Four
Nonconformist

Kyuhyun

Cho Kyuhyun is insane.  He is convinced beyond all doubt, be it worldly or universal, that he is out of his mind.  Sanity, a correct state of mind, actual sense – none of it is present within his brain.  It’s all gone, tossed out of the window, scampering away in the middle of a starless night because they refuse to accept the idea that he’s actually going through with his word to Sungmin from the previous day.

The brunette currently finds himself standing outside of the classroom from the day before, eyes transfixed on the glass cutout in the center of the door at face level, a hand resting uncurled on the metal of the door handle.  He frowns, purses his lips, asks himself for the billionth time that minute what the hell he’s doing, and then slowly, cautiously, curls his fingers around the door handle and pushes it down gently.  The door opens soundlessly as he pulls it out toward him and steals a peek into the classroom, finding it to be empty with the sunlight refracting in through the windows on the wall opposite him.

He frowns, takes a step in, and then another and another, allowing the door to close behind him.  Then he turns, opens the door, steps back into the hallway, and takes a good, long look at the plate by the door inscribed with the room number.  He’s definitely in the right building, and if he’s not mistaken (which is usually the case, for Kyuhyun is one that is rarely incorrect), he is in the correct classroom as well.  His frown deepens; his lips jut out just a bit further in perplexity.  Where the hell is Sungmin?

He isn’t mistaken, is he?  Sungmin did say to meet him in this same room, right?  He isn’t going more insane than he already is and mixing information in his head, right?  It can’t be, because if there is one thing Cho Kyuhyun is a master at, it’s absorbing information and absorbing it correctly.  So then why is he so concerned that he’s confusing things?  More importantly, why is he so worried about whether or not he showed up to the wrong classroom or not?  It’d be better for him that way anyway; he hates being around other people.

Shrugging, he steps back into the classroom and situates himself into the seat he sat in the previous day, pulling his gaming device out of his school bag.  Within the space of a few seconds, the sounds of his game are floating around through the air of the classroom, mingling with the peaceful silence of the room around him in an almost soothing way.  Time stretches onward around him and as it does, he becomes more and more enthralled in his game, almost forgetting why he’s in the same classroom as yesterday again.

Thus, when the door opens silently and closes with a rather loud click, he almost jumps out of his seat, the game slipping out of his hands between his fingers.  His head shoots up to see who’s entering the room and he feels an odd mixture of relief and annoyance when he sees that it’s Sungmin.  The blond is raising an eyebrow at him, questioning him with his eyes.  Kyuhyun releases a sigh and places a hand over his chest, running the other through his dark brown locks.  “Jesus,” he mutters to himself, shaking his head.

“No Jesus here,” Sungmin says as he begins waddling over to the desk next to Kyuhyun’s; “Just Lee Sungmin, sorry.”  Kyuhyun purses his lips and rolls his eyes at the lame joke, refocusing his attention on his game.  The sound of the desk next to his being moved strikes him, although he brushes it off with a twitch of the ears and a well-executed move in his game that destroys an incoming enemy into oblivion.  A small, satisfied smirk stretches gracefully across his face, approval settling into his gut.

And then Sungmin speaks and interrupts his tranquility.  “Why are you smirking like that,” he asks, and said smirk immediately slips off Kyuhyun’s face.  He frowns instead and flicks his eyes lazily over Sungmin’s curious face.  The blond’s M-shaped lips are pursed, his eyes narrowed the slightest in question.  Kyuhyun scans his face for a few more seconds, and then turns back to his game, deciding not to respond.

He notices Sungmin pouting from the corner of his eye, although he isn’t sure why the blond is doing so or who he’s doing it for; the face has no effect on him.  The silence between them is only broken by the music of Kyuhyun’s game and the sound of Kyuhyun’s fingers expertly working over the buttons of his portable device – at least until Sungmin quits pouting to himself and reaches into his bag to begin removing his lunch for the day.

For a short while afterward, there is the sound of Tupperware being placed on hard surfaces and utensils being moved around.  And then, after the noise stops, there is a light, hesitant tap on his arm and a soft, tentative, “Kyuhyun – I mean uh, Kyuhyun-ssi – your food is all set up.”

Kyuhyun frowns, more so because he realizes that Sungmin just addressed him formally than for being interrupted in the middle of his game this time, and so he pauses his game and turns to raise an eyebrow at the blond.  “What did you just call me,” he inquires, brow furrowing at the way the blond blinks a few times.  “Um, Kyuhyun-ssi,” he repeats uncertainly.

“Don’t call me that,” Kyuhyun instantly responds, feeling annoyance beginning to bubble within his core.  The blond sitting perpendicularly to him his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed, and questions, “Why not?”  The annoyance within Kyuhyun’s gut instantly doubles.  “Because,” he says, surprising even himself with how snippy his voice sounds as he speaks, “It sounds way too unnecessarily formal.”  He then presses his lips into a thin line, because Sungmin’s frown deepens questioningly.  He knows it’s only a matter of time before Sungmin presses him for more information.

