A Wave of Unexpectedness
My Boyfriend's Best Friend
Sulli’s eyes fluttered gently open. The muscles surrounding her eyes contracted as her pupils came into contact with the bright light. Her eyes watered slightly as she tried to see around her. She was in a very white hospital room. For a split second, she couldn’t remember why. Then, looking up, she saw Choi Minho sitting in a chair a few feet from her bedside.
Holy crap.
She flashbacked to her late-night walk the evening before. She had gone to the park, sat down on a bench, decided to leave and then… Minho had pummeled her head with a soccer ball.
Ow. That had really hurt.
She glanced back at Minho, seeing that he was asleep with his head resting on his shoulder. Her heart fluttered when she realized that he had decided to wait with her after she got hurt, although she had no idea how much time had gone by since she passed out. Suddenly, she felt a poisoning sense of guilt, a deep feeling of culpability. Minho shouldn’t be able to make her heart race the way he did.
He started to stir, shifting his body into a different position in the chair. Sulli looked at him intently, feeling a strange nervousness. They had been good friends during the time when he was dating Krystal and she was dating Taemin. But now, obviously, the situation was a bit different.
“Oh. You’re awake,” Minho remarked, now fully awoken from his nap. He smiled warmly at her. Leaning over, he put his hand on her forehand, checking for a fever. Sulli's heart jumped at his touch. "Your temperature feels normal."
"Thanks Doctor Choi," she said sarcastically.
He chuckled before proceeding to his next test. "How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked, raising his index and middle fingers.
“Two,” Sulli replied easily. “Choi Minho, you may be good at soccer but your kick definitely isn’t strong enough to make my vision disappear.”
“But I did knock you out for…” he checked his watch, “… 16 hours.”
“16 HOURS!” Sulli was shocked. “You waited at my bedside for that long. School started ages ago.”
He shrugged. “At the moment, school isn’t really that enjoyable for me anyways.”
Sulli looked at her hands. It was true; everyone had been walking on their tiptoes around him since the break-up. Because he had never been in that position before, his peers were unsure how he would react.
Sensing the awkwardness, Minho got up. “I’m going to go find a real doctor to examine you so we can get you out of this hell-hole." He left the small room, leaving Sulli alone.
Minho returned quickly with the doctor, an unfriendly white-haired man who seemed to think that the two of them were some sort of delinquents. He went through multiple cognitive and physical examinations and tests, before Sulli was finally released from the hospital without even a concussion.
“I’m really sorry,” Minho said to Sulli as they walked home from the hospital. He realized he hadn’t said it enough, considering the whole ordeal was his fault.
They approached a park bench and Sulli sat down, leaning against the wooden back of the seat.
“No,” she said, turning to look at Minho who had sat down next to her. “Don’t be sorry. You waited at the hospital with me for 16 hours straight.”
She noticed that Minho couldn’t help but blush a bit. She was surprised, he had always seemed indifferent to every girl that wasn’t Krystal.
They sat on the bench in silence for a few long yet peaceful minutes.
“Are you okay?” Sulli finally asked, avoiding eye contact with Minho. It was pretty obvious what she was referring to.
“You know, you’re the first person to actually ask me about the breakup; everyone else seems to be purposely trying not to bring it up.” He paused, “I’m okay though, I just wasn’t expecting it.”
Sulli thought for a moment about what she could say in response. “You know, there’s something I should tell you,” she said, not sure where she was headed with this exactly.
He looked at her curiously. “What?”
Then Sulli said something she had never expected to come out of . “I used to have a huge crush on you.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You… what?”
“I... Used... To... Have... – ”
He stopped her, putting his hand temporarily over . “No, no. You don’t need to repeat yourself. I got it. Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I'm not exactly a confident person, in case you haven't noticed."
Minho smiled at her. "It's kind of strange though, when you consider that you're now dating my group-mate and I used to date one of yours."
Sulli's heart clenched. "Strange". That's what Minho thought of her having a crush on him. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting as a reaction to her confession, but it certainly wasn't this. She couldn't help but feel a bit hurt.
She checked the time on her phone. It was now late afternoon.
"My parents are probably worried by now, even though I called them earlier," she said. "I should head home now so I can get there before dinner."
Minho nodded. "I'll walk you."
*****
As they walked along the quiet streets back to her house, Minho couldn't stop thinking about Sulli's confession. He had been friends with her for ages without ever picking up any signals that she was interested in him.
Unexpectedly, a strange thought crossed his mind. If Krystal hadn't been in the picture, would he have seen Sulli in a different light? Would they have been MORE than friends? He couldn't pick a solid answer, which scared him. Sulli was pretty, in a warmer, different way than Krystal "Ice Queen" Jung. She had a very cute and lovable demeanour.
They turned a corner, coming onto Sulli's street. When they got to her driveway, they stopped.
"Anny - " Minho began before being cut off. Sulli had wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He was surprised, but he hugged her back, putting one hand at the bottom of her spine and the other on the back if her head. Not knowing what came over him, he began her hair, softly and tenderly.
After a few seconds, Sulli pulled away, looking up at him.
"Thank you, Minho," she said quietly. He just smiled at her.
Then, out of nowhere, Minho felt a sudden desire to kiss her. There, in the middle of the afternoon in her driveway, Minho felt the urge to kiss his best friend's girlfriend.
She must have gotten a sense of the feelings lingering in the air, because Sulli let go of Minho, said goodbye and went into her house, leaving him to assess the situation.
He was supposed to be heartbroken over his fresh breakup, and yet, seconds ago, he had completely forgotten about Krystal Jung for the very first time since that night in the car. Sulli had made him forget. Which, he knew, was complicated considering she had a boyfriend and considering who that boyfriend was.
Walking home from Sulli's house, Choi Minho had one question: What the hell was going on?
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A/N: I'm more pleased with this chapter than I am with the last one. That said, I unfortunately don't have much confidence in my writing but I hope to improve as time goes on. But what did you lovely readers think? Good/Bad/Boring? Better/Worse than previous chapters?
Please comment, vote and subscribe :) I am aiming for two updates per week at this point but we'll see how that goes.
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