[PG-13] Caught in Between (1/25)
Title: Caught in Between
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Chapter 1
“Hey!” Sunny said, walking into her twin sister’s room. “Oppa’s calling us to come down and have breakfast.” She walked to her sister’s desk, where her laptop was open. “What are you working on?”
“English paper,” Taeyeon answered, walking out of her bathroom, dressed for school. She closed her laptop, grabbed her bag and headed out of the room. But as soon as she saw Sunny, she stopped. “Please tell me you’re not wearing that.”
Sunny was wearing a bright yellow dress. Her hair was in pigtails, tied by yellow ribbons. She smiled happily, her eyes disappearing. “Why not? Oppa said I looked cute.” Taeyeon rolled her eyes and decided to just let it go.
“Hey,” Heechul said, motioning for them to sit down when they entered the kitchen.
“Where’s mom?” Taeyeon asked, grabbing a bite of her sandwich. They rarely saw their mom. She was always out of the house. Ever since their dad left, it was like she didn’t want to see even them anymore.
“Left for work already,” he said, moving towards her and removing her ponytail.
“Oppa!” Taeyeon whined. Every morning they always discussed this. He would always insist that she let her hair down and she would always say that it doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t. Besides, it always got in the way. She got another ponytail from her bag and tied her hair as she stood up.
“Taeyeonah,” Heechul began. “How are boys going to notice you if you don’t fix yourself well?”
“Taeyeon wants to be noticed by boys?” Eunhyuk asked, walking in the kitchen and helping himself to a sandwich. “I thought she’s not allowed to go out.”
“Is it the end of the world?” Sungmin remarked, walking in as well. Sunny laughed.
“Being noticed is okay, dating isn’t,” Heechul clarified.
Taeyeon rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but laugh. “See you later, oppa.”
Heechul opened his arms wide. Sunny ran to him and hugged him. Taeyeon did, too. He was sentimental like that. Eunhyuk and Sungmin bowed and said goodbye as well.
“Wow!” Sunny squealed and clapped her hands. “It’s a Porsche this time.” The boys always shared ride going to school, but they always used a different car everyday.
“Do you really have to be so ostentatious?” Taeyeon muttered as she got in.
“Don’t you just love it that everyone looks at you when you get to school?” Eunhyuk joked as they drove to school.
“Not really,” Taeyeon shot back sarcastically. “But I’m sure you love the attention.” Sometimes she really couldn’t believe she was best friends with those two. They were two of the richest and most popular boys in school. They were part of the kingkas. If their parents weren’t friends and if they didn’t grow up together, they probably wouldn’t be friends today.
Sungmin laughed. Although Sunny was laughing too, she said, “Would you guys stop it? It’s so early in the morning. You can bicker like an old couple during lunch break.”
When they arrived in school, Sungmin offered to carry Sunny’s books. Sunny, giggling, agreed. “I swear, I think those two are going out already or something,” Eunhyuk whispered to Taeyeon.
“They’re not,” Taeyeon said surely, chuckling. “Although, I’m sure Sungmin would love for that to happen.”
Eunhyuk looked surprised. “How did you know?”
Taeyeon laughed. “You just confirmed it.” She walked away.
Eunhyuk stopped. “Ya!” He started to go after her.
“Hi Eunhyuk,” Yuri greeted, grabbing his arm.
“Oh Yuri,” Eunhyuk said, untangling his arm from hers. “How are you?” He started walking.
“I’m good,” Yuri answered, following him. “So do you have any plans tonight?”
“I do, actually,” Eunhyuk said, smiling apologetically. “Maybe some other time.” He smiled again and hurriedly left.
Yuri turned around as she heard laughter behind her. Her friends had arrived, the queenkas.
“I never thought I’d see the day when you practically beg someone for a date,” Sooyoung said with a smirk.
“I wasn’t begging,” Yuri covered up.
“You were,” Jessica confirmed. “And this isn’t the first time either.”
“If a guy doesn’t want you, he doesn’t want you,” Yoona chimed in.
