[PG-13] Caught in Between (21/25)
Title: Caught in Between
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
It wasn’t easy. Not talking to Kyuhyun and not having her best friend to talk to about it wasn’t easy. It was like there was a hole in her, like she was walking exposed and unprotected. There was definitely something missing. But even so, she couldn’t talk to either of them. She still hadn’t gotten over Kyuhyun’s lie and she didn’t know how she could ever face Eunhyuk again.
Taeyeon sighed and buried her face in her arms. What was she going to do? Surprisingly, Eunhyuk hadn’t approached her and tried to talk to her about what happened. It’s actually been a week since she saw him. Sighing again, she wondered if he told anyone. Would he have told Sungmin? What about Yuri? She knew that they had gotten to be friends after Yuri got together with Yunho. What about Sunny? The thought gave her the shivers. She couldn’t even open up to her own sister about what happened. It was just too weird. And she was sure Sunny would freak out.
She lifted her head up and stared blankly at the tabletop. She closed her eyes and sighed again. Suddenly, there was a bang. Taeyeon stared at Sunny, who was seated across her, in surprise.
“If you sigh again, I’m going to throw this book at you,” Sunny chided. Sungmin and Tiffany looked at Sunny fearfully.
“Sorry,” Taeyeon muttered, gathering her stuff. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Sungmin asked, watching her closely. He sensed that what was bothering Taeyeon wasn’t only Kyuhyun. There was something else.
“Just… around,” Taeyeon answered vaguely. “I’ll see you guys in class.” She stood up and walked away.
“Aish that girl,” Sunny said irritably, slamming the book on the table.
“Sunny,” Sungmin quietly scolded. “She’s hurting.”
“You try living with her when she’s in that state,” Sunny demanded. “It’s depressing. Even Heechul oppa can’t stand her.”
“Well… maybe she just needs a distraction,” Tiffany suggested.
“Like what?” Sunny wanted to know. She was concerned for her sister and she felt bad that Kyuhyun lied, but she really couldn’t take the gloominess anymore. She was open to options.
“Shopping?” Tiffany replied.
“Taeyeon isn’t someone you can just take shopping,” Sunny told her.
Tiffany grinned. “Well I know an expert.” She grabbed her things and stood up. “See you guys later.”
~ * ~
“So you mean I should say it this way, instead of how I just did?” Jessica clarified, looking at Donghae. They were in the library, studying communication styles.
“Yes,” Donghae answered. “Saying it like that isn’t going to move your relationship with any person forward, instead it’s going to strain it. Because you order people around and don’t hear what they have to say, they grow afraid and resentment towards you. That’s aggressive communication. Try it with assertive communication.”
“Does anyone actually use this stuff?” she asked, looking at her book.
“You just don’t realize it, but you use aggressive communication everyday,” he told her teasingly. Jessica glared at him and Donghae chuckled. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he said, referring to her glare.
“I’m really nice, you know,” she told him with a pout.
“I know you are,” he agreed, smiling. “I was just teasing you.” He could officially vouch for Jessica’s niceness and sweetness. He’d witnessed her being really sweet and motherly to kids when they volunteered at an orphanage the past weekend. He saw how caring she was to her family and friends. He saw her. The real her.
Jessica rolled her eyes at him, but smiled. She was so used to Donghae teasing her all the time. In fact, she didn’t mind it at all. He was probably the only person who could tease her as much as he did. She went back to studying her book and read all about assertive communication.
Donghae watched as Jessica squinted her eyes and concentrated on what she was studying. She looked so serious and cute when they studied. She squinted her eyes and bit her lips. She really was so cute. He was so engrossed in watching her that he didn’t realize that she was staring.
“Is there something on my face?” she asked, looking at him curiously. She touched her cheeks.
“Uh, no,” he answered uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. He cleared his throat as he blushed. He should really stop staring at her all the time or she’d realize that he was weird, remember that he was a geek and stop hanging out with him.
She smirked. “I know I’m pretty, but you don’t have to stare.”
“Huh? Uh, right,” he answered lamely, clearing his throat again.
