Chapter One
But I Will Still Love You
“Are you ever going to stop staring?”
The familiar voice manages to pull Kyuhyun out of his absent thoughts and creepy staring, blinking twice before turning to face the owner of said voice. It was the end of the last class of the day, so a few students were just hanging back now, using the classroom as a place for socializing.
He chooses not to respond to the question however, and just sighs exasperatedly.
“It’s the first day of school. You’re seriously going to spend your entire freshmen year just staring at him, huh?”
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes in response this time.
“It’s not staring, Changmin.” he mutters pointedly.
“Not staring, huh? Would you call it stalking then? Gawking? Gaping? Ogling?” Changmin teases with a grin. He grew up with the other boy, so he knows him all too well, especially the other’s infatuation with a particular male.
“Admiring is the term I’d use.” Kyuhyun says cheekily, earning him a snort of laughter from his friend.
“In middle school, he already didn’t notice you —Cho Kyuhyun, the great and rich heir of the Cho Industries. What makes you think he’ll notice you now?”
“Let’s not leave out handsome and charming in that description,” Kyuhyun grins.
It was Changmin’s turn to roll his eyes now. “Let’s add Narcissistic too then, while we’re at it.”
“Look, he didn’t notice me in middle school because we didn’t come across one another often. But we’re in high school now, and both of us are Business pathway students to pursue in college, so we have a few classes together now!” maybe the excitement in his tone was too obvious, because Changmin was giving him a weird look of judgement.
“A hundred dollars.” Changmin says, sneering at the other.
“What?”
“A hundred dollars.” the taller repeats. “In one months time, I’m betting you a hundred dollars that he still won’t notice you.”
“Double it, and I’ll bet we’d be friends in one months time.” Kyuhyun said with confidence as he got up from his seat, determined to prove the other wrong starting now.
“Whoa there tiger, you’re gonna scare him off before anything else!” Changmin called out, but the other was already striding off, heading straight towards his target.
Kyuhyun was oozing with confidence and courage as he crossed the classroom towards his target, greatly riled by the bet just now. But with each step he took, closer and closer, he suddenly stops a few feet away from the other, suddenly losing the courage he so confidently gathered up just seconds ago. The other was there at his own desk, so close but so far away, socializing with a few other students from the class, looking as good as ever.
Ah, Kim Jongwoon. Beautiful and sweet, Kim Jongwoon. He was pretty well-known, but not a popular jock like Kyuhyun or Changmin. Many hold him with high regards, as he was one of the nicest, sweetest, and most genuine people they’ve ever met. Kyuhyun was one of the fortunate souls to have experienced said kindness when they were younger, which is what led Kyuhyun down the never-ending path of absolute infatuation with the boy.
The other must have noticed Kyuhyun lurking silently in the back, because he turns to him with a questioning smile. And in that moment, Kyuhyun forgets how to speak. He could only stare at the radiant boy before him—soft, raven black tresses that fell in light waves over golden, almond shaped eyes, the dark hair contrasting against his porcelain pale skin, and a permanent, soft smile on his lips.
“Hello,” the other greets softly with a slight tilt of his head, curious as to why a tall, brunette boy was just standing there a couple feet away….staring.
Intently may he add.
Kyuhyun gapes for a few seconds as he stammered, trying to find the right words he wanted to say. One would even say, he looked like a fish out of water. He came up to the boy, so ready to prove Changmin wrong, but not so ready to actually speak with the other.
Oh god.
He really wasn’t ready.
So he high-tailed it out of there.
It wasn’t long before Changmin was out in the hallway with him, laughing like a maniac. The taller slings his arms over the defeated boy’s shoulders, still laughing his off.
“Are you ready to pay up now? I don’t mind taking them in intervals, or in dinner outings.”
“No.” Kyuhyun huffed, determination still burning in him despite the embarrassing moment that just transpired. “I’ve still got exactly a month to this bet. Watch me.”
“So damn stubborn, Cho Kyuhyun. I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad feature of you.”
“Well, I’d say it’s a pretty good feature—”
“Hi Kyuhyun-ssi,” a feminine voice greets shyly.
Kyuhyun turns around to see a girl that he recognized from his morning class, standing before him timidly with a folded piece of paper in her hands.
