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minnieminshi · 11 months ago

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Pucking Chemistry

Summary: You never should’ve agreed to tutor the captain of the hockey team. Who shows up a full hour after the agreed meeting time? Choi Seungcheol, apparently as you’ve come to learn. And now you’re stuck tutoring him because for some reason, you're his last hope to pass chemistry so he’s eligible to play in an upcoming tournament.

Warnings: cursing because I can’t help myself lol, mentions of your father abandoning the family (it's minor and only mentioned like once)

Word Count: 9.9K (I was possessed lol)

Extra info: high school setting, Cheol uses the term "princess" a lot and I'm a sucker for calling people by their last name, mentions of Monsta X’s I.M (aka Changkyun) and Kard’s Somin (but she gets mentioned like once lol), your little brother’s name never gets mentioned but you do call him Frosty lol, and my knowledge of hockey is limited to watching Dr. Mike on yt talk about hockey injuries so there’s not a whole lot of hockey action in this fic lmao.

Author's Note: this fic made me realize my little brother is turning 13 this year and I can’t handle that because what do you mean he’s a teen now he literally turned one the other day and I think that shows in this fic lol. Also if I only count the days I actually sat down to write this fic it only took me 3 days lol, but I had 3 tests this week and had to be productive so that nerfed me. This is also the first fic I'm posting in this app so bare with me lol and in honor of Scoups and Jeonghan getting cleared to return to activities, I present the beginning of this series

Sporteen Masterlist

Sitting in the school’s library, all your chemistry notes laid out, you began to rethink agreeing to tutor the school’s hockey captain, Choi Seungcheol. With another glance to your phone, you sighed, ten minutes passed what the two of you agreed to meet at. If you didn’t like your chemistry teacher as much as you do, you would have never agreed to do this.

He’s a sweet guy, I’m sure he won’t give you any problems!

But it’s only ten minutes and sometimes things come up. Maybe he’d walk in after a few more minutes and then you two could finally start.

Except those ten minutes slowly morphed into thirty minutes, forty five minutes, and now suddenly it’s an hour and not a single word from Choi Seungcheol about where the hell he’s at.

And while having to wait an hour for someone to show up to something they needed sucked, that’s not what pissed you off. What pissed you off was the fact that after this tutoring session, you had a date with Changkyun, set up by your friend Somin, but thanks to the no show Choi Seungcheol, you’d have to rush home, get your little brother ready for the evening and get ready for your date. And while you could hypothetically get everything done in time, you would prefer it if you didn’t have to rush. Your little brother’s probably gonna complain about his quick dinner of chicken nuggets and macaroni after you promised him yesterday you’d make him what he called an “actual meal.” You reminded him that he was twelve and fully capable of cooking for himself and suddenly the quick meal was the best thing he’s ever eaten.

So he could survive a rushed meal, however getting ready for your date was a different story. Rushing to get ready in the morning for school was one thing. You could halfass an outfit and get your brother out the door in fifteen minutes flat if your mom was already at work, but you needed a little more time to actually look good enough for someone who wasn’t related to you or hasn’t seen you slumped over your desk with textbooks and notes sprawled all over the floor.

Now, because of Choi Seungcheol, you’d have to rush, something you wished wouldn’t happen.

“Sweet guy my ass,” you mutter under your breath as you begin shoving your things into your backpack. Just as you finished shoving the last textbook into your backpack, a deep voice caught you off guard before you rolled your eyes.

“Where’re you going princess, aren’t you gonna tutor me?”

Oh?

Letting out a low chuckle, you turn to face the captain who you wished you could smack that smirk off his face and crossing your arms over your chest, you leaned against the table. “Tutor you? I agreed to tutor you an hour ago, and since that’s passed, I’m heading home to go enjoy my evening.”

As you turned around to grab your backpack and go home, you felt a hand on your shoulder. You looked up to see him holding onto you, a hesitant look in his eyes. Your brows furrowed as you shook his hand off.

“Look, I’m sorry about being late, but something came up.” He muttered, his hand falling to his side as he shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. You scoffed as you shouldered your bag. “Too busy to send a heads up?”

You look up to see a light blush dust his cheeks as he looks away from you, and if you weren’t so pissed at him, you’d find him kinda cute.

“I’m sorry.”

You sighed as you glance at the clock on the wall, and with a sigh, you turn to the hockey player. “Look, I have plans so I can give you 45 minutes.”

“Forty five minutes? That’s barely any time to learn anything,” he complained with a small pout on his lips as you rolled your eyes. “Take it or leave it Choi, you’re the one who was late.”

He let out a small huff before agreeing to the terms, pulling out a chair as you pulled out your phone, setting an alarm for exactly 45 minutes. Thankfully tutoring him wasn’t terrible, he actually seemed to listen to you and he even took notes while you explained the most recent lesson to him. Maybe if he was kind enough to send a message earlier you might actually feel bad about leaving, but alas that wasn’t the case.

With the default alarm ringing, you began packing up your things once again, this time, really just throwing everything with no regard as to how things landed in your bag. With a little speeding you should be able to make it home in about fifteen minutes which gives you about ten minutes to make your brother’s dinner and have about thirty minutes to get ready for your date. Perfect timing as long as you leave right now.

Just as you begin to walk away, pulling up your little brother’s contact to tell him you’re on your way, Seungcheol calls you out. “Are we still good for next week?” You freeze, slowly turning to look at him as your phone rings. “Next week? Listen Choi, I think it’s best if you find someone else to tutor you.”

Before he can say anything, you cut him off. “Listen, I have things to take care of after school and I can’t wait for over an hour, wondering if you’ll show up. I’ll tell Ms. Park to find someone else and we don’t have to worry about seeing each other again.” With that, you walk out the library, your little brother having finally picked up and making things easier for you as he grabbed all the food you told him to.

Looks like things will be going back to normal after today, no more having to worry about Choi Seungcheol.

Or so you thought.

What you didn’t expect to see when coming to pick up your little brother from his little hockey club practice is Choi Seungcheol out on the ice, with your little brother excitedly talking to him about who knows what.

You internally groan, why, just why did he have to be the one to coach your little brother’s team. And why did you have to say you’d never see him again, it’s like you were asking for the universe to play a cruel prank on you by making sure this would happen to you.

Weeks ago, when your little brother asked you if you could start taking him to a hockey club he joined every Saturday, you didn’t see any issue with it initially. As long as he had the proper gear (that your guys’ mom provided) you thought it was great he found a sport he enjoyed after he burned through basketball, soccer, tennis, and baseball in a matter of a few years. Plus it meant you could have Saturday to yourself for a few hours while everyone else was out of the house. So a win-win in your book.

Or so it was a win before you were left in disbelief, standing off to the side as you watched him talk to Seungcheol. You shook your head, calling out his name as you made your way to the plexiglass wall, wanting to go home. You made the rookie mistake of walking into the rink with no jacket, thinking it would be a quick run of picking him up and going back home. How foolish of you to think things would work out for you.

You let out a small gasp as you made eye contact with your little brother, holding it for a few seconds, only to have him ignore you and continue to talk to his coach, who you knew was aware of your presence. You groan, grounding the heels of your palms into your eyes. Oh how you wished you were an only child in moments like this. Instead you were cursed to be a big sister to a little brother who made your life oh so difficult.

Calling out his name one more time, he finally looked over at you and started to make his way off the rink. You sighed, thankful you weren’t going to have to resort to actually going out on the ice to drag him out.

“Took you long enough, I’m freezing over here,” you said once he was at the wall, carefully stepping onto the non-frozen ground with his skates. “That’s on you for not bringing a jacket into the rink.”

“And that’s on you when all you get for dinner is a slice of bread,” you say when you hand him his sneakers that he had put on the seats before practice had started, and where his backpack was. “Can’t believe you feed me like I’m some paperboy from the 1900s,” he grumbled, but he took the shoes.

Before you could shoot back a reply, Seungcheol skates up to the wall, a smirk on his face. You roll your eyes, wishing he’d go back to doing figure eights or whatever the hell he does on the ice. He calls out your name but you choose to pretend you don’t hear him, instead leaning down to grab your brother’s backpack, a small groan leaving your lips from the sheer weight in his bag. It’s like he carries rocks in this thing, you complain as you shoulder the bag. He shoots you a look as if asking why are you carrying my backpack, but he doesn’t question it, you know the whole gift horse saying.

Just as he finishes tying his shoe, Seungcheol crosses the threshold, leaning against the door as he eyes you. You could feel your eye twitching as you watched him what looked like inspect you, and you fight back a groan when he smirks at you.

