The Tenth Meeting
The Little Things
February 10th, 2010
He was exhausted. It wasn’t as if he usually wasn’t tired, but between training for Dream Team’s high jump challenge, getting prepared to tour Singapore and Japan along with Korean promotions, taking care of baby Yoogeun, all while keeping on top of his schoolwork… He was ready for a break. Manager hyung wanted him to take a break off one of his activities or at least school. While in retrospect he might’ve agreed with it a few months ago, he couldn’t imagine giving up on any of them. His father had always told him to never give up no matter what the situation. So he wouldn’t. But his exhaustion was affecting his body to the point where his legs would be so strained that even walking was painful. The SM Entertainment doctor had him to get more sleep, but his nights were spent staring at his phone or reading his copy of The Little Prince.
But mostly, he’d find himself fiddling with his bracelet.
Honestly, he wasn’t even aware of the fact he was doing all of these things. Jonghyun hyung caught him smiling at the banana milk in the dorm’s refrigerator, Taemin asked him why he kept reading the same book over and over, Onew told him to turn off his cell phone at night because the light was bothering him, and Key lectured him that the bracelet would rust if he kept it on all of the time.
None of these things are related, he said to himself as he carried Yoogeun to the toddler’s room. I just happen to enjoy banana milk and the Little Prince. Everyone looks at their cell phone at night. And it’s too much of a hassle to take the bracelet on and off.
In the back of his mind, he could hear Key’s scoff of You keep telling yourself that Choi Minho.
All of the members were taking an afternoon nap as the producers packed away the filming equipment. Despite his tiredness, Minho never enjoyed afternoon naps. Instead, he stretched outside and massaged his calf muscles.
He wondered what was taking her so long. Yes, she never gave him a definite date on when she’d come, but she did say around January. It was strange, not seeing her for nearly three months. He laughed silently at his thoughts. How had he come from sitting next to her on an airplane and then waiting for her to return from the States? Classes seemed empty and boring without her. He couldn’t help but stop by the bus stop every once in a while although he took the subway to school. Though he knew her for over two years, he had only seen her a handful of times. And yet so many things reminded him of her…
So many little things brought them together.
But I don’t like her, Minho quickly reassured himself. Now I think about it, I don’t know a lot of things about her. I don’t know enough to like her.
Twiddling with his bracelet, he wondered who might’ve had the chance to really know her - her habits, her dislikes, her likes.. Who was his rival in the affectionate title ‘oppa’?
A pitter patter of feet broke him out of his reverie.
“Minho appa!” Yoogeun babbled while running towards Minho in excitement.
“Oh! Yoogeun ah! You should be sleeping so your umma doesn’t scold us for not giving you your afternoon nap!” Minho joked while ruffling Yoogeun’s hair. Yoogeun simply shook his head and waggled a finger a him. “So when is your mom picking you up? If she doesn’t, then you’ll have to stay with me forever!”
In a single motion, Minho scooped Yoogeun up and spun him around. If there was one thing Minho unconditionally adored, it was children. And Yoogeun’s doe like eyes and cute mannerisms hit Minho’s weakness spot on. Yoogeun suddenly ran from Minho’s arms down the path of the house. Curious at the boy‘s sudden change in demeanor, Minho followed slowly. He heard the front door open and suddenly ran towards the door.
Minho shouted, “Jung Yoogeun! You can’t just open the door for strangers -!”
“Noona!” Yoogeun laughed, jumping in the arms of a girl.
The girl smiled at Minho before turning her attention to the toddler. She picked him up with ease and kissed both of his cheeks. “Yoogeunie! You keep getting bigger and bigger! You’re getting as tall as Minho appa! Give noona a kiss to make her taller too!”
Minho watched in amusement and shock. ____ was the last person he had been expecting to pick up Yoogeun. In fact, he didn’t even think she was in the country. He thought that she might’ve at least given him some sort of warning that she was in Korea again…
“Yoogeunie, do you want to stay with your appas a little longer? Your umma doesn’t mind,” she asked as Yoogeun ran towards the house again, clearly intent on waking the other Shinee members.
