[PG-13] Caught in Between (5/25)
Title: Caught in Between
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Jessica sighed as she entered the library. She hadn’t seen nor talked to Hankyung the whole day. She actually hadn’t heard from him since they fought the other day. She sat down on their usual tutoring table and brought out her books, waiting for Donghae to arrive. She had considered skipping tutoring that day, but she realized that this was the only thing that’s going well for her now. All other aspects of her life were a mess.
“Hey,” Donghae said, taking a seat across her. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine,” Jessica said. “I just got here.”
Donghae brought his books and pens out. “So how was your last quiz?”
“A minus,” she told him proudly, managing to smile.
“That’s great,” he responded happily.
Jessica felt her phone vibrate. She looked at it and read Tiffany’s message: I just saw Hankyung. I told him you were looking for him. He said that he’d call you later. She sighed. “He’s not going to call.”
“Sorry?” Donghae asked, looking at her.
“Nothing,” Jessica said, putting her phone in her bag. “So we’re learning what today?”
“You’re distracted again,” he observed. What he noticed about Jessica was that she was usually a cheerful and feisty person. That’s why when something was bothering her, it was always so obvious.
“I…” she hesitated. “I’ll concentrate, I promise.”
“How about you tell someone what’s bothering you?” he suggested. “It will make you feel better.”
“I miss my boyfriend,” Jessica blurted out.
Donghae looked taken aback. He wasn’t suggesting that she tell him her problems. “Okay…” he said instead, not knowing what else to say.
“That’s really lame or shallow or whatever, I know, but I really do,” she said. “We haven’t been spending a lot of time together for a while now and it’s starting to bug me. This has never happened before.”
“Maybe he’s just busy,” he responded gently.
“That’s what he says,” she replied. “All the time. He’s busy with basketball. He’s busy with school. He’s busy with their family business.”
“It seems like he’s really busy,” he commented.
“The thing is, I don’t buy it,” she went on. “He was always busy with those things since he turned 13, but he has never used those things as an excuse when he couldn’t spend time with me.”
“You’ve been together since you were 13?” Donghae asked in amazement.
“No, we were just friends then,” Jessica answered. She sighed. “I know I can’t explain it very well that’s why I’m not making any sense. But there’s something wrong.”
“What do you think is wrong?” he asked carefully.
“I think… I think he might be cheating on me,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
He watched as she bowed her head, sure that she was hiding her tears. “Well did you ask him about it?”
“He said he would never do that to me because he loves me,” she shared, her voice quivering. “But I don’t believe him.” She started sobbing quietly.
Donghae packed their stuff and he brought her out of the library so she could cry unrestrained.
“I’m sorry about this,” Jessica said, wiping her tears after a while. “I didn’t mean to dump all my mess on you.”
“Jessica,” Donghae said hesitantly at first. “You can tell me anything you want to. I’ll always be ready to listen.”
“What?” Jessica said, looking at him with red eyes. “You mean be friends?”
“We don’t have to be friends,” he said, smiling a little. He knew how much she cared about her image.
She looked at him for a moment then shrugged. “Okay, whatever. Listen, if you tell anyone about this…”
“I won’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“Okay good.” She grabbed her bag from him. Before she left, she turned to him hesitantly, “Donghae, thank you.”
~ * ~
Yoona looked at the pictures situated all over the living room of Sungmin’s house. They had plans to go out and she was waiting for him. She had just decided to go to the veranda, because she was annoyed at the many pictures of Sunny with Sungmin, when she heard the maid talking to someone by the door. She peeked and saw that it was Sunny. The maid had directed her to Sungmin’s room, but she decided to go to the washroom first.
“So that girl can go to Sungmin’s room and I can’t?” Yoona fumed. She’d always asked Sungmin about his relationship with Sunny. They seemed incredibly close. Although he always told her that they were just friends, she didn’t believe him one bit. They were always together and she clung onto him like a leech.
Yoona walked up the stairs and marched straight into Sungmin’s room. She was going to show her who was boss. She was dating Sungmin after all.
“Yoona!” Sungmin said. He was still dressing up and didn’t have his shirt on. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t wait to see you anymore,” Yoona said in her sweetest voice, walking up to him and putting her arms around his neck.
“Yoona,” Sungmin said, trying to back away from her.
“What? Didn’t you miss me?” she asked innocently.
“Of course I did,” he said.
“Then kiss me,” she insisted, smiling sweetly.
“Yoona,” he hesitated.
