A/N the return of my signature long-windy-wordy chapters. hope you don't get too bored. thanks for reading. xo (not proof-read so i might make some changes later) - WATCH OUT FOR EASTER EGGS ;)

22

"Minseokah, noona has a headache. You don't mind if I sleep until we get there, do you?" 

The younger boy in the driving seat gave her a bright reassuring smile, "Not at all noona! I'll wake you up when we get there."

With that, Hyoyeon closed her eyes and leaned against the window giving in to the exhaustion that seemed to suddenly overwhelm her petite frame.

She had remained in the dance studio for a good ten minutes after Hyukjae walked out the door trying to make sense of everything that had happened. His words, his crude "goodbye", his carefree attitude -- did the relationship that they had built these last three months mean absolutely nothing to him? was it so easy for him to throw it away with a casual 'see you whenever'? was he not going to miss her at all?

And he even left without hearing what she had to say -- do i mean so little to you?

These thoughts plagued her even as she fell into a fitful sleep.

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As Hyoyeon quietly let herself into the house, her thoughts still lingered on the non-confession. She felt bad  towards Minseok, who, to his credit had not let on that he noticed anything strange about her. Instead the younger boy had simply woken her up as promised and then bid goodbye with a "fighting noona! hope you feel better in the morning!"

Right then Hyoyeon decided that she was going to bake him some of her sinfully delicious red velvet cupcakes. 

She hoped she wasn't out of practice. It had been a while since she had baked.

'When was the last time? Oh.... right. For Hyukjae.'

'God! Hyukjae hyukjae hyukjae. Get a grip over yourself, Kim Hyoyeon. You always said you weren't going to be one of those girls.'

Entering her  bedroom, Hyoyeon threw her gymbag on the bed roughly, annoyed at herself.

"OUCH!"

"Huh? Was that my bed talking?" she wondered outloud while reaching for the lightswitch. 

"Silly goose, its me!" 

.....

........

"Taengoo?"

"The one and only!" Kim Taeyeon leaped out of bed tackling her into a hug. "Annyeong cous!"

Hyoyeon hugged her back tightly unable to express her happiness in words. Taeyeon was her closest friend and family, aside from Donghae, and over the years she had taken up a sort of mentor's role in Hyoyeon's life. There was no one better that Hyoyeon could have hoped to see today.

As the cousins finally broke away from their hug - having last seen each other almost three months ago - they quickly settled on Hyoyeon's bed.

Taeyeon and Hyoyeon were roughly the same height (the short gene ran strong in the Kim family); but whatever they lacked in height, they made up for with their awesome personalities and beautiful looks. Unlike Hyoyeon who had a more mature, exotic kind of beauty, Taeyeon had an eternally innocent  angelic face. Her smooth baby skin and rounded features often led people to mistake her for some softspoken pushover, only to have their expectations shattered by her boisterous laugh, colorful language and crude sense of humor. Hyoyeon, on the contrary, gave off the impression of being more strongheaded and confident but was really the more reserved of the two. However, together. the Kim girls made up for the qualities they each lacked and brought out the best in each other. 

"So..." Taeyeon finally asked as she observed Hyoyeon carefully, "want to talk about it?"
"It?" 

"Something's bothering you, Hyoraengi. I can tell just by looking at you and that hug earlier! that wasn't just a 'Oh hey, you're back Taengoo hug'. It was more of a 'OMG Taengoo. I'm so happy that you're here today that I could just die hug'" she chuckled at her own description and Hyoyeon couldn't help but smile. Taeyeon was right. She had never been happier to see her.

"Well... it's.." she began shyly, "about a boy."

"Hallelujah, praise the good lord. My Hyoraengii's finally got a boy problem. My years of dating s was not for nothing!" Taeyeon gave Hyoyeon her full attention. "Is this by any chance related to our last phone convo?"

Hyoyeon nodded.

"And...?" Taeyeon gently encouraged her. She knew how hard it was for her cousin to open up about her feelings - years of growing up without a soul to confide in could do that to a person. Unlike Taeyeon who was raised in a loving and supportive family, Hyoyeon had never known the security of unconditional love until she moved in with them at the age of 10. But with time, patience and love, Taeyeon and Donghae had both earned Hyoyeon's confidence.

And so Hyoyeon slowly spoke, "Well...I like this guy.. No," she took a deep breath, "I love this guy Taengoo and I was going to confess to him today but he totally brushed me off."

"Awww.. my Hyoraengii," Taeyeon put an arm around her.

"The thing is... I really thought he liked me too. I mean... he was always so caring and considerate and we... we shared so much together. Aish! I'm so stupid. He was probably just being nice and I exaggerated all his actions and now... it just ... hurts. When I think of him, it hurts but when I think of not being able to spend any more time with him, it hurts even more." Her words were now gushing out in short raspy breaths like her heart was being squeezed by an invisible grip everytime his face flashed before her eyes. 

Taeyeon lightly Hyoyeon's hair, prodding her to release everything she was holding back inside. It was the only way to start feeling better again.

"I promised I would never be like this," Hyoyeon spoke again while roughly brushing away her hot tears - Taeyeon could see that she was frustrated at herself - "and I was fine, you know, with the idea of never falling in love and finding the one. I had you guys and Donghae and your love was enough for me. I shouldn't have been so greedy!"

"Shh... don't say that Hyoyeonnie. You deserve to fall in love and have a happy family more than anyone I know." Taeyeon interjected. "In a way, I am glad this happened - at least you opened your heart up to the possibility of love and I know it hurts so much right now sweetie, but once you find the one, it's all going to be worth it. I promise!"