“I was just kidding,” she said, chuckling. When he didn’t say anything, she looked at him for a while and shrugged. Turning her attention back to her book, she started to read again.
“Sica, hey,” Tiffany said, arriving. She sat down beside her. “Hi Donghae!”
“Hey,” Donghae said, nodding.
“What’s up?” Jessica asked.
“I need your help with something,” Tiffany told her. “I was hoping you can go shopping with me after school.”
“Today?” Jessica asked, a bit surprised. “I’m kind of busy after school.” She gestured towards the books on the table.
“It’s kind of important,” Tiffany said quietly but urgently.
“Why?” Jessica wanted to know. It was weird for Tiffany to want to go shopping this badly. She usually had to be threatened.
“It’s Taeyeon,” Tiffany said.
“What about Taeyeon?” Donghae asked, joining the conversation.
“She’s not doing so well,” Tiffany shared with a sigh. “And I was thinking that if we take her shopping, it would take her mind off things.”
“But Taeyeon doesn’t shop,” Donghae pointed out.
“You have other ideas?” Tiffany asked him. “Staying at home isn’t doing her any good. Sunny doesn’t know what to do with her.”
“What about Eunhyuk?” Jessica suggested. “Surely he knows how to cheer her up.”
“We don’t know where he is,” Tiffany said. “I haven’t been seeing him around. So shopping. You’re the expert.”
Jessica hesitated. “I don’t know if I’m exactly the right person for her to be with right now.” She was Kyuhyun’s friend, after all.
Tiffany waved her hand at her in dismissal. “Taeyeon likes you so she doesn’t care. And she’s not that kind of person.”
“I suggest you go,” Donghae told Jessica. “You’ve grasped the lesson anyway and Taeyeon would appreciate you being there for her.”
Jessica turned to Tiffany and nodded. “Okay,” she agreed.
Tiffany watched her friend in amusement. One word from Donghae and she was going. It seemed like she trusted him so much that she would do anything that he said. She’d never seen her friend like that before. She wondered how things were progressing between them.
~ * ~
“Thanks so much for this, Yuri,” Yunho happily said, munching on the sandwich that she made for him.
Yuri smiled. “You’re welcome. Drink some iced tea,” she said, pushing the glass towards him.
Yunho smiled at his girlfriend appreciatively. “Come here.” He gave her a quick kiss when she leaned towards him. “You’re an awesome girlfriend, you know that?”
“Thanks,” Yuri said, beaming.
Ever since Eunhyuk pushed her to go out with Yunho, things had gone so much better for her in the love department. Yunho was the sweetest and most romantic guy she’d ever met. She didn’t know why it took her so long to take notice of him. She grinned as she watched her boyfriend finish the sandwich that she made for him. As she was doing so, she saw Eunhyuk sitting by himself on one of the tables, looking depressed. She and Eunhyuk had become really close friends ever since she’d moved on from him dumping her. He was finally able to open up about his feelings for Taeyeon, something that she felt he wasn’t able to share with anyone else.
Turning to Yunho, she said, “I’ll be right back.” When Yunho nodded, she stood up and walked over to Eunhyuk. “Hey.”
Eunhyuk looked up. His expression turned slightly better when he saw her. “Yuri, hi! Sit.”
“What’s up?” Yuri asked him, sitting down across him. “You look down.”
He merely shrugged. “How are you?”
“Good,” she said with a smile.
“I can tell,” he confirmed. “Yunho seems to be enjoying his sandwich a lot.”
She giggled. “What can I say, I’m just a really good cook.” She shrugged smugly.
“I know you are,” he said, chuckling a bit. Then the mirth disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Yuri followed his line of sight and saw that he was looking at Taeyeon, who was walking by herself. She turned to him. “You know, you can just go and talk to her,” she suggested casually.
Eunhyuk looked away from Taeyeon and stared at the tabletop. “It’s not that easy,” he responded, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
“She’s your best friend,” she reminded him.
“That’s exactly the problem,” he replied, finally meeting her eyes. “She’s my best friend. How can something like this happen?”