“Why won’t he want me? I’m hot!” Yuri declared loudly, which made other students look at her.
“He has his eyes on someone else,” Sooyoung reminded her.
“Not Taeyeon,” Yuri replied. “They’re just best friends.”
“That’s right. They’ve been best friends forever. You can only imagine how in love he is with her already,” Jessica stated.
“He’s not in love with her,” Yuri said defensively.
“Did he actually tell you that he wasn’t?” Yoona inquired.
“Well, no but --,” Yuri began.
“Then he could be in love with her,” Yoona retorted.
“He could also be not in love with her,” Yuri shot back.
“If you just follow my advice…” Sooyoung started. Yuri hesitated so Sooyoung went on, “It’s up to you. Eunhyuk’s within your reach. He’s a kingka. You’re a queenka. Taeyeon is nothing compared to you. You should use that to your advantage.”
“Use your mind, Yuri,” Jessica told her.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Yoona demanded from Tiffany, who was just listening to the whole exchange.
“I really don’t have anything to say,” Tiffany admitted.
Sooyoung huffed irritably and walked away, followed by Jessica and Yoona. Soon after, Yuri and Tiffany followed.
~ * ~
“Guys, will you please stop?” Taeyeon scolded Sunny and Sungmin as softly as she could. They were in the library and they were giggling like there was no tomorrow. Sometimes she really couldn’t stand hanging out with them because it’s aegyo explosion when they’re together.
“Taeyeonah, you’re so cranky. We’re not even noisy,” Sunny scolded back, while giving a sweet smile to Sungmin, who giggled. Sunny giggled back.
Taeyeon was reaching her limits. She had to get away from all the giggling. She couldn’t concentrate. She stood up and packed her stuff.
“Where are you going? Fine, we’ll keep the giggling to a minimum,” Sungmin said, looking apologetic.
“It’s fine. Giggle away,” Taeyeon said. “I’m moving to another table.”
Sometimes she really couldn’t imagine how she managed to grow up with Sunny and Sungmin’s combined aegyo. They really just exploded in cuteness whenever they were together. It was irritating most of the time, which was why she and Eunhyuk always hung out in another room, away from them.
“The library’s packed,” Sunny reminded her.
“Don’t worry about me,” Taeyeon said and left to look for another table. As Sunny mentioned, the library was packed. Every table was taken. But at the end of the library, there was a table where only one person was sitting. “Hi,” she said, approaching the table. The guy looked up. “Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full.” He looked at her, surprised and amused at the same time. “Uh, hello?” He smiled and gestured that she can sit down. “Thanks,” she said, sitting down across him. She immediately went to work.
After a couple of minutes, Taeyeon sighed and put her pen down. She really hated math. It was the only subject she had a hard time with.
“Is everything okay?” her tablemate asked gently, a small smile on his lips.
“Uh,” she hesitated. “I just really hate math.”
He chuckled. “I can help you with that,” he offered. She looked at him hopefully. He smiled at her and immediately went over to her side to look at the problem she was having a hard time with.
After a while, Taeyeon finally understood the problem. She turned to him happily. “Thank you so much! This was a really big help. You’re a math genius.”
“I am a math genius.” He chuckled. “You’re welcome,” he said, going back to his original seat.
“What year are you in?” she asked.
“I’m a junior,” he answered.
“I’m a junior, too,” she said, surprised. She didn’t remember seeing him before. “Anyway, thanks again!”
“Taeyeon.” Eunhyuk was suddenly at her side. He saw her tablemate and they exchanged a civil glance. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” Taeyeon said, fixing her stuff. Before they left, she turned to the guy and expressed her gratefulness.
“Who was that?” Eunhyuk asked casually.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
~ * ~
“You guys took forever!” Sunny said. “We’re hungry.”
“You should’ve started eating,” Eunhyuk told them, sitting down beside Taeyeon. “What do you girls want to eat?”
“Pasta,” Sunny said thoughtfully.