“What happened to never seeing each other again prin-”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” you grit out, hoping your little brother could help you if he truly cared about you. You glance over at him, and just from the look in his eyes, you know he’s not helping you out. It’s like his eyes are shining with awe just from being near Seungcheol and you wonder what your little brother sees in him.

He can’t be that great, you still– well hate’s not the word, that’s too strong, it’s more so you greatly dislike him for what he did a week ago. You still think it was shitty of him to not tell you anything about being late. And of course his cocky personality is really starting to get on your nerves, especially when he calls you princess, as if you two are that close. You’ve only spoken to him a handful of times and yet he calls you a petname as if you’ve known each other for ages. It just makes your skin crawl.

“You know each other?” Your brother asks, poking his head into the conversation as he looks between the two of you. Before you could say anything, Seungcheol butts in, “she tutors me.”

Your jaw drops as he smiles, as if he didn’t just lie to your little brother. It’s like every time he opens his mouth he finds a new way to piss you off. You dryly chuckle as you grab your brother’s shoulder, trying to guide him away so you can leave. “I don’t, now come on, I gotta start prepping dinner.”

“But it’s Saturday, we usually eat out today,” he says and you give him a tightlipped smile. “I just feel like cooking today so why don’t we go home now.”

At that, it seems like your brother finally puts the pieces together, and nods his head. Just as the two of you are about to leave the rink, Seungcheol calls out your name once again. Already knowing what he’s going to ask you shake your head. “I’ll tell Ms. Park on Monday to find someone else to help you.”

And with that, you’re gone and Seungcheol’s on his own again, wondering how the hell he’s supposed to get his chemistry grade up without your help.

“Do you hate Scoups hyung?” Your brother asks once you pull out of the parking lot, your car currently playing I’ll Make a Man Out of You as you let out a confused sound. “Scoups? Is that what you guys call him,” you chuckle, finding the nickname a little silly.

“He said he doesn’t like people calling him his full name,” he explains with a shrug. “Now, do you hate him?”

Wow, he’s really not letting this go.

You sigh as you look over to your right. He’s looking at you expectantly, as if there’s this great and terrible backstory to explain why you wanted to leave the rink as soon as the hockey player approached you. When you tell your brother what happened a few days ago between the two of you, he just rolls his eyes. Yes rolls his eyes, as if being forced to wait an hour for someone to show up isn’t a good enough reason to dislike a person.

“He apologized, what’s the big deal?” He asks, and it’s moments like this when you're reminded your brother is just a boy. “It’s the fact he made me wait an hour with no heads up that I’m still upset about.” Your brother looks over at you, a small smile on his face. “I think he’s a good guy, I’m sure he had a reason why he was late. I don’t think he meant to blow you off like that.”

You blink, letting his words sink in for a moment before shaking your head, focusing back on the road. “Let’s stop talking about Choi and focus back on planning your essay that you have due on Monday.”

He groans, throwing his head back onto the headrest, complaining about why his teacher needed them to write about an important person in their life. “I’m going to write about our dog,” he mutters once the two of you pull up into the parking lot of your apartment. You chuckle, locking the car as he holds open the elevator for you. “We don’t even have a dog.”

“Ms. Kang doesn’t know that.” He shrugs and sometimes you wonder how your brother’s made it this far. “Whatever you say Frosty, but that essay better be done by tomorrow since mom wants us to go out to eat for dinner.”

“Hey Frosty’s a pretty good name for a dog, you think I could use it for a husky?”

“You know what, go crazy dude.”

The last thing you expect when you were walking to the parking lot, heading over to the middle school to go pick up your brother, was to be pinned against a wall in the science building, much less to see Choi Seungcheol, on his knees, begging for you to not talk to Ms. Park.

You could only blink, wondering what the hell has gotten into him. Did he hit his head too hard from a fall on the ice or something? Feeling a little embarrassed, you try getting him back on his feet before anyone walks down the hall. Thankfully he gets up, but unfortunately he keeps you pinned to the wall, towering over you.

“Choi, what the fuck’s gotten into you,” you mutter, trying to push him slightly away from you, putting some breathing space between the two of you.

“Please don’t talk to Ms. Park to find a replacement tutor.” He quietly says and you could feel your jaw drop. No fucking way he’s still on this. You put your hands on his shoulders, effectively getting him to look at you. “You can’t be serious.”

He groans as he closes his eyes, as if he was thinking of what the best thing to say is. One of your eyebrows raise as you wait to see what he says, and what looks like great reluctance from him, he finally confesses his woes.

“There’s a big tournament coming up in a month and if I wanna play, I need to get my chem grade up.”

You stare at him for a few seconds. That’s it? Why would this concern you? Feeling a little nice, you don’t voice out your thoughts and instead ask, “so what does that have to do with me? You can just find another tutor.”

He shakes his head and you tilt your head to the side, now intrigued on what he could possibly say.

“You’re the only person who actually makes chemistry make sense so if I want a chance to pass this class,” he looks up and your breath hitches when you look into his eyes. You never noticed how pretty his eyes are, or how fucking long his eyelashes are. Shaking those thoughts away, you notice what looks like hope in his eyes, and you realize he really thinks you’ll help him. “I need your help.”

You blink, trying to weigh your options. While you still hold a grudge against him for the first tutoring session, this tournament’s important to him. The two of you are seniors, and depending on his plans for after graduation, this may be the last time he gets to play the sport. Then of course, you can’t stop thinking about what your brother said the other day, and unfortunately for you, you trust your brother’s judgment. And if Seungcheol’s ineligible to play, you really don’t want that to affect your brother’s team. He’s grown to love the sport in the weeks he’s played and you really don’t want him to lose his growing passion.

You sigh, closing your eyes as you lean your head back against the wall. “Fine, I won’t talk to her.” He smiles and before he could thank you, you cut him off. “But just know I’m doing this for my brother, he really seems to like you and I don’t want you failing to affect your coaching.”

“I’ll take it as long as you’re agreeing to keep tutoring me,” he smiles and you’re stunned into silence for a few seconds when you see dimples dot his cheeks. You shake out of it and wiggle out of his grasp. “Yeah, just make sure you’re not late without a heads up, Choi.”

The next few weeks are filled with Choi Seungcheol, and you’re not sure how you feel about that statement just yet. In the beginning, you were still a bit reluctant, still fearing he’d be late with no excuse, but at your first tutoring session, he had arrived at the library before you. You were walking to some of the tables at the back of the library when you heard someone call your name, only to see it was Seungcheol, who had reserved a study room for the two of you and already had all of his notes out.

You felt a little bad even though you arrived on time. You had to drop your brother at home so you couldn’t meet right after school, but you did your best to get there as soon as possible.

He was very attentive while you explained everything to him and you wondered how he was failing chemistry in the first place when it seemed like he knew all the topics. It was when the two of you got to the practice problems did you see where the problems were coming from.

Your teacher, Ms. Park, has the tendency to make half of your homework situational problems, where you had to apply the basic knowledge that, on its own, was quite simple, but once put in a non-laboratory setting became a lot more difficult if one didn’t have a complete grasp on the concept. And that’s what you suspect is happening to Seungcheol, and the reason he was failing the class. Good thing you caught on in the beginning of these sessions and you could plan accordingly.

It was another tutoring session when your phone started ringing, you grabbed your phone, confused on who was calling you when you excused yourself, leaving him to work on a problem on his own while you stepped out into the study room next door to take the call.

Your eyes widen when you hear your little brother’s quiet voice on the other end, hoarse as he asks if you could come back home. You tell him you’re on your way before hanging up the call, and rushing into the study room you were just in.

Seungcheol jumped at your sudden intrusion, but before he could complain about you scaring him, you started to throw your things into your bag, grabbing your keys. “I’m sorry but my little brother’s sick so I gotta go take care of him.”

You were halfway through the door when you turned to look at him, “I’ll make it up to when he’s all better!” And just like that, you were out the door, apologizing to the little kid you almost bulldozed down in your rush to your car.

You make it back home in a new record, most definitely going past the speed limits as you skid into the parking spot in the parking garage, haphazardly raising your hand with your keys in hand in the air as you run towards the elevator, not double checking to see if you actually locked your car. If you didn’t live on the fifth floor, you’d actually consider taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, but alas, not even the haze of trying to get to your little brother was enough for you to suddenly have an increase in stamina.

