SBB 2010 Entry #3 - (Fool Me, Fool Me) Say that You Love Me (1/2)
Title: (Fool Me, Fool Me) Say that You Love Me
Fandom/Pairing: SHINee, genderbent!2min (Taemin/Minho)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 17,391
Lee Eunsook. Kim Junghee. Kim Gwiboon. Choi Minjung. Lee Taeyeon.
It was no big secret that they were pretty and popular. Even they knew it themselves, knew it all too well from the envious stares that followed them in the hallways and the never-ending stream of suitors pursuing each girl. And if sometimes they were a little vain about it, they had good reason to be. They were young, pretty, and highly in demand.
Each of them dealt with it in different ways. Taeyeon was always amused by each confession, but rejected all love offers and avoided her stalkers as best as she could. Gwiboon humored them at times but ignored them for the most part, quickly finding more interesting things to do than to play with boys' hearts. Junghee liked to tease them by agreeing to go out on dates and then putting them down rather bluntly when she became bored or they didn't live up to her (rather high) standards. Eunsook had no interest at all in dating and preferred to focus on her studies, although sometimes she would cave to their pleading and agree to date her suitors until the other girls chased them away for her.
And Minjung?
"Minjung! Marry me!"
"Minjuuuung! Bear my children!
Minjung ran.
"Minjung, I love you!"
She regarded the sea of suitors with a jaded eye. Some of them were holding flowers and chocolates while others had more expensive gifts like branded perfumes and designer bags. She swore that one man actually had an engagement ring today, judging by the way he kept fingering his pocket nervously. All of them had their eyes trained on the street corner that she was currently standing around.
She judged the distance between the street corner and the school gate, taking the small parting in the crowd into consideration. The other students made their way through this narrow passageway, the newer students with marked expressions of confusion and apprehension and the older students with barely the bat of an eye.
Minjung sighed in long suffering. Admittedly, it pleased her to know that she had the most number of suitors (not to mention the most dedicated) among the entire student body, but it made getting in and out of school everyday an unnecessarily burdensome hassle. That they actually respected the area around her home was something to be thankful for, although Minjung suspected that that might have something to do with her parents slapping a restraining order on any strange man that hung around too long.
She only wished the school were able to do the same thing. Although it was a private academy, the area around it was for public use and the administration could do nothing against whoever wanted to gather there. They did, however, strictly monitor the confines of the campus and were quick to evict any stranger from the grounds, which made school and home two of her few reprieves.
Minjung glanced at her wristwatch. There were fifteen minutes until classes started, and she needed to get some reading done before the first period quiz.
She steeled herself, waiting for the right moment. Once there were no other students in the immediate vicinity, she shot out from behind the street corner and dashed madly towards the school gate.
Immediately, the men burst into an uproar, yelling her name and reaching out for her. She twisted to avoid their grasps, shaking off the fingers that managed to clutch at her bag and uniform. There was a close call when one man managed to grip a lock of her hair, but a quick swipe dislodged his grip and she continued running.
The security guards, well accustomed to this morning and afternoon ritual, held the gate open for her. Once she passed the boundary, they shut the heavy bars behind her to prevent any man from following.
Minjung panted heavily, doubling over to catch her breath. She glanced back at the hands reaching desperately through the gaps in the bars, a chorus of voices calling her name. She grimaced and staggered to the locker area, completely ignoring the frantic cries of her would-be suitors.
Minjung swung her locker open, taking a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirror embedded into the back of the door.
"Ah," she frowned, adjusting her headband from where it had almost been tugged off.
How barbaric.
-----
"It's literally a war getting away from those boys. A war."
Eunsook threw her disgruntled friend a sympathetic look. Minjung had been in a foul mood since she practically slammed into the classroom five minutes before the bell and buried herself in a heavy textbook without even acknowledging Gwiboon's affronted whining.
"They do seem to get worse each week," Eunsook agreed, reaching over to pat Minjung's shoulder.
"How do you put up with them?" Junghee asked incredulously, wrinkling her nose at the thought. "I know I'd go crazy if I had that many boys waiting for me at school every day."
Minjung scowled down at her textbook. "I really don't want to put up with them, but it's difficult to reject them all."
"You're too nice," Gwiboon hummed from where she was pouting at herself in her mirror. "You should just tell all those boys that you're already dating someone and you're not interested."
"I don't think they would believe that. I've made it pretty clear that I'm not going to answer any boy who would court me until I've at least graduated from high school," Minjung frowned lightly, pointedly ignoring Junghee's disbelieving snort.
Gwiboon shot a wicked grin at Minjung's reflection. "I never said it had to be a boy," she sing-songed, tugging mischievously at a lock of curly hair.
Minjung stared at her confusedly. "Then, who do-"
Her question was cut off by Gwiboon tipping her head pointedly towards the front of the classroom. Minjung followed her gaze to see...
"Taeyeon?" Junghee gasped scandalously, goggling at the bob-haired girl fluttering around the class bulletin board, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place at the back of the room.
"Shut up, Junghee. You're making it completely obvious," Gwiboon rolled her eyes in exasperation and half-heartedly tapped Junghee's shoulder with the mirror.
"But it's Taeyeon. Campus sweetheart, no boyfriend since birth, pure as freshly fallen snow Taeyeon!" Junghee flailed her arms in an odd gesture that they took to mean 'virgin'.
"Which makes her perfect for the job," Gwiboon replied matter-of-factly, tossing a pigtail over her shoulder with a self-righteous flick of the head. "Nothing like those horrible boys, so it's totally understandable if Minjung says that they're not her type and that Taeyeon is."
"I'm not going to use Taeyeon," Minjung frowned. She was sick of having to fight her way in and out of school, but she certainly wouldn't resort to parading around one of her best friends just to stave them away.
"I never said you were going to use Taeyeon," Gwiboon sing-songed again, batting her eyelashes furiously.
Junghee suddenly burst into a fit of noisy giggles and batted at Gwiboon's arm. Minjung frowned at the knowing grin that Gwiboon wore - an expression that never boded anything well for its intended recipients - while Eunsook merely stared on in polite confusion.
"What are you guys talking about?"
The four girls stopped the conversation and turned in their seats to see Taeyeon bouncing up to them. "I heard my name," she explained, eyes scrunching up into a smile.
"Oh, nothing much. Minjung-ah just wanted to ask you something," Gwiboon smiled innocently, twirling one of her pigtails around a manicured finger.
Minjung glared at Gwiboon. "No, I don't-"
"We'll leave the two of you alone to talk," Gwiboon hummed, nudging a snickering Junghee. The two of them stood up from their seats with Gwiboon grabbing hold of Eunsook's arm to drag the older girl along as well.
The three made their way out of the classroom, Gwiboon waving her fingers cheerfully at them while Junghee whispered furiously into her ear and Eunsook tugged at her arm in a futile attempt to be let in on the secret.
Minjung would have followed them out and demanded an explanation if it hadn't been for Taeyeon staring at her expectantly.
"What did you want to ask, unni?" Taeyeon asked, rocking back on her heels.
Minjung swallowed imperceptibly. "It's nothing. Gwiboon was just teasing again."
Taeyeon's smile faded into a look of concern. "Are you sure, unni? I've noticed that you look pretty troubled lately."
Minjung stared at Taeyeon. Had she really been so obvious?
Taeyeon quickly slid into the seat next to her. "It's your suitors, isn't it?" she whispered knowingly, taking Minjung's hand in hers.
"... How did you know?" Minjung blinked.
Taeyeon patted her hand comfortingly. "It's okay, unni. We all have trouble with boys. It must be pretty bad to get you this distracted, though."
Minjung sighed. She had trouble focusing in class recently, what with her mind constantly preoccupied with trying to think up ways to avoid the men lined up at the school gate. Even reading books or playing soccer weren't sufficient distractions anymore.
Taeyeon suddenly leaned in closer, startling Minjung from her thoughts. "You know, unni, if you need help ... I'm always here for you," Taeyeon murmured, her thumb rubbing over the skin of Minjung's hand in reassurance.
Minjung flushed at the girl's sudden proximity. In comparison to the rest of their group, Taeyeon wasn't very physically affectionate. In fact, she was often the recipient of their enthusiastic displays, but rarely the one to give them. So, really, Minjung couldn't blame herself for being surprised when Taeyeon actually initiated this kind of contact.
Even so, it made Minjung happy to hear the genuine offer of assistance. Minjung knew that Gwiboon and the others truly meant well, but their methods didn't always sit very well with her. Too much conniving and too many conspiracies. Sometimes Minjung wondered why they were the older ones.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can help out with, unni?" Taeyeon pressed.
Minjung opened her mouth to answer, but was distracted by the sight of the three girls pressed up against the glass panel of the classroom door. Gwiboon and Junghee were making rather lewd gestures while Eunsook jumped frantically behind the two girls, struggling for a good viewing spot.
Minjung sighed as Eunsook gave up on trying to peer between Gwiboon and Junghee, and settled for waving a thumbs-up in the air. Perhaps desperate times really did call for desperate measures.
"Actually, there is something you could help me with ..."
-----
Hours later, Minjung stood at the entranceway of the school building feeling more than slightly dazed. Taeyeon smiled cheerfully from her place beside Minjung, hands clasped primly around the strap of her schoolbag.
Ahead of them, Junghee was trying her hardest not to dissolve into snickers and failing miserably. Eunsook was smiling encouragingly, if not a little awkwardly, while Gwiboon had her hands perched on her hips as she smirked at the two younger girls.
"Eunsook-unni, Junghee-unni and I will be going on ahead. We'll wait for you at that new ice cream parlor. Remember your back story!" Gwiboon nodded expectantly, waiting to hear the concocted love story that the three of them had invented instead of listening to the history lecture.
"The two of us met at study hall," Taeyeon chirped obediently. "I was on a ladder, trying to get a book from the highest shelf, but I lost my balance and fell. Luckily, Minjung-unni was there to catch me, and after making sure I got home safely, we fell in love. We've been dating for three months now!"
"My daughter is so smart," Gwiboon cooed, and then glared at Minjung.
