Chapter Three

Class was…not what he had expected it to be.

The teaching style was…far less imposing than back home. The teacher seemed slightly on edge when a student asked a question, and the students seemed a lot less inclined to pay attention. Some did, but the majority did other things and ignored the lesson all together.

Not to mention everything they were doing was something he had already done…

Why was everything so vague?

Nothing seemed important…

Nothing made sense because they were saying it all wrong…

Except music.

Mr. Changmin –referred to as Max- was a phenomenal singer, and by far it was the most interesting class Minho had ever attended. He older man was funny and could sing so beautifully that it made him feel strange…

“It’s going to be a bit easy for you,” Jae Hee said at lunch later that day. They had already memorized his schedule and had taken to popping up between classes to see how he was doing. All he did was ask questions about the school and it was really a place to learn.

“Easy, they make it seem so…” he struggled for the words as he followed her outside to where Kai and Luna stood talking in front of his car. “Everything kind of feels optional. There’s no real drive here…I don’t know how to explain it. Back home school wasn’t a nuisance, studying was normal. The concept of failure doesn’t seem that serious here…”

Jae Hee shrugged, “True, there everything came second to studying. I got a great education there!”

They came up and Luna immediately pulled Jae Hee to her and started speaking so fast that Minho blinked a few times to realize that some of what she was saying meant something. Kai’s gaze locked with his and he nodded.

“How’s it going?”

“Uh, okay…?” He was making a clear effort to be…something. There was still caution in the younger’s eyes when he looked at him, but Minho was a bit relieved that he didn’t just ignore him the way he thought he would.

Kai looked him up and down before snorting and getting into his car, “Get in. “

“We’re going to have lunch with everyone. We usually do, except now Kai runs off to have lunch with his honey,” Jae Hee said when he looked to her for confirmation. Next to her, Luna peered at him curiously and back at the girl she was glomping. A little unnerved, he avoided her eyes and got in. Luna was odd to him. Well, she was okay really, but he had no idea what to say to her.

They drove with the radio on and talking about nothing in particular. Luna sometimes asked him a random question like where was he from, or if he had played any sports. He almost denied it but there was no way with the way he looked. He agreed and said track, upon which he noticed Jae Hee sigh with relief.

They arrived at a small park in no time, pulling up next to another car that contained Taemin, Amber, and another girl he didn’t know.

“Taemin fell asleep on the way. He’s gone,” Amber said to Jae Hee and pointed to the car. Minho turned his head just a second to see Luna dart past him so fast that he stumbled a bit. Alarmed, he looked around for the reason as to why and saw her running towards three people sitting at a wooden table not too far. Well, it became clear that she was running to a certain someone when she tackled one of them and began to maul him with .

“Um, Jae Hee-“

“Those are our friend’s. Lee Jinki, Kim Jonghyun, and Kim Kibum, no relation. He Goes by Key though. If you call him Kibum without his permission he won’t like you.” Jae Hee got behind the still surprised Minho and started to push him towards them. “They’re a year ahead of us, well Jinki is two. Last year they were with us, but now they all go to college. We meet up for lunch often though.”

The first thing to catch Minho’s attention was the two that weren’t being mauled. One was rather short with dark hair and a rather wild look about him. He sat with his legs crossed on the table, catching bright fabrics being tossed to him by the man who stood next to him. His hair was odd to Minho, kind of like something you’d only see on an idol and not in real life. The top of his hair was died a sort of dirty blonde while the sides and back where a normal dark brown.

He looked up at him as he approached and his fox like eyes narrowed. “Choi Minho…?” he asked calmly pulling something magenta out of the bag and holding it up to inspect.

“Yes Hyung,” he answered automatically. He wondered which name belonged to him. He looked like he’d go by Key of something. Now that he was close, he could see a baton in his ear that was in fact, a key. It went nicely with the other four piercings…

Key, he thought, paused for a moment and then tossed the magenta fabric aside. “Hyung…? Yah, you really are fresh out of Korea. You don’t have to use honorifics here though. Most of us go by our stage names anyway. Call me Key,”

Before he could ask what he meant by stage name, the third guy, looking mussed up and smiling slid into his seat with Luna sitting next to him. “Oh, you must be Jae Hee’s friend from when she left.” He flipped his chin length hair back, his already warm smile going to heart melting mode. Minho found himself blushing and smiling back.

“Do you have to do that to everyone, Onew?” –By process of elimination- Jonghyun asked before turning to the pink teen. “It’s his special power, making people feel all fuzzy and stuff. I still get caught in it sometimes,”

Minho nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets and feeling awkward in the silence that followed. They were all so attractive…back home they’d have all been scouted or something right off the street for looking the way they do.

 “Yo, what’s up bro?” Amber came over and leaned against the table, grinning at Jonghyun. They did rather look alike when they were together Minho observed.

“Yah, shouldn’t you be studying?” he asked, curing his lip in annoyance and turning his head away from his younger sister. Not liking his response, she sneered too and punched his toned arm. Jonghyun jumped, displacing some fabric and causing Key to yell at him.

“Yah, what do think you’re doing? If you get this dirty how am I going to finish our Halloween costumes!?” he yelled, snatching cloth away while the other alternated between apologetic and angry.

