A/N: I had great ideas for this fic. It had promise. A bright future.

But that's all gone now haha I hit writer's block and decided to just publish the drafts. I hope you guys enjoy it though!

Warnings: I didn't use many specific science terms, thinking I would add them later, but alas...

 

 

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“Schist coming your way!” A jagged baseball-sized rock sailed through the air and landed a couple feet from me.

I stopped my shoveling and shook a fist. “Holy Kim Joonmyeon what if that landed on my face?”

All my homicidal best friend had to offer was his sickeningly megawatt smile and clear laughter. “C’mon ahjumeoni. It’s a nice day out.”

He shielded his eyes and looked out towards the ocean. Following his gaze, I had to admit he was right. Jeju Island offered the best views and at the elevation we were at, we overlooked much of the beautiful island. The currents colored the ocean waters different shades of blue and sea birds dipped up and down across the surface. I spotted a yacht moving lazily across the waters, probably carrying some chaebols and their significant others. The weather gods were cruel though; instead of frolicking on the beaches and breathing in the fragrant breeze, Joonmyeon and I were shoveling mud.

Granted, that mud had millions of bacteria that would become the subjects of our experiment. We were also protected with the rain pants and oversized boots the local ahjummas had supplied us with.

We gathered enough buckets to fertilize someone’s lawn and loaded them onto a pickup truck we borrowed from the local research facility. It was my turn to drive back, but as I revved the engine, I wasn’t sure we’d even make it back.

“So what are the chances of this piece of junk stalling and becoming our coffin as we slide down the side of the mountain in a freak mudslide accident?”

Joonmyeon poked straws into a row of yogurt drinks and shrugged. “The marine research facility here is pretty outdated so be thankful they even have this for us.”

The truck lurched forward and I sighed. “Better than a wheel barrow, I suppose.”

It was halfway down the mountain when disaster struck. Well, to be exact, when we were struck.

“We were totally hit, it was not my fault,” I whispered furiously. Joonmyeon and I were spending those couple seconds of shock after a car accident arguing of all things.

“Okay, I am pretty sure you guys are both at fault. He was going too fast and didn’t stop and you didn’t yield so I think it’ll be okay,” he reasoned. “But it was totally your fault.”

“Joonmyeon, he drives a freaking Porsche, of course it’s his fault!”

“He’s coming over, we should get out. Why are we whispering?! We’re totally guilty!”

A young man in a business suit had gotten out of the sports car and seemed to be taking pictures of the damage. He then looked at us expectantly.

I poked Joonmyeon in the ribs. “Okay Mr. Responsible, you handle the really well-dressed and nice-car man.”

We both got out of the truck and I surveyed the damage. The truck’s front fender was merely scratched, being the reliable steel beast that it was. The Porsche was not so lucky; its headlight had been embedded into the hood and the front bumper looked like it was making a sad face. I approached the other driver with my best “no ” face but that façade broke quickly when Joonmyeon started making noises.

“Owwwww ohhhh my neck,” he drawled while grabbing his neck. “I think my tailbone broke ohhhh god owwwwww.”

The other driver frowned and turned to me instead. “Okay I don’t have time for this. I’ve documented the damage and since it looks like your…piece of junk survived, I’ll be giving you my information for the insurance charges.” He fished around in his wallet and produced a name card. I was too busy staring at his lean figure, perfect eyebrows, beautiful face--

“Hey what,” was all that came out of my mouth as I fished around in my ahjumma pants for my card case. “For your information, you were the one speeding on a mountain road.”

“Um, ahjumma, just because I drive a sports car does not mean I speed. You did not yield.”

“You were totally speeding! We’re scientists! We can physics.” I had a history of floundering when telling lies. We couldn’t physics.

He smirked. “Can you Korean? And seriously, Man U?” I followed his gaze to the red and gold crest decal on the truck’s passenger door.

Glaring, I pulled out my card case and slapped a card onto his hand. “Man U’s where it’s at.”

“I didn’t know ahjummas carried cards…” His smirk was as irritating as it was attractive. We watched as he got back in his car and drove away. Grappling for some sort of insult, I checked the card for his name: Oh Sehun.

“Yah Oh Sehun, this is science equipment! And Man U for the win, !”

