o5. New Relationship

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

-Oscar Wilde

Jongup

After I came down from my high and cleaned myself up and redressed, I worked on cleaning up the studio room, leaving Himchan be where he was laying.

I think he might have fallen asleep.

I took a moment to myself, sitting next to him as I gathered up his clothes and pushed at the minute wrinkles that had been formed in them. When I finally lifted Himchan up to help him redress, he flopped against me, offering no help what so ever except allowing me to push and pull at him until his clothes were back into place.

The bruises were fast forming on his skin and I couldn’t help but smirk at the dark splotches in the shape of my fingers and hands along his hips. The scratches were light down his back, the red lines like tallies across his skin. I really hope that Himchan wouldn’t be angry with me for leaving so many marks on his skin… sometimes I could see that he was the kind of person that really cared about his appearance and his body and I couldn’t’ help but worry that he’d be angry by the bruises… then again, with the way he had been … he couldn’t be too mad.

It took me a few minutes of struggling with Himchan, who was absolutely no help my god, to get him to stand up on his feet. Even then, he still held his weight against me, his head lolled forward as he let out an unintelligent mumble against my skin.

“Ulgh… Himchan, help me out here a little bit please…” I whined, trying to pull him up onto my back. He sluggishly looped his arms around my neck, resting his head onto my shoulder as he snuggled into me. I let out a small scoff, locking his legs around my waist as I picked up our bags and made my way from the dance studio.

I could only hope that the room only smelled of sweat.

The cab driver of the taxi gave me an odd look as I struggled beneath Himchan’s weight, having carried him on my back all the way off campus. He merely raised an eyebrow as I loaded the still practically unconscious elder into the back seat and climbed in after him. I smiled apologetically. “It’s been a long day… sorry…”

The driver nodded, “Uh, okay… where to then…”

I gave him my address, flopping back into the seat as Himchan curled up next to me. The cab driver turned out to be rather nice, as when he pulled up to my apartment, he helped me pull the still unresponsive Himchan from the back seat and help me pull him back onto my back.

After I paid the driver, he just merely smiled at me. “I’m just glad he’s not drunk and didn’t throw up in the back seat… have a good day.”

“Ah, thank you!” I waved the best I could before heading up to the apartment, thankful that the elevator was working and I didn’t have to lug Himchan up the stairs.

Himchan hummed softly, shifting a tiny bit as he nuzzled into my neck, “My strong Uppie…”

I really hoped Himchan couldn’t feel the slight acceleration of my heart, because, could he not do that? It was bad enough that his voice was already deep and raspy as hell, but speaking right against someone’s ear in that kind of voice should be completely illegal. He should be arrested for that …

…Oh… Himchan in handcuffs… wow… that’s a mental image.

! Don’t think about that, Jongup.

I squinted my eyes staring ahead and trying to clear my mind as I dug into my pockets for my key to unlock the door. Think of anything… puppies, and rainbows and sparkling glitter— girls! Think of girls—Yup okay, issues gone. I smiled proudly as I kicked off my shoes, going back into the bedroom.

I dumped Himchan unceremoniously into my bed, reaching down and taking off his shoes and setting them down on the floor before flopping onto the surface next to him as I let out a heavy sigh into my pillow.

“It’s all your fault…”

Himchan’s soft mumble had me raising my head as I looked at him, “What’s my fault?”

“It’s your fault that you had to carry me here… my hurts and I’m tired as hell because of you…”

I couldn’t help but smirk, “Yeah yeah, okay…” I watched as Himchan rolled from his side and onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as silence washed over us. I wanted to say something, to fill the quiet void, but Himchan finally beat me to it.

“I really don’t ever do this…” he admitted. “I don’t… you know… stay at people’s places, especially not after …”

I watched him, propping my cheek up onto my hand so I could lift off the bed a little so I could see his expression better, “Is that why you ran out on me on Tuesday?”

Himchan nodded quickly, “Yeah, you freaked me out… I mean… we hung out all day, and then I just… stayed the night… in your clothes at that… and there was no … I don’t do that, Jongup.”

I pouted my lips, “How do you know I didn’t want morning though?”

Himchan’s eyes narrowed as he turned his head to look at me, “Well, did you?”

“Maybe I was thinking about it.” I admitted, smiling a little as he rolled his eyes.

