--------Chapter 3: Trouble--------

-*-* Before Reading: Another chapter up! :D Actually, I was going to update this two days ago, but I was too obsessed with watching SHINee (w/o Onew) on FBG dance shexii. *guilty pleasure* XDD; My desires comes before anything LOL. And then yesterday, I was too caught up watching the Marquez and Pacquiao fight, Manny won ;D YEH BABY. I'm not going to lie, this chapter caused some major writer's block to happen. However, since I'm such an awesome person with an awesome cheerleader (YEOBO :D), I got through it ^^ Everyone, please enjoy Chapter 3 of School Sweethearts <3~

"Are you falling for Jonghyun-hyung?" Minho teased me last night. His words resounded in my head even when morning came. Why would I fall for that midget? Sure he's cute, he's funny, and he's charming - no. I laid in my bed, motionless. I turned my head to see my alarm clock flashing "7:30pm." I sighed and sat up. Before I did anything else, I stretched my arms and back. I let out a yawn and stood up to fix my bed. Afterwards, I made my way towards the bathroom across my bedroom. I closed the door behind me and let the water run in the sink. As I washed my face, I heard some noises of pots and pans hitting each other. Mom must still be awake, I thought. After a good 20 minutes of washing my face and hair, I wiped the left over water on my face with a towel and placed it in my hair to help it dry.

Walking into the kitchen, I smelled the scent of eggs and bacon. My young mother was preparing breakfast for me. "Umma? What are you doing?" I asked, not holding in the smile I had on my face. I was glad she was awake so I could atleast see her early in the morning. She flinched at the sudden voice and whipped her hand to my directon, "Kibummie!" She exclaimed, dropping the pan in her hands into the sink. "You're awake! I was hoping I could've woken you up instead so you could have slept even just a little bit longer. You deserve to get some rest." Her facial expression turned into a sad smile. I walked towards her and embraced her, "I could say the same for you." I whispered into her ear, making her chuckle. "I will, if you do too." she said after I released her small frame from my arms. I pouted, she knows how I hate it when she plays these kinds of games with me. "Anyway, go on and sit down Bummie. I made breakfast for the both of us!" She changed the subject and skipped past me and into a chair at the dining table. She surprises me with all of the energy she has inside of that skinny little body of hers. Considering that she's only 35, I understand that she can still be lively.

You might've already realized this, but yes, you're not imagining things, she's 35. If you do the math correctly, she was 18 years old when she delivered me. At that time, she was in her last year of high school. Being almost the same age as my mother when she gave birth to me, I realize how much pain she must've went through when she went back to school. She didn't talk to me about them, but the end results of the sacrifices she made just so I can live in this world was probably unimagineable. Her dream was to become a pediatrician but because of the obstacles that arose to get there, she became a local nurse instead. When she persevered to attend college, I had to live with my grandmother, who loved the both of us no matter what. When I was 5 years old, my mother decided to seize going to college altogether so she can take care of me. She refused to admit that it was my fault that her life basically fell apart with just the birth of her firstborn. No one tried telling her it was my fault either, which I appreciated. But sometimes, I believed it was my doing. The one who should be blamed for all of this was my sinister father. I don't even know where in the world he is. He abandoned his family, I didn't even get to see what he looked like except through a handful of pictures kept secretly by my aunts and uncles. I don't even know how they got their hands on them, but they did tell me the rest of the pictures were burned by my mother and my grandmother. I guess that's what people have to do to forget their past lovers.

"So, Kibum," my mom started a conversation, "Hm?" I hummed, unable to reply because of the food occupying my mouth. "Do you have any plans for today?" she asked, I swallowed before answering with a "yes." She nodded in approval, "That's good! At your age, you should try to socialize as much as you can because you never know, one of the people you meet might stick with you throughout the rest of your life." I agreed by nodding along and continued to fill my mouth with rice. "Where are you going to?" she asked, "I'm not sure myself. The three of us just agreed to go somewhere today." I replied. "The 'three' of you? Who're you going with?" I blinked my eyes endlessly before realizing I haven't told her about Jonghyun. "Well, Minho..." I started and she smiled, "Minho? The Choi Minho? That little cutie pie?" She exclaimed. I smirked, "If being little means towering over the rest of our classmates, then yes, that cutie pie mom." Her jaw drop, "Really? I knew it all along. That kid received good genes from his parents. I haven't seem him in a while, though. Why don't you invite him over next week when I'm off or something?" she suggested, "Maybe. You have to take advantage of your days off though. You don't get too many of that." I replied, worried about her health. "You know Kibum, I always have to ask myself who's the parent in our relationship." She joked, "I'll be fine! Anyway, who's the other friend you're going out with?" She asked. I took a sip of my orange juice, "Jonghyun." I muttered. "Hm?" my mom looked at me, "Jonghyun," I said a little louder and she nodded. Before she had a chance to ask me a follow-up question, "He's this guy from school who apparently flunked his senior year." I explained, "Well, Kibum, I know I don't mind you hanging out with your friends... But this Jonghyun, he isn't influencing you in your education, is he?" I blinked, "No... Actually mom," I said a matter-of-fact-ly, "I'm tutoring him." "Tutoring? Really?" She looked amused. "Yeah, a teacher assistant for my English class recruited me." I added, she nodded in reply. "Oh!" I exclaimed, firing out of my chair and running towards my bedroom. I completely forgot to show my mom my report card. I rummaged through my backpack and swiftly took out the envelope before sprinting back to the dining room table.