Joonmyeon decided it was best that he drove the rest of the way. “Do you even watch football?”

“No.”

 

Back at the Jeju Marine Research Facility, the coordinator Dr. Park was more concerned about our well-being than the fact that a very large insurance bill was coming their way. She was a true ahjumma at heart, having prepared a hearty late lunch for us. After inhaling the food, we went about sorting through the mud. The extraction process was ridiculously tedious sometimes and after setting up about ten filters, Joonmyeon and I decided to call it a day. We headed to the nearby beach to see if we could crash one of the local barbeque parties for dinner.

“Hey Kyungsoo!” I could see the sickeningly sweet smile Joonmyeon was wearing without looking at him. The university sent us out this morning which meant the last time he’d seen his super mega crush, Kyungsoo, was this morning. I spotted Dr. Park at one of the makeshift booths and signaled to Joonmyeon that I would be opting out on his y sweet talk time with Kyungie.

Dr. Park handed me a plate overfilled with food. “What’s Joonmyeon doing?”

“He’s talking to his boyfriend.” The spare ribs looked mouthwatering and I waited anxiously as she proceeded to turn up the grill.

The gathering consisted mostly of the research facility’s staff and their families. Dr. Park sat me down and had me explain what research I was conducting on the island. When Joonmyeon joined us, Dr. Park asked him about his boyfriend, to which he turned a rosy pink.

“I, I don’t have a significant other…” he stuttered.

I was girly slapped for my spread of misinformation. After inhaling as much food as my stomach would allow, I figured it was better to crash early tonight for tomorrow’s early morning hike…for more mud.

“Good thinking. Get some rest before your presentation tomorrow.”

“Wait, what?”

Dr. Park gave me a funny look. “You’re presenting the research project to a local investor tomorrow! The representative came in from the mainland today. He was a nice young man from the energy company that’s going to fund us.”

“Wait, what.” I was about to regurgitate everything I’d just eaten.

“Don’t worry, just do what you did earlier.”

 

A sleepless night and PowerPoint presentation later, I found myself chugging black coffee in the research facility’s kitchenette with the fear of public speaking growling in my stomach.

“Did you eat breakfast?” Joonmyeon asked as he walked in.

“Not really.”

He handed me a heavy bag of food.

“Bless your sweet soul, Joonmyeonie.”

Four pastries and a can of juice later, I was even more nervous but less hungry. Our main star of the day walked in just in time, and was the last person I expected it to be.

“Oh Sehun,” my surprise made it sound like I was spitting out the name of a mortal enemy.

“What a pleasant surprise,” he replied dully.

Maintaining my professionalism in the face of my enemy—potential research sponsor—was difficult enough; the sleep deprivation was mixing up my words and thoughts. I barely got through the introduction before Joonmyeon stepped in and took over. I spent this time watching the fine specimen that was Oh Sehun. He was one of those slim tall guys who probably lifted, judging by the triangular shape of his torso. The unimpressed face was probably by default and the boy band mop of hair made me roll my eyes. I had to admit he was attractive, but the snarky attitude and debonair vibe actually made me want to punch him in the face…with a sponsor-us-please-smile.

“Um, please stop smiling at me like that.”

Joonmyeon and I looked at each other; we were both smiling our -eating smiles aka our please-sponsor-us-smiles. It was a popular trademark of ours, patented after our graduate thesis presentations and student loan sharks started knocking on our doors. We’re pretty sure it works.

Sehun narrowed his eyes and spread his hands. “Well, it sounds like a good idea.”

I was pretty sure he was stalling to mess with us.

“And if we’re funding you to scoop buckets of dirt, it shouldn’t cost too much on our end.”

Whoa, whoa there, Oh Sehun. I bit my tongue.

“We’ll take care of any patents and the majority of the profit percentages will go to the Jeju Marine Research Facility.”

I looked at Joonmyeon and we exchanged an imaginary high five. He reached over the conference table to shake Sehun’s hand. “We’re looking forward to working with you.”

When it was my turn to thank him, he smiled over the handshake. “Aren’t you glad we’re doing this? Takes care of my car’s damages.”

“That accident was totally your fault,” I whispered firmly, intensifying my power hold on his hand because whoever has a stronger grip in a handshake establishes dominance in the relationship. It was unfortunate that his hand was bigger and stronger than mine.