Surprisingly, however, when Sungmin asks, “Why does it bother you so much,” he finds himself responding with, “I hate unnecessary formality.  I hate formality as a whole, actually,” and then hurriedly grimacing and silencing himself.  It’s already too late; he can see the questions circulating in Sungmin’s brain, building on each other and prompting even more questions still.  He clears his throat loudly, turns in his seat to face the blond abruptly, rapidly reaches down and grabs the chopsticks next to what is presumably his portion of the meal, and mutters “Just call me Kyuhyun.  Now eat.”

With that, he adjusts his chopsticks between his fingers and eases them into the mountain of rice waiting for him on the plate Sungmin has set out for him.  From his peripheral vision, he can see the blond opening his mouth, and so, before taking his first bite of food, he lifts his head to give the other a sharp look and repeats, “Eat.”  The demanding tone he uses makes the blond frown, although the latter does not retort or comment, instead picks up his own chopsticks and silently, almost solemnly, begins to eat his meal.

Kyuhyun tries not to acknowledge the slight twinge of guilt he feels building within him at the way the blond is pouting, his face pulled into a hurt-looking expression.  He’s not used to interacting with people, much less upsetting them; thus comforting people is something that just isn’t in his ballpark.  So he just sits there and silently eats, all the while his core tightening at the way Sungmin fiddles with his food somberly each time he brings his chopsticks down to grab more for another bite.

No one speaks as they eat, the air in the room not exactly tense, but not exactly comfortable either.  Strangely, it bothers Kyuhyun, and it confuses him because he lives in silence only broken by the sounds of his gaming consoles; he should be used to silences such as this one.  For some unbeknownst reason, Kyuhyun almost wishes the blond would speak up and annoy him again, so he can at least go back to being annoyed, because he’s not exactly sure how this silence is making him feel if not normal.

But no one speaks as they eat, and Kyuhyun soon finds himself unable to stomach anymore food.  He places his chopsticks neatly by his still mostly-full plate and immediately turns in his seat to pick up his gaming console.  He resumes his gaming as if he’d never been interrupted, and the silence around them is again broken by the sounds of ominous background music and fictional characters running through equally fictitious grass.

He relaxes into his game as he progresses, time ticking by easily – at least until he feels a pair of eyes on him again.  He casts a sideways glance at the blond sitting perpendicularly to him and accidentally meets his gaze.  He expects the blond to blink and hurriedly shift his gaze, but Sungmin does not move, instead meeting his dark, cold, calculating gaze.  Kyuhyun frowns, purses his lips, thinks of asking why the blond is staring at him but then decides that he’d probably rather not know anyway, and then turns back to his game.  Sungmin still doesn’t stop staring.

As a matter of fact, Sungmin watches him for quite a while longer, and Kyuhyun can feel the other’s eyes scanning him, examining him, analyzing him.  It’s admittedly unsettling; he’s not used to being studied so thoroughly, usually because he normally tells anyone who tries to take off and leave him alone.  Yet for some nameless explanation, he can’t find it within himself to snap at the blond for scrutinizing him, and so he just sits there and allows himself to feel discomfort for a while.

It is quite the relief, however, when Sungmin finally stops staring and turns back to his food, the soft clink of his chopsticks resounding every so often.  The tension trailing down Kyuhyun’s spine eases as, for the next ten minutes, Sungmin finishes off the remainder of his meal.  When the blond is done, the room is filled with the sounds of containers being closed and packed away and of trash being disposed of, as with yesterday.

When Sungmin finally stuffs his lunch bag into his school bag and zips it in tightly, it is with a tone of finality, and Kyuhyun feels even more relieved because the lunch period is slowly but surely, finally, coming to a close.  However, his relief only lasts so long, because then Sungmin is standing behind him, watching him play over his shoulder, and he knows because he can feel the blond’s eyes on his back every so often.

He tries his best to ignore it and continue playing as if the other doesn’t exist, and it works for a few long moments.  But then Sungmin opens his mouth and comments, says, “You seem to be pretty good at that game,” and shatters his concentration.  He’s been so focused on pointedly ignoring the other and trying to win his game that the compliment gets a jump out of him and leaves an opening for his enemy to drain half his character’s life force.

Before he can stop himself, he turns and gives the blond a sharp glare.  Sungmin responds to his glare with a puckered brow and a small pout.  The annoyance bubbling within Kyuhyun’s gut is more than enough to allow him to remain unfazed to the expression; as a matter of fact, the blond’s expression only makes his glare harden that much more.

There is a tense meeting of the eyes for a brief moment, and then Sungmin inquires, “Why are you such a sourpuss?  It was just a few life points or whatever.  You’ll get them back.”  The glare is wiped cleanly off of Kyuhyun’s face for a few moments, leaving the brunette sitting there half dumbfounded at the fact that Sungmin has just dared to ask him that question.  It takes a few long seconds for him to regain his composure, but when he does, he glares at the blond ten times harder before abruptly turning back to his game.  “This is precisely why I hate people,” he grumbles to himself, although loud enough for the blond to hear him.