She returned the glare. "I never told them before because I didn't want Taeyeon to be bothered by them, but now I've decided to come out and fight for our l-lo-looo-"
Taeyeon patted Minjung's back comfortingly as the older girl buried her face into her hands, clearly embarrassed by the entire thing. Junghee gave up on trying not to laugh and her guffaws mixed with Gwiboon's cackling only caused Minjung's blush to grow fiercer.
"Alright, alright, we'll be going on ahead now," Gwiboon bid them once she and Junghee had gotten control over their laughter. Her lips still twitched at the corners as she twiddled her fingers at them, linking arms with Junghee and Eunsook.
"Have fun, lovebirds," Junghee grinned manically.
"Take care of my daughter!" Gwiboon called over her shoulder.
"Take care, you two," Eunsook added worriedly, the only one to actually sound sincere, as she was dragged along after them.
Minjung waited until she could no longer hear their giggling before she removed her hands from where they had been pressed tightly over her face. She knew her friends really did care, but sometimes they could be downright irritating.
"Ready to go, unni?"
Minjung looked over at Taeyeon, who was smiling at her encouragingly. "We should probably get going now," Taeyeon said gently.
"Ah. Um. Yes," Minjung said lamely, and wondered why Taeyeon hadn't started walking. She realized that she must have been making that horrible deer-caught-in-headlights expression of hers when Taeyeon reached out to take her hand.
"It'll be okay, unni, I promise," Taeyeon beamed confidently.
"Ah. Right," Minjung nodded, and felt pathetic when Taeyeon started leading her out to the school gate. After all, she was the one who was supposed to be asking the favor, right? Sure, it was a fake relationship (and one with a girl, to boot), but she was the one who was supposed to be acting like she had a girlfriend all along. Why couldn't she muster the courage to do just that?
Her musings ended once she realized that they were standing right in front of the school gate. She goggled at the sea of admirers, her mind automatically thinking up ways to outrun them.
The small hand that squeezed her own pulled her out of that particular train of thought, but it was Taeyeon's tiny smile that gave Minjung the courage to face against the men.
Minjung nodded at Taeyeon's encouragement, and stepped up to the gate.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept any of your feelings," Minjung announced, thanking all the gods she knew that her voice conveyed the strength and confidence she was certain wasn't within her.
The men reacted violently.
"What?! Why?!"
"Minjung, no!"
"I swear I'll make you happy, Minjung!"
"What are you saying, Minjung?!"
The chorus of shouts threatened to break Minjung's facade, but she pressed on. "I already have someone that I love!"
The crowd was shocked into a stunned silence before the men started yelling again, only at each other. Packages of chocolate were smashed into the ground, beautiful bouquets of flowers were trampled on, and otherwise perfectly good gifts were ruined as Minjung's suitors began leaping at each other in a mad frenzy.
"Traitor!" a middle-aged man shouted at his colleague, whacking him with his briefcase.
"You little sneak, courting her behind our backs!" a college student growled, dragging a high school student into a headlock.
"It's not any of you!" Minjung yelled exasperatedly.
The men paused in various states of scuffling to gape at her. "Who is it then?" one man yelled from where he was sprawled out on the ground.
"It's me!" Taeyeon, tiny slip of a girl that she was, yelled from Minjung's side. "I'm Minjung-unni's girlfriend, so I would appreciate it if you left her alone from now on!"
Minjung held her breath, watching the stunned faces of the men. Would they fall for their lie? Would they be able to accept her supposed relationship? Would she be able to pull off having a pretend girlfriend?
-----
"They just laughed?"
"At first, yeah," Taeyeon nodded, dipping her spoon into her parfait. "But we stood our ground and let them know we were serious!"
Gwiboon, Junghee and Eunsook listened eagerly, having missed out on the confession itself. "What happened next?" Gwiboon urged the younger girls, her strawberry sundae almost entirely forgotten in the face of new gossip.
"They said I had to prove it," Minjung frowned, picking at her banana split. "Prove that I'm not kidding around and that I didn't just pay her to masquerade as my girlfriend."
Junghee let out a low whistle. "They must actually be smarter than I thought."
"How are you going to do that, Minjung-ah, Taeyeon-ah?" Eunsook asked.
"We're going to date, of course!" Taeyeon responded matter-of-factly.
Minjung's eye twitched a little at the declaration, but she did nothing to refute the statement.
Gwiboon and Junghee squealed in unison, promptly dragging Taeyeon over to their side of the table to discuss potential date plans and debate over the perfect outfit for each possible scenario. Minjung would have protested, but Taeyeon seemed to be happy with their suggestions, so she held back with a sigh.
Eunsook shifted her seat a little closer to Minjung, dragging her bowl of ice cream with her. "Are you fine with this, Minjung-ah?" Eunsook murmured just low enough to keep the others from overhearing.
Minjung favored the older girl with a small smile. "Thanks for the concern, unni. I'm fine with it."
"But are you really, truly fine with everything?" Eunsook pressed, grip tightening on the plastic bowl. "You're okay with pretending you and Taeyeon are a couple and lying to everyone to drive those men away?"
Well, when you put it that way. Minjung grimaced guiltily. "I didn't want to push her, unni," Minjung tried to explain despite the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "She-she said it was alright."
Eunsook gave her a knowing glance. Even if she wasn't always in the loop, Eunsook was still the eldest, and as such took the responsibility of taking care of them very seriously.
"I know you, Minjung. Please don't push yourself into something you don't want," she said softly, seriously.
"I won't, unni," Minjung promised solemnly.
"I trust you," Eunsook nodded, and somehow, Minjung got the feeling that she was talking about something beyond simply lying. Nevertheless, she nodded back.
Eunsook beamed at her, and then slid back over to try and assist in giving Taeyeon dating tips. Her suggestions ("Give her a full bouquet and sing her a love song!") only resulted in Gwiboon and Junghee poking fun at her cheesiness. Eunsook tried to defend herself by demonstrating: she collected all of their spoons and thrust them out at Gwiboon, singing something about how noona was so pretty that the boys wouldn't leave her alone. It would have actually been pretty convincing if her voice didn't drop several octaves for the chorus, and although Junghee found it hilarious, Gwiboon certainly did not.
Amidst the resulting laughter and Eunsook's shrieks over her ice cream-stained uniform, Minjung met Taeyeon's eye.
No matter how much she mulled over it afterwards, Minjung could not reasonably explain the fluttering in her stomach when Taeyeon had smiled back at her.
-----
Their first date was at an amusement park, a fitting choice since all of the excitement would distract them from the potential awkwardness of their first time going out together - or so Junghee claimed as they pored over an adult magazine she had snuck out of her older sister's collection.
"You look great, Minjung-unni!"
The girl tugged at her skirt self-consciously, painfully aware of how it exposed her legs from mid-thigh down. Having no prior knowledge of what dates are supposed to be like, let alone what to wear on them, Minjung had allowed Gwiboon and Junghee to play dress-up and give her tips. The two girls practically leapt at the opportunity and held an impromptu sleepover at Minjung's house, bringing with them enough articles of clothing to outfit all nine members of Girls' Generation for an entire week.
Minjung had gritted her teeth and bore with the long, painful process of outfit assembly, skin cleansing and other tedious pre-date grooming rituals that she didn't even know existed. Admittedly, Gwiboon and Junghee were very good at what they did, expertly multi-tasking shoe selection, eyebrow trimming and date-coaching as if doing so were as natural as breathing.
But now, dressed in a form-fitting blouse and a skirt that looked like it was meant for Taeyeon's size rather than hers, Minjung was beginning to regret that decision.
"You look much better than me," she said honestly to Taeyeon, admiring the way the sundress fell on her petite frame and how her headband glimmered in the sunlight.
Taeyeon smiled widely. "You look wonderful, unni," she whispered, and rose up on tiptoe to press a chaste kiss to Minjung's cheek.
Minjung would have backed away in surprise had it not been for Taeyeon's head subtly gesturing to the parking lot area of the amusement park. Out of the corner of her eye, Minjung spotted a sizable group of men standing around and attempting to look inconspicuous, even though it was painfully evident that they were spying on them.
"Let's just try to ignore them and have fun, okay?" Taeyeon whispered, coming down from her tiptoe.
"All right," Minjung acquiesced with a resigned sigh.
Taeyeon clapped her hands delightedly. "Yay! Let's head inside now while it's still early!" she declared loud enough for the men to hear.
Minjung barely kept herself from rolling her eyes upon seeing the men trip all over themselves in the subsequent scramble to follow them.
"Not very good spies, are they?" Taeyeon giggled, slipping her hand into Minjung's.
"Even Gwiboon is more subtle than they are," Minjung muttered, eliciting a loud laugh from the bob-haired girl.
A tiny smile crept onto Minjung's face as they walked to the ticket booth. Perhaps this day wouldn't be so bad, after all.
-----
"Ah, how cute!"
Minjung looked up from her ice cream cone to where Taeyeon had turned her awed gaze. It was one of the many game booths that littered the amusement park; a strength test that involved hitting a pad with a mallet and seeing how high the bar would rise. Beside the booth was an array of stuffed animals - the jumbo prize appeared to be a brightly-colored monkey that looked to be half of Taeyeon's height.
"So cute," Taeyeon sighed longingly, completely enraptured by the stuffed primate. She turned large, pleading eyes to Minjung. "Can we try that one, unni?"
"Sure, all right," Minjung nodded. There really wasn't any arguing with a determined Taeyeon, especially when she had her heart set on achieving something.
It was rather endearing to see her get so worked up about something, Minjung decided, watching Taeyeon trying to hold herself back from dashing straight to the booth in favor of waiting for her date. Minjung waved her forward, gesturing to her still unfinished ice cream and encouraging her to go on ahead.
Taeyeon cocked her head, wordlessly asking her if she was sure. At Minjung's nod, she broke out into a bright smile and practically skipped to the game booth, much to the Minjung's amusement.
