Characters: Kibum, OC, SJ
Rating: PG
Chaptercount: 2/36
Summary: Soojin meets a guy who turns her world upside down but then there's a few dozen others as well.
A/N: This is one of my most beloved novels (not that I wrote THAT many, but still) and I think I will forever cherish the characters in this. This story also helped me shape my view on the different members and is the first of few stories in which I used first person.
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The movie passed in seemingly no time. It was a great movie and I was surprised that Kaykay had picked it out for us, as I didn’t see the romantic-comedy person in him. Nor did I think I looked like one either, for that matter. Anyway, I had a good time.
We went to a little café after, ordering only a glass of water, but at least we had a place to sit
“So you don’t go out very often?” he asked.
“I guess I’d like to, but people these days are so boring and interested in the weirdest stuff.”
“Oh you mean they don’t like computer games?”
“Hey! I like to play that game, but I have not said that much about it yet, have I? There are others I have gone out with who loved getting drunk and all they ever talked about was throwing up against a wall with friends like they actually enjoyed it. I mean, seriously.. Don’t they have anything better to do?”
He laughed at my words and I clearly remember being too caught up in staring at his face to actually notice he was laughing at me. He didn’t notice my being spaced out, however, or he just didn’t mind. Whatever the reason, he let me sit and stare at him. It was only when the glass of water was placed in front of me that I snapped out of the trance I had apparently been in.
“Thanks.” I mumbled to the waitress, before picking up the glass and immediately taking a sip. Kaykay gave me an offended look.
“Now you’re thirsty?” he asked. I chuckled a little as I replied.
“I can’t help it that I don’t like coke. Next time you buy something for someone else, make sure they like it.” My words brought the smile back to his face.
“You’re such an idiot.” he said. I huffed, but smiled, for I had gotten used to his constant teasing and bullying a long time ago. It felt like it was a part of our friendship and even now I am still worried whenever he doesn’t insult me at least once every conversation.
We sat in the café for about half an hour longer, before he paid the bill and got up. I did the same, hoping not to have gotten to the end of our day out already. I didn’t feel like going home just yet, so I tried my best to look like I was having a good time. Not that that was such an extremely difficult task.
Kaykay dragged me halfway through the city before finally getting on a bus. I followed him in, watching how he paid for my ticket as well, and again nicely took a seat next to him when he sat down. It was then that I had about enough of following him around like a headless chicken without knowing his plans for the rest of the day.
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
“What? But my home is in the total opposite direction!”
“And what we do at your place? You don’t even have a computer today.” he replied harshly. “We’re going over to my house. I promised my brother I’d introduce you to him. He’s a very big fan of your sniping skills.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he went on before I could even squeal. “Now don’t give me crap about this. You should be happy I’m inviting you over dressed like a beggar. Besides, it’s not like you’d have anything more useful to do in your day anyway.”
“Kaykay..” I tried to interrupt again, but he just kept on talking. Seriously, that guy needs a shut down button.
“To think I will introduce you to my brother when you are in this kind of state. I should have gone and bought you a nice dress or something. Then again, you probably didn’t shave, did you? Oh boy, oh boy. You can be really useless, do you know that?”
“Kaykay..” Still no luck.
“And to think I had expected you to actually put a little effort into your looks for meeting someone for the first time, but no.. That’s too much to ask for a good first impression.” That’s about when I had it with all his complaining.
“Yah, you idiot! Shut up! I’m trying to talk to you here!” I exploded. He looked at me with happily sparkling eyes, calmly waiting for what I was going to say. “First of all, if all you can do is nag about my clothes and looks, then just shut the fuck up. It’s not like you’re any better.” Of course he was. Lots and lots better. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. “And secondly.. What’s your name?”
He gave me a surprised look when I asked that question, remaining silent for a few moments. I mentally high-fived myself for having shut him up, but smiled friendly to make it look like I had not intended to surprise him like I did. He stared at me for a while longer, letting his eyes wander over my face to see if I was really serious.
“My name is Heechul. Kim Heechul.” he then said. I smiled, happy to finally find out the name of my friend from over a year’s time. He just looked back at me with one of his creepy stares, not saying a word. It surprised me.
“You’re not going to ask mine?” I therefore questioned him.
“Why would I? I already have a name for you. Snipe fits you perfectly well and you even listen to it. Isn’t that absolutely fantastic!?” He showed me his famous
It took us about ten minutes to get to the right stop. When we got off the bus, I looked around in awe. The houses were all simply gorgeous. Rich people’s villas with lots of swimming pools surrounded me. Every garden was neatly taken care of with nicely maintained grass fields and pretty shrubberies. A sudden thought struck me upon seeing those houses and I turned to look at Heechul.
“Are you famous?” I asked. He gave me a dumb look. “Do you have lots of money? Have you been on some magazine’s cover or something? Is that why you asked me if I recognized you? Am I supposed to have seen you on the television or something?” When hearing those words, he seemed to suddenly get my meaning and burst out laughing. I watched him as he laughed until tears were in his eyes. When he finally regained his calm, he put a hand on my shoulder.
“Oh, Snipe, you’re so silly.” was all he said, before dragging me away by my wrist. The next location was his house. Compared to the castles around, it wasn’t that big, but compared to my home, it was a castle. I stared at the front with wide eyes already, but when he opened the door, I suddenly wished I had dressed better, more like a princess. It definitely looked like a prince’s house. Thinking about it like that, Heechul would probably make a nice prince as well.
