Thirteen

"We just received an info that we have our Nation's Little Sweetheart is with us now. Junniel, you're here? Junniel? Calling for Junniel. Stand up on your chair and wave your hand if you can hear this." Kim Heechul, one of the emcees teasing her from the emcee stand.

Junniel laughed from her seat. Then she stood up on her chair and playfully wave to everyone. "Heechul oppa, fighting." Junniel cheered for him.

Heechul laughed at her little cheering. "Thank you, Jun-nie! Wow. We really have our little Junniel here with us. That's rare. I thought someone was trying to pull a prank here just now. No way Junniel will be here with us today. But, she's really here with us. Guess, who is she cheering for?"

"Of course she will cheer for her oppa here." Shin Dong Yup, the co-emcee guessed DBSK since Yunho and Changmin also taking part in the event for the first time here.

"But our Junniel loves younger boys nowadays. She must come here to support EXO." Heechul playfully guess, not knowing his guess is the correct one.

Junniel grinned and she sat down again. Then she took her hairband inside her bag, tying her hair up in bun since the weather is quite dry that day.

She was struggling to open her mineral water bottle when someone took the bottle from her hand and the other person put his cap on her head.

"It's hot here, noona. Why you don't sit nearer to the grandstand? It's a lot cooler there." Kai sat on her left side and fanned her with his fan.

Sehun gave the water bottle back to Junniel. He took the seat on her right. "Luckily Heechul hyung announced to the whole world that you're here. Or else, we will take forever to locate you among the crowds, noona."

Junniel pinched Sehun's arm. "Are you indirectly said that noona's short? How could you." She pouted. But she didn't get the title 'little' for nothing. She's really like the shortest among the idols.

Both Kai and Sehun laughed. They were waiting for her to have lunch together. But since Junniel had shooting for cover magazine in the morning, she couldn't catch the time with them.

"What's the concept for today's shoot, noona? Was it because of the blush or the weather? Why your face looked so red today?" Kai asked with curiosity. No matter how hard he fanned her, her face is still red.

Sehun examined her face closely. "It looks like noona's only applying her moisturizer, isn't it? There's no sign even for compact powder." He always admired her natural beauty, especially her flawless skin. Looking at her skin this close really makes him in awed.

"It's the weather then." Kai made his conclusion. "Let's move nearer to the grandstand, noona."

Junniel smiled. "It's okay. Noona's fine and I like it here better. Peaceful."

"You're too used being alone, noona. It's no good for you." Sehun nagged at her. He noticed sometimes Junniel really doesn't mingle with people that she's not used too. That's why she always took time to open up to people. Sometimes he wondered how Junniel can survive in this industry for that long with her personality. She must love singing so much if like that.

"Talking about a loner, fighting Jung Yonghwa." Junniel suddenly shout out from her seat when she saw its Yonghwa's turn for 100m men.

"Noona!" Both Kai and Sehun protested.

"You should cheer for Luhan hyung, not Jung Yonghwa." Sehun complaint.

"I thought all these while noona likes Luhan hyung more than anyone else. You should be loyal, noona. Loyal." Kai voiced out his dissatisfaction.

Junniel laughed happily for her success teasing both of her dongsaengs. "Why so serious?" She started to hum Shinee's Why So Serious.

That reminds her of something. "How's your back? I heard you crashed with 2AM's Changmin this morning. Why so careless?" Her face turned serious. She knows Kai always suffered from back pain and yet that boy is too stubborn to get a check on it.

"Why so serious?" Kai playfully singing the line that she just hummed.

"Kai!" She smacked his shoulder.

Kai laughed. "No worries, noona. I'm fine. My back is fine."

~~~

"Yeah, right. Who arrogantly told noona the other day that his back is fine? I've told you many times before to get check. Now look what happened?" Junniel nagged at Kai. Early morning Sehun called her telling that Kai's been admitted to hospital because he injured his back after practicing non-stop.

She was so panicked after hearing the word hospital that Junsu needs to drive her early morning to the hospital when Junsu just arrived home from less than three hours before. Ever since she fell during her performance last time, her panic attack somehow, sometimes can get out of hand.

She used to be very calm with things around her. But now, she's very sensitive when she heard someone get injured or fall sick.

"Noona, I.."

"You used to be mad at noona because you said I was too stubborn. I always do things according to my own heart. I don't listen to anyone. But you did exactly like what I usually do. Last time when I was admitted here, it was due to technical error, but you.."

"Noona!" Kai cut her off by pulled her by her arms and he hugged her tightly. "Calm down, noona. I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm here." He can feels her body shaking due to her nervousness and worries. She lost someone in front of her eyes. She suffered from acrophobia and when she fell last time, now she even suffered from sudden panic attack.

Her breathing started to stabilize again when Kai hold her tight. Junniel took a deep breath. She closed her eyes tight. Slowly she hugged him back. "Don't do this again. Noona's heart cannot take it anymore. I just need people around me to be healthy, Kai."

Kai felt a pang of guilt inside him. He promised himself to protect her. But at the end he's the one that troubled her. "I'm sorry, noona."

Sehun was just about to enter the room when Junsu pulled him from behind. Junsu who has been eavesdropped since the beginning asked Sehun to keep quiet. When Sehun looked between the gaps of the half closed door, then he smiled.

"Hyung, should we play cupid?"

"No." Junsu didn't take even a minute to reject Sehun's proposal of becoming cupids. Junniel hated it when people try to match make her. Last time when Yoochun said that he wanted to introduce Junniel to Yoohwan, at first Junniel politely decline it. But when Yoohwan personally called her after Yoochun gave him her number, she declared a cold war with Yoochun. Almost two weeks Yoochun tried to make up with her.

"Why?"

"Junniel hates it."

Sehun scratched his head. But isn't it different this time? "But noona looks like she actually likes Kai. She's just afraid of losing, isn't it?"

Junsu looked at Sehun. How he can easily said things about losing someone like it is nothing? "Junniel's more fragile than what she's look like. When she lost him before, he took her soul with him."

For a moment, Sehun looked down. "Hyung won't be happy if he saw her lost like this." It has been ten years since he passed away and he just realized the fact that all these years, Junniel haven't been moved on from that day. She's alive, but everyday she's lost in time.

"You know Dae Han?"

"He's my brother." Sehun answered calmly.

Junsu looked at him in shocked. No wonder his sister has grown too fond of this boy. Sehun made her feels closer to Dae Han. "So, what's your plan?" Junsu gives in. Maybe Sehun knows what he is doing.

"We're going to make noona realize her true feeling for Kai."

"We all know that. But how?"

"What noona hates the most?"

Junsu looked at him in wonder. What's the relationship? "People try to match make her with someone?"

"Other than that?" As much as he knows her strengths, he also aware that Junniel is not as perfect as what people always thought she was.

Junsu finally thought of something. Now he sees the point. "Junniel hates it when someone took her toys or someone she loves away from her."

"Bingo." Sehun grinned.

"Wait. Wait. Before you get too excited.. what are we going to do with Kai? We need that boy to cooperate with us too." Whatever Sehun can thinks of now, they will definitely need Kai to do it with them.

He doesn't know if the plan would work. But if it would at least give him the possibility to bring him back his Junniel, it might be worth pursuing after all. Whatever happens later, at least they have Sehun on their side. One thing that he is sure of is Junniel will never get too mad at Sehun.

"Leave Kai to me."