xo, minho | xo, kitty ff

t h i r t e e n :

soundtrack;
the book - alexandre desplat

Minho's agency's article served as a warning to those who wished to cross the line, stating that they would take action against those who 'defamed' their precious talent. But the question on everyone's mind still remained; was the infamous playboy finally off the market?

Contrary to the article's purpose, students in KISS took this as their motivation to ensure that a lasting impression had been made on Minho before he became too committed with this mysterious girl. Countless love letters, sticky notes professing their affection, flowers and chocolates littered his locker in a feeble attempt to vie for his attention.

This left Adelaide- and the rest of his friend group barely any chance to interact with Minho during school without being bombarded by lovesick individuals. Because of this, she took the chance to dive headfirst into her schoolwork, consuming much of her time completing her dreaded English literature assignment. Her fingers flew rapidly as she regurgitated words onto the computer screen, not feeling particularly drawn to it. Away from the craziness of the school's social circle, perched on a table outdoors with plenty of fresh air, Adelaide thought it would magically help her have confidence in her work to no avail.

"You look great." Minho's sarcasm flowed effortlessly as he took a seat. He handed her a milk coffee from the convenience store as a peace offering. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her question coming out harsher than she'd intended.

"Needed a break from all my fans. I'll have you know that I'm actually quite the hot stuff," He pointed out the obvious. "Sure, sure. Whatever makes you happy."

Taking a chomp of his cold sandwich, he peered over her shoulder and read the document open on her laptop. She shrunk back, blocking the screen from view. "Don't look!" Minho backed off but watched her actions quizzically. "What are you so scared of? I can barely sit through a book, much less judge your essay." Stubbornly, she refused to budge, "It's a hot mess."

"OK." He relented easily, causing Adelaide to reel forward. "No sassy remark to make?"

"Your business is yours to make, I have enough on my plate as it is." Minho cast a forlorn gaze towards the school building.

"You're so dramatic."

"Hey! It's not easy being famous, okay."

Happily, she sipped her cold and refreshing drink. "I'm not denying that. But there's more pros than cons to being rich and famous than you're letting on." He quirked his head, prompting her to continue. "Well, for starters you have the ability to work for whatever you want. Most of us don't have the privilege of pursuing our dreams."

"You're right... But doesn't that depend on the person? Whether or not you achieve your dreams is up to how hard you believe and truly work for it." He spoke with deliberate circumspect. "For me, to be able to believe is a distant enough dream." Adelaide's gloom hung over like a stormy cloud.

Abysmal, her eyes scanned the writing on the wall- or her device. "Studying here scares me because it makes me want to believe in dreams that can never happen for someone like me."

"And who are you exactly? How can you say with such surety that you don't have the privilege- no, the right to dream if you're still figuring out who you are?" Minho's level tone revealed his true intentions- he didn't say these words to spite her, rather it was quite the opposite. He said them out of care and respect for her as a person. As they sat there in silence, allowing their conversation to ripen like a fruit tree fighting against the harsh elements to stay alive and bear fruit, the gears in Adelaide's mind seemed to work on overdrive.

A bright light seemed to switch on in her brain, "You're a genius, Minho!" Her arms toppled over him in remuneration while a surging burst of energy reignited her spirit once again. In a flurry of haphazard movements, Adelaide had packed her things and headed in the direction of the library. "Thank youu!" She whipped her head around so fast that her wild and untamed hair nearly covered the joyful smile on her lips.

"Duh, that's what I've been trying to tell you the whole time." His deep voice rumbled under his breath. Even his concealed jokes wouldn't allow him to deny the growing inkling of delightful fulfillment inside. With a renewed spirit himself, Minho walked off towards his practice room feeling much lighter than originally.

. . .

Waiting with bated breath, Professor Lee's expression stayed unreadable as he flipped through the hardcopy pages of Adelaide's drafted outline. His only indication of emotion being the slightest raise of the ends of one of his eyebrow.   Setting them down, he levelled his head towards her. "This... is certainly unexpected." Crestfallen, Adelaide felt a pit of apprehensive dread in her stomach.

"Unexpected... but not unwelcome," He began reviewing the contents of her draft in detail, making sure to point out any concerns thoroughly. By the end of their meeting, the feedback given could be exemplified through the various pencil marks and red scribbles on her sheets.

"You're one of my latest students to present me their draft and for your sake, I hope you use your time wisely." In classic fashion, Professor Lee's version of encouragement teetered the boundaries of a cautionary warning to do and be better.

Fleeing the room, she flitted over like a chirpy sparrow straight to the boy's dorms where everyone was sprawled all over, both hiding from the chaos of Minho's loving fans and crunching in a last-minute study effort. Breaking through the front door, she marched in with a triumphant air. "He liked my draft! At least, I think he did? Well, Professor Lee didn't say anything totally bad about it, so I suppose that's a win?"

Instantaneously, Minho lifted her feet of the ground and spun with shared excitement. "That's amazing, Dede!"

Comfortably resting her head in the crook of his shoulders, she let out a muffled squeal. Yuri's pen pointed to and from the happy pair, "Hold on, did I miss a chapter?" Grounded by Yuri's perplexing manner, they awkwardly separated when realising that all eyes were on them.

"Professor Lee's grading our literature paper this semester and he approved my draft! I might actually pass this class!"

"Please, you are not going to fail it in the first place." Q reasoned with her, before scooting closer. "What I really want to know is when did... this happen..?" He gestured to all of them.

"Nothing happened. We made up and Minho was just helping me with the essay yesterday." If Minho was being totally honest, Adelaide's firm voice stung a bit but he would survive.

"Minho? Helping you with English lit? Please, at least try to craft a believable lie." Just as Minho was about to protest, Dae stuck his head out. "Okay, okay. Let's not get into a fight, I need to focus here!"

"We'll be watching you two," Kitty signed two fingers in front of her narrowed eyes to symbolise her hawkish behaviour. "Especially you, Minho."

. . .

Author's note 💌

Its a shorter chapter than usual today, but a meaningful one 🫶🏼