When Yoona saw Sunny peek through the door, she grabbed Sungmin’s face and planted a long kiss on his lips. As expected, Sunny, stunned, back away and left.
“Yoona, stop it,” Sungmin said, pushing her away as gently as she could. “You should wait downstairs.”
“Okay,” Yoona answered sweetly, leaving the room.
~ * ~
Heechul knocked on Taeyeon’s open bedroom door. “Hey.”
“Oppa,” Taeyeon said. She was just preparing for bed.
“Do you know where Sunny is? She’s not home yet,” Heechul told her.
“She isn’t?” Taeyeon asked, surprised, glancing at the clock. It was nearly 9 o’clock. “She’s probably just at Sungmin’s house. I’ll call him.”
“Okay, let me know. I tried calling her but she’s not picking up,” Heechul said, going back downstairs.
Taeyeon dialed Sungmin’s number. “Sungminah, is Sunny there at your house?”
“I’m not home,” Sungmin answered. “Why?” He noticed the worry on Taeyeon’s voice.
“She’s not yet home,” Taeyeon told him. “And I remember this afternoon, she said that she was going over to your house.”
“She didn’t come over,” Sungmin said. “Have you called her?”
“She’s not picking up,” Taeyeon said.
“I’ll look for her,” Sungmin said.
At that moment, Taeyeon saw Sunny walking past her room towards her own room.
“Oh she just got home,” Taeyeon said. “Thank you, Sungmin!” She ended the call and followed Sunny. “Ya, where have you been?”
“Nowhere,” Sunny mumbled, lying on her bed, face down.
Taeyeon sat on the edge of her bed. “Sunnyah.” She shook her. “We were worried about you. Has oppa seen you?”
“Yes,” Sunny answered monotonously.
“What happened? Where did you go? I thought you were going to Sungmin’s house, but he said you didn’t come over,” Taeyeon shared. Suddenly, Sunny started sobbing. Taeyeon panicked. “What’s wrong?”
But Sunny didn’t answer. Taeyeon laid down beside her and put an arm around her sister.
“He really likes her, Taeng,” Sunny sobbed.
“Who really likes who?” Taeyeon asked.
“Yoona,” Sunny went on. “He really likes Yoona.”
“Sungmin?” Taeyeon said. “He doesn’t really like her. It’s so obvious.”
“But he does,” Sunny insisted. She paused for a moment. “I saw them,” she added in a whisper.
“Saw them what?” Taeyeon wanted to know.
“They kissed.”
Taeyeon didn’t say anything, but merely hugged her sister tighter. A kiss certainly changed things.
~ * ~
“What are you so happy about?” Yuri asked Yoona.
“Look over there,” Yoona said triumphantly.
Sooyoung, Yuri, Jessica and Tiffany turned around and saw Sungmin and Sunny arguing. Actually it seemed more like Sungmin was doing all the talking, while Sunny just ignored him.
“What did you do, Yoona?” Tiffany asked.
“I just showed her that I am Sungmin’s girlfriend,” Yoona told them, smirking.
“And how did you do that?” Yuri inquired.
“I kissed him in front of her,” Yoona shared, her smirk growing wider. “Without Sungmin knowing, of course.”
Jessica laughed. “So you’ve finally proven that she does like him.”
“Of course she likes him,” Yoona responded airily. “What’s not to like?”
“So you’re ruining their friendship just because you want her out of the picture?” Tiffany said, looking appalled.
“Oh don’t be so goody goody, Fany,” Sooyoung interjected. “I’ve always wanted to shake up their perfect little friendship.” She smiled at Yoona. “Now you can have him all to yourself.”
“I’ve got him wrapped around my finger,” Yoona stated greedily.
Yuri merely chuckled. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”
“It would do you some good to learn from me,” Yoona told her, rolling her eyes. “How are things going with you and Eunhyuk? Are you an item yet?”
“No,” Yuri answered hesitantly.
“See,” Yoona said.
“But we’ve been going out,” Yuri said defensively. “A lot.”
“And is Taeyeon out of the picture yet?” Yoona asked.
“We’re working on that,” Sooyoung answered for Yuri.
“How?” Jessica wanted to know.
“Kyuhyun,” Sooyoung answered simply.
“You paid Kyuhyun to go out with Taeyeon?” Tiffany gasped.
“No,” Yuri said at once. “Right?” She looked at Sooyoung.
“I’m not stupid,” Sooyoung said. “I just manipulated him a little. It was a piece of cake.”
Jessica smiled. “It’s been months and yet he still can’t say no to you.”
