
"Actually, that's a good point." He chuckled. "Let's go."
Finding our way out was really easy, other than the part of trying not to step on creaking floor boards. The night wind felt extra refreshing, knowing that we just found our freedom.
"What're we going to do now?" Kris asked, his hands tucked into his pockets.
"We can...always go back home, but that's boring." I sighed to myself.
He laughs. "I know a good place." I felt his hand grasp on my arm, pulling me as we walked down the street. I'm pretty sure it's already midnight but a bunch of lights suddenly filled the sidewalk, with numerous lanterns hanging up top. A sense of nostalgia hit me and a smile appeared on my face.
"You know where we are?" Kris asks.
"Yeah..." I whispered, becoming completely amazed of everything around me. "It's been a while."
"A long while." He states. "You always begged to go to street festivals."
I thought back to my days as a child, where these events were my absolute favorite. I loved the endless selection of foods, and I would always ask Kris to buy them for me.
"This brings back so much memories." I couldn't stop smiling.
Kris suddenly stops walking and held out his hand. "Then let's not waste time."
I oddly looked at his hand for a few seconds, before I realized what was going on.
A laugh flew out of my lips. "Just like old times." I stated before putting my hand on top of his. As of now, everything went back to ten years ago.
Kai's POV
I'm not sure what's worse. The fact that my pants is ripping or that Kris and manager still hasn't come back.
"Okay, something obviously has gone wrong." Chanyeol stated.
"Kai can you go check?" Suho asked, suddenly poking me.
"What why me?" My eyes widened.
"Because you have an excuse." Xiumin added. "Just say you wanted to change your pants back.
That's still awkward.
I really don't want to walk in on them molded together. But whatever, I really do need to change my pants back.
Awkwardly standing up, I shifted towards the door that those two left through. Using my flashlight, I opened the only door that was in sight. I somewhat braced myself before witnessing what was inside. But I wasn't sure if I should feel relieved when all I could see was an empty room.
"Hey guys?" I shouted back. "They're not here..."
"What?"
Footsteps immediately followed and a bunch of them crowded behind me.
"Maybe they're in a different room...?" Chen suggested.
"No..." D.O. stated. "I think they escaped."
Kris POV
A small chill went down my spine. Hopefully the guys still haven't found out we left.
But nothing was worth my attention this rare sight of Yumi. That smile of hers really lit up everything. And like always, she had to look at the candy figurines on display, the ones made with melted caramel and malt. But unlike before, she didn't ask me to buy one.
"I can't believe they still have these paper trees." She said through her smile. "And the rice bracelets!"
We browsed through different stops of handmade things and food, all were things we recognized. But what really got our attention was a game stand, the ones that you play to win some sort of stuffed animal prize.
Upon a closer look, it was those shooting a target games, with these corny rifles and hand guns.
"Wow, remember we always wanted to try this but my dad wouldn't let us?" Yumi asked.
"Yeah, guns were too much for us back then." I smiled and passed a few slips of money to the vendor. "Now's our chance."
"You have 10 tries to hit 5 targets!" The man behind the stand says. "You can win any of these prizes shown here." He says and points at the stuffed animals hanging all around the booth.
"So which one are you gonna use?" Yumi asks, folding her arms across her chest.
"This one I guess." I stated and picked up the plastic rifle nearest to me.
I heard her chuckle. "Don't fail."
Right as I picked up the gun, the targets in front of me began moving. What a piece of cake. Shooting all ten consecutively, I managed to hit 6. Yumi gave me a "not bad" nod and clapped.
"Which one do you want?" I asked, putting the gun down.
"Definitely the angry bird." She says and pointed at the red stuffed ball. I don't even need to ask.
The vendor pulled it down and handed the bird to Yumi. "Young lady don't you want to try?"
Yumi's POV
Huh?
"...Me?" I asked stupidly, he's obviously talking to me.
"Yeah! You can try it too, the fee covers two people." He says.
"Um okay." I stated.
"Are you sure you don't want me to shoot?" Kris asks, bringing up that cocky tone.
"Whoa there, don't look down on your manager." I mocked his cockiness and picked up the hand gun.
Right when the targets began moving, my shots rang out. Every consecutive bullet was in sync.
When the last one shot out, everyone around us were quiet.
And yes. It's because I had hit every single target.
"I always wanted to try this." I stated, putting the gun down. "So which one do you want, Kris?"
His mouth hung slightly opened. "...Uh..." He half whispered. "I don't know...how about...that cow over there?"
