Disclaimer: EXO is owned by SME. Which is not me. 

Chapter 5: A Distant Relationship

They had started with a bang.

Literally.

Three years ago

BOOM!

The loud explosion that came from the classroom behind him made Minseok automatically turn and rush in without thinking.

Thick, white clouds of smoke that were blanketing the room were slowly dissipating out of the window and most of the students and the teacher were bent over, coughing their lungs out.

“, what happened here??” Minseok heard one of the guys behind him ask.

“Experiment gone wrong by the looks of it”, another answered.

Minseok turned around slightly and found the rest of the soccer team, leaning in eagerly with half-worried, half-excited expressions.

“Wait, my girlfriend is in this class!” someone from the back burst out in panic.

“Make way, make way!”

And with that, the whole lot of them were unceremoniously shunted away by a tirade of teachers holding fire extinguishers, towels and buckets of water.

“No, no!” the chemistry teacher managed to wheeze out between coughs, “There’s no fire and the gas is non-toxic! Just get everyone out!”

Minseok watched, as did the rest of the students who had crowded the corridor, as the coughing students were brought out hastily and given wet towels to wipe their faces and asked to go to the nurses’ room to just get a checkup.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guy who had proclaimed about his girlfriend reunite with her near the end of the corridor, far from the prying eyes of the teachers. He was worriedly asking if she was alright and she was reassuring him that she was.

Minseok smiled softly at the scene and turned to hear the chemistry teacher exhort a still-coughing student.

“No more chemistry experiments for you, Kim Jongdae.”

Minseok’s attention piqued at the name.

The chastised student scowled after his teacher’s departing form and turned to his classmates.

“Sorry about that”, he grinned apologetically, “Had no clue that would happen.”

“Even when I told you it would explode?” a student with glasses asked, amusedly.

“Hey!” Jongdae quickly accused, pointing a finger dramatically, “You said it after it exploded!”

There was a short burst of laughter before another guy spoke up, “At least this lesson wasn’t boring.”

“Heaven forbid”, someone chuckled and Jongdae grinned, stretching his arms out and resting them behind his head.

“Well”, one of the girls piped up, “we’re heading to the nurse’s office just to get checked. You guys coming?”

“Nah”, Jongdae replied almost immediately, leisurely turning on his heel with his friends behind him, “This is the perfect chance to skip out and I ain’t letting it go!”

His friends hooted in agreement behind him and Jongdae turned to high five them. With his playful grin still in place, Jongdae swung around, swept his eyes across the corridor and met Minseok’s curious gaze.

And he froze.

Minseok saw his grin slid down to form a small “o” and his eyes widened as though he saw a ghost.

Minseok wasn’t surprised at that reaction; Jongdae went out of his way to avoid him at school.

Then, Jongdae managed a feeble smile, gave a quick bow and walked straight out of the hallway.

Minseok could feel his lips twitching into a smile at the breakneck reactions of his junior.

Hey, at least he didn’t act like he didn’t even exist.

“Oi, Minseok! You coming?”

His teammates were yelling for him and Minseok shifted his direction towards them.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” he shouted back, jogging to catch up with them and smiling to himself.

That was some progress today.

*       *        *         *       *        *

Soccer practice that evening had ended in their blood and tears.

The coach had yelled at them, cussed at them and had nearly thrown one of the new kids off the team for missing a pass.

“The tournament is just one month away and you lot are still playing like a bunch of ing pansies?!” he had screeched at them as they took a timeout to catch their breath.

That was one of the softer moments of the day.

“Ow”, Minseok softly cursed as he swiped disinfectant on his grazed calf. The skin throbbed raw and red and he gritted his teeth as he bandaged it up.

The locker room was quieter than most days; everyone was too tired to talk and so the only sounds were the wet slap of sweat-soaked T-shirts hitting the bench or the owner’s respective clothes bag and the soft shuffling of footsteps as they exited the room.

Minseok didn’t wait for anyone as he quickly changed and sped out the doorway as fast as his leg would allow him to.

As he neared the gates, he slowed down and casually surveyed the area for the lanky figure of Kim Jongdae.

Nobody to see here, bucko.

And so, Minseok trudged on; eyes still sweeping the area for the younger male and ears on alert for his raucous laughter.