“She’s probably just as confused as you are,” she calmly told him. “She’s also sorting out her feelings.”
“That’s the thing,” he interjected. “I’m not confused about my feelings for her. I know exactly how I feel about her. And I know that she doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
“How would you know that if you haven’t talked to her?” she retorted.
“Yuri,” Eunhyuk chided. “You know about Kyuhyun.”
“Sorry,” Yuri immediately apologized. “I’m sorry.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I still think you should talk to her. Being best friends is precisely the reason why you should. You’ve been with her all your life. You’ve experienced everything with her. Do you really want to throw all of that away just because of a kiss?”
He sighed. When she put it like that… “I guess not.”
“She needs you, too. Probably now more than ever,” she went on.
Eunhyuk took a deep breath. Could he really just forget about his feelings for her? He’s been in love with her for so long. He really wasn’t sure if he could just ignore his feelings this time around. But Yuri was right. They were best friends. They should be able to get through anything.
“Thanks, Yul,” Eunhyuk said, smiling a little. “I think Yunho’s waiting for you.” He nodded towards him.
“You going to be okay?” Yuri asked.
“Yeah, thanks,” Eunhyuk told her.
Yuri smiled and stood up. “I’m here if you need me.”
~ * ~
Kyuhyun breathed deeply as Taeyeon walked towards him. Finally she was ready to talk, ready to really hear his side of the story. He’d always wondered when that would be, but he never thought that it could be so soon. He opened his mouth to start explaining but Taeyeon shook her head and silenced him. His heart pounded as she moved even closer, her eyes on his lips. Could it be that she missed him as much as he did her? He didn’t think it was possible. He never thought it would be possible. For him to have fallen in love with her so deeply was as much as a shock to him as it was to everyone else. He watched as Taeyeon looked into his eyes. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips urgently to his. His eyes fell shut, savoring the moment.
“Kyuhyun,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Kyuhyun.”
“Kyuhyun!”
Kyuhyun opened his eyes with a jolt. Everyone in class was looking at him, some snickering.
“Mr. Cho, would you care to share with us what you were dreaming about?” their teacher said, hand on hip.
“Sorry,” Kyuhyun muttered, turning red in embarrassment.
After class, their teacher called him to talk to him.
“Kyuhyun, is there something bothering you? Is there something going on at home?” the teacher asked, looking concerned.
“No,” he answered, shaking his head.
“Is there anything else? Your grades…”
“I’m passing, aren’t I?” he interrupted.
“Barely,” the teacher countered. “You’re an A student. But your performance has been slipping.”
“I’ll make it up,” he promised, hoping he can leave already.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” the teacher asked again.
“I’m okay,” he said. He bowed in respect and left the room.
Kyuhyun took a deep breath and shook his head as he walked out of the room. This was the second time this happened that week. He kept on seeing Taeyeon everywhere. All he wanted was to be given another chance to explain and apologize. He wanted to be able to see her up close and just… He sighed. There were so many things he wanted to do with her. He wished she would give him the chance. It really was different with her.
“Hey.”
He looked up and saw Siwon, walking with him. “Hey,” he greeted back.
“You alright? You seemed out of it in class,” Siwon gently said, starting a conversation. They’d never really talked before. Technically, Kyuhyun was still a kingka. If it wasn’t for Tiffany, he would never have the courage to talk to him. He seemed so serious. “I’m in your English class.”
“Yeah, we’re in a couple of classes together,” Kyuhyun said, smiling a little. Siwon looked surprised that he actually knew this. “I’m fine. Was just thinking about something. Where’s Fany?”
“She’s probably in class,” Siwon said. “So, uh, are you doing anything tonight?” Kyuhyun looked at him curiously. “Some of us are going bowling. You might be interested.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t a fan of bowling. He didn’t know Siwon and his group of friends that well. But he was sure that it would be better to go bowling than be stuck at home, thinking about Taeyeon again. “Sure,” he agreed. “What time?”
“Seven,” Siwon answered, surprised.
“Right,” Kyuhyun said, “see you then.”
