realizations.
everybody but us
Sooyoung groaned as she rose from Key's bed the next morning, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she tried to block the glare from the sun. Knowing her best friend, he probably snuck in while she was sleeping and opened the curtains. Picking up her phone from the pillow she found a text from her mother;
"Hey, dear. Your father was held back by a meeting and they have postponed events for the next week. Can you stay at a friend's?"
Replying with a quick "no problem" and brushing her teeth, she trudged down the steps to the kitchen where the male of the two was already immersed in a bowl of cereal. Glancing up, he scoffed at what she assumed was her bedhead and she rolled her eyes, purposely knocking his hair out of place with her burn-free hand as she passed by to the sink.
"Idiot," he muttered, trying to fix it back with the hand that wasn't clutched to his spoon. "When do you plan on changing?" He eyed her pajamas and she shrugged.
"After food."
"No." Key rose from his seat, taking the box of cereal from her hand and pointing up the stairs. "I'll get breakfast ready for you. Try to get ready first so we won't be late for our performances today."
"Whatever, mom." Sooyoung laughed as she followed his orders, dashing up to the shower and changing into the uniform she had stuffed in her bag the night before. Only then did she remember she would need clothes for the next week. But then again- the reason why her mother was so concerned about texting her that they would be missing was because the following week was the start of winter break. Making a mental note to go pick up more clothes at her house, she ran down the stairs and gasped as she saw the plate of eggs, toast and sausage that Key had made for her. "You made this?"
"Your hand's hurt..." he muttered, always the one to avoid any sappy comments. He groaned as she pinched his cheek.
"What a cutie." She dug into the food, silently relishing in how good it tasted as Key patiently waited for her. "Oh Key?"
"Yeah?"
"I have to stay with you for another week..." She took her empty plate to the sink, about to rinse it out when he stopped her and did it himself.
"Really, why?"
"Mom and Dad are kept back with their business meeting so I'll be spending the first week of Christmas break without them. No worries. I have you." She grinned and patted his arm, taking her bag with her free hand when he hastily grabbed it from her.
"Your hand is hurt!" he scolded, taking both bags to his car with an eye roll.
"One hand! I'm not handicapped!" Sooyoung stomped her feet feeling so dependent on him, following anyways to where he helped her buckle her seatbelt. She watched as he rounded the car to the driver's seat when she realized something.
"Ah, Key?"
"Mmm?"
"A lot of my dance with Hyuk involves both of my hands. What if I get hurt?"
The comment made Key look over at her despite his driving, letting out a soft sigh. He stretched his hand that wasn't clutched onto the steering wheel to take hers, brushing his thumb over the bandages on her skin. He had to admit it didn't feel as good as when they held hands before, but he hoped it gave her some comfort.
"Look, try your best and don't worry about getting any more hurt. You'll be okay, and Hyuk will be careful."
By that time he had pulled into the school's parking lot and most students were beginning to go to their classes. He helped Sooyoung with her bag as they entered the auditorium where the others were gathered, awaiting their guest for their performances. The tall brunette had found Eunhyuk in a corner, already changed into his clothes.
"Hyuk...?" She tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.
"Soo-what happened to your hand?" Eunhyuk gasped, slipping his phone back into his pocket and gingerly holding up her hand.
"I got a bit of a burn yesterday," she laughed sheepishly. "So could you try to not squeeze my hand too much?"
"I'll think about it." He laughed as well.
"Don't!" Sooyoung whined, shoving him playfully before she went to change her clothes.
Key, meanwhile, had heard everything through the "accidentally left open" door to his changing room. His clothes began to come off with more force as he tugged off his shirt, wincing as he scratched his skin when he realized he wasn't paying attention and he had started to try to take more clothes off. Slamming his shirt onto the ground, he slipped into his other outfit, storming back into the auditorium where their teacher had finally arrived. Sooyoung had deserted him to go laugh at Eunhyuk, who was doing a funny dance to entertain her. Mr. Park had arrived with a tall, slender woman they all assumed was Lee Taeyoon. The fifteen students lined up to bow respectfully, making her smile as they did.