After all, Jongdae stopped sobbing ages ago.

*       *        *         *       *        *

The remnants of the red dusk were being soaked in the inky black sky by the time Minseok reached his small house. The streetlight that was supposed to light up the dingy path of his deprived neighborhood was flickering non-stop.

He hobbled up the front stairs, teeth still gritting at the pain in his calf, and fumbled for the key in his backpack. His head shot up at the sound of glass breaking from the house next door and winced at the angry screech that followed it.

He opened the door and stepped inside, gingerly moving his injured leg forward.

The hallway led right into the tiny living room and Minseok hobbled past the furniture to the right end corner where a shelf held two portraits.

He smiled at them, his eyes crinkling as he did so.

“Hi Mom, hi Dad. I’m home”, he said softly.

His parents smiled back serenely in the portraits as they did in real life and Minseok gave a quick bow before departing to his bedroom upstairs.

The pain in his leg flared again as he climbed the rickety stairs and he mentally set a note to visit the doctor. He couldn’t put a damper on his performance in the upcoming match; Coach would murder him.

He reached his room and the sight of his bed intensified every ache in his tired body. He sank into his mattress with weary groan.

This would be the moment when his mother used to come up with a tray of hot broth and ask him about his day and – no, don’t think about the old days.

He could feel his heart palpitating at the thought of his mother, her sweet smile and he tightly closed his eyes as if the image would get erased from his mind.

The accident that killed his parents happened at least a year ago and no matter how hard he tried to put it behind him, he could still remember that day so vividly.

“Kim Minseok?” their homeroom teacher had interrupted the fifth period lesson and spoken to the teacher tensely before calling out his name.

He was confused and the expression on the teachers’ face unnerved him. Something was wrong and that thought numbed him, turned his legs to jelly so that he hit his knee on the desk when he tried to stand up.

He was taken to the principal’s office where the news was broken to him.

His parents had met with an accident while coming back from their lawyer’s office… That his mother had died on the spot and his father was in critical condition but…

He didn’t know how he ended up in the hospital to identify their bodies, he couldn’t feel the tears all over his face and he couldn’t remember all the people that queued up in his house to offer their condolences.

But he remembered the eviction notice slapped in front of him by a burly man who growled the debts left by his father.

He remembered the groans of his relatives as they discussed in loud whispers on who was going to take him in. And then the scorns as they realized he would be nothing but a debt-ridden burden.

He remembered Kim Jongdae standing in the corner behind his father whose uncaring eyes conveyed that he was merely there because he was their neighbor and he had to keep appearances.

“Give me one year”, he declared quietly to the debt collector who had been waiting by the doorway. The man looked at him, his face a mixture of fury and curiosity.

“What?” he grunted and Minseok swallowed the pulse at his throat as he put forth his proposal.

“Give me one year and the house is yours.”

“And why should I do that?” the man growled back.

“Because I’m still a minor”, Minseok shot back, though he could feel his palms sweating. This gamble had to work, “I’m a minor but I’m in my senior year. If I finish out this year, I’ll find some way to survive. So just give me this year.”

“Again, why should I do that?”

“Do you want me to be your responsibility then? Child services would hound you till you give money to me to finish my studies, for my food and you’d have to look after my well-being and-“

“Ok, I got it!” the man all but yelled.

The gamble had pulled off. He might have bluffed through a huge part of it but the man never had to know.

“One year”, the man growled as he left.

One year was nearly up and he had nothing but the clothes on his back to claim as his own. His teammates and classmates were generous enough to get him new uniform clothes and money for books but at the end of the day all he ever got was pity.

At least Kim Jongdae didn’t pity him.

Probably because he had to be pitied in the first place. An abusive father, a runaway mother and a childhood full of black and blue bruises.

His own mother had tended to those bruises as Minseok peeked from the next room and he had seen a tear-streaked face with a brave expression that she had often praised.

The smaller boy had been wary when Minseok tried to talk to him and after a few futile attempts, he had stopped trying.

The pity grew as he witnessed the bravery dissolve into fear as his father thundered at their doorstep bellowing at him to get out. On such nights, Minseok would keep a pillow over his head to shut out Jongdae’s sobs.