Himchan let out a huge scoff, “You should have woken me up with a raging hard on in my face then, how am I supposed to know…” My expression must have been that of appall as Himchan let out a rich laugh and rolled onto his side to face me, his hand tucking beneath his head as he grinned at me, “I’m serious though, Jongup…”

“Why do I believe this… like… only you would want to wake up in the morning with a in your face…”

Himchan smirked, shrugging, “No, I’m just the only one that admits they want to wake up like that…”

I shook my head, flopping onto my back as I kicked at the covers beneath me and wiggled under them, “So… if I want morning , I need to wake you up with a … any more rules?”

“Yeah, if we spoon, and you are the big spoon, I better feel some on my … extra points for another …”

I laughed, shaking my head as Himchan climbed under the covers, “I don’t think you need anything on your right now…”

Himchan let out a puff of air and a roll of his eyes, “Once again, your fault…” He said. “You know, you really shouldn’t curl up in bed until you’ve gone and taken a shower…”

I wrinkled my nose at him, “Yah, are you saying I smell bad…”

Himchan looked over at me with a twinkle in his eyes, smirking playfully, “If I said yes, would you go take one?”

“I don’t know… if I got up and took one... would you join me?” I countered.

Himchan’s smirk grew into a full blow smile, “Is that an invitation, Moon Jongup?” He asked, propping up on his elbows to look down at me with raised eyebrows.

“It might be…” I replied coolly, “Need to see my to accept it or something?”

Himchan let out a laugh, “Maybe I do.”

I laughed, sitting up and climbing onto Himchan, sitting in his lap as he continued to keep himself propped partially up. My hands were quick to tangle into his hair as I kissed him softly, his lips molding perfectly against mine as he pushed himself into me. After a few minutes of kisses, I pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips, “Come take a shower with me.”

“Alright…”

Youngjae

“Hyuuuuunnnngg~~”

My eyebrow twitched softly as I pulled my books out of my locker so that I wouldn’t have to come back for any books over the weekend. I took a deep breath, ignoring the poking to my cheek as Zelo propped himself up against the locker next to me.

“Hyung~~ Hyung~ Jae hyung~ Youngjae hyuuuung~ Stop ignoring me, pleeasseee~”

I let out a heavy sigh, letting my head hit my locker after I shut it. I took a moment for myself before stand up straight and looking at Zelo, “Yes, Zelo-yah?”

Zelo beamed at me, standing up straight (the little er, doesn’t he know that makes him tower over me? Not cool.), “What are you doing this weekend? Can we hang out?”

“Uhm, I mean… I was going to go hang out with AJ after class today… he was going to go over what I missed in the beginning of the semester in our maths class—“

“Ulgh, are you serious, hyung? You’re going to do homework?? First thing on the weekend at that??” Zelo whined, and I nodded my head, earning another loud whine from him. “You’re so boring, hyung~~”

I puffed out my cheeks, blowing at my bangs as I began to shove my books into my bag, “Well, you asked me what I was doing, Zelo, I’m sorry if it doesn’t sound to fun…”

Zelo mimicked me, puffing out his cheeks as he pouted. “Fine, okay… can I join you then on your epic quest of boringness?”

I raised an eyebrow at Zelo, “Uhm, no offence… you and Jongup were like, attached at the hip earlier this week… why don’t you just go hangout with him if you think studying is boring?”

Zelo rolled his eyes, “Ulgh, cause Himchan hyung beat me to Uppie… and like, I’m sure you’ve heard a bit about Himchan already, right?”

“uhm… someone told me he’d give me a if I asked nicely?”

Zelo laughed at me, and I wrinkled my nose. I didn’t like to be laughed at. “Hyung~ That makes Himchannie hyung sound so innocent… he practically s everything insight—“

“Yah! Language, child!” I scolded quickly. Geez, what were up with kids these days and their ing potty mouths. Rude.

Zelo waved me off quickly, “It’s true, hyung! Himchan hyung has practically been with everyone… I hung out with you so long on Monday because I didn’t want to go back to mine and Uppie’s place and see them doing it…. But they were just asleep watching a movie when I got home, which is really uncommon for Himchan hyung… he’s practically been following Uppie all week and I know they haven’t done it yet…”

I held up my hands, “Zelo, seriously, I don’t want to hear about anyone doing anything—“

“Exactly!! See, you have to be a good hyung and let me hang out with you because they are probably having back at my place right now, you don’t want your sweet innocent dongsaeng to walk in on that, right!”

