At the dinner table, ChangMin's mother sat beside EunMi's mother, who sat across from her own husband. Beside her father, EunMi sat across the table from ChangMin--which neither of them wanted, but Mrs. Shim was very insistent. Food from all over the world was brought into the dining room by well-dressed butlers, and everything tasted as good as it looked. Although the Normandy vegetable soup was delicious, EunMi still preferred the cuisine of her native country. And right now, as their parents were busy chatting, she and ChangMin were glaring at each other, vying for the last piece of ddukbboki.

It was as if everything else had disappeared, and all that mattered was the food between the two teenagers. Quickly, ChangMin swept his chopsticks at the ddukbboki, but EunMi knocked it out of his hold, making it fall back to the plate. Responding swiftly, EunMi picked up the food, but before she could eat it, ChangMin snatched it away with his own chopsticks and ate it in satisfaction, smirking smugly at the irritated girl.

"Oh, EunMi-yah, would you like some more ddukbboki?" Mrs. Shim kindly asked, and she went ahead and waved her hand in the air. Soon after, a chef came out with a platter full of freshly cooked ddukbboki. Once it was set down in front of her, EunMi smiled politely to Mrs. Shim and said,

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Shim."

"No problem, EunMi-yah!" Mrs. Shim waved her hand dismissively. "I wouldn't want you to miss out on it."

As Mrs. Shim returned to her conversation with EunMi's parents, EunMi smiled at ChangMin and immediately started to eat the heavenly ddukbboki. ChangMin glared at her and mumbled softly enough so that only EunMi could hear,

"Fatty."

With an expressionless face, EunMi stomped on the other's foot under the table without mercy, and ChangMin bent over in pain, his head hitting the table loudly. Surprised, the parents looked over at the cringing teenager, and Mrs. Shim asked, "ChangMin-ah, is something wrong..?"

"No, Mom." ChangMin sat up straight, taking a deep breath, and continued with a tight-lipped smile, "I'm perfectly fine."

"All right then... Oh, EunMi-yah, are you finished eating?"

"Yes, ma'am," EunMi courteously replied. ChangMin stared at the now-empty platter without a trace of sauce or even a grain of rice. Mrs. Shim went on,

"Oh, in that case, ChangMin-ah, why don't you show EunMi-yah around the house?"

Her son blinked once before flatly answering, "She probably doesn't want to. It's not like she'll be here on a regular basis."

"It's common courtesy," Mrs. Shim urged, retaining her calm smile, but ChangMin just replied,

"Our house isn't that interesting."

"ChangMin," his mother said in a sweet voice with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Yes, Mom..." ChangMin mumbled. He stood up and motioned for EunMi to follow. EunMi bowed to Mrs. Shim, thanking her for dinner and followed ChangMin out of the kitchen.

The two were aimlessly wandering about the corridors, and ChangMin didn't say a word to EunMi--not that she was complaining. Walking down a hallway, EunMi noticed a couple of pictures hung up on the wall. Slowing her speed, she moved closer to the wall to better observe a specific portrait.

ChangMin was about to turn a corner when a sudden burst of laughter startled him. Spinning around, he saw EunMi looking at a picture on the wall, holding her sides in laughter. Confused, he approached the girl and looked at the photo in horror.

It was a picture of him when he was four years old, hugging a teddy bear twice his size.

ChangMin felt his face turn red when EunMi asked, still laughing, "Is that you? You were so cute!"

"S-Shut up..!" ChangMin lamely shot back, putting a hand over EunMi's eyes so that she couldn't see his four-year old self. EunMi continued to laugh and took the other's hand off with her own, but when the two made eye contact, they fell into complete silence. The two made no movements and just stared at each other, their gazes locked in place.

After what felt like an hour, ChangMin coughed softly and looked to the side. EunMi also looked away, releasing the other's hand. Clearing his throat twice, ChangMin quietly suggested, "Should...should we go back to our parents?"

"Sure..." EunMi distractedly replied, nodding slowly. ChangMin led the way back to the kitchen, all the while trying to avoid the thought of how soft the other's hands felt. In the back of his mind, he wondered what she was thinking behind those light brown eyes that had been staring back at his own.

Reaching the kitchen, ChangMin forced his thoughts away and cleared his throat, letting the adults know they were  present. Mrs. Shim looked at her son curiously and asked, "Oh, you're done already?"

"Yes," ChangMin replied. "Besides, Mom, it's a school night."

"Oh, that's right," Mrs. Shim realized. "It is pretty late..."

"Thank you very much for inviting us over," EunMi's mother said to Mrs. Shim, smiling.

A few minutes later, EunMi was in her own room, studying for her music composition test the next day. In the middle of reading about Picardy thirds, EunMi suddenly dropped her head on her desk.

"What is wrong with me?!" she yelled out loud.

Her heart was beating a million kilometers a second, and she had no idea why.

~ _  ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~  _ ~ _ ~  _ ~

The next morning, EunMi trudged into class, mumbling a "Good morning" to SoonLi and sat at her desk, staring at nothing in particular. SoonLi looked at her friend with deep concern, and was surprised when the classroom door swung open, revealing a haggard-looking ChangMin. He dragged his body to his desk, looking just as sleep-deprived as his desk partner.