Thankfully the elevator didn’t take long and you were able to make it to your apartment, throwing open the door as you tossed your backpack down the hallway. You rush into the living room to see your little brother laying across the couch, buried under a pile of blankets. He’s really out of it if he didn’t even bother to look up at all the noise you made trying to get in. You sigh before heading to the bathroom, looking for a thermometer and to check if there was anything you could give him over the counter.

Tsking at the 100.4° on the small screen, you wiped a damp towel over his forehead, wondering how he got this bad in the span of the 45 minutes that you were gone. He didn’t look too bad when you had picked him up from school, tired sure, but not knocking on death’s door like he is now. You were about to give him the medicine you found when there was a knock at the door. Not knowing who it could be, you quickly gave your brother the medicine and headed to the door.

You check through the peephole and take a step back, your jaw slacking as you realize who’s on the other side of your door.

Choi Seungcheol.

How the fuck did he figure out where you live? You don’t remember telling him and last time you checked, your address wasn’t public knowledge. Shaking off the initial shock, you open the door, now curious as to why he’s here. Before he could explain his sudden visit, you beat him to the punch. “How the hell do you know where I live?”

He pointed to the floor above you. “Jeonghan told me, plus it was listed on the emergency contacts your brother filled out.” You blinked at him, wondering why your upstairs neighbor would rat you out like that, or how he knew your exact unit number. Whatever, what’s done is done. You point at the convenience store bag in his hand, asking about what he has.

He brings his free hand to scratch the back on his neck, a nervous chuckle leaving his lips, avoiding eye contact. “I- uh got kinda worried and wanted to check up on you guys.” He brings the bag up, “I don’t know what he’s sick with so I just got the generic stuff and I brought snacks.”

You stare at him for a few moments before chuckling, thanking him as you take the bag from him and gesture for him to follow you into the apartment. He hesitates for a second before you nod at him, assuring him that it’s okay. He slips his shoes off and sets them down next to yours, following you into the apartment.

Your little brother looks a little better, actually looking up when the two of you walk into the living room (it’s only a few steps past the little entryway). He looks at the two of you for a second before laying back down. He shoots back up, as if wondering if Seungcheol is actually in your guys’ apartment.

“Real or am I hallucinating?”

You laugh as you adjust the towel over his forehead, “as crazy as it looks, he’s real. Now you should lie back down while I make you a porridge to eat.” He nods his head, laying back down as he adjusts the towel to sit over his eyes. You expected Seungcheol to stay in the living room with your brother, you didn’t expect him to follow you into the kitchen, asking if he could help you. Getting over the initial shock, something that keeps happening whenever you’re around him apparently, and start telling him to grab everything that you need.

It was funny to see him panic everytime you left him on his own to check on your brother, his eyes wide as his head kept snapping from the stove to you. Who knew the tough hockey captain could get so nervous by being left alone in the kitchen?

Thankfully it didn’t take long for the porridge to be made, and once you confirmed that your brother was able to keep his food down, you went back into the kitchen. “How do you like your ramen Choi?”

You turn to see him pouting and for some reason you feel the urge to poke his cheeks. Weird.

“Why do you keep calling me Choi?” He complains, leaning against the counter as he watches you take out another pot and two packages of your favorite ramen brand. You look over your shoulder, closing the cabinet before standing back up. “Would you prefer me calling you by your full name?” You tease, smiling as you see his cheeks turn the softest shade of pink. He stumbles over his words before you hear him mutter a quiet no, and you just laugh.

“I just don’t get why you call me by my last name instead of what everyone else calls me,” he says, handing you an egg when you ask for one. You shrug, “it started when you blew me off the first tutoring session and it kinda stuck.”

“What do I have to do for you to call me something other than my last name,” he begs, and you laugh at how serious this is for him. You didn’t think his name would be this sore spot for him, but it is amusing to see him so stressed over something so small. You look over at him while the water’s boiling, biting your lip as you pretend to think it over. “Get over a 90 on our next chem test and I might consider it.”

His jaw drops as he stands there frozen for a few seconds before groaning. “A 90? Listen, you're a great tutor but our next test is in literally three days and the best I’m getting is probably a mid 70.”

“Then Choi it is,” you reply, grabbing two bowls. At least he believes he can pass this next test, that’s some progress. Before he can start complaining, you both freeze when you hear your little brother yell out, “can you two stop flirting and get me another bowl of porridge,” and before you can yell at him for even saying that he throws in a little “please” at the end. Wow, how polite of him.

“We’re not flirting!” You say, walking into the living room to take his bowl, and as much as you want to tackle him to the ground for even suggesting you’re flirting with the hockey player, you decide to take pity on him, this time. He’s lucky his body failed him today.

Once your sickly brother is content with his second bowl of porridge, you take your and Seuncheol’s bowls to your small dining table. He follows and you go back for utensils, asking what he’d like to drink. Once everything is set on the table, the two of you start eating in a comfortable silence, the show your brother was watching filling the otherwise silent apartment. Your eyes fall to his backpack that was by the door and you swallow what’s in your mouth before motioning to his bag.

“Wanna continue with where we left off? I really think if we can get past this topic you can definitely score somewhere in the 80s.” His eyes follow at what you’re pointing at, and he nods, finishing his bowl before getting up to grab his backpack, and even getting your backpack that you had thrown earlier.

The two of you pick up where you left off, occasionally taking breaks when your little brother claims he needs your assistance with what he calls “surviving” when in all actuality it was just him wanting another refill of his water.

It was nearing 8 o’clock when the two of you were done for the day. As he was gathering his things, your brother got enough strength to get off the couch, heading to his room before waving bye to Seungcheol, telling him he’d definitely be good to go to practice on Saturday. The hockey player laughs as he leans over the table to fist bump him, telling him he better keep his word. You smile at the exchange, happy to see your brother doing better.

“Come on, I’ll see you down,” you say when he’s gotten all his things. Before he can argue with you about it being unnecessary, you wave him off, saying how it’s the least you could do after he came all the way over to check up on the two of you.

The two of you are in the elevator when he finally speaks again.

“Is it usually the two of you this late into the evening?” He asks, his eyes hesitantly flitting from your face to the wall next to your head. You hum, leaning against the railing with your eyes closed, “our mom works late at the hospital and…” You trail off, opening your eyes to see Seungcheol watching you, something in his eyes that makes you look away, the floor suddenly a lot more interesting to look at. Why does he look at you with so much care?

“Our dad left when my brother was a couple of months old so it's just been us three,” you say, not quite believing you're actually telling him this about yourself. Hell, you don’t even know if he has siblings and yet you’re out here telling him your family life. Crazy what some dimples and pretty brown eyes can do to a girl.

“Oh.”

Ah, probably should’ve lied about your absent father. Something about him working late should’ve been excuse enough. Well, too late for that you internally groan at. Before you can apologize for making things awkward, he interrupts you.

“Can we move our tutoring sessions to your place?”

Your jaw drops for a few seconds before you snap out of it, blinking to try to get your brain caught up to speed. “Why?”

He sighs, turning away to face the elevator doors and you’ve never been more thankful for someone to stop looking at you. “I kinda hate the idea of your little brother waiting at home by himself while you’re tutoring me.”

“He’s twelve, but as long as you don’t mind coming over here,” you say, glancing over at him, “then okay, we can move to our apartment.” He smiles and you feel this weird pang in your chest. The last time you felt this excited over a person was when you were getting ready for your date with Changkyun the other day. Does that mean you’re starting to actually enjoy Seungcheol’s company?

Bound to happen considering you spend your Monday and Wednesday afternoons with the guy. It’s just, it feels different than what you felt with Changkyun and part of you just wants to bury that thought away and focus on anything else. Thankfully the elevator ride didn’t last too long and you walked Seungcheol to his car, your chest feeling a little bit tighter as you watched him drive away.

It’s Saturday and you’re back at the rink to pick up your brother from practice. He’d gotten better and while you were hesitant to drop him off at practice, he insisted that he was all good to practice. You let him go, but not without texting Seungcheol before heading over to practice, asking him to keep an eye on your brother. This was the first time you texted him about something other than about your tutoring sessions and while your hands were shaking just thinking about talking to him about something other than chemistry, thankfully he agreed to keep an eye on your brother.

You grab a jacket from the backseat, not wanting to freeze while you wait for your brother. He always manages to be the last one out of the rink, always talking to Seungcheol while everyone else skates towards the door to change out of their skates and into their shoes.

And just like the past couple of weeks, your brother was still out on the ice, except instead of the two standing to the side talking about their practice, the two were skating over across the ice, the small black puck gliding between the two of them as they pass the puck amongst themselves. If you squint, you can see what you assumed is Seungcheol giving your brother tips because soon he nods and adjusts his hold on his stick.