“I’m okay with pasta,” Taeyeon agreed.
“Alright, pasta it is,” Eunhyuk said. He and Sungmin left to get the food.
“I saw you with that guy,” Sunny said as soon as Eunhyuk and Sungmin were out of earshot.
“What guy?” Taeyeon asked cluelessly.
“That guy at the library,” Sunny replied patiently.
“Oh.”
“You forgot about him already?” Sunny looked appalled. Taeyeon laughed. “He’s really cute.”
“I didn’t really notice,” Taeyeon said thoughtfully. “He just helped me with my homework.”
“And apparently he’s very nice, too,” Sunny added excitedly.
“I never thought you noticed guys who weren’t Sungmin,” Taeyeon said teasingly. Sunny’s face turned red. “Why don’t you two just get it over with and date each other?”
“Don’t say that,” Sunny said seriously. “We’re best friends.”
“Really,” Taeyeon replied. “Please get yourselves out of the misery of being best friends. It’s not helping anyone. People are just getting frustrated with you two.”
“Taeyeonah, stop it,” Sunny said. “If someone hears you and this gets back to Sungmin…” She looked around.
Taeyeon merely laughed and looked around for Eunhyuk and Sungmin. “Where are they? I’m hungry.”
~ * ~
Eunhyuk and Sungmin were at the lunch line when Hankyung and Shindong arrived. “Hey, where’ve you guys been?” Hankyung asked. “Let me guess, with Taeyeon and Sunny,” he added before they could respond.
“You guys don’t hang out with us anymore,” Shindong said.
“What are you talking about? We were at your place yesterday,” Eunhyuk reminded him. Shindong chuckled.
“Yuri’s coming over,” Sungmin warned Eunhyuk.
“Hi Eunhyuk,” Yuri said, a smile on her face. She said hi to the others as well. “Are you boys having lunch with us today?”
“Is Jessica there?” Hankyung asked. Yuri nodded. He then left to go to their table followed by Shindong. Jessica and Hankyung had been dating for a couple of months now. They’re the beautiful and power couple of the school.
“What about you Eunhyuk?” Yuri then asked expectantly.
“We’re actually having lunch with Taeyeon and Sunny,” Eunhyuk said hesitantly. He really couldn’t understand why Yuri kept on pursuing him. He’d made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t like her.
“Oh,” Yuri said. “Can I join you guys?” Sungmin and Eunhyuk exchanged looks of surprise. “I’m sure they won’t mind. Would they?”
“Sure,” Eunhyuk said finally, returning to their table.
“Yay food!” Sunny happily said.
“What took you guys so long?” Taeyeon asked.
“Hi Taeyeon! Hi Sunny!” Yuri said, appearing at Eunhyuk’s side. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you guys for lunch today.”
“Sure,” Sunny, being the nice girl that she was, said yes at once.
“Great! I’ll just get my stuff,” Yuri said, leaving.
“That girl is just head over heels in love with you,” Taeyeon declared, laughing.
“I’m sorry,” Eunhyuk apologized. “I didn’t expect her to want to join us for lunch.”
“You have to admire her for her persistence,” Taeyeon said approvingly.
Eunhyuk glared at her. “You’re not helping.”
“I guess since you keep on turning her down, she decided to eat with you in school,” Sungmin concluded. Eunhyuk merely sighed.
~ * ~
“Yuriah,” Yoona said, checking out her reflection in the mirror. “I can’t believe you’ve chosen to have lunch with them over us for a week.”
“Yeah,” Jessica agreed disappointedly. “I mean I know you like Eunhyuk and all, but dissing your friends isn’t cool.”
“She’s just trying to get to know him better by getting to know his friends as well,” Tiffany said defensively. Yuri shot her an appreciative look. “Besides, she’s only not with us during lunch.”
“Still,” Yoona said.
“Girls, leave her alone,” Sooyoung said. Both Yoona and Jessica, even Tiffany, looked surprised. “She’s trying to get what’s rightfully hers. Let her do it in the way she sees fit.”
