Well Done! (Part 8 of 10)

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Days passed quickly. It was Friday and I planned to catch a movie with my two best friends after school.

Encounters with Kyuhyun was limited to recess time when I handed him my worksheets after I had my meal. He had wanted to talk to me but I always told him that I had something else to do. I then gathered my herd (namely Eunhyuk and Donghae) and headed out of the canteen to the school field to sun ourselves. He had texted me a few times over the last few days asking if I had trouble with my homework. I texted back with a I’m good and that was it. Short and sweet. Nothing more than that.

Finally, the bell for the end of the last lesson rang and I quickly gathered my things and stuffed them into my school bag. I looked around and saw Donghae still packing his bag while Eunhyuk was nowhere in sight. With furrowed eyebrows, I slung my bag on my shoulder and walked over to Donghae.

“Hae, where’s Hyuk?” I asked as Donghae stuffed the last of his book into his bag.

“Kyuhyun came looking for him just now. Think they are talking outside the classroom.” Donghae replied as he stood up. “Come on Minnie, let’s go. Can’t wait to see the movie.” He slung an arm over my shoulder and we walked out of the now empty classroom.

True enough, Kyuhyun was talking in hushed tones to Eunhyuk near the staircase outside our classroom. Their conversation suspended when Kyuhyun noticed the both of us approaching. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. Eunhyuk turned his head to us after seeing Kyuhyun’s reaction.

“Oh, the princesses are here.” Eunhyuk said and put on his gummiest smile. My right foot flew towards his shin and he leaped away swiftly to avoid being kicked. Donghae seemed to like it though. He was all smile and sunshine. I knew he loved all the trash that came out of his Hyukkie’s mouth.

“Hyuk, what are you two talking about?” I directed the question at Eunhyuk but was looking at Kyuhyun for an answer. Why do I get the feeling that they were talking about me?

“He came to seek advice on something…stupid and cheesy.” Eunhyuk said while watching Kyuhyun’s constipated face. “And I invited him to our movie date today.” Eunhyuk continued with a satisfied smile on seeing Kyuhyun’s reaction.

“Yes! Let’s double date!” Donghae said merrily and was skipping around the three of us. I mentally face palmed.

“Alright, I’ll date Hyuk and you go date him.” I said to Donghae as I grabbed Eunhyuk’s hand with one of mine and pushed Donghae towards Kyuhyun with the other.

“Nooo!” Donghae whined and Kyuhyun protested at the same time. I had to admire the synchronization.

Donghae then pulled Eunhyuk free from my grasp and pushed Kyuhyun towards me. “Like this!” Donghae declared childishly. At that very moment, I just want to slap him over his head with a dead chicken.

“Double date your head.” I rapped a knuckle on the hyper kid’s forehead. “It is going to be a date alright..,” I waved an index finger at Eunhyuk and Donghae. “…with a glaring light bulb,” and I pointed to myself, “and no one else.” I waved my index finger in Kyuhyun’s face as in no-no.

“Pretty please, I am bored to death. Let me join you guys. I promise I’ll behave.” Kyuhyun said with overflowing sweetness, eyes blinking out twinkle twinkle little stars while tugging at my shirt sleeve.

“Why us? You have your own clique. Go bother them.” I said with disinterest and dislodged his hand from my shirt sleeve with a brush of my other hand. He grabbed my lower arm instead. Don’t cling please, I mentally cried.

“They had…..detention class.” Kyuhyun stammered out a reply and looked at Eunhyuk frantically for help. Eunhyuk just shrugged and gave him a you are on your own on this look.

“All of them? Come on Kyuhyun, surely you can do better than that?” I sent him a haughty -glare. Kyuhyun looked ready to rip his hair out in frustration. I failed miserably to dislodge his hand this time. Just then Donghae came to his rescue.

“Quit being a baby, Minnie. Okay, so let’s not call it a date then. It’s now just four people going out together for a movie. No big deal right?” Donghae rationalised. “Come on guys, the movie starts at three and we have to grab lunch before it so let’s move it already.” He whined like a girl. So much for being level-headed.

“You are the baby, Hae.” I flicked his forehead with my finger. “Alright, let’s go. I’m hungry.” I said and waved a hand at Kyuhyun to let go of my arm.

“Again!?” Eunhyuk, Donghae and Kyuhyun uttered in unsion. Such talent at synchronising. They should go sing. Or swim.

I nodded. “Yup, yup. Come on, move those asses.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

We went to get the tickets for the movie first to secure good seating before grabbing a bite. Donghae and Kyuhyun haggled over which movie to watch and we ended up with The Wolverine in digital form. Donghae had wanted to watch The Smurfs 2 but relented after Eunhyuk promised to treat him to a large cup of his favourite yogurt after the movie. Donghae is sure easy to please. I worry for his ity. Sighs.

