The Last Dance
My Boyfriend's Best Friend
*Blue, damn it. I should have picked the blue dress.*
Sulli turned both left and right, examining her body in the full-length mirror hanging on her bedroom wall. A few minutes ago, she began having doubts about the colour dress she chose, having opted for a pink dress instead of a blue one.
Oh well, it's not like she could go buy a new one. She was lucky to even be going to prom in the first place.
After f(x) had been voted the favourite act of the SM Town Talent Exposition, Lee Soo-man had personally requested she remain with the company. Her confession didn't seem to have affected the group's success, so he decided not to kick her out.
The sound of the doorbell ringing jolted her from her thoughts.
"I'll get it!!!" She hollered downstairs, determined to prevent her parents from answering the door, knowing full well who it was and not wanting to be embarrassed.
She sprinted down to her front entrance, pausing to compose herself before opening the door.
She blushed in amusement at Minho's reaction to her appearance, his cheeks flushing and his mouth forming a small "O".
"You look beautiful," he told her, smiling shyly.
"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied. And she wasn't lying; he looked very polished and handsome in his tuxedo.
After engaging in painful small talk with her parents, her mom said, "You kids have fun!" and they were on their way.
The dance was filled with a bunch of girls in impressive gowns and boys looking dapper in tuxedos. Luna ran over Sulli as soon as she showed up, giving Minho a chance to go mingle with his friends.
"Did you see Onew?" She practically squealed. "He looks so cute!"
Sulli smiled and gave her a once-over. "I love your dress!"
Luna was wearing a lavender dress that looked really nice against her orange-blonde hair.
"And I love yours!"
After a few minutes of girly talk with Luna, Onew came of and whisked her friends away. Sulli found herself wondering what the hell took so long for those two to get together.
She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Boo!" Someone said into her ear.
"How frightening," she mused, turning around to face Jonghyun who pulled off his tux so well that she could see all the poor girls without dates swooning over him.
He smirked at her. "I should honestly star in a horror movie. I'd have grown men running from the movie theatre."
Sulli peered over his head, ignoring his smarmy comments. "Where's Ji Eun?"
"Chatting it up with the gal-pals," he said non-chalantly. "I thought you might care to dance."
He extended his hand to her, which she took willingly. "How very kind of you Mr. Kim."
They waltzed over to the dance floor and Sulli found herself overwhelmed with gratitude to the boy in front of her. He was probably the most popular member of SHINee, yet he still always took the time to pay attention to her and look out for her. Not to mention, he was a good laugh.
"You know," Sulli said grinning, after a while, "I think you might have hurt Key's feelings. He probably expected you to ask him to prom, considering your romantic relationship."
Jonghyun gave a fake sigh, "Well, I think it's easier this way. Now at least Key knows that our relationship is over and we can't be together."
Sulli laughed.
"Who can't be together?" A voice said, coming up from behind.
"Me and Kibum," Jonghyun replied to the newcomer, who happened to be Onew.
The taller boy nodded. "It's unfortunate, but it's time to face the facts."
They all laughed at Key's expense, who must have been somewhere not too far away.
"Mind if I cut in?" Onew asked Jonghyun, who graciously stepped away from Sulli.
Onew's slow dancing wasn't as smooth as Jonghyun's, but it was lighter and goofier.
"Luna is quite excited tonight," Sulli pointed out, noting how Onew's eyes brightened at his girlfriend's name. If she were taking bets, she reckoned his relationship would last longer than Jonghyun's.
"Yeah she really gets a kick out of this stuff," Onew said with a shrug. "It's not really my thing; dressing up and mingling."
"I never would have guessed," she . Onew, like Jonghyun, had always been supportive. Everyone, including her, depended on him for a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Sometimes, she wondered if it wore on him.
After her dance with Onew, she went over to get some punch and chat with Hyoyeon and Sunny. Looking around, she still wasn't sure where exactly her date was. Shouldn't Minho be back by now?
Not long after, a very giddy Kim Kibum virtually pranced up to her.
"C'mon Sul', it's time to partayyy!!!"
He dragged her back onto the dance floor where everyone was slow dancing to an American ballad and began doing a very animated and exaggerated version of the dance to "Gee".
"Um... Key... Did you have something to drink?" She asked tentatively.
He laughed painfully loudly. "I dunno... Is alcohol a drink?"
Sulli rolled her eyes, just as Taemin came over.
"Do you want me to take care of," He gave Key a once-over while raising his eyebrows, "...This."
Sulli thought about it. "Should I take him home?"
"I'll do it," Taemin replied. "I don't think either of us should spend the whole night babysitting."
She smiled as she imagined Key as and overgrown child. "I'll come with you; he doesn't live far."
Before she left, she glanced around for Minho, but she couldn't spot him. Shrugging, she followed Taemin to his car, bringing Kibum along with her.
By the time they got to Key's house, it was 11:30, which was pretty early to be ending your prom night. On the way there, Key was rambling some particularly juicy gossip about a Siwon and Sooyoung hook-up, but Taemin and Sulli weren't listening much.