“I think he’s warming up to me,” Yuri confidently stated. “Anyway, I’m back to having lunch with you guys now.”
“Of course he’d do more than warm up to you if you follow my advice,” Sooyoung went on, looking at her nails then at her.
Yuri’s smiled faded. “I really don’t want to resort to that.”
“It really isn’t necessary,” Tiffany agreed. Yoona glared at her to shut up.
“If Taeyeon continues to be with him all the time, he won’t notice you,” Yoona pointed out. “You can’t compete with years of friendship.”
“Hey girls,” Hankyung said. He gave Jessica a kiss. “Hi baby.”
“Hey,” Jessica said sweetly, taking his hand in hers. “Where’ve you been?”
“With the guys,” Hankyung said. “You ready to go?”
Jessica made a face. “I have to meet my tutor today. Walk me to the library?” Hankyung nodded. “See you later, girls.”
“Bye,” Hankyung said, nodding at Sooyoung, who rolled her eyes.
“I should be getting home,” Sooyoung said, standing up. “I have a manicure appointment.” She turned and bumped into students who were passing by. “Move it, geeks!” When they scrambled away, she walked away.
“I should go, too,” Yoona told them.
“Where to?” Yuri wanted to know.
“Home,” Yoona replied.
“Are you alright?” Tiffany asked Yuri.
Yuri sighed. “Maybe they’re right.”
“It just needs time,” Tiffany consoled. “Eunhyuk just hasn’t seen you yet. But he will.”
“But maybe Taeyeon needs to be out of the picture for him to see me,” Yuri mused. “He doesn’t know it but he doesn’t notice anyone else when she’s around.”
“They’re best friends,” Tiffany reminded her.
“Fany, you should’ve been there,” Yuri said, suddenly worked up. “They were in their own world. They kept talking about what happened when they were kids. If they didn’t talk about the past, they talked about their plans for the next day, for the next month, for the next year. It was like everything’s set for them. It was like I wasn’t there.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Tiffany said, remaining to be positive.
“Taeyeon and Sunny, even Sungmin tried to include me in the conversation,” Yuri admitted. “But Eunhyuk…” She sighed. “I wore my best outfits everyday. I even did my hair in different ways. I tried wearing glasses, no glasses. Midriffs, completely covered clothes. Heels, boots, flats. Nothing’s working.”
“Like I said, it will take time,” Tiffany said. “You can’t give up. Soon he’ll see what a wonderful girl you are.”
“Maybe if I wore nothing, he’d finally notice me,” Yuri went on like she was seriously considering it.
“Yuriah!” Tiffany scolded, looking flabbergasted.
“Excuse me.”
Yuri and Tiffany looked up. A tall guy, wearing glasses was hovering at them. He was obviously one of the geeks. Yuri ignored him and looked away disinterestedly.
“Yes?” Tiffany asked nicely.
“I think your friend dropped this,” he said, handing a book to her.
“Oh this is Sooyoung’s,” Tiffany said, recognizing it. She got it from him. “Thank you!” She smiled.
The guy looked surprised, but smiled back. “You’re welcome.” He walked away.
~ * ~
“Ya, what are you doing, going over there and talking to them?” Hyoyeon told Siwon off.
“I was just returning the book,” Siwon answered, sitting down across from Seohyun, who was engrossed in her reading.
“We have a rule, remember? No talking to queenkas and kingkas,” Hyoyeon insisted.
“That’s a stupid rule and you know it,” Siwon said, glancing at Tiffany, who was animatedly talking to her friend. “Besides, you talk to Shindong during class. He’s a kingka.”
“He’s different,” Hyoyeon said defensively. “He’s not like the others.”
“Stop being obvious, Hyo,” Seohyun said suddenly, closing her book and putting on the table. “We all know how much you like him, but when you say it aloud…” Siwon laughed.
“I do not like him,” Hyoyeon said, her face turning red.
“Where’s Donghae?” Siwon asked.