“Key’s in college for fashion,” Jae Hee explained. “Jonghyun for singing and songwriting, and Onew for teaching and singing too.”

“Why don’t they just become idols? Start a band or go to a label?”

Everyone looked at him with blank looks.

“We have a band.” Jonghyun said.

“Sort of,” Onew said as Key snorted. “One of our members has entered a relationship and no longer has time for us.”

“Where the hell is Kai anyway? Didn’t he show up with you?” Key craned his head to look around Minho, “Aish, you’re tall,” He noticed Jonghyun’s eyes narrow at the statement.

The blonde seemed to notice something and turned his gaze to Amber, “Minnie asleep in the car?”

“Yeah, out like a rock,”

He looked to Minho, “I heard you can wake him up easily,”

Jonghyun, Onew, Luna, and Amber looked at him sharply.

“Bull,” Jonghyun challenged. He knew that Key had been freaking out over someone and Taemin, but…this guy?

“Can you?”

“That’s great,”

 “Wake him up now.”

The next thing he knew he was being escorted to Amber’s car next to an unconscious Taemin. Minho cleared his throat and looked at the crowd standing around, some interested, some in highly skeptical. For those who hadn’t seen him do so already, Taemin was a lost cause when to being awaken. You had to leave it to him rather than waste your own energy trying to animate his sleeping form.

Leaning in close so that his breaths curled around his ears, Minho softly rapped some song to him. Gently because he was shy about the others hearing and his voice felt squeaky. But in a few moments his voice rose slightly, the beat established and his own lines being added. A lone finger tapped against Taemin’s leg and Key’ eyes narrowed on it. He opened his mouth to say something when the owner of that leg’s eyes opened and his hands did a slight move in tune with what Minho was rapping.

“How do your grades look if you sleep all the time?” he asked suddenly.

Taemin’s eyes narrowed in annoyance of him stopping and simply him in general. “I’m mostly awake, but fangirls are exhausting. As if you’d know…”

“I do. Genie is an all-boys school with a sister school nearby. Mornings were just as bad as yours for all of us. Never seen anyone more that fast though. You should consider track,”

They locked eyes and chuckled for some strange reason.

“TAEMIN…!” Key exclaimed, moving Minho out of the way and cupping his face.

“Mom!?” Taemin got out before the older squished his cheeks towards his mouth to the point where talking was difficult. Minho raised a brow at their actions.

“You really woke up! You’re cured oh my God this is great!”

Jonghyun moved next to Minho, shooting a glare at his legs for a reason he wasn’t sure of. “How’d you figure this out?”

“I was humming this morning after he snuck into my bed and-“

There was a slap. “Ow, I didn’t realize it was his bed! I barely knew where I was!”

“Well, when I did that he moved around sometimes and later on when Jae Hee asked me to I tried rapping and that seemed to work,”

Jonghyun nodded and looked to Key’s upset face, “Of all the things we tried we never thought of music,”

“I’m a failure,” the partial blonde fake sobbed, “My own baby and some stranger cured you of your narcolepsy,”

Everyone sweat dropped, unsure of how to react to that. Thankfully Taemin decided to speak, “Oh, his is Choi Minho. He’s from-“

“We know,” Key put a finger to his lips. “We’ll let him stick around because he’s proven himself though. Now, let’s go.”

As they all began to gravitate towards the tables, Jae Hee came to Minho’s side with a smile that made his wider. “Speaking of, are you going to join the team at this school?”

“No…!” He laughed, and her expression fell. She hadn’t been expecting that. “Jae Hee that wouldn’t even be fair.”

“Oh yeah…but you should still do it for fun.” She tried. Maybe you could help the coach.”

Minho’s amusement faltered slightly at her seriousness. “I shouldn’t…someone is bound to recognize me and blow my cover.”

“Then how will you stay in shape until the next Olympics?” she whispered. They looked to see that no one was paying attention. Key was putting a deep purple cloth against Taemin and frowning while everyone gathered around the pile of cloth he had. He wondered what they were doing…

“Jae Hee,” he sighed and looked right into her eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to High Jump anymore. It was great and a lot of fun, but I won gold and I’m happy with that. What more could I want?”

“Another? You could set records and-“

“I’ll let someone else do that.” He cut her off. It was slightly irritating now. “I just want to have fun right now. You know…date and all the stuff I couldn’t in Korea,”

He hoped that she would pick up on what he’d been poking softly at. Instead he gt shock when she grabbed his arms.

“Tae Joon, you can’t stop high jumping. It’s all you have.”

There was a heartbeat before his lurched painfully in his chest. “Excuse me?” he said, loud enough for everyone to look over curiously. “Is that all I am to you?”

He shook her off and stalked away. Granted he had come in a car, but he figured that the rest of lunch break could be spent getting back to school. When he calmed down he’d put the directions into his phone and jog back. He hadn't run in a while and needed the loosening up.

“Aish, don’t everyone run to go after him at once,” Jonghyun said, sliding off the table and walking fast to catch up with the younger but longer legged boy.

Jae Hee watched in shock, arm outstretched o call him back. She should’ve yelled ‘of course not’ immediately. But the words were stuck in . She just wanted him to jump. He looked so happy when he did. That’s why…right?