Scene 4: Meet Tweedledee and Tweedledum
Take 1 or Nothing at All
Kai returns from speaking to the headmaster and hands me a box of chocolates nicely wrapped with a bright blue bow. I open the box and see 8 different pieces of chocolates to choose from. I have a bit of a sweet tooth so this places a huge smile on me right away. I love randomly choosing one so I don't bother to look at the box cover to see what kind of chocolate I will get. I am not a fan of the ones filled with creams and cherries, the smooth caramels are my favorites. I close my eyes and hover my hand over the box and select one. As soon as the milk chocolate lands in my mouth I instantly know it's my favorite kind.
"Masitssoyo? Careful, not all of them may be delicious." Kai tells me and I nod with a smile. He stands up abruptly causing his chair to scratch the floor. "I need to use the restroom."
He leaves briskly out the door and all the heads turn to watch him through the classroom windows. Kai walks with a lazy and cool gate. He ruffles the back of his head causing the girls to squeal. I look at our teacher and she lets out a sigh. Don't tell me she's fallen for him as well? I close the box of chocolates and place it in my book bag's front pocket. About ten minutes later, the bell rings to end our last core subject class. Our last class for the day is in our respective specialties: singing for me. Kai goes to acting class and finishes his day in dance class with Sehun. And I attend composition class that ends 15 minutes before they do so I am to meet them at the dance studio as soon as my class is over.
I look to my left and Kai still hasn't returned from the restroom. I try placing his English book in his desk but there were too many gifts stuffed inside it. We don't have any English language or literature homework so he doesn't need to bring these books and notebooks home with him. I bend over to look at the enormous amount of gifts stuffed in his desk.
"All this for him?"
"And that's just this month." Chanyeol chimes in. "Here, let's place the books in his locker. Jongdae, what's his locker combination again?"
"Um, I forgot." Jongdae stands in front of Kai's locker which are decorated with hearts and flowers.
"Why is Kai's locker so, girly?"
"Fan girls." Jongdae reminds me. I grab a piece of yellow stationary peeking out of his locker. "Obsessed fan girls." Jongdae adds.
"Oh that's right!" Chanyeol screams out loud. "Isn't it…" He whispers in Jongdae's ear who agrees with him. He tries out the number and his locker clicks open. The two high five each other and jump up and down proud of themselves for remembering another student's locker combination.
"I wouldn't have been able to open this if it wasn't for you, man." Jongdae tells Chanyeol as he pats his back.
"I know, I don't know what we would have done? Poor Jonginnie would have his books and notebooks demolished."
"What's wrong with you two?" I ask, unable to see if they are just joking around or completely serious.
"Jongin spends so much money on books and school supplies because girls constantly steal his things. He can't even leave his school jacket on his chair for fear of someone taking it."
I open the letter I pulled from his locker and a girl has confessed his feelings for Kai. "This is like, straight out of a comic. Girls really write love letters and confess like this to their crush?" The two nod in unison. Jongdae lifts up the lever to open up Kai's locker and a vast amount of letters and boxes and bags pop out hitting his face and causing him to fall on the ground. He is sitting on the floor covering his head as more and more gifts flood the floor. "How long has he had these in there?"
"I am pretty sure I got like fifty paper cuts on my face." Jongdae says removing a couple of neon bows on his head. Chanyeol takes a stuffed white dog out of the locker and hands it to me.
"What is this?"
"The puppy looks like you." He laughs at me and helps Jongdae up.
"Boys, before you leave, clean that up!" The teacher screams from the front of the class. We are the last three students in the room. Chanyeol grabs the trash can and starts dumping the gifts in the trash along with the letters.
"What are you doing?! These are their confessions. You can't just throw them away!"
"Why not?" Chanyeol asks, holding a large pile in his hands. I remove the trash can from under his hands.
"These girls-"
"And boys, look this is from Hoya," Jongdae smiles.
"These girls and boys took the time and found the courage to write down their feelings towards someone they like and we can't just toss them away like it doesn't mean anything."
"Every two months we clean out his locker and desk from all this fan mail. Look, this one is from a student who doesn't even go to our school. It's not like he has someone to sort these things out and respond back. That would be an impossible task."
"But, but, we just can't ignore it. Put them in a bag, I'll take them and sort them out."
"Why?" Kai returns and his voice has become familiar now. I turn around still carrying the white dog Chanyeol handed me.
"You don't want to read them?" He just stares at me waiting for my answer to his why. "They found the courage to confess their feelings for you and you are just going to ignore them?"