Minjung stood back a little to finish the dessert, taking the time to clean off the remaining traces of ice cream on her lips and fingers with a tissue. Once satisfied, she followed after Taeyeon, curious as to how she was doing.
Pushing through the small crowd that had formed in front of the booth, Minjung found that strength tests weren't really Taeyeon's forte. She was slim, flexible, a prodigy at dancing, but muscles developed through dance did not immediately translate to superior arm strength. At best, Taeyeon's swings only caused the bar to rise up to the middle - above average hits, but certainly not enough to win the stuffed monkey.
Taeyeon accepted the regular prize with a smile that didn't quite reach up to her eyes. She bowed to the booth head in thanks and nearly bumped into Minjung who had been standing right behind her.
"Ah, unni!" Taeyeon exclaimed and then flushed deeply, realizing that Minjung must have seen her turn at the game.
"Congratulations," Minjung offered, gesturing to the small rabbit that she held in her hands. Usually, she would tease the younger girl, but something in the stiff set of Taeyeon's shoulders told her to hold her tongue this time.
"Ah. Um, thank you," Taeyeon murmured, smiling hesitantly as she played with the small toy. "I suppose I didn't do as well as I'd hoped to."
"At least you did better than him," Minjung remarked, tipping her head at the current player. The poor man was struggling with the mallet alone, and his swings at the target either completely missed the pad or raised the bar to only half of what Taeyeon had achieved.
"Unni!" Taeyeon giggled scandalously, the cheer in her eyes returning. "I guess you're right. Anyway, this is cute, too, isn't it? I think I'll name him Onew."
"Onew?" Minjung echoed, staring at the stuffed rabbit.
"He looks like an Onew!" Taeyeon explained with a grin, tugging at the rabbit's ears.
But Minjung saw the way her gaze lingered on the stuffed monkeys even as she started to chatter about going on the next ride.
Without hesitating, Minjung stepped forward. She deposited the cost of three turns into a surprised booth head's hand and plucked the mallet from the last player's grasp.
"Minjung-unni?" Taeyeon gaped, pushing to the front of the crowd to watch the girl give the mallet a few test swings.
Minjung only graced her with a small smile and swung the mallet down onto the target.
The bar rose up to three quarters of the total height, eliciting an appreciative "Ooh!" from the crowd. Taeyeon goggled at the progression of the bar - she had struggled so much just to get it to the middle, and Minjung had beaten her highest score without any effort!
However, Minjung still seemed discontent, and prepared to swing the mallet again. With another strong strike, the marker shot up the bar, this time just barely grazing the bell.
Taeyeon and the crowd clapped enthusiastically, but Minjung only scowled at herself. She raised the mallet, suspending it over the target while the crowd held its breath. The seconds seemed to drag on forever as Minjung stayed completely still, waiting for the right moment.
And then, with enviable ease, Minjung let the mallet drop onto the target.
The bar shot up to the top, the cheerful ring of the bell announcing the latest win.
The crowd roared in approval as Minjung received the gigantic stuffed monkey from a clearly impressed booth head. Amidst all the cheering, Minjung presented the prize to a surprised Taeyeon.
"Oh, unni, you shouldn't- I mean, you're the one who won it!" Taeyeon stammered.
"I won it for you," Minjung explained simply, holding out the stuffed animal.
Taeyeon's lower lip trembled. "Thank you, unni," she choked out, throwing her arms around a startled Minjung.
The taller girl froze in Taeyeon's embrace, surprised by the sudden display of affection, but slowly relaxed and patted her back. "It's no problem, really," she said a little awkwardly - the monkey plushie was still between them, after all.
Taeyeon chuckled a little, unwinding her arms from where they had clung to Minjung. She accepted the stuffed monkey, giving Minjung her brightest smile.
Minjung found herself returning it all too easily.
-----
"How did you get so strong, unni? I mean, I knew you like soccer and all, but I never thought you had such great arm strength as well!" Taeyeon enthused wildly, even an hour after the monkey had been won.
Minjung hid a blush, not quite able to bring herself to meet Taeyeon's adoring gaze. Taeyeon had given her the same look all throughout dinner, and it was beginning to seriously weird her out.
"I just exercise a lot, I guess," a slightly embarrassed Minjung offered as an explanation. "I don't think it's good to just develop your leg strength and leave the rest of your body untrained, so I try to keep a balanced regime."
"That's so cool of you, unni!" Taeyeon gushed excitedly, squeezing the monkey plushie (named Jonghyun for the same reason that Onew was named Onew) in delight. "The most I really do is dance. I don't really take the time to work everything out like you do."
"You're a great dancer, anyway," Minjung said honestly, and smiled at the pleased flush that spread across Taeyeon's cheeks.
Taeyeon beamed widely at the praise, and waved Onew around with the hand not dragging Jonghyun. "Let's go on that one next!" she exclaimed, holding the rabbit plushie out in the direction of the Ferris wheel.
"Alright," Minjung nodded, and the two made their way to the end of the line. They waited in comfortable silence, happy to spend a moment of peace and to forget that this was just a pretend date, that Minjung's suitors weren't right behind them, watching their every move.
The Ferris wheel was an impressive sight in the fading sunlight. Easily towering over the rest of the park, the monstrous ride glowed serenely with the soft multi-colored lights that lined its steel bars and cheerfully-painted carriages.
It wasn't until they had reached the middle of the waiting queue that Minjung noticed the pattern among the people lining up to ride the Ferris wheel. Aside from a few families and two groups of excited children, most of the riders were couples. A brief moment of panic and embarrassment overtook her and she glanced over at Taeyeon, wondering if she had noticed the same thing.
Fortunately, Taeyeon was completely preoccupied with admiring the multi-colored lights that lined the Ferris wheel. Minjung breathed a small sigh of relief and continued shuffling along the queue.
They finally reached the beginning of the line and were ushered into a bright pink carriage. Taeyeon squirmed excitedly in her seat as the carriage began to move, taking them up just a little so that the next batch of riders could be seated. Minjung suppressed a grin at Taeyeon's impatient pout, the younger girl craning her neck out of the window to huff at a particularly slow couple below them.
Their carriage moved up a little again. Taeyeon, seemingly resigned to their fate of a painfully slow loading time, sighed heavily and glanced over at Minjung. Her chin was propped up on the hand resting on the sill of the carriage's glass window, her gaze directed to the rest of the amusement park.
A small, mischievous smile played about on Taeyeon's lips. "So, how am I as a date?" she asked off-handedly.
Minjung's head whipped around in surprise, and Taeyeon's shoulders shook with laughter. "Sorry, sorry!" she giggled. "It's just that I've never been on a date before, so I was wondering how I was doing."
"This is your first date?" Minjung asked faintly. She knew Taeyeon had never had a boyfriend, but she had always thought that she had at least gone dating.
Taeyeon hummed her confirmation. "I was never really interested in any of the guys that asked me out, so I rejected all of them the moment they asked," she explained. "I guess I never really thought of saying yes to one just to find out."
"It's my first date, too," Minjung confessed. "I guess I'm just too busy for dating now. And I was never really interested in anyone, too. Well, except ..." she trailed off with a blush, but quickly composed herself. "Anyway, I have no idea what you're supposed to do for a date, so I had Gwiboon and Junghee come over to help me prepare."
Taeyeon giggled behind a hand. "Did they force you into a billion outfits and make you shave everywhere?"
"You too?" Minjung asked, surprised.
Taeyeon patted the cheerful rabbit-patterned bandage plastered over the back of her leg. "Gwiboon-unni made me stop after I started bleeding all over the bathroom. Did you know she gets really sick at the sight of blood?"
Minjung tugged down her right sock to reveal a similar bandage just above her calves. "I never would have guessed if I hadn't seen it for myself."
The two burst into laughter just as the Ferris wheel finally began to circle. Taeyeon shuffled over to the edge of her seat and pressed her forehead against the glass, staring out at the beautiful night view that the ride offered. "Look, look, unni, your suitors are stuck down there!" she flapped her hand excitedly.
Minjung looked down to see the men that had been following them all day staring up desperately at the Ferris Wheel, most likely in a frantic attempt to locate which carriage she was seated in.
She must have made a horrible face because Taeyeon gave her that look again. "Sorry, I shouldn't have pointed them out," Taeyeon said apologetically. "I know how much trouble they're causing you."
Minjung shook her head. The guilt was weighing down on her again, and she couldn't stop the words from spilling out. "It's not your fault. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I dragged you into this entire mess. I mean, it was Gwiboon's idea, but it was my fault for listening to her in the first place."
"Mm!" Taeyeon shook her head frantically, eyes wide and insistent. "I encouraged you to do it! I asked you to drag me in!"
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into soft chuckles that filled the small compartment.
"How about we agree to disagree?" Minjung smirked.
"How about you buy me more ice cream and I consider it?" Taeyeon blinked innocently.
Minjung rolled her eyes and ruffled Taeyeon's hair playfully, grinning when the younger girl yelped and batted the offending hand away. "Keep dreaming, brat."
Taeyeon stuck her tongue out at Minjung childishly and re-adjusted her headband.
Minjung's smirk softened into a content smile. "Hey, Taeyeon."
"Mm?" Taeyeon hummed as she dug through her bag for a compact mirror.
"You're pretty good for a first date."
Taeyeon looked across the compartment where Minjung sat, hands crossed over her chest as she leaned back against the seat. "Well, you aren't so bad yourself," she replied cheekily, but the reassuring smile she gave Minjung softened the words.
The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence. Somehow, Minjung felt as if they had cleared some sort of hurdle in their pretend relationship, if the sudden lightness in her chest was supposed to be the physical manifestation of that.
Then again, it could have just been the sheer dizzying height of the ride hitting her. In any case, Minjung was relieved when the ride finally ended, so much that she ended up stumbling into a trio as she quickly exited the Ferris wheel premises with Taeyeon in tow.
Minjung stopped to apologize to the three girls, but froze in mid-bow. Taeyeon barely kept herself from running into Minjung and was about to complain at the sudden pause when she caught sight of what had made Minjung stop in the middle of the exit way.
"You followed us the whole day, too?!" Taeyeon nearly shrieked.