Kyuhyun chuckled softly as Siwon walked away. He couldn’t help but think that he was the perfect guy for Fany. As he walked down the hall to the quad, Sooyoung appeared out of nowhere.
“Sooyoung,” Kyuhyun said, surprised. Ever since Sooyoung ruined everything, he hadn’t been seeing her around.
“Since when are you friends with geeks?” Sooyoung asked, smirking a little.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to judge. In case you haven’t noticed, you don’t have friends,” he said, smiling in sarcasm.
Sooyoung’s smile faltered and disappeared completely. “You’re right.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked. He heard that she was planning on moving to Japan and transferring schools.
“I had to fix my transfer papers,” she answered.
“Well good luck,” he said, turning to go. He really didn’t care about her anymore. Not after the way she destroyed his life.
“Wait,” she said, touching his arm. Kyuhyun took a step away from her and looked at her curiously. “Do you think we can talk?”
“No offense, but I don’t think we have anything left to talk about,” he said. He turned to go.
“Please, Kyuhyun,” Sooyoung insisted. “It won’t take long.”
~ * ~
“No thanks,” Taeyeon said, shaking her head.
“It’ll be fun,” Tiffany convinced with a big smile on her face. “C’mon. I’ve really wanted to go shopping with you ever since we became friends.”
“Really not interested,” Taeyeon said. “Sorry,” she added to Jessica, who was looking impatient.
“I told you she wouldn’t go for it,” Jessica told Tiffany. “This really was a bad idea from the beginning.”
“Taeng, it’ll be really fun and we won’t take long,” Tiffany continued. “I just need to buy a couple of things and then we’re done. I promise.”
Taeyeon sighed in irritation as she walked out of the building with Tiffany and Jessica in tow. They, or rather Tiffany, kept on pleading that she go shopping with them. Why, she had no idea. She wasn’t a shopping person. She never was.
“Taeyeon,” Jessica began to try her luck, “we just want to spend some time with you and this is the way we know how. You won’t be bored, we promise.”
“I’m bored just thinking about it. Besides, I’m not really in the best mood to hang out right now,” Taeyeon replied. “I’d rather just-.”
“Just what, stay at home and mope over what Kyuhyun did to you? That’s lame,” Jessica said bitingly. “If you say that that boy hurt you then he doesn’t deserve to be thought about. Not even for a single second.” Tiffany looked at Jessica worriedly, afraid that this might push Taeyeon over the edge.
Taeyeon thought about what Jessica said. That was exactly what she was going to do. She was going to go home, watch TV and mope over Kyuhyun. And Eunhyuk. But she wasn’t going to agree so easily. She still hated shopping. As she turned to look at Jessica and retort, she caught sight of Kyuhyun. He was talking to Sooyoung. She blinked back tears. She didn’t know that Sooyoung was back.
And that they were still talking.
Making up her mind, she turned to Jessica and Tiffany. “Fine, let’s go,” she told them.
“Really?” Jessica asked, astonished. She didn’t think her short speech would be so convincing.
“Yeah yeah,” Taeyeon said.
Tiffany clapped her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
“I bet,” Taeyeon muttered as Tiffany led her towards the parking lot.
Jessica watched Taeyeon’s retreating back. When she began following them, Sooyoung caught her eye. She was talking to Kyuhyun. Now she knew the reason why Taeyeon suddenly wanted to go.
“Hey,” Jessica boldly said, walking up to Kyuhyun and Sooyoung. “What’s going on here? I didn’t know you were back, Sooyoung.”
“I was just-,” Sooyoung began.
“It’s not what you think,” Kyuhyun began.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Jessica interrupted, glaring at Kyuhyun. “I think you should know that Taeyeon saw you, which doesn’t really up your case.”
Kyuhyun immediately looked around and saw Taeyeon walking towards the parking lot with Tiffany. He turned to Jessica. “You have to explain to her,” he pleaded.
“I’m not in a position to explain anything to her,” Jessica said pointedly. She smiled sarcastically, mostly directed to Sooyoung. “Have a nice life.”
“I’m screwed,” Kyuhyun said dolefully.