"Baekhyun, it's going to be huge burden for Jongin to read all this. Let's clean this up and head to our last classes." Jongdae chimes in and starts to sweep up the gift boxes from the floor. Kai and I keep staring at each other. Clearly this boy has some sympathy, clearly he isn't dark inside despite the dark aura that surrounds him from time to time. He moves towards me in that typical lazy gate. This time though his eyes are fixed on my face anticipating his response to my reasoning. He stands about 9 meters taller than me so I have to lift my head up to look at him except I can't maintain my eye contact so I look away. He grabs my chin to make me look at his eyes. I hear Chanyeol and Jongdae opening the gifts and chatting about throwing away the candies that have been in the locker for months.
Despite the two chatty boys sitting on the floor next to us, Kai and I seem like we are in our own separate room, a moment shared with just the two of us. I finally look at him and the lines around his eyes begin to crease a bit, a smile, an utterly beautiful smile emerges on the usual stoic face of the actor in front of me. He still has his hand steadying my head to maintain our long eye contact. I see him his thick lips slightly and my eyes shoot down to his moistened pink lips, the tip of his tongue slips out to the side, and his head tilts. My heart begins to somersault. He held my hand earlier, does he expect a kiss now!? I close my eyes tightly, thinking that's what he wants, this is my natural reaction and I don't think twice about it because, well, I just can't think straight when I am around him. My eyes are shut for what seems like hours and I want to open them and see if this whole moment is just a dream. Then I hear his voice so close to my ear. It's not a whisper, it wasn't loud either, but because his voice is deep and husky I can feel it resonate inside me causing my spine to tingle slightly.
"Let's do it your way then." He says simply. I open my eyes and his back is turned. Maybe he didn't see me close my eyes. I am such a fool, I give my self a silent kick on the for misinterpreting the situation, again. He bends over and his back side is facing me. Everything about him is gorgeous. Chanyeol whacks his and laughs. Kai turns around and stares at him, not angrily, not really annoyed either, but with a look like, that's typical Chanyeol so I just deal with it. He hands me a clean trash bag and says, "gather the letters, we'll read them together, at home." He takes the books from his desk and places it in his locker, closes the locker door and locks it. He walks away with his back pack, he doesn't put it on, he just hangs on to it, letting it dangle in his left hand. Everything about him is too much, his looks, his actions, his gaze, his mannerisms, his…I find him staring at me through the window. I open my mouth to say something to him, to say that I wasn't at all caught up in your trance, that you don't make me nervous, excited, anxious…the corner of his mouth lifts and he gives me a half-smile that is as enticing as the milk chocolate caramel I ate earlier.
"Give me that lollipop, I saw it first."
"No way, I grabbed it first. You are too slow."
"It poked me in the eye first, so hand it over."
"Forget it, it's mine." The chatty Cathys send me back to reality.
"Eww. Did you just the wrapper?"
"So you don't touch it."
"That's gross. Besides, the lollipop itself is still clean." Jongdae tries to snag it from Chanyeol's hands and the taller one stands up and raises the lollipop above his head. Jongdae is hopping up and down trying to grab the lollipop.
"You are so short." Chanyeol laughs.
"Hand it over!" Jongdae is climbing on Chanyeol causing the taller one to buckle his knees and they collapse on the floor. Jongdae manages to grab the lollipop but as soon as he tries to rip off the wrapper, Chanyeol engulfs the whole thing in his mouth. Jongdae shoves the lollipop deeper into Chanyeol's mouth. "Fine, take it!" Chanyeol spits the lollipop out and grabs his throat.
"I almost died!"
"Here's another one!" Jongdae ignores him and unwraps the lollipop and Chanyeol engulfs it in his mouth. "Ya!"
"Here Jongdae, this one is shaped like a heart." I hand him a different lollipop.
"Mine has gum in it." Chanyeol teases Jongdae.
"Shut up."
"I think we need another bag." Chanyeol says.
"I think I am going to keep this letter from Hoya so I can about it." Jongdae adds.
As soon as we are done gathering the things, Chanyeol takes the bags to Kai's car. Kai gave him his keys to the Acura NSX Roadster so we don't have to carry the letters around. He hands me the keys since I'll be riding home with Kai later. But before I go, Chanyeol and Jongdae say in unison a shocking statement.
"Your secret is safe with us." I turn around to look at them. What are they talking about?
"We like you Baekhyun, and we think you are perfect for him." Jongdae says.
"Perfect for who?"
"You don't have to hide it. Do you know how many people fall for Kai? Even I did, and we were in kindergarten then." Chanyeol adds.
"He needs someone modest, humble, and commanding like you." Jongdae winks at me.
"Commanding? How am I like that?"
"You just give him one look, one smile, and he will give you the world."
"Okay, you two are exaggerating." I turn away pretending that I have no idea what they are talking about. I am not into Kai, not like that, he's going to be my brother, and I can't be in love with my brother, who said anything about love, oh, me? I am in love, with Kai, no way. What the heck, why are these thought floating in my head at a rapid speed? I do find him attractive, he is very good looking, his voice, his hair, his skin tone, he's just about perfect, he's no Kim Jaejoong, but he's very close, he's…oh gosh, yeah, I am in love, no wait, just a crush, like these girls, like his fan girls, like Hoya. I exhale. I look up and I am standing next to a tree with a tree branch stuck to my hair.