He hopes to high heaven that his words are enough to make Sungmin finally collect his things and leave him alone, although his hopes are crushed when his words prove to have the opposite effect.  “Why do you say that,” the blond questions, and Kyuhyun frowns two parts out of embarrassment and three parts out of confusion.

“Say what,” he asks back, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice.

“Why do you say you hate people,” the blond promptly responds, and Kyuhyun swears he can hear the frown in the other’s voice.  He shrugs, unaffected by the question; it’s one he’s had to answer quite a few times in his life already.  “’Cause it’s true,” he replies, not bothering to expand further.  He can practically feel the blond’s frown deepening behind his back; can practically see the pout that is undoubtedly painted over his M-shaped lips for the nth time that day.

Kyuhyun waits patiently for Sungmin probing him about why he hates people, calmly preparing snarky responses in his mind, although in the end they are of no use because the blond just doesn’t question him any further.  The bell rings and Kyuhyun quickly, albeit gracefully, stands from his seat, saves his game, flicks off the portable console, and tosses the device into his bag.  He’s already stretching out an arm to pull the door of the classroom open when Sungmin’s voice stops him in his tracks, just like the day before.

“Hey Kyuhyun,” he says, and the brunette struggles to fight down what has to be the biggest sigh of his life as he turns his head to look over his shoulder at the blond.  He quirks an eyebrow upward, prompting the shorter to continue.  “Come back here tomorrow for more, okay?”

Conflict arises within Kyuhyun, just as it did the day before.  He hates being around people – all kinds of people, no matter who they are – and Sungmin is no exception.  Granted, he is slightly more tolerable than others, however he is still fairly annoying, and if there is one thing Cho Kyuhyun can’t stand, it’s being annoyed.  Yet as he stands there, examining the blond’s face, sees the faint traces of hope lingering in his large, brown eyes, he can’t help but meet the other’s face and give him a short, curt nod.

The bright smile he gets in return lingers across his mind for the rest of the day.

xXOXx

Kyuhyun ends up going back the following day, and then the day after that.  And then the day after that.  And then the whole week and every day of the following week as well.  And each and every time it turns out the same; he shows up a few minutes after the bell rings and takes his seat by the window, pulls out his gaming device and questions his sanity until Sungmin arrives.  When the blond gets there, he adjusts the desks and sets up the lunch, and then tentatively interrupts Kyuhyun’s gaming to let him know that it’s time to eat.  Kyuhyun pauses his game, eats for roughly five to ten minutes, still leaving the plate mostly full, and then turns back to his game for the remainder of the lunch period.

Each and every day, Sungmin watches him as he plays, finishes his meal and cleans up the mess, and then stands behind Kyuhyun and watches him play over the latter’s shoulders.  Each and every day, the blond makes an offhanded comment, usually a compliment, about the brunette’s gaming skills, shattering the taller’s concentration and resulting in a spicy glare.  The spicy glare never fails to elicit a frown and a small pout from the blond, and Sungmin always, always, asks why Kyuhyun is always so angry.  Kyuhyun just shrugs and makes some remark about how he just hates being around people, and the rest of the period just stretches in silence.

Today, however, exactly two weeks after their first encounter, Kyuhyun walks into the usual classroom to find Sungmin already seated on the desk, hands clasped on top of his lap, school bag still slung over his shoulders with a pensive expression on his face and his legs swinging back and forth steadily.  He frowns and checks the time on the classroom clock hanging above the blackboard behind the teacher’s desk.  His frown deepens because he realizes that there is nothing off about his arrival time; Sungmin is just there abnormally early.

“What are you doing here so early,” Kyuhyun asks before he can stop himself.  Sungmin jumps, seeming to snap out of his thoughts, and then gives Kyuhyun a lighthearted smile.  “Hey, Kyuhyun,” he greets, swinging his legs one last time before hopping off of the desk.  “Follow me.”  The smile is still on his face as he breezes past the brunette without another word, pulling the door open without the slightest indication of what he is up to.  Kyuhyun can’t help the way that his eyebrows tug inward suspiciously.

“Why,” he inquires, to which Sungmin’s only response is a quick shake of the head and continuing on down the hall.  He feels something curl uncomfortably in his stomach; he doesn’t want to follow the blond, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to stay in this classroom confused with no one to answer his questions.  Thus, with a rather loud groan and a subsequent sigh, he heads out of the classroom and follows after the blond.

No one speaks as they walk, Kyuhyun easily catching up to Sungmin thanks to his advantage in height over the latter.  They walk for a while, the blond leading him back out through the main entrance of the building they usually eat in, around the back of the main school building, and out through the courtyard by the cafeteria building.  They end up in the outdoor eating area, and Kyuhyun is suddenly exasperated at the way everyone’s eyes seem to be glued to them as they walk.