“Professor Park didn’t exactly vouch for your driving skills.”

I took a deep breath. “Professor Park loves me. And Chelsea .”

He wrinkled his brow in confusion for a minute, then smirked irritatingly. “Are you talking about the decal on the car? It’s my friend Jongin’s. But good try.”

My face was probably flushing red and I tried to shove my chair in huffily…only to find that we were still holding hands. Oh Sehun gave me a brighter smile, one that caused his eyes to form crescents, and added, “I’ll see you tomorrow for the site tour.” Before I could come up with something witty to say, he had already left the building.

 

Revenge was sweet, especially when it came in the form of Sehun scooping soil for us while dressed in the full marine facility regalia. Dr. Park used her magical ahjumma powers to force him to participate and engage in the site tour activities. Joonmyeon was stuck filtering old samples and I endured the half hour drive up the mountain with Sehun in the passenger seat making snide comments about my driving skills to see karma put ahjumma pants on him.

His frown had deepened and he was holding the shovel as if it were some foreign object. Dr. Park was chatting with some of the local farmers which left me the sole audience of his fall from grace.

“I think you rock the pink floral.”

Sehun glared at me as he hunched over the shovel, the rainboots ankle deep in the mud. “What kind of shovel is this? It doesn’t scoop.”

“Oh that’s the special prince edition. Maybe you should go for the peasant one, it’ll suit you more. Speaking of suits, how’s yours holding up?”

Like the corporate errand boy that he was, Sehun had showed up in full business suit, expecting to walk around and call it a day. He paused and straightened himself. “I’m used to the groundbreaking kind, you know the ones we use to start construction on resorts and—OW!”

It sounded like he had been stabbed, so I hurried over. He was inspecting his pinky finger with mild annoyance and great pain. “Are you okay?”

“I think…the shovel gave me a splinter.”

I grabbed the finger and saw a half centimeter speck of wood embedded in his skin, barely drawing any blood.

He winced and hissed. “It hurts.”

I rolled my eyes so far back in their sockets that it hurt. We headed back to the truck where I found the first aid kit that Joonmyeon had thoughtfully stuffed under the backseat. With a piece of tape, I pulled away the splinter. Sehun on his finger like a child before allowing me to put on a band-aid.

“What, are you too manly for one? It might get infected.” He watched me with wary eyes as I peeled off the band-aid.

“It had to be a Hello Kitty band-aid…”

I shrugged as I packed away the kit. “Joonmyeon said the cuteness factor improves recovery rates by 25%.”

 

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Kana goes grocery shopping and secretly plans to buy all the Christmas chocolates/goodies that are on sale because it’s after the holiday. But Sehun tags along claiming that he needs to know if the money he’s invested is actually being put to good use. He pulls up his car and finds bags of chocolate, cookies, and other ridiculous goodies. She gives him the most innocent look and says, “It was all on sale.” He kind of doesn’t really have a response, just rolls his eyes, and thinks that it’s freaking adorable. 

“Why don’t you buy it when it’s actually in season?”

“That’s ridiculous, it’s all expensive when it’s in season.”

“Who’s going to eat out-of-season chocolate?”

“…me.”

“You mean all of those bags back there…are for you?”

“Fine, if you want in, you have to promise not to tell Joonmyeonie.”

He cringed internally at “Joonmyeonie”. “Why not?”

“He’s on this crazy health regime aka starving himself of all that is happy in this world.”

“Okay…and isn’t he older?”

“Should I call him oppa? Oppa~”

He cringed again. “Never mind.”

“Sehun-oppa~”

“Please stop.”

Continues for a bit and he ignores her. Finally she’s serious and goes “Sehun-ah…”

“Yes?”

She pats him. “You worked hard.” He gets nervous.

She looks at him very seriously and hands him a bag of Hershey’s kisses with the snowflake wrappers.

He almost loses his when Jongin starts eating them.

“Dude, calm down. Pretty genius though, buying it after season. Our Sehunnie is all grown up.”

“Shut up, I didn’t buy them.”

“What? I thought you stopped accepting Valentine’s Day chocolates in fifth grade.”

“They’re from Kana.”

“Wait, the girl who hit your car?”

“…yes.”

“You have the hots for the girl who hit your car?”

“…no.”

