Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows. Changmin blinked owlishly. Sungmin grinned.

“Have fun you guys!”

Sungmin said in a singsong voice and fled the scene. Changmin stared at the two tickets Sungmin had just shoved into his hands. Apparently, the boy got two tickets to a new movie that was currently the talk among youngsters but Sungmin can’t go because he has something going on this Saturday so he came to their class and forced the tickets on Changmin.

When asked where he got the tickets, he just said it was from a friend. Kyuhyun snorted at that and got his shin kicked quite hard that almost made him winced.

“So…”

Kyuhyun stared at him lazily and Changmin’s face heated up.

“I-I…do you…”

“I’m free. Meet me in front of the cinema. Don’t be late.” Kyuhyun walked back into the classroom.

For all day, there was spring in Changmin’s steps until Jaejoong and Junsu pointed it out does Changmin stopped skipping and embarrassed them both further.

“Why are you so happy?” Jaejoong scowled.

Changmin twitched a bit at the question. Should he tell them? He should, right? Since they were what he called friends. Well, most of the time. He smiled shyly and showed them the tickets to the movie. Junsu blinked curiously while Jaejoong scrutinised the two pieces of paper in Changmin’s hold. The latter then gasped.

“Did he ask you out on a date?”

Changmin shuffled his feet and smiled sheepishly. Jaejoong and Junsu looked expectantly at him.

“Well, no,” Junsu’s shoulders drooped and Jaejoong sighed disappointedly.

“More like I was the one that asked him out. I got the tickets from Sungmin, Kyuhyun’s childhood friend.”

Jaejoong raised his eyebrows while Junsu eyed him.

“You were the one that ask him out?”

“Ac-actually, he kinda cut me off before I got the chance to complete my sentence.”

Junsu hummed as Jaejoong nodded.

“Well, no matter. Our Changmin is going on his first date ever! We must prepare our baby,  Junsu!”

Changmin landed on his bed face first and sighed tiredly into his fluffy pillow. He still had his uniform on but he couldn’t care less at the moment. He was tired from the shopping that Junsu and Jaejoong forced him to go.

He turned his head to look at the heap of shopping bags that contained his new wardrobe that were on the middle of his bedroom floor and heaved a deep sigh. Jaejoong was practically a demon that reigned the mall when it came to shopping and combined with Junsu, the duck- that squealed every time he saw things that piqued his interest, the result was a major headache and limbs that almost became dysfunctional.

Changmin forced himself to get up to change his clothes. He was feeling sticky and a good bath was definitely needed. He dragged himself out of the bed and carried himself like a sloth to his closet.

Changmin took off his school blazer and his shirt followed next. He was working on his third button when he noticed one of his school shirts that were hung in the closet and his hands stopped short. The said shirt was torn at the back, not that obvious but still visible. The images that had been poking relentlessly at the back of his mind burst to the front.

He remembered there was blood and bodies. There was Kyuhyun, Junsu and Jaejoong too. His fists… They had felt sore and there were cuts on his knuckles.

Changmin frowned. He felt like his sisters were not telling him something and Junsu had left some details out when he explained why he had fainted the other day. He mulled the matter in his head for a moment before shrugging.

The Shims gathered at the dining table for dinner. They made it mandatory to eat dinner together because that was the only time they can share their stories for the day. Sarang gracefully sat on her seat at the end of the dining table. Since their parents’ death, Sarang was made the leader of the house and Gaeun helped her managed their financial. 

She looked around the table and her gaze lingered on her youngest sibling and baby brother. She raised her eyebrows at the way Changmin was grinning dreamily into the air. She glanced at her sisters and they were also giving their brother weird yet amused looks.

“Minnie?”

Changmin didn’t even look at her and Sarang called out once more with a louder voice. Changmin finally snapped out from his stupor and blinked at her. It was then he realized all attentions were on him. He smiled bashfully and that earned him a squeal from Haeun.

“I’m sorry, what is it noona?”

Sarang shared a sly look with her sisters. Minji that was sitting beside Changmin hooked her arm around Changmin’s shoulder and pulled him close.

“Now, Changminnie. Is there something you aren’t telling your lovely sisters?”

Changmin gulped, “Um..no?”

“Really? Because you were grinning just now and I thought the tickets that I found in your bedroom earlier might have something to do with it,” Minji drawled.

Changmin’s face paled for a second and immediately took over a deep shade of red. He started to open and close his mouth repeatedly, while flailing his hands. Hana giggled and Gaeun patted his head comfortingly.

“So, Changminnie is going to have his first date. With Kyuhyun, I presume?” Sarang teased.

Changmin stopped his movements and covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. He made a small noise that was muffled by his hands and his ear tips had tinge with red. His sisters laughed fondly at his embarrassment while Minji gently removed Changmins hands from his face.

“No need to be shy. Don’t worry, we’re glad you’re taking a step towards adulthood.” Minji laughed darkly.

Changmin was then questioned with all kind of questions while they ate dinner. Such as:

“You need to bring condoms with you. Safety first, okay? Wait, do you even have one?”

Changmin screeched and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow but it never came. There were the rustling of clothes and the groans of pain and after that, silence reigned. Changmin opened one eye tentatively to peek at the scene and was met with a broad back that stood before him.

“Yu-Yunho-sunbae?”

The judo captain turned his head back to look at him and smiled.

“Are you okay, Changmin?”

Changmin nodded and looked around him. There were a few male students lain on the ground, groaning in pain. Yunho turned back to them and his eyes had turned cold when he addressed them, "Scram.”