And then, at one point the sobs stopped. Jongdae would still take on beatings if his father was able to control his rotary movements in his drunken stupor but he covered up the bruises with carefree laughter, glib jokes and occasional sarcasm.

He also avoided Minseok at school and the elder didn’t blame him. Why would he want to see the only person whose eyes might betray the pity for him?

Minseok could feel his eyes drooping and let himself relax into the comfort of his bed. The silence of the night was broken by a furious scream and a tinkling smash as though heavy glassware was shattered.

Minseok jerked up and ran up to his window to look over at the other house. Even in the darkness of the front yard, he could see Jongdae running out, hands over his head as his father flung another bottle at him.

The bottle narrowly missed and hit the garden wall and the crash made Minseok cringe.

Jongdae was outside his house’s gate and his head lopped from side to side as he frantically looked for an escape route. Minseok didn’t think twice before opening the window to yell out to him.

“Jongdae, over here!”

Jongdae started at the sound of his voice, turned back to see if it was his father and then jerked his head upwards to see him.

Minseok furiously waved his arms, “Get over here!”

And he watched tensely as Jongdae opened his gates and run in. Minseok turned away from the window and stumbled down the stairs as fast as his leg would allow him.

As he reached the bottommost step, he heard a soft thud at the front door and he knew it was Jongdae frantically trying to get refuge.

But when he opened the door, Minseok was surprised to find no trace of panic on the younger’s face, merely disregard as though nothing had happened.

“Er”, Minseok could feel his tongue tying itself into a knot, “Come in.”

“Thanks.”

Minseok closed the door and locked it, checking twice if it was firmly locked and heard a small chuckle behind him.

“He won’t come after me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jongdae was smiling mockingly at him and Minseok felt his cheeks heat up a bit.

“I don’t want to take any risks.”

“Right.”

An awkward silence prevailed as Jongdae looked at everything but Minseok and the latter stared at Jongdae wondering what he should do next.

He finally found his tongue.

“Did you have dinner?”

Jongdae looked at him sharply before giving a small shake of his head and a shrug.

“I’ve gone without dinner at times.”

“Well not tonight”, Minseok frowned and made his way into the kitchen, brushing past Jongdae. When he returned with two bowls of instant noodles, he found Jongdae waiting quietly at the dining table.

The younger muttered a quick thanks as he took the bowl and ate only after Minseok took a bite. There was no small talk between them but the silence wasn’t as painful as Minseok thought it would be. It wasn’t until after dinner, when Minseok started collecting the bowls for washing, that Jongdae initiated a conversation.

“Why are you doing this?”

Minseok paused and turned away from the kitchen to stare blankly at the younger man.

“What?”

Jongdae’s bland expression turned exasperated for a second before repeating the question.

“Why are you doing this for me?”

Minseok bit his bottom lip before answering.

“Because- well, because you’re my friend.”

“Oh yes, best friends from childhood.”

Minseok inhaled sharply at Jongdae’s sarcasm and frowned, “You know what I meant.”

“No, I don’t. Please enlighten me.”

The mockery was evident in his tone and Minseok could feel his cheeks burn again as he struggled for the appropriate words.

“Neighbor”, he clarified, “You were my neighbor from childhood. Also, you’re my junior in school. I’m duty-bound to help you”, he finished as he put the bowls in the sink.

“Oh, so no love-thy-neighbor?” Jongdae asked, leaned against the refrigerator and Minseok turned around to see a sardonic smile on his face.

“I’ll get you a mattress in a minute”, Minseok replied to dodge the subject.

“Couch’s fine”, came the caustic reply.

 “Yeah, not for your back”, he retorted back, putting back the final bowl, “I have a spare mattress in my room and enough space to spread it out there. The living room is too cramped for it.”

If Jongdae was unhappy with that arrangement, he didn’t voice it as he followed Minseok to his room. He glanced furtively at his parents’ locked bedroom door as they walked past it but said nothing.

“There.” Minseok huffed as he spread the thin mattress out and started searching for blankets and a spare pillow.

“Don’t bother”, he heard Jongdae say quietly, “This is enough.”

“Not to me”, he replied, throwing the pillow and blanket he found in the cupboard.

He thought he saw a funny expression cross Jongdae’s face but a moment later it was the usual nonchalance adorning it.

“Good night, Jongdae”, Minseok whispered as he pulled his own covers up.

