Well Done! (Part 9 of 10)

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Saturday is a good day to sleep in and wake up late as I badly needed to recharge on my beauty sleep.
 

I woke up to a beautiful sunny day with the sound of chirping in my room, a different kind of chirping, not birds. Yes, you are right, it was none other than my mom talking cheerfully away - waking me up for breakfast and collecting the scattered soiled clothes in my room. Due to my groggy state of mind, I could only catch….wake up….eat.…omelette….Kyuhyun.

Wait.

Kyuhyun? What about Kyuhyun? Did I sleep that late into the day that it was now dinner time? I was puzzled but I was still groggy so I assumed that I must have heard wrongly. She exited my room with a pile of clothes in her arm. I yawned loudly and checked the clock. Crap, it was only eight thirty in the morning. She usually let me sleep till ten. I groaned.

I pulled down the T-shirt that was bunched up messily around my upper torso then sat up on my bed and scratched my nuts followed by my . After some arm stretching and more yawning, I got out of bed and walked out of my room towards the bathroom. As I was walking dazedly towards it, I thought I heard Kyuhyun’s voice. I smiled. I like his voice but nope, too early. I must be dreaming again, I thought.

Then I heard my dad’s laughter followed by a laughter that was eerily similar to Kyuhyun’s. No way! Was he really here? I risked a peek down and there he was sitting at the dining table together with my parents happily chatting away like he belonged. What the hell!

Being a vain pot myself, I simply cannot stomp down the stairs and scream vulgarities at him while spotting a bed head and having stinky breath. Also, definitely not with my parents around too. Keeping my annoyance in check, I quickly rushed into the bathroom and washed up. Then I hurried back to my room and changed into a sky blue v-neck T-shirt and dark gray sweatpants. After brushing my hair to some satisfactory semblance of order, I headed down to join my family + one idiot.

Kyuhyun saw me as I came down the stairs and waved at me happily. I wanted to reply him with a middle finger but stopped myself just in time as my mom turned to face me with a warm smile. I smiled at her and greeted my parents as I took a seat beside Kyuhyun. Unfortunately, that was the only seat left.

“Hi, Min.” Kyuhyun turned to look at me and smiled ridiculously bright. I glimpsed at him. He didn’t dress to kill today. He was in a very normal looking round neck white T-shirt and equally normal looking dark blue jeans. Looked relievingly normal…..and nice I must add.

“You lost track of time? I told you to be here at six for dinner. Or do you have a habit of eating breakfast at night and dinner in the morning?” I grumbled while piling pancakes and omelettes onto my plate.

“Sungmin.” Dad reprimanded. I pouted at him. Dad glared and shook his head a little to silence me. I pouted some more.

“Kyuhyun-ah, please forgive my baby for being rude. He usually sleeps past ten in the morning on Saturdays to replenish from the lack of sleep on weekdays so he’s grouchy now because I woke him up earlier today.” Mom said apologetically to Kyuhyun.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Kyuhyun realised his rashness. I didn’t know…, I am so sorry, Min.” Kyuhyun looked at me with a genuine apologetic look on his face. I scoffed aloud.

“Now you know, leave.” I muttered under my breath loud enough to be heard by Kyuhyun. Unfortunately, with my lack of control due to my agitated state, my voice travelled farther to reach my mom as well.

“Sungmin.” Mom scolded. “Kyuhyun called me earlier this morning and asked politely if he can come over to check if you need help with your homework and that he doesn’t mind spending more time here to help you with your other subjects as well. I told him of course he could come. He is such a nice young man, so promising.” Mom smiled at Kyuhyun and sang his praises fondly. I held my tongue. She had called me by my given name this time. Not a good sign so I zipped up my mouth.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr Lee, Mrs Lee, Sungmin-ssi. It was rash of me to assume.” Kyuhyun apologised once again.

“It’s really not a problem, Kyuhyun-ah. Sungmin has enough sleep this morning. I went to check on him yesterday night and he was already snoring away at ten.” Mom smiled at Kyuhyun. I wanted to knock myself out by running into a wall, not just any wall but the one in my room. I had enough embarrassment already for one morning.

Kyuhyun smiled feeling somewhat reassured. I told my parents that I needed to go get some stationery after breakfast and that Kyuhyun should come with me to give his valued opinion on pencils. It was lame but I don’t care. I have to ask him what the hell he was up to. If there was a need to scream at him, it could only be done outside the house so I hurry him to finish up his food. Mom sent me a don’t try anything funny look and I gave her an unnatural lopsided smile.

Needless to say, Kyuhyun was delighted to go out with me and he complied immediately, gobbling down his food in the process. We were out of the house in fifteen minutes.

“Why?” I asked Kyuhyun who was walking beside me. I glimpsed at him and found him looking at me with a smirk.

“You missed me and couldn’t wait to see me, so here I am saving you from undue distress.” He explained mischievously.