He resists the urge to turn and snap at them to get back to eating their lunches in favor of silently following Sungmin, with a heavy scowl planted on his face, over to a bench almost completely obscured by a large deciduous tree.  It is autumn, and the leaves on the trees range from a drying green to a burning red.  Thankfully, the tree has yet to shed completely, and so they are shielded from the rest of the student body’s view almost entirely.  Kyuhyun feels the tension within him slowly fade at the realization.

A few moments pass in silence, Kyuhyun sitting next to Sungmin on the bench expectantly, hands clasped and neatly placed on his lap as he waits for the blond to explain why they’re outside.  But Sungmin doesn’t open his mouth to say a word; rather, he sits and seems to absentmindedly watch the world moving around him.  Kyuhyun frowns, clears his throat, and then, when the sound seems to have no affect on the blond, asks, “What are we doing here?”

The words seem to snap Sungmin out of some sort of trance, as the blond takes a moment to show any reaction.  When he moves, he first blinks once, twice, three times, a fourth, and then turns his head to look directly at Kyuhyun.  He jerks it in the direction of the students chatting happily as they eat their lunches, and calmly says, “Take a look at everyone.”

The brunette’s brow only furrows further at the blond’s instructions, and suddenly the discomfort he was feeling earlier is back.  Kyuhyun doesn’t like being around people; they annoy and pester him and drag his mood down.  Furthermore, all of the bodies make him feel enclosed and Kyuhyun is a person who very much enjoys his personal space.  Looking at everyone around him makes him feel very claustrophobic.  Yet when he opens his mouth to tell Sungmin this, or some part of it at least, the blond cuts him off before he can begin with, “Just do it.”  He has no choice but to comply to the other’s wishes.

Reluctantly, Kyuhyun turns his head to fully absorb the view of a great majority of SM Academic Institution’s three thousand and some students.  He sees students walking about from table to table, interacting with smiles and frowns and all sorts of expressions pressed onto their faces; sees some tables full of people peacefully silent as everyone wordlessly eats their lunch; sees a table completely full and surrounded by more people still, the very center of attention being the renowned orange-haired Lee Donghae, the school’s top ten everything.  Despite all of this, he’s not sure what he’s supposed to be seeing, what Sungmin wants him to see.

He turns and asks, “What exactly do you want me to look at here?”  Sungmin isn’t looking at him any longer, his large brown eyes focused on the world going on before them.  Just like before, he takes a few seconds to show any sort of reaction, and when he finally does, he merely shrugs his shoulders and responds, “Out of everyone out there, choose just one person.”

Kyuhyun’s frown deepens even further, and he gives the blond a questioning look, but Sungmin only gestures out in the direction of the students with his hand.  The brunette heaves a sigh and then turns his attention to the crowd of students before him again.  He lets his eyes drift over everyone at random, darting from left to right and right to left continuously, searching for someone, anyone.  But he really can’t find anyone that he’d choose particularly, and so he allows himself to randomly select a single person out of the crowd.

“How about her,” he suggests, gesturing with a hand in the general direction of a girl with wheat-colored hair extending down to the middle of her back, a broad, happy grin tugging at her features.  He turns to study Sungmin’s reaction, although it doesn’t reveal much.  For once, the blond’s face seems to be expressionless as he nods in approval.  “Okay, we’ll use her.”

“Use her for what,” Kyuhyun asks, suddenly suspicious of Sungmin’s behavior all over again, internally questioning what on earth the other is planning.  The blond seems to sense his suspicion, for he turns and gives Kyuhyun a gentle smile, and for some inexplicable reason, the latter feels something tighten in his stomach.  “That’s Hyoyeon,” Sungmin says through his smile.  Kyuhyun frowns in question, and then raises his eyebrow.

“How do you know that?  Are you friends with her?”  Kyuhyun realizes as he speaks that those are probably the most substantial questions he has ever asked Sungmin in the time that he’s known the other, even though they’ve known each other for a good two weeks.

In his defense, however, it’s not as if he is one for talking much.  Kyuhyun is a loner, an outsider, a recluse; he dislikes any and all forms of human interaction and Sungmin is no exception.  He doesn’t particularly mind the blond, although he finds that he doesn’t particularly like him either.  It’s more like a pair of people sharing a common space than it is two teenagers meeting up for lunch in an empty classroom.  They rarely speak when they are together – at least, they rarely speak about anything substantial.  The most that ever happens between them is Sungmin commenting on how well Kyuhyun plays video games and Kyuhyun himself complaining about how he doesn’t like people for the space of three seconds before shifting his focus on his game again.

There is never talk of personal details; they really only know each other’s names and that Sungmin, for some reason, likes to bring Kyuhyun lunch.  Beyond that, they know nothing.  Kyuhyun does not know the other’s age or grade, where he lives or what his favorite color is, who his friends are and what he enjoys doing, and frankly he doesn’t find himself caring.  He doesn’t like people, hates being around them, loathes having to interact with them and Sungmin is no exception, if not a sliver more bearable than the rest.  He has no actual interest in learning about the boy; if anything, all he’s curious about is why the blond won’t bloody hell leave him alone, and, although he hates to admit it to himself, why he doesn’t force the other to leave him alone.