There was no reply but for the flurry of blankets.

*       *        *         *       *        *

Minseok bolted upright in his bed at the sound of the 6 o’ clock alarm on his phone. He shut it mechanically and blearily looked around the room as last night’s memories caught up with his awakening brain.

Then he noticed that there was no sign of the other person who was with him.

His mind jolted awake when he realized that Jongdae was gone and hissed in pain as he hurriedly leapt from the bed and ended up exerting his injured leg. He discovered the mattress tucked away in the cupboard along with the blanket and pillow. Minseok internally cursed as he strained his ears for any noises in his house.

Nothing.

There was no reason for him to overthink things, he told himself as he forced his nerves to calm down. Jongdae must have simply left without telling him because that’s the kind of guy he is. Reserved, distant, resentful towards him... Minseok felt his shoulders slump at the thought. It was true; Jongdae did not like him. So why would he stay?

He peered over the window into the house next door for any movement.

Nothing. He couldn’t see or hear anything from Jongdae’s house. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be there.

Minseok sighed in disappointment, frustration and helplessness as he made towards the staircase to make breakfast.

What a great feeling to start the day with.

He gingerly stepped down the staircase and nearly reached the landing when he heard the flush of the toilet from the detached bathroom upstairs. Startled, he lost his footing on the last step and tried to regain balance with his injured foot.

“, bloody hell!”, he cursed as he crumpled to the floor with a thud, clutching his burning leg.

“Hey, what was that noise?”

A sharp voice floated out from the top of the staircase and Minseok twisted his head to find Jongdae’s startled face.

“What the hell?” the younger blurted out as he raced down the steps. Minseok managed a pained smile as he accepted the outstretched arm that pulled him back on his feet.

“You okay?” Jongdae grunted as he hoisted the older boy up. He frowned on hearing a wince and Minseok leaned away to clutch the wall for support as he disclosed the injury on his leg.

“Nothing big”, he said, indifferently, as he moved towards the kitchen and away from Jongdae’s frowning face, “Happens all the time.”

He felt a small push at his back as he was rotated towards the dining table.

“That is not nothing big”, Jongdae firmly declared as he maneuvered Minseok into a seat, “I’ll get breakfast. What do you eat?” he paused in front of the refrigerator to look back at the elder.

Minseok tried his best to suppress a smile, “Toast and jam. Bread’s in the fridge. But if you want anything else feel free to go through it. Don’t expect much though.”

“No”, Jongdae replied, already bending over to take out the bread, “Toast’s fine.”

“The jam’s on the counter”, Minseok called out.

“Strawberry?” Minseok smiled at the disgruntled question and leaned forward to see Jongdae frowning at the small glass jar as though it offended him.

“There’s a jar of peanut butter on the top cupboard”, he offered helpfully and Jongdae gave a small appreciative nod as he took it down.

As Jongdae brought the toast and spreads, set it in front of Minseok and seated himself on the opposite chair. As he spread jam on his toast, the silence Minseok anticipated was unexpectedly broken by the younger man.

“Never pegged you to be a BoA fan.”

Minseok gaped at Jongdae, who had busied himself with the peanut butter, and managed to reply before he looked stupid.

“Uh, yeah. I’ve liked her since forever. But how do you..”, he trailed off rather lamely.

Jongdae gave him a glance before he replied, “Saw a small poster of her stuck on the inside of your cupboard.”

“Aah. That was my first and last poster”, Minseok smiled in remembrance. He didn’t add that he had saved up for months to buy her CD and poster and afterwards, he never had enough money to buy her merchandise.

“Even so, I didn’t think she was her type.”

“Oh?” Minseok raised his eyebrows, partly enquiring to know what he thought and partly curious as to why Jongdae was talking so much now, “Then which artist do you think I’d like?”

Jongdae had taken a huge bite of his toast and was working his mouth furiously to swallow so he could answer.

“Take your time” Minseok grinned at him and Jongdae gave him a mock deadpan look before gulping down.

“I’d figured you’d like the mature type, you know. All ballads and soft music and . I can’t really imagine you jamming to a pop diva like her”, he explained matter-of-factly.

“Well I like ballads and all, but you gotta have some fun in your life, right?” Minseok replied smilingly, “I also love MissA and TVXQ“.