I halted my steps and let out a deep sigh. “Stop it. Didn’t I tell you to stop it?” I said firmly but my heart was beating frantically and I don’t know why. Kyuhyun halted his steps too and turned to look at me intently while I looked at him languidly. “Don’t you have a girlfriend to woo. Focus your attention on her and cease toying with me…..okay? Please? I am not made for this. I will break down.” I spoke to him in a serious tone.

Seeing how serious I was, Kyuhyun took hold of my left hand and pulled me along to a nearby coffee house. It was too early for the place to be crowded so we found ourselves a secluded corner table by the window and sat down facing each other. Kyuhyun didn’t ask me what I want and went on to order hot chocolate for the both of us. I had wanted that but still he could have asked me and so I sulked childishly and turned my head towards the window.

Sensing my displeasure, Kyuhyun leaned forward and said, “I knew you like hot chocolate so I never asked. I knew since I started noticing you last year.” My eyes widened and I looked at him in surprise. What? “You always had a smile on your face. Your smile turned radiant when you are with your two best friends. Your favourite subject is Literature and you are good with languages too. You hated Social Studies and Science and especially Maths until I came along. You are good with your guitar. I heard you strumming a tune and singing along to it in the music room a few times when I happened to pass by. You disliked people calling you pretty but strangely cute was okay. You hated bean sprouts. I saw you picking them out a few times from the mixed vegetables you were having during recess. You were in the martial arts team but quit late last year due to a muscle injury that never really healed. That’s why I let you take advantage of me the last time we went out together.” He grinned knowingly. Just then, a waitress came over with our beverage and placed them on our table and left.

My heart was doing somersaults as I looked dumbly at Kyuhyun. He then grabbed hold of my hands that were on the table and continued, “I like the way you flicked your hair to one side and then tucked it behind your ear when it fell back down. I like how beautiful you looked when you smile and laugh. I like how you always look so happy when you were with Eunhyuk and Donghae and I wanted so badly to be them. I like how you stood up for Donghae when he was mistreated by a senior. I liked how you whined over small little things.” Kyuhyun paused to take a breath. I could only stare at him as I was still digesting what I had just heard. “I wish you would look at me and talk to me like you would with the two of them. I wish you would smile and laugh along with me. I wish you would whine and pout at me like someone dear to you. I wish to hold your hands when you are happy and hold you in my arms when you are sad. I want to be there for you even when you do not need me.” He stopped and took a deep breath before delivering the finale, “I like you….a lot and wish that you would like me back. Yes, the person that I like is no girlfriend but YOU.”

I was dumbfounded. I blinked stupidly at him for a few times and swallowed audibly. Forming coherent sentences now is out of the question. My brain was choked with his words and it kept churning round and round. Suddenly, I felt hot and I knew that I was blushing madly. I tried to pull my hands from his grip but he held on tightly. Oh God, please save me from this embarrassment.

“I need to drink.” I said shyly and Kyuhyun let go of my hands reluctantly. I held the cup of hot chocolate with trembling hands and took a sip all the while looking down at the table. I do not know where to start thinking and how to sort out my feelings. How should I react? What should I say to him? Most importantly, do I like him too?

“I am not forcing you to like me back although I am praying that you would.” Kyuhyun said timidly. “You can take your time to think it over but I know that I don’t have to wait too long because you like to get things over and done with quickly. I just want you to know that even if you reject me, I will still want to be your tutor. No matter what happens, I want to help you with your studies and hope that we can at least be friends like before.”

Now I know why he teased me the way he did. All along I thought that he was toying with me but I was wrong. He wanted to get close to me. He was wooing me. Gosh, I am blushing harder now. He must have seen it because he started chuckling. I looked up at him just as he reached out a hand to touch my reddening cheek. I don’t know why but I felt….loved. He looked at me and my cheek like I was really dear to him.

“I….I.…I really don’t know what to say.” I stammered and he moved his hand away. “You like me? How is that even possible? I mean, I am older than you for one, than I am a male. It’s not…...” I had wanted to say normal or even natural but what is considered normal and natural these days, it all a blur so I just leave my sentence hanging in order not to offend him. “Oh God, I am so confused. I need more time to think it over.” My voice trembled as I speak. I shrank myself into the chair and lowered my head. Threading the fingers on both hands through my hair, I held the back of my head and tried to rationalise.

We sat in silence for a long time. My brain seemed to have sense the sticky situation and had decided to take the day off. I could think of nothing else but he likes me, he likes me. What am I suppose to do? He seemed to have frozen as well because I heard no movement from him. He did not even drink from his cup. Then I wondered if he had left while I was stoning and that all this was a silly joke. Shooting my head up after realising that possibility, I found him staring squarely at me, expressionless. I quickly dropped my head back down and take deep breaths. I realised how much of a wimp I am when it comes to romantic issues. So much for getting it over and done with. Easier said than done. Pfff, I now scoff at this lousy piece of advice. I need to shelf this for later when my brain decided to return and when Kyuhyun is not around to distract me. Till I have an answer to this dilemma, I have to act like my usual self to avoid being embarrassed even further.