“He doesn’t exactly have a choice,” Sooyoung said with a smile. “I made him fall in love with me after all.”
Yoona chuckled. “So I suppose Taeyeon’s taken cared of.” She turned to Yuri. “You have to do something major while they’re not spending so much time together.”
“Like what?” Yuri asked.
“Trips are always a good idea,” Jessica suggested.
“He’ll say no,” Yuri said. She was sure of it.
“Not if we ambush him with it,” Sooyoung said, an idea forming in her head. “We can all go and get the boys to come.”
“That’s a great idea!” Yoona said excitedly.
“I think I’ll pass,” Jessica said.
“What? Why?” Yuri asked in surprise.
“I have a lot of studying to do,” Jessica said. “I really can’t afford to fail anything.”
“Boo,” Sooyoung said. “Fine, you and Tiffany stay.” They don’t ask Tiffany anymore because she usually said no. She turned to the other girls. “So here’s what we’ll do…”
~ * ~
“Hey!” Jessica greeted Donghae.
Donghae looked at her in surprise. “Jessica, what are you doing here?”
“I came to study,” Jessica said, stating the obvious. She brought out her books.
“School’s over,” he reminded her, still not over the shock of seeing her in the library when it wasn’t her time for tutoring.
“I could say the same to you,” she told him.
“Well, I’m… I always go to the library after school,” he confessed. “Don’t you have plans?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” she shot back. “I could move to another table.” She started to gather her stuff.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” he said, stopping her. “I’m sorry. Stay.”
Jessica chuckled. She looked around. “This feels really nice. Not having anyone else here.”
“I know what you mean,” he agreed. “That’s why I like coming here at this time. I can concentrate more.”
“It’s not like you need it,” she replied. “You’re at the top of our year.”
“It’s not bad to study a little bit more,” he said. He leaned towards her. “So really, why are you here?”
“I’m a bad liar, aren’t I?” Jessica asked. Donghae nodded. She laughed. “Well, I just didn’t feel like fighting with my boyfriend. I also didn’t feel like hanging out with anyone.”
“Being here means you’re hanging out with me,” Donghae reminded her, smiling a little.
“Well, you’re different,” Jessica said, smiling back.
Characters: Kyuhyun/Taeyeon/Eunhyuk, Donghae/Jessica, Sungmin/Sunny, Siwon/Tiffany
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Friendship, Comedy, Drama
Jessica sighed as she entered the library. She hadn’t seen nor talked to Hankyung the whole day. She actually hadn’t heard from him since they fought the other day. She sat down on their usual tutoring table and brought out her books, waiting for Donghae to arrive. She had considered skipping tutoring that day, but she realized that this was the only thing that’s going well for her now. All other aspects of her life were a mess.
“Hey,” Donghae said, taking a seat across her. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine,” Jessica said. “I just got here.”
Donghae brought his books and pens out. “So how was your last quiz?”
“A minus,” she told him proudly, managing to smile.
“That’s great,” he responded happily.
Jessica felt her phone vibrate. She looked at it and read Tiffany’s message: I just saw Hankyung. I told him you were looking for him. He said that he’d call you later. She sighed. “He’s not going to call.”
“Sorry?” Donghae asked, looking at her.
“Nothing,” Jessica said, putting her phone in her bag. “So we’re learning what today?”
“You’re distracted again,” he observed. What he noticed about Jessica was that she was usually a cheerful and feisty person. That’s why when something was bothering her, it was always so obvious.
“I…” she hesitated. “I’ll concentrate, I promise.”
“How about you tell someone what’s bothering you?” he suggested. “It will make you feel better.”
“I miss my boyfriend,” Jessica blurted out.
Donghae looked taken aback. He wasn’t suggesting that she tell him her problems. “Okay…” he said instead, not knowing what else to say.
“That’s really lame or shallow or whatever, I know, but I really do,” she said. “We haven’t been spending a lot of time together for a while now and it’s starting to bug me. This has never happened before.”
“Maybe he’s just busy,” he responded gently.
“That’s what he says,” she replied. “All the time. He’s busy with basketball. He’s busy with school. He’s busy with their family business.”
“It seems like he’s really busy,” he commented.
“The thing is, I don’t buy it,” she went on. “He was always busy with those things since he turned 13, but he has never used those things as an excuse when he couldn’t spend time with me.”
“You’ve been together since you were 13?” Donghae asked in amazement.
“No, we were just friends then,” Jessica answered. She sighed. “I know I can’t explain it very well that’s why I’m not making any sense. But there’s something wrong.”