It was of common opinion that Taeyeon's betrayed voice could induce guilt in even the most hardened criminal. Naturally, three high school girls were absolutely no match for such a powerful force, and they shuffled guiltily under Taeyeon's accusing gaze.
"Not all day," Junghee offered weakly. "Gwiboon didn't want to go on the rollercoaster and the Ferris wheel, so we went to a noraebang instead."
"I just wanted to make sure you were safe from those horrible men!" Gwiboon whined when it became obvious that there would be no sympathy for her acrophobia. "What if they kidnapped you and threatened you and bullied you into staying away from Minjung forever?"
"Unni, they wouldn't do that," Taeyeon sighed, evading Gwiboon's hand as it reached out to smooth over her fringe.
"Ah, my daughter is so innocent," Gwiboon sobbed dramatically and pulled Taeyeon into a firm hug.
Minjung gave Gwiboon an odd look and turned to Junghee and Eunsook. "Why did you come back, then?" Minjung asked.
Junghee and Eunsook exchanged wide-eyed glances before Junghee pushed the older girl forward. Eunsook sputtered, but Junghee waved her forward with an urgent tilt of her chin.
"W-we were wondering ..." Eunsook looked over at Junghee for encouragement. "Well, we hadn't intended on staying out this long, and we did tell our parents we were going out with you and Taeyeon ..."
Minjung gave her a flat look. "You're asking to stay overnight?"
"Please, Minjung-ah?! We won't be noisy, we promise!" Eunsook pleaded, dragging Junghee to stand beside her for added persuasive power.
Junghee stuck her lower lip out in a pout, an expression that would have sent any of her suitors running to carry out her heart's desire. Unfortunately, Minjung was not one of Junghee's suitors and had long developed immunity to the older girl's pleading expressions (which she brought out each time she begged to copy Minjung's assignments, having foregone doing her own in favor of shopping or noraebang sessions).
Still, it was a sad sight to see both Eunsook and Junghee pleading so pathetically, and people were starting to shoot them funny looks when Gwiboon refused to relinquish her hold in case "those nasty men tried to cart my daughter away", much to Taeyeon's dismay.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell my parents," Minjung acquiesced, if only to shoo the other four away from where they were clogging up the exit way. Junghee spun Eunsook around with a delighted laugh, and Gwiboon gave Taeyeon one last enthusiastic squeeze before Minjung rescued her from her clutches.
Later that night, once Eunsook, Junghee and Gwiboon had tired of dog piling on each other and sprawled out on the mattress Minjung's mother had rolled out for them, Taeyeon shuffled closer to Minjung from where she lay next to her on the single bed. Her eyes were impossibly wide in the darkness, the moonlight highlighting the soft curve of her jaw.
"Thanks for my first date, unni," Taeyeon whispered, her breath ghosting warmly over Minjung's cheek.
Taeyeon rolled over and quickly sank into sleep, but it was a while before Minjung could follow. Her steady, thoughtful gaze bore into the other girl's back until her eyelids gave into exhaustion and she fell into a dreamless sleep, Taeyeon's body warm against her side.
-----
Their third date was at a local mall. Although it was more famed for its wide variety in clothes, Taeyeon and Minjung both agreed that modern times demanded a more economic approach to dating, thus they limited their excursion to window shopping and the occasional edible treat. Not to say that their wallets came out entirely unscathed: Minjung's eyes had lingered far too long on a beautiful new headband, while Taeyeon had spotted a large discount sale too good to pass up.
Needless to say, they both made their own separate purchases. Despite breaking their initial promise to save up, both of them agreed that their selections had been very wise ones. Not wanting to wait for another occasion, Minjung immediately swapped headbands while Taeyeon beamed, clutching the precious prize of her attempts at haggling.
Unfortunately, not even this excused them from the prying gaze of Minjung's suitors, who were persistent in their apparent goal to observe them all throughout their date.
"Unni, your suitors are scary," Taeyeon whispered, glancing back at where the men were fighting their way through an on-the-spot discount sale.
Minjung only scrunched her nose up in annoyance. "You get used to them after a while, I guess," she offered as a resigned explanation.
Taeyeon turned around, openly staring at the group of suitors. She wasn't the only one to - the other customers in the area had paused in their shopping to watch the men struggle to get to where Minjung and Taeyeon were, only to be beaten back by irritated women digging through the discount pile.
"Come on, let's get out of here while they're distracted," Taeyeon whispered to Minjung, taking her by the hand and dragging her out of the store while security guards made their way to the area to calm down the brewing scuffle. Minjung heard the sound of her name being called frantically before they dashed through the store exit and out into the mall.
They ran along a flurry of stores, dashing up an escalator and rounding several corners. The store lights and racks of clothing blurred together in Minjung's vision, and she vaguely wondered where Taeyeon was taking her.
"Ah, here it is!" Taeyeon exclaimed triumphantly and pulled a frazzled Minjung into a vibrant pink booth.
Minjung started slightly upon taking a good look at the screen inside. She had expected to see a game of some sort; instead, she was surprised at the sight of the two of them framed by an obnoxiously pastel frame.
Taeyeon hummed happily, forking out some won and depositing it into the machine. "Smile, unni!" she chirped, giving Minjung only a few seconds to stare into the camera before the entire booth was illuminated by a bright flash that she swore had blinded her.
"Up there for the next one!" Taeyeon pointed at the camera set at a higher angle, and Minjung blinked furiously to clear the spots from her vision. She ducked her head close to Taeyeon's, aiming a smile at what she hoped was the camera, and the booth flashed again. Minjung fervently hoped that her retinas weren't singed beyond repair.
"Last one," Taeyeon beamed, redirecting Minjung's attention back to the first camera. Minjung smiled weakly, tucking her head next to Taeyeon and squeezing her eyes shut as soon as the flash went off.
Through tightly closed lids, Minjung heard Taeyeon squawk in surprise. Her eyes shot open, darting wildly around the booth for fear that Taeyeon had also lost her vision. She was both relieved and exasperated to see the two girls that Taeyeon was currently directing her best glare at.
"Gwiboon, Junghee-unni, what are you doing here?" Minjung scolded, her lips curving into a disapproving frown.
"Oh, look, Junghee-unni, they've even gotten around to taking couple pictures together!" Gwiboon said loudly, flapping her hand scandalously in the direction of the screen.
"How bold!" Junghee nodded along to Gwiboon's words, although her tone was more amused than accusing.
"Unni, why are you here?" Taeyeon whined, pouting at the older girls.
"Looking out for my daughter, of course!" Gwiboon responded, throwing her arms around Taeyeon. Minjung sighed - it figured that Gwiboon would answer Taeyeon and completely ignore her.
"I don't need a chaperone, Gwiboon-unni," Taeyeon said into the collar of Gwiboon's blouse.
"But what if you get hurt or some nasty man tries to steal you away?!" Gwiboon exclaimed dramatically, tightening her embrace.
Minjung saw the way Taeyeon's shoulders were beginning to tense, and decided it was time to interfere. "Please go away," she said quietly.
"Did you hear that, Gwiboon? Minjung doesn't want us around!" Junghee gasped in exaggerated theatrics. "How cruel of you, Minjung-ah!"
Minjung refused to be swayed by their antics and firmly gestured with her head to the exit of the booth, giving them a pointed look.
"All right, all right, that's enough," Eunsook finally intervened, slipping inside to grasp Gwiboon and Junghee by their shoulders.
"Yah!" Gwiboon shrieked, trying to twist away from Eunsook's surprisingly strong grip.
"Eunsook-unni!" Junghee whined as she and Gwiboon were steered out of the booth.
Amidst the loud protests, Eunsook slipped a length of glossy paper into Minjung's hands and shot an apologetic smile at Minjung and Taeyeon before she lead the other two girls away. "Come on, I know they're holding a big sale at the department store ..."
Once Eunsook's voice had faded and they could no longer hear Gwiboon and Junghee's caterwauling, Minjung took a look at the paper that Eunsook had given her. She was surprised to find that it was the strip of pictures that had been developed during the entire confusion.
"Oh, let's take a look!" Taeyeon sat next to Minjung and leaned over to see the photographs more clearly. Taeyeon burst into giggles at the first picture: she was beaming at the camera with her fingers thrust out into a V-sign while Minjung stared at the camera with her mouth slightly agape, a testimony to her then-surprised state.
The last picture was, in retrospect, rather hilarious. Taeyeon and Minjung had squeezed together in the middle of the screen and were both smiling at the camera, but Taeyeon had a V-sign above her head courtesy of a grinning Junghee, and half of Minjung's face was obscured by a close-up of Gwiboon's right eye and cheek.
However, the second picture was definitely one for the keeping. The sudden change in angle had forced Taeyeon to draw closer to Minjung, and the resulting photo had Taeyeon resting her head slightly on Minjung's shoulder. The older girl's cheek brushed the top of Taeyeon's head, and both of them smiled tenderly at the camera.
"I like this one best," Taeyeon declared. To Minjung's surprise, Taeyeon reached into Minjung's bag and took out her wallet, making a pleased noise upon finding four picture slots. One of them contained a studio picture of her family after her middle school graduation, mother and father smiling serenely at the camera while her older brother slung his arm happily around her shoulder.
Another held a recent Purikura picture of the five of them squeezed together into the tiny booth, all wide smiles at the camera with Gwiboon's shaky scrawl of "Pretty Girl" decorating the space above. The most notable feature of the picture was the cartoonish mustache drawn on Junghee's face - Eunsook's retaliation to the other girl's almost obsessive use of the stamps.
The third slot contained the graduation picture of a boy, slightly crinkled from the numerous times it had been slipped in and out of the wallet. The upper right corner was folded over a little, revealing a smudge of ink from the message hastily scrawled on the back.
The fourth was empty, and it was here that Taeyeon slipped the latest Purikura picture of them together. "There! Perfect!" she declared loudly, holding it out to admire the photo. "Our first couple photo!"
Minjung accepted the wallet and rubbed a thumb fondly over their smiling faces. It was strange to see all four photo slots filled up for once, but it was a good change, she decided.