“Oh, hello there,” Kyuhyun says, pulling on his signature smirk and charm as he shoves Changmin’s arm off from around his shoulders, and leans casually against the hallway lockers.
“Here we go again. Barely even the end of the first day,” Kyuhyun hears Changmin mutter under his breath, earning him a sharp jab to the ribs.
“K-Kyuhyun-ssi, are you f-free right now?” she said quietly, eyes darting back and forth between Changmin and Kyuhyun.
“Why of course, dear. What can I do for ya?” The brunette says, his smirk never faltering.
“I…..” the girl starts, but pauses again when she notices that Changmin was still there, listening in.
“Oh,” the taller mutters, “Oh,” he repeats after realizing what the girls stare meant. He pulls out his phone and feigns a phone call while walking off, but still within distance of eavesdropping of course.
Kyuhyun grins widely when the girl finally turns back to face him with a blush. “I-I think you’re a really great guy, Kyuhyun-ssi.” she manages out, before shoving the folded paper out forward, right under Kyuhyun’s nose.
“Oh, uh, I’m sure you’re quite lovely yourself as well,” he said, reaching up to gently take the paper from her.
“I-I wrote my number on the note, if you’d l-like to go out some time, which I would very much love to if you’re interested in me as well. But I totally understand if you aren’t, because you’re Cho Kyuhyun after all and I’m sure a lot of girls have already asked you out, as you’re so handsome and charming and any girl would love to—”
And it was in that moment, between the girls rambling and Kyuhyun zoning out, did Jongwoon step out of the classroom as well with his friends.
“Hey look, thanks for the note, I’ll call you later when I’m free,” he mutters out distractedly, folding the note quickly and tucking it in his pocket as he gently pushes past the girl towards the other boy.
“You will? Oh my gosh, I’m so flattered, I’ll be waiting—!” she squeals, but Kyuhyun was already half-jogging away, down the hall.
“Jongwoon! Hey, uh, excuse me, Jongwoon!” he calls out quickly, tripping a little on his feet. He’s sure he’s still not ready, considering it hasn’t even been ten minutes since his first attempt. But the sooner he gets this over with, the less anxious he’ll feel.
The raven haired boy stops and turns at the sound of his name, seeing the tall brunette again.
“Oh, hello again,” he says with another smile, confusion evident on his face this time, since he did watch the other run out on him earlier.
“H-Hi, how are you?” Kyuhyun stammers, stopping a couple feet away from him. Now he suddenly understands how the girl with the note must have felt. He was a blushing, blabbering mess in front of the other.
How are you? How are you? Might as well ask him how the weather is, stupid Kyuhyun.
“I’m fine, and how about you, um…?”
“Kyuhyun,” he answers quickly, maybe a little too quickly. “Cho Kyuhyun.”
“Oh, it’s nice to meet you, Kyuhyun-ssi.” the raven haired boy smiles, sticking his right hand forward to shake.
Kyuhyun reaches forward and grasps the other’s much smaller hands dazedly, not realizing his hand was shaking the whole time.
“Hi,” he repeats dumbly.
“Is there something I can do for you?” Jongwoon questions after a moment of awkward silence that contained mostly of Kyuhyun’s staring.
“Uh, well no, I just…..” he pauses, not knowing what to say.
What was he doing here?
“I-I noticed we’re in a lot of classes together, I just wanted to uh, introduce myself to you.”
“Oh, well I look forward to seeing you in our classes together then, Kyuhyun-ssi.” Jongwoon replies, and oh my, Kyuhyun loves the sound of his voice, especially when he says his name.
“Yes, I-I look forward to—”
Kyuhyun was cut off however when someone ran up to Jongwoon and blurted out something excitedly, before grabbing the raven’s arms and tugging on it, pulling him away.
“I-I’ll see you tomorrow then, Kyuhyun!” Jongwoon managed out before he was dragged away quickly by the newcomer.
“.....bye,” The taller murmurs quietly to the quickly retreating back of the smaller.
“Sooo…..” A voice interrupted not a second later as Kyuhyun felt someone walk up beside him. “How did that go?”
“Fine, I think.” Kyuhyun grumbles, turning to face his eavesdropping friend.
“Fine? Just fine? Unbelievable.” Changmin sighs with a shake of his head. “I don’t ge
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