A couple minutes later, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Kang, stepped into the class, calling attendance. EunMi almost didn't hear her name being called, but she forced herself awake just in time. The entire day passed in a daze, but that didn't stop ChangMin and EunMi from being the first ones to complete the Korean History mid-term. (Their papers had touched the teacher's desk at the same exact time.) Ever-so-slowly, lunch hour came around, and ChangMin and EunMi glared at each other with tired eyes before the former stormed off to the library. Sighing, EunMi set her head down on her desk just as SoonLi took ChangMin's seat, asking,

"Did something happen..?"

"What do you mean?" SoonLi sleepily asked back.

"You, of course," SoonLi said in a condescending tone. "You keep falling asleep, and you're starting to get panda eyes."

"Oh, that..." EunMi waved a nonchalant hand. "I was up 'til three studying for the history test. And the music composition test."

"You didn't have to study that long. You would've done fine had you gotten a decent amount of sleep."

EunMi laughed softly and replied, "I can't lose to ChangMin-sshi, though."

"But why?" SoonLi wondered. "All you're doing is picking fights with him and losing sleep at the same time. Not only that, but lack of sleep can have majour repercussions later on in life."

EunMi began to laugh wholeheartedly, never knowing SoonLi had such a side to her personality. At first glance, she was a girl too shy for her own good who only spoke when spoken to. But now, here that same girl was, giving EunMi a lecture on not getting enough sleep. Regaining her composure, EunMi took out her lunch from her school bag and exclaimed, "Let's eat!"

SoonLi suddenly snatched away EunMi's lunch and reprimanded, "No lunch until you promise not to stay up after midnight!"

"That's way too early! Change it to 4:00 a.m.!" EunMi whined, earning herself a flick in the forehead.

"One o'clock."

"Three o'clock!"

"Two o'clock!"

"Two thirty..! Please, SoonLi Unnie!" EunMi was practically begging now, her hands in a prayer position and her head bowing slightly. SoonLi sighed, falling victim to the other's use of 'Unnie,' and mumbled,

"Fine, fine... Aish."

The two girls giggled and proceeded to eat their lunches, talking about a student named Kwon JiYong who had recently dyed his hair orange.

Eventually, lunch was over and English class had begun. The teacher explained a new set of words to learn, and EunMi was diligently taking notes, re-energized from a delicious lunch. Her desk partner, however, was falling asleep every three minutes, and it seemed that any moment now he would fall out of his chair.

Before anyone knew it, the bell had rung, and everyone scattered to their next class. EunMi was about to leave when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw ChangMin still in his seat, his chin resting on his chest and his body unmoving. For a brief moment, EunMi actually thought he had died, but a faint snoring proved that wrong. As much as she wanted to leave him, she remembered the previous night when he had bothered to wake her after school. So with a heavy sigh, EunMi shook ChangMin's shoulder and said,

"Hey, wake up!"

Immediately, ChangMin woke up with a start and looked at his Rolex watch, rushing to gather his things. He practically sped out of the classroom, not even bothering to say 'thank you' or even glance at EunMi. Sighing once more, EunMi began to leave but stopped again to pick up the Literature notes the frantic boy had dropped.

Finally, EunMi made her way to her next class. 

Omo! I'm so, so sorry for not updating in such a long time! School has been so hectic, that I hardly had time to write anything besides reports on the French Revolution. But here I am! I hope you enjoyed it! ♥

Oh, I have no school for an entire week, so I'm sure to update more often this week~!

Also, last night, I stayed up 'til 3 a.m. working on my AP World History homework, while finishing my Pre-AP Chemistry homework and helping a friend with the latter at the same time... And then I had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. because I had to help my choir peers set up risers for a concert. UGH. But it all paid off, because now I can sleep all I want. But, I won't do that, because I know you readers are wanting updates. Hahaha. (I'm not mad or anything!)

Super amazing thank you's to:

cOnFuXiA-NeTtEiX (Nette Ate~! ♥)
yadayada
kyuhyunlover
sketchyness

Thank you all sooo much for subscribing~ I don't know if you can imagine how happy that makes me, knowing that people actually want to read what I write.

Oh, chirstmasplush, are you satisfied with that short moment ChangMin and EunMi had? ♥

Notes:

Normandy vegebtable soup  - Normandy is in France, if you were wondering. So Normandy vegetable soup would be a French dish. Hahaha.

Ddukbboki - Also written as "Tteokbboki"; this is a Korean dish, and is usually sold by street vendors. But since it's being served in the Shim household, pretend it's super fancy and modified to look expensive.

Picardy thirds - This is a musical term, indicating a majour chord at the end of a song that is originally in a minour key. If you have absolutely no idea what I just said, basically...it's a bunch of happy-sounding notes at the end of a sad-sounding song. 

Please leave a comment, and let me know your thoughts on this story~! I'm talking to you, too, silent readers!