We Could Be The Same
A/N: I don't know if I will continue, but I had an idea for this pairing and so I wrote this...
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just a fan of both versions of The Karate Kid.
For all this time, I've been loving you...We Could Be The Same - MANGA
When Dre arrived home, the first thing he did was hang up his jacket. Then he rushed down the hallway to the kitchen, out of which was drifting the tantalizing smell of the housekeeper's cooking. When he went into the kitchen, he was surprised not to see the housekeeper but his mom, Sherry. The stove held a large metal pot from which steam was lazily drifting out and upwards. Sherry turned around from the counter she had been standing at when she heard him arrive. She had a knife in in her hand and she seemed surprised to see him.
"You scared me, Dre.I thought you wouldn't be back from school for another hour" Sherry laid the knife down on a wooden chopping board that was littered with fresh spring onions and peppers. She smiled as she walked over to him and enveloped him into a hug.
Dre hugged her back gently, mindful of her baby bump. "Hey, I thought Mrs Yeoh was meant to be making us dinner..."
Sherry pursed her lips, although her eyes betrayed that she felt guilty. "I sent her home early today. I've been doing so much resting lately and I felt like I was about to go crazy, stuck in the house doing nothing..."
"Mom, your due date is in a week or so. It's better for you and the baby, if you just relax..." Dre replied.
"You know, you sound just like your stepdad" Sherry sighed heavily. "He's been really good to us, Dre. I love him, and I know that we're lucky to have him. It's just that he worries too much, and it's making me feel suffocated..."
Dre was sympathetic to his mom's plight, and he thought about the best way it would be resolved. "Then...you should just talk to him, mom. Explain how you really feel. Mr Han would definitely understand"
Sherry slowly shook her head "It's not as simple as that, Dre. You'll find out for yourself once you're chosen" Sherry smiled at her son. "Anyway, now you're here you can help me with this soup I'm making" She gestured to a pile of potatoes. "You know where the peeler is, right?"
"Yeah, mom" After retrieving the peeler from a cutlery draw, Dre set to work getting the potatoes peeled. While he peeled them, he thought about what his mom had just said. Dre had recently had his 16th birthday, and it meant he was now eligible to be chosen as a werewolf's mate. Up until now, Dre had tried to avoid thinking about it. But that was hard to do, when he was hopelessly in love with one of the werewolves. Dre was practically invisible to Cheng, who was an Alpha's son from a rival pack. Even if by some miracle Cheng liked him too, their packs would not approve of them being mated. Dre was drawn from his thoughts by his mom taking the bowl of peeled potatoes from him.
"Are you alright, honey?" Sherry asked, as she sliced up the potatoes into small chunks.
"I was just thinking I should get started on my homework, mom" Dre started to back away towards the kitchen door.
Sherry laughed, clearly amused at the thought of her son being eager to do his homework. "I don't believe you, but it's alright. You can go to your room and I'll call you when dinner's ready"
"Thanks, mom" Dre smiled at her before he left the kitchen, but he did not go straight up to his room because he heard the doorbell. "I'll get it!" Dre called to his mom. He raced up to the door and opened it, expecting to see perhaps his best friend Harry but instead he saw Master Li standing on the doorstep with his son, Jun. "Oh...Hey, what's up?" He was confused as to why they were there. Master Li and Mr Han jointly owned a highly respected dojo, but it was no secret that the men despised each other. It was a miracle that they managed to work together every day in relative peace, so to have Master Li show up at their family home was a big surprise to Dre.
"May we come in?" Master Li asked, but before Dre could reply, Master Li and his son had already walked into the house as if they owned it. "We have been invited to dinner, but perhaps we arrived too early"
"Uh..." Dre knew nothing about them being invited to dinner, but he did not want to be rude to Mr Han's business partner, as much as he disliked the man. "No, it's cool I guess" Dre led them to the living room. "You can sit down here, and wait until it's time to eat. Mr Han should be back soon, and my mom is cooking in the kitchen. I'll just go and tell her you're here"
Master Li shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I will go and inform your mother of our arrival. Jun, you can stay here. I'm sure Dre will keep you company" He smiled then, a cold smile that did not quite reach his eyes, before he left the room.
Dre had been planning on heading off to his room, but now he knew he was expected to stay. He felt awkward around Jun. Master Li was the kind of werewolf who thought werewolves should not mate with humans. In fact he thought werewolves and humans should be constantly separated, that humans were insignificant and privileged to be around werewolves. And it turned out that Jun felt the same way. Dre had only seen Jun around school, and a few times at the dojo. When they first met Dre had thought he could become Jun's friend, but it was not to be. Jun had at first brushed off Dre's attempts to talk to him, and eventually he had just ignored Dre altogether. Dre had given up in the end, and now he also ignored Jun whenever he saw him.
So Dre went to sit on the sofa, and resolutely stared at the bonsai tree that held pride of place on the glass coffee table. Mr Han took care of the tree, and had taught Dre to do the same. He pretended not to notice when Jun sat next to him, but he could not ignore the other boy when he felt Jun rest a hand on his shoulder. Dre visibly tensed under Jun's touch, but he did not move or say anything, although he did want to talk. The silence remained for a while longer, but eventually Jun broke the silence. "Dre, will you look at me?" He asked. "Please..." He added, almost as an afterthought.