[Part Two]
Fandom/Pairing: SHINee, genderbent!2min (Taemin/Minho)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 17,391
Lee Eunsook. Kim Junghee. Kim Gwiboon. Choi Minjung. Lee Taeyeon.
It was no big secret that they were pretty and popular. Even they knew it themselves, knew it all too well from the envious stares that followed them in the hallways and the never-ending stream of suitors pursuing each girl. And if sometimes they were a little vain about it, they had good reason to be. They were young, pretty, and highly in demand.
Each of them dealt with it in different ways. Taeyeon was always amused by each confession, but rejected all love offers and avoided her stalkers as best as she could. Gwiboon humored them at times but ignored them for the most part, quickly finding more interesting things to do than to play with boys' hearts. Junghee liked to tease them by agreeing to go out on dates and then putting them down rather bluntly when she became bored or they didn't live up to her (rather high) standards. Eunsook had no interest at all in dating and preferred to focus on her studies, although sometimes she would cave to their pleading and agree to date her suitors until the other girls chased them away for her.
And Minjung?
"Minjung! Marry me!"
"Minjuuuung! Bear my children!
Minjung ran.
"Minjung, I love you!"
She regarded the sea of suitors with a jaded eye. Some of them were holding flowers and chocolates while others had more expensive gifts like branded perfumes and designer bags. She swore that one man actually had an engagement ring today, judging by the way he kept fingering his pocket nervously. All of them had their eyes trained on the street corner that she was currently standing around.
She judged the distance between the street corner and the school gate, taking the small parting in the crowd into consideration. The other students made their way through this narrow passageway, the newer students with marked expressions of confusion and apprehension and the older students with barely the bat of an eye.
Minjung sighed in long suffering. Admittedly, it pleased her to know that she had the most number of suitors (not to mention the most dedicated) among the entire student body, but it made getting in and out of school everyday an unnecessarily burdensome hassle. That they actually respected the area around her home was something to be thankful for, although Minjung suspected that that might have something to do with her parents slapping a restraining order on any strange man that hung around too long.
She only wished the school were able to do the same thing. Although it was a private academy, the area around it was for public use and the administration could do nothing against whoever wanted to gather there. They did, however, strictly monitor the confines of the campus and were quick to evict any stranger from the grounds, which made school and home two of her few reprieves.
Minjung glanced at her wristwatch. There were fifteen minutes until classes started, and she needed to get some reading done before the first period quiz.
She steeled herself, waiting for the right moment. Once there were no other students in the immediate vicinity, she shot out from behind the street corner and dashed madly towards the school gate.
Immediately, the men burst into an uproar, yelling her name and reaching out for her. She twisted to avoid their grasps, shaking off the fingers that managed to clutch at her bag and uniform. There was a close call when one man managed to grip a lock of her hair, but a quick swipe dislodged his grip and she continued running.
The security guards, well accustomed to this morning and afternoon ritual, held the gate open for her. Once she passed the boundary, they shut the heavy bars behind her to prevent any man from following.
Minjung panted heavily, doubling over to catch her breath. She glanced back at the hands reaching desperately through the gaps in the bars, a chorus of voices calling her name. She grimaced and staggered to the locker area, completely ignoring the frantic cries of her would-be suitors.
Minjung swung her locker open, taking a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirror embedded into the back of the door.
"Ah," she frowned, adjusting her headband from where it had almost been tugged off.
How barbaric.
-----
"It's literally a war getting away from those boys. A war."
Eunsook threw her disgruntled friend a sympathetic look. Minjung had been in a foul mood since she practically slammed into the classroom five minutes before the bell and buried herself in a heavy textbook without even acknowledging Gwiboon's affronted whining.
"They do seem to get worse each week," Eunsook agreed, reaching over to pat Minjung's shoulder.
"How do you put up with them?" Junghee asked incredulously, wrinkling her nose at the thought. "I know I'd go crazy if I had that many boys waiting for me at school every day."
Minjung scowled down at her textbook. "I really don't want to put up with them, but it's difficult to reject them all."
"You're too nice," Gwiboon hummed from where she was pouting at herself in her mirror. "You should just tell all those boys that you're already dating someone and you're not interested."
"I don't think they would believe that. I've made it pretty clear that I'm not going to answer any boy who would court me until I've at least graduated from high school," Minjung frowned lightly, pointedly ignoring Junghee's disbelieving snort.
Gwiboon shot a wicked grin at Minjung's reflection. "I never said it had to be a boy," she sing-songed, tugging mischievously at a lock of curly hair.
Minjung stared at her confusedly. "Then, who do-"
Her question was cut off by Gwiboon tipping her head pointedly towards the front of the classroom. Minjung followed her gaze to see...
"Taeyeon?" Junghee gasped scandalously, goggling at the bob-haired girl fluttering around the class bulletin board, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place at the back of the room.
"Shut up, Junghee. You're making it completely obvious," Gwiboon rolled her eyes in exasperation and half-heartedly tapped Junghee's shoulder with the mirror.
"But it's Taeyeon. Campus sweetheart, no boyfriend since birth, pure as freshly fallen snow Taeyeon!" Junghee flailed her arms in an odd gesture that they took to mean 'virgin'.
"Which makes her perfect for the job," Gwiboon replied matter-of-factly, tossing a pigtail over her shoulder with a self-righteous flick of the head. "Nothing like those horrible boys, so it's totally understandable if Minjung says that they're not her type and that Taeyeon is."
"I'm not going to use Taeyeon," Minjung frowned. She was sick of having to fight her way in and out of school, but she certainly wouldn't resort to parading around one of her best friends just to stave them away.
"I never said you were going to use Taeyeon," Gwiboon sing-songed again, batting her eyelashes furiously.
Junghee suddenly burst into a fit of noisy giggles and batted at Gwiboon's arm. Minjung frowned at the knowing grin that Gwiboon wore - an expression that never boded anything well for its intended recipients - while Eunsook merely stared on in polite confusion.
"What are you guys talking about?"
The four girls stopped the conversation and turned in their seats to see Taeyeon bouncing up to them. "I heard my name," she explained, eyes scrunching up into a smile.
"Oh, nothing much. Minjung-ah just wanted to ask you something," Gwiboon smiled innocently, twirling one of her pigtails around a manicured finger.
Minjung glared at Gwiboon. "No, I don't-"
"We'll leave the two of you alone to talk," Gwiboon hummed, nudging a snickering Junghee. The two of them stood up from their seats with Gwiboon grabbing hold of Eunsook's arm to drag the older girl along as well.
The three made their way out of the classroom, Gwiboon waving her fingers cheerfully at them while Junghee whispered furiously into her ear and Eunsook tugged at her arm in a futile attempt to be let in on the secret.
Minjung would have followed them out and demanded an explanation if it hadn't been for Taeyeon staring at her expectantly.
"What did you want to ask, unni?" Taeyeon asked, rocking back on her heels.
Minjung swallowed imperceptibly. "It's nothing. Gwiboon was just teasing again."
Taeyeon's smile faded into a look of concern. "Are you sure, unni? I've noticed that you look pretty troubled lately."
Minjung stared at Taeyeon. Had she really been so obvious?
Taeyeon quickly slid into the seat next to her. "It's your suitors, isn't it?" she whispered knowingly, taking Minjung's hand in hers.
"... How did you know?" Minjung blinked.
Taeyeon patted her hand comfortingly. "It's okay, unni. We all have trouble with boys. It must be pretty bad to get you this distracted, though."
Minjung sighed. She had trouble focusing in class recently, what with her mind constantly preoccupied with trying to think up ways to avoid the men lined up at the school gate. Even reading books or playing soccer weren't sufficient distractions anymore.
Taeyeon suddenly leaned in closer, startling Minjung from her thoughts. "You know, unni, if you need help ... I'm always here for you," Taeyeon murmured, her thumb rubbing over the skin of Minjung's hand in reassurance.
Minjung flushed at the girl's sudden proximity. In comparison to the rest of their group, Taeyeon wasn't very physically affectionate. In fact, she was often the recipient of their enthusiastic displays, but rarely the one to give them. So, really, Minjung couldn't blame herself for being surprised when Taeyeon actually initiated this kind of contact.
Even so, it made Minjung happy to hear the genuine offer of assistance. Minjung knew that Gwiboon and the others truly meant well, but their methods didn't always sit very well with her. Too much conniving and too many conspiracies. Sometimes Minjung wondered why they were the older ones.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can help out with, unni?" Taeyeon pressed.
Minjung opened her mouth to answer, but was distracted by the sight of the three girls pressed up against the glass panel of the classroom door. Gwiboon and Junghee were making rather lewd gestures while Eunsook jumped frantically behind the two girls, struggling for a good viewing spot.
Minjung sighed as Eunsook gave up on trying to peer between Gwiboon and Junghee, and settled for waving a thumbs-up in the air. Perhaps desperate times really did call for desperate measures.
"Actually, there is something you could help me with ..."
-----
Hours later, Minjung stood at the entranceway of the school building feeling more than slightly dazed. Taeyeon smiled cheerfully from her place beside Minjung, hands clasped primly around the strap of her schoolbag.
Ahead of them, Junghee was trying her hardest not to dissolve into snickers and failing miserably. Eunsook was smiling encouragingly, if not a little awkwardly, while Gwiboon had her hands perched on her hips as she smirked at the two younger girls.
"Eunsook-unni, Junghee-unni and I will be going on ahead. We'll wait for you at that new ice cream parlor. Remember your back story!" Gwiboon nodded expectantly, waiting to hear the concocted love story that the three of them had invented instead of listening to the history lecture.
"The two of us met at study hall," Taeyeon chirped obediently. "I was on a ladder, trying to get a book from the highest shelf, but I lost my balance and fell. Luckily, Minjung-unni was there to catch me, and after making sure I got home safely, we fell in love. We've been dating for three months now!"
"My daughter is so smart," Gwiboon cooed, and then glared at Minjung.