"You almost ran into the tree, dude?" Jongdae laughs at me.
"I do like him." I finally admit, out loud, to the tree in front of me, and to the two new friends behind me. What am I doing? These guys are going to tell Kai. "Wait, I mean, I don't like him like that, I like him because he's going to soon be my brother. That's what I mean."
"You are such a liar. Look, we won't tell him. We will let you tell us how far and how close you want this to go. We will be at your command." Chanyeol bows down, with one knee on the ground like a subordinate does to its general. Jongdae follows suit.
"Ya. Dumb and dumber. Why aren't you two in class?" Kai again. "I got a phone call from your teacher Jongdae. You and Baekhyun aren't in class yet." He's yelling at us from the balcony of the second floor of the school that overlooks the parking lot. "Hurry up!"
"How much did you hear?" Jongdae shouts up to Kai.
"What are you talking about? I just got here and I see you and Channie bowing to my Baekhyun."
"YOUR Baekhyun?!" The two yell in unison.
"Get to class!" Kai shouts back at them. "And take Baekhyun with you, Jongdae."
"Yes sir." The two salute him this time. Jongdae grabs hold of my hand and leads me towards the music hall.
"Let go of his hand!" Kai orders him.
"Yes sir." Jongdae responds, then looks at me with a sly smile and whispers. "Don't be afraid of liking Kim Jongin. Because I promise you, he will take you to wonderland."
"What the heck does that mean? Do all of you like watching Disney cartoons?" I was referring to Kai's talk about Cinderella earlier in the car today.
"Um, they are animations. And yes, so?" Jongdae responds haughtily. "I am just saying that you'll have fun with Kai. You are the first person he's ever liked."
"Wait, stop. What are you saying? How do you know?"
"He's very possessive of you. That's the one and only sign."
"He could be just acting nice and caring."
"HA! Those aren't in Jongin's list of characteristics unless you are in his tight circle of friends or he's in the middle of an acting scene he's in."
"He's an actor, that should say a lot right there." I suggest. Pretty much doubting his affection or whatever it is he has for me that Jongdae and Chanyeol are insisting.
Jongdae stops on his tracks causing me to bump into him. He turns around with a completely serious facial expression. "There is one thing you need to know about Kim Jongin. He is not a fake. He may be a playboy, he may tease girls from time to time, but there are reasons why he needs to do that and be standoffish and aloof. But this I know, my friend is not a fake. And if you are fortunate enough to enter his close circle of friends, then you will see the real Kim Jongin, uncut."
"Who says I want to see the real him? What if I am just happy like this, hovering around him, being polite, being his classmate and acquaintance?" I wait for Jongdae's response while thoughts run through my mind. I'd rather deny my feelings for him than get hurt by his actions later. A playboy to the core, you admit it yourself, Jongdae. He teases girls with his good looks and star status. I am not going to open my heart to a distasteful actor.
"Then you are being the fake one, Byun Baekhyun." That hit me straight to my core…
"YA!" Kai again, completely irritated this time. When I turn, he's standing about 12 feet behind us. "You two missed half of singing class! I got another phone call from your teacher. What are you two doing?"
Jongdae grabs my hand and lifts them up showing Kai. Kai's mouth opens then he scoffs. "What is this, Jongdae?"
Jongdae leans over my shoulder and whispers, "Just watch."
"Kim Jongdae, what are you doing?" Kai says slowly approaching us. He seems shocked, and a tad angry. He keeps looking down towards our clasped hands. Is he? Solma…jealous?
"I am getting to know Byun Baekhyun. Sorry, I'll take him to class like you said. We just got," Jongdae looks at me and I look at him, "a little distracted." He continues to hold my hand and we turn around finally heading to class as promised.
"Stop holding hands!" Kai yells across the hallway.
"Mianhae sir!" Jongdae lets go of my hand and crosses his arms as if he made a strong point with that scene in front of Kai.
"Hey guys!" Chanyeol comes running behind us.
"I thought you went to class?"
"We got out really early. Our teacher assistant Kris started yelling at the head teacher. Anyways, why aren't you two in class yet?"
"Just telling Baekhyun here that he needs to stop denying his feelings for Jongin."
"For real kiddo. Jongin is a catch. The fact that he's into you is already a guarantee. You two are destined to be together."
"You two are something else, you know that?"
"That's what Jongin says about us too!" They high-five each other and start giggling.
"Get to class you idiots!!!" Kai yells from behind us and we run.
My first attempt at writing a love story about my two most favorite members of EXO, Kai and Baekhyun. Luhan, my other EXO bias appears as well :)
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