I caught her trying to clean up, she failed. I slowed down and held my hand out infront of her, indicating to put the plate she was holding in my hand. She pouted but handed the plate in my hand nonetheless. I placed it down and handed her the envelope. "Here." I nonchalantly said, secretly excited to see her reaction. "What's this? Money?" She laughed, and I smiled but shook my head, "My grades." I replied just as she took out the papers. "Oh, Kibummie..." Her eyes widened along with the smile on her face as she saw my straight A's. "I'm so proud of you!" she smiled and hugged me by the waist, not being able to reach my neck. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. When she released, she took another look at it and squealed. "Whoa, mom... It's just my grades!" I smiled, it's been a while since I've seen her this excited and I couldn't help but feel embarassed. "No Kibum! It's not just 'grades'!" She shook her head, "It's YOUR grades! This'll help you in the long run Kibummie!" she smiled and hugged me once more before stating that she was going to sleep. "Oh, okay. I'll clean up then." we exchanged smiles before taking off to her room, tkaing my grades with me. The nerve-wrecking wait was worth seeing my mom be so happy. Normally, I'd say 'whatever' to situations like these, but I just couldn't. Instead, I began to clean-up after our meal, my smile not wavering.

After making sure everything was clean in the kitchen and dining room, I made my way to my room. It was 9:40am now and I received two recent text messages.

From: Minho

... Just woke up. >u< *feels refreshed.*

From: Puppy Jjong

Minho, you woke me up =.='

I laughed at the two. As soon as I pressed the reply option, my fingers began working.

To: Minho, Puppy Jjong

._. You two are hopeless, I was awake two hours ago.

Rather than a text to reply to me, I received a call from Minho. "Key~?" It was obvious he just woke up by the way his voice sounded. "I'm here~ What's up?" I replied, livelier than the other. Another voice spoke up, "Hey you two." I recognized that voice. "Jjong?" I asked, and he hummed. I took that as a yes and asked, "Where do you guys want to go today?" and they became silent. "... The mall?" I suggested when no one said anything. "Yeah! There we go!" Minho clapped his hands, the guy was on speakers by the sound of it. "Fine with me." Jonghyun said in monotone. "Jonghyun, you seem tired." I said sarcastically, "Oh, do I?" He laughed in reply. Minho chuckled along. "I'll drive, I suppose? Unless, you know, either of you have a car or know how to drive?" He bragged subtly. "Yah! I may not have a car, but I know how to drive!" I commented, "Why don't you say that a little louder? I don't think everyone in my neighborhood heard that." Jonghyun said sarcastically. "Whatever shorty. Anyway, I'm going to go change. Just call me when you're going to pick me up." I changed the subject before Jonghyun could try to make a come back. "Okay, Jonghyun-hyung, just come over when you're ready okay? I just have to go eat!" He excitedly added."Are you not dressed yet Minho?" I asked, "No, I am! I just like to get dressed before eating." He replied. "What if you spill something on your shirt or pants?" Jonghyun made a smart point. "Yeah, then you'd have to change again." I agreed, "Whatever! I'm not clumsy..." Minho sounded like he was pouting, making me giggle. "And you call me the girl." I uttered, "You are." The both of them said simultaeneously, "Wha- shut up you two!" I snapped. The two of them broke into laughs and snickers, "Ugh. Whatever, text me when you're here Minho!" and with that, I hung up. Those two are so stupid. I'm not the girl!... Or am I? No. No, no, no! I was not, and will never be! I chanted "no" over and over inside my head.