“In the library for tutoring,” Seohyun answered.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Chapter 1
“Hey!” Sunny said, walking into her twin sister’s room. “Oppa’s calling us to come down and have breakfast.” She walked to her sister’s desk, where her laptop was open. “What are you working on?”
“English paper,” Taeyeon answered, walking out of her bathroom, dressed for school. She closed her laptop, grabbed her bag and headed out of the room. But as soon as she saw Sunny, she stopped. “Please tell me you’re not wearing that.”
Sunny was wearing a bright yellow dress. Her hair was in pigtails, tied by yellow ribbons. She smiled happily, her eyes disappearing. “Why not? Oppa said I looked cute.” Taeyeon rolled her eyes and decided to just let it go.
“Hey,” Heechul said, motioning for them to sit down when they entered the kitchen.
“Where’s mom?” Taeyeon asked, grabbing a bite of her sandwich. They rarely saw their mom. She was always out of the house. Ever since their dad left, it was like she didn’t want to see even them anymore.
“Left for work already,” he said, moving towards her and removing her ponytail.
“Oppa!” Taeyeon whined. Every morning they always discussed this. He would always insist that she let her hair down and she would always say that it doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t. Besides, it always got in the way. She got another ponytail from her bag and tied her hair as she stood up.
“Taeyeonah,” Heechul began. “How are boys going to notice you if you don’t fix yourself well?”
“Taeyeon wants to be noticed by boys?” Eunhyuk asked, walking in the kitchen and helping himself to a sandwich. “I thought she’s not allowed to go out.”
“Is it the end of the world?” Sungmin remarked, walking in as well. Sunny laughed.
“Being noticed is okay, dating isn’t,” Heechul clarified.
Taeyeon rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but laugh. “See you later, oppa.”
Heechul opened his arms wide. Sunny ran to him and hugged him. Taeyeon did, too. He was sentimental like that. Eunhyuk and Sungmin bowed and said goodbye as well.
“Wow!” Sunny squealed and clapped her hands. “It’s a Porsche this time.” The boys always shared ride going to school, but they always used a different car everyday.
“Do you really have to be so ostentatious?” Taeyeon muttered as she got in.
“Don’t you just love it that everyone looks at you when you get to school?” Eunhyuk joked as they drove to school.
“Not really,” Taeyeon shot back sarcastically. “But I’m sure you love the attention.” Sometimes she really couldn’t believe she was best friends with those two. They were two of the richest and most popular boys in school. They were part of the kingkas. If their parents weren’t friends and if they didn’t grow up together, they probably wouldn’t be friends today.
Sungmin laughed. Although Sunny was laughing too, she said, “Would you guys stop it? It’s so early in the morning. You can bicker like an old couple during lunch break.”
When they arrived in school, Sungmin offered to carry Sunny’s books. Sunny, giggling, agreed. “I swear, I think those two are going out already or something,” Eunhyuk whispered to Taeyeon.
“They’re not,” Taeyeon said surely, chuckling. “Although, I’m sure Sungmin would love for that to happen.”
Eunhyuk looked surprised. “How did you know?”
Taeyeon laughed. “You just confirmed it.” She walked away.
Eunhyuk stopped. “Ya!” He started to go after her.
“Hi Eunhyuk,” Yuri greeted, grabbing his arm.
“Oh Yuri,” Eunhyuk said, untangling his arm from hers. “How are you?” He started walking.
“I’m good,” Yuri answered, following him. “So do you have any plans tonight?”
“I do, actually,” Eunhyuk said, smiling apologetically. “Maybe some other time.” He smiled again and hurriedly left.
Yuri turned around as she heard laughter behind her. Her friends had arrived, the queenkas.
“I never thought I’d see the day when you practically beg someone for a date,” Sooyoung said with a smirk.
“I wasn’t begging,” Yuri covered up.
“You were,” Jessica confirmed. “And this isn’t the first time either.”
“If a guy doesn’t want you, he doesn’t want you,” Yoona chimed in.