Then, catching the two of you off guard, he steals the puck from the hockey player, successfully scoring a goal on the unguarded net. Your mouth falls open before cheering for your brother. Sure it wasn't a game changing play, but you were still proud of him. Upon hearing your cheering, your brother skates to the wall where you’re standing, the short wall and the plexiglass the only thing separating the two of you.

“Did you see that! I totally got him good!” He excitedly told you and you smiled. “Sure did dude, next time I think you should go for his knees, then you’d have no one stopping you,” you joke, smiling as your little brother laughs, complaining how that’s “not very good sportsmanship” but winks at you when Seungcheol skates over to the two of you, wiping off some of the ice shavings off his pants.

“I can’t believe you’re telling your brother to kill me, princess,” he pouts and you roll your eyes, glad it’s so cold in the rink you can’t tell if your face is burning from the petname or from the freezing temperatures. You roll your eyes, pulling the collar of your jacket higher in an effort to cover your face. “Isn’t that part of the sport Choi, pushing and shoving each other?”

He shrugs, a smile on his face. “Glad to see you know something about the sport, I see Frosty over has been teaching you.” Your brother groans when he hears his coach use the nickname you gave him once he started hockey. It started off as a small joke that somehow morphed to having the whole team only ever calling him Frosty. Hey, at least he’s already got a marketable name, you told him one day when you were driving back home after practice a few weeks ago.

You shrug, tugging your jacket tighter. In all actuality your brother hadn’t explained the sport all that much besides the occasional “you don’t do that” or “that’s a good thing” or other vague explanations when you ask him questions. Instead, after a tutoring session with Seungcheol, and as a way to procrastinate an essay you had to work on, you decided to look into the sport. It wasn’t much, just a quick google search about the rules that had you clicking off the site after a few paragraphs and instead watching a couple of matches on youtube. You had half the mind to ask Seungcheol but decided against it. You were just supposed to be tutoring him in chemistry and you thought learning more about the sport he put years in was a little much for you. (And the thought of him in his full uniform was starting to make your heart ache just a little much.)

“Might as well since I come here once a week,” you say, and Seungcheol smiles, and you wish he didn’t have such a cute smile. His gummy smile is going to be the death of you, you think as you look over to see if your brother’s got his shoes on.

You don’t know when you started to see Seungcheol in a different light. Probably around the time your brother got sick since that was the first time you got to see him not in a school setting. Or to be more exact, the moment he asked if your tutoring sessions could be moved to your apartment so you could watch over your brother. Whenever it was, you wished it didn’t happen.

After the results of the chemistry test the two of you have a week, your tutoring sessions would be over since by then you’d know whether or not he’d be good to compete in the tournament. While a part of you was sad to think about not being with him every Monday and Wednesday with him, you’re at least happy about the fact his grade’s would be doing better. And sure, at first you were helping him out reluctantly, but after spending so much time with him, you realized he was nothing like you originally thought he was like.

Your first meeting really was just a fluke, and he was just a nice guy. You actually had asked him after a few sessions why he was so late to the first tutoring session and you can remember the cute blush that grew on his face as he explained how he was planning the youth hockey team’s practice and lost track of the time. He looked so cute, his cheeks a rosy pink and a small pout on his lips, and that’s when you thought, yeah, he’s not that bad of a guy.

“Okay, I’m good to go,” your brother says, and you blink, snapping out of your thoughts. You nod, extending your hand to help him carry some of his gear. Noticing your empty motions, Seungcheol takes a step towards you but you shake your head. “I’ll see you on Monday Choi.”

“Yeah… see you later, princess.”

You’re really, truly fucked, you come to realize as you stare at your phone. Why, just why did you have to send that text?

Your friend, who was under the impression you still hated Seungcheol for blowing you off the first tutoring session, asked if there was a way you could set her up with him for a date. And you, still not wanting to admit the fact that you’ve definitely started catching feelings for the captain, agreed to set the two up. And trying to convince yourself that the warm feeling you get in your chest from just seeing him smile meant nothing, you sent a text wondering if he was down to meet with your friend over the weekend.

And now you’re waiting for a response, hoping that he won’t agree to the date. Hell, you’re on your knees hoping that even if he does say yes, that it goes horrible so they don’t keep meeting. Terrible, yes, but your heart can’t handle the idea of someone who isn’t you by his side. And yet you still won’t admit that you have a crush on him. (Denial is one hell of a drug.)

When you hear your phone go off from a notification, you push yourself off the floor, where you’ve made home the past couple of minutes. With a shaky hand, you flip your phone over, clicking on the notification.

Choi 🏒: tell her sorry, I’m not interested in dating right now 🫤

Oh.

He’s not interested in dating right now? For some reason that hurts more than if he said he is interested in the date. With a shaky inhale you text him back, letting him know you’ll let her know and you toss your phone away, burying your face against your knees.

Okay so maybe you do have a crush on Seungcheol, big fucking hurray.

You’re walking back to your car when you hear someone calling out your name. You recognize the voice and freeze, wondering what Seungcheol wants with you and wishing he’d just leave you alone. Despite him doing nothing wrong, you really don’t want to see him right now, especially since you were going to use the drive back home to prepare yourself for your tutoring session with him.

He runs up to you, a smile on his face as he blocks you from opening the driver’s side. You cross your arms over your chest, raising an eyebrow as you look at him. “What’s up Choi?”

“I came by to tell you that I can’t make it to today’s session.” He explains and you notice how his cheeks are tinted pink. Just how far was he running from? You give him a look as you lean against your car. “So why didn’t you just text me then?”

“I wanted to see you.”

Your eyes widen as you turn to face him fully. You feel your face burn as you try unsuccessfully to say something in return. He smiles and you want nothing more than to wipe his adorable smile off his face. The fact he doesn’t even know the emotional turmoil he’s putting you through is insane and you wish he didn’t have this much power over you. You try coughing, covering your face as you look away from him. “Yeah, whatever, is that all you have to say?”

He nods and he shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweats and still with that frustratingly cute smile, his stupid dimples on full display, “I’m still good for Wednesday though, I want to celebrate our last session before the test Friday.” You nod, a tight lipped smile on display as you wave him goodbye.

Once in the comfort of your car, you groan, dropping your head on the steering wheel, wishing you weren’t so crushed over this. Things come up all the time, it’s not a big deal he can’t make it today. If anything you can just use this time to get your homework done for the week so you don’t have to worry about it later. Maybe instead of groveling over a guy you could actually be productive for once.

Wednesday rolls around and you don’t think you’ve given yourself a chance to think about Seungcheol. How could you when you’ve been busy doing your homework, planning what you’d cover in today’s session, helping your brother with his homework, doing all the chores around the apartment, and if you weren’t busy with all that you had your headphones on, not even giving yourself the chance to think. Who needs to think when you’ve been so busy?

You pull out of the parking lot of the middle school, your little brother grabbing your phone to change the song that was playing. Sticking to a song that you hoped wouldn’t show up on your spotify wrapped, you keep driving, your thoughts starting to drift off to Seungcheol. Catching yourself, you will yourself to listen to the song your brother chose, and you wonder which was worse for your mental health.

Once in the comfort of your apartment, your little brother heads off to his room claiming how he doesn’t want to watch his older sister flirt with his hockey coach while he does his homework. At first you’d argue that you weren’t but as of late you knew there was no saving yourself and didn’t even try to fight back anymore, only groaning as you started to set the table.

A few minutes later you hear someone at the door and you take a deep breath, preparing yourself to get through your last session and as a way to prepare your heart for the inevitable. Seungcheol smiles as he steps inside, slipping off his shoes as he places them next to yours. You turn around and your eyes widen as your face heats up as you take in his appearance. He was just wearing a pair of sweats and a black shirt and yet you could feel your heartbeat race at the sight. You quickly turn around, pretending to adjust your notebook as you try to calm your beating heart. He’s worn that outfit combo tons of times and yet now your heart decides to give you trouble.

If he notices your internal struggle, he doesn’t say anything. He takes his seat at the table, taking out his things as you finally look at him to start. Hopefully your heart can take the next few hours, if not, thankfully your mom’s a registered nurse.

“Hey princess,” he starts and you, against your better judgment, smile at the petname, “can I ask you something.” You put your pencil down, turning to face him as he put his pencil down, the problem you had given him to work on an afterthought. “Sure, go ahead.”