Sooyoung looked at Kyuhyun. Now she knew what she had to do.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
It wasn’t easy. Not talking to Kyuhyun and not having her best friend to talk to about it wasn’t easy. It was like there was a hole in her, like she was walking exposed and unprotected. There was definitely something missing. But even so, she couldn’t talk to either of them. She still hadn’t gotten over Kyuhyun’s lie and she didn’t know how she could ever face Eunhyuk again.
Taeyeon sighed and buried her face in her arms. What was she going to do? Surprisingly, Eunhyuk hadn’t approached her and tried to talk to her about what happened. It’s actually been a week since she saw him. Sighing again, she wondered if he told anyone. Would he have told Sungmin? What about Yuri? She knew that they had gotten to be friends after Yuri got together with Yunho. What about Sunny? The thought gave her the shivers. She couldn’t even open up to her own sister about what happened. It was just too weird. And she was sure Sunny would freak out.
She lifted her head up and stared blankly at the tabletop. She closed her eyes and sighed again. Suddenly, there was a bang. Taeyeon stared at Sunny, who was seated across her, in surprise.
“If you sigh again, I’m going to throw this book at you,” Sunny chided. Sungmin and Tiffany looked at Sunny fearfully.
“Sorry,” Taeyeon muttered, gathering her stuff. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Sungmin asked, watching her closely. He sensed that what was bothering Taeyeon wasn’t only Kyuhyun. There was something else.
“Just… around,” Taeyeon answered vaguely. “I’ll see you guys in class.” She stood up and walked away.
“Aish that girl,” Sunny said irritably, slamming the book on the table.
“Sunny,” Sungmin quietly scolded. “She’s hurting.”
“You try living with her when she’s in that state,” Sunny demanded. “It’s depressing. Even Heechul oppa can’t stand her.”
“Well… maybe she just needs a distraction,” Tiffany suggested.
“Like what?” Sunny wanted to know. She was concerned for her sister and she felt bad that Kyuhyun lied, but she really couldn’t take the gloominess anymore. She was open to options.
“Shopping?” Tiffany replied.
“Taeyeon isn’t someone you can just take shopping,” Sunny told her.
Tiffany grinned. “Well I know an expert.” She grabbed her things and stood up. “See you guys later.”
~ * ~
“So you mean I should say it this way, instead of how I just did?” Jessica clarified, looking at Donghae. They were in the library, studying communication styles.
“Yes,” Donghae answered. “Saying it like that isn’t going to move your relationship with any person forward, instead it’s going to strain it. Because you order people around and don’t hear what they have to say, they grow afraid and resentment towards you. That’s aggressive communication. Try it with assertive communication.”
“Does anyone actually use this stuff?” she asked, looking at her book.
“You just don’t realize it, but you use aggressive communication everyday,” he told her teasingly. Jessica glared at him and Donghae chuckled. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he said, referring to her glare.
“I’m really nice, you know,” she told him with a pout.
“I know you are,” he agreed, smiling. “I was just teasing you.” He could officially vouch for Jessica’s niceness and sweetness. He’d witnessed her being really sweet and motherly to kids when they volunteered at an orphanage the past weekend. He saw how caring she was to her family and friends. He saw her. The real her.
Jessica rolled her eyes at him, but smiled. She was so used to Donghae teasing her all the time. In fact, she didn’t mind it at all. He was probably the only person who could tease her as much as he did. She went back to studying her book and read all about assertive communication.
Donghae watched as Jessica squinted her eyes and concentrated on what she was studying. She looked so serious and cute when they studied. She squinted her eyes and bit her lips. She really was so cute. He was so engrossed in watching her that he didn’t realize that she was staring.
“Is there something on my face?” she asked, looking at him curiously. She touched her cheeks.
“Uh, no,” he answered uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. He cleared his throat as he blushed. He should really stop staring at her all the time or she’d realize that he was weird, remember that he was a geek and stop hanging out with him.
She smirked. “I know I’m pretty, but you don’t have to stare.”
“Huh? Uh, right,” he answered lamely, clearing his throat again.