Having decided on the course of action, I lifted my head and smiled at him. “Give me time, okay?” He nodded and smiled back seemingly relief that at least I did not reject him there and then. “Argh, I have tons of homework to do, shall we head back?” I said. “Or you may want to go home instead. Either way I’m fine. I can manage the work on my own.” I continued, realising that it must be awkward for him as well having to stay and face me.

“No, I want to stay.” He said determinedly. “Like I said earlier, I want to help you with your school work whatever your decision is.” He smiled and called for the bill.

We stepped out of the coffee house into the bright late morning sun. It was a nice day for confessions.
“What about the stationery?” Kyuhyun asked as he walked beside me.

“Huh? Oh….that. It was a decoy to get you out of the house for interrogation.” I replied honestly with a wave of my hand.

“I knew it.” Kyuhyun smirked knowingly.

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

Mom was knitting and dad had left for the office when we arrived home. She looked up at us and frowned at my empty hands. I told her that we had both forgotten to bring our wallets. Mom shook her head in disbelief and went back to her knitting. I told her that we will be up in my room to study and she said she will inform us when lunch is ready.

Once inside my room, I told him that I wanted my chair back and he obediently nodded and went to get the plastic one leaning against the wall for himself. I am starting to feel the power I have over him. Hehehe.

Paying attention to Kyuhyun’s teaching proved difficult with my mind often straying. After patiently explaining the same concept several times over, I finally was able to focus and digest. He brought along his own homework so we did our work in comfortable silence with me asking him schoolwork-related questions every now and then.

He was being gentle and patient with me. I tested him with a really stupid question and he did not even get mad, not even the slightest bit. He laughed instead and pinched both my cheeks playfully. This was weird. I preferred the old Kyuhyun, honestly speaking. He had compensated his smirks with genuine smiles, snarky remarks replaced by soothing words and sneak peeks with outright adoration. The new him is puke-able and was driving me insane. I have never felt that tired from eye-rolling before.

Mom called us down for lunch. Kyuhyun helped me to pack my books and stuff and placed them neatly on my desk. I just have to sit and wait like he said. I liked to be pampered once in a while but felt that half a day full of babying is way too much. I can’t take it anymore.

“Err…could I have the old Kyuhyun back? The new you is too mushy. I shivered every time you hit me with new feels.” I said rubbing my arm to sooth my pretend goose bumps.

“Oh.…you don’t like it?” he pursed his lips which is not a pretty sight. “Well, I can’t go back to my old self anymore since I have confessed to you. I will treat you the way I have always wanted to…” He said dreamily. “but I promise that I will tone down the mushiness if that’s what you want.” He finished with a pat to his heart.

“Try your best please. Thank you.” I said feeling skeptical about his promise.

We headed downstairs to have our lunch. Mom went out grocery shopping again. I was worried that she would bankrupt us tomorrow. Nothing much to do except pray for dad’s business to boom zoom vroom.

Feeling that I had done enough work, I suggested that we played a round of Starcraft and he agreed. Luckily, he brought his laptop along. He was good I must agree after witnessing him strategised and win while ‘I’ died at a much earlier stage. He took multi-tasking to a new level – explaining, thinking, strategising, executing and he never lost track of which button to push. Amazing. He was a pro.

We raided the kitchen for snacks after that and settled on mom’s home-baked cookies. By the time mom was back which was some two hours later, all the cookies were gone. Mom admonished us about not having the stomach for dinner later. I told mom that never happen to me and I was sure about Kyuhyun as well. She should have seen the way he eats. He is another bottomless pit, like me.

We headed back to my room to study for several more hours. I was so glad that mom called for us for dinner. I have never felt so drained, my brain never felt so full and my back never ached that much before because of studying. Before heading downstairs for dinner, I flopped face down onto my bed and just laid there to collect dust. Kyuhyun rolled my body over and pulled me up by holding my hands saying that it was not nice to have my parents wait for us. I let him pull me along to the dining table.

Dinner was pleasant. My parents obviously liked Kyuhyun a lot. I think I do too.

After dinner, Kyuhyun had to head back home because his mom called and informed him that they had decided to come back earlier than scheduled and will reach home in an hours’ time. He thanked my parents for the meals and bid them goodnight before asking me to see him out.

I decided to walk him a little further than my house door. He was appreciative and asked if he could kiss my cheek seeing that no one was in sight. I was uncertain and it showed on my face. He made the decision for me by planting a chaste kiss on my cheek. I was shocked but thought that it wasn’t so bad. You guessed right. Actually, I quite like it. We bid each other goodnight and he went on his way while I looked on with him glancing backwards and waving till he had to turn the corner at the next block.

I knew I was smiling like an idiot for two reasons: one, Kyuhyun liked me, romantically and two, I earned two stars today. Next, I await the arrival of the two goons to start on our movie marathon.

It was a good day.


~~~~ END OF PART 9 ~~~~