Chapter Eight: The Broken Sunflower
Ivan stared, glowering, at the door that had just been shut in his face. "Kolkolkolkolkol..." How dare Kiku do this! And after he tried to be polite too! It had been for Yong Soo's sake, of course, but-
Wait. Yong Soo's? Ivan shook his head. No, it was for Yao's sake, obviously. But... he had never tried to be nice to Kiku before even though he knew it upset Yao when he fought with his brother. But the fight's had just been so amusing that Ivan never really thought to make peace. So why was he trying now?
Ivan frowned, his brow furrowed as his anger melted into confusion. His stomach felt uncomfortably heavy when he knocked on the door again, hoping this time someone other than Kiku would answer.
No such luck. "I thought I told you not to come here again." The small boy's face was dark, the deep frown betraying his irritation despite his calm voice.
"I vant to see Yong Soo." The childish lilt to Ivan's voice was gone now, his tone was harsher, more demanding.
"Is that so?" Kiku asked, his voice mockingly sad, and continued before Ivan could reply, "That's too bad. We are just sitting down for dinner."
Ivan blinked, Kiku's sudden change in attitude fazing him momentarily. "Dinner?"
"That's right. Now goodbye."
Ivan didn't even notice when the door was shut in his face for a second time. The gears in his head turned slowly. Dinner? That's too bad... Ivan frowned, but it was quickly replaced with a small smile. If Yong Soo was busy, then he would just have to wait!
-o-o-o-
Ivan eyed Yong Soo's window uneasily. It was a little smaller than he remembered it being. And a little further off the ground. Cautiously, he reached out and tested the window then, finding it unlocked, pushed it open. He pulled himself through the almost-too-small opening, his legs kicking behind him in an effort to gain leverage, and tumbled onto Yong Soo's floor with a dull thud.
A strangled, dismayed cry escaped Ivan's throat as the bouquet caught his eye; the sunflowers had not fared very well in the fall. Several golden petals littered the floor and one of the flowers even had a broken stem. Ivan gently stroked the abused flowers. Should he still give them to Yong Soo? He carefully placed the bouquet on the bed and sat down to wait. Of course he should. Ivan was sure that Yong Soo would still like the sunflowers. He looked down at them with a small smile. Even broken, they were still beautiful. He could only hope Yong Soo would agree.
-o-o-o-
"Man, that salesman sure was persistent, huh?" Yong Soo sung, happy and full of good food.
"I suppose," Lee responded blankly as he followed the Korean back to his room.
"Yeah, it was kind of funny to see how annoyed Kiku-hyung was getting though, da ze!" Yong Soo snickered and covered his mouth with his sleeved hand, remembering how huffy his older brother had gotten when the knocking had interrupted dinner. Kiku didn't get mad very often so when he did it was hilarious!
As Yong Soo wiped the tears from his eyes, the pair reached his room. He grabbed the handle and opened the door about halfway before he stiffened suddenly and slammed the door shut again. He spun on his heel and leaned against the door. Panic was written on his face as he glanced nervously down the hall where the sounds of his brothers cleaning up after dinner drifted back to them. He visibly calmed and looked back at Lee, then faked a yawn. "You know what, I kinda tired. I think I'm just gonna go to bed."
Lee raised a thick eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, looking unimpressed, "It's only 8 o'clock."
Yong Soo huffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Lee. If I'm tired, I'm tired."
Although, after scrutinizing the other's face for a long moment, Lee finally nodded, he still looked skeptical. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Right!" Yong Soo chirped a little too quickly, his anxiety showing. Still facing Lee, he opened the door a crack and slipped inside, careful not to let his friend see inside.
The moment the door was closed Ivan's arms wrapped around Yong Soo's waist and pulled the smaller boy to his chest. Yong Soo yelped in surprise and wriggled in the Russian's grasp.
"Yong Soo? Are you okay?" The monotone voice, tinged only slightly with concern, drifted through the door.
"Y-yeah, Lee! Just stepped on something, da ze!" Yong Soo looked back at Ivan, frowned, and stomped on his foot, as if to make his statement true. Ivan just smiled and hugged the Korean tighter.
"Alright. Goodnight."
"G'night, Lee! I'll see you tomorrow, da ze!"
Yong Soo and Ivan stood in silence for about thirty seconds waiting for Lee to be out of earshot, before Yong Soo's limited patience ran out. "What are you doing in my room?" Yong Soo spun around in Ivan's arms and asked in a whispered hiss.
"I came to... 'make it up to you'." Ivan didn't bother whispering and Yong Soo, knowing either of his brothers (or Lee, for that matter) would be furious if they found the Russian in his room, smacked him on the arm.
"Shh!" Yong Soo smacked him again for good measure. "You're not supposed to be here; you're gonna get me in trouble, da ze!"Despite saying this, Yong Soo's hushed words were said with a grin and his eyes shone with excitement. "Now how are you planning to make it up to me?"
Ivan finally released the younger boy and walked over to the bed for the bouquet. He gently pushed it at the Korean, the delicate frown out of place on his usually smiling face. "Got hurt on climb through window."
"You got hurt? Oh, no! Where?" Yong Soo looked him up and down, searching for torn clothing or blood.
"Нет. Flowers got hurt."
"Oh, good. Well, not good but, you know... I thought you got hurt." Yong Soo let out a sigh of relief and put his hand on his chest.
Ivan's face flushed, embarrassed that Yong Soo was so concerned for him, but also oddly happy. Yao never worried about him like that... "Here. Is for you." He thrust the flowers toward Yong Soo again.
"Oh, wow..." Yong Soo hesitated for a moment, and then shakily took the flowers, as if he didn't really believe they were for him. "They're really pretty..." A full dozen huge, long-stemmed sunflowers now lay in Yong Soo's arms, wrapped in bright golden yellow tissue paper and tied with a large silk green ribbon. Yong Soo brushed his fingertips across the face of one flower, smiling at the odd fuzzy feeling. He hugged the bouquet to his chest and buried his face in the sunflowers. "Thanks, Ivan. No one's ever given me flowers before." He looked up and smiled at Ivan shyly, embarrassed for acting so much like a girl.
Ivan's heart clenched oddly tight in his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the lightly blushing Asian in front of him. He didn't even seem to notice the sunflowers were damaged... "You are velcome." He said finally, his eyes focused on his feet. "I vas going to take you to dinner, but..."
Yong Soo laughed, muffling it with his cloth-covered hand. "Rain-check then?"
"Rain... check?" Ivan tilted his head to one side, the confusion evident in his wide eyes.
"Oh!" Yong Soo giggled and gently placed the sunflowers on his desk atop the dangerously towering pile of school work. "I just meant you could take me out some other time, da ze."
"Ah! Да!" Ivan smiled brightly. Yong Soo wanted to see him again! And it definitely didn't seem like he was mad anymore!
"Come on," Yong Soo grabbed the Russian's hand with a grin and pulled him to the bed. Ivan took a seat and watched as Yong Soo walked away again and started fiddling with something in front of the television. The TV turned on and loud upbeat music filled the room. The name of the game flashed across the screen as Yong Soo hopped onto the bed and handed Ivan a controller.
Ivan flinched at the weight that suddenly pressed against his arm before he saw that it was only Yong Soo leaning against him. He smiled to himself as a warm, fluttery feeling washed over him and he barely heard Yong Soo telling him that the game they were playing originated in Korea.
-o-o-o-
A/N: Ah... fluff. Cute. Sorry it took so long! I've been swamped with end-of-the-semester stuff. I've actually had this written for about a week, but I just couldn't find the time to type it up. You should feel lucky though! I really should be studying...