Chapter Text
Lee Minhee is the most popular girl in school.
Everybody knows her name, her signature blonde hair, and her most faithful lackies that don't have a reputation beyond cosying her two arms. The bumbling crowds in the hallways, no matter how chaotic they can get between classes, part like the sea for Moses at the first click clack of her bubble gum pink high heels.
She's the queen bee, the alpha female, and sits in her throne with one long leg crossed over the other at the very top of the social ladder.
Naturally, Chan is all the way at the bottom, way out of Minhee's league with the rest of the alternative kids.
So he's never spoken to her. She's never even looked in his direction. They wouldn't have happened to cross paths either because Chan is constantly late, truanting, and he wouldn't share any classes with her anyway. As well as being the most beautiful girl in school, she's also the most intelligent. Chan is just about passing. He barely avoided having to repeat a grade last year.
That all changes one fateful afternoon. Chan writes all about it in his songbook that same evening.
For the first time ever, Lee Minhee is subject to detention after school.
Chan is daydreaming when she appears in the open doorway, of big platform stages and a sea of screaming fans. It's the flash of pink and blonde that catches his eye and has him double taking like he's still in his wildest dreams. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he had fantasised about her coming to one of his shows and sneaking backstage to kiss him possessively—
Wait, what? Detention. Detention! Lee Minhee..? In detention..?
She hesitates at the door. Chan finds himself enamoured by that look on her. She almost looks too scared to come in, which is ridiculous seeing as though she commands attention and takes control of any room just from her walk alone. Perhaps it's her scent that bewitches people, the clementine of her fragrance and the vanilla of her long hair. It would explain why eyes flutter towards her as she goes past, even though she's always minding her own business.
Minhee ignores all the attention. Usually. This time, she frowns deeply as everyone looks over at her, and pointedly looks away as she hands her detention notice to the supervising teacher at the desk.
Chan quickly scans the room. It's a full house now that she's here, which means the only seat available is…
"Shit," he mutters, spotting the empty seat at the front, much too far from his at the very back. Jisung sits beside him, the only person not eyeing Minhee up as he's slumped over his desk half asleep. Nudging him, Chan hisses, "Jisung! Move!"
Jisung grunts awake and looks at him with a moronic expression. Chan glares at him and nods towards Minhee.
"Wh—? Huh? What is she doing here?"
Rolling his eyes, Chan grabs him by the arm, pulls him out of his seat, and pushes him down the aisle with a clap on his back.
He stumbles on his feet and rights himself as Minhee turns around from the desk, her attendance taken.
She looks at Jisung. Jisung looks back. Chan can't see his face, but he already knows the kind of dumb look he must be pulling. He laughs awkwardly, even scratches the back of his head like an animated character, and hurriedly takes the seat at the front.
With a roll of her eyes, Minhee looks up to find another seat, and finally, she sees him.
Chan leans back in his chair as she looks up and spots him next to the only available desk and chair. He shoots her a lazy smirk, the one he knows deepens the dimple in his right cheek.
It doesn't fluster her like he imagines in his fantasies. It doesn't make her giggle and blush like it does with the few girls that come and watch their shows, reaching up to get a brush of a touch as Chan leans down the stage as he sings. In fact, it only deepens her frown as she begrudgingly makes her way down the aisle.
Briefly, Chan imagines the classroom as a wedding hall and Minhee in a beautiful white wedding dress. He'd be the lucky man, of course, who gets to spend the rest of his life with that pout of hers.
He can't help but smile giddily as she sits down. He's finally made an impression on his dream girl. Sure, it isn't a good one, but at least she knows that he exists now!
"So, you come here often?"
Minhee's eyes sharpen towards Chan before her head moves. It makes him straighten his back and spread his legs under his desk, just a little bit turned on by the deadly look.
What! He is a healthy teenage boy, after all, and she's a healthy teenage girl, filling out that white blouse wonderfully.
Chan looks up. Thankfully, Minhee doesn't notice him slip up because she's too busy shamelessly checking him out. He would let it get to his head, if only she didn't look so unimpressed by him.
Looking him up and down, her lips curl up on one side of her mouth into a grimace. Nevertheless, Chan is pleased when he catches her attention linger on his mouth a second too long.
She huffs, "Has that ever worked for you?"
Chan grins wolfishly, cradling his cheek with his hand. "It doesn't matter if it works or not."
Minhee is slow to respond again. It's like she still isn't sure. The fact that she's even considering talking to Chan, even if it's just a few words, is a victory in his book. He'll cling onto every little moment they share.
She glances to the front of the classroom. Chan follows her gaze as it lands on the teacher behind the desk. She's one of the younger ones, passing the time with her mobile phone.
"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" Minhee looks back and scoffs.
"The rings usually get the job done anyway."
Chan bites his lip in a way that he knows is sexy, his teeth running over the silver rings that encase his plump lip. He's practiced in the mirror. For shows, of course. It's called being a good performer; stage presence, audience interaction, all the things that make a rockstar, which he is. For good measure, he even winks.