Sulli looked at Taemin as they sat in the driveway of Key's parents house, trying to talk to him over the background noise of Key's loud voice.
"I don't think we can really put him to bed now... Don't people usually stay up and party all through prom night?"
Taemin thought for a second. "My older brother has a condo on the other side of town that he said I could use this weekend while he's away on business, so long as I don't trash the place. I'll take Key there and let him crash on the couch for the night."
"You're gonna stay with him for the rest of the night?"
The solemn boy shrugged, "I guess so."
Sulli thought for a moment before nodding. She had no intention of letting him spend his prom night alone babysitting Key, however. "Let me come with you though. The rest of us are probably going to go to some parties after the dance so they'll just come get me from your brother's house."
Taemin hesitated. "Fine."
On the way over she got a call from Luna who was wondering where she was. "Get over here! Minho is looking for you. The dance is almost over and your supposed to dance together at least once!"
Sulli put her hand near the phone to shield the sound in the hopes that Taemin wouldn't hear and feel guilty. "I know Luna but I can't. Tell Minho I'm sorry and I'll make it up to him."
She hung up, tucking her phone away in her bag. Key must have passed out at some point, because he was quiet now.
Finally, they pulled up to the appartment complex. They carefully dragged Key upstairs and Taemin unlocked the door to the appartment.
"Ugh," Sulli dropped Key onto the couch. He was already snoring.
"Some night," Taemin said with a bitter smile.
Sulli sat down on the ground in her pink dress floor-length dress, crossing her legs. She watched as the only other awake person in the apartment went over to the kitchen, pouring himself a drink she could only assume he wasn't old enough to be drinking. She didn't say anything though, not feeling it was her place.
An eery silence draped itself over the room, leaving both of them unsure what to say next.
"Taemin," Sulli started hesitantly. "I hope you know I am sorry things had to work out the way they did." She pulled herself off the floor. "I wish it had been different."
He walked over to her and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I think I should have realized sooner that even if you saw lots of people, you would only ever look at one."
She hugged him to her, whispering, "I love you," in his ear. There was nothing romantic about it, but the embrace was comforting to both of them.
After she pulled away, Sulli announced that she was going to go outside and get some air, heading out onto the cement balcony.
She wasn't sure if she would head out with the rest of them afterwards, it didn't feel right leaving Taemin to suffer alone. She closed her eyes as the cool air caressed her bare arms and her smooth face. Her imagination wandered and she pictured Minho at prom while everyone else danced with their partners.
A few minutes later, a minivan with a bunch of rowdy kids pulled into the parking lot and Sulli thought to herself how they must have had their prom tonight too. Throught the dark she realized there were five of them and two boys were making most of the noise. Suddenly, it clicked.
"Jonghyun oppa, Onew oppa!" They all turned and she waved at the dark figures of Jonghyun and Ji Eun, Onew and Luna, and, of course, Minho.
She ran back inside and down the stairs. Even if she wasn't going to go party with them she could at least say hello to them.
They all greeted each other and exchanged hugs before Sulli broke the news. "Guys... Key's sick and Taemin wants to stay with him for the rest of the night. I don't really think we should leave him alone so I - "
She was interrupted by Jonghyun who enthusiastically announced, "Then we'll all just stay here with them."
Before she could respond, four of the five new visitors were already through the building's entrance, leaving her alone with Minho.
"I'm so so sorry," she said turning to him, prepared for him to be annoyed. "I was looking for you all night but..."
She trailed off when she saw Minho was grinning at her.
"You're cute when you're nervous," he pointed out with an amused expression.
"I'm not nervous," She looked at her feet. "I was just really looking forward to that dance."
Minho took her hand with his right, placing his left hand on her waist. "I was too."
She reciprocated his actions, resting her head on his shoulder, swaying along with him to non-existent music.
This, she realized, was like all the things that made her happy and united to produce one perfect moment. While she felt sorry about everything that had happened with Taemin, she had never felt so sure that things had worked out for the better. She would be forever grateful to him for making her see that.
"Sul?" He whispered through her hair.
"Mhmm?"
"You stopped dancing."
She realized that they were just standing there now, holding each other.
She lifted her head up and looked at him. "I guess I did."
He smiled at her when he kissed her and she could feel him grinning as he pressed his mouth to hers.
It was a sweet kiss, not hungry with passion like their first had been, but full of love and warmth instead.
And as they melted together, they could already hear the sound of their friends up in the apartment, beginning a game of monopoly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Well that's it folks... The End :)
I hope you enjoyed this story that took me so long to finish. I've had ups and downs with this fanfic but it is still my first and therefore very near and dear to my heart.
I hope you all tell me what you think of the fanfic! Even if you've been a silent reader up until now :)
I will be updated one last time with my loonggg author's note and thank yous, so if you have ANY questions I could also answer those in detail there (it should be up within the next few days).
I love you guys, it's been fun :)
Comments