“If I ace this test will you come watch me play in my tournament?” He asks, his eyes sparkling with hope and you find yourself leaning against your hand to cover your mouth so he can’t see the dopey smile on your face. “When you say ace, how high of a score are we talking here,” you tease. You don’t know where this sudden confidence came from but if it helps you from burning away in your seat, you’ll take it.

He smirks, leaning close to you and your breath hitches, freezing in your seat. “I say at least a mid 90.” You chuckle, leaning in close as you internally scream at yourself to back the fuck away from him. “Sure, you got yourself a deal, but I’m expecting the best from you Choi.” You say, beginning to turn away so he can’t see the dopey smile on your face.

“Of course, can't disappoint my princess, can I?” His pointer finger and thumb gently hold your chin, making you look at him and his stupid smug face that you so desperately want to kiss.

Oh yeah, your heart’s definitely going to explode.

You think you mutter something along the lines of “in your dreams Choi” but at this point you’re not even sure you can still rangle up enough brain cells to formulate a coherent thought. Heat floods your cheeks as he still holds your face and you swear you see his eyes fall to your lips, or at least you think they do. You’re too busy staring at his lips to really be too sure.

Somehow your one brain cell manages to scramble enough thoughts to control your body, except it makes you lean in closer to him, close enough you can feel his breath hover over your lips. Your eyes flutter shut and just when you think everything is going great you hear your little brother yell your name from his room and that’s enough to snap the two of you out of the daze you’re in. You clear your throat, excusing yourself as you push out your chair and head to your brother’s room, wondering what the hell he needs that he just needs you right now.

“What do you want?” You hiss out, leaning against the doorframe of his room. He looks up from his desk, papers scattered across the wooden surface as he turns his swivel chair to face you. He shrugs, “I felt this weird disturbance in the force and called you over here.”

It takes everything in you to not throw him across his room. You sigh, “yeah that disturbance was born twelve years ago.”

“Hey!” He throws a pokemon plushie, piplup if you remember correctly, at you. You duck and the plushie hits your bedroom door behind you. You turn around to pick it up, only to immediately throw it back at him, and successfully manage to hit him in the head with it. He stumbles back in his chair and you laugh at him. He glares at you for a moment before breaking out into laughter as well. “Okay fine good aim, I’ll give it to you,” he acknowledges with a surrender of his hands, the plushie back on his shelves, joining the rest of his collection. “Now go back to tutoring Scoups hyung so you can make dinner.”

You shake your head, a small smile on your face. “You can always make dinner, you should probably start now since I’ll be going off to coll-”

“Don’t say the c word!” He interrupts, a new pokemon plushie in hand. His eyes are wide and your smile softens before it’s turning into a small pout. The past year you’ve been trying to teach your brother how to take care of things around the apartment since soon it’ll just be him waiting for your mom to come home, but each time he always changes the subject, or even resorting to throwing his plushies to stop the conversation. In that moment you don’t see your twelve year old brother who loves to get on your nerves, instead you see your baby brother who never left your side for anything. Your other half despite the six year difference between the two of you.

Before you know it, your throat tightens up as you watch him lower the plushie, turned away so he’s not looking at you. “Um… you should probably go back to Scoups hyung.” His voice is small, like if speaks any louder and he might start crying.

You nod, slowly backing out of his room, “yeah, just let me know if you need anything.” You turn to walk out when you turn back to face him, “I’ll make your favorite for dinner tonight.” His head perks up and you smile at him, to which he returns.

You make it back to the living room to see Seungcheol working on the problems you had left him. You let out a small chuckle, and he looks up, smiling when he notices your back. “Everything okay?”

You nod, “he’s fine, he was just a little bored.” He smiles and the two of you get back to your homework. Soon enough, the two of you finish, even with the practice you gave him to really prepare him for your upcoming test, and you relax in your seat, a smile on your face. Seungcheol faces you, his smile growing as he looks from his papers to you. “Thank you, I don’t think I could’ve done this without you.”

You wave his compliment off, your smile perpetually stuck on your face when you're around him. “Nope, it’s all you Choi, I’m simply here to help you. Now you’ve gotta ace this test so I can go watch you win this tournament.” He smiles and you don’t think you’d ever find dimples this cute on another person in your life.

“Anything for you, princess.”

You’re walking out of your last period class when you hear Seungcheol call your name out. You turn around, already smiling since you know what this is going to be about, and judging by his voice, it’s going to be good news.

He runs up to you, stapled papers in hand and you just know it’s his chemistry test. He makes it infront of you, his hands coming up to hold your shoulders in an effort to stabilize himself, his test pressing against your shoulder. “I got my results back!”

You laugh, your hands coming up to rest over his, smiling and feeling heat begin to creep up your face at the close proximity. “I can tell, but come on I’m dying to know what you got Choi.” A light blush grows on his face as his smile grows, his hands moving away from your shoulders as he straightens up his test since it had gotten crumpled during everything.

Once it was straightened out, he flipped it over, handing the test to you. You take the test and your eyes widen when you see the large 100 written next to his name. You look up to see him smiling and in your excitement, you pull him into a hug. “Oh my god! I knew you could do it, this is amazing!” He tightens his hold on you, picking you off the ground to spin you in a hug. You’re laughing as he gently sets you down, you’re smiling so much your cheeks are starting to hurt but you don’t even care right now. You’re just so happy for Seungcheol, happy that this means he gets to play in his tournament.

He pulls you into another hug, muttering into your hair, “thank you, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.” You pull him closer, “of course Cheol.”

The day of the tournament arrived and you don’t know why you’re so nervous. Seungcheol and the team have been doing great all day, moving farther and farther up the rackets, and yet you’re still nervous. It probably has to deal with the fact neither of you really discussed what happened last week, the whole really intimate hug in the middle of the hallway and all that. You two actually were texting back and forth the past week, and yet neither of you dared to talk about the hallway incident.

Just like how neither one of you spoke about the almost kiss back in your apartment.

So your nerves are most definitely tied to whatever you got going on with the captain of the hockey, the very same captain who’s leading his team to victory. This is the first time you’re seeing Seungcheol in his full uniform and damn, he looks good in his uniform. Something about how it makes him look larger just makes your heart beat faster every time he skates by where you’re sitting.

The first time he skated by, you watched as he did a double-take before smiling his gummy smile, dimples on full display and waving at you and your brother, who insisted on coming along. (You weren’t going to tell him no, of course you’re going to bring him along.) Occasionally, he’d shoot you a look, smiling at you and you’d wave at him, feeling your face burn up every time.

It’s the final match of the day, and you don’t think you’ve screamed this much in your life. You always make sure to cheer for Seungcheol every time he makes a goal, and halfway through the day, it turns into a competition between you and your brother on who could cheer the loudest for him. And you’re not about to lose against your brother.

Somehow the match had gone into overtime due to the teams being tied and you’re at the edge of your seat, your little brother in the same position. At some point he grabbed your gloved hand, squeezing tight as they entered the sudden death overtime. (Why the hell is it called that?) You squeeze his hand as you watch Seungcheol go head to head against someone on the other team and you hold your breath watching as the two try to steal the puck from the other.

Just when it looks like the other guy’s about to steal the puck, Seungcheol finds an opening, sending the puck into the unguarded goal, making the winning shot.

You and your brother shoot up in your seats, and you pull him into a hug as you both jump in excitement and happiness. Seungcheol gets affectionately tackled by his teammates as they swarm him, and you can hear them chanting their captain’s name as the announcer relays the winning team. You look over once you’ve calmed down a bit and somehow manage to make eye contact with him. You smile and you mouth “I’m so proud of you," hoping he’d be able to understand you.

It seems like he does because soon enough it looks like he mouths something along the lines of, “all for you, princess.”

The tournament’s over now and you’re waiting for your little brother to finish in the restroom before you two head back home. A part of you wishes you’d get to see Seungcheol before leaving but he’s probably busy with after game things and celebrating that you’ll just settle with talking to him some other time.

You’re about to text your brother to ask him where he’s at when you feel someone come up from behind you, spinning you around. You shriek, holding your phone close to your chest, about to curse out whoever it was when you hear the person laughing and you immediately soften, knowing exactly who it is.

He sets you back down, turning you to face him. You smile and before you can even open your mouth to congratulate him on winning his senior tournament, he cups your face, leaning in to kiss you. Your eyes widen at the contact before they flutter shut, your own hands coming up to rest over his. His hands are freezing but you don’t mind, not when your face is burning up enough you’re sure you could warm up his hands in minutes. Your hands drift from his to rest over his shoulders, pulling him closer as you lean slightly back, with him following. He pulls away from the kiss to catch his breath, causing you to chase after his lips, already missing the pillowy feeling of them on your own. He chuckles before dipping down to kiss you again when someone clears their throat.

