~Language

6. Hangeng & Sungmin (ft. Heechul)

"So... it's the first time we're visiting Japan..."

The stretched silence had begun getting awkward, and Sungmin felt it was his duty to lighten up the stiff atmosphere between him and the man sitting across the table. Looking up from his dense notes, the older smartly replied, "Yeah...", and then focused again on reciting the different greetings on the papers. Sungmin let a small sigh, his fingers automatically catching a strand of his messy hair and twisting it nervously. He examined the fading blond dye and frowned, eager for his visit at the hairdresser's.

Despite doing anything he could to occupy himself for the remaining half an hour of the obligatory Japanese lessons that all Super Junior members had to attend in pairs, the clock's indications on the wall seemed frozen. Maybe it was because he already knew that basic stuff - he was the best in the group at speaking Japanese. On the other hand...

"Hankyung hyung... I could help you if you'd like."

Huffing in frustration, Hangeng shoved his notebook away from him, and rubbed his tired eyes.

"It's no use! I'm already struggling with one language; a second is too much!" he grunted in slightly broken Korean, adding curses in his native tongue.

Sungmin couldn't quite sympathize with the older, since he never had a similar experience. Suddenly, he felt bad; he was looking forward to getting out of that room, while another member was having such a hard time. And he wasn't even aware of it! Bitting his lip, he waited, unsure about which approach was the best. If only Heechul was there! Without a doubt, he'd make his friend feel better in a jiffy!

"You know... it's funny..." the younger hesitated, his mouth's corners slowly turning upwards the more he'd think about it.

"Hmm?"

Parting his fingers, Hangeng stared at the now grinning man, silently questioning his sanity.

"Us!" exclaimed Sungmin and chuckled amused. "I mean... I'm Korean and you're Chinese, and here we are! Learning Japanese!"

The blond man clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles, but to no avail. His entire body now shaking, Sungmin leaned on the table and hid his face between his own notebook's pages, relying on them to suppress the inexplicable break-down. Strangely enough, Hangeng found himself giggling too, forgetting all about his difficulties of two minutes ago. They were so exhausted, that even a silly thing was enough to trigger a ridiculous (but salvating nevertheless) reaction.

Some time later

"What the— Are you high?" stated a surprised Heechul when he burst in the tiny practice room, only to find Hangeng and Sungmin doubled over and holding their stomachs, roaring like crazy people and tears in their eyes. Notes on Japanese were sprawled all over the floor.