Finding Cinderella | Series | Chapter Four
Title: Finding Cinderella
Pairings: Donghae x reader,(Primary) Heechul x reader (Secondary), Kyuhyun x reader (Secondary)
Author’s Note: I have been planning this story for a while but have been battling many writers’ blocks in doing so. This story will mainly focus on Donghae and the reader but will have branching stories between Heechul, Kyuhyun and two secondary OC characters.
Sidenote: Yes, this series will include Kangin and Sungmin. This was originally started back when the two of them were still active members and in my heart they will always be members so I will include them wherever I see fit.
“Cheers!”
Both girls smiled as they clinked their shot glasses with a clear sound before pouring it down in one shot. After Eunmi finished work they met up by a little food and soju stall not far from her office there the two regularly met up if their planning allowed it for some much needed mindless fun.
“Ah… You have no idea how much I needed this!” Miya stretched her arms above her head with a soft groaning sound before reaching out for a piece of dukbokki. “I have been living on coffee and power bars for the last week!”
“That bad, huh?” Eunmi mused as she reached over for the bottle and poured in some more in both their glasses.
“Are you kidding?! I swear, they just decided to fit as much new stuff in the last week before exams and just expect you to catch up on time!” She slammed her fist onto the table as a growl escaped her lips, “It’s like they want us to fail!”
“Are you sure it’s not because you’ve been dozing off during lectures and now realize that the things they tried to teach you were actually kind of important?” The redhead snickered as she twirled the piece of dukbokki in front of her own face thoughtfully. Knowing her friend, especially from the brief time they spent together taking the same classes, her mind was usually everywhere except with the class.
“Yah!” The dark haired girl glared at her friend as she casually kicked her leg underneath the table. “You hush and be glad you don’t have to deal with that stress anymore!”
“Oh, like I’m living the lazy dream,” Eunmi scoffed, finally stuffing the piece of dukbokki in her mouth and chewing on it with a soft hum before continuing. “I have been on my feet running all over the place for the last couple of weeks trying to get stuff arranged for that party event.”
“At least at the end of it all you get to attend your own party!”
“You mean, I will get the honor of supervising the party,” A sigh escaped her lips as the realisation hit her hard. Sure, the party was meant for artists, celebrities, fans AND staff but since working for the company she couldn’t remember a single instance in which she was able to enjoy any event they organised. If she was even present, she was busy running around armed with a clipboard and her Bluetooth headset.
“Didn’t you say it was held on your day off, before?”
“Yes, but I think I’ll just not attend instead,” She pursed her lips thoughtfully, mindlessly poking a piece of food with her plastic fork. ”The moment they see me, they can’t help but ask me to do stuff.”
“So?” Miya’s brow shot up as her eyes focused on the piece of dukbokki her friend had been poking, reaching over with her own fork as she tried to push her friend’s away. “Just tell them no, it’s your day off and it’s your right to party hard with the idols!”
“And lose my job? No thanks!” She let out a soft laugh, quickly followed by a cringing whine as she sunk in her seat. “And I think it’s better if I don’t bump into any idols anymore… I make such a fool out of myself.”
“Hah!” Miya exclaimed proudly as she had succeeded in sticking her fork in the dukbokki and held it up in triumph, happily showing it into her mouth. “Anymore? Hold up, who did you bump and how did it feel?!”
“I don’t want to talk about it...”
“Ya~ah! As your best friend and wifey I have a right to know if I’m going to lose you to a famous hottie or not!” Miya protested as she once again stomped her hand onto the table, almost knocking over the glasses of soju in the process.
“Oh, now you’re my wifey again?” Eunmi stared at her skeptically, “But when I ask you to buy my coffee you suddenly don’t know I even exist!”
“Hey! I am a poor college kid, I barely have time to buy myself coffee, let alone buy yours too!”
“I was going to pay you back later that day!” Eunmi clicked her tongue. “And so you choose your own needs over your wifey? Aishhh, this is the person I married?”
“Yes, and until you tell me what guy I have to give you away to, you’re stuck with me!” She grinned proudly as she pointed her fork at Eunmi. “So, spill.”
Eunmi let out another groan as she recalled the moment in her head, the embarrassment rushing over her once again. “I… Ugh… I made a complete fool out of myself...”
“Yes, we’ve established that. What happened?”
“Well, I was asked to order some food for Super Junior by their manager as they were reviewing the entries for the invitation event...” Eunmi explained, so far in the story nothing weird had happened. “And when I came back for delivery, their manager slammed the door into me and I almost fell… come to think of it it might have been better if I did fall...”