You groan, already knowing who it is, dreading whatever comment he has to say. You look over your shoulder, only to see your little brother smiling. You definitely expected him to be pulling some disgusted face to make fun of you. Instead he was smiling, smiling so big you would think he just won a year’s supply of his favorite food.

“If you’re done making out with your boyfriend, do you wanna ask him if he wants to join us for dinner?”

Seungcheol's hand slips into your own, squeezing your gloved hand as you look up at him. His smile is so big and his cheeks are a pretty pink blush. “I really like the sound of that, what do you think princess?”

You like that a lot, you think, squeezing his hand as you drag him to follow you and your brother, laughing when you hear his teammates cheering for their captain, for finally getting his girl.

Maybe tutoring the captain wasn’t so bad after all.

589 notes · View notes

monsta-x-jagi · 3 months ago

Text

Crown and Chrome - Chapter 5

Synopsis: You finally find out why Kihyun left you

Word count: 5k

Triggers: none

Author’s Note: I am sorry I had to make Jongho the villain

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The Past

As your university semester drew nearer, the number of worries you had about the future began escalating. Kihyun could see it on your face every time you grew quiet and turned your gaze downward as if you literally didn’t want to see what was lying ahead of you.

Today, Kihyun had taken you shopping at your favourite mall. This mall included a number of high end stores, and with you being you, it was a given that you would always be more comfortable spending money than Kihyun, so you usually didn't ask him to accompany you. Hence why today, you were surprised when Kihyun called in the morning and told you to get ready to go shopping.

So now here you were, trying on what’s probably the 6th dress in the newest release of designs while Kihyun sat on a couch and waited for you to show your outfit. Kihyun liked to think he had the patience of a saint, but he had come here with a plan today. There was a store he wanted to take you to and he wanted to get there before the end of the day.

Finally, you came out of the dressing room with all the outfits you tried. “I don’t know which one I should get,” you said with a frown.

Kihyun chuckled and shook his head. “I know even if you don’t buy it today, you’re going to go home and order it, or just wait until next weekend to come here again. Just buy all of it.”

Satisfied with his response, you paid for all your items and asked the store to deliver them to your house since the bags would never fit on Kihyun’s bike. Then you left the store with Kihyun, holding his arm as he steered you to the store he had in mind.

“You know, when I get my first car, we’ll finally be able to bring our shopping home,” you mused.

Kihyun tapped your nose. “I think you mean your shopping, princess. Anyway, we’re here.”

Kihyun took you into a high end jewellery store, heading straight for the counter. This was unlike him, he didn’t wear a lot of jewellery. Kihyun walked up to the very tall young man at the counter and explained he was there to pick up an order.

The man looked up, flicked his gaze between Kihyun and you, and his features contorted to shock when he saw you. “Miss y/n, is that you? It’s been a long time!”

Kihyun looked at you confused. You laughed and patted his arm before replying to the man, “Yeah it has been, Yunho, I didn’t have any events the last few months.”

“So I take it the order is for you then?” Yunho asked looking between you and Kihyun.

Kihyun cast a desperate look at Yunho. You were not meant to know about this until next weekend when you leave for university.

But to your credit, you laughed it off and told Yunho, “No, it’s my boyfriend’s order.” You leaned your head down on Kihyun’s shoulder and smiled brightly.

Yunho’s lips curled into a teasing smile. “Boyfriend huh? Cute, very cute.” Yunho spoke while shuffling behind the counter to grab Kihyun’s order. “Does your family know yet?”

Kihyun felt your grip on his arm tighten. He didn’t need to look at you to know your jaw was tensed as you spoke. “Uhh no, they haven’t met.”

Yunho slid a small bag across the counter with a sad smile. “Perhaps it’s for the best, eh?”

“Well I mean, didn’t your parents accept your decisions finally?” You offered weakly.

“Oh y/n,” Yunho said. “I chose to become a jewellery designer instead of a doctor. Being around diamonds and being with a diamond in the rough are two very different things.”

Later that night, as you and Kihyun were lying in bed at his house, Kihyun continued thinking about what Yunho said. He stared at the ceiling, one hand behind his head and the other drawing patterns on your back while you lay your head on his chest. Speaking more to the room than you, he asked, “Are you happy with me, y/n?”

You lifted your face up from his chest and answered quickly with no hesitation. “Of course I am. Why would I not be?” You furrowed your brows as you scanned his face. “Where is this coming from, baby?”

“Nothing,” Kihyun mumbled without meeting your eyes.

You drew yourself up onto your elbows and crawled up higher so you and Kihyun could be face to face. “Does my family bother you?”

“What? No,” Kihyun replied.

You smiled softly down at him as you brushed some hair off his forehead. “You’re not very convincing… but tell me this. Have you ever seen my parents in the house? Have you ever seen me interact with either of them?”

“No…” Kihyun answered slowly.

“Exactly. They don’t pay that much attention to me. But you on the other hand,” you paused to kiss his forehead, “give me all the attention I want, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Kihyun smiled and picked up your hand from his hair to kiss it and held it above his heart. He then said, “I am glad you feel that way y/n. I want to be able to make you happy. Every single day.”

“And you do. You make sure I eat, you reassure me when I am studying and can’t understand something. Plus you always turn up for all the boring errands I have to run. I don’t think there’s much else I could ask for,” you said while your fingers drummed against his chest soothingly.

You scooted back down to lie on his chest and continued your explanation. “Above all else, you make me feel protected.”

“Um princess, just because I am a biker, doesn’t mean I fight like one,” Kihyun replied.

You smacked his chest lightly. “You know that’s not what I mean. Besides, wasn’t it you who said I have absolutely no regard for my physical safety?”

“Babe, I think everyone who has ever met you would say the same,” Kihyun teased.

“Yeah ok fine.” You rolled your eyes. “But what I meant is that I feel like nothing bad could happen to me when I'm with you. And if something has gone wrong, being with you just makes everything better. It’s like you keep me away from all the bad things in my life.”

Kihyun ran his fingers through your hair while he worked through his thoughts out loud. “I don’t think I deserve praise like that. I don’t even know if I deserve to be with you.”

You buried your face into the crook of his neck. “Don’t say that. I don’t need you to give me everything in life. I just need you to keep loving me.”

The Present

Minhyuk, San and Wooyoung were all seated on the couches in the CEO’s office now. So far, you had explained all the good things that ever happened with Kihyun.

“So he was your first love then?” Minhyuk asked.

“More like her only love,” Wooyoung retorted.

“No, she actually had a pretty good run with Jongho. Her mother even started telling her to invite him on vacations,” Minhyuk explained.

Wooyoung rubbed his hands together. “Man that dinner with the navy is going to be good. Kihyun and Jongho going toe to toe…”

San smacked Wooyoung’s shoulder. “Bro she’s still your CEO, don’t say shit like that.”

Minhyuk ignored the two and asked you, “So how did you and Kihyun end things? We know it wasn’t on good terms but what happened?”

“He left me. Simple as,” you replied with a shrug.

“Left you? What, were you two married or something?” Wooyoung asked giggling.

“No, he just stopped talking to me one day,” you replied.

“Damn. That is cold. And low,” San said.

“No wonder you can’t even look at him during our meetings now,” Wooyoung said.

Minhyuk nodded along and added, “Glad someone else noticed.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute, until San said, “You should wear your sapphire earrings tonight and mess with his head, especially after what Wooyoung pulled in the elevator.”

The other two men turned to you for an explanation.

The Past

The night before your first classes, you and Kihyun were at his loft, spooning on his bed.

“I can’t take you to your first class tomorrow morning, but I know you’re going to do fine,” Kihyun said.

“I hope you’re right. But hey at least I studied over the holidays right?” You said.

Kihyun placed a couple kisses along your shoulder. “Honey, you know you didn’t have to do that. At this rate, you’re going to be able to write your exam with your eyes closed.”

You turned around in his arms to face him. Kihyun’s gentle, content smile faded when you pouted and asked, “What if you forget me while I am gone?”

Kihyun tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear. “Princess, why would you think that?”

“Because you’ll keep working and racing, but I am going to study. You’re going to live your life independently, while I intern at my parents’ company,” you replied.

“But there's nothing bad with that, is there?” Kihyun asked. “You know you can come to my warehouse any time, except…”

“Except when I have class, I know,” you sighed.

