Two Couples on a Date
A New Kind of LoveThe rest of the day didn't go that bad. I figured out it was Heechul Sunbae whom I fought with because he came up to me and apologized for all the bruises. As much as I wanted him to apologize for hitting Key, I think he forgot, so I forgave him anyway.
Apparently Doojoon Hyung kept drinking the rest of the night because he was absent today with a massive hangover. And no one asked about the 'My Lovely' on my phone, so I'm hoping they completely forgot about it and don't ask me about it in the future.
All the while there was talk of this big upcoming dance at our school. Of course people asked me who I was gonna ask out. I told them I didn't know yet. I was kinda hoping I could find a way to go with Key.
Taemin came up to me on the way to lunch. "Minho! I feel like it's been forever since we talked!"
It kinda did since I've been spending more time with Key lately. "Yea same. What's up?"
"The best thing ever. Starting tomorrow I'm be working with SM Entertainment as an intern! I'll be assisting as a choreographer!"
"Jinjja?? Wow congrats man!" I high-fived him. "Look at you. A while ago you couldn't even get up from the couch and now you're an intern!"
"Yah, I may be lazy but no one stands a chance against my dancing." It's true. Taemin loves video games but he's an awesome dancer. "So anyway you don't have a date for the dance yet, do you?"
"No, why?"
"Well I found these two girls that we could go with. I didn't ask them yet."
I figrued I had to tell him sooner or later. "Taemin, I wanted to ask you..."
He gave me his full attention. "What is it?"
"Can you not take me on these dates anymore?"
He looked at me confusedly. "What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry, I get you're lonely and you're searching for the right person but I... I'm just not interested in anyone right now. I wanna enjoy being single for now."
He stared at me blankly before sighing. "Ok." He said simply. "Ok. I'm not gonna force anything on you." He turned away and we didn't talk for a few minutes. Honestly, I felt really bad. I didn't like lying to him like that. But how would he feel if I told him I was dating Key? He's a really good friend but I don't know how he'd take it.
The next day
****KEY****
"Key, you look gorgeous. Stop worrying about how you look."
Minho and I were on our way to the mall for our double date. I was doing my makeup in the passenger's seat while Minho drove us there.
"What do you know about makeup? You don't realize how different you look in photos cuz of the lighting."
"What I do know is that you look cute no matter how much makeup you wear. And I'm just saying, who are you trying to impress anyway? You're my date, not theirs."
"And? It doesn't hurt to make efforts to look good."
"But you already look good!"
I couldn't think of a good response. "Shut up." I scoffed. He laughed. He clearly won this argument. I swear his laugh is contagious or something because I joined right in.
We parked in the mall parking lot and walked in. I was still adjusting my hair on the way in. Honestly, I was nervous. This is the first time we'd be on a date. Outside. As a couple. To make matters more scary, it's with another couple. What if people from our school see us?
"Kibum you look fine." He massaged my shoulders to calm me down.
"I know. I'm just so anxious."
"Well don't be. No one's gonna make fun of us. Don't be nervous."
I took some deep breaths before continuing. Minho wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked. We were supposed to meet these girls near the theater.
Minho pointed ahead of us. "Ah, there they are." I looked toward the direction he was pointing and saw two girls. One of them looked oddly familiar. Minho started walking past me and toward them.
"Wait," I stopped him.
He looked back at me. "What?"
I stepped closer to him and comfortably hooked my arm with his. "Let's go." He smiled and led the way.
When we reached the girls, Minho greeted them. I finally recognized one of the girls. "Miyoung??"
"Kibummie! Nice to see you here!" She greeted with her eye smile and hugged me. I hesitated a bit before hugging her back. She pulled back to look at me. "Omo, what happened to your red hair?"
"Red hair??" The other girl asked.
I awkwardly smiled. "Yea. I was a redhead before I died it black."
"Redhead..." Tiffany muttered in thought. "Wait, so that time in the locker room when Minho stepped in... awww." She smiled nice and big.
"What?"
"Minho was protecting his boyfriend~"
I looked over at Minho. He was blushing from the praise. "Hey, I still have to introduce you guys." Minho placed his hand on my back. "Key, you know Tiffany. And this here is Taeyeon. Girls," He slid his hand down my arm and held my hand, entwining our fingers. He looked at me lovingly, "This is my boyfriend Kibum." I couldn't help but blush. It felt nice when he said it out loud. To someone other than me or Nicole.
"Awww," the girls smiled.
"Aigoo," Tiffany whined, "You two really are too much. Come on, let's get out tickets."
We saw Miracle in Cell No. 7. The girls sat together while Minho and I sat together in the row behind them. There weren't many people in the theater, but I still felt uneasy.
I couldn't focus on the movie. I was so worried that someone would be suspicious of us and beat us up. I was also kinda jealous that Taeyeon and Tiffany could hold hands and no one would suspect a thing.
Somewhere in the middle of the film, I noticed Minho's hand inching its way toward mine. I faced him. His eyes were glued to the screen. I was frightened that what he would do would attract attention. I was petrified. I closed my eyes, hoping that I could disappear.