I walked over to my neat closet and started to pick out clothes for today. Everything was neatly packed, I just rearranged it a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't decided on what to wear. I decided on pink and glitter. Only a real man could pull that off, and that happens to be Kim Kibum, me. I scavenged through my closet and finally found what I wanted. I picked out a sky blue hoodie and underneath was a purple graphic tee with a nonsensical English sentence written on it. As for my jeans, I was going to wear a pair of skinny jeans that wrapped around my legs perfectly. On my feet were going to be a pair of Jeremy Scott's 2.0 with wings adidas . Moving along to accessories, I was going to wear a hummingbird necklace that was inch long. I received it as a present from Minho last year, same goes for the shoes. I swear, he spoils me to no avail. I don't mind it though, I enjoy it actually.

As if on cue, my doorbell rang just as I finished packing everything into my Jeremy Scott silver leather biker backpack. I didn't pack very much except my wallet, a water bottle, tissues, a mirror, a comb, a hat just in case, an umbrella, also just in case, and my phone, which was actually just in my front pocket. I opened the front door and was welcomed with the two idiots' "Oohs~" and "Ahhs~" I couldn't help but blush at the attention they were giving me though. "Man Kibum, are you going to the club or something? It's only 10:50am, let's pace ourselves shall we?" Jonghyun laughed, but he stopped once I shot him a glare. "That's Key for you, the diva needs to look good in any festivity." Minho smiled and motioned me to come outside so we can drive to the mall, "Whatever! I just like to dress up, I actually appreciate fashion, rather than throwing things together blindly." I spat back at them as I locked the door behind me. "You better be careful Kibummie, there'll be alot of people ogling at your legs~" Minho continued to make fun of my get-up as we got into his car. "Oh please, you're just jealous because unlike you two, I'll actually attract attention while we're there." I scoffed, earning silence from the two of them. I smiled triumphantly all throughout the ride to the mall. When we arrived, I didn't disappoint.

"You know, I feel like we're your bodyguard when I compare our clothes and yours..." Jonghyun scanned me head to toe and looked at Minho and his black leather biker jacket and his straight cut jeans that had tears on the knees. I looked at his feet and he was wearing worn out converse that he had since 3 years ago. Moving up, he had black aviator shades and a black cap on, he just smiled and I turned back around and continued walking upstairs. Escalators were too slow in my selection, we had to get our hands on everything perfect for the three of us. All in all though, Minho looked better than the puppy. The disoriented colors and horrible choice of matching clothes were enough for me to barf. The only up-side to his oufit were his skinny jeans that fit him well, considering he's got sticks for legs. I stopped infront of a familiar store, "Hot Topic?" Jonghyun asked from behind, "Heck yeah Hot Topic." I replied. "You shop here?" He asked and Minho replied for me, "Mhmm~" I took a step in and something snapped inside of me. I instantly became a rabid consumer, zig-zagging through the aisles of the racks, shoving some on my way and not caring. Minho and Jonghyun were scanning in the jeans section, those two are hopeless shoppers. I lugged the clothes I had gathered up from the past 10 minutes and made my way to the two before a hand grabbed my shoulder. I shrieked loud enough for the whole store to hear. Minho and Jonghyun whipped their heads towards me and I looked at Minho's happy expression turn into something dark. I looked behind me and was surprised to see a face I haven't seen in over 3 years. "Hello Kibummie." Her sick smile stared at me intently, while her firm hand pulled me to turn around. "K-Krystal?" I stuttered, and before anything happened, a large hand grabbed my fore arm and pulled me back harshly. As I almost fell backwards with the weight of the clothes in one arm, some caught me, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that it was Jonghyun's puppy eyes. I also saw that Minho was the one who pulled me, but now he was glaring at Krystal's small frame in front of us. "What are you doing here?" He asked. While they talked, Jonghyun helped me up and I muttered a thanks. She snickered and flashed her icy stare at him, "I missed you... Yeobo." With that, Jonghyun and I glanced at Minho, who was now stiff. There's something brewing, and I don't think it's anything good...

A/N*: I seriously think the word count for this fan fiction is destroying my record for past fanfictions xD; I enjoyed writing this shorter-than-the-past-chapters chapter... It's only short because I'm starting a new fanfiction!! *squeals* My yeobo helped me >3< Oh and speaking of her, she was embarassed last chapter! Success!! Yehh! xD Anyway, my new fanfiction will be called, "Bittersweet Candy" and it revolves around MinKey ONLY. So if you like MinKey and you're reading this, then go ahead and read it! It has not been uploaded yet, but it will be soon enough. This chapter took most of my time away, CURSES. :c But yeah! I hope this chapter was good, and it was, enjoyable xD; It might not be? I haven't reread it, that's what my Oppa is for Eheh. :3 <3 I ♥ U :DDD ALLRIGHTY. On to writing BC! Thank you everyone! <3