I gave him a look. "Are you saying I look like a cow?"
"You're saying I look like an angry bird!" He said in defense. "Fine then, how about that panda?" he said to the vendor who was now staring at us with a blank expression.
I skipped down the street with my stuffed animal in my arms. Kris followed behind, but I could already picture his expression.
"And since when did you learn to aim?" He called from behind.
"Since before you were taught how to," I grinned and face him. "In the bathroom."
I saw his eyes widened before I had to pick my pace. But I started laughing at my own joke that he easily caught up with me and attacked my sides again. We both ended up laughing like idiots and didn't pay attention to the direction we turned until we were interrupted by some guy's voice.
"I saw that over there." The voice said, to which some man with a black coat walked out.
"Not bad, and she's pretty cute." Another voice from a different direction sounded.
Uh...
"Who's that? Your boyfriend?" A third voice came out.
"You know where you are?" Yet another voice spoke.
My smile faded and my expression switched to a look of confusion.
I felt Kris pull me closer, and from then I saw five or six guys, all wearing some coat, and one of them was smoking.
Wow.
Did we seriously just run into a bunch of wannabe street ganster bimbos?
Please let this be a street prank or something.
"Ohh? Are you guys idols? This boy's got a pretty face." One of them said, eyeing Kris.
"Come on, it's the holidays, why are you kids at such old fashioned places?" That same guy said after puffing out a cloud of smoke.
We were silent, purely because of this total and utter lameness.
Even so, I decided to answer back. "Because it's...fun." I muttered, as if I just answered a really stupid question.
At least I was being honest.
I bunch of cooing went off, to which I felt the urge to cringe.
"A pretty girl with personality, very nice." The smoking man smirks.
Ew?
He strolls over and stares at me. "Why don't you leave this boy and play with us."
His hand reached over towards my face when Kris casually intercepts.
"Um we're sorry for uh...intruding." Kris says while lowering the man's arm. "So if you could be kind and let us leave."
The man scoffs and pulls his arms out of Kris's grasp.
I really didn't expect anything to happen, but all of a sudden, the man's arm swings upwards with a fist, aiming straight at Kris. I almost jumped when Kris caught the guy's punch, but seeing that he was just holding the guys fist in place got me worried. Oh jeez, I might not like how this is developing.
In my head, there were now two ways to this situation. Either one, Kris releases his grasp and we think of another excuse to leave or two, Kris returns the favor with his own fist. I personally prefer choice one, but knowing that Kris has his man-instincts, I can kind of see where this is heading.
The guy spat out his cigarette and balled up his other hand. But poor guy couldn't even take a quick breather when Kris immediately lands a blow on his stomach.
I can only sigh to myself and watch the cigarette-man's minions approach us.
Releasing the smoking man to the ground, Kris glanced at me. "Sorry...shouldn't have done that."
"Well I'm not surprised." I answered, eyeing the people who are closing in on us. Half of me was ready for defense but the other half was face palming myself for witnessing such a cheesy scenery.
"I guess we can't hold back anymore." Kris states from behind.
"I guess not." I answered, setting my angry bird down. "It's their fault for starting it."
Within seconds, the frenzy began.
From my viewpoint, I kicked some guy across the jaw, which knocked down a second guy. While avoiding their amateur punching, I threw my own in their guts that stunned some of their movements for awhile.
It's been too long since I've actually fought people, since my usual training is with Tao and the stunt guys. I know it's a burden to my female status, but hey, this is why I qualify as the manager of 12 guys.
Throwing some short guy over my shoulder, my jaws dropped when more people approached. This really is unbelievable. I really didn't think these 'gangs' exist anymore.
I was about ready to start again when a terrible groan sounded from behind me. I turned around to see Kris half kneeled on the ground, holding onto his shoulder. Behind his was some unshaven guy holding a huge iron pipe.
No way.
"...Kris..." I barely whispered before attempting to run over, only to be stopped when several arms locked me in place, with a knife held by my jaw.
Oh come on. This isn't fair at all.
But my eyes focused on Kris, whose head was slightly hung. But from the corner of his eyes, he sent me a wink, one that was all too familiar. I refrained from sighing in relief while he returned to his wincing.
But a small rise of panic still rushed over me when several guys held Kris in place, while the smoking guy pulled out a knife of his own.
"...I can't believe this...BOTH OF YOU?!" The man was letting out some maniac laughter. "You think you're so tough?!"
Oh no, he better be careful with that knife.