"B..but I d..don't know Taeng. I don't think I can love anyone else again... I don't want to. He.. he's taken over my heart, all of me.. I think I just got played. But the worst part is I can't even blame him. I let myself get played by him. He even told me right in the beginning that I wasn't his type.. and I already knew he was a big playboy.... How could I have been so dumb, Taeng? I deserve this. I really deserve this."

Taeyeon couldn't take it anymore. "Look at me Kim Hyoyeon. If anyone is dumb then it's that idiot for not realizing what a treasure he's just passed up. He will regret it one day, mark my words. And you, my dear cousin," she wiped her tears away and held her face, "are going to meet the perfect man and have the perfect kids and when you run into this on the street, he's going to be a pock-marked, potbellied drunk with a shrill hag of a wife and you can kick him in the face when he holds on to your leg and begs you to take him back."

Hyoyeon stared back wide-eyed for a second until she finally burst out in a mixture of tears and laughter. 

"How do you come up with these scenarios, Taengoo? Aish.. now my stomach hurts too, thanks to you!" she couldn't help it. Her cousin had a fiery temper that did not match up at all with her baby-face. 

"Yah!" Taeyeon shouted, eyes still blazing with satisfaction at this very excellent future that she had envisioned, "why are you laughing? I'm being totally serious here."

Still laughing, Hyoyeon hugged her tight, "Thanks so much Taeng. Cheongmal, I'm so happy you are here!"

Taeyeon patted her back once more and drew away, "Alright then, slumber party in the basement in 15minutes. Wash up and come downstairs with the ice cream. I'll steal the wine from umma's stash!"

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Half an hour later, the two girls were huddled up on the giant pull out couch in their rec room watching Despicable Me and laughing their heads off. It was the cutest sight - Hyoyeon in her frilly pink pjs, her hair pushed back with a bow-tied headband and Taeyeon in a green snuggie her boyfriend Kangin had bought her because she was obsessed with green peas-in-a-pod plushies. 

"Taeng!" Hyoyeon mumbled as she spooned more of their wine/ice-cream concoction into , "I don't know how good this is going to feel in the morning."

"Shh.. if you're asking me that then you need more wine," Taeyeon giggled as she topped up Hyoyeon's bowl once again.

"Oh well," the girl shrugged, "Maybe i'll feel so sick tomorrow, I can skip the remaining classes guilt-free."

"Ah.. so this boy is someone from dance class," the ever astute Taeyeon mused. "Figures, since that's all you've been doing for the past three months. But then, there's a bright lining right? you won't have to see him ever again after a few days."

Hyoyeon shook her head, "I probably will. He's friends with people I know."

"Aha!" her cousin's were practically gleaming in the lit-only-by-the-tv room, "he's friends with either me or Donghae.. i'm guessing Donghae."

"Yah!" Hyoyeon cried out in protest, "I am close to more people than just you or Donghae. But I'm not telling you anymore because I'm afraid you're going to barge in on my class and attack him," she poked her tongue out playfully.

Spending time with a loved one could do wonders for your soul. Though her heart still hurt thinking about Hyukjae, she didn't feel so suffocated by her unsettled feelings anymore.

Taeyeon seemed to read her thoughts as she shot her a caring smile and propped her feet up on Hyoyeon's lap. "I won't if you promise not to skip the rest of your classes. Don't let that hold you back from finishing strong and getting your certificate. You owe it to yourself and to Donghae's dad. If anyone should feel uncomfortable, it should be him. He probably knows how shady it was of him to use you just for his Competition. Well he should, if he has a conscience. Jackass!"

Hyoyeon nodded in agreement. She couldn't just bail on the lessons when Donghae's dad had gifted it to her so generously. She wanted to see his proud face when she showed him her certificate and the pamphlet that Hyukjae promised would have her name on it. 

"And I know you've already said you are not going but you have to promise me that you will seriously reconsider not going to the farewell party! It's the perfect time for revenge!! Do you remember what I did to that WooYoung when he made fun of me for asking him out on Black Day?"

Hyoyeon sure did. She laughed as the image of the high-school jerk Jang WooYoung in his duck underpants flashed in her mind. Taeyeon had taped up the posters all throughout their school and the neighbouring ones too.

"All I had to do was put on some make-up and a tight dress and he suddenly wanted to get into my pants. Well, I sure got him in his." Her eyes twinkled at the memory of her victory. "So dear cousin, I want you to get all dressed up and ified so that he can see what a hottie his jerk missed out on. Believe me, it always works."

"Ahh Taengoo, you know I can't. I'm not a badass like you!|

"Lies!" Taeyeon smirked, "You have the Kim genes, Kim Hyoyeon. We were born badasses. Just embrace it!"

"Noooo" Hyoyeon wailed burying her face into the cushions dramatically, "I'm a lameass and I'm going to die all alone, an old maid."

"Tch!" the other girl laughed tickling her with her feet, "if not anything else, Donghae's going to marry you - with or without your will - so you're not going to land up a spinster, that's for sure!"

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At the same time, somewhere in Jamshil

"Yah LEE DONGHAE! THIS ISN'T EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I uh... ran into your best friend Hyoyeon the other day and she was saying you haven't called her at all. She looked worried about you so yeah, just call her back. Don't even think of calling me back because I'm going to ignore you just like you're ignoring us all but you better call your friends - like Hyoyeon - and everyone else who still seem to care about you."

Hyukjae looked at the clock - 3am - threw his phone on the carpet and tried to fall asleep with a regretful sigh.