The boys hurriedly got up and scurried off like wounded puppies. Yunho sighed heavily and turned back to Changmin.

“You really ought to stop daydreaming, Changmin to stop this kind of thing from happening again. I heard what happened last time from Jaejoong. It’s dangerous.”

“What do you mean with ‘last time’?” Changmin tilted his head in confusion.

Yunho opened his mouth to reply but stopped dead when his brain clicked. Yunho cursed under his breath for his loose mouth and smiled sheepishly at Changmin to cover his discomfort.

“Nothing.”

With that, Yunho quickly excused himself and made his way out before Changmin could question him further. Changmin frowned. Yunho was acting weird and what did he mean by ‘last time’? Did this kind of thing happened before?

Blurry images flooded his mind and Changmin wobbled. There was an image of him standing there, at the same place he was standing at the moment and there were other boys that surrounded him, backing him up against the wall that he was currently leaning against to stop his headache at the rush of memories. He remembered one of the boys opened his mouth and then it went black. Changmin clutched his head that was pounding and slid off the wall to sit on the grass. He stayed there for a while until the throbbing pain decreased.

He looked down at his knuckles and took a shuddery breath.

“…min…”

“Changmin!”

“Shim Changmin!”

Changmin jolted at the shout of his full name. He looked up to an irritated Jaejoong that was clutching two outfits in his hands in front of him and grinned abashedly, “Sorry.”

Jaejoong softened after the apology and he sighed. He put down the two outfits that he was holding onto the bed and sat down beside Changmin. Junsu that was playing with his soccer ball that he brought, stopped playing and sat down on Changmin’s other side.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been so out of it these past few days.”

Changmin clenched his fist and shook his head, “Nothing’s wrong, Jae.”

He was lying and it was an obvious fact when Jaejoong looked sceptical. The always oblivious Junsu also knew he was lying through his teeth if his raised eyebrows were anything to go by. He was thinking about the same thing that had bothered him these past few days that involved some disturbing images that sometime flashed through his mind. He was contemplating to tell his two friends about this but held off the thought.

“Seriously, I’m just nervous for tonight.”

That wasn’t entirely false because he had indeed been feeling nervous for his… meeting with Kyuhyun tonight. He didn’t talk that much to the lad all week because the butterflies that resided in his stomach became restless when he was faced with the object of his affection and even more so with this ‘date’ thingy coming.

A smile broke off on both of his best friends’ face and Junsu engulfed him in a one arm hug as Jaejoong pinched his cheeks fondly.

“No worries! We, the bestest friends of yours are here!” Jaejoong announced proudly with his chest puffed out as he stood up to pick up the outfits once again. He shoved the two outfits close to Changmin’s face and he had to retreat back a little to see.

“So, which one, Changmin?”

Changmin’s hands twitched in anxiety and the cold. He stuffed them into his jacket pockets and sighed. He was waiting in front of the cinema where he and Kyuhyun were supposed to meet. He had been early than the allocated time to prepare. He had been practicing what to say to Kyuhyun when the latter arrived later but stopped immediately when he received weird looks from the pedestrians with his flailing hands.

He had been given a pep talk from Jaejoong as to ready himself but he couldn’t help feeling nervous. He had also thankfully fend off Jaejoong’s suggestion on wearing extravagant clothes since he was only going to watch a movie in a public cinema, not to some fancy place and had settled for a simple yet enough to appeal clothes.

(A/N: Because I’m not good in describing clothes, I’ll leave it to your creative imaginations on what was our adorable Changminnie was wearing for his first date ever.)

Changmin scraped his shoes against the pavement and looked around him. There were a lot of people on the street, especially couples. Well, it was to be expected since it was a weekend night and the city was bustling with people of different sorts and age. His eyes then settled on a pair of young couple that was smiling happily at each other and holding hands. He wondered if he would be able to hold hands with Kyuhyun so naturally instead of faking it because of a farce.

No, that was wishful thinking, Changmin reprimanded himself.

Speaking of Kyuhyun, where was he anyway? Changmin checked his watch and sighed. It was already past the allocated time. The movie was going to start soon and he had felt stiff for standing too long in front of the cinema.

He paced back and forth for five minutes, crouched down for ten minutes and resumed his pacing for another five until he felt tired and decided to stay still again. He looked down on his watch and bit his lip. Kyuhyun was definitely running late. The movie had started a moment ago and Changmin was still outside, waiting for Kyuhyun. Anxiety overwhelmed him because of Kyuhyun’s presence.

Did something happen to him?

Did he decide not to come?

Changmin shook his head at the negative thoughts and condemned himself for having so little trust in Kyuhyun. He was going to wait for him.

People poured out from the cinema and into the streets, chattering excitedly. Despite that, Changmin didn’t move from his spot and kept staring at the crumpled tickets in his hand that he had been clutching for the past two hours and smiled ruefully. The movie that he was supposed to watch with Kyuhyun had ended and he was still waiting for him.

He walked up to the nearest trashcan and stood silently beside it. He gripped the tickets tightly before raising them above the trashcan and started tearing the tickets pieces to pieces. The ripping sound sounded loud to his ears and he had felt it was his heart that had been tore.

The pieces of the tickets fluttered from Changmin’s hands into the trashcan and before Changmin knew it, a single tear had leaked out from his eye and onto the pavement. He wiped the tears that had tried to follow roughly with his sleeve yet they still managed to slide down his cheeks.

He had waited but Kyuhyun never came that night.