“I’m not her friend,” Sungmin replies, and his voice sounds neither happy nor upset as he says it.  It confuses Kyuhyun for a moment, because the lack of emotion behind it seems so unlikely for a phrase so sharp.  “I don’t know her personally, at least not really,” the blond continues, seeming to not notice Kyuhyun’s slightly bewildered expression.  “I just watch her from time to time.”

Kyuhyun jerks back so hard in his seat that he almost bangs the back of his head against the top of the bench, and his eyebrows pull so far downward that they seem to almost be touching the bridge of his nose.  “You do what,” he questions, and in any other situation he would scold himself for the way his voice squeaks in disbelief at the end, although the matter at hand is more than enough for him to forgive himself for his slight mishap.

The corners of Sungmin’s lips tilt upwards in amusement for a moment, and when the blond speaks, it is evident in his voice that he is trying not to laugh.  “I know what you’re thinking,” he says, humored; “But I don’t mean it that way.  I’m not a stalker.”

“Right, because even if you were, you would openly admit it to the world,” Kyuhyun quips sarcastically before he can even think about stopping himself.  Sungmin’s face falls into its small pout and Kyuhyun almost feels sorry for letting it slip.  Almost.  He mostly just feels bewildered beyond belief.  Sungmin huffs out a small breath and continues on with his explanation.  “Anyway,” he says, and suddenly all of the humor is missing from his voice, “I’m really not a stalker.”

He clears his throat awkwardly when Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow at him, silently asking him to expand, and Kyuhyun swears he sees the ghosts of a blush creeping over the other’s pale cheeks.  “I just like watching people.  Not in a creepy way.  I don’t follow them home and track their phone calls and text messages and stuff like that.”  He shifts in his seat and begins swinging his legs back and forth nonchalantly, and Kyuhyun can’t help but think that he almost resembles a small child with the way that he’s behaving.

“I just observe people from afar,” he continues, averting his eyes to the crowd of students bustling about in the eating area around them.  “I watch them interact with friends and interact with teachers, and occasionally I catch glimpses of them walking by themselves and take note of their faces.  It’s really kind of interesting, because each person is different.  Each person has a way about themselves because each one has their own individual story.”  He pauses, and suddenly another smile breaks over his face – one that is gentle and almost fond.  “I like seeing what makes everyone who they are; what makes a person his or her self, you know?”

Suddenly, the gentle smile is Kyuhyun and Kyuhyun feels his breath catch in his throat, because it’s no longer a small tilt of those M-shaped lips.  Suddenly there are teeth involved, and they’re surprisingly pearly white and in neat, clean rows; not a single tooth out of place.  He can’t find it within himself to smile back, however; there is something itching in the back of his mind.  A question.  A question that he is burning to ask.

“Well if you enjoy seeing how people are so much, why don’t you just go socialize with them?  It’s not that hard.”  He feels like a hypocrite for adding the last part, because if there is one thing Kyuhyun finds difficult, it is socializing with people (although it is mainly because he cannot stand to be around the constant stupidity of the human race, not because he is too shy to make friends and be social for once in his life).  Still, he watches the blond and patiently waits for the latter to respond.

If anything, Sungmin’s smile only seems to broaden.  He lets out a small laugh, surprising the brunette, and responds, “Well, the thing is when you socialize with people directly, you can’t really see who they truly are.”  When Kyuhyun raises a questioning eyebrow, wordlessly requesting for him to be less cryptic, Sungmin brushes a few stray blond strands away from his eyes and says, “When people talk to other people, whether they know it or not, they put on a façade.  They don’t really speak to others as themselves, or at least not fully themselves.  There’s always some sort of mask in place, covering the whole truth.”

Kyuhyun frowns at the explanation, and soon after inquires, “Wait, but if you watch everyone as they interact with other people, wouldn’t you just be seeing the half truth or whatever too?”  Sungmin’s smile is beginning to get unsettling at this point, and Kyuhyun really wishes that he would at least answer everything with a straight face.  But then he thinks about how uncharacteristic it looks, from what he’s seen from the past two weeks, and he silently wishes that Sungmin is pouting again.

“Well, it would seem that way,” Sungmin begins, brushing aside more stray strands from his vision, “But when you watch from a distance, you notice things better.  You see the little slip-ups that you wouldn’t notice if you were right in front of a person.  Even though you’re far away, you can see the way their eyes flick around a few times when they’re saying something they’re not so sure about or don’t quite agree with.  And you can see their posture shift just a little when they’re talking about something they like, even if their faces are still stuck on one expression.  It’s so much easier to notice everything when you’re not actually socializing with them, because you’re not blinded by the bias of your own interest in whatever it is you’re socializing about.  You see them as they are because you’re not being friendly, you’re being objective.”

Objective.  If there is one thing Kyuhyun understands above all else, it’s objectivity.  It is the key to all strategy in gaming; if winning is the goal, objectivity has to be the central idea of every step, every strategy.  Without an objective that will help achieve the goal, there will be no victory; everything will crumble.  It doesn’t matter how skilled or experienced a player is; if he lacks objectivity in his strategy, his luck will eventually run out.