She returned the glare. "I never told them before because I didn't want Taeyeon to be bothered by them, but now I've decided to come out and fight for our l-lo-looo-"
Taeyeon patted Minjung's back comfortingly as the older girl buried her face into her hands, clearly embarrassed by the entire thing. Junghee gave up on trying not to laugh and her guffaws mixed with Gwiboon's cackling only caused Minjung's blush to grow fiercer.
"Alright, alright, we'll be going on ahead now," Gwiboon bid them once she and Junghee had gotten control over their laughter. Her lips still twitched at the corners as she twiddled her fingers at them, linking arms with Junghee and Eunsook.
"Have fun, lovebirds," Junghee grinned manically.
"Take care of my daughter!" Gwiboon called over her shoulder.
"Take care, you two," Eunsook added worriedly, the only one to actually sound sincere, as she was dragged along after them.
Minjung waited until she could no longer hear their giggling before she removed her hands from where they had been pressed tightly over her face. She knew her friends really did care, but sometimes they could be downright irritating.
"Ready to go, unni?"
Minjung looked over at Taeyeon, who was smiling at her encouragingly. "We should probably get going now," Taeyeon said gently.
"Ah. Um. Yes," Minjung said lamely, and wondered why Taeyeon hadn't started walking. She realized that she must have been making that horrible deer-caught-in-headlights expression of hers when Taeyeon reached out to take her hand.
"It'll be okay, unni, I promise," Taeyeon beamed confidently.
"Ah. Right," Minjung nodded, and felt pathetic when Taeyeon started leading her out to the school gate. After all, she was the one who was supposed to be asking the favor, right? Sure, it was a fake relationship (and one with a girl, to boot), but she was the one who was supposed to be acting like she had a girlfriend all along. Why couldn't she muster the courage to do just that?
Her musings ended once she realized that they were standing right in front of the school gate. She goggled at the sea of admirers, her mind automatically thinking up ways to outrun them.
The small hand that squeezed her own pulled her out of that particular train of thought, but it was Taeyeon's tiny smile that gave Minjung the courage to face against the men.
Minjung nodded at Taeyeon's encouragement, and stepped up to the gate.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept any of your feelings," Minjung announced, thanking all the gods she knew that her voice conveyed the strength and confidence she was certain wasn't within her.
The men reacted violently.
"What?! Why?!"
"Minjung, no!"
"I swear I'll make you happy, Minjung!"
"What are you saying, Minjung?!"
The chorus of shouts threatened to break Minjung's facade, but she pressed on. "I already have someone that I love!"
The crowd was shocked into a stunned silence before the men started yelling again, only at each other. Packages of chocolate were smashed into the ground, beautiful bouquets of flowers were trampled on, and otherwise perfectly good gifts were ruined as Minjung's suitors began leaping at each other in a mad frenzy.
"Traitor!" a middle-aged man shouted at his colleague, whacking him with his briefcase.
"You little sneak, courting her behind our backs!" a college student growled, dragging a high school student into a headlock.
"It's not any of you!" Minjung yelled exasperatedly.
The men paused in various states of scuffling to gape at her. "Who is it then?" one man yelled from where he was sprawled out on the ground.
"It's me!" Taeyeon, tiny slip of a girl that she was, yelled from Minjung's side. "I'm Minjung-unni's girlfriend, so I would appreciate it if you left her alone from now on!"
Minjung held her breath, watching the stunned faces of the men. Would they fall for their lie? Would they be able to accept her supposed relationship? Would she be able to pull off having a pretend girlfriend?
-----
"They just laughed?"
"At first, yeah," Taeyeon nodded, dipping her spoon into her parfait. "But we stood our ground and let them know we were serious!"
Gwiboon, Junghee and Eunsook listened eagerly, having missed out on the confession itself. "What happened next?" Gwiboon urged the younger girls, her strawberry sundae almost entirely forgotten in the face of new gossip.
"They said I had to prove it," Minjung frowned, picking at her banana split. "Prove that I'm not kidding around and that I didn't just pay her to masquerade as my girlfriend."
Junghee let out a low whistle. "They must actually be smarter than I thought."
"How are you going to do that, Minjung-ah, Taeyeon-ah?" Eunsook asked.
"We're going to date, of course!" Taeyeon responded matter-of-factly.
Minjung's eye twitched a little at the declaration, but she did nothing to refute the statement.
Gwiboon and Junghee squealed in unison, promptly dragging Taeyeon over to their side of the table to discuss potential date plans and debate over the perfect outfit for each possible scenario. Minjung would have protested, but Taeyeon seemed to be happy with their suggestions, so she held back with a sigh.
Eunsook shifted her seat a little closer to Minjung, dragging her bowl of ice cream with her. "Are you fine with this, Minjung-ah?" Eunsook murmured just low enough to keep the others from overhearing.
Minjung favored the older girl with a small smile. "Thanks for the concern, unni. I'm fine with it."
"But are you really, truly fine with everything?" Eunsook pressed, grip tightening on the plastic bowl. "You're okay with pretending you and Taeyeon are a couple and lying to everyone to drive those men away?"
Well, when you put it that way. Minjung grimaced guiltily. "I didn't want to push her, unni," Minjung tried to explain despite the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "She-she said it was alright."
Eunsook gave her a knowing glance. Even if she wasn't always in the loop, Eunsook was still the eldest, and as such took the responsibility of taking care of them very seriously.
"I know you, Minjung. Please don't push yourself into something you don't want," she said softly, seriously.
"I won't, unni," Minjung promised solemnly.
"I trust you," Eunsook nodded, and somehow, Minjung got the feeling that she was talking about something beyond simply lying. Nevertheless, she nodded back.
Eunsook beamed at her, and then slid back over to try and assist in giving Taeyeon dating tips. Her suggestions ("Give her a full bouquet and sing her a love song!") only resulted in Gwiboon and Junghee poking fun at her cheesiness. Eunsook tried to defend herself by demonstrating: she collected all of their spoons and thrust them out at Gwiboon, singing something about how noona was so pretty that the boys wouldn't leave her alone. It would have actually been pretty convincing if her voice didn't drop several octaves for the chorus, and although Junghee found it hilarious, Gwiboon certainly did not.
Amidst the resulting laughter and Eunsook's shrieks over her ice cream-stained uniform, Minjung met Taeyeon's eye.
No matter how much she mulled over it afterwards, Minjung could not reasonably explain the fluttering in her stomach when Taeyeon had smiled back at her.
-----
Their first date was at an amusement park, a fitting choice since all of the excitement would distract them from the potential awkwardness of their first time going out together - or so Junghee claimed as they pored over an adult magazine she had snuck out of her older sister's collection.
"You look great, Minjung-unni!"
The girl tugged at her skirt self-consciously, painfully aware of how it exposed her legs from mid-thigh down. Having no prior knowledge of what dates are supposed to be like, let alone what to wear on them, Minjung had allowed Gwiboon and Junghee to play dress-up and give her tips. The two girls practically leapt at the opportunity and held an impromptu sleepover at Minjung's house, bringing with them enough articles of clothing to outfit all nine members of Girls' Generation for an entire week.
Minjung had gritted her teeth and bore with the long, painful process of outfit assembly, skin cleansing and other tedious pre-date grooming rituals that she didn't even know existed. Admittedly, Gwiboon and Junghee were very good at what they did, expertly multi-tasking shoe selection, eyebrow trimming and date-coaching as if doing so were as natural as breathing.
But now, dressed in a form-fitting blouse and a skirt that looked like it was meant for Taeyeon's size rather than hers, Minjung was beginning to regret that decision.
"You look much better than me," she said honestly to Taeyeon, admiring the way the sundress fell on her petite frame and how her headband glimmered in the sunlight.
Taeyeon smiled widely. "You look wonderful, unni," she whispered, and rose up on tiptoe to press a chaste kiss to Minjung's cheek.
Minjung would have backed away in surprise had it not been for Taeyeon's head subtly gesturing to the parking lot area of the amusement park. Out of the corner of her eye, Minjung spotted a sizable group of men standing around and attempting to look inconspicuous, even though it was painfully evident that they were spying on them.
"Let's just try to ignore them and have fun, okay?" Taeyeon whispered, coming down from her tiptoe.
"All right," Minjung acquiesced with a resigned sigh.
Taeyeon clapped her hands delightedly. "Yay! Let's head inside now while it's still early!" she declared loud enough for the men to hear.
Minjung barely kept herself from rolling her eyes upon seeing the men trip all over themselves in the subsequent scramble to follow them.
"Not very good spies, are they?" Taeyeon giggled, slipping her hand into Minjung's.
"Even Gwiboon is more subtle than they are," Minjung muttered, eliciting a loud laugh from the bob-haired girl.
A tiny smile crept onto Minjung's face as they walked to the ticket booth. Perhaps this day wouldn't be so bad, after all.
-----
"Ah, how cute!"
Minjung looked up from her ice cream cone to where Taeyeon had turned her awed gaze. It was one of the many game booths that littered the amusement park; a strength test that involved hitting a pad with a mallet and seeing how high the bar would rise. Beside the booth was an array of stuffed animals - the jumbo prize appeared to be a brightly-colored monkey that looked to be half of Taeyeon's height.
"So cute," Taeyeon sighed longingly, completely enraptured by the stuffed primate. She turned large, pleading eyes to Minjung. "Can we try that one, unni?"
"Sure, all right," Minjung nodded. There really wasn't any arguing with a determined Taeyeon, especially when she had her heart set on achieving something.
It was rather endearing to see her get so worked up about something, Minjung decided, watching Taeyeon trying to hold herself back from dashing straight to the booth in favor of waiting for her date. Minjung waved her forward, gesturing to her still unfinished ice cream and encouraging her to go on ahead.
Taeyeon cocked her head, wordlessly asking her if she was sure. At Minjung's nod, she broke out into a bright smile and practically skipped to the game booth, much to the Minjung's amusement.
Minjung stood back a little to finish the dessert, taking the time to clean off the remaining traces of ice cream on her lips and fingers with a tissue. Once satisfied, she followed after Taeyeon, curious as to how she was doing.