“Hannie!” said person suddenly called out next to me. I had to cover my ears because of the strength of his voice. It was effective, though, as only moments later a guy walked out of one of the many doors.
“Chullie! You’re home? Ah, and this must be the famous Snipe!” The
“The name’s Soo Jin. Kang Soo Jin.” I said.
“I’m Hangeng. Heechul’s brother. You probably know me best as the clumsy medic that sometimes joins your group.” he introduced himself.
“Oh. The one who messed up our most important mission?”
He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head as a sign of his awkwardness.
“Er, yeah.. Sorry about that again.. Heeyoung noona came home and I left to greet her without thinking about the game anymore.” he apologized. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched him get all embarrassed about it.
“Hey, no worries, it’s just a game.” I replied, smiling friendly. I looked at him a moment longer before adding: “You look familiar. Do you happen to go to Malhani University?” I noticed how he flashed a surprise look at his brother.
“So you do recognize him?” the latter huffed, turning away insulted and leaving the hallway. I watched him walk through the door in surprise, before turning back to Hangeng for an explanation.
“We both go to your school. In fact, I’ve seen you around quite a few times already. You’re always alone, reading or something, right?” He showed me a little smile as I stared at him in surprise. I remember wondering how he knew about that and silently cursing when I realized I wasn’t as invisible as I had wanted to be.
“Seriously? You go to the same school I do? Heechul does as well?” I stared. “How long have you known about this?”
“I never knew. Heechul did apparently. I asked him this morning how he would find you in between all the people. He said you look like your character in-game a little and that you go to our school. So then I asked him why you never met before. He said because you didn’t want to.” Hangeng explained, without waiting for me to question every little detail. I liked his attitude.
“Oh.. I see..” I mumbled. I then looked at the door where Heechul had disappeared through. “I guess I should..?” My voice faltered and I pointed in the direction of the door, while turning my head to face Hangeng. He glanced up at the door and shrugged.
“Maybe.. Or you can just let him cool down and come sit in the living room with me. I’m sure he’ll join us in a matter of minutes.”
For some reason his second suggestion had sounded much better than the first, so in a matter of moments I was seated in one of the most comfiest couches I had ever seen. Like Hangeng had predicted, it only took Heechul a few minutes before he joined us again, being his normal self like nothing had happened. Because I felt a little guilty for not recognizing him, while I did recognize his brother immediately, however, I tried to talk to him as much as I could. That seemed to completely take away all his grudges.
We spent a few hours in that living room, simply talking about things. Our lives, mostly. They told me of how they were both orphans of the same age who met each other in the orphanage. When they were old enough to live on their own, they had rented an apartment together and had both started working to make a little money for themselves. One year after becoming independent, they had been found by Heechul’s older sister by four years; Kim Heeyoung. She had given him his rightful part of the inheritance, but they had stuck together and had decided to live in the same house while the boys returned to school.
Heeyoung, however, was a business woman. She had inherited the shares their parents had had in a major company and after a while had worked her way up to the position of CEO. It was not rare for her to be gone for a week on another business trip. The boys had told me as well, however, that being the company’s boss was not really Heeyoung’s cup of tea. She had simply done that to make sure their parent’s company did not perish. Her plan was to resign as soon as possible and to then find a job as a teacher.
Of course, as Heechul made perfectly clear to me, his sister was too pretty and talented to just be a teacher, so he was planning on getting her to do something more useful with her life. Because who would want to, and I quote, ‘spend every single day with a bunch of crying toddlers when there was the possibility to avoid it?’ Hangeng, however, thought being a teacher a very fit job for Heeyoung and he supported her all the way. Up to this day, I am still curious as to which of the two will win and how Heeyoung will spend the rest of her life.
As they told me of their pasts, I told them about my very plain and boring youth as a pair of normal parents’ daughter. I told them about my wonderful grades in high school and that being the only reason my parents had allowed me to stay unmarried and go to university while still living at their place. I admitted that my sudden gaming obsession had shaken their believe in my ability to get the best diploma ever, but so far it had not yet influenced my grades, so they tolerated it.
I also told them about my reasons for never stepping up in school; I couldn’t be bothered to. If I opened my mouth more often, I could probably bitch my way up into the group of popular people, but I simply didn’t feel like it. As I said that, I suddenly realized exactly why I had recognized the two boys and I could hardly keep myself from jumping up and running out of the building. I remember wanting to slap myself for being as stupid as I was, because I should have realized that people living in a villa like the one I was in at the time, would of course be a part of the ‘popular group’ as well.
For some reason, however, I did not move and they seemed not to notice my sudden realization, so the conversation continued like nothing happened. I talked to them for a long time, until the sun had already set and outside everything was dark. When we noticed that, they immediately tried to convince me to sleep over at their place, but since I had experienced enough unknown things that day, I insisted on going home. They on their turn then insisted on at least taking me home, which I accepted.
That’s how I ended up stepping out of Hangeng’s car and waving them goodbye from my doorstep. While entering the house as silently as possible, I felt relief wash over me, knowing that this day was over. I was glad to have finally met my online buddy, but it also felt great to be able to go home, knowing that I would be happily playing my game again when I woke up the next day.
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