“Why won’t he want me? I’m hot!” Yuri declared loudly, which made other students look at her.
“He has his eyes on someone else,” Sooyoung reminded her.
“Not Taeyeon,” Yuri replied. “They’re just best friends.”
“That’s right. They’ve been best friends forever. You can only imagine how in love he is with her already,” Jessica stated.
“He’s not in love with her,” Yuri said defensively.
“Did he actually tell you that he wasn’t?” Yoona inquired.
“Well, no but --,” Yuri began.
“Then he could be in love with her,” Yoona retorted.
“He could also be not in love with her,” Yuri shot back.
“If you just follow my advice…” Sooyoung started. Yuri hesitated so Sooyoung went on, “It’s up to you. Eunhyuk’s within your reach. He’s a kingka. You’re a queenka. Taeyeon is nothing compared to you. You should use that to your advantage.”
“Use your mind, Yuri,” Jessica told her.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Yoona demanded from Tiffany, who was just listening to the whole exchange.
“I really don’t have anything to say,” Tiffany admitted.
Sooyoung huffed irritably and walked away, followed by Jessica and Yoona. Soon after, Yuri and Tiffany followed.
~ * ~
“Guys, will you please stop?” Taeyeon scolded Sunny and Sungmin as softly as she could. They were in the library and they were giggling like there was no tomorrow. Sometimes she really couldn’t stand hanging out with them because it’s aegyo explosion when they’re together.
“Taeyeonah, you’re so cranky. We’re not even noisy,” Sunny scolded back, while giving a sweet smile to Sungmin, who giggled. Sunny giggled back.
Taeyeon was reaching her limits. She had to get away from all the giggling. She couldn’t concentrate. She stood up and packed her stuff.
“Where are you going? Fine, we’ll keep the giggling to a minimum,” Sungmin said, looking apologetic.
“It’s fine. Giggle away,” Taeyeon said. “I’m moving to another table.”
Sometimes she really couldn’t imagine how she managed to grow up with Sunny and Sungmin’s combined aegyo. They really just exploded in cuteness whenever they were together. It was irritating most of the time, which was why she and Eunhyuk always hung out in another room, away from them.
“The library’s packed,” Sunny reminded her.
“Don’t worry about me,” Taeyeon said and left to look for another table. As Sunny mentioned, the library was packed. Every table was taken. But at the end of the library, there was a table where only one person was sitting. “Hi,” she said, approaching the table. The guy looked up. “Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full.” He looked at her, surprised and amused at the same time. “Uh, hello?” He smiled and gestured that she can sit down. “Thanks,” she said, sitting down across him. She immediately went to work.
After a couple of minutes, Taeyeon sighed and put her pen down. She really hated math. It was the only subject she had a hard time with.
“Is everything okay?” her tablemate asked gently, a small smile on his lips.
“Uh,” she hesitated. “I just really hate math.”
He chuckled. “I can help you with that,” he offered. She looked at him hopefully. He smiled at her and immediately went over to her side to look at the problem she was having a hard time with.
After a while, Taeyeon finally understood the problem. She turned to him happily. “Thank you so much! This was a really big help. You’re a math genius.”
“I am a math genius.” He chuckled. “You’re welcome,” he said, going back to his original seat.
“What year are you in?” she asked.
“I’m a junior,” he answered.
“I’m a junior, too,” she said, surprised. She didn’t remember seeing him before. “Anyway, thanks again!”
“Taeyeon.” Eunhyuk was suddenly at her side. He saw her tablemate and they exchanged a civil glance. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” Taeyeon said, fixing her stuff. Before they left, she turned to the guy and expressed her gratefulness.
“Who was that?” Eunhyuk asked casually.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
~ * ~
“You guys took forever!” Sunny said. “We’re hungry.”
“You should’ve started eating,” Eunhyuk told them, sitting down beside Taeyeon. “What do you girls want to eat?”
“Pasta,” Sunny said thoughtfully.
“I’m okay with pasta,” Taeyeon agreed.