Minhee doesn't fidget. She doesn't giggle coyly, tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, or nastily invite Chan to put his pierced mouth to better use. She laughs though a smirk, her eyebrows jumping up in mockery, and makes Chan feel silly, not sexy. This isn't how it happens in his fantasies at all.
"You're bad at flirting."
Chan grins, despite himself. He made her laugh, at the very least, and that has to count for something. It's also funny how bluntly she makes the statement.
"You any better?"
"Much better."
"Prove it, then."
"I don't have to prove it to you."
"'Cause you don't know how?"
Minhee looks up from her notes. She's actually studying, using the hour to be productive rather than sit around or sleep like the rest of them. She's working on mathematics that Chan couldn't even dream of understanding.
"It isn't in the mouth, or those juvenile lip rings—"
Chan laughs in disbelief. "Juvenile—"
"It's all in the eyes."
Minhee has a reputation for her looks that goes beyond her perfect movie star proportions. She has something of a resting bitch face, for her feline eyes are constantly narrowed into judgement or contempt, no time to extend concern herself with the fan club that is their whole school. Chan always thought it was the sexiest thing ever. He likes that a cold woman like her. He thinks about thawing her heart with one of his songs.
But in a flash, those sharp eyes are gone and replaced with something sweeter, round and sparkly, the eyes of a fawn. Minhee slowly blinks her curled eyelashes and looks up at Chan through them, her head tilted and her dainty lips pouted, as if to ask Chan for a kiss, or maybe the entire world. He'd give it to her. He'd give her everything she ever wanted. He'd do it willingly, of course, but he's also not sure if he'd have a choice. Those big brown eyes of hers are bewitching. It really is all in the eyes.
Chan blinks as the spell is broken. Minhee lifts her head up and her eyes go back to their normal, snarky shape. She giggles like the little minx she is, not the sweetheart she can clearly trick people into believing in, if she really wanted to. Had she put those fake doe eyes to use, she might not have had to be here at all.
"See? Just like that," she says cockily, turning back to her work with a flick of her blonde hair. Chan almost melts in his chair with the wave of vanilla he gets hit with.
"I don't know if I could pull off a look like that with the ladies."
"Why not?"
"They might think I swing the other way. Well, completely the other way."
If the admission surprises Minhee, she doesn't show it. She's too concerned with not getting caught.
"You don't know that." She hums secretively, "Women appreciate a submissive man a lot more than you think."
Chan is a healthy teenage boy. He is a healthy teenage boy with a healthy teenage boy imagination, and it is so not his fault that flashes of Minhee in shiny latex, a long cracking whip, big boots, and a wicked smile invade his mind!
Discretely, he presses his heel into his crotch and thinks of the unsexy, like Jisung in granny underpants. He cannot pop a boner in public like he's still in middle school, especially not next to the girl of his dreams.
"I know this is your first time here, but you don't have to be so careful," Chan says with a fond smile, watching Minhee as she continues to solve equations. "And you don't gotta do work in here either. She doesn't really care as long as you show up and do the time. What are you doing time for, anyway? Didn't think you'd ever make it to detention."
Minhee turns to him, affronted. It's adorable. Chan didn't think she could pull such a cute face.
"What's that supposed to mean? I can be bad."
There's a sleazy joke on the tip of his tongue. He's sure his eyes twinkle with it because Minhee giving him a glare that tells him to consider what he's going to say next.
Heading her warning, he says honestly, "Come on. The only thing stopping you from sitting with the Nerds is your face and style." He grins, looking her up and down. "You might be one of the Populars, but really, you're a good girl. You don't belong here."
Minhee scoffs as she turns away, "And what clique are you in, the wannabe rockstars?"
Chan smirks. "Harsh."
"I didn't ask to be one of the Populars, or have this weird social status above everyone. I just mind my own business and people categorise me without even knowing me." She mumbles under her breath, "It's so stupid."
Chan considers himself to be a pretty smooth operator. He's a half of his group's song writing duo, and he's got a good track record with picking up the ladies, lip rings or not.
Though in that moment, Chan finds himself at a loss for words. He didn't think he'd get to spy this vulnerable side of Minhee, no matter how small or trivial. She obviously doesn't mean for it to happen either, clearing her throat and looking up at him with a challenge in her eyes. Her guards are up again. She's back to entertaining him, or rather, daring him to go on.
"So? What are you in for?" Chan asks, sparing her the discomfort.
"Smoking," she says flippantly.
"Smoking?" he laughs. "So you're covering for someone. Who is it, your boyfriend?"
Her eyebrows pinch irritably. "I could smoke."
"But you wouldn't. Smoking is gross, unhealthy, and beneath somebody like you."
"Somebody like me?"
"Well, yeah. You're, like, a real life Barbie doll." Chan grins when she looks up at him exasperatedly. "Barbie doesn't smoke."
Chan is surprised to find that she almost smiles. Almost. Her cheeks bunch together for the stretch of her lips, but she looks away before Chan can catch it. He grins, feeling his heart beam in his chest. He didn't think she'd give him this much of her time, much less be amused by him. Perhaps, it isn't as fantastical as he thought, getting the girl and making her his.
