Early the next morning, ChangMin was fixing his tie in front of his bathroom mirror. He was accompanying his father to a conference where they would discuss a deal between Shim Technology and JanTeuk Architects. Making some last-minute adjustments to his hair, ChangMin nodded at his reflection in the mirror in satisfaction, ready for anything that day.

~ ★  ~   

"Then it's settled. Shim Technology and JanTeuk Architects will be working together," Mr. Shim finalized, standing up to shake JanTeuk Architect's CEO's hand. The latter then went to shake ChangMin's hand, patting him on the shoulder.

"Your father was excellent today, ChangMin," Mr. Park complimented. "It's nice to see a son attending a conference with his father."

"Thank you, sir," ChangMin said politely, bowing to the older man.

"Speaking of which, doesn't my son go to the same school as you?"

"Yes, sir. LeeTeuk-sshi has been doing exceptionally well on the school's soccer team this year."

"Ah, that's true," Mr. Park chuckled. "Oh, aren't you kids going on a trip at the end of the year?"

"Yes, sir," ChangMin replied, and then feigned discouragement. "But, to be honest, we're having some difficulty raising the money for all the expenses..."

Though ChangMin was adamant about honesty, he knew when he could use a situation--or a person--to his advantage when needed. And in this case, that was just what he was doing. Mr. Park was extremely rich; there was no doubt about that. Even though his son was annoying and only maintained adequate grades, ChangMin knew he needed to stay on his father's good side.

"Really? I donated a couple million won to help out..." Mr. Park contemplated, tapping his chin in thought.

"...You donated?" ChangMin asked, trying not to sound rude. Mr. Park nodded, smiled, and replied,

"A very nice girl came to meet me yesterday. She said she was part of the Student Council. Ah... What was her name?"

"Choi EunMi..." ChangMin muttered her name through gritted teeth.

"That's it!" Mr. Park snapped his fingers. "She was very sweet. She even helped LeeTeuk with his English assignments."

"Is that so?" ChangMin asked, forcing a smile.

"It's true. You're very lucky to have such a girl on the Student Council," Mr. Park complimented.

But for ChangMin, it was far from a compliment.
 

~ ★  ~

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" ChangMin yelled in frustration, angrily throwing his cell phone onto his bed. Out of all the fifty-eight CEO's he had called, forty-seven of them had already donated to the Kyunghee Private High School Student Council.

And they had all talked to Choi EunMi.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, ChangMin glared at the wall, hoping it would just burst into flames. It was getting late, and it would be rude to call anyone at this hour, so ChangMin decided to give it a break until the next day. He really hoped he wouldn't lose this bet.

He still needed 28,000,000 won.

~ ♥ ~

After finishing volume three of Chocolat, EunMi stretched out on her bed, smiling to herself. Today had been a good day. Even though it wasn't easy, she had collected 95% of the money she needed. Rolling onto her side, EunMi noticed the paper she had kept from ChangMin the other day sitting on her desk. She sat up straight and walked to her desk, curious as to what she thought was written on it. Unfolding the paper, she read the lazy handwriting in the