“You hesitated, dude.”

“No.”

 

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[Charity basketball event on the island that the Marine Institute hosts and the majority of the participants are students]

Sehun looked incredibly out of place in his dress shirt and slacks. I was hoping—thinking—that he would take his shirt off since the sun was beating down on us, but instead, he pulled out a baseball cap from his car…and wore it backwards. The cap made him look his age and when he started drinking a carton of banana milk, he could have easily blended in with the high school kids.

I turned back to packing the lunches, tossing out the sandwich that I had slathered red chili paste in. Dr. Park was giving the teams a pep talk while Joonmyeon looked like an appa in his baseball outfit. He’d lost a bet earlier about whether he’d be allowed to coach the “bigger kids” and was now wearing a red baseball cap, red baseball tee, and matching sneakers. His little league team consisted of elementary school kids and he was having a hard time keeping them from traveling once they had possession. Sehun was having an easier time with the high schoolers.

 

[Kana is asked to play a half time shootout in which she fails miserably at first b/c Sehun is watching. Then she does amazing the next round, making all her shots.]

Joonmyeon jogged over to help me with packing up the supplies and distributing the leftovers.

“You did amazing out there. I even confused you with one of the appas.”

He bristled and glared at me. “My team was wearing blue today, Kana.”

I chuckled, “I knew. But I don’t think those little leaguers cared when they had such a fatherly coach.”

Before he could strangle me, a group of high school students appeared and asked for the packed leftovers.

“Noona, you’re such a good basketball player. You should come by to play with us sometime.”

“Noona, you should teach us how to throw free throws.”

“Yeah, you made all of them swish, like the Nike commercials.”

“Ah, noona, you’re so pretty.”

I was swelling with embarrassment and bashfulness, the tips of my ears burning. They were a good six or seven years younger but they were pretty good at all the sweet talking. Before my head could grow any bigger, Sehun joined us at the tent and waved away their compliments.

“You weren’t that good.”

“Hyung, are you kidding? She sank every shot.”

“Yah, don’t you have to study?”

“I just wanted to study basketball with noo—”

He chucked a sandwich at the kid and narrowed his eyes at them. “Yah, go home and study.”

“Whoa sorry, hyung. I didn’t know noona was your girlfriend—”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” His outburst terrified them a little and they scampered away with muttered thank you’s.

“Jeez, I’ve never seen you so defensive before,” Joonmyeon teased, wiggling his eyebrows and winking. I contemplated whether or not a sandwich to the head would knock him unconscious.

“I just didn’t want someone to get airheaded over their lack of skills.”

It was my turn to get on the defensive. “Lack of skills?” I picked up a stray basketball and chucked it at him. He caught it deftly to my annoyance.

“Is that a challenge?”

I puffed up my chest. “If you’re up for it.”

He smiled and spun the ball on his index finger. “Alright, let’s go. Hyung, you wanna referee?”

We settled on a 2/3 shots game, with the loser treating everyone to dinner. Sehun was up first and sank his shot easily. Joonmyeon gave me an encouraging fist bump and I dribbled to the free throw line, feeling nervous for no reason. My shot was a flop, barely grazing the net.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this? If you quit now, we can just go Dutch at the restaurant.” 

“Just shoot.” And he did. And he missed.

He handed the ball to me and I stepped up to the free throw line again. This is it. If I missed this, there was no chance of winning and they both would never let me live this down. This is it.

Swoosh

“WOOOOO THAT’S WASSUP OH SEHUN. THAT’S WASSUP.”

“Calm down.”

“LET’S SEE YOU TOP THAT.”

“Seriously you’re so embarrassing—” his ball sailed over the backboard into the bushes. “.”

“I WIN. DID YOU SEE THAT JOONMYEONIE.”

“You still have to throw—”

“I GOT THIS.” Maybe the wind was in my favor, maybe my hidden WNBA skills came out, but I sank the shot again. Joonmyeon high-fived me and we began skipping off to the truck. Sehun joined us minutes later, his face contorted in annoyance (and maybe humiliation).

“You got lucky,” he muttered as Joonmyeon pulled out of the park.

“What was that, our Sehunnie? Do you need some ice?” I couldn’t hold back my giant smile.

"Ice...?"

"FOR YOUR BURN."