“Yes, because falling on your butt with take out delivery scattered on the floor would be better than… what, exactly?” Miya couldn’t quite follow how anything could be worse or more embarrassing than face planting in front of a group of world star idols, much less if food was involved.
“Instead I fell into… him...” She cringed as the moment replayed in her mind. Her skin tingling as she could once again feel his hands on her shoulders, the warmth of his chest supporting her tumble.
“Like… On top of him? Both asses down on the ground? Yours coincidentally but strategically placed on--”
“YAH!” Eunmi interrupted her friend loudly, which caused some of the other guests to stare their way, the redhead quickly sinking back into her seat. No, if the scenario her friend was implying had really happened she would have never been able to show her face anywhere ever again. She’d probably get fired, too. “Nothing like that, aish… I just… He caught me in my fall and then I just… zoned out.”
“Zoned out like zombie zoned out? Drool dripping down your chin zoned out?”
“Can you take this seriously, please?” Eunmi huffed, glaring at her friend across the table.
“Sorry, but you’re so vague… If you don’t fill in the blanks then I’m forced to let my imagination do so and well… The results may differ from reality.”
Finally, Miya shot up in her seat as Eunmi proceeded to punish her comment with a firm kick against the shin. With a pout curling her bottom lip, she rubbed the spot that got hit before reaching out for more food to ease the pain.
“It wasn’t even me bumping into him that was so embarrassing… It was…” She bit her lower lip as she thought back again. The way his eyes felt like they were staring straight into her soul, taking away all confidence and making her heart stop beating for the slightest of seconds. It was something she had never experienced before. A feeling she couldn’t quite place, like she wasn’t herself. “Aish… He must have thought I was such a nuisance to say the least… And how could I possibly have thought for even a second that he was complimenting me?! AISHHH!” She ran her hands through her hair in frustration as she started scolding herself for losing her composure.
“Please, like you’re the first person to get weak in the knees before him? He’s an idol, he’s used to it.” She laughed softly, shaking her head. “By the way, who is this he we’re speaking of here?”
“Yeah, but I work for the company. I’m the most reliable source they have, I can’t just get all uncomfortable just because some random guy stared at me...” She huffed, quickly downing her shot of soju as she needed something bitter to punish herself and get her mind out of the cloud of embarrassment and self-cringing she was in. “Lee Donghae is the he we are speaking of.”
“Oh! The fishboy!”
“He’s not a fish.”
“Isn’t that his nickname, though?” Miya frowned as she tried to recall what her friend had once rambled about. She wasn’t a big Super Junior fan herself, or at least not as big as Chanhee for example. She appreciated their musicality and found their appearances on stage or television rather amusing but she couldn’t exactly be placed in the ELF fandom just yet.
“I suppose...” Eunmi shrugged, a lot less interested in his nickname as she was in pouring herself another shot.
“And he complimented you?”
“Nah, he complimented the pizza and chicken...” Eunmi pursed her lips as she remembered how awkward she felt when he pointed that out himself. Of course he was talking about the food.
Miya stared at her friend before bursting out in laughter, so much so that she had to hold onto the table as to not fall off her chair. “Oh man!” She breathed in between laughter. “You got… food-zoned!”
“Yah! I did not get food-zoned!” she pouted as her friend kept laughing. “There is no such thing!”
“If there wasn’t then you guys just invented it!” She continued her laughing fit as Eunmi poured down her shot in frustration, a constant pout on her face. “What if he went back to his members and talked about you?” She wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheek from laughing as she leaned in, lowering her voice so slightly to resemble a man. “Ay, I just bumped into the weirdest chick ever. She stared at me all googly eyes and thought I complimented her on smelling nice when really… I was falling in love with chicken! How weird!” Another round of laughter rolled down her throat as leaned back, clutching her stomach as it was starting to hurt.
“Aishhh...” Eunmi felt even more miserable now that she mentioned it, sinking even lower in her seat If she were lucky, he had forgotten all about what happened or the way she looked at him back there. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
After finishing their food and the bottles of soju they ordered, the two friends parted ways.
Miya couldn’t help but stumble her way over to the nearest convenient store, drinking soju always made her hungry even if she drank it with a meal and she was in dire need of some delicious instant ramen. It also didn’t help that it was one of the few things she was still able to afford, being the poor college student that she was.
