Put A Price Tag On Me

  'You're a rich businessman, yet you're only worth a dollar for all of the lying and cheating you've done. You're the daughter of an abusive alcoholic mother who spends all her money on drinking, you are worth millions of dollars for helping others but you never ask for help yourself.' Leeteuk can't stop these thoughts from going through his head as he walks down the street.

  Everywhere he goes, his eyes always flick to a person's wrist. It's a bad habit he surely needs to get rid of but he can't help but find out what everyone is worth. 

  He himself doesn't have a price tag, though he wants to know what he's worth. Maybe if you don't have a tag, then you're worth nothing? He hopes this isn't true but Leeteuk can't help but think it is. Where ever he goes, he's the only one without a price. 

  Numbers float around his head as he turns street corner upon street corner, flashes of white on everyone's wrist burning his eyes.

  He pulls on the strap of his backpack and pushes away the thoughts of his dull existence, making his way to the school before the bell rings. Leeteuk has never been one to know what time it is, being too busy looking at price tags to pay attention to the things around. This caused him to be very clumsy most of the time, tripping over things or bumping into people, immediately apologizing before looking towards their wrist.

  When he finally made it to the school, the gates were about to be closed and he quickly ran inside. He quickly got to his locker, noting that the halls were empty and class was going to start in just a few seconds. 

  Ripping down the hallways, he slammed open the door to his classroom just as the bell rang and sat down, panting from running so fast and hard from gate to classroom. As his eyes started flicking towards people's prices, he could faintly hear his friend's voice over the buzzing in his ears from the rush of adrenaline. Catching bits and pieces like 'Are you okay?' and 'Lucky you got here on time.' he nodded silently, still breathing heavily. His friend, Sungmin was his name, rolled his eyes as Leeteuk was too absorbed in his own little world and sat back down.

  Leeteuk wasn't always like this no. It started just after his last year of middle school, in the second month of summer. He was busy like normal, sitting on the beach with sunglasses on his face and a towel under him with Sungmin sitting at his side. The two liked to sit on the beach in the sun while playing childish games like tag and I Spy.

  So they were playing I Spy together when Leeteuk found himself describing the white tag on Sungmin's wrist.

  "I spy with my little eye, something white." Leeteuk said and laughed softly to himself as he adjusted his loose tank top.

  Sungmin looked around the beach, lifting up his sunglasses and checking the surroundings twice, thrice, multiple times before giving up. 

  "Is it the umbrella pole?" he asked, pointing to the white stick buried in the sand, holding up their umbrella to keep the sun off them. Leeteuk shook his head and Sungmin sighed before looking around again. "The handle on the cooler?" Once again Leeteuk shook his head, smiling widely at the prospect of finally winning this game. "The stripes on the towel? That guy's swim shorts? Those flip-flops by the snack stand that were left here two years ago?" 

  At each mention of each white object, Leeteuk shook his head no, his smile growing wider each time until Sungmin finally surrendered defeat in the game of I Spy. Leeteuk laughed happily again as Sungmin raised and eyebrow, looking from under his sunglasses at the older and wondering if he had gone crazy or something.

  "So what was it?" he asked. Leeteuk's dimpled smile still graced his features as he pointed to the tag on Sungmin's wrist. 

  "That." he answered. Sungmin looked down at his wrist and furrowed his brows. There was nothing there.

  "Leeteuk, stop joking. Where is it?" This time is Leeteuk's turn to judge. What was his friend talking about? Everyone had a price tag. Sure, Leeteuk had never asked anyone if they knew what their price was. He always thought it was normal to see the price tags. 

  "What are you talking about Sungmin? It's right there." Pointing again at the other's wrist, rolling his eyes beneath his sunglasses and grabbing Sungmin by the arm when the other still frowned in frustation. "Right here, see?" he said and pointed to Sungmin's wrist with his other hand before holding the thin paper of the price tag between his tan fingertips. "This is your price tag. You're worth a billion dollars and you can't see it?" In Sungmin's eyes, Leeteuk's hand was just pressing it's fingertips together in midair. No price tag of the sort could be seen. From Leeteuk's point of view, there was the price tag in his fingers, clear as day. How could the younger not see it?

