“Unnieeee!”

Eighteen-year old Park Sunyoung looked up from the book she was reading and right away saw one of her close friends Krystal Jung running toward the bench where Sunyoung is seated, her face glowing with excitement.

“Unnie!” Krystal immediately sat down beside her, gasping for air. Then facing her, Krystal grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

“Yah!” Sunyoung screamed. “Calm down, what’s with you? It’s so early in the morning and you’re already so hyper!” she pulled away from Krystal.

Krystal stopped shaking her and leaned closer. “Have you heard?” she asked in a low voice.

“Heard what?” she demanded, her curiosity a bit piqued.

“Jonghyun and Sekyung broke up,” Krystal announced to Sunyoung, her smile bright.

Sunyoung’s heart began to beat fast, her hands went clammy and cold and her stomach churned. Just the mere mention of his name sends her systems in frenzy. Kim Jonghyun. She is forever in love with him ever since she first saw him singing that love song two years ago…that song entitled Life, which Jonghyun composed himself. It had felt like he was singing for her alone. But of course he wasn’t. He didn’t even know she exists.

He is popular, he and his friends, especially with the girls. And the boys in his circle only take notice of popular and pretty girls; those girls who look good in everything they wear, have the power to stop traffic and could make heads turn around just by walking in the midst of the crowd. And Sunyoung is not, and could never be one of those girls. She knows she’s not ugly, those who know her say she’s attractive enough, but she knew better. She’s just plain and ordinary, and she could never be a head-turner and being shy and nerdy doesn’t really help. She had watched in agony as Jonghyun changed girl friends like he’s changing clothes for two years and never once, did he look at Sunyoung. Well, maybe once and she could never forget that day. She was standing in front of her locker and he passed by. Maybe she was gaping at him; she couldn’t really remember her expression as she watched him pass. All of a sudden he turned and looked at her, then gave her that lopsided smile all the girls in school find y. Sunyoung had almost swooned.

“Yah, unnie, did you hear me?” Sunyoung felt Krystal tugging at the sleeve of her uniform and her thoughts were interrupted. Her eyes focused on Krystal. “Yes, I heard you,” she answered calmly.

Krystal pouted. “You seem disinterested with my news. I thought you would be happy. I thought you like Kim Jonghyun.”

Sunyoung studied Krystal for a moment. Krystal is younger than her by a year and a new student who just came from California, but they became acquaintances and later on close friends because they are both members of their school’s drama club – one of those clubs that cool students would never think of joining…the club for geeks and dorks.

Krystal sighed and Sunyoung turned her attention to what the girl in front of her was saying once more. So, Jonghyun is single again. But for how long? Sooner than later he would find someone to replace Sekyung, and to say that it might be Sunyoung is next to impossible.

“What’s the good news in that, Krystal?” she asked, sighing. A part of her is relieved; Jonghyun dating Sekyung was Sunyoung’s biggest heartbreak ever. Everyone thought that Jonghyun has finally fallen in love as he never flirted with girls anymore ever since he and Sekyung got together. But it was only for a few months and he began to reclaim his crown as the campus playboy again. In fairness to Sekyung, she was by far the only girl whom Jonghyun had dated for more than a year.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Krystal looked puzzled. “Don’t you like Jonghyun anymore?”

Sunyoung shrugged. “It’s not that. It’s just that…so what if he broke up with her? He would soon find another one and the new one would not be someone like me, right?”

Krystal’s face fell. “Oh,” but then her face immediately turned back to cheerful. “Look on the bright side, unnie. At least they broke up when everyone is thinking that they’re going to last long. And who knows, he would notice you now?”

She laughed. “Krys, trust me, that boy wouldn’t look at someone unglamorous like me.”

Her friend frowned. “Unnie, haven’t I been telling you? I can bring you to my sister and have her give you a makeover.”

Krystal’s sister Jessica was immediately accepted in the circle of the most popular girls in school because she is not only pretty but talented and sophisticated as well. Sunyoung had wondered why Krystal isn’t like that at all. She looked at the girl seated beside her who is looking at her with expectation. Sunyoung had always thought Krystal is very pretty, although her beauty would always go unnoticed because she dresses simply and she hangs out with people like her. She sighed and shook her head.

“I know what I am and what I’m not, Krystal,” she answered.

“But-”

She put a finger to Krystal’s lips to stop whatever she wants to say. “But nothing. Look, why don’t you have your sister give you a makeover?”

Krystal laughed. “I like the way I am. And besides, I’m not trying to catch anyone’s attention.”

Sunyoung opened to retort to Krystal’s teasing when she noticed the girl suddenly going alert and giving full attention to something or someone in the distance.

“Oh, unnie, it’s SHINee!” Krystal squealed, referring to the group of friends Jonghyun is in that is composed of five boys. Five popular and handsome boys. But to Sunyoung it’s Kim Jonghyun who stands out the most. And it is only him she could look at as she watched the group come near them and pass by them.

“No girl is with him, unnie,” Krystal whispered.