Pushing through the small crowd that had formed in front of the booth, Minjung found that strength tests weren't really Taeyeon's forte. She was slim, flexible, a prodigy at dancing, but muscles developed through dance did not immediately translate to superior arm strength. At best, Taeyeon's swings only caused the bar to rise up to the middle - above average hits, but certainly not enough to win the stuffed monkey.
Taeyeon accepted the regular prize with a smile that didn't quite reach up to her eyes. She bowed to the booth head in thanks and nearly bumped into Minjung who had been standing right behind her.
"Ah, unni!" Taeyeon exclaimed and then flushed deeply, realizing that Minjung must have seen her turn at the game.
"Congratulations," Minjung offered, gesturing to the small rabbit that she held in her hands. Usually, she would tease the younger girl, but something in the stiff set of Taeyeon's shoulders told her to hold her tongue this time.
"Ah. Um, thank you," Taeyeon murmured, smiling hesitantly as she played with the small toy. "I suppose I didn't do as well as I'd hoped to."
"At least you did better than him," Minjung remarked, tipping her head at the current player. The poor man was struggling with the mallet alone, and his swings at the target either completely missed the pad or raised the bar to only half of what Taeyeon had achieved.
"Unni!" Taeyeon giggled scandalously, the cheer in her eyes returning. "I guess you're right. Anyway, this is cute, too, isn't it? I think I'll name him Onew."
"Onew?" Minjung echoed, staring at the stuffed rabbit.
"He looks like an Onew!" Taeyeon explained with a grin, tugging at the rabbit's ears.
But Minjung saw the way her gaze lingered on the stuffed monkeys even as she started to chatter about going on the next ride.
Without hesitating, Minjung stepped forward. She deposited the cost of three turns into a surprised booth head's hand and plucked the mallet from the last player's grasp.
"Minjung-unni?" Taeyeon gaped, pushing to the front of the crowd to watch the girl give the mallet a few test swings.
Minjung only graced her with a small smile and swung the mallet down onto the target.
The bar rose up to three quarters of the total height, eliciting an appreciative "Ooh!" from the crowd. Taeyeon goggled at the progression of the bar - she had struggled so much just to get it to the middle, and Minjung had beaten her highest score without any effort!
However, Minjung still seemed discontent, and prepared to swing the mallet again. With another strong strike, the marker shot up the bar, this time just barely grazing the bell.
Taeyeon and the crowd clapped enthusiastically, but Minjung only scowled at herself. She raised the mallet, suspending it over the target while the crowd held its breath. The seconds seemed to drag on forever as Minjung stayed completely still, waiting for the right moment.
And then, with enviable ease, Minjung let the mallet drop onto the target.
The bar shot up to the top, the cheerful ring of the bell announcing the latest win.
The crowd roared in approval as Minjung received the gigantic stuffed monkey from a clearly impressed booth head. Amidst all the cheering, Minjung presented the prize to a surprised Taeyeon.
"Oh, unni, you shouldn't- I mean, you're the one who won it!" Taeyeon stammered.
"I won it for you," Minjung explained simply, holding out the stuffed animal.
Taeyeon's lower lip trembled. "Thank you, unni," she choked out, throwing her arms around a startled Minjung.
The taller girl froze in Taeyeon's embrace, surprised by the sudden display of affection, but slowly relaxed and patted her back. "It's no problem, really," she said a little awkwardly - the monkey plushie was still between them, after all.
Taeyeon chuckled a little, unwinding her arms from where they had clung to Minjung. She accepted the stuffed monkey, giving Minjung her brightest smile.
Minjung found herself returning it all too easily.
-----
"How did you get so strong, unni? I mean, I knew you like soccer and all, but I never thought you had such great arm strength as well!" Taeyeon enthused wildly, even an hour after the monkey had been won.
Minjung hid a blush, not quite able to bring herself to meet Taeyeon's adoring gaze. Taeyeon had given her the same look all throughout dinner, and it was beginning to seriously weird her out.
"I just exercise a lot, I guess," a slightly embarrassed Minjung offered as an explanation. "I don't think it's good to just develop your leg strength and leave the rest of your body untrained, so I try to keep a balanced regime."
"That's so cool of you, unni!" Taeyeon gushed excitedly, squeezing the monkey plushie (named Jonghyun for the same reason that Onew was named Onew) in delight. "The most I really do is dance. I don't really take the time to work everything out like you do."
"You're a great dancer, anyway," Minjung said honestly, and smiled at the pleased flush that spread across Taeyeon's cheeks.
Taeyeon beamed widely at the praise, and waved Onew around with the hand not dragging Jonghyun. "Let's go on that one next!" she exclaimed, holding the rabbit plushie out in the direction of the Ferris wheel.
"Alright," Minjung nodded, and the two made their way to the end of the line. They waited in comfortable silence, happy to spend a moment of peace and to forget that this was just a pretend date, that Minjung's suitors weren't right behind them, watching their every move.
The Ferris wheel was an impressive sight in the fading sunlight. Easily towering over the rest of the park, the monstrous ride glowed serenely with the soft multi-colored lights that lined its steel bars and cheerfully-painted carriages.
It wasn't until they had reached the middle of the waiting queue that Minjung noticed the pattern among the people lining up to ride the Ferris wheel. Aside from a few families and two groups of excited children, most of the riders were couples. A brief moment of panic and embarrassment overtook her and she glanced over at Taeyeon, wondering if she had noticed the same thing.
Fortunately, Taeyeon was completely preoccupied with admiring the multi-colored lights that lined the Ferris wheel. Minjung breathed a small sigh of relief and continued shuffling along the queue.
They finally reached the beginning of the line and were ushered into a bright pink carriage. Taeyeon squirmed excitedly in her seat as the carriage began to move, taking them up just a little so that the next batch of riders could be seated. Minjung suppressed a grin at Taeyeon's impatient pout, the younger girl craning her neck out of the window to huff at a particularly slow couple below them.
Their carriage moved up a little again. Taeyeon, seemingly resigned to their fate of a painfully slow loading time, sighed heavily and glanced over at Minjung. Her chin was propped up on the hand resting on the sill of the carriage's glass window, her gaze directed to the rest of the amusement park.
A small, mischievous smile played about on Taeyeon's lips. "So, how am I as a date?" she asked off-handedly.
Minjung's head whipped around in surprise, and Taeyeon's shoulders shook with laughter. "Sorry, sorry!" she giggled. "It's just that I've never been on a date before, so I was wondering how I was doing."
"This is your first date?" Minjung asked faintly. She knew Taeyeon had never had a boyfriend, but she had always thought that she had at least gone dating.
Taeyeon hummed her confirmation. "I was never really interested in any of the guys that asked me out, so I rejected all of them the moment they asked," she explained. "I guess I never really thought of saying yes to one just to find out."
"It's my first date, too," Minjung confessed. "I guess I'm just too busy for dating now. And I was never really interested in anyone, too. Well, except ..." she trailed off with a blush, but quickly composed herself. "Anyway, I have no idea what you're supposed to do for a date, so I had Gwiboon and Junghee come over to help me prepare."
Taeyeon giggled behind a hand. "Did they force you into a billion outfits and make you shave everywhere?"
"You too?" Minjung asked, surprised.
Taeyeon patted the cheerful rabbit-patterned bandage plastered over the back of her leg. "Gwiboon-unni made me stop after I started bleeding all over the bathroom. Did you know she gets really sick at the sight of blood?"
Minjung tugged down her right sock to reveal a similar bandage just above her calves. "I never would have guessed if I hadn't seen it for myself."
The two burst into laughter just as the Ferris wheel finally began to circle. Taeyeon shuffled over to the edge of her seat and pressed her forehead against the glass, staring out at the beautiful night view that the ride offered. "Look, look, unni, your suitors are stuck down there!" she flapped her hand excitedly.
Minjung looked down to see the men that had been following them all day staring up desperately at the Ferris Wheel, most likely in a frantic attempt to locate which carriage she was seated in.
She must have made a horrible face because Taeyeon gave her that look again. "Sorry, I shouldn't have pointed them out," Taeyeon said apologetically. "I know how much trouble they're causing you."
Minjung shook her head. The guilt was weighing down on her again, and she couldn't stop the words from spilling out. "It's not your fault. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I dragged you into this entire mess. I mean, it was Gwiboon's idea, but it was my fault for listening to her in the first place."
"Mm!" Taeyeon shook her head frantically, eyes wide and insistent. "I encouraged you to do it! I asked you to drag me in!"
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before bursting into soft chuckles that filled the small compartment.
"How about we agree to disagree?" Minjung smirked.
"How about you buy me more ice cream and I consider it?" Taeyeon blinked innocently.
Minjung rolled her eyes and ruffled Taeyeon's hair playfully, grinning when the younger girl yelped and batted the offending hand away. "Keep dreaming, brat."
Taeyeon stuck her tongue out at Minjung childishly and re-adjusted her headband.
Minjung's smirk softened into a content smile. "Hey, Taeyeon."
"Mm?" Taeyeon hummed as she dug through her bag for a compact mirror.
"You're pretty good for a first date."
Taeyeon looked across the compartment where Minjung sat, hands crossed over her chest as she leaned back against the seat. "Well, you aren't so bad yourself," she replied cheekily, but the reassuring smile she gave Minjung softened the words.
The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortable silence. Somehow, Minjung felt as if they had cleared some sort of hurdle in their pretend relationship, if the sudden lightness in her chest was supposed to be the physical manifestation of that.
Then again, it could have just been the sheer dizzying height of the ride hitting her. In any case, Minjung was relieved when the ride finally ended, so much that she ended up stumbling into a trio as she quickly exited the Ferris wheel premises with Taeyeon in tow.
Minjung stopped to apologize to the three girls, but froze in mid-bow. Taeyeon barely kept herself from running into Minjung and was about to complain at the sudden pause when she caught sight of what had made Minjung stop in the middle of the exit way.
"You followed us the whole day, too?!" Taeyeon nearly shrieked.