I turned, letting my head hit the locker again. This kid was going to be the death of me. Seriously. I’m going to have to re-dye my hair again because of him; I could almost feel him aging me beyond my years, turning my perfect hair grey at the roots.

“Youngjae hyung, please—“

“Okay okay! You can hang out with us…” I finally said, waving at Zelo to get him to stop his whining. Instead he let out a loud cheer, hugging onto my tightly. “Calm down Zelo! I can’t breathe!” I whined, pushing lightly at him to try to get him off.

“Aww~~ Hyung’s to cute~” Zelo said instantly, still holding me close as he pinched my cheek.

“Y-Yah!!”

“Awww, you let him pinch your cheeks but not me; I see what kind of friend you are now…”

Zelo still had my cheek pinched between his fingers, distorting my face a little as I blinked up at the new voice, “I don’t let him do anything…” I grumbled, my voice sounding weird as Zelo giggled and continued to pinch at the soft flesh. I swatted at him, finally getting him to let go as I rubbed the side of my face to get feeling back into my skin.

AJ grinned at me, “So you got your stuff?”

I nodded quickly, “Yeah… and the giant baby here is gonna join, is that okay?”

AJ smiled, “yeah, sure… Kevin said he was going to come to… apparently he needs some help with his homework and figured it would be helpful to have two maths geniuses help him…”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes, “Oh I see how it is… just pimping out our smarts now…”

“Of course! And he said he’d buy us coffee… So…”

Wait, free stuff? Oh hell yeah, totally there, “Oh okay then, I guess that will work.” I said jokingly, smiling.

It only took us a few minutes to get to the small coffee shop and I have to admit, I did a quick perimeter check for not only Himchan—I  did not want my d today—but for that Daehyun guy too, because let’s face it, he stares, like, majorly bad. I constantly catch him during class and he still hasn’t said anything, like, doesn’t he know it’s really rude to stare? I get it, I’m ing adorable and and who wouldn’t want to stare at me, but seriously, creeper alerts going off here.

We took a seat at the booth near the back of the café and I pulled my text book out of my bag as AJ did the same.

Zelo tapped a beat on the table top, making soft beat boxing noises as me and AJ set up our papers, and it wasn’t long until a thin brunette was sliding into the seat next to AJ.

“Hey you guys~” He grinned, smiling brightly. “You didn’t start without me, right?”

I looked up, “Hey Kevin… nah, we were just about to though…”

“Oh, c’mon, Jae… You know we would have waited for Kevin…” AJ said, grinning at the boy next to him.

I rolled my eyes, “You maybe…” I said, grinning.

“Oh my god, you’re such a nerd, Jae hyung~” Zelo said, grinning at me as he elbowed me lightly and I pouted.

“Yah! You were the one that wanted to tag along, don’t insult your hyung!”

Kevin laughed a little, shaking his head before turning to Zelo, “You’re Himchan’s friend, right?”

Zelo nodded quickly, “Yeah, me and hyung hang out a bit…” He said, “I’m Zelo!”

“Nice to meet you, Zelo!” Kevin looked at AJ and me, “Isn’t he just the cutest!” He said, reaching over and pinching Zelo’s cheek.

Zelo let out a small squeak, his eye squinting shut as Kevin mercilessly pinched the soft flesh of his cheek. Ha! Pay back, !

AJ pouted a little, looking down at his text book as Kevin continued to praise Zelo and I took the opportunity to kick my friend under the table, causing him to wince and cut a glare to me. I quickly gave him a pointed look back, narrowing my eyes briefly to which he rolled his eyes and shrugged.

Yup, I’m that good. I can hold silent conversations with just glances, I deserve money for this, like, that’s a serious talent right there.

Kevin looked over at us, finally releasing Zelo from his pinching fingers. “Omg, are you guys doing some kind of smart people brain swap, like… sharing thoughts and some kind of ?” He asked.

AJ laughed, “No, Youngjae is just being weird…”

“Yah! I’m not weird!” I insisted, pouting.

