Chapter Nine : I Don't... I Think

Updated on 1st of September 2013.
Word count : 2 1 5 1

"I don't."
 

"We're home." Kyungsoo pushed the door opened and he stood by the door as he opened it for Hae Lynn to step in. She stood there and Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at her. "Well?"

"O-Oh." She mumbled and stepped in so he could close the door. "Thanks."

"Whatever." He deadpanned and headed up to his room to put his bag. She gulped but she made her way towards the dining area in the kitchen. "Hi Mr and Mrs. Do." She waved, bowed and put her bag down on the side of the corridor. "Hae Lynn!" Mrs. Do shot up from her chair to pull Hae Lynn to sit beside her grandmother. Opposite her seat was empty. "Nice to meet you, Hae Lynn." Mr. Do greeted and she nodded twice. "How was school today?" Her grandmother asked and she waved a hand, "It was fine."

"Kyungie! Come down for dinner!"

"I'll eat later!"

"No! Come down now! We have guests!"

Kyungsoo groaned and he made his way down to the dining area. He came in, bowed at his parents and Hae Lynn's grandmother before sitting down in front of Hae Lynn. "Let's eat, everyone!" Mrs. Do chimed and everyone started eating. Kyungsoo looked at Hae Lynn from time to time, wondering what could be so funny or fun to join in the conversation with the adults, especially when the two of them are his parents. His parents were always so careful and sometimes they wouldn't let him have his own freedom. Sometimes it's to the point where he can't stand it but they are his parents nonetheless.

"Did anything interesting happen at school today?" Mrs. Do asked when everyone was finished with their dinner.

"No." Kyungsoo simply answered but Mrs. Do was anticipating more on Hae Lynn's answer.

Everyone turned to look at Hae Lynn and she swallowed. "W-What?"

"Mrs. Do asked if anything interesting happened in school." Hae Lynn's grandmother chuckled and Hae Lynn gave a small smile. She used her fork to point at the boy in front of her. "Kyungsoo made it to the school's running team."

Kyungsoo's eyes widened and he kicked Hae Lynn's leg under the table. "Ouch!" She rubbed her leg and the adults on the table looked at Hae Lynn. "What's wrong?" Mr. Do asked and Kyungsoo eyed Hae Lynn carefully. "N-Nothing. I must've kicked into something." She mumbled softly but Mrs. Do broke all the tension by cheering. "You made it into the school's running team?! This is perfect! Are you taking part in any events so far?"

"Mom, I just made the team. That's all."

"He's in the pair relay race with me." Hae Lynn answered and Kyungsoo glared at her. She simply stuck her tongue out at him and Mrs. Do went insane. "Oh my god! Are you serious?! With you?! This is more than just perfect! Let's celebrate!"

"Mom, no-"

"You can't stop your mother." Mr. Do sighed when Mrs. Do left the dining table. "Where is she going?" Hae Lynn's grandmother asked and the father and son replied with "She's getting the party kit."

"P-Party kit?" Hae Lynn and her grandmother chorused at the same time when Mrs. Do came back with a box. "Time to celebrate!"

"Mom! We're not celebrating anything!"

"Yes we are!" Mrs. Do pointed at Kyungsoo and he groaned. Can't they eat a proper meal without having his mother embarrassing him?

"Adults party down here. I'll bring Hae Lynn to my room and we'll party on our own there."

"Yeah-Wait what?!" Hae Lynn raised her voice and she looked at Kyungsoo.

Before Mrs. Do, Hae Lynn or anyone else could protest, Kyungsoo shot up from his seat and jogged over to pull Hae Lynn out of her seat by gripping onto her wrist. "H-Hey! Let go!"

Kyungsoo simply ignored her cries of help from the adults as he dragged her up to his room. He kicked the door opened and pulled her in before he closed the door. "What's wrong with you?" Hae Lynn breathed out as she rubbed her wrists. He locked the door and sighed. "I just saved our asses down there." Kyungsoo sighed as he turned around only to notice they were just a mere inch away from one another. The moment Hae Lynn looked up to meet his eyes, he gulped at the sudden distance. He immediately backed off until his back was pressed against the door.

"So what do we do here?" Hae Lynn asked as she looked around his room. Although he hates having anyone in his room, somehow Hae Lynn became an exception. They were neighbors and partners so... this shouldn't be a problem, for now.

"Just... whatever. As long as you stay in here."

"Why?" Hae Lynn cocked an eyebrow when Kyungsoo lied down on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Because if you go down there, my mother is going to ask you to drag me down and we'll celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

Kyungsoo was going to answer but he bit his tongue. "Why are you asking so much?" He snapped at her and she whistled lowly. One minute he's opening up and the other he's closing in like a clam with a pearl in his mouth. "Fine..." She muttered softly as she turned her back on him. A pinch of guilt sprinkled on Kyungsoo and he groaned inwardly. All this while he's trying to hard not to bark at her but clearly he's doing a horrible job. He's trying to open up so much but only if they knew how hard it was for him to just accept people easily, what more being attached to them?

"Sit down." Kyungsoo spoke up, trying to break the awkward silent tension in his room. She shook her head with her back still facing him.

"You can't possibly stand all night. My mother talks a lot. What more with my father?"