It was of common opinion that Taeyeon's betrayed voice could induce guilt in even the most hardened criminal. Naturally, three high school girls were absolutely no match for such a powerful force, and they shuffled guiltily under Taeyeon's accusing gaze.
"Not all day," Junghee offered weakly. "Gwiboon didn't want to go on the rollercoaster and the Ferris wheel, so we went to a noraebang instead."
"I just wanted to make sure you were safe from those horrible men!" Gwiboon whined when it became obvious that there would be no sympathy for her acrophobia. "What if they kidnapped you and threatened you and bullied you into staying away from Minjung forever?"
"Unni, they wouldn't do that," Taeyeon sighed, evading Gwiboon's hand as it reached out to smooth over her fringe.
"Ah, my daughter is so innocent," Gwiboon sobbed dramatically and pulled Taeyeon into a firm hug.
Minjung gave Gwiboon an odd look and turned to Junghee and Eunsook. "Why did you come back, then?" Minjung asked.
Junghee and Eunsook exchanged wide-eyed glances before Junghee pushed the older girl forward. Eunsook sputtered, but Junghee waved her forward with an urgent tilt of her chin.
"W-we were wondering ..." Eunsook looked over at Junghee for encouragement. "Well, we hadn't intended on staying out this long, and we did tell our parents we were going out with you and Taeyeon ..."
Minjung gave her a flat look. "You're asking to stay overnight?"
"Please, Minjung-ah?! We won't be noisy, we promise!" Eunsook pleaded, dragging Junghee to stand beside her for added persuasive power.
Junghee stuck her lower lip out in a pout, an expression that would have sent any of her suitors running to carry out her heart's desire. Unfortunately, Minjung was not one of Junghee's suitors and had long developed immunity to the older girl's pleading expressions (which she brought out each time she begged to copy Minjung's assignments, having foregone doing her own in favor of shopping or noraebang sessions).
Still, it was a sad sight to see both Eunsook and Junghee pleading so pathetically, and people were starting to shoot them funny looks when Gwiboon refused to relinquish her hold in case "those nasty men tried to cart my daughter away", much to Taeyeon's dismay.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell my parents," Minjung acquiesced, if only to shoo the other four away from where they were clogging up the exit way. Junghee spun Eunsook around with a delighted laugh, and Gwiboon gave Taeyeon one last enthusiastic squeeze before Minjung rescued her from her clutches.
Later that night, once Eunsook, Junghee and Gwiboon had tired of dog piling on each other and sprawled out on the mattress Minjung's mother had rolled out for them, Taeyeon shuffled closer to Minjung from where she lay next to her on the single bed. Her eyes were impossibly wide in the darkness, the moonlight highlighting the soft curve of her jaw.
"Thanks for my first date, unni," Taeyeon whispered, her breath ghosting warmly over Minjung's cheek.
Taeyeon rolled over and quickly sank into sleep, but it was a while before Minjung could follow. Her steady, thoughtful gaze bore into the other girl's back until her eyelids gave into exhaustion and she fell into a dreamless sleep, Taeyeon's body warm against her side.
-----
Their third date was at a local mall. Although it was more famed for its wide variety in clothes, Taeyeon and Minjung both agreed that modern times demanded a more economic approach to dating, thus they limited their excursion to window shopping and the occasional edible treat. Not to say that their wallets came out entirely unscathed: Minjung's eyes had lingered far too long on a beautiful new headband, while Taeyeon had spotted a large discount sale too good to pass up.
Needless to say, they both made their own separate purchases. Despite breaking their initial promise to save up, both of them agreed that their selections had been very wise ones. Not wanting to wait for another occasion, Minjung immediately swapped headbands while Taeyeon beamed, clutching the precious prize of her attempts at haggling.
Unfortunately, not even this excused them from the prying gaze of Minjung's suitors, who were persistent in their apparent goal to observe them all throughout their date.
"Unni, your suitors are scary," Taeyeon whispered, glancing back at where the men were fighting their way through an on-the-spot discount sale.
Minjung only scrunched her nose up in annoyance. "You get used to them after a while, I guess," she offered as a resigned explanation.
Taeyeon turned around, openly staring at the group of suitors. She wasn't the only one to - the other customers in the area had paused in their shopping to watch the men struggle to get to where Minjung and Taeyeon were, only to be beaten back by irritated women digging through the discount pile.
"Come on, let's get out of here while they're distracted," Taeyeon whispered to Minjung, taking her by the hand and dragging her out of the store while security guards made their way to the area to calm down the brewing scuffle. Minjung heard the sound of her name being called frantically before they dashed through the store exit and out into the mall.
They ran along a flurry of stores, dashing up an escalator and rounding several corners. The store lights and racks of clothing blurred together in Minjung's vision, and she vaguely wondered where Taeyeon was taking her.
"Ah, here it is!" Taeyeon exclaimed triumphantly and pulled a frazzled Minjung into a vibrant pink booth.
Minjung started slightly upon taking a good look at the screen inside. She had expected to see a game of some sort; instead, she was surprised at the sight of the two of them framed by an obnoxiously pastel frame.
Taeyeon hummed happily, forking out some won and depositing it into the machine. "Smile, unni!" she chirped, giving Minjung only a few seconds to stare into the camera before the entire booth was illuminated by a bright flash that she swore had blinded her.
"Up there for the next one!" Taeyeon pointed at the camera set at a higher angle, and Minjung blinked furiously to clear the spots from her vision. She ducked her head close to Taeyeon's, aiming a smile at what she hoped was the camera, and the booth flashed again. Minjung fervently hoped that her retinas weren't singed beyond repair.
"Last one," Taeyeon beamed, redirecting Minjung's attention back to the first camera. Minjung smiled weakly, tucking her head next to Taeyeon and squeezing her eyes shut as soon as the flash went off.
Through tightly closed lids, Minjung heard Taeyeon squawk in surprise. Her eyes shot open, darting wildly around the booth for fear that Taeyeon had also lost her vision. She was both relieved and exasperated to see the two girls that Taeyeon was currently directing her best glare at.
"Gwiboon, Junghee-unni, what are you doing here?" Minjung scolded, her lips curving into a disapproving frown.
"Oh, look, Junghee-unni, they've even gotten around to taking couple pictures together!" Gwiboon said loudly, flapping her hand scandalously in the direction of the screen.
"How bold!" Junghee nodded along to Gwiboon's words, although her tone was more amused than accusing.
"Unni, why are you here?" Taeyeon whined, pouting at the older girls.
"Looking out for my daughter, of course!" Gwiboon responded, throwing her arms around Taeyeon. Minjung sighed - it figured that Gwiboon would answer Taeyeon and completely ignore her.
"I don't need a chaperone, Gwiboon-unni," Taeyeon said into the collar of Gwiboon's blouse.
"But what if you get hurt or some nasty man tries to steal you away?!" Gwiboon exclaimed dramatically, tightening her embrace.
Minjung saw the way Taeyeon's shoulders were beginning to tense, and decided it was time to interfere. "Please go away," she said quietly.
"Did you hear that, Gwiboon? Minjung doesn't want us around!" Junghee gasped in exaggerated theatrics. "How cruel of you, Minjung-ah!"
Minjung refused to be swayed by their antics and firmly gestured with her head to the exit of the booth, giving them a pointed look.
"All right, all right, that's enough," Eunsook finally intervened, slipping inside to grasp Gwiboon and Junghee by their shoulders.
"Yah!" Gwiboon shrieked, trying to twist away from Eunsook's surprisingly strong grip.
"Eunsook-unni!" Junghee whined as she and Gwiboon were steered out of the booth.
Amidst the loud protests, Eunsook slipped a length of glossy paper into Minjung's hands and shot an apologetic smile at Minjung and Taeyeon before she lead the other two girls away. "Come on, I know they're holding a big sale at the department store ..."
Once Eunsook's voice had faded and they could no longer hear Gwiboon and Junghee's caterwauling, Minjung took a look at the paper that Eunsook had given her. She was surprised to find that it was the strip of pictures that had been developed during the entire confusion.
"Oh, let's take a look!" Taeyeon sat next to Minjung and leaned over to see the photographs more clearly. Taeyeon burst into giggles at the first picture: she was beaming at the camera with her fingers thrust out into a V-sign while Minjung stared at the camera with her mouth slightly agape, a testimony to her then-surprised state.
The last picture was, in retrospect, rather hilarious. Taeyeon and Minjung had squeezed together in the middle of the screen and were both smiling at the camera, but Taeyeon had a V-sign above her head courtesy of a grinning Junghee, and half of Minjung's face was obscured by a close-up of Gwiboon's right eye and cheek.
However, the second picture was definitely one for the keeping. The sudden change in angle had forced Taeyeon to draw closer to Minjung, and the resulting photo had Taeyeon resting her head slightly on Minjung's shoulder. The older girl's cheek brushed the top of Taeyeon's head, and both of them smiled tenderly at the camera.
"I like this one best," Taeyeon declared. To Minjung's surprise, Taeyeon reached into Minjung's bag and took out her wallet, making a pleased noise upon finding four picture slots. One of them contained a studio picture of her family after her middle school graduation, mother and father smiling serenely at the camera while her older brother slung his arm happily around her shoulder.
Another held a recent Purikura picture of the five of them squeezed together into the tiny booth, all wide smiles at the camera with Gwiboon's shaky scrawl of "Pretty Girl" decorating the space above. The most notable feature of the picture was the cartoonish mustache drawn on Junghee's face - Eunsook's retaliation to the other girl's almost obsessive use of the stamps.
The third slot contained the graduation picture of a boy, slightly crinkled from the numerous times it had been slipped in and out of the wallet. The upper right corner was folded over a little, revealing a smudge of ink from the message hastily scrawled on the back.
The fourth was empty, and it was here that Taeyeon slipped the latest Purikura picture of them together. "There! Perfect!" she declared loudly, holding it out to admire the photo. "Our first couple photo!"
Minjung accepted the wallet and rubbed a thumb fondly over their smiling faces. It was strange to see all four photo slots filled up for once, but it was a good change, she decided.
[Part Two]