Title: Of Gyms and Notepads

Pairing: MinRa, mentions!KyuRi

Rating: G

WC: 1,397

Summary: He used to know her brother but he never knew he love her until she laid her eyes on him.

A/N: I am being productive for the past two days. Story dedicated to bimriean. Though this is not the original plot of the story when I first envision it, I am satisfied with the outcome, somehow :))

I used to know her brother but I never knew I love her ‘til the day she laid her eyes on me

Now I’m jumping up and down, she’s the only one around

And she means everything little thing to me

– FM Static

Choi Minho loves the company of his older brother’s group of friends. They were, in his big round eyes, a bunch of guys who would leave a room gloomily after an unexpected exam but still would see the fun in it seconds later. He wanted to grow up so badly, to enter college and be like them. At his school, he’s the guy who’s got it all. Around them, he’s the fanboy at the courtside of a basketball game.

You love them more than me his brother had said over a game of Tekken. He shoves him by the shoulder and takes the chance to kick him by the shins virtually. He earns a scolding about cheating but he just laughs at his brother. An hour later he knocks in his brother’s room door and says, you’re still ahead of them, hyung.

Every summer he would got out with them, play under the sun until their skin gets the touch of tan. He would always end up in his brother’s team and will dribble the ball whenever the opportunity comes in. Oftenly, he makes the shot and takes pride in it.

They were, after all, taller than him.

At night, they would stay up late by the curbs, just loitering around and being the noisy kids in town, much to the neighbourhood’s protests of this generation’s behavior.

He gets attached to his brother’s best friend. The guy was cool and funny, Minho instantly admired him. Later on, he finds him taking up a business course. “Yes, believe it or not,” his brother confirms when his eyes didn’t falter to widen in disbelief.

“But he’s so loud,” he interjects.

“Business needs talking,” he gets patted in his shoulder and was left alone in their living room when his brother goes off to college.

Minho looks at his watch and wonders who have subjects at five in the afternoon.

His brother was right, about business needs talking. He spots the booth of his brother’s bestfriend’s department, Foundation Day in college is awesome in his eyes, and he was talking with this woman, probably selling the product by his hand. Minho sees the blush in her cheeks; he makes a bee line and searches for his brother instead.

“It’s not business, but flirting,” he says with flaring nostrils and his brother laughs at him.

“Business is flirting,” he gets as an answer.

He gets to meet Hara, the younger sister of his brother’s bestfriend, by a common friend. But they were never introduced. When he visits him with his brother, Minho coys over the realization of familiarity with the girl by the front door.

“You’re Hara right?” He hears the cheerful voice of his brother, but the ground looks more exciting than what is happening. “Is your brother here?”

Minho feels a pair of eye boring in him as he pass her by, his brother’s best friend had apparently seen them in his window and invited them in without Hara’s concern.

“I’ll bring you some drinks,” he feels her presence beside him before it fades away, when he looks up, Minho sees the back of a petite girl with long black hair.

They celebrate when he makes it into the varsity team, thanks to him being a Choi. From the older to the younger one, Minho has never been this glad to be in his brother’s previous school, connections do you good sometime. “You only passed because I know the coach,” his brother shouts over his can of beer. Minho has rootbeer.

“Says the one who didn’t even make it varsity,” his brother’s bestfriend says, and they all laugh. “Coach knew Minho know me, obviously.”

He nods approvingly, smiling smugly as he takes another swig. When the acid of the liquid burns down in his throat, he shakes his head, “Are you guys saying I don’t have the talent to make it?” He an eyebrow and it stays still, until they laugh and he joins in because, he admits he’s a little slow sometimes.

Practice takes up his time after class. He never mind though, the stinky smell of his sweat makes him push harder. His drive each practice session never fails to amaze the coach, the improvement he shows earns him a pat in the back and a small smile from the old man. You’re better than your brother and his friends, he smiles victoriously as he repeats the words to his brother mockingly.

Sometimes he catches a girl with long black hair, Hara, he would know that name. She’ll be at the bleachers with her things by her foot and a notepad in her lap as she writes something down on it. He gets distracts one time, then again when he catches her the next day and the following and the week after.

Finally, he asks her brother, out of curiosity.

“Oh, Hara loves sketching,” he takes extra note on the pride within his voice.

When he was asked why, he shrugs his shoulders and changes the channel. “Just wonderin’, she’s not the type to like basketball.”

Kyuhyun drags him out of the crowd during lunch and closes the door as they reach the boy’s bathroom. He hisses in pain when cold tile meets his back. “Dude, I’m sorry for that but you have to help me.” Kyuhyun says in a hurry, not even looking apologetic as he tries to sound to be.

Minho fixes his clothes and nods at the guy in front of him to go on. “You know Nicole right? Can you ask her to ask Gyuri to return the Physics book that she borrowed in the library? I really need to read that one. I have homework to research.” Minho puts his weight in his left foot and crosses his arms across his chest, eyes scrutinizing the other one.

“What?” Kyuhyun asks.

“Can you two stop the nonsense and just make up? Just admit to her that you’ve made a mistake and that you want her back. Because obviously, Gyuri is waiting for you to approach her, like how you’re waiting for her to make the first move.” He says smartly.

He sees Gyuri three tables from where he sits with his friends after leaving Kyuhyun in his thoughts. Beside her, Hara has her hair braid in fishtail.

She sits by the last row of the bleachers every Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Minho notices this. She would come exactly the same time the practice starts and on the exact scheduled day. Her long black locks would get trapped by her ear and she would bit the side of her lower lip as she flips through the pages of her notepad. She uses Staedtler as she draw lines across the page and a mechanical pencil would be ready on her side.

He hears the whistle and practice resumes.

Minho finds out, because Kyuhyun had been unconciously blabbing again, that Hara is oftenly seen in the court yard if she’s not in the gym.

Gyuri surprises him by asking a favor to watch over their belongings just before the bell goes off and they all went to the girl’s bathroom. He nods with blinking eyes and cranes his neck to their table, just enough to see what’s on it and to catch the lingering scent of that petite girl with long black hair.

Hara

His hand flies to touch his long curly locks, doubting that the blur image of a guy with curly hair drawn in the notepad above the table is him.

He gets overly excited when his brother tells him that they’ll be playing some baskets. Minho thinks that college is dragging. He misses the guys he plays basketball with during summer. He pulls out his Nike and grabs two bottles of Gatorade at the fridge. Kyuhyun calls him over the phone and happily says we’re together again.

He laughs and replies, “Well, it’s about time,” before catching up with his brother.

As they reach Hara’s house, Minho wonders if she’ll open the door like the first time. She doesn’t, her brother greets them instead. But Minho manages a smile, because for some unknown reason, when Hara suddenly appears right beside her brother and is staring right into his eyes with such intensity he can’t quite fathom, his breath leaving his lungs and his chest pounding so hard, Hara is holding her notepad.