She had her hoodie pulled over her head to shield her from the cold, waddling slightly as the alcohol managed to throw her balance off just a tad. She wasn’t drunk, tipsy at best but the ability of walking in a straight line had long since disappeared.
Humming softly and with exaggerated steps, she turned the corner to enter the convenient store and found herself slamming into something, or rather someone. Her head collided with something hard, immediately snapping her out of her thoughts as she stumbled back and promptly landed on her butt, accompanied by the sound of cans dropping onto the cold hard floor.
“Aishh...” She muttered with her eyes pinched close as she tried to ignore the ringing in her ears after headbutting whatever it was she hit, rubbing the spot roughly as if to wipe the pain away. “Stupid lamp post”
“Yah, who are you calling a lamp post?!”
The rough voice hissing at her surprised her, as she finally opened her eyes. Her gaze was on the ground first, noticing the cans of beer, packed ramen and cat food scattered around on the floor as she then began to note the shadow cast down on the floor beside it. Following the shadow lead to a pair of black sneakers belonging to a black haired, averagely built young man. He wasn’t too big nor too small, he didn’t seem to be extremely muscular but he wasn’t scrawny either. His face was partially covered by his black mask but his dark glare shot daggers straight through her heart.
“Ah… I’m… Sorry...” She mumbled as she got up from the floor, collecting some of his groceries that had falling because of their collision.
“Sorry?” He muttered back, his voice muffled behind his mask. “Aish… What is your head made off? Wood?” Rubbing his own head painfully, she could hear him groan ever so slightly.
“Yah... ” She began as she held out the groceries to him. “Your head is pretty hard too, I thought I bumped into a lamp post...”
“Do I look like a lamp post to you?” He hissed as he grabbed the groceries out of her hands in a hasty manner. He glared at her again before checking if everything he bought was still in order. “Watch where you’re going next time! Or don’t go on a stroll when you’re drunk!”
“Drunk? I’m not drunk! I am perfectly sober!” She protested, at first she felt sorry for bumping into him as she knew she was walking a bit too fast and reckless for it to feel like a simple nudge, but the way he was scolding her didn’t suit her at all. “You’re to blame too! Who walks out of a store without looking?!”
“Please, I could smell the soju from a mile away!” He replied with a soft scoff accompanying his words as Miya sneakily tried to smell her own breath to see if he was right. “Me? Who enters a store without politely waiting for all other people to exit?!”
“Aish!” She clicked her tongue as she averted her gaze, trying her best not to stomp his foot out of frustration. Typical guy behavior, always blaming it on someone else. “I hope my head left a bump!”
“This punk!” He growled. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“Yeah,” She replied with full confidence. “A reckless brat, that’s who! Calling me drunk when you’re the one carrying beer! Aish!”
“At least I am old enough to drink!” He growled back. “You’re lucky I was in a good mood before this...” He seemed to be threatening her, the attitude with which he spoke didn’t help his case either.
Miya wanted to respond when another voice from across the street caught their attention.
“Hyung! Hurry! It’s cold!” Both pair of eyes gazed over to the person waving on the other side, he looked a tad smaller than the man she bumped into, the light too dim for her to get a good look at his face but his tone of voice sounded a lot friendlier than the stranger she was arguing with.
“You got lucky...punk!” He growled as he passed her, not helping himself as he nudged his shoulder against hers as he did.
Miya glared after him. “Yeah? Well…. L-lamp post!” She called after him, not being able to come up with a better insult at the moment. She hissed to herself as she turned around and stomped into the convenience store. “Aishh...”
“You look angry, Heechul hyung...” Donghae stared at the older male’s face as he casually draped his arm over his shoulders. “What happened? Did that girl reject you?”
“Please!” Heechul immediately bit back, still feeling irritated by his unfortunate encounter. “I wouldn’t give a person like her the time of day!”
“That bad, huh?” The younger male couldn’t help but chuckle as he lowered his arm, nudging him in the side. “Why did you give you that adorable nickname then? Lamp post hyung?”
“Aish, this punk… Are you asking to be punched?” He stopped, turning to glare at the younger male who couldn’t stop grinning as he dared to tease the almighty Heechul. Donghae was probably one of the only people who could nag and annoy him and get away with it, but that didn't mean he wouldn’t retaliate with some sort of threat.
“You wouldn’t,” Donghae grinned proudly as he continued walking. “Lamp post hyung loves me too much!”
“Yah! Lee Donghae-yah!”