“Alright, pasta it is,” Eunhyuk said. He and Sungmin left to get the food.
“I saw you with that guy,” Sunny said as soon as Eunhyuk and Sungmin were out of earshot.
“What guy?” Taeyeon asked cluelessly.
“That guy at the library,” Sunny replied patiently.
“Oh.”
“You forgot about him already?” Sunny looked appalled. Taeyeon laughed. “He’s really cute.”
“I didn’t really notice,” Taeyeon said thoughtfully. “He just helped me with my homework.”
“And apparently he’s very nice, too,” Sunny added excitedly.
“I never thought you noticed guys who weren’t Sungmin,” Taeyeon said teasingly. Sunny’s face turned red. “Why don’t you two just get it over with and date each other?”
“Don’t say that,” Sunny said seriously. “We’re best friends.”
“Really,” Taeyeon replied. “Please get yourselves out of the misery of being best friends. It’s not helping anyone. People are just getting frustrated with you two.”
“Taeyeonah, stop it,” Sunny said. “If someone hears you and this gets back to Sungmin…” She looked around.
Taeyeon merely laughed and looked around for Eunhyuk and Sungmin. “Where are they? I’m hungry.”
~ * ~
Eunhyuk and Sungmin were at the lunch line when Hankyung and Shindong arrived. “Hey, where’ve you guys been?” Hankyung asked. “Let me guess, with Taeyeon and Sunny,” he added before they could respond.
“You guys don’t hang out with us anymore,” Shindong said.
“What are you talking about? We were at your place yesterday,” Eunhyuk reminded him. Shindong chuckled.
“Yuri’s coming over,” Sungmin warned Eunhyuk.
“Hi Eunhyuk,” Yuri said, a smile on her face. She said hi to the others as well. “Are you boys having lunch with us today?”
“Is Jessica there?” Hankyung asked. Yuri nodded. He then left to go to their table followed by Shindong. Jessica and Hankyung had been dating for a couple of months now. They’re the beautiful and power couple of the school.
“What about you Eunhyuk?” Yuri then asked expectantly.
“We’re actually having lunch with Taeyeon and Sunny,” Eunhyuk said hesitantly. He really couldn’t understand why Yuri kept on pursuing him. He’d made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t like her.
“Oh,” Yuri said. “Can I join you guys?” Sungmin and Eunhyuk exchanged looks of surprise. “I’m sure they won’t mind. Would they?”
“Sure,” Eunhyuk said finally, returning to their table.
“Yay food!” Sunny happily said.
“What took you guys so long?” Taeyeon asked.
“Hi Taeyeon! Hi Sunny!” Yuri said, appearing at Eunhyuk’s side. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you guys for lunch today.”
“Sure,” Sunny, being the nice girl that she was, said yes at once.
“Great! I’ll just get my stuff,” Yuri said, leaving.
“That girl is just head over heels in love with you,” Taeyeon declared, laughing.
“I’m sorry,” Eunhyuk apologized. “I didn’t expect her to want to join us for lunch.”
“You have to admire her for her persistence,” Taeyeon said approvingly.
Eunhyuk glared at her. “You’re not helping.”
“I guess since you keep on turning her down, she decided to eat with you in school,” Sungmin concluded. Eunhyuk merely sighed.
~ * ~
“Yuriah,” Yoona said, checking out her reflection in the mirror. “I can’t believe you’ve chosen to have lunch with them over us for a week.”
“Yeah,” Jessica agreed disappointedly. “I mean I know you like Eunhyuk and all, but dissing your friends isn’t cool.”
“She’s just trying to get to know him better by getting to know his friends as well,” Tiffany said defensively. Yuri shot her an appreciative look. “Besides, she’s only not with us during lunch.”
“Still,” Yoona said.
“Girls, leave her alone,” Sooyoung said. Both Yoona and Jessica, even Tiffany, looked surprised. “She’s trying to get what’s rightfully hers. Let her do it in the way she sees fit.”