Furthermore, objectivity is a rule by which Kyuhyun lives his life.  He goes through his schoolwork objectively; once he finishes, he can play his games.  If he sits and gripes about it before he does it and then procrastinates instead of does his work, he will never be able to get to his games.  It is better not to allow his emotions and constant tiredness get the better of him as he works, lest he resorts to not playing his games for a few days or even weeks.  He just gets the work done.  He sits through school objectively; he does not interact with anyone because he does not like people.  Thus, if he were to actually interact with them, his emotions would probably end up getting the better of him and he’d fling someone out of a window from the third story of one of the school’s buildings.  Better to be a recluse and do his work silently than to get expelled for condoning stupidity.

Indeed, objectivity is something Kyuhyun understands well.

“Alright, so you’re unbiased; I get that much,” he begins, although he pauses, furrows his brow, finds another hole in Sungmin’s explanation.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realizes that this is also the most vocal he’s been with the other – the most social he’s been with anybody, really, since before grade school.  “What I don’t get though,” he continues when he finally finds the words, “is; what makes you so sure that everyone has some sort of mask they put on when talking to people?”

Sungmin is still smiling, although now it shifts from a fond smile to a wise one, as if Sungmin is in on some secret of the world and is going to enlighten Kyuhyun at any moment.  “Tell me, Kyuhyun,” he says, large brown eyes steadily meeting Kyuhyun’s dark one, “How do you act when you are forced to interact with people?”

The question catches Kyuhyun off guard, and he admittedly is at a loss for words for quite a few moments.  It takes a while for him to regain his composure fully and even longer to know just how to respond, however when he finds the words, he shrugs and states, “Civil, I guess.  I don’t particularly like being rude.”  Sungmin nods in approval at him, although his gaze is unwavering.  “Right,” he says.  “Now tell me this; how do you really want to act when you’re forced to interact with people?”

At this, Kyuhyun scowls; just the idea of being forced to interact with people is enough to annoy him.  Cho Kyuhyun hates interacting with humans, hates it with a passion that far surpasses the heat of the burning sun, because he just can’t stand the airheaded behaviors of the people around him.  “I just don’t want to interact with them,” he deadpans, and he absentmindedly notes somewhere in his mind that he is being unusually open.

Sungmin nods again and says, “Exactly.  But you act civil instead.  Why?  Because you wear a mask to cover up for the fact that you don’t really want to talk to anyone.”  The blond nods his head once, as if confirming something in his head, and Kyuhyun frowns as he allows the other’s words to sink in because he realizes that they make a startling amount of sense.

“But wait a second,” he says as he finds another hole in the blond’s logic, “I don’t actually try to put on a mask.  What makes you so sure that the way I am when I’m forced to interact with people isn’t just the way I am?  As far as I know, I don’t put effort into concealing who I am.”  And it’s true; he doesn’t particularly hide who he is.  Everyone knows he is a recluse, even though it doesn’t really stop his schoolmates from trying desperately to garner his attention and try to strike up meaningless conversation.

Sungmin’s smile only spreads now, and Kyuhyun feels annoyance beginning to bubble within his core somewhere next to his burning confusion – because he must admit, no matter how much it hurts his ego, that he is actually a little confused for once.  But then again, lapses in logic typically have that affect on humans, don't they?

“The answer to that is simple,” the blond states, and were it not for his earnest gaze Kyuhyun would think he is almost being condescending.  “You don’t put any effort into throwing on a mask because it comes naturally at this point.  You don’t notice that you’re doing it because it’s become so ingrained; society molds us so that we don’t express who we really are and in the end, it doesn’t matter who we are or where we come from because we all hide our true selves in some way or another.  Some are just bigger maskers than others.”

Kyuhyun frowns, opens his mouth to retort, closes it once he realizes that he really has no response.  Sungmin has it all figured out; he’s explained all the holes Kyuhyun has found.  There are no lapses in the logic; it all makes sense.  The sudden revelation leaves Kyuhyun stunned in his seat, but above all it leaves Kyuhyun reeling in intrigue. 

Everyone has his or her own story, that much he’s known for a while.  Everyone comes from different backgrounds and no matter how similar two people may seem, they are never exactly the same.  Everyone has a different thought process; even if it’s just in minute changes, no two people think exactly the same way.  This is common logic.  However what Sungmin suggests adds coal to the fire; it adds complexity to the idea.

Everyone has his or her own story, but no one really shares their story, no matter how much of it they share.  No one is one hundred percent open, no matter how much they try to convince themselves or others that they are, because not every thought is spilled, not every question is asked, not every word is spoken.  There is always some sort of mask hiding the deepest of thoughts from the rest of the world, and it becomes so ingrained into an individual that the person can no longer tell when they are using it to conceal their true selves.