"She doesn't. I was covering for my boyfriend."
"He let you do that?"
Minhee huffs, "That asshole didn't give me much of a choice."
"Why? How'd it happen?"
"A teacher came around the corner when he asked me to hold the cigarette for him. She saw me holding it, assumed I was the one smoking, and that was that. It's not like I could rat him out."
Chan's frown deepens the more he hears. He decides very quickly that Minhee's boyfriend is undeserving of her. He's totally out of her league, and Minhee could do so much better than a boy who lets her take the fall.
Scoffing, he says, "Why couldn't you? That was a dick move."
Minhee looks up and raises an eyebrow at him, so he crosses his arms defiantly. He won't respect this pathetic boyfriend of hers.
"Yeah, it was a dick move. He knows that very well, and I plan on making him pay for it for another week."
Chan follows the movement of Minhee's fingers as they come up to fiddle with the necklace she's wearing. It's a row of sparkling diamonds that he doesn't recognise, a new addition to her wardrobe. He grins at the sight of them, along with her new set of nails that lengthen her fingers.
So, she's rinsing her Preppy boyfriend dry in exchange for her protection. This princess attitude of hers certainly matches her feline eyes.
"Does your boyfriend know he can spoil you without being indebted to you?"
This time, Minhee smiles without hiding it. Her eyes sparkle, her cheeks bunch up. She's beautiful. Chan wants to kiss her so, so bad. It's what he'll write about when he gets home, saying to hell with detention, pushing her up on her desk, and kissing her for the whole school to gossip about the next day.
"No, I suppose, he doesn't."
"Well, I know it. It's just a shame I'm not your boyfriend."
"I'm sure your partner is a lucky girl or guy."
"Don't have one. You wanna fix that?"
"There is such a thing as being subtle, you know."
"I don't do subtle. I do infatuation. Head over heels. I do pathetic, desperate, get on my hands and knees yearning. It's the least a girl like you deserves. None of that nonchalant, pull on your pigtails crap."
Minhee laughs. She honest to God laughs! Chan laughs with her, charmed by her bunny teeth. She isn't all picture perfect, then, but Chan finds that he loves that little crooked tooth. It makes her that much more beautiful. He hopes she never gets it straightened.
"You're insane..! I mean, who says that to a girl?"
"Well, is it working?"
Minhee retorts, "No more than your lip rings."
"Hey, you like those, really. I can tell."
"Do not."
"Do too. You think they're sexy. Bet you're wondering what it's like to kiss me. Well, you don't have to wonder. I'm happy to give you the VIP experience."
"I'm flattered," Minhee says dryly.
Chan giggles, "I guess, pulling on pigtails is more your style, isn't it?"
"I am a hair puller."
"All right, I was so mistaken. You're not nearly as good as I thought."
They keep flirting until the hour is over. And it is flirting, from Chan's side and most definitely from Minhee's. It's totally reciprocated, no matter how much she might want to hide under the guise of teasing him. She makes dirty quips that leave nothing to the imagination, laughs and smirks at his jokes in turn, and it is all in the eyes, just like she said.
He isn't making it up. He isn't just seeing what he wants to be true. She looks at him like there's something there, like there could be something between them, if only Chan keeps chasing.
He's sure he won't see her in detention again. For a good girl like her, with a not so good boyfriend, this is only a one off. It doesn't matter because all of a sudden, there's an incentive for Chan to actually show up to his classes on time.
"So," Chan says as they walk down the halls, detention dismissed. He pointedly keeps his gaze up and does not look down to check out Minhee's ass in that mini skirt.
"So?" Minhee scoffs as she texts, "So what?"
"Ouch. You wound me, Minhee." He peers over her shoulder and catches the love heart next to the name she's texting. Her boyfriend. He coos, "Here I thought we were connecting."
"You're funny, Chan."
"Yeah, I am. That's why I could totally be your—" Chan's eyes widen as his brain malfunctions and kicks into gear in a matter of seconds. He exclaims, his voice echoing through the empty hallway, "Wait, what?"
Minhee jumps, a bit like a frightened cat. She shoots an annoyed look over her shoulder. "What?"
"You—! You know my name!"
"Uh? Yeah? We've been going to school together since we were kids. Of course, I know your name. Idiot." She rolls her eyes and looks back at her phone.
Chan's face hurts from grinning so much, but he couldn't stop even if he tried. He follows her out of the school building and through the gates where there's a car waiting for her at the entrance. It's a flashy sports car that only a Preppy could afford on his middle class parents' salary.
Whatever. Chan has the band van. He doesn't need a red sports car, and one of these days, Minhee will be going home with him instead.
"Hey, babe. Who's that?"
Chan doesn't even stop grinning as Minhee is pulled into her boyfriend's arms and kissed. When they both look back at him, he eyes her up and bites his ringed bottom lip teasingly.
Minhee laughs through a smirk, her eyes sparkling, and says, "Nobody."