“You’re kidding”, Jongdae told, disbelief lacing his tone, “I like them both too.”

Minseok let out a small laugh at that, “I guess we are similar.”

“Nuh-uh”, Jongdae immediately grimaced, “I don’t do sports like you do.”

“What? Soccer? I can teach you if you want”, Minseok peered over the table at Jongdae’s disapproving grunt.

“After all this time? No thanks”, he declined as he got up and took both their plates to the kitchen.

Minseok couldn’t help calling after him, “What about schoolwork? I think we both suffer there.”

Jongdae poked his head out from behind the refrigerator, “Did you blow up the chem lab??” he asked incredulously and Minseok chuckled. Well, maybe not so similar. He was about to say the same when he saw the look on the other’s face and paused in astonishment.

Jongdae was smiling. Jongdae was smiling. Not the sardonic, mocking smile he saw all this time but a genuine, carefree smile. For a moment, Minseok said nothing, reveling in his small achievement and he couldn’t suppress the grin spreading across his face.

He watched as Jongdae’s wide smile fade into a smaller sincere one and as he took a breath before his next words.

“Thank you. For everything, hyung.”

Minseok shook his head immediately; he hadn’t done anything, at least not as much as he could have.

“No”, Minseok felt his throat tighten a bit, “I didn’t do anything. I should have but I didn’t do anything all this time. I’m sorry, Jongdae.” He couldn’t look at the other boy. He had desperately wanted to stop the tears and the sobs and after all this time, he still didn’t know how to.

“I know.” – And Minseok’s head snapped at those words, eyes wide with remorse, heart clenching as his mind replayed those nights filled with the cries he could never forget.

“But there was nothing you could have done”, Jongdae continued, his smile never wavering and eyes shining brightly, “It’s the thought that counts and I’m happy you thought about me. I hated you for pitying me”, his voice turned bitter before mellowing again, “I hated you but I was glad that at least one person felt for me.”

And with that, Jongdae turned around to finish washing the plates and left Minseok staring at his lanky figure, speechless.

As he finished putting the last plate back, Minseok finally found his voice, “Don’t you have school today?”

Jongdae gave him a look that made Minseok regret asking that stupid question. Of course he has school today; they both did.

“If you can wait for 5 minutes, we could go together?” Jongdae asked almost shyly and Minseok grinned.

Ten minutes later, they were racing to catch the last bus; Minseok hurriedly hobbling and Jongdae supporting him all the way. As they clambored into the over-filled transportation, Minseok felt an indiscreet tug on the back of his shirt and swivelled to find Jongdae pointing to an empty seat that, he was quite sure, not empty before.

"I'm not crippled, you know.", Minseok smiled as he gratefully took the seat.

"Could have fooled me."

Jongdae managed to stand near him the whole time, even when the crowd threatened to sweep him away in its flow and Minseok could hear the soft thump of music emitting from his headphones as Jongdae stared out of the glass window, eyes glazed and mind far from the life he lived.

They reached school just in time, right before the gates closed and both of them climbed the stairs languidly, still panting to catch their breaths. As they reached their floor, Minseok shifted slightly towards the other and raised a hand in parting. His gesture was mirrored but as the hand was lowered, Minseok felt it grab his own in a tight grip.

“I’ll see you around, hyung”, said Jongdae, with a blinding smile of happiness. He turned away towards his class and was almost immediately surrounded by his friends.

Minseok stood there for a few seconds, a dazed smile threatening to crack his face as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Then he, too, turned towards his class, knowing that that day was going to be a good day and with a spring in his step that was almost instantly quelled by his aching leg.

OK, maybe not that good as he wondered what to tell his coach.

*       *        *         *       *        *

A/N: XiuChen is finally here!! I've been dying to write these two and, again, I apologize for the late update. I write during the weekends, when I'm not hit hit by a massive writer's block, so it's gonna move a bit slow. 

But we're getting there, so yeah!  o(≧▽≦)oʸᵉᵃʰᵎ

I do have the plot and the main storyline sketched out so I won't be not finishing this fic. I don't think I could sleep at night if I ever did. (๑•﹏•)

So keep your reviews, comments and, most importantly, constructive criticism coming! 

And do upvote if you like where this is going  ლ(╹◡╹ლ)