"No need for formalities this morning. As you all know, I am Lee Taeyoon, and I'm a dancer with Korea's national ballet company. Mr. Park here tells me that you have performances lined up for me to see?"
Her warm attitude relaxed the nervous students who took her through the program without any difficulty. Taemin had managed to complete his dance with Hyoyeon, Luna and Yuri and Sooyoung and Key cheered during his solo in the middle. Taeyoon seemed impressed with their talent until there was only one event left to see; the two solos.
"First up we have Kibum." Key nodded to Taemin at the back, who switched on the sound system as the beginning of "See Through" started. He locked off the other students as he focused on his dance, determined to do a good job when his gaze shifted to Sooyoung and Eunhyuk.
Her leg rested on his as the two sat cross-legged, whispering to each other. Key shook his head a bit and dropped to his knees, not realizing he had stopped when he was supposed to slide across to the front of the stage. Nevertheless, Taeyoon gave an approving nod and he bowed with a smile, returning to his seat on the floor where he had been against the wall. He nodded his head a bit as the other two performed without a hitch, actually getting into it when his jaw dropped.
Nearing the end where he was supposed to spin the tall brunette to meet him, Eunhyuk accidentally forgot to be gentler with her right hand and jerked her backwards. The move was performed with ease, but from his spot near the stage he could see how Sooyoung bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as she turned her head away from the audience. Taeyoon grinned her approval of the two's dance and they bowed as ell before rushing offstage to make way for Mr. Park.
Key rose from his seat and followed his best friend backstage, a worried expression on his face as he found her in the corner near the sink, trying to rinse off the blood that had trickled down her wrist as she wiped away her tears with her shoulder.
"I told him to be careful," she sniffled, shaking her head as she mumbled to herself. "Stupid Hyuk. Stupid, stupid, stupid." Suddenly a hand rested on her shoulder and she jumped in surprise, relieved to see Key next to her as she focused on rinsing off the scars on her hand. Most of the damage was gone and it was just to let it dry and rewrap the bandage.
"Are you okay?" He spoke in a soft voice, as if speaking louder would irritate her burn even more. He led her to sit on the couch, rubbing her shoulder in small, soothing circles as she stopped crying.
"Yeah. It just hurt a lot when he pulled me. It's not his fault, but I wish he didn't do it..." She leaned her head against Key's shoulder as Eunhyuk tentatively stepped into the room, his hands in his pockets.
"S-Soo? I'm really sorry, I d-didn't mean to..." He sat in the empty space next to her, leaving her between the two guys. "Can I do anything?"
"Well," she began, a mischievous smile on her face. "You can-"
"Haven't you done enough?" Key snapped, immediately regretting it as the other two turned to him with shocked expressions. "I mean-"
"Hyuk, I'll catch up with you later." She waved off the other male, her eyes still focused on Key as she spoke. "Lunch, maybe?"
"No problem. Later, Soo," Eunhyuk stammered, seeming very happy to leave the tension in the room.
"What was that?" She scolded, tearing her hand away from his.
"I just-" The male of the two stopped himself, realizing he couldn't justify his reason for losing his temper. He smiled sheepishly at her, hoping it would make her give in.
And she always did. Sooyoung rolled her eyes, shoving his shoulder with a sigh. "I know you love keeping me safe, but it was just an accident. Calm down okay?"
"Okay..."
The rest of their classes went by smoothly until it was time to go home, excluding the few who were involved in clubs. Taemin stayed back for dance, Yuri and Minho had soccer, Jessica, Yoona and Onew had drama and Sooyoung had swimming. That left Jonghyun and Key, who would usually drive around the neighborhood until the others were all done at around 5PM. As everyone head off to their collective clubs, Key leaned against his car awaiting the older male. Meanwhile, he sent a quick text to check in on his grandmother.
"How's it going?"
"Seulmi is quite sick. I passed by the house to pick up some things and I'll be taking care of her for a few days as her grandchildren are out of the country. Will you be okay?"
"Sooyoung's parents are away so she's staying with me."