  Sungmin shook his head and pulled his arm away, smiling and laughing as he thought it was a joke. 

  "Stop joking Leeteuk. Are you that desperate to win? There's no price tag and I'm certainly not worth a billion dollars." Shaking his head, Leeteuk was about to open his mouth to say that yes, Sungmin did have a price tag when suddenly the ice cream truck started coming down the street.

  At the sound of it's music, Sungmin turned around quickly before scrambling up from the blanket like a child and running towards it. "Ice cream!" he yelled, pulling out his wallet and standing at the back of the line of children who had reached it before he did. Leeteuk sat there on the towel, dumbfounded about how his best friend went crazy over sweets, but more importantly why he couldn't see the price tags.

  But, everyone had a price tag. Leeteuk could see them all as he slowly turned to look back at the watery shores, the sun just starting to dip below the horizon. So why was Sungmin pretending they weren't real? Why was he pretending he couldn't see them?

  Ever since he was a child, Leeteuk can remember seeing the bright white prices of those around him. He never asked if they knew how much they were worth or if the string tied around their wrist was itchy or what they had done to deserve such a low or high price. Never asking, meant he didn't know he was the only one he knew that could see the price tags. The only one. Only one.

  From that day forward, Leeteuk had become quiet from his normally loud and fun self. Breaking away from his friends and becoming to enveloped in his own world to even consider the fact of asking a doctor if he was mad or not. 

  He knew the tags were real, but he didn't know why he was the only one who could see them.

  Groaning in discomfort at the happy turned sad memory, he stretched his arms across his desk till his now slightly pale fingertips hung over the edge, his forehead resting upon the desk's flat wooden surface.

    Over the loudness of his thoughts crashing upon and into one another in his head, Leeteuk could tell that something different was happening today. So, they were going to start a project with a partner? For the upcoming literature fair. Okay... Any genre. Must come up with an original idea for your own book or world. His thoughts were replaced with literature and projects as images flashed into his head. Oh, there's a new student?

  At this, Leeteuk finally lifted his head just as a new person walked into the classroom. 

  Rubbing his eyes slightly, Leeteuk couldn't help but stare at the boy. He had soft-looking lips and smart, calculating eyes that held a hint of mischievousness in them. For once, Leeteuk found himself not focusing on those price tags anymore. As he continued staring at the other, he could hear their name clearly, as his mind had gone blank. His eyes met the younger's just as he realized he had been staring to long and Leeteuk immediately dipped his head down. A faint blush of embarrassment spread across his cheeks as he looked through his orange-brown to find the other smiling at him cheekily. A childish pout appeared on Leeteuk's lips though he didn't notice it, and instead, finally found his eyes searching for the other's price tag.

  There. Right on their left wrist, a price tag of clean bright white. Leeteuk couldn't tell what it said though, in fact, he couldn't tell if there was any writing at all. Sighing silently, he decided to give up finding out their price and put his head on his desk again, resulting in a large 'thump' resounding around the classroom. He found himself not caring how loud it was, just wanting to find somewhere to lay down and think, or possibly go to sleep.

  "Ah, Kyuhyun-ssi, you can sit next to Leeteuk. Over there." the teacher said and pointed to the empty seat next to Leeteuk. The seat had been empty ever since he entered high school and stayed there for every class. No one wanted to sit next to him. It wasn't a surprise, he was too different from the rest to be accepted apparently.

  Leeteuk found his heart beating slightly faster than usually and his cheeks heating up, though he didn't know why. He'd just met this boy and yet he already liked him? Books told him it was humanly impossible, but hey, seeing the price tags seemed impossible as well didn't it?

  So he kept his head on his desk to hide his flustered face, and also because he was too bored to listen to the lesson as it started. School was boring and too easy in his opinion, which was the very reason he never paid attention to his lessons, yet still got his work done quickly and correctly at the correct due-dates. As the lesson continued, he paid attention to the sounds next to him, meaning that Kyuhyun had sat down. What should he do? Just introduce himself like "Hi, I'm Leeteuk. I'm the weird one who everyone thinks is crazy and doesn't have any friends." Yeah, like that would work.