“I was just kidding,” she said, chuckling. When he didn’t say anything, she looked at him for a while and shrugged. Turning her attention back to her book, she started to read again.
“Sica, hey,” Tiffany said, arriving. She sat down beside her. “Hi Donghae!”
“Hey,” Donghae said, nodding.
“What’s up?” Jessica asked.
“I need your help with something,” Tiffany told her. “I was hoping you can go shopping with me after school.”
“Today?” Jessica asked, a bit surprised. “I’m kind of busy after school.” She gestured towards the books on the table.
“It’s kind of important,” Tiffany said quietly but urgently.
“Why?” Jessica wanted to know. It was weird for Tiffany to want to go shopping this badly. She usually had to be threatened.
“It’s Taeyeon,” Tiffany said.
“What about Taeyeon?” Donghae asked, joining the conversation.
“She’s not doing so well,” Tiffany shared with a sigh. “And I was thinking that if we take her shopping, it would take her mind off things.”
“But Taeyeon doesn’t shop,” Donghae pointed out.
“You have other ideas?” Tiffany asked him. “Staying at home isn’t doing her any good. Sunny doesn’t know what to do with her.”
“What about Eunhyuk?” Jessica suggested. “Surely he knows how to cheer her up.”
“We don’t know where he is,” Tiffany said. “I haven’t been seeing him around. So shopping. You’re the expert.”
Jessica hesitated. “I don’t know if I’m exactly the right person for her to be with right now.” She was Kyuhyun’s friend, after all.
Tiffany waved her hand at her in dismissal. “Taeyeon likes you so she doesn’t care. And she’s not that kind of person.”
“I suggest you go,” Donghae told Jessica. “You’ve grasped the lesson anyway and Taeyeon would appreciate you being there for her.”
Jessica turned to Tiffany and nodded. “Okay,” she agreed.
Tiffany watched her friend in amusement. One word from Donghae and she was going. It seemed like she trusted him so much that she would do anything that he said. She’d never seen her friend like that before. She wondered how things were progressing between them.
~ * ~
“Thanks so much for this, Yuri,” Yunho happily said, munching on the sandwich that she made for him.
Yuri smiled. “You’re welcome. Drink some iced tea,” she said, pushing the glass towards him.
Yunho smiled at his girlfriend appreciatively. “Come here.” He gave her a quick kiss when she leaned towards him. “You’re an awesome girlfriend, you know that?”
“Thanks,” Yuri said, beaming.
Ever since Eunhyuk pushed her to go out with Yunho, things had gone so much better for her in the love department. Yunho was the sweetest and most romantic guy she’d ever met. She didn’t know why it took her so long to take notice of him. She grinned as she watched her boyfriend finish the sandwich that she made for him. As she was doing so, she saw Eunhyuk sitting by himself on one of the tables, looking depressed. She and Eunhyuk had become really close friends ever since she’d moved on from him dumping her. He was finally able to open up about his feelings for Taeyeon, something that she felt he wasn’t able to share with anyone else.
Turning to Yunho, she said, “I’ll be right back.” When Yunho nodded, she stood up and walked over to Eunhyuk. “Hey.”
Eunhyuk looked up. His expression turned slightly better when he saw her. “Yuri, hi! Sit.”
“What’s up?” Yuri asked him, sitting down across him. “You look down.”
He merely shrugged. “How are you?”
“Good,” she said with a smile.
“I can tell,” he confirmed. “Yunho seems to be enjoying his sandwich a lot.”
She giggled. “What can I say, I’m just a really good cook.” She shrugged smugly.
“I know you are,” he said, chuckling a bit. Then the mirth disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Yuri followed his line of sight and saw that he was looking at Taeyeon, who was walking by herself. She turned to him. “You know, you can just go and talk to her,” she suggested casually.
Eunhyuk looked away from Taeyeon and stared at the tabletop. “It’s not that easy,” he responded, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
“She’s your best friend,” she reminded him.
“That’s exactly the problem,” he replied, finally meeting her eyes. “She’s my best friend. How can something like this happen?”
“She’s probably just as confused as you are,” she calmly told him. “She’s also sorting out her feelings.”