“Take Hyoyeon, for example,” Sungmin says, and Kyuhyun snaps out of his thoughts in a heartbeat with a small jump in his seat.  He follows the direction Sungmin jerks his head in and spots the golden-haired girl chatting happily with a few other girls – presumably her friends.  Her hands are moving about, and every so often she covers and squints her eyes into a short laugh.  Kyuhyun offhandedly wonders what it is that they’re talking about.

“If you look at her closely, you’ll see she’s got a dancer’s grace,” the blond continues, and Kyuhyun takes it upon himself to watch the girl closely.  He watches for a while as well, waiting for the girl to leave her seat and actually move in some way more than just fluttering her arms about every so often.  When she stands, he sees it; the way each step is smooth and effortlessly coordinated, the way each movement is gracefully languid and languidly graceful, the way the bones and muscles of her body seem to move in a hushed harmony that no normal human could ever dream of mastering – Kyuhyun included (because, as much as his ego doesn’t allow him to admit it aloud, he is actually rather uncoordinated beyond walking and running).

He nods in understanding at Sungmin’s words, and the latter gives him a small, sad smile.  “She loves dancing more than anything in this world,” the blond says, his tone almost melancholy in its solemnity, “But she can’t train in it or take classes in it because her family doesn’t have enough money.”  He releases a soft breath and finishes, “She has to work instead; she has to sacrifice her passion for her family.”

Something like pity causes Kyuhyun’s gut to tighten uncomfortably.  He gives Sungmin an equally sorrowful look and, before he can even consider what he’s doing, spills, “That’s a harsh life.”  The way Sungmin looks back at him with creased eyebrows and downhearted smiles makes him feel almost as if he’s being taught a harsh reality, and he realizes that he just might be when Sungmin murmurs, “Life is rarely sweet.”

Kyuhyun doesn’t respond because Kyuhyun isn’t quite sure how to respond.  So he sits there in silence and somberly studies the blond’s face.  Sungmin seems to study him back for a moment before he blushes a light pink and breaks the sudden gloomy air around them by tentatively taking his lunch out of his bag.  “I packed some lunch for you today, too,” he says, almost shyly, and suddenly Kyuhyun finds himself at a loss for words at how quickly the boy seems to switch from wise and somber to looking like a shy five year old.

Sungmin hesitantly holds out a package toward Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun accepts it with a small nod of the head as thanks.  When Sungmin hands him a pair of chopsticks, he opens the package without much thought and begins silently chewing on the meal Sungmin has brought him, albeit absentmindedly.  His mind is still far too caught up in the things Sungmin has just spent the last fifteen minutes enlightening him about.

He watches Hyoyeon as he eats, his gaze almost scrutinizing as he examines her from head to toe.  Now that Sungmin has pointed it out to him, he’s upset he hasn’t been able to see it before; the way the girl’s eyes are slightly swollen and shadowed by almost bruise-like circles; the way the girl appears to be lithe but also a bit too thin to be considered healthy; the way her smiles all seem amused but exhausted, as if she just wants to curl up under a blanket and sleep for the rest of the year.

He supposes her hours run late, or else she wouldn’t be so tired; either that or she comes home and stays up extra late to do whatever homework from hell her teachers have assigned, because if there is one thing Cho Kyuhyun understands, it’s that at SM Academic Institution, the homework load is far beyond ridiculous.

Lunch between he and Sungmin passes in complete silence, neither of them making much noise other than the occasional sounds of chewing and swallowing.  When Kyuhyun finally feels as if he’s had his fill, he takes a peek down at his portion and realizes with a slight jolt that he’s eaten almost half of it – something he, over the time that Sungmin has been bringing him lunch, has never done.

Apparently it does not go unnoticed by Sungmin either, for the blond leans over and, with a rather large grin stretching his M-shaped lips, remarks, “Hey, look at that!  You actually ate a half-decent amount today!”  Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and quickly hands Sungmin the remains with a halfhearted, sarcastic, “You don’t say.”

Despite the snarky tone, Sungmin laughs as he takes the container of food from Kyuhyun’s hands.  “Relax, Kyuhyun,” he chuckles out; “It was probably just because you were distracted while you were eating.”  He pauses in his packing and cleaning, and then studies Kyuhyun with his lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed.  “Actually, maybe I should start distracting you more when you eat.  Maybe then you’ll actually eat what I make.”

Kyuhyun raises an intrigued eyebrow at what Sungmin says.  “You cook your own lunch meals?”  The blond nods swiftly, and a trail of fear skitters down Kyuhyun’s back for the briefest of instances because he swears it seems as if the boy’s head is going to snap off his neck from his enthusiasm.  He clears his throat awkwardly, suddenly realizing that this whole time he’s been eating Sungmin’s cooking and not at the very least saying thank you.

He opens his mouth to at least thank the boy, although Sungmin holds a hand up to stop him before he can even start.  When Kyuhyun gives him a questioning look, the blond gives him a small smile and states, “I know what you’re going to do.  Don’t worry about it, Kyuhyun.  I know how much you hate interacting with people, so it’s okay.”