"How would it feel if I carved my name on you face EH?!" He bellows and walks closer to Kris. His body was motionless, but realizing the possibility of him being injured even more sent waves of anxiety over me. The man grabbed Kris by the jaw, and I suddenly panicked.
"STOP!" I yelled.
Crap.
I might have just ruined the plan.
A bit of cold sweat broke out when the man's face snapped towards my direction. I eyed Kris, who wore a blank expression before I switched my attention back to the man.
"You got something to say little girl?"
Better play along.
"If I go with you..." I continued, eyeing the knife near my neck. "Let him go."
The man released Kris's jaw and stood back up, the corner of his lips twitching into a smirk. He strolled over, walking as if he was now the one in control.
Good. This is the chance.
A deformed smile forms on his face. "I knew you'd like to-- AUGHHH!!"
I kicked him right in the stomach. The guy behind me fell into distraction that I easily knocked his arm and knife away. The people holding Kris were also thrown off by the sudden change of plans and all ended up on the ground.
Picking up angry bird and panda, Kris and I ran.
Our hearts fell when we saw a few of them chasing after us, but running away was way more important. I had no idea where we were going, but we both stopped when several familiar faces appeared in front of us.
The lost, surprised, angry, and confused faces of EXO stood in front of us.
What a loving coincidence. At least they're not the bad guys.
After a brief moment of silence and jaw dropping, Lay seemed to be the only one to return to reality.
"What in the universe happened to you guys?" He asked.
I was about to speak up when Kris held his hand before my lips.
"We made a mistake and ran into some bad people." He said, "It's no big deal."
To be honest, it actually turned out to be a big deal.
"No big deal?! What? Look at you! There's...on your shirt...blood, there's blood on you." Luhan stumbled while wildly waving his arms around.
"Don't worry..." Kris said with a cough. "But Tao, I need your help."
Tao's eyes immediately widens. "There are some bad guys behind us, and they're not up for negotiating."
"...are you asking me to..." He begins.
"Yeah." Kris states.
"But I don't fight..."
"Here." Kris says and tosses the panda at him. "Let's do a trade. I'm only asking you to do this once."
Uh...
"Um...is manager ok with this?" Tao asks, looking like a lost puppy. Besides being obviously speechless, I can only nod, because this...is probably the best solution.
With that, Kris pulls on my arm and walks around the guys. "Wait, you still need to explain what...happened..." Suho points out.
"After this, I will." Kris waves before going down the road. "For now, it's Tao that matters."
Going down the familiar roads, I suddenly felt a gushing urge and broke out in laughter.
"That was...outrageous!" My voice sounded like it was choking. "I can't believe that actually happened."
He smiles, "I guess weird things just happen."
After awhile, my eyes suddenly widen. "Your arm! Is it hurting?" I turned to face Kris.
"No it's fine."
"You sure about that? You were hit for real..." I trailed off. "Even though it was for a plan and I ruined it."
"No, that was what I intended."
After a few seconds, my jaws dropped.
"That was a nice save." He smirks at me. "I knew you'd worry about me."
Huh. How did I not realize this.
"Kris...You--" I couldn't come up with anything. And here I thought he might have died.
Finally back at the building, the first thing we both did was hide the evidence. Throwing the semi-blood stained jacket into the back garbage, I then ran the hot shower to ease the potential bruises.
Kris did the same, and I waited in his room with a box of bandages and ointments.
"It's okay, I'm fine." He says after stepping into his dorm. His hair was still wet, making the neck part of his shirt stick onto his skin. From that, I could see a giant dark red spot from behind his shoulder.
"From the fact that you're bleeding, you're probably not." I stated and walked over to his tall stature.
"It'll heal."
"But it'll hurt." I shot back.
"Yumi." He states, suddenly hovering over me. I instinctively backed up, only to hit a wall.
"You should worry about yourself more." His fawning whisper sent a huge chill down my spine. But I'm not playing this time.
"Kris." I state, dropping my hand on top of his injured shoulder, to which he couldn't help but wince. "Your shoulder is worth a lot more concern." I said and walked passed him. "Come here and sit down." I pulled a chair from under a desk and gave him a look. "Right here." I stated.
I heard him sigh and he walked over to the chair in front of me.
"Take off your shirt." I said and grabbed the box of band aids.
"What?"
"You heard me." My eyes still focused on cutting the bandages. "What, do you need help?" I asked sarcastically.
He chuckles and pulled the white shirt off.
For some reason I had to brace myself. Being the female manager, I've already gotten used to these scenarios, but for some reason, it's just different with Kris. I stared at his chest that led to his broad shoulders.