“That’s the thing,” he interjected. “I’m not confused about my feelings for her. I know exactly how I feel about her. And I know that she doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
“How would you know that if you haven’t talked to her?” she retorted.
“Yuri,” Eunhyuk chided. “You know about Kyuhyun.”
“Sorry,” Yuri immediately apologized. “I’m sorry.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I still think you should talk to her. Being best friends is precisely the reason why you should. You’ve been with her all your life. You’ve experienced everything with her. Do you really want to throw all of that away just because of a kiss?”
He sighed. When she put it like that… “I guess not.”
“She needs you, too. Probably now more than ever,” she went on.
Eunhyuk took a deep breath. Could he really just forget about his feelings for her? He’s been in love with her for so long. He really wasn’t sure if he could just ignore his feelings this time around. But Yuri was right. They were best friends. They should be able to get through anything.
“Thanks, Yul,” Eunhyuk said, smiling a little. “I think Yunho’s waiting for you.” He nodded towards him.
“You going to be okay?” Yuri asked.
“Yeah, thanks,” Eunhyuk told her.
Yuri smiled and stood up. “I’m here if you need me.”
~ * ~
Kyuhyun breathed deeply as Taeyeon walked towards him. Finally she was ready to talk, ready to really hear his side of the story. He’d always wondered when that would be, but he never thought that it could be so soon. He opened his mouth to start explaining but Taeyeon shook her head and silenced him. His heart pounded as she moved even closer, her eyes on his lips. Could it be that she missed him as much as he did her? He didn’t think it was possible. He never thought it would be possible. For him to have fallen in love with her so deeply was as much as a shock to him as it was to everyone else. He watched as Taeyeon looked into his eyes. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips urgently to his. His eyes fell shut, savoring the moment.
“Kyuhyun,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Kyuhyun.”
“Kyuhyun!”
Kyuhyun opened his eyes with a jolt. Everyone in class was looking at him, some snickering.
“Mr. Cho, would you care to share with us what you were dreaming about?” their teacher said, hand on hip.
“Sorry,” Kyuhyun muttered, turning red in embarrassment.
After class, their teacher called him to talk to him.
“Kyuhyun, is there something bothering you? Is there something going on at home?” the teacher asked, looking concerned.
“No,” he answered, shaking his head.
“Is there anything else? Your grades…”
“I’m passing, aren’t I?” he interrupted.
“Barely,” the teacher countered. “You’re an A student. But your performance has been slipping.”
“I’ll make it up,” he promised, hoping he can leave already.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” the teacher asked again.
“I’m okay,” he said. He bowed in respect and left the room.
Kyuhyun took a deep breath and shook his head as he walked out of the room. This was the second time this happened that week. He kept on seeing Taeyeon everywhere. All he wanted was to be given another chance to explain and apologize. He wanted to be able to see her up close and just… He sighed. There were so many things he wanted to do with her. He wished she would give him the chance. It really was different with her.
“Hey.”
He looked up and saw Siwon, walking with him. “Hey,” he greeted back.
“You alright? You seemed out of it in class,” Siwon gently said, starting a conversation. They’d never really talked before. Technically, Kyuhyun was still a kingka. If it wasn’t for Tiffany, he would never have the courage to talk to him. He seemed so serious. “I’m in your English class.”
“Yeah, we’re in a couple of classes together,” Kyuhyun said, smiling a little. Siwon looked surprised that he actually knew this. “I’m fine. Was just thinking about something. Where’s Fany?”
“She’s probably in class,” Siwon said. “So, uh, are you doing anything tonight?” Kyuhyun looked at him curiously. “Some of us are going bowling. You might be interested.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t a fan of bowling. He didn’t know Siwon and his group of friends that well. But he was sure that it would be better to go bowling than be stuck at home, thinking about Taeyeon again. “Sure,” he agreed. “What time?”
“Seven,” Siwon answered, surprised.
“Right,” Kyuhyun said, “see you then.”
Kyuhyun chuckled softly as Siwon walked away. He couldn’t help but think that he was the perfect guy for Fany. As he walked down the hall to the quad, Sooyoung appeared out of nowhere.