The two laughed at the toddler’s enthusiasm before looking at each other. Minho felt there was so much to say, so much he planned on asking her, but now that she was in front of him all of the lines he thought of those late nights in bed flew out of his head. She broke the silence first, bowing slightly in apology and thanks.
“Thank you for taking care of my baby cousin so well, Minho oppa. Auntie said Yoogeun was having so much fun with Shinee so I thought I’d surprise you and pop in to say hello,” she explained, answering his previous thoughts. “I just got back a week ago but I had to settle in my new apartment before contacting anyone or going to school.”
Wordlessly, he nodded. For whatever reason, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She physically had not differed from when he last saw her under the dim glow of the street light, but he noticed some subtle changes The way she smiled, the light that seemed to add a glow to her face.. And…
Was she always so beautiful? How did I not see it before?
Minho smiled at his thoughts and led her to the house. She seemed hesitant, but followed him nonetheless. They talked about his schedule and her moving until ____ froze on the spot.
The Shinee members stared curiously at the pair, two curious, one excited, and one shocked.
“Hyung, who’s that?” Taemin asked as Yoogeun ran to ___, telling her to look at a watermelon flashcard that he said had pockets.
This time, Minho hesitated. Did he really want to introduce her to s? He wasn’t worried about them being rude or mean. He knew they were all good guys and polite. But they were also idols and too charming for his liking. Suddenly, he remembered the wedding when Jonghyun hyung easily stole her attention from him. Before, he refused to admit he was jealous. They weren’t close enough for him to say so. But now..
I don’t want her to call anyone else ‘oppa’.
“Ah.. Anyonghaesaeyo. I’m _____. It’s a.. a pleasure to meet you,” she bowed, voice trembling. “I’m a classmate of Minho op- Minho sshi and Yoogeun’s older cousin.”
Minho snapped his gaze at her. She was never flustered around him, even when she realized his idol status. Neither did she behave this way with Jonghyun hyung when they met. But he supposed she was just nervous to be around so many people and..
Minho sshi? Just ‘classmates’?
He felt oddly disappointed at her label for him. Perhaps she didn’t want the other members to get ideas..?
His mind was buzzing as Taemin, Key , and Jonghyun started speaking with her about Yoogeun. Onew hyung seemed withdrawn, but Minho brushed it off as Onew being nervous with ___ and Yoogeun. Did she really think of him that way? No.. she had said they were friends before and he believed her. Maybe she was trying to save him from having to explain their friendship to s. Minho stored his thoughts away, deciding to worry about them later.
“Hey, ___ sshi! You didn’t contact me after the wedding. Not everyone gets the opportunity to dance with Shinee’s Jonghyun you know,” Jonghyun pouted as he put a hand on her shoulder.
She rolled her eyes and jokingly swatted Jonghyun’s hand from her shoulder, much to Minho’s relief. “Jonghyun sshi, I’m glad that only your hair color changed rather than that charming personality of yours.”
Jonghyun pulled a mock offended look as Key laughed at the girl’s spunk. Out of the corner of his eye, Minho saw Jonghyun’s hand reaching out to grab ____’s. Quickly, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave the three members a hard look. They appeared confused but comprehension dawned on their faces as they howled in laughter and glee.
“Hyung, you don’t have to look so scary!” Taemin laughed, backing away from Minho while taking Yoogeun with him. “Hands off, hands off we know. We’ll leave you and ____ sshi alone -”
The door slammed shut as Onew furiously stomped out of the house.
All heads, even Yoogeun’s, turned to stare at the door. Shocked at the usually calm leader’s actions, the other members quickly reassured ___ that she had done nothing wrong and that their leader was probably cranky that he woke up form his nap. She smiled halfheartedly and Minho felt a bit of anger at his leader. While he didn’t want s to outright flirt with her, he never imagined his hyung to be so rude.
Minho ruffled her hair to confirm the other members’ words. But he couldn’t help be feel as if he was missing a huge piece of a puzzle as he watched her gaze that was fixed on the door.