Oh right, shoulders.
Looking at the dark bruise, I wiped some yellow ointment onto his skin as slow as possible. Now I feel kind of bad dropping my hand on top of it.
"This might hurt..." I half whispered before moving the cotton swab over the darkest part of his injury. I could see his jaw clench in pain, while a sense of guilt poured over me.
Finally placing the bandage over the bruise, I packed the box together and headed towards the desk. His hand suddenly grabs my wrist, sending a huge shot pain. I tried hiding my wince away from him but it didn't work.
"This is why you need to worry about yourself more." He said and pulled me back into the chair. Taking the box, he picks out the same medicine bottle.
There were bruises along my wrist and forearm, which weren't as bad as his, but still visible. With my hand laid on his knee, he tended the dark spots.
"Does it hurt?" He asks.
I shook my head and watched his fingers work around my wrist. Then out of nowhere, I was hit with a sense of guilt.
"Sorry." I suddenly blurted out.
His eyes met mine. "What for?"
"Just...this whole thing. You're injured and..." I was starting to feel lost.
Wow. I'm the manager, and now he's hurt. Kris is an idol, not just anyone.
"Whatever you're thinking...just forget it." He said. "It's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault...things just...happen." He was now looking right at me, to which I just nodded.
Finishing the last bit of the band aids, I packed the box away for the last time.
"Try not to move your arms for now okay?" I asked, pushing the drawers in.
"Yeah, but..." He began, "Could you help me dry my hair?"
Reasonable enough.
Without saying anything, I sat back into the chair in front of him. Gently rubbing the light blue towel, his eyes were focused on the ground, almost as if he was repenting or something.
"Yumi." He states, his voice very subtle.
"Hm?" My hand moving towards the back of his head.
"Do you...hate me that much?"
My arms froze. What is this, a trick question?
"What do you mean?"
His eyes were still looking down, but I couldn't get myself to keep drying his hair.
"I don't know...but do you?"
This is really sudden and weird, mostly because he sounded kind of serious.
"Well, I don't hate everything about you." I said with a small laugh. He slightly nods, in which I immediately regretted what I just said.
"I'm just kidding." I blurted. "I've known you for too long, and I've seen the best and worst of you. There's nothing to hate...except for when you piss me off" I muttered the last part, slowly beginning to dry his hair again.
He quietly sighs. "You feel a lot...more distant than before."
"...Really? Well compared to 10 years ago, we've kept our distance, but that's only because you weren't mean back then." I stated, puffing my cheek.
"So you're saying I became...mean throughout the last ten years?" He slowly lifts up his head, eyes meeting mine.
Even at such a close distance, I had no idea what he's getting at.
"Yeah, you became a lot...jerk-like, really...don't even get me started." I said with a smirk.
"I see." He let out a breath, straightening his back. "It's my fault then."
"If you want to put it that way." I pulled the towel off.
"Then I should find a way to make it up to you." A smile forms on his face, which I felt relieved but suspicious at the same time. He's planning something again.
"How are you going to do that?" My eyes following his.
He leans forward, closing the already little space between us.
"We can start with this."
I couldn't even react when I felt his lips touch the side of my cheek.
Goosebumps invaded my skin while blood rushed right to my face.
But all of a sudden, the biggest cacophony blew in my ear as I my whole body jolted back. My eyes widened completely while his laughter filled the room. And upon seeing my flushed face and ear, it only got louder.
He took advantage of me again. And here I acually thought he was being sincere.
This guy...I just...CAN'T.
"You..." I voiced out with choppy breath. "You're a jerk!" I shot up and threw the towel at him. His kept laughing, yet I could only paced around, not sure how to react.
This is him. Finding every opportunity to make fun of me.
"Come on, this isn't the first time." He said through his laughter.
I looked at him. "...shut up!"
Yeah, this was his signature trick. Pretending to whisper a secret only to blast air into your ears. Except this time it wasn't for a secret.
His laughing didn't plan to cease and the embarrassment was painful. I felt even angier knowing that I was losing this war, but there has to be something that can throw this idiot off.
The weirdest idea flashed through my mind.
I hesitated for a second, but this will shut him up. It's gonna be crazy but whatever, I'm already embarrassed enough, it can't get any worse.
Walking over to the distracted Kris, I took his face with both hands and kissed him. Full on the lips.
It's insane but it really did work.
He couldn't move.
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I hoped you guys like this one ^^
<3
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