At last, Minho's hand reached mine and rested laxly on it. His hands are a wonder, really. His gentle touch was enough to calm me down. I breatehed lightly and finally opened my eyes. I was awaiting the incessant imminent humiliation. I felt it coming when Minho grabbed my hand and caressed it in his...
Nothing had happened. We were still sitting in the theater, watching the movie, holding hands. It was just us, sitting there. Like a normal couple.
I calmly watched the rest of the film, refusing to let go of Minho's hand.
At the restaurant.
"The movie was so good!" Taeyeon exclaimed.
We four were sitting in a booth. Minho and I sat across from Taeyeon and Tiffany.
"But it was so sad!" Tiffany complained.
"Yea I know. I could tell you didn't enjoy it." Taeyeon chuckled and turned toward us. "Lemme tell you two something. In the three years I've been dating her I've never seen her cry this hard."
"Seriously!?" Minho reacted, shocked.
"Taeyeon-ah! I wasn't crying! I was just... tired. My eyes were watering cuz I was tired from working all day."
I glared at her. "Sure you were. Eyes watering, and crying 'WHY!?!?!?' were all cuz you were 'tired.'"
She gave me a nasty look. "Shut up Key." I stuck my tongue out at her and we all laughed.
Taeyeon brightened. "I love talking with you guys~ We should do this more often. Where should we go next?"
Minho thought about it, "Let's see... how about the amusement pa-"
"NO!!!" I screamed. I covered his mouth with my hand. There's no way in Hell we're going there.
The girls cracked up. "Ah, our Kibummie doesn't like all the rides."
Minho wrapped his arm around my neck. "I'm just messin' with you, Bum. I wouldn't do that to you." He pouted his lips and widened his eyes.
I couldn't help but smile. "Stop that~" He pulled me closer to him. I liked being closer to him.
Suddenly, Tiffany's expression lit up. "How about the dance?"
We all looked at her. How could we all go to the dance?
"I dunno, Miyoung," I doubted. "I kinda like being outside. This way we can be ourselves."
He's right," Minho added. "If we go to the dance people will become suspicious."
"Not unless we go as straight couples."
I eyed her. I knew where she was getting at. "Miyoung, we're not switching dates. That'd be ridiculous. I want to be with Minho." I looked at him longingly and he smiled back.
That's when Miyoung shot me her sly smile. "Who said anything about switching dates?"
Minho seemed to catch on. "What?" I asked.
"That really is something." said Minho.
Now I looked at her in utter confusion. "Miyoung, where are you getting at..."
"I'm just saying, if you and Taeyeon..."
Taeyeon got it. "Really Tiffany!? Of ALL the things you coulda thought of-"
"Well it's not like you had anything better!" Taeyeon crinkled her nose. I guess she knew Tiffany was right.
"What!? Will someone just tell me already!?" I couldn't take it anymore.
Miyoung looked only at me now. "Key, let me put it this way," she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Let's face it, Minho would just look ridiculous in a dress."
A dress? Why would Minho wear a...
All at once, I got it. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Oh come on! Really?"
"Key, what other choice do we have?" Minho demanded.
"Why don't we just skip the dance? There's less risk that someone will see us."
Taeyeon nodded. "Key's right. We don't have to take such a huge risk. It's better if we four all hang out somewhere else."
Minho still looked skeptical. "True. There's less risk if we don't do this." he looked away from me and stared down at the table.
"Alright we'll forget about it." She clearly looked annoyed. "I just thought it would be cool if we all went to the dance together."
"We could still go. But we'll have to avoid skinship. No kissing, pretty much." I tried to be reassuring, since I could tell Miyoung wasn't happy.
"Ok. Let's do that."
We stayed silent for a bit before leaving for the night. It was kinda awkward, honestly.
I could tell something was bothering Minho, too. He was silent the entire way back to the dorm.
I tried to find out why. "Minho, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Minho, your face has been sullen ever since we left the restaurant. Is everything ok?"
"Everything's fine, Key."
"Minho-"
"I said I'm fine!" He yelled. That shut me up for good. I turned toward the window and stared mindlessly for the rest of the drive home.
When we pulled up into the parking lot, we sat there in silence. I almost made my way out the car when Minho grabbed my wrist. "Key..."
He held both of my hands. "Kibum-ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you or frighten you. I was just... tired. Will you forgive me?"
I knew something was up. "It's about the dance isn't it?"
"Wh- What?"
"You've been sulky ever since we stopped talking about it. What's the problem?"
He looked down at our enclosed hands. "I get that it would be such a burden on your part to dress up as a girl just so we can dance. But... I kinda wish we could just be a couple in public, you know? Just act like all the other couples wothout having to worry about anything. About keeping any secret."
Truth be told, I was thinking he exact same thing. I had the same desire: to proudly be a couple.
Minho looked up at me and awkwardly smiled. "It's silly, I know. We can just forget about it."
"You know what? I'll do it."
"What?"
"I'll dress as a girl. I'll be your date to the dance!"
He looked flabbergasted. "Kibum are you sure? As we said before someone might catch us-"
I shut his lips with my finger. "I said I'll go. Besides, you can't underestimate the power of makeup."
He smiled and kissed me. "I love you, Key."
"I love you too."
Later that night we chatted with Taeyeon and Miyoung. It was set. Taeyeon and I would crossdress so we'd all look like straight couples.
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