  Shifting his head to face the board, he glared slightly and blew his bangs up in agitation. Why was everything always so hard?

  As he enveloped himself in his own little world again, Leeteuk failed to notice Kyuhyun staring at him, chuckling to himself about how childish the older was acting before turning back to the lesson to act as if nothing happened.

  How did this end up happening?

  Leeteuk fidgeted nervously with his backpack strap as Kyuhyun walked beside him calmly down the street to Leeteuk's house. The older tried to remember just exactly how this had happened in the first place. Oh yeah, 1st hour. He grumbled under his breath and gripped his backpack strap, reminding himself he'd have to kill his teacher after the weekend was over.

  So Leeteuk had just been minding his own business, too busy being wrapped up in his own world to realize that his teacher was assigning partners for their big project.

  At just the right time, he decided to lift his head up when the teacher stopped in front of his and Kyuhyun's desk. 

  "Leeteuk, you and Kyuhyun will be working together." As the teacher handed him a packet of paper, Leeteuk was too stunned to say anything and kept staring upwards with wide eyes and an open mouth before slowly, almost comically looking towards Kyuhyun. All the younger did was smile innocently and wave before looking back to the teacher who was back to talking about what was in the packets for the project.

  And that's how the two ended up walking home to Leeteuk's house. Leeteuk wasn't angry at Kyuhyun, he was angry at his teacher for practically setting up his downfall at the chance of having at least a life in high school.

  He'd be forever labeled as 'that creepy kid who took the new student home with him'. Oh God, they probably thought he was going to him! Wallowing in his own self pity and crying dramatically within his mind, Leeteuk found himself not paying attention to the price tags again, and failing to notice Kyuhyun watching him and his childish antics.

  "Yah! I am not cute!" Leeteuk yelled to Kyuhyun as they both sat on the floor in his room. Kyuhyun had already started acting like him and Leeteuk had been best friends in the past, playing around with his things and teasing the older just to see him blush.

  "Yes you are~" Kyuhyun wiggled his finger in the older's direction and narrowly dodged a white duck plushie thrown with enough force to break a brick wall in his opinion. Leeteuk closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, dramatically making an act of calming himself down before childishly grinning at the other and rolling his eyes.

  "Well if I'm cute, then you're handsome." he said. Kyuhyun just looked at the other dumbfounded, before smirking and shifting just a bit closer to the other.

  "Oh? So you think I'm handsome do you?" the younger asked playfully, and Leeteuk found himself blushing once again. Leeteuk moved away but Kyuhyun just scooted closer again, keeping the same short distance between them. Shaking his head, Leeteuk backed away again, only for the same thing to happen. This went on for quite sometime before Leeteuk pressed his side against the wall and opened his mouth again. God, he wished he was still a people person, that way it would be easier to tease the other. 

"I-I didn't mean it that way..." he stuttered slightly, and all Kyuhyun did was try to hold in his laughter, but failed and burst out laughing before falling over onto the floor.

  "God, you're so cute!" he yelled and kept on laughing, making Leeteuk pout again as he stared at the wriggling mess of limbs and giggles currently having a seizure on his bedroom floor.

  Leeteuk felt himself started to get annoyed again. He was not cute! He was a fully grown, high school student! Just as he was about to open his mouth though, Kyuhyun sat up again and looked at Leeteuk again from where he sat. There was a different look in his eyes this time though.

  "Are you sure you didn't mean it that way?" he asked. Leeteuk nodded his head to say yes, he didn't mean it that way, and gulped when Kyuhyun neared him. He couldn't move back any farther because his back was already pressed against the wall. "Can I make you think it that way?" the younger asked and Leeteuk didn't say anything, afraid his voice might crack with nervousness, and instead shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I don't know.'

  Kyuhyun took it as a chance and jumped towards the other, making them both topple to the floor besides the wall, Kyuhyun on top. Leeteuk stared up at the other, still blushing and nervous as ever as Kyuhyun smirked down at him, his lips.

