| Fan Fiction |
by Ephemeral Euphoria
"Halmoni!" Eunhyuk embraced a frail-looking elderly woman. The woman immediately lapsed into scolding her grandson about his appearance.
"Why is your hair so feminine? Are you a man or a woman now, huh? And what about your clothes? Why are they so baggy? Haven't you been eating? Hasn't your mother been cooking enough food for you? And what's this I hear about you not having a girlfriend? You're eighteen now, you should be going out with girls!" Eunhyuk threw Junsu a desperate look as his grandmother continued to chastise him, but Junsu merely winked and walked away.
The music blasted loudly. Despite the childish invitations, the party was actually rather sophisticated. Eunhyuk's family was somewhat above middle-class and their backyard was rather big compared to those of many other houses in the neighborhood. Junsu himself didn't even live in a house-he lived in a cramped apartment and his parents' income combined could barely be considered middle-class. Junsu walked over to the refreshment table, joining a bunch of other students he recognized. He thrust his hand into a bowl of chips. It was definitely unsanitary, but it wasn't as if his kitchen back at the apartment was all that spotless either.
Half an hour later, Eunhyuk was still being scolded by his grandmother. He was shooting helpless looks at his other friends, but everyone seemed to find it amusing for him to be in such a position. Eunhyuk had a reputation at school for being a considerably tough guy. Junsu glanced down at his watch. Fifteen minutes before he'd finally step in and rescue Eunhyuk, he thought to himself. As he glanced up from his watch, a shadow caught his eye. The silhouette of a girl sitting alone in the corner was barely noticeable in contrast to the crowd of dancing people and Christmas lights hanging about above them. Interested, he made his way towards the girl.
As Junsu drew closer, the silhouette became less faint, and he noticed that she was holding a flashlight and was shining it at something between her legs. Her legs were crossed at she seemed completely at ease. It was almost as if the party was nonexistent, and there wasn't music with inappropriate lyrics and a deep bass blasting loudly in the background. She glanced up to meet his eyes and for a moment, he felt himself catching his breath. Even in the dark, he could see that she had pretty eyes. As he drew even closer, he noticed that she also had pretty hair. It looked soft, and for a second, he imagined running his fingers through it. She glanced back down, and he realized that she was reading. He took the empty seat beside her.
"Hello."
"Hey," she said calmly without looking at him. She flipped a page of the book.
"What're you reading there?" Junsu asked, turning his head sideways.
"The Little Prince," she responded simply. Hearing her voice was similar to being splashed by a bucket of refreshingly cold water. In this summer heat, Junsu definitely found it to be a pleasant feeling. That, plus the fact that she had a beautiful voice that sounded melodic to his ears, made him want to hear her speak again.
"Isn't that a children's book?" It wasn't until the words were out of Junsu's mouth that he realized how offensive they sounded. "I mean, that's what I thought."
"I suppose you could say that it is," she agreed, biting her lip thoughtfully. She looked up into his eyes again and Junsu couldn't help but to blush. It was a good thing that the darkness covered his scarlet cheeks. He couldn't help but to wonder why he felt so self-conscious underneath her gaze. "But I personally find that it leaves readers wiser. Every time I read it, I learn more from it, and more about myself."
"Wow." There was an awkward silence. Junsu mentally kicked himself for having never read the book before. He had always been more of an outdoors type of person, and although he received fairly decent grades, he preferred to experience things firsthand rather than to read about them and experience things in his imagination. There was an awkward silence. He giggled, and then mentally kicked himself again for it. What kind of boy giggled? She must have been annoyed by his sudden intrusion.
"Yeah..." The girl laughed nervously. Junsu felt relieved. This meant that he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable. Then he felt worried. That wasn't good. What if she really did want him to leave her alone? What if that laugh was the cue for him to go away? He struggled to think of topics that could keep the conversation alive. Why couldn't he be more of an intellectual type of guy? Thankfully, she suddenly spoke again. "I could lend this to you if you want to read it. It's a really great story."
"Y-yeah," Junsu stuttered, smiling. So she didn't mind his presence. "That-that'd be great. Thanks."
They stared at each other for a full three seconds without speaking. Junsu cleared his throat. "I'm Junsu."
"Yes, I know," the girl responded.
"You do?" he asked, confused. "But how? I don't think I've ever seen you at school before."
"I hear Eunhyuk talk a lot about you," she answered. Junsu's face fell. So this was why Eunhyuk never mentioned her to him. He had probably not wanted to introduce her to Junsu until he managed to secure her as a girlfriend. Junsu knew that the girls Eunhyuk were interested in often ended up falling for him instead.
"Oh."
"He's my cousin," she said quickly.
"OH!" Junsu felt a rush of relief again. Then he mentally kicked himself a third time for sounding so overly enthusiastic upon hearing that piece of information. "I mean, oh."
"My name's Ri In." She set the book down and turned off the flashlight before reaching out her hand. He shook it, noting how nice her smooth skin felt against his rougher hands.
"So how come Eunhyuk has never mentioned you to me before?" Junsu asked.
"Well...I haven't seen him in a while. I mean, I just talk to him on the phone. I live with our halmoni, you see. My parents died when I was younger. And anyway, it might also have to do with the fact that we have a bunch of other cousins." Ri In laughed.
"Hmmm. I guess that makes sense." Junsu silently reminded himself to beat up Eunhyuk later for having never introduced the two. He then looked over to Eunhyuk, who looked bored out of his mind and was still being scolded by his grandmother. "I should go rescue him."
