[Super Junior] puppeteering, PG, AU/Romance, QMi

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Two months later... I haven't given up on Qmi fratboy verse, yet! Sorry for the delay. I am hoping next parts will come much faster since Qmi has eaten my brain recently. ♥

Fratboy AU | (01)

(02) puppeteering
Super Junior, Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun, PG, 1210 words
AU. Heechul is always willing to be a good friend and pull some strings.


puppeteering
by meiface

"Ge," she said, smiling at him when he approached the table. She moved some of her books around to make room for him as he settled in across from her, dropping his bag onto the ground. "Did you finish your presentation?"

Zhou Mi grinned as he sat. "It's all done! One less thing to worry about." He reached over and pulled the book she had open across the table, turning it to face him. "So what lesson are you on today?"

"Eighteen," Sunye sighed. "It's an essay on the history of the Great Wall, which is pretty interesting, but I swear I haven't seen half these characters before." She pouted a little as Zhou Mi flipped through the lesson, eyes skimming over the essay in question. "I swear my Chinese is regressing..."

Zhou Mi looked up then. "Oh Sunye, you know your Chinese is good." His smile was warm and genuine as he pushed the book back toward her. "We'll start by refreshing your memory on some of the terms you learned last week, okay?"

Ten minutes into the tutoring session, Liyin walked by, clutching her own pile of books to her chest. She stopped abruptly when she caught sight of them, her expression brightening. "Hey," she greeted them, walking over. "Ge! I was just looking for you. Are you free for dinner? I was hoping we could discuss some ideas for the Lunar New Year festival."

"Of course! Are you free at six?"

They settled the details of where they'd meet and Liyin waved them goodbye, before traipsing off to the second floor with her books. Sunye retuned to her own book, frowning over Chinese, and Zhou Mi pulled out his cell phone. Sunye's eyes flicked up to watch him send off a long and rapid text, and her mouth twitched in a smile.

"Letting your roommate know you won't be back for dinner?" she teased.

Zhou Mi didn't even have the grace to be embarrassed. "Yep." Sunye didn't know Kyuhyun, but she had been studying with Zhou Mi for half a year now. He was always going on about "my roommate said this" or "the other day, my roommate did this": even if she hadn't met Cho Kyuhyun in person, she obviously knew how important he was to Zhou Mi.

It gave him a warm feeling inside, that even people who weren't close mutual friends, who didn't know the both of them the way Kibum did, could tell how close they were. The mark of truly good friends, he often thought. Truly good friends who were also lucky enough to be roommates.

And maybe...

Zhou Mi stopped the thought with a fierce inner frown at himself. He wouldn't let himself go there. He had better self-control than that. He knew better than that.

***

He fell in love the first time he heard Kyuhyun sing. That in itself was not embarrassing...but it wasn't a story Zhou Mi liked to share, because the first time he heard Kyuhyun sing was in the shower. He'd been in his own room, minding his own business, when strains of an unfamiliar song had wafted down the hallway.

That was fine. What Zhou Mi didn't like admitting to was the fact that he'd wandered, entranced, down the hallway until he'd pinpointed the origin of the sound as coming from behind the bathroom door. And he might have stood for a minute or two with his ear pressed against that door, straining for every note in that perfect voice, his heart pounding as he tumbled head over heels.

And every time after that, every time Zhou Mi heard Kyuhyun sing, he fell a little more in love.

***

Once, he'd gotten his hopes up, when Kyuhyun looked at him with those compelling dark eyes, something unreadable in them as he stared, listening to Zhou Mi sing. It was like there was something more - more than just friendship and easy jokes, more than morning routines and a shared living space - something more like Zhou Mi had always dreamed.

But Kyuhyun had only smiled afterward. "You have an amazing voice," he'd said simply, and Zhou Mi had flushed warm from the compliment, and simultaneously felt as if he were losing something, disappointment sagging in his chest.

"Thank you." And he hadn't known why he'd felt like crying.

***

"That's your favor?" he asked, staring blankly down at his rice. He fingered his chopsticks uneasily, not quite sure how to take Liyin's request.

"Please," she said, looking earnestly at him. "I really want this year's show to be a success and, well, I've heard both you and Kyuhyun sing. You guys doing a duet would be phenomenal."

Zhou Mi hesitated, because part of him would have loved to...but part of him was telling him he'd never get over Kyuhyun this way. A duet was so intimate, he thought, shivering a little. And they would be performing in front of the entire university, everyone who came to attend the annual Lunar New Year festival organized by the Chinese Student Association.

Liyin was chairing the LNY committee this year. Zhou Mi had know her since she'd joined his CSA in high school, her a bright-eyed freshman and him securely in his junior year. Now she was a sophomore in college, aiming for successful bid at CSA presidency next year, and he couldn't deny her that chance...

Zhou Mi rubbed his face. "I'll ask," he said at last. He could promise her that much. "I don't know if he'll say yes but..."

Liyin beamed at him. "Thank you so much, ge! I mean, officially, the two of you will still need to audition, but there's no way the exec board's not going to approve you. You two are so good. Everyone knows it."

Zhou Mi's smile was a pale imitation of his usual ones, a little crooked and self-deprecating. "I'll ask," he said again.

He wasn't sure what he wanted Kyuhyun to choose.

***

"Did he agree?" Heechul wanted to know.

Liyin laughed into the phone. "He said he'd ask, but we all know there's no way Kyuhyun would say no to any request from him."

Heechul crowed a little in delight. "Good, good. And don't worry, I'll make sure the Lambdas put up a good act on stage for your show."

Liyin smiled, pleased. A powerhouse duet from Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi, as well as a strong performance from Lambda Phi Epsilon? It was a good trade. It was always nice having people like Heechul on your side; he tended to have others on strings, or wrapped around his fingers, and always got things done.

"Oh," she said suddenly, as a thought occurred to her. "Do you think you can get Lee Donghae to dance?"

Heechul's smirk was clear even through the phone. "Now that boy owes me a lifetime of favors. Consider it done, princess."

"Thanks, Heechul." She laughed. "I'm glad you're an honorary member of CSA." But it was unsurprising, considering how close he was with most of the board and half the members. He was a little bit of a China-slut, Liyin thought affectionately, but hey. It worked out for her.

This was going to be the most memorable LNY in years.



--

Started: 2009.07.28
Finished: 2009.09.20