“Yeah, okay, you totally are weird, Jae!”

I stuck my tongue out at AJ, ready to make some sort of witty comeback. Of course, I didn’t actually have a witty come back.

Thankfully I was saved from the embarrassment of possibly just rattling of something stupid as someone else joined our increasingly crowded booth, dragging a chair to sit right at the end of the table. His blonde fringe was styled up in a chic style, and his eyebrow game was something serious. He propped his elbows up onto the table, leaning forward to peck Kevin’s cheek, “Hey boo…”

Kevin giggled, shoving at the blonde, “Eli, stop being cheesy~” He said, leaning over to give Eli a kiss back.

This time I was quick to step on AJ’s foot, giving him another look as he all but rage pouted.

Remember how I said that it couldn’t have been AJ leaving me the terrible grease lines because he had eyes for someone else.

Yeah, that someone else was Kevin.

And Kevin was dating Eli.

And Eli was AJ’s best friend, do you see how ed up falling in love is?

Thankfully it was Zelo that saved us from awkward tension as he smiled brightly at the blonde that had joined the table. “Eli hyung~”

Eli turned to Zelo, grinning widely, “Ah~ Zelo!! It’s been to long… drop me a beat!”

Zelo held his hand over his mouth, beating a fast rhythm with the odd sounds deep in his throat as Eli matched it with a fast paced rap, slowing it down with each rhythm change Zelo did.

It was cool and all, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much spit Zelo was getting on his hand right now, like, ew.

When Eli finished up his rap, Zelo did some kind of cool beat box ending with weird sounds (ew, probably more spit), and Kevin clapped for the two (as did a few other people in the café). I couldn’t help but notice where AJ’s gaze was lingering, so I reached over and tapped him, “Hey, AJ, I want to go get a coffee… come with me…”

“What? Uhm, sure, okay… Hey Kevin, you said you were buying…”

Kevin looked at AJ, “Oh! Right… Here…. And can you get me a hot chocolate?” He smiled at AJ as he stood up to let him slide out of the booth.

Of course, my luck was Zelo was too busy talking to Eli now about rap or whatever and didn’t even pay any attention to my poking to get him to move so I could get up. With an exasperated sigh, I pulled my feet up onto the seat and stood up, climbing over the back side of the booth and stepping onto the seat of the one that was behind us before sliding out of that one.

“Hyung, I would have moved if you just asked…” Zelo said, looking up at me. Yeah, sure, wait till I start climbing over furniture and then pay attention to me, great dongsaeng, really.

I grinned, “Nah, I’m all good… C’mon AJ…” I reached over, grabbing AJ’s arm and dragging him along to the front counter.

“What’s up, Youngjae?”

“You’re staring at him and you’re really obvious…”

AJ pouted at me, crossing his arms as he stared up at the menu board, “I’m not obvious…”

“You really are…” I said, looking up at the menu with him. “It’s not good for you… he’s with Eli, and I get that you like him, but you’ve really got to move on. I am positive that you have someone that is out there looking at you the same way you are looking to Kevin, you probably have a whole group of people that gather in a dark closet and worship some sort of AJ shrine with little locks of your hair and that pencil you lost the other day in math class, but minus the pencil because  you might not have actually lost it, I think I might have kind of sort of thrown it away because you chew on the end and that is disgusting, but I digress.”

AJ grinned, nudging with his elbow, “Dude, I pray to god there is no AJ shrine anywhere, like… that’s creepy as .”

I smirked, “Yeah, it is… but you get my point, right…?”

"Yeah... but it's still hard to just... forget about him..."

"That's what you got me for! I'll help you get over Kevin, and by the end of the school year, we'll find you someone else and you'll be completely smitten and it will be absolutely adorable."

AJ rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess we can try…”

Omo, I am so sorry about this update. First off, I hate this chapter with a passion, I couldn't get it to do what I wanted. Also, I missed my Monday/Tuesday update, because thank god I updated early last week because i ended up working a double and i've been tired as all week, :P and my car froze earlier this week because it got so cold down here and it didn't know what to do. On top of all that, my computer crashed on Monday and wiped everything I had written and I had to redo it all. /sigh

anyways, I'm sorry for such a late update, and for it being so... ty. OTL

I'll make it up in the next update.

Cuddles,
Lynn