"Ah, the pretty girl you always talk about?"
Key chuckled softly, knowing right where his grandmother's assumptions would lead. "Yes."
"Alright. I expect clean sheets when I get home, understand?"
"YES GRANDMOTHER."
He stuffed his phone into his bag as Jonghyun finally came, nudging his shoulder with a huge grin.
"Well, we have two hours. What should we do?"
"We could go to the park for bulgogi. I'm hungry." Key tossed the keys to the other, who gladly accepted them and sunk into the driver's seat.
They were out of the school compound when their conversation struck up. The younger male leaned back in his seat, glancing out his window as he spoke. "So how are you and Jessica? I haven't spent time with her to find out."
"Well, I think I seriously love her, she's been so amazing lately." Jonghyun couldn't hide the smile that crept onto his face and Key laughed.
"Cause you've only said that like forty times."
"Shut up."
"Hey, you wanna have a party over at my place? Sooyoung has to stay for another week and Grandma isn't going to be back cause my aunt's sick in Busan."
"That sounds like the perfect oppurtunity to do what you want." Jonghyun's smile quickly turned into a playful smirk.
"Whatever, but really just the few of us? We can get some soju from my uncle."
"Then I'm definitely coming!" The two burst into laughter, dying down to silence when Key brought up a touchy topic with him, playing with his fingers. "Jjong?"
"Mmm?" He pulled up to the vendor on the street corner, ordering two servings of bulgogi before they were returning to school.
"I think I'm not as close to Sooyoung as I used to be."
"Why do you say that?" The older of the two became serious, knowing there was usually nothing that could separate the two.
"It's just like, I feel all weird and whatever when she's around me. Like you know when Krystal started liking you and you couldn't stand her?"
"Really...?"
"And I hate seeing her around Hyuk. If she likes him so much why doesn't she hang out with him all the time." He angrily stabbed at his meat with his fork.
"I don't think you hate her," Jonghyun laughed at his innocence. "Actually the opposite."
"Huh?"
"You like Sooyoung."
"Of course I do, she's my best fr-"
"You. Like. Sooyoung." He turned to Key with a stern expression, enunciating his words to get them to sink in.
"...No I don't. All of you guys need to stop."
"That weird feeling? Butterflies. Hating her with Hyuk? Jealousy. Wanting to take care of her burn? Caring. I saw the way you were taking care of her when we were all at lunch. You practically ignored us all. I called you five times but I gave up." He snickered.
"Really...?" Key took his empty tray and put it on the floor of the backseat along with the other's. "I don't really like her...do I?"
On the other side of the school, Sooyoung sat on the metal bench at the poolside, wringing her hair out as she spoke to Taeyeon, another good friend of hers outside of their group.
"When do you and Key plan on making it official?" Taeyeon giggled, wrapping her towel around her body as she retied her nearly-dry hair.
"What do you mean?" The tall brunette looked up, genuinely surprised. "Key and I are just friends."
"Really? Is that why you would come to me every swim practice and go on and on about how he told you a dumb joke but you laughed anyways? Or how he took care of you when you got burnt?"
"That doesn't mean anything..."
"You light up like a Christmas tree, Soo."
"No I don't!" Sooyoung jumped up in protest.
"Oh look, there's Key right now." Taeyeon pointed behind the taller girl, who gasped with a smile and snapped around, nearly losing her balance. She pouted realizing she had fallen for the older girl's trap and rolled her eyes.
"Key and I are just friends. Whether he likes it or not, you like it or not, we'll never be anything more." With a determined nod she her heel and stepped off towards the showers, mumbling to herself.
"Whether I like it or not..."
{ A/N } sorry i took so long to update...i had a lot of schoolwork to get done!! i know it seems boring lately, but it'll get better i promise!!
BTW HAVE YOU GUYS LISTENED TO THE SONGS FROM BOYS MEET U I'M ACTUALLY IN LOVE WITH THEM LIKE WHOA.
i think "the world where you exist" suits this fic a little better for some reason. tell me what you guys think of boys meet u too!!
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