Kihyun chuckled and continued. “If I am free, I can take you to class, or pick you up after? We can still do everything we’ve done all summer.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” you said a little dejectedly and nuzzled your face into Kihyun’s chest.

Kihyun ran his fingers through your hair. “Don’t fall asleep baby. I still need to take you home.”

You whined and wriggled in his hold. “Can’t we just stay like this?”

“Alright. Just a little longer then, my love,” Kihyun said and pulled you in tighter.

When Kihyun did take you home, the time you spent saying goodbye outside your house was longer than the ride there. You were sitting sideways on his parked motorbike as he braced his hands on either side of your hips. You looped your hands around his shoulders, content to just stare at his beautiful face.

“I can see your roots now,” you giggled when you saw the streetlight fall on Kihyun’s hair.

“Mmm, remember that time you tried to dye it for me and got Cheeto fingers?” Kihyun grinned.

“I can’t believe you wanted a photo of me like that,” you said, smiling while looking down at your feet.

Kihyun placed his hands on your waist and said, “Hop down for me.” Once you did, he reached behind you to open the under-seat compartment of his motorcycle and took out a photo album. “This is for you.”

Curious, you took the album and started flicking through it. Pictures of you filled the pages, including the one of you with Cheeto fingers. Eventually the pages turned blank.

As if reading your mind, Kihyun said, “I left that section blank so you could add your favourite photos. Do you like it?”

“Kihyun… this is…” you gasped, struggling with your words. “Just… come here.”

You hooked your hand behind his neck and pulled his lips down to yours. As you sucked on his lower lip, he pushed his hips toward yours to hold you against his motorcycle. He leaned down further into the kiss, causing you to momentarily lose your footing. Your little surprised squeak was lost within the kiss as Kihyun entered his tongue into your mouth and made slow movements along the inside of your lips while you arched your back and practically clung to his shoulders.

When you both broke apart, breathless with puffy lips, Kihyun traced your cheekbone and the shell of your ear with his hand, his thumb finally reaching the little pearl earrings you were wearing.

“Pretty,” he breathed as he played with them. “There’s something for you at the end of the album.”

You opened the album again, leaning it against Kihyun’s chest while you flicked to the back. There was a thick envelope attached. Opening it, you found a pair of earrings with teardrop shaped blue stones.

“Will you put them on for me princess?” Kihyun asked as he tried to peer down at your face to gauge your reaction.

You nodded, and pulled out the little card the earrings were attached to.

“Can I take these off you?” Kihyun asked as he lifted his fingers to your pearl earrings.

“Okay.”

Kihyun gently pulled the clasp off each, and tucked the earring into his palm before fitting your new ones on you. When he was done, he scanned your face, admiring your new look. “You look amazing, just like always.”

When Kihyun took your hand to place your old earrings in them, you stopped him. “Keep it. Get Yunho to make them into cufflinks or something.”

The Present

As you got ready for the dinner, you thought over San’s suggestion. Eventually, you gave in and removed your diamond hoops to slide on Kihyun’s sapphire drop earrings before driving your car to the restaurant. The other executives were already waiting at the restaurant for you when you arrived.

Minhyuk waved you over once he saw you. “Miss y/n, you changed your earrings,” he said with a coy smile.

You smiled at the ground and nodded. Leave it to Minhyuk to cause just the right amount of chaos.

“Whoever picked them had a good eye eh?” Minhyuk said, glancing at Kihyun.

Kihyun’s eyes locked with yours at that moment, both of you searching each other’s faces for a reaction that neither of you were willing to give. Kihyun looked away first, and played with the cufflinks of his suit jacket.

“Shall we go in then, Miss y/n?” Kihyun asked and you nodded.

Kihyun walked beside you, looking straight ahead as he led you and the other executives through to the restaurant.. It was the closest you’d stood to him in a long time, so you took the opportunity to give him a sidelong glance and take in his features. Simply put, you were staring, until you eventually got lost in his beauty.

“You look good, y/n.” Kihyun whispered, more to himself than you.

“Hmm what huh?” You blinked, your reverie disrupted when you saw Kihyun speak but didn’t quite catch his words.

Kihyun turned, scanned your face for a few seconds, then smiled. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

He pushed open the door to a private room at the restaurant where the navy officers were already waiting, seated at the table. You immediately recognised Jongho but found another familiar face beside him.

“I.M.?” You gasped to yourself.

Changkyun stood up and walked around the table to you. “Yes noona, it’s me. Technically, it’s Commodore Im now, but you can call me Changkyun. IM was just my racing name.”

“I had no idea you went into the navy! And you’re an officer now? That’s amazing,” you gushed, happy to see a familiar face.

Behind you, Hoseok said to Kihyun, “Looks like your friend is hers now. She really does know everyone who is a someone.”

Kihyun clenched his jaw, but nodded. It’s not like he was worried Changkyun was flirting with you, but the fact that you were gushing over someone from your racing past while acting like you didn’t even remember Kihyun when he first saw you, was irking him off. He walked up to you and Changkyun and touched your arm to get your attention.

Noticing Kihyun’s hand on your arm, Changkyun said, “Hyung, I didn’t know you got back together with noona.”

Instead of saying what he needed to, you and Kihyun sprang apart with his hand jolting off your arm. You knew Jongho at the table saw that. As did the rest of your executive team. You cleared your throat and spoke first, trying to reduce the awkward tension. “We’re not. He’s my investment director.”

“And she’s here on business today. Call her Miss y/n,” Kihyun told Changkyun, his voice growing steadily colder as he held Changkyun’s gaze.

You left Kihyun and Chankgyun to stare down at each other, moved toward the table and pulled out the chair at the middle to sit down. Your executive team followed suit and filled in the spaces beside you. Once they were comfortable, you turned to Minhyuk on your right. “Can you get things started?”

So Minhyuk opened a portfolio and took the navy officers through the architecture department’s designs. Hoseok stepped in each time a question was asked so Minhyuk wouldn’t have to lose his train of thought. The cost related questions were always directed to Kihyun. Hyunwoo and you sat observing it all. Finally, Minhyuk closed his portfolio and looked to you. It was your turn to grill the officers.

And usually, you would go about this in a calm, professional manner, but today, that was proving to be difficult.

“In order to proceed, my firm will need confirmation on by the end of the week,” you stated.

“And you’ll get it,” Jongho said without looking up from his notepad. You noted his insignia was that of a lieutenant.

You pursed your lips. “That didn’t sound reassuring,” you accidentally muttered out loud.

Thankfully (or not), Kihyun heard you and told Jongho, “MX can scrap the tender if we don’t receive confirmation.”

Jongho scoffed and pointed at you with his pen. “No you won’t. That one could never pass up a good deal.”

Your executives could sense the tension. Hyunwoo’s jaw was clenched, Kihyun’s eyes were narrowed and Hoseok was rubbing his knuckles together. Beside you, Minhyuk scrawled something on a sticky note and slid it over to you: stay calm, we’ll handle it. You looked between your executive team and nodded.

“MX has always made the most of resources its been given. Surely you can’t blame us for that,” Hyunwoo began, diplomatically.

“If you’re such a successful company, why would you need a government contract?” Another officer asked. His insignia said he was a commander.

You knew that question was intended for you as the CEO. The answer was simple: profit. But what’s a tactful way to say “military contracts pay big bucks?”

You opened your mouth to speak but Minhyuk tapped your wrist. Wait, he was silently telling you.

Just then, Hoseok stepped in. “MX is looking to expand the range of projects it takes on. Our portfolio is currently very heavy on commercial property.”

“Think of it as a defensive portfolio,” Minhyuk added, ever the mood-maker.

Kihyun rolled his eyes at the pun. Changkyun watched as you stifled a giggle and smirked, looking between you and Kihyun.

He then leaned down the table and asked, “Commander, is your question satisfied?”

“Yes, Commodore,” the lower ranked commander responded.

“Any more questions?”

“Yes, actually,” Jongho said, licking his lips as he spoke. “How does our y/n plan to handle any personal conflicts of interest during this project?”

“Excuse me?” Kihyun hissed, cocking his head. Minhyuk and Hoseok exchanged a worried glance.

You exhaled sharply through your nose and asked. “Is there a conflict of interest you’d like to expand on, Lieutenant? Or perhaps the Commodore?” You asked, looking between Jongho and his superior, Changkyun.

“I see no conflicts,” Changkyun shrugged.

“Commodore, are you aware the CEO of this firm has had two personal relationships with people on this table?” Jongho asked.

Now Changkyun looked confused. Two? Changkyun only knew of Kihyun.

