Permanent Markers (1/2)

3rd week of school: Monday

Sungmin's POV

"What have I done in my previous life?"

Have you ever found yourself asking the same question?

Probably. It's only natural to think that when something bad happens.

Was it because a teacher caught you cheating during a test?

Or because your parents took away your laptop for getting bellow average marks?

Or because your girlfriend/boyfriend dumped you in public?

Or was it perhaps - just maybe - because the person you hated the most in the world just happened to be in the same club as you? Like by coincidence?

I narrowed my eyes at Kyuhyun who just let out a low laugh before continuing to text ( my brother ).

Seriously: What have I done In my previous life?

Why was the person I hated the most in the whole wide world in the same club as me?

Ok... Of course I was overreacting...

I didn't hate Kyuhyun the most in the whole wide world. I actually didn't hate him at all. He was my bro's best friend and I was almost positive that Sungjin knows how to pick out his own friends - I trusted my brother with his choice of friends.

Of course that didn't mean that I was completely in love with the freshman. He still pissed me off but as long as I avoided I think I would be able to tolerate him.

The key words are "as long as I avoided him"

"Students, sit down. We'll start in a minute." - The music teacher Mr. Ahn said in a quiet voice - he didn't need to raise his voice -everyone either respected him or was afraid of him. I liked him in a way. He loved music and it was always nice when he taught it to us with so much passion. But if you ever made him mad, he'd become a monster.

The conversations quieted down and everyone took a seat on the floor.

I quickly darted towards my friend Leeteuk who took a seat in the back of the room.

"Hi, Teukie-hyung!" - I smiled while sitting down next to him.

"Hey!" - he smiled back showing off his only dimple. ( Why does he have only one dimple? That's weird... )

The teacher stood up and Leeteuk placed a finger to his lips making sure I realize that now would be a good time to shut if I didn't want to be thrown off the 2nd floor a couple of times before being run over by Mr. Ahn's new Toyota. And after that I'd still probably have to clean His car from any signs of blood...

"Well, hello students!" - we all murmured a greeting back - "Today is our first... clubmeet this year. It is nice to see some familiar faces - that means that I haven't scared everyone away just yet." - the older students chuckled at that while the new members looked around a bit confused -"For those who don't know me my name us Mr. Ahn and I am the music teacher in this school. In this club you will be able to learn or polish your musical skills. Mostly we just practice in a group or each person on their own but each lesson I want one of you to do a small performance - singing, playing instruments, reading rap - anything as long as you don't damage my eardrums. We meet two times a week - Mondays and Thursdays. Don't be late." - He looked around the room - "Does anyone have any questions?" - He looked around once again - "Well, okay... I you will find yourselves needing any help don't think twice before asking. I don't usually bite. And if I am busy you can ask one of the seniors - there's Changmin right over there, Junsu, the other Junsu who you shall call Leeteuk in order not to get confused, Sungmin, Yesung... Is that all the seniors left? God... How bad was I to scare away so many new people....? .... That's not the point though..... Today is mainly an introduction so we won't be doing anything new but I do want one of you to do the small performance we talked about.... Preferably one of the newbies.... Any volunteers?" - a hand shot up. Mr. Ahn nodded - "Ok, young man, please come up."

I rolled my eyes when u saw who had volunteered to sing.

I always knew that Kyuhyun was arrogant and damn confident. He just looks like that type of prick.

"Introduce yourself." - Mr. Ahn sat down in his favorite leather chair - one of his most prized posessions.

Kyuhyun cleared his throat and turned towards us.

"My name is Cho Kyuhyun and I am a first year."

"And what shall you be showcasing today?" - Mr. Ahn curiously inquired.

"Singing"

"Shoot right away."

Kyuhyun cleared his throat once again and closed his eyes.

An then he started.

...

You know how some voices seem to be made in heaven? The ones that are so pure and melodical? The ones that seem to tell a story?

Why do those voices always belong to annoying pricks?