  "Kyuhyun, wha-" Leeteuk was suddenly cut off when Kyuhyun's lips smashed down onto his. Okay, first kiss stolen.

  Leeteuk didn't have time to worry about his first kiss though, as he could feel Kyuhyun's tongue dive into his mouth because he still had his mouth open from trying to say something. Kyuhyun held the older down by the shoulders as his tongue invaded the older's mouth, the inside tasting faintly of bubblegum and sugar.

  "Mmm~" Leeteuk emitted a noise he didn't even know he could make as Kyuhyun pressed his body to his, both making out on the cream carpet of the bedroom floor.

  Leeteuk found his arms wrapping around the other's waist as Kyuhyun wrapped his arms around the older's neck. The kiss was sloppy as Leeteuk sat up, pressing his back against the wall but finding himself still kissing the younger. 

   Finally, after a few very long minutes for Leeteuk, Kyuhyun pulled away panting slightly and wiping his mouth. Kyuhyun was still sitting on Leeteuk's lap before he realized he had been staring into the older's eyes for too long and quickly scrambled off. He quickly sat down by their work again and acted as if nothing had happened, a faint blush on his cheeks.

  Leeteuk didn't know what else to do so he decided to just get back to work as well. Before moving back to his spot by the younger though, he mumbled something under his breath.

  "And you said I was the cute one."

  While the two boys worked on their project together, they seemed to get closer and closer. They both would always go to Leeteuk's house after school and work on it, Kyuhyun stealing glances at the older once or twice before jumping on him like the first time.

  Everyday they would end up making out on Leeteuk's bedroom floor, though Leeteuk didn't know why. He found his feelings for the younger develop into something else every time they kissed and touched. Leeteuk couldn't exactly lable what this feeling was, but knew it was driving him crazy and that certainly wasn't healthy.

  Kyuhyun still never told him why he had kissed Leeteuk that first time, but Leeteuk guessed he was OK with that. 

  He also finally got a clear look at the younger's price tag when they were working one time. 

  What puzzled Leeteuk was that Kyuhyun's tag didn't say anything. It was just plain white. Days later, after making out and parting ways one night, he mulled it over in his head what it could mean. Then he remembered something from a children's game he used to play a long time ago. You could win certain items that were worth nothing, because they were priceless. Meaning that they were so valuable, they just couldn't have a price.

  Kyuhyun was priceless.

  What did that mean for leeteuk though? He was tagless. Nothing. So, did that mean he was worth nothing? What had he done to deserve such a dirt-cheap price? 

  His thoughts kept getting darker at the thought of being around Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun shouldn't be hanging around him, he was worth nothing. It just kept getting worse and worse as Leeteuk once again closed himself off from everyone, including Kyuhyun and wrapped himself up in his own little world of numbers and price tags, until one day, Kyuhyun just couldn't take the older ignoring him anymore.

  "Leeteuk!" he yelled as the older walked ahead of him on the dark street. They had decided to work at Kyuhyun's house that day, but when Kyuhyun went in for their normal kisses, Leeteuk pushed him away. Leeteuk nervously packed his things quickly, passing Kyuhyun's mother in the hallway and thanking her for letting him stay before putting his shoes on and running out the door. He kept running as Kyuhyun tried to keep up with him, but Leeteuk was fast. Not fast enough though.

  As they both ran down the street in the light of the moon, Kyuhyun started running faster and finally caught up with the older. Wrapping his arms around Leeteuk's waist, the older dropped his bag and tried to pry the younger's hands from his waist.

  "Let go of me Kyu!" Kyuhyun shook his head and kept his grip tight around his waist.

  "No! Not until you tell me what's wrong." The younger shook his head again and still held onto Leeteuk as the older went silent. Kyuhyun wondered if he was going to say anything when he looked to the older, feeling him tremble slightly in his grip.

  Small crying noises emitted from the back of Leeteuk's throat as he finally let the waves of sadness envelope him, pressing his back into Kyuhyun's chest. Kyuhyun was surprised from the sudden emotional state of the other and still holding him, brought him down to the ground. Hugging Leeteuk tightly, he turned the older around to see the tears running down his face.