Sunyoung nodded absent-mindedly. It’s true, Jonghyun isn’t with any girl right at that moment. So it means he hadn’t replaced Sekyung yet. Usually the SHINee boys’ girlfriends hang out with them. She gazed at the group, ignoring the annoying sighs and squeals and the occasional giggles she heard from the girls nearby.

The youngest of the boys, Taemin, is up front, holding hands with his girlfriend of two years, Jinri.

If only I have that milky white skin or that towering height or that eye smile like hers, she thought enviously of Jinri, then waved the thought away.

Next her gaze landed on Onew, the eldest and the leader of the group. He is alone, as is usual, and that very minute he was punching away on the keypad of his mobile phone.

And there’s Key, that blond fashionista, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of Nicole, his girlfriend of a few months.

Can I be cute and y like her? she thought, staring at Nicole then mentally slapped herself for even asking.

Then there’s Jonghyun. Sunyoung sighed. He was laughing and fooling around with the tallest of them, Minho. She stared and stared, drinking in the sight of him, knowing it’s okay, as no one would notice that she is staring.

But suddenly the boy named Minho stopped his playful punches on Jonghyun and turned to their direction. He looked their way and even if Sunyoung isn’t sure if it’s her or someone else Minho had been staring at, she immediately averted her eyes , her cheeks red with embarrassment. Did Jonghyun’s friend notice how she stared? Will they mock and about it now?

Park Sunyoung, you silly girl! she scolded herself. Of course he wouldn’t notice. A lot of girls are staring at the group, too, with some of them even waving and shouting a greeting at the boys.

She took a deep breath when SHINee has already passed by them but she kept on staring at their backs as they continued to walk. Then suddenly Minho stopped and turned, staring in her direction. But what sent Sunyoung’s heart racing is that Jonghyun stopped walking and turned around, too…and Sunyoung could swear he looked at her and their gazes locked! Then Jonghyun smiled and playfully whacked Minho’s head. Before Sunyoung could even start hyperventilating, Jonghyun had turned back around, draping his arm around Minho’s shoulders and pulling the boy with him.

“Omo, unnie!” Krystal exclaimed excitedly beside her. “Have you seen that? Oh my gosh, I swear they were looking right at us! Maybe Jonghyun is finally taking notice of you!”

Sunyoung stared at Krystal. Krystal’s face is lit up with excitement and giddiness.

A glimmer of hope rose within her. Would it be too much to wish for what Krystal said to come true?

……………………………………..

She is standing before her locker, arranging and rearranging the books inside, while Krystal is beside her, waiting for her to finish. It is just after class, and they would be practicing in the theater for their upcoming Valentine’s Day presentation. Sunyoung froze. It’s a week until Valentine’s. She hates that day. She wouldn’t be giving chocolates to someone, and she wouldn’t be receiving anything from a boy on the 14^th day of the succeeding month. But it’s not just that. Every Valentine’s Day, the school holds a ball, and everyone must come with a date. Last year she came with her cousin Leeteuk. Who would she be asking this year? Her Leeteuk oppa had gone overseas because of work. She decided she would just skip the ball this year, and probably in the years to come. Besides, she only went to the ball last year so that she could dress up and see if she could impress Jonghyun, which of course, never happened. His eyes had been practically glued to Sekyung, who had looked so stunning that night Sunyoung felt she was dressed in rags compared to her.

She brushed away the thought and turned to Krystal. “Do you already have a date to the Valentine’s Ball?”

Krystal’s eyes widened for a moment as she remembered. “Oh, right, the Valentine’s Ball,” she said, then shook her head. “No, I don’t have a date yet.”

“Well, planning on asking someone?”

Krystal blushed, then her brows furrowed. “No. I probably wouldn’t attend. What about you?”

She shook her head. “I’m not attending.”

Krystal grinned teasingly. “Well, what if someone asks you to be his date? Let’s say, Jonghyun perhaps?”

Sunyoung rolled her eyes. “You know as much as I do that that will never happen.”

But as Sunyoung slammed her locker shut and turned away from it, she saw Jonghyun sauntering toward them, a single red rose and what looked to be a folded letter in his hand. He was staring right at them.

She felt Krystal gripping one of her hands as Jonghyun approached, and finally stopped before them.

He smiled at them.

Sunyoung could just die right there and then. She wanted to pinch her cheek to see if she’s dreaming. Is Kim Jonghyun really standing in front of her? Is he…could it possibly be that he would be asking Sunyoung to the ball as his date?

She watched everything as if in slow motion as he stretched out his arm with the flower and letter toward…Krystal.

“These are for you, beautiful.”

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for subscribing and for the comments!

To those who love JongNa, I hope you like this one! I don't exactly ship them together, although I like them individually. Just that I think they fit the characters.

I can't promise to update regularly, but I will along with my other fics.

You might be interested to check out my other Shinyeffects fics.

KeyBer = If the Shoe Fits

TaeLli = Mission: Destruction

               I Love You, Sulli Bully

And of course, my most loved Shinyeffects couple, MinStal

Love's Way

Beautiful Stranger

I have lots of MinStal ffs actually but these two are the ones not in hiatus. And these Minstal one-shots:

A Time for Us

Along Came the Maknae

Warmest Winter

Please click my stories to get into any of these ffs. Thank you very much!