“Sooyoung,” Kyuhyun said, surprised. Ever since Sooyoung ruined everything, he hadn’t been seeing her around.
“Since when are you friends with geeks?” Sooyoung asked, smirking a little.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to judge. In case you haven’t noticed, you don’t have friends,” he said, smiling in sarcasm.
Sooyoung’s smile faltered and disappeared completely. “You’re right.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked. He heard that she was planning on moving to Japan and transferring schools.
“I had to fix my transfer papers,” she answered.
“Well good luck,” he said, turning to go. He really didn’t care about her anymore. Not after the way she destroyed his life.
“Wait,” she said, touching his arm. Kyuhyun took a step away from her and looked at her curiously. “Do you think we can talk?”
“No offense, but I don’t think we have anything left to talk about,” he said. He turned to go.
“Please, Kyuhyun,” Sooyoung insisted. “It won’t take long.”
~ * ~
“No thanks,” Taeyeon said, shaking her head.
“It’ll be fun,” Tiffany convinced with a big smile on her face. “C’mon. I’ve really wanted to go shopping with you ever since we became friends.”
“Really not interested,” Taeyeon said. “Sorry,” she added to Jessica, who was looking impatient.
“I told you she wouldn’t go for it,” Jessica told Tiffany. “This really was a bad idea from the beginning.”
“Taeng, it’ll be really fun and we won’t take long,” Tiffany continued. “I just need to buy a couple of things and then we’re done. I promise.”
Taeyeon sighed in irritation as she walked out of the building with Tiffany and Jessica in tow. They, or rather Tiffany, kept on pleading that she go shopping with them. Why, she had no idea. She wasn’t a shopping person. She never was.
“Taeyeon,” Jessica began to try her luck, “we just want to spend some time with you and this is the way we know how. You won’t be bored, we promise.”
“I’m bored just thinking about it. Besides, I’m not really in the best mood to hang out right now,” Taeyeon replied. “I’d rather just-.”
“Just what, stay at home and mope over what Kyuhyun did to you? That’s lame,” Jessica said bitingly. “If you say that that boy hurt you then he doesn’t deserve to be thought about. Not even for a single second.” Tiffany looked at Jessica worriedly, afraid that this might push Taeyeon over the edge.
Taeyeon thought about what Jessica said. That was exactly what she was going to do. She was going to go home, watch TV and mope over Kyuhyun. And Eunhyuk. But she wasn’t going to agree so easily. She still hated shopping. As she turned to look at Jessica and retort, she caught sight of Kyuhyun. He was talking to Sooyoung. She blinked back tears. She didn’t know that Sooyoung was back.
And that they were still talking.
Making up her mind, she turned to Jessica and Tiffany. “Fine, let’s go,” she told them.
“Really?” Jessica asked, astonished. She didn’t think her short speech would be so convincing.
“Yeah yeah,” Taeyeon said.
Tiffany clapped her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
“I bet,” Taeyeon muttered as Tiffany led her towards the parking lot.
Jessica watched Taeyeon’s retreating back. When she began following them, Sooyoung caught her eye. She was talking to Kyuhyun. Now she knew the reason why Taeyeon suddenly wanted to go.
“Hey,” Jessica boldly said, walking up to Kyuhyun and Sooyoung. “What’s going on here? I didn’t know you were back, Sooyoung.”
“I was just-,” Sooyoung began.
“It’s not what you think,” Kyuhyun began.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Jessica interrupted, glaring at Kyuhyun. “I think you should know that Taeyeon saw you, which doesn’t really up your case.”
Kyuhyun immediately looked around and saw Taeyeon walking towards the parking lot with Tiffany. He turned to Jessica. “You have to explain to her,” he pleaded.
“I’m not in a position to explain anything to her,” Jessica said pointedly. She smiled sarcastically, mostly directed to Sooyoung. “Have a nice life.”
“I’m screwed,” Kyuhyun said dolefully.
Sooyoung looked at Kyuhyun. Now she knew what she had to do.