  "This is what's wrong." Leeteuk said in a shaky voice, closing his eyes and hitting his head against Kyuhyun's chest.

  "W-what do you mean?" Kyuhyun asked, suddenly afraid that Leeteuk might leave him for good. No, he couldn't let that happen, not just when he was about to confess to the older how he felt about him.

  "This, this is all wrong!" Leeteuk suddenly yelled at the other's chest before looking into Kyuhyun's eyes. "You're priceless, your tag says so." Kyuhyun blinked and looked at his wrist before nodding silently. Of course he could see the tag on his wrist, he saw everyone's price tags. He has since he was a child. When he transferred to Leeteuk's school, he wondered if he'd find anyone to relate to, and found Leeteuk.

  On their first day, he had asked around to find out why no one hung out with the teen and everyone told him to go and talk to his friend Sungmin. So he did.

  "Why doesn't anyone talk or hang out with Leeteuk-ssi?" Kyuhyun asked Sungmin as they sat together in the school garden. Sungmin stopped midway from eating his sandwich and looked over at him.

  "Well," he said carefully, putting the food back into his lunchbox. "It started back in the summer before highschool for me and him. We were playing games on the beach when he started talking about these weird price tags. He said I had one, but there was nothing there. I just thought it was a joke, but after that day, well he cut himself off from everyone, including me. We don't know why, but everyday at school he's muttering things under his breath like prices and tags hanging off of everyone, determining what they've done and why they deserve a price like that. I just don't get it."

  With that, Kyuhyun left the teen to eat in piece, and walked around the school only to find Leeteuk eating by himself in the classroom. He really was alone after that summer, wasn't he? Kyuhyun made it his mission that day to make Leeteuk feel wanted.

  "Does it matter?" Kyuhyun asked as he stared back at Leeteuk. Leeteuk nodded quickly before opening his mouth again, trembling breaths escaping his lips.

  "It does matter, because-because you are priceless, and I'm worth nothing." Kyuhyun was taken aback at what the older said before Leeteuk lifted his wrist and pointed at it, showing that indeed, he had no tag. "I'm worthless, you shouldn't be hanging out with me. You should be with people like Sungmin." he said and sniffled. "People who are actually worth your time. Priceless. You don't need to be with me anymore. I can just stop bothering you and go back to being the quiet boy who sits in the back of the class. Nothing. That's what I am Kyuhyun. Nothing!"

  More tears flowed from Leeteuk's eyes as Kyuhyun smiled sadly at him, wiping them away his his hand as it rested on the older's cheek.

  "I don't think you're nothing." Kyuhyun suddenly spoke quietly. Leeteuk blinked as he looked up to Kyuhyun again, the tears stopped flowing as he looked upon the younger with wide eyes. "You're the most important person in the world to me Leeteuk, and no stupid price tags are going to change that. Sure, Sungmin is a nice guy, but he can't replace someone like you. You're happy, and fun, and cute, and the first one I've met who can also see these stupid pieces of paper. And guess what, I don't think you're worth nothing just because you don't have one, I don't even think you're priceless because even that word can't begin to describe how amazing you are. That's why you don't have a tag."

  Leeteuk stared with wide eyes in amazement at Kyuhyun before closing his eyes tightly and wrapping his arms around him just as tight, burying his face in the younger's chest.

  "I love you Kyuhyun, I love you." Leeteuk repeated into Kyuhyun's chest as they kept hugging in the middle of the street. Kyuhyun hugged the other back just as tight, his head rested on top of Leeteuk's as they sat there together in the street.

  "I love you too Leeteuk, I love you too."

  Unknown to both boys who sat together, finally realizing that those stupid price tags aren't what define you, Kyuhyun's price tag had started disappearing. What does this mean? Well it means that Kyuhyun was right, and that no word can describe how much a person is really worth, which is why they don't have a price. So the both of them were worth more than million, more than a billion, more than priceless, and suddenly, Leeteuk found himself no longer wanting a price tag anymore. For what could be better than being more than priceless with the one you love?

  OMG I honestly just thought of this randomly and had to write it. T^T If it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry, but I hope you like it! ^-^ Comments are very much appreciated!