"Since when you cared?" She snapped back at him and for once, she felt good giving him a taste of his own medicine. She was never the kind to act this way but if Kyungsoo wants to keep snapping at her for no damn reason, two can play at that game. Kyungsoo was taken back and he breathed out heavily. 

"Have it your way."

30 minutes passed and all Hae Lynn did was stand as she stared at the wall. Kyungsoo couldn't even sleep if he wanted to because one, he didn't take a shower. Two, he couldn't possibly leave his room now until Mrs. Do announces Hae Lynn has to go back home but now it was only 8.30p.m. Three, Hae Lynn.

Kyungsoo tried to shut his mind as well as his eyes to ignore her presence but she was humming a soft tune to herself. He couldn't help but be curious of what's going on in her mind and why was she so interested at his blank wall. He got up and stood behind her, making sure to leave a gap from her as he looked over her shoulder only to stare at the blank wall. "What are you staring at?" He blurted out accidentally and she spun around but sighed when she realized it was just Kyungsoo.

"Nothing." She muttered softly and from there, Kyungsoo pulled her to sit down by the bed with him. "Stop standing. I won't be held responsible if you can't run later on." He mumbled softly and she sighed, finally being able to sit down. "Why do you hate me so much?" She whispered softly and that caught Kyungsoo's ears. His eyes widened and he turned to face her. "What?"

She shook her head and decided to forget about it. So far in her highschool life, sure she has people disliking her at first but once they got to find out how her personality was like, it was almost impossible to hate her. Unless they were somewhat insane then that would be an acception but no one has hated her to this much extend. She didn't know if it was hatred or anything but it was not a good feeling or vibe from Kyungsoo.

He seems so calm and collected but once he opens his mouth, it's like a canon shooting out metal balls crushing people's spirit. If that made any sense. Kyungsoo barely knew her but here he was, treating her as if they were enemies even though there were moments he was somewhat near to the catergory of 'nice'.

Kyungsoo's gaze softened and it smacked him right across the face that she was also a human being with feelings no matter how cheerful she was. God damn his mind and soul. Way to go Kyungsoo.

He sighed and looked away. "I don't hate you, alright?"

Her eyes widened and she turned to face him. "You don't?"

He shook his head and sighed heavily... for the umpteenth time today. "I don't."

"Then... why are you like this?"

"Look, I'll make you a deal." He turned to face her and she was already looking at him, so she gave a mere nod. "Alright."

"From now on, we'll have this mutual thing. No hate, no like, just mutual. Each time I get out of hand of being... too 'hateful', you get to slap me. But each time you get out of hand of being too 'annoying' for my liking, I'll get to flick your forehead. Deal?"

He offered a handshake and she gulped. Not sure if this was just one of his tricks to hit her whenever he liked. How would she know when she's being annoying or when she's not? But since she could slap him too, it was a win-win solution. Slapping him whenever she wanted. For someone as patient as Hae Lynn, she loses her cool sometimes too. And the only person so far she lost her cool was Kyungsoo. Being able to slap him would be perfect... too. "Deal." She breathed out and she shook his hand.

"Now let's write it on a fine print. So we don't back out on our word."

"Really?" Her head bobbed forward but he simply ignored her. When he turned around to face her, she gave him a light slap on his face. His eyes widened and he placed a hand on where she had just slapped him. His cheek burned up from the sudden contact of her soft hand but he reacted by asking, "What was that for?!"

"You didn't answer me. Pretty rude." She smiled and he shut his eyes tight to exhale the amount of mean things he could bark back at her but she would simply slap him again. This would also test Kyungsoo's patience as well as testing hers.

"There. Now we have a deal and a fine print. Don't go back on your word." Kyungsoo warned her and she simply smirked. She smirked!

"I won't go back on it as long as you don't." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"One more thing," He held up a finger and her eyes widened. "What?"

"This deal, is between us. No explaining to anyone."

"It's not written on the fine pri-" She couldn't finish her sentence when he snatched paper away to add in another point to the deal. "Now it's on the fine print."

"You sneaky litt-" She was cut off when, "Hae Lynn! You have to go home now!"

"C-Coming!" She shouted as she kept the piece of paper in her pocket. "Bye." She quickly bid him goodbye and closed the door. He raised a hand, willingly trying to wave goodbye but she was gone alright. He sighed and let his hand fall but smirked when he looked at the paper he held in his hands.

"Let's see how Sehun would react to this." Kyungsoo smirked as he pinned the paper on his notice board on the wall. For once, a slight smile formed on his face but quickly disappeared when he came to his senses. "Why am I smiling? Snap out of it." He mumbled softly as he slapped himself. From a distance he could hear laughter and he walked towards his window only to open it when he could see Hae Lynn on the other end holding up a piece of paper.

'Goodnight, mutual partner :D'

 

He gulped before he reached for a paper and a Sharpie to write back to her.

'Go to sleep you idiot.'

 

'Talk about mean! I'll slap you tomorrow morning!'

 

'I'll give you a flick on the forehead.'

 

'I'm not even being annoying!'

 

'Exactly. Goodnight.'

He simply closed his window and shut the curtains. He knew his highschool life would be way more tiring and... interesting with Hae Lynn it in. It was just a matter of time.

"How was your little date with Hae Lynn?" A voice spoke up and instantly Kyungsoo threw the paper ball at his mother who poked her head through the door.