“What do you think is wrong?” he asked carefully.
“I think… I think he might be cheating on me,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
He watched as she bowed her head, sure that she was hiding her tears. “Well did you ask him about it?”
“He said he would never do that to me because he loves me,” she shared, her voice quivering. “But I don’t believe him.” She started sobbing quietly.
Donghae packed their stuff and he brought her out of the library so she could cry unrestrained.
“I’m sorry about this,” Jessica said, wiping her tears after a while. “I didn’t mean to dump all my mess on you.”
“Jessica,” Donghae said hesitantly at first. “You can tell me anything you want to. I’ll always be ready to listen.”
“What?” Jessica said, looking at him with red eyes. “You mean be friends?”
“We don’t have to be friends,” he said, smiling a little. He knew how much she cared about her image.
She looked at him for a moment then shrugged. “Okay, whatever. Listen, if you tell anyone about this…”
“I won’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“Okay good.” She grabbed her bag from him. Before she left, she turned to him hesitantly, “Donghae, thank you.”
~ * ~
Yoona looked at the pictures situated all over the living room of Sungmin’s house. They had plans to go out and she was waiting for him. She had just decided to go to the veranda, because she was annoyed at the many pictures of Sunny with Sungmin, when she heard the maid talking to someone by the door. She peeked and saw that it was Sunny. The maid had directed her to Sungmin’s room, but she decided to go to the washroom first.
“So that girl can go to Sungmin’s room and I can’t?” Yoona fumed. She’d always asked Sungmin about his relationship with Sunny. They seemed incredibly close. Although he always told her that they were just friends, she didn’t believe him one bit. They were always together and she clung onto him like a leech.
Yoona walked up the stairs and marched straight into Sungmin’s room. She was going to show her who was boss. She was dating Sungmin after all.
“Yoona!” Sungmin said. He was still dressing up and didn’t have his shirt on. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t wait to see you anymore,” Yoona said in her sweetest voice, walking up to him and putting her arms around his neck.
“Yoona,” Sungmin said, trying to back away from her.
“What? Didn’t you miss me?” she asked innocently.
“Of course I did,” he said.
“Then kiss me,” she insisted, smiling sweetly.
“Yoona,” he hesitated.
When Yoona saw Sunny peek through the door, she grabbed Sungmin’s face and planted a long kiss on his lips. As expected, Sunny, stunned, back away and left.
“Yoona, stop it,” Sungmin said, pushing her away as gently as she could. “You should wait downstairs.”
“Okay,” Yoona answered sweetly, leaving the room.
~ * ~
Heechul knocked on Taeyeon’s open bedroom door. “Hey.”
“Oppa,” Taeyeon said. She was just preparing for bed.
“Do you know where Sunny is? She’s not home yet,” Heechul told her.
“She isn’t?” Taeyeon asked, surprised, glancing at the clock. It was nearly 9 o’clock. “She’s probably just at Sungmin’s house. I’ll call him.”
“Okay, let me know. I tried calling her but she’s not picking up,” Heechul said, going back downstairs.
Taeyeon dialed Sungmin’s number. “Sungminah, is Sunny there at your house?”
“I’m not home,” Sungmin answered. “Why?” He noticed the worry on Taeyeon’s voice.
“She’s not yet home,” Taeyeon told him. “And I remember this afternoon, she said that she was going over to your house.”
“She didn’t come over,” Sungmin said. “Have you called her?”
“She’s not picking up,” Taeyeon said.
“I’ll look for her,” Sungmin said.
At that moment, Taeyeon saw Sunny walking past her room towards her own room.
“Oh she just got home,” Taeyeon said. “Thank you, Sungmin!” She ended the call and followed Sunny. “Ya, where have you been?”
“Nowhere,” Sunny mumbled, lying on her bed, face down.
Taeyeon sat on the edge of her bed. “Sunnyah.” She shook her. “We were worried about you. Has oppa seen you?”
“Yes,” Sunny answered monotonously.
“What happened? Where did you go? I thought you were going to Sungmin’s house, but he said you didn’t come over,” Taeyeon shared. Suddenly, Sunny started sobbing. Taeyeon panicked. “What’s wrong?”
But Sunny didn’t answer. Taeyeon laid down beside her and put an arm around her sister.
“He really likes her, Taeng,” Sunny sobbed.
“Who really likes who?” Taeyeon asked.
“Yoona,” Sunny went on. “He really likes Yoona.”