Hyunwoo cleared his throat, hoping to be the peacemaker. “Miss y/n has many close relationships with industry figures. Its simply a byproduct of her schooling.”

“Oh y/n, how many men did you go through?” Jongho shook his head and cackled to himself.

“Lieutenant,” Changkyun warned. “This matter is not relevant.” He bowed his head to you. “I deeply apologise, Miss y/n.”

You heard the slamming of papers beside you from Kihyun. He was seething. “If there is anyone here that cannot handle past personal relationships, its you. This whole meeting, you have not once addressed Miss y/n properly. Instead, you demean her for a series of personal, non-business related, and need I say harmless, choices from her past. I think it’s very clear that this contract…”

“Yoo Kihyun,” you warned, getting him to stop his tirade before he said something you knew your company would regret.

“Oh this is hilarious. Y/n finally found the man who would protect her. Is that why you hired him? And not just him but that blondie too, passing you notes like it’s 4th grade?” Jongho mocked.

“Mmmm, alright, I see how it is,” you rolled your eyes and drawled.

Hoseok nudged Minhyuk almost excitedly. They knew this voice was reserved for when you were going to tear someone apart.

So you loosened a breath and began. ”Alright, Jongho, let’s talk about my personal relationships. If you and I ever had a meaningful personal relationship, then you would know that I draw the line with you insulting my staff. My architecture heads can cover projects in every single architectural discipline. My head engineer has had recruiters seek him out internationally. And my head of investments, the one you say I have a personal relationship with, has handled deals totalling more than this entire state’s military budget. But since you didn’t know any of that, it looks like we never had a meaningful personal relationship.”

Minhyuk smiled openly and proudly while watching you. Kihyun snickered behind his hand.

Taking a breath, you delivered the final blow. “Now Jongho, let me show you what a personal relationship looks like.” You faced Changkyun, and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Changkyunnie, will you do your noona a favour and get her ex-boyfriend to leave?”

Even the calm Hyunwoo’s jaw dropped open when he heard that. Several officers’ eyes widened too.

Changkyun held you gaze, smirking proudly while he spoke. “Lieutenant, you’re dismissed.”

The meeting wrapped up quickly after that. Chankgyun apologised several more times for his lieutenant’s behaviour and the remaining officers didn’t even make eye contact with you. Minhyuk would say that’s equal parts because of your speech and because of Kihyun glaring at anyone who looks your way. At the end of the meeting, Changkyun agreed to review your tender and forward you the contract to look over and sign if you still wished to proceed.

Outside the restaurant, the executives all headed to their own cars, making small talk as they went.

“What’s everyone’s weekend plans?” Hyunwoo asked while stretching his arms in the parking lot.

“My son’s visiting,” Hoseok replied. “His wife is pregnant now actually.”

You gasped excitedly. “Hoseok, that’s wonderful to hear. Let me know when to send something for the baby shower okay?”

Minhyuk laughed at that. “Look at you y/n, living vicariously through us. If you just want to buy small cute things, say that.”

“You know…” Hoseok began with a glint in his eye. “Y/n might not need to live vicariously anymore. I think she has someone, eh?”

“What? No, no, it’s not like that,” you laughed, a little awkwardly since you weren’t sure who the someone Hoseok was referring to was. To move things along, you prompted the others to share their weekend plans as well.

“I'll just work on my bike probably,” Kihyun said with a shrug.

“Bike? Did you know y/n is into that as well? She has a whole garage actually,” Hyunwoo said.

Kihyun’s interest piqued at that. Since when did you have your own garage? You never did any work on bikes back when you were 20. When did you start?

“Well I am just going to sleep. Maybe get lunch with Hyungwon,” Minhyuk added, while rummaging for his keys. By now, all five of you had reached your vehicles, all of which were parked close to each other.

“Sounds fun,” you said with a nod as you watched Minhyuk get into his horrendously yellow car that matched his sunshine personality.

Hoseok did the same, moving to his black Range Rover. As he unlocked the door, he turned round and said, “I almost forgot y/n. Enjoy your date this weekend.”

“Uh sorry, date?”

“Ah so it’s still the early stages then? That’s okay, you two will make a cute couple,” Hoseok said, while getting comfortable in his car.

Hyunwoo, who never kept up with the gossip, looked at you incredulously. “Oh have you met someone recently? What’s he like?”

“Didn’t you know? It’s Wooyoung from investments. You know, that boy that’s always hanging out with San,” Hoseok explained to Hyunwoo while he started his engine.

“Ahhh, I see, so you finally allowed San to set you up with someone. I’m sure he’s a very handsome fella then, just like San,” Hyunwoo replied as he too got into his car.

You didn’t get a chance to explain before both Hoseok and Hyunwoo closed their car doors, waved goodbye and drove away.

This left you and Kihyun in the parking lot.

Kihyun cleared his throat, and approached a motorbike that had been hidden behind the cars earlier. As Kihyun was putting on his helmet, he said, “I’ll get going then, y/n. See you…”

“I am not dating Wooyoung,” you blurted out, cutting off Kihyun.

Kihyun paused. So then what had he seen on the elevator during lunch? Kihyun swallowed and tried to speak tactfully. “I see. It’s okay. If this is about what Jongho said during dinner, don't worry, nobody is mad at you.”

You looked down at you feet to collect you thoughts before speaking. “I didn’t quite mean it like that but… oh well, doesn't matter.”

“Yes it does. I wish it went smoothly today. Then you wouldn’t have to be humiliated by Jongho like that,” Kihyun said with an edge to his voice. “I should have looked into it more when you said he was in the military.”

“Aww Ki, it’s not your fault,” you said gently, taking a step closer to him. Kihyun almost second guessed it when he heard the cute nickname, but you didn't seem to have noticed what you said as you continued speaking. “I am still grateful you had a contact.”

Kihyun chuckled softly. “Well, I think my so-called contact liked you more than he liked me.”

“True. I never thought your contact would be someone I’d recognise. Plus, we got lucky that Changkyun is a commodore,” you mused.

“Yeah he joined the navy sometime around when I sold the warehouse,” Kihyun added as he leaned against his bike, content to continue what was probably the longest conversation you two had shared so far.

You cocked your head, processing his words. “Wait, sold the warehouse? When was that?”

Kihyun’s eyes widened realising his mistake. “Uhh what I meant is I sold a warehouse, but it wasn’t mine.”

He pushed off his bike and stood up straighter while you made quick strides to him and closed the distance between you two. He didn’t make an attempt to move away from you. You stood so close you could could’ve caged him with you arms if they weren’t occupied by your bag.

He studied your face as you looked up at him with your brows scrunched. Kihyun wasn’t sure what you were about to do, and he was shocked by how cold your voice was when you spoke., “But you did sell your warehouse. The one we always met in.”

Kihyun didn’t reply. Neither could he meet your gaze at that.

You gave a mirthless chuckle and continued. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out? It took one day, one fucking day and a report my colleague handed me to find out what happened. To find out exactly who you sold that warehouse to.”

You were angry. You were hurt. Kihyun could see the tears pooling in your eyes and how you were clenching your fists. “Y/n, it’s not what you think,” he began.

You stepped even closer to him, chests almost brushing. “I am not an idiot Kihyun. That warehouse was private property, your property, and MX acquired it. My firm. You’ve seen me study property law so you know I know what that means.”

You started accentuating words with your fist so Kihyun clasped both of your clenched hands gently and brought them to his chest. “Y/n, baby, I was just trying to protect you.”

“What were you trying to do? Make me chase you by leaving the rights to that entire plot of land under my mother’s company? Was it to stake some claim so you could come crawling back one day?”

“Please, y/n, it’s not like that,” Kihyun said, biting his lip and looking down.

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?” Your voice became lower, punctuated with angry hisses. “You fucking sold your warehouse to my mother’s company, and disappeared without another word to me, asshole.”

“You’re right, princess, and you have every right to be mad at me,” Kihyun moved your closed fists to one hand and reached out to cup your face with his other hand, but you stopped him.

You loosened one of your hands from his grasp to grab his wrist and push his hand away from your face. “You don’t get to call me princess, not after what you did.”

“Baby, please believe me, it was the only way I could protect you,” Kihyun pleaded. He still kept one of your hands on his chest, while you brought his hand down to his side and lightly linked your fingers together.

In a more measured voice than earlier, you said, “Do you know what it was like to walk into that warehouse and find it empty? Do you know how it felt when the first project they gave me at MX was to redevelop your warehouse like it meant nothing to me?”

“Y/n, I am sorry. For everything,” he said.

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