I heard Leeteuk release a barely-audible 'oh'.

And he was damn right.

Kyuhyun was amazing. So amazing that it even heard my pride as I had always considered myself a great singer yet compred to Kyuhyun I was only a bit above average.

His voice was so... There are no words to describe it.

It was just so angelic.

And he was singing with so much emotion - with so much... sadness but at the same time with so much gratitude.

I didn't know the song but it was truly beautiful.

I didn't even realize that I had closed my eyes somewhere amidst his little concert.

Only when people started clapping did I open them in shock.

People seemed just as surprised as me. They kept exchanging little comments about how amazing he was and mr. Ahn was clapping his hands with a look of disbelief on his face. Leeteuk said something to me but I didn't catch it - I was too focused on Kyuhyun.

He looked a bit awkward amidst the cheering students. His eyes kept running around as if he wasn't really sure where to stop them.

In that process his eyes locked with mine. He looked rather nervous - vulnerable I would even say. Maybe it was that or the fact that he WAS trully amazing that made me actually smile at him. ( What the hell happened to me? )

Kyuhyun seemed just as surprised as me but his eyes lit up nonetheless and he returned the smile before bowing a little and sitting down.

Mr. Ahn proceeded to take his place and started praising Kyuhyun but I didn't really hear anything - I was busy thinking about something.

Kyuhyun was nervous. And he was searching for some kind of comfort. And he found it. In my eyes. Kyuhyun found comfort in my eyes. And we smiled at each other.

...

My conclusion: That was weird.

Really weird.

...

Although was it?

Kyuhyun was my brother's best friend and it's given that Sungjin would once in a while ( hopefully ) say nice things about me. Or he'd whine about me being annoying but I am sure that even an idiot could see how much Sungjin and I actually loved each other.

On the other hand Kyuhyun was somebody I didn't have a particular liking to but I trusted him with my brother so that must mean... that deep down I thought he was a decent guy... just with a really cocky and annoying personality.

And that exact moment when Kyuhyun needed somebody to "rely on" it's only natural that he would search for somebody he knew - somebody he could more or less trust.

That person just happened to be me.

And Kyuhyun being most definitely not a stranger to me was of course somebody I wanted to more or less help. So that's why I decided to sent him a more or less reassuring smile.

And he was thankful for that so he smiled back.

I smiled in content at my own theory - I am such a genius.

I actually managed to prove to myself that despite me helping him I was still not very fond of him.

My smile then fell as a new

realization hit me.

Even though we both weren't fond of the other our desire to hate each other was strong enough to actually bring us closer.

Leeteuk nudged me and I woke up from my trance. The student around us had already stood up and seemed to be getting ready to leave.

"Lets go?" - Leeteuk offered his hand to me and I let myself be pulled up by him.

While grabbing my bag I glanced over at Kyuhyun who was surrounded by some other first years who were all praising his skills and patting him on the back.

I couldn't help but chuckle when Kyuhyun's eyes doubled in size as a group of girls started swooning over him - for such a cocky guy he sure is awkward around women.

Leeteuk nudged me once again and motioned towards the exit. I stole one last glance at Kyuhyun before following Leeteuk out of the room.

"The guy sure was good!" - were the first words Leeteuk uttered in the hallway - "He's a natural I tell you. Probably had it from birth... But it's obvious he practiced before and not only relied on his natural talent so that's good." - He nodded at his own words - "I hate snobs who brag about a talent they had from birth and take it for granted... But this Kyuhyun's different - he seemed to be more embarassed than proud... He'll probably be the new sensation... Him and Yesung - those are our secret weapons... With both of them we have a chance at winning the stupid contest... And the dance club also has recruited a prodigy or so I've heard... That boy and your Donghae can guarantee the trophy for our school in the dance competition... And Choi Siwon is our star sportsman... Plus that new freshman - another Choi..."

Throughout Leeteuk's little monologue I just nodded and sometimes added a 'hmm' or a 'yea'.