The brunette shuts his mouth, although his brows furrow because he feels like a complete .  He breathes out a small sigh and watches the blond wordlessly as the latter begins packing away leftovers and setting aside trash so he can throw it out.  He watches as Sungmin carefully zips up what he’s taking back into his school bag and then stands to throw away whatever needs to be disposed of, all the while feeling terribly guilty and ungrateful.

It bothers him too, because Kyuhyun is not one to have too much of a conscience.  Granted, he never actually interacts with people enough to feel bad about anything, but still; he’s not completely heartless.  And he knows good manners – usually.

Sungmin seems to notice the regretful look on his face, for the blond crosses his arms over his chest and says, “Hey, I told you not to worry about it, so stop looking like a kid who just got their candy taken away, alright?”

Kyuhyun shakes his head once, twice, three times, frowns, and says, “Well I feel like an because I haven’t even said thanks to you even though you’ve been feeding me for the past two weeks.  And now you don’t even let me do that.”  It bothers him that he’s being so honest right now, that he’s actually being some kind of social right now, but it bothers him just a bit more that Sungmin won’t let the brunette at least thank him.

“Kyu,” Sungmin says, and Kyuhyun almost falls off the bench in surprise because no one has ever dared to call him by a nickname in his life.  He struggles to regain his composure, raises his own dark eyes to meet Sungmin’s knowing, smiling, vibrant brown ones, and then promptly finds himself seeing one of the sweetest smiles of his life.  “I told you not to worry about it.  I know you want to say it, but I also know that it makes you uncomfortable.  Don’t forget what we talked about today.”

He jerks his head in Hyoyeon’s direction, and Kyuhyun, out of habit, allows his eyes to drift over to look at the blond.  She’s currently laying her head down on her arms upon the table, giggling weakly at whatever it is that her friends are saying.  Kyuhyun feels pity stir somewhere within his gut again at the sight; the poor girl really should try to get some rest.

He swallows heavily, despite the odd sensation in his throat telling him not to, and turns to nod his head in understanding at Sungmin, who smiles in response.  “You don’t have to put your mask up around me, Kyu,” he says, and the brunette almost falls off the bench in surprise again.  If that’s how Sungmin will be addressing him from now on, it’ll take some serious getting used to.  He tries not to think about how just two weeks ago, he probably would have thrown Sungmin off of the highest tower in Seoul for calling him such a thing.

A thought suddenly strikes him, however, as the bell rings and Sungmin stands and slings his school bag over his shoulders.  “Wait, Sungmin,” he says, slinging his own bag over his shoulder and standing.  He finds it just a bit comical how Sungmin is barely up to his chin.  “You said that I don’t have to put my mask up around you.”  He waits for Sungmin to nod in confirmation, mulls his next question over in his brain, and then decides to hell with it, he’ll just ask.

“What makes you so sure that I don’t have a mask on right now?  What makes you so sure that you’re not missing something or a lot of somethings while you sit and talk with me?”

Sungmin is silent for a moment, seeming to be mulling over Kyuhyun’s words.  After a few long seconds, he shrugs, meeting the brunette’s gaze.  “I’m not sure, Kyu.”  A chill runs down Kyuhyun’s spine at the nickname.  “But I can tell that you’re not using a mask when you talk to me.”  He pauses, frowns, and then gives Kyuhyun a small, amused smile.  It’s just a quick upward quirk of the lips, but it brings a whole new look to his face – one of light mischief and humor.  “Maybe it’s because you’ve been brutally honest from the first day.  You didn’t exactly try to hide the fact that you dislike being around people.”

Kyuhyun purses his lips in thought, because what he’s just heard in the middle is something along the lines of ‘You don’t mask yourself quite well’.  He feels Sungmin watching him as he ponders it, and then abruptly clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck.  “Well, yeah,” he states rather awkwardly, realizing the moment after he says it that it was pointless for him to say it.

Sungmin only smiles at him, and Kyuhyun is briefly given the impression of a joyful bunny, before the blond says, “Anyway, Kyu, meet me in the room again tomorrow, okay?  And be ready to walk again; we’ll be going somewhere.”  Kyuhyun frowns, curious, but doesn’t question.  Instead, he nods his head, and then turns on his heel and begins heading in the direction of his next class, taking his time and easing along at a leisurely pace.  He needs the time to process all that has happened in the course of the last hour.

He feels Sungmin’s eyes on his back until he disappears into the building of his next class.

Oh look guys, an update!
Finally, I know I'm sorry.
It's final exams week over here, so I'm just struggling to make it through the last week.
I managed to squeeze a chapter in for you guys though. I know it's long overdue.
Here's to KyuMin though, am I right?
And hey, smarty pants Min!
Who says Kyu's the only smart one? haha
Next chapter is EunHae again!
Also, the pace of the story will begin picking up quickly (in case you couldn't tell by the two week time skip here).
Ahem, well yeah, I'm gonna head off to bed now. It's almost midnight and I have two exams tomorrow, so bye guys!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it Lovelies!
_Love, K