Dre had not planned to do as Jun asked, but he gave in when Jun was polite enough to say please. "What do you want?"
"I need to apologize for my past actions towards you. I know you wanted to be my friend, and I hated hurting you, but it was what my father wanted. He raised me to think of humans as worthless, but I know that cannot be true whenever I see your face, Dre. Until I met you, I never had any interest in considering a human to be my future mate" Jun revealed. "I know more about you than you think. I've been watching you constantly since the day I met you. You just never noticed..." Jun looked like he wanted to say more, but then he fell silent.
Dre was overwhelmed by what Jun was saying to him. He was not sure how to feel about what Jun had admitted to him. "Watching me? You sound like a stalker, Jun"
Jun's face fell and then he frowned. "I guess I deserve that"
Dre felt bad. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just joking around. Actually, I've been watching someone too" When he realized what he had said, Dre bit his lip. It was definitely a bad idea to tell the werewolf who seemed to be obsessed with him that he was watching someone else. This was just one of the many times Dre had spoken before he thought about what he was saying.
Jun's eyes flashed an eerie gold for a moment. "Watching who, Dre?" He practically growled, his grip tightening on Dre's shoulder.
Dre flinched from feeling Jun's fingers digging into his skin. It was painful. "It doesn't matter..." Dre paused. "It was just a dumb crush I had, but it's over now" He lied.
"Are you sure?" Jun asked quietly, with a calculating expression.
"Yeah, I'm sure" Dre replied, making a concentrated effort to remain calm.
Jun gave him a hard stare. "Then why has your heart rate elevated?"
"Because you're scaring me, dude!" Dre exclaimed, quick to answer because he knew if he hesitated Jun would be more convinced that he was lying. "Your eyes changed color, I thought maybe you were gonna shift and attack me"
Jun shook his head fiercely, and to Dre's relief he loosened the grip he had on Dre's shoulder. "No, I'd never do that to you, Dre" Although Jun had calmed down, there was still an intensity in his eyes that made an unsettling contrast to the soft smile on his face. "I love you"
Dre was spared the anxiety of trying to reply to Jun's love confession by the arrival of Master Li and Mr Han, who passed on the news that dinner was finally ready. Dre made sure he was walking next to Mr Han on the trip to the dining room, but he could still sense that Jun was staring at him. And when they all sat down, Dre ended up sitting next to Jun, which was precisely what he had not wanted. He felt like he needed some space from Jun. Mr Han and his mom were sitting on the other side of the table, and Mr Li was at the head of the table. Sherry had wanted to serve up the soup, but Mr Han would not hear of it, and took charge of seeing that everyone's bowls were filled. There were warm bread rolls to go along with the soup, and salad. Master Li had a glass of wine, while Mr Han and Sherry both had water to drink. Dre and Jun had received glasses filled with Coke.
Although Dre was hungry, and ate his food fast, the others at the table ate faster and were already on their second helping of soup when Dre had finished his bowl. Except for Sherry, who was only halfway through her bowl of her soup. Dre ignored the salad and ate one of the bread rolls, then started to sip his drink. The soup was filling, and Dre decided he was done with eating. Jun was in the middle of a discussion with his mom, and was thoroughly charming her. Master Li and Mr Han were making conversation about the dojo, while subtly insulting each other. Dre was about to get up and ask to be excused when Jun took hold of his hand under the table and entwined their fingers. Dre allowed Jun to hold his hand, knowing he was not strong enough to be able to pull his hand away. It was like Jun had sensed Dre wanted to leave, and so had held his hand to stop him. Worse still, having Jun hold his hand just made Dre imagine holding hands with Cheng. Dre smiled as he thought of the attractive older boy who often had a serious expression on his face. His smile disappeared when Jun rose from his seat and started to talk.
Dre could not believe what he was hearing. Jun announced that he and Dre were now dating, and his intention to make Dre his mate. Dre just sat there in total shock, unable to really take in what Jun had said. He was dismayed to realize he was the only one surprised by the news. Everyone congratulated him and Jun, even Master Li although he did so reluctantly and had a sour look on his face. His mom seemed unable to control her tears as she pulled them both into a warm embrace. Sherry had told Dre how proud she was of him, and that she was happy he and Jun had found each other. Mr Han had hugged Dre, then had shook Jun's hand and made him promise to take good care of Dre. After the Li family had left, Dre was finally able to excuse himself from the dining room. He went upstairs to his room feeling numb. He could not sleep, and instead stayed awake thinking about everything that had happened with Jun. When Dre awoke the next morning he was starting to become resigned to the idea of being Jun's mate. He had to be practical. It was not like he could ever be with Cheng. And Dre did not want his family to have to suffer because of him. The working relationship between Mr Han and Master Li was strained enough already, and Dre was afraid of what would happen if he did reject Jun. He was sure Master Li would never forgive such an insult to his family. Master Li had many business ventures and was a very wealthy man, but Mr Han only had the dojo to rely on for financial stability. Dre was sure that Master Li would find a way to destroy the dojo, and he could not allow that to happen.
Thanks for reading :)