“Sungmin?” Taeyeon said. “He doesn’t really like her. It’s so obvious.”
“But he does,” Sunny insisted. She paused for a moment. “I saw them,” she added in a whisper.
“Saw them what?” Taeyeon wanted to know.
“They kissed.”
Taeyeon didn’t say anything, but merely hugged her sister tighter. A kiss certainly changed things.
~ * ~
“What are you so happy about?” Yuri asked Yoona.
“Look over there,” Yoona said triumphantly.
Sooyoung, Yuri, Jessica and Tiffany turned around and saw Sungmin and Sunny arguing. Actually it seemed more like Sungmin was doing all the talking, while Sunny just ignored him.
“What did you do, Yoona?” Tiffany asked.
“I just showed her that I am Sungmin’s girlfriend,” Yoona told them, smirking.
“And how did you do that?” Yuri inquired.
“I kissed him in front of her,” Yoona shared, her smirk growing wider. “Without Sungmin knowing, of course.”
Jessica laughed. “So you’ve finally proven that she does like him.”
“Of course she likes him,” Yoona responded airily. “What’s not to like?”
“So you’re ruining their friendship just because you want her out of the picture?” Tiffany said, looking appalled.
“Oh don’t be so goody goody, Fany,” Sooyoung interjected. “I’ve always wanted to shake up their perfect little friendship.” She smiled at Yoona. “Now you can have him all to yourself.”
“I’ve got him wrapped around my finger,” Yoona stated greedily.
Yuri merely chuckled. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”
“It would do you some good to learn from me,” Yoona told her, rolling her eyes. “How are things going with you and Eunhyuk? Are you an item yet?”
“No,” Yuri answered hesitantly.
“See,” Yoona said.
“But we’ve been going out,” Yuri said defensively. “A lot.”
“And is Taeyeon out of the picture yet?” Yoona asked.
“We’re working on that,” Sooyoung answered for Yuri.
“How?” Jessica wanted to know.
“Kyuhyun,” Sooyoung answered simply.
“You paid Kyuhyun to go out with Taeyeon?” Tiffany gasped.
“No,” Yuri said at once. “Right?” She looked at Sooyoung.
“I’m not stupid,” Sooyoung said. “I just manipulated him a little. It was a piece of cake.”
Jessica smiled. “It’s been months and yet he still can’t say no to you.”
“He doesn’t exactly have a choice,” Sooyoung said with a smile. “I made him fall in love with me after all.”
Yoona chuckled. “So I suppose Taeyeon’s taken cared of.” She turned to Yuri. “You have to do something major while they’re not spending so much time together.”
“Like what?” Yuri asked.
“Trips are always a good idea,” Jessica suggested.
“He’ll say no,” Yuri said. She was sure of it.
“Not if we ambush him with it,” Sooyoung said, an idea forming in her head. “We can all go and get the boys to come.”
“That’s a great idea!” Yoona said excitedly.
“I think I’ll pass,” Jessica said.
“What? Why?” Yuri asked in surprise.
“I have a lot of studying to do,” Jessica said. “I really can’t afford to fail anything.”
“Boo,” Sooyoung said. “Fine, you and Tiffany stay.” They don’t ask Tiffany anymore because she usually said no. She turned to the other girls. “So here’s what we’ll do…”
~ * ~
“Hey!” Jessica greeted Donghae.
Donghae looked at her in surprise. “Jessica, what are you doing here?”
“I came to study,” Jessica said, stating the obvious. She brought out her books.
“School’s over,” he reminded her, still not over the shock of seeing her in the library when it wasn’t her time for tutoring.
“I could say the same to you,” she told him.
“Well, I’m… I always go to the library after school,” he confessed. “Don’t you have plans?”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” she shot back. “I could move to another table.” She started to gather her stuff.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” he said, stopping her. “I’m sorry. Stay.”
Jessica chuckled. She looked around. “This feels really nice. Not having anyone else here.”
“I know what you mean,” he agreed. “That’s why I like coming here at this time. I can concentrate more.”
“It’s not like you need it,” she replied. “You’re at the top of our year.”
“It’s not bad to study a little bit more,” he said. He leaned towards her. “So really, why are you here?”
“I’m a bad liar, aren’t I?” Jessica asked. Donghae nodded. She laughed. “Well, I just didn’t feel like fighting with my boyfriend. I also didn’t feel like hanging out with anyone.”
“Being here means you’re hanging out with me,” Donghae reminded her, smiling a little.
“Well, you’re different,” Jessica said, smiling back.