“I think he’s warming up to me,” Yuri confidently stated. “Anyway, I’m back to having lunch with you guys now.”
“Of course he’d do more than warm up to you if you follow my advice,” Sooyoung went on, looking at her nails then at her.
Yuri’s smiled faded. “I really don’t want to resort to that.”
“It really isn’t necessary,” Tiffany agreed. Yoona glared at her to shut up.
“If Taeyeon continues to be with him all the time, he won’t notice you,” Yoona pointed out. “You can’t compete with years of friendship.”
“Hey girls,” Hankyung said. He gave Jessica a kiss. “Hi baby.”
“Hey,” Jessica said sweetly, taking his hand in hers. “Where’ve you been?”
“With the guys,” Hankyung said. “You ready to go?”
Jessica made a face. “I have to meet my tutor today. Walk me to the library?” Hankyung nodded. “See you later, girls.”
“Bye,” Hankyung said, nodding at Sooyoung, who rolled her eyes.
“I should be getting home,” Sooyoung said, standing up. “I have a manicure appointment.” She turned and bumped into students who were passing by. “Move it, geeks!” When they scrambled away, she walked away.
“I should go, too,” Yoona told them.
“Where to?” Yuri wanted to know.
“Home,” Yoona replied.
“Are you alright?” Tiffany asked Yuri.
Yuri sighed. “Maybe they’re right.”
“It just needs time,” Tiffany consoled. “Eunhyuk just hasn’t seen you yet. But he will.”
“But maybe Taeyeon needs to be out of the picture for him to see me,” Yuri mused. “He doesn’t know it but he doesn’t notice anyone else when she’s around.”
“They’re best friends,” Tiffany reminded her.
“Fany, you should’ve been there,” Yuri said, suddenly worked up. “They were in their own world. They kept talking about what happened when they were kids. If they didn’t talk about the past, they talked about their plans for the next day, for the next month, for the next year. It was like everything’s set for them. It was like I wasn’t there.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Tiffany said, remaining to be positive.
“Taeyeon and Sunny, even Sungmin tried to include me in the conversation,” Yuri admitted. “But Eunhyuk…” She sighed. “I wore my best outfits everyday. I even did my hair in different ways. I tried wearing glasses, no glasses. Midriffs, completely covered clothes. Heels, boots, flats. Nothing’s working.”
“Like I said, it will take time,” Tiffany said. “You can’t give up. Soon he’ll see what a wonderful girl you are.”
“Maybe if I wore nothing, he’d finally notice me,” Yuri went on like she was seriously considering it.
“Yuriah!” Tiffany scolded, looking flabbergasted.
“Excuse me.”
Yuri and Tiffany looked up. A tall guy, wearing glasses was hovering at them. He was obviously one of the geeks. Yuri ignored him and looked away disinterestedly.
“Yes?” Tiffany asked nicely.
“I think your friend dropped this,” he said, handing a book to her.
“Oh this is Sooyoung’s,” Tiffany said, recognizing it. She got it from him. “Thank you!” She smiled.
The guy looked surprised, but smiled back. “You’re welcome.” He walked away.
~ * ~
“Ya, what are you doing, going over there and talking to them?” Hyoyeon told Siwon off.
“I was just returning the book,” Siwon answered, sitting down across from Seohyun, who was engrossed in her reading.
“We have a rule, remember? No talking to queenkas and kingkas,” Hyoyeon insisted.
“That’s a stupid rule and you know it,” Siwon said, glancing at Tiffany, who was animatedly talking to her friend. “Besides, you talk to Shindong during class. He’s a kingka.”
“He’s different,” Hyoyeon said defensively. “He’s not like the others.”
“Stop being obvious, Hyo,” Seohyun said suddenly, closing her book and putting on the table. “We all know how much you like him, but when you say it aloud…” Siwon laughed.
“I do not like him,” Hyoyeon said, her face turning red.
“Where’s Donghae?” Siwon asked.
“In the library for tutoring,” Seohyun answered.