“I’m sorry about Onew hyung,” Minho said while watching Yoogeun play on a playground’s rocking horse. His voice was muffled slightly behind the scarf he used to cover the bottom half of his face. “He is usually pretty shy when it comes to new people but I have no idea what has gotten into him today.”
She just shook her head and sat down at a bench not far from her cousin. “It’s fine. People like me usually don’t get along that well with people like him,” she said cryptically, staring at her feet. “But it was nice to see you, Minho oppa. You are so good to Yoogeunie, it’s no wonder he misses you when you’re not around.”
Minho smiled as he glanced at the toddler squealing in delight. He noticed that she was rubbing her arms and a rosy blush from the cold was painted on her cheeks. Loosening the scarf from his neck, he wrapped it around her own. She smiled in thanks and he reached for her hand and firmly grasped it in his own. She looked at their interlocking hands before a glint of silver caught her eye, causing her smile to widen.
Checking her watch, she realized the bus would be arriving in a couple of minutes and that she should be walking to her stop.
The three walked to the bus stop with Minho’s hand still in hers. Thankfully, the bustling crowds didn’t take a second glance at him due to the impending snow. He enjoyed the moment of normalcy, something he knew he gave up as soon as he entered the entertainment industry. Simply walking with her on a snowy day like any other teenagers do.. He felt like a different person.
He bid her and Yoogeun goodbye when reaching her bus stop, feeling strangely unaccomplished as he headed towards the house. Minho toyed with his bracelet until he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Taking out his phone, he opened the text message sent by Key.
‘We have an extra backstage pass for the night show on the fourteenth. Jonghyun’s mom isn’t showing. I’ll leave the rest to you. >:]
- Kibum :D’
Confused, he stared at his phone and was about to call Key for an explanation until Key’s intentions hit him. Minho turned and sprinted towards the bus stop, ignoring all of the doctor‘s warnings about his exhaustion and legs. He bumped into multiple people, not bothering to say sorry and had only one goal in mind..
He stopped in front of the two sitting on the bench playing a game. Breath coming out in puffs, he leaned against shelter of the bus stop, ignoring the quizzical looks he was getting from the two. Minho looked at ____ and suddenly he wondered if he should run back towards the house to save his pride. Gulping visibling, he began to speak.
“On.. On the fourteenth. We have a music show special...” Minho said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He shifted his weight on his feet, suddenly shy and wishing for his brain to catch up with his voice.
Come on Choi Minho! You can do it! You sing in front of thousands yet you can’t even do this?
“Minho oppa..?”
Do it!
“Um.. So… Yeah. Jonghyun hung’s mom isn’t showing up to the music performance so we have an extra ticket and his sister is showing up to say hellow but whatever we have an extra ticket so if you want I’d really like for you to come and maybe we can catch a movie and dinner afterwards?” Minho stumbled, urging the blood to stop rushing to his face.
She stared at him in disbelief and confusion. “Um.. That’s very kind of you.. But I don’t think Yoogeunie is allowed to attend. Isn’t there an age limit of twelve years old on those things?”
Minho laughed out loud and his nerves quickly went out the window.
“I meant you, ____. Go on a date with me?” he smiled as a blush crawled on her face.
She opened but quickly closed it. Biting her lip, she didn’t answer. Minho simply looked down at Yoogeun, crouching to the curious toddler.
“Yoogeun ah, do you think your noona should go on a date with Minho appa?” Minho winked while taking out a lollipop from his coat and showing it to Yoogeun.
Yoogeun and ___’s eyes went wide for entirely different reasons. “Mm!” Yoogeun said while reaching for the lollipop.
Minho smirked at her shocked expression and protests but turned his heel and walked away. Glancing back, he waved, “See you on the fourteenth, ___.”
As he walked home, Minho promised himself to buy Yoogeun a new Power Rangers toy for the rest of his life.
Author’s Note: Thank you all for your encouragement and patience! I was so surprised to get a thousand hits on this story from the time I last updated and now. ^ u ^ So thank you for the extra boost in writing! I had an awesome yet busy and stressful week so I’m glad I finally found the time to write this casual update. Next chapter will be up in the next couple of days I hope. ‘Til then, have fun with this one.
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