"No, don't. Halmoni will only be upset that you interrupted her in the middle of one of her scoldings, and she'll end up yelling at him even more for having such disrespectful friends. Trust me. I'm her granddaughter and when I tried to save him once, she ended up scolding me for a while, too." She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "So, um...You're in soccer?"
"Yeah, I am. It's great. Are you in any sports?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I am on the swim team."
"Seriously?" She didn't seem like an athletic type of girl. Junsu had automatically assumed that she was the quiet type of girl whose beauty was mostly overlooked because of her astounding intellect.
"Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?" she laughed. "I mean, I'm also into horror movies and like rap music and can breakdance, but everyone somehow gets the impression that I'm a quiet, polite little nerd. I can't say that the nerd part isn't true though; I am one of the top students at my school."
"And your modesty is suprisingly overwhelming, too," Junsu pointed out jokingly. She giggled, and he felt his cheeks turn hot again. She thought he was funny! His heart leaped with joy.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with bragging when you've got the skills. What's the point of acting humble when you know you stand out? It'd seem so fake and phony." She made a face. "I mean, I'm so sick of the stupid sexist labels people place on others. Not all girls are spoiled drama queens and not all guys are heartless jerks. I mean, just look at you. I barely know you, but I already get the feeling that we're going to be great friends-"
"You do?" Junsu interrupted excitedly.
"Yeah, I do." She smiled at him. "And yet I'm pretty sure several heartbroken girls have called you a cruel jerk before just because you told them that you weren't interested. And I'm positive that you broke the news to them really gently, too."
"Wow... It's amazing how you know that," Junsu said, awed. "You know, you're not like most of the girls I know."
"Probably has to do with the fact that I'm not them." She winked at him, and he felt his stomach flutter. "Wanna dance?"
"Only if you promise not to leave me looking like a fool. I'm more of an athlete than I am of a dancer..." His voice trailed off. She got out of her seat and reached out her hand to him.
"Pffft. That's just an excuse. It'll be fun, and I'll try my best not to show you up. Come on, Junsu."
His name sounded nice coming from her lips. He grabbed her hand and they made their way to the dance floor-just as a slow song came on.
"Oh, come on...What is this? Some stupid fanfic?" Ri In rolled her eyes.
"Nah, it's even better. It's real."
Junsu placed his hands around her hips as they started to sway to the music.
"Now that...was just plain cheesy," she told him, but laughed anyway.
"It felt like the right thing to say. I guess I got caught in the moment." He smiled like an idiot as she pulled him closer to her, her arms around his neck. She smelled sweet, with the fragrance of roses. "You know...you smell like roses."
"I know. I read it in a magazine, to put lotion or perfume on the neck so that the boy will catch a whiff of it when he goes in for a hug. But of course, in this case, it's a dance."
"That's smart. Whatever happened to being unique? What's with the magazine thing?" he asked.
"Hey, just because I'm not the other girls doesn't mean I don't have my raging hormones, too," Ri In pointed out. Junsu couldn't help but to burst out laughing. A few other couples turned to glare at him for ruining the serene environment.
"I'm sorry, but that just totally killed the whole romantic mood."
"Mmm...I can change that." She looked up at him, her face looking beautiful even when illuminated by the multicolored Christmas lights hanging above. Her lips seemed to glisten as brightly as the stars above in the night skies were shining. "You see..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Even though we barely met and hardly know anything about each other, this is the moment where you feel as if we've known each other for years-this is the point where you first find yourself starting to fall for me."
Junsu gulped. Why did her lips have to look so kissable? It would be far too cliché if he was to kiss her now, and she would probably be unimpressed by it. Besides, he wasn't too fond of public displays of affection either.
"Or so you think," he responded, although the both of them knew that what she had said was completely true. The song suddenly changed and became upbeat. The summer heat combined with the body heat being emitted from those surrounding them was so overwhelming that they left the dance floor. Junsu didn't bother to point out that it was that type of upbeat dancing that Ri In had looked forward to being involved in earlier. Holding his arm, she led him into the house and into the kitchen. A curtain was drawn across the glass door so that they could no longer see the party going on outside. Even Eunhyuk's parents had decided to join in on the fun by joining the younger generation on the dancefloor.
"This is a pretty spotless kitchen," Junsu commented. He ran his hand along the counter.
"Yeah, it is." Ri In let go of his arm and walked over to the oven, pulling it open. "Smells like cookies."
"I think I prefer the smell of roses," Junsu responded. Ri In gave him a quizzical look.
"You're not going to be all clichéd and kiss me now, are you?" she questioned. She pulled herself up so that she was sitting on the clean counter. Her white skirt seemed match the white, spotless counter.
"May I?" Junsu asked, suddenly uncertain. She made a motion with her hand for him to come closer. "Please?"
"You're the first boy who has ever actually asked for permission to kiss me."
"So I guess that makes me seem like a loser, huh?" he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"No. That gives you extra points. And it earns you the privilege to a kiss."
He eagerly leaned towards her, but she held her hands against his chest firmly. She then kissed him gently on the cheek. It was already more than Junsu could ask for.
"So...I guess this is the part where you fall in love with the secretly sensitive jock?" Junsu teased.
"Yeah, I guess it is."
"Oh..."
She giggled and pinched his cheeks.
"You're so cute!"