Deciding on a place to eat was so much easier. All of us settled on Ajixen Ramen, a Japanese noodle house which serves inexpensive good food not to mention the special 10% off the bill for students. We had a hearty meal and chatted happily. I’m surprised that Kyuhyun is able to contribute to our conversations rather effectively with no sign of awkwardness.

Armed with popcorns and fizzy drinks, we headed for the cinema. We were a good twenty minutes early so we took turns going to the washroom in twos before heading to our allocated seats. By default, our usual sitting arrangement was:

Hae --> Hyuk --> Me (aisle seat)

But now with the addition of a pest, it has become:

Hae --> Hyuk --> Pest --> Me (aisle seat)

Donghae always liked to take the inner most seat because he does things to Eunhyuk. I know what you are thinking and I am sorry to disappoint you but you are wrong. They are innocent, really. Let me summarise it up for you. Hae used Hyuk as (1) shield or (2) pillow or (3) punching bag depending on whether we are watching a (1) horror or (2) boring as hell or (3) comedy movie. Either way, Eunhyuk emerged a victim. He would suffer from (1) red crescent-like marks from all the fingernails digging into his skin or (2) stiff shoulder from his Oscar winning act as a pillow or (3) redness and light bruises from the animated slapping on his arm. Donghae is very dramatic and expressive. And yes, Eunhyuk indulges him this way too. He didn’t complain so I don’t complain either.

For me, I preferred the aisle seat, easier for me to go pee.

A quarter way into the movie, I felt a hand digging into my box of popcorn. “Eat yours.” I hissed as I slapped the hand away.

“Finished.” Kyuhyun whispered back and reached for my box again.

“None of my business.” I hogged my popcorn protectively against my chest.

“Sharing is caring.” Pest said now looking at me with his body pressing closer to my seat.

“Go find someone willing to share then. The door is closed here.” I hissed back scooting further away from him.

SHHhhhhhh! We were hushed into silence by fellow movie-goers nearby.

“See what you have done.” Kyuhyun admonished playfully and pulled at my arm to straighten my body at the same time eyeing my box of popcorn which was moving closer to him as well. I was glaring daggers at him but he obviously cannot see it. Too dark lah.

I sulked because there’s nothing much I could do to not cause disturbance again.

“Must share now.” Kyuhyun grinned as he dug his hand in for a grab of the sweet treat. And so I shared, albeit unwillingly. Ten minutes later, I was frustrated with the way he eats, one popcorn at a time so he was constantly digging and I am constantly aware of his arm brushing against mine. It was so distracting. I tsk-ed him and he shhh-ed me. Sometimes, our hands would collide and I can feel his suppressed snicker. This was so annoying. After a while, I simply pushed the box of popcorn over to him to finish on his own and I was finally left alone in peace, nevermind without food.

The movie ended two hours and ten minutes later and we slowly made our way out of the cinema. As usual, Donghae clung onto Eunhyuk claiming that it was dark. The sickening part was that Kyuhyun clung onto me claiming the same thing too.

“Don’t cling. It’s not even that dark. Crawl if you must, just let go of me.” I tried hard to remove Kyuhyun’s hands from my arm. Again, without success.

Squirming did not help. The more I tried to get away, the more he clung tight. One thing I must admit was that I hate crowd, the sardine packed kind of crowd where people were pressing close to me. Don’t be mistaken, I was not arrogant or the high-and-mighty kind, it was just that I felt uneasy and constricted. Usually, I would walk behind Eunhyuk and held on tightly to his backpack as we exited the cinema. This time however, I found myself holding hands with Kyuhyun as he led me out of the cinema. It must have shown on my face.

“Feeling better?” Kyuhyun asked me gently when we were finally out in open space. I nodded embarrassingly and let go of his hand and he squeezed my hand before letting go. I looked down at the floor as I bit my lower lip and furrowed my brows having realised that holding his hand did not repulse me like it should have. In fact, I kind of liked it. It gave me a warm feeling and I strangely felt protected. “Hey, are you okay? Do you need to take a seat somewhere?” Kyuhyun asked me with concern.

I forced a smile, hopefully a reassuring one. “No, I’m fine, thanks. Where are those two?” I asked and looked around for them and found them making their way towards us with Eunhyuk carrying Donghae’s school bag in addition to his own, one on each of his shoulders. I was impressed. I want a slave like that too. Then, my head automatically turned to look at Kyuhyun. Maybe I could make him into one.

I pretended to have aching shoulders all of a sudden and rub at them with my hands and threw in some head rolls clockwise and counter-clockwise. Kyuhyun saw and asked if I wanted a massage (from him). I said no (naturally) but told him my school bag was killing my aching shoulder. He offered to help me carry my bag and I pretended to be concern if the added weight would break his lanky frame. He laughed it off and said that I was cute and then grabbed my bag from my shoulder and slung it onto his own shoulder. That wasn’t too hard, I boasted mentally. Mission accomplished. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun looked at each other as if they were looking at their own reflection in a mirror. I looked at Donghae and we smirked knowingly at each other. Ah, it felt good to manipulate.

“I’m craving for yogurt. Shall we go to Yogurlicious now?” Donghae asked with a raised voice as he draped his arm over my shoulder and we started walking. I nodded with a grin. “Come on boys, pronto.” Donghae signalled with a wave of his hand at our slaves walking behind. I tried my hardest not to laugh out loud.

We had Eunhyuk treated us all to a large cup of yogurt each with extra toppings. He groaned at the amount of money that he had to pay and ordered Kyuhyun to pay the next time. For who knows whatever reason, Kyuhyun was beaming and nodded his head vigorously.

It was close to six in the evening when we decided to head home. Eunhyuk left with Donghae as they lived close to each other. Kyuhyun and I don’t live anywhere near each other so we had to go our separate ways. I collected my bag from him and thanked him again. He asked about my shoulders and I replied that I was fine now. He said he was glad to help. What a good servant. I will make sure to seek help from him more often.

“Did you have fun, Min? Do you like my company? Shall we go out again next time?” Kyuhyun shot me with these questions in quick succession.

“Ehhh....” I pondered aloud. “Kind of, maybe, we’ll see.” I answered using his tactics back on him. My answers were not even definitive but there he was beaming stupidly like he had found gold bars.

He snatched both of my hands up and gave them a tight squeeze. “I would love to, Min. Thank you.” He said with a wide smile showing even sparkling white teeth and then walked off briskly with a skip in his steps. Wait a minute, I didn’t promise him anything, did I? Thinking back, I was sure I did not. What an idiot.

Turning his head back, he shouted to me, “see you tomorrow, Min.”

Crap, tuition.

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I returned home to the heavenly smell of Beijing fried rice and fish soup. After a quick bath, I headed downstairs for dinner. Mom had reminded me at the dinner table to complete all my tuition homework before Kyuhyun’s arrival for the lesson tomorrow. I gave mom the okay sign with my hand as I munched on my food. Then I remembered about Kyuhyun’s meal for lesson proposal and told my parents about it. Mom readily agreed saying that he would get free meal on Saturdays and any other days that he planned to come over so long as she was notified a good two hours beforehand. On top of that, Dad said that he would still be paid the previously agreed fee.

Dissuading them proved to be more difficult than learning Mandarin. My dad just won’t listen to my business talk about fair deals saying that no, fees cannot be bartered for a meal. A meal comes free in this instance to a nice young man who puts in so much time and effort in teaching someone difficult like me. I resisted the urge to tell him that I am actually helping him save money so that mom can go shopping. Argh! I muttered under my breath that the pest can go eat grass for all I care.

After finishing up my chores, I bid my parents goodnight and headed back up to my bedroom to slack. Deciding that I had better tell Kyuhyun about the free meals, I fished out my phone from my school bag and began to text him.

From: Sungmin | To: Kyu
Meals for lessons a no-go. My parents said so.

A reply came a mere twenty seconds later.

From: Kyuhyun | To: Baby Min
Huh? Why? It was a good deal!
Hi Min :>

From: Sungmin | To: Kyu
However…

From: Kyuhyun | To: Baby Min
Yes? However?
Did u miss me? ;>

From: Sungmin | To: Kyu
Meals will be FREE when you come over for lessons PLUS you will be paid your agreed fees too. Be here at 6pm tomorrow. I would like to clarify that this is NOT my suggestion. I am all for the free meals for lessons deal.
Yes, of course. Can’t wait to see you in my next life.

From: Kyuhyun | To: Baby Min
How about I return u the $$ when I receive it from your parents?
No need to wait that long Minnie, u will see me tomm. Happy? :>

From: Sungmin | To: Kyu
Do you want me to die a premature death?! My mom is scary you know. Keep the damn money!
STOP. IT.

From: Kyuhyun | To: Baby Min
Ok then :>
R you tired? Do u want to chat? I can call u :>

From: Sungmin | To: Kyu
Yes. No. NO!
Goodnight and don’t reply.

From: Kyuhyun | To: Baby Min
Goodnight sweetpea! See u tomm :>

What was with all the smilie faces? And sweetpea?! Copycat. I hopped onto my bed after placing my mobile phone on the side table. I laid there for a good fifteen minutes going over the events of the day. To be honest, not that I had to admit to anyone, it was quite fun having Kyuhyun around. Although he was bothersome at times, I felt kind of…..safe with him. This is not right. I began to fear for my heart. He has a girl whom he likes, I reminded myself. Just remember his annoying traits and I’ll be fine, I think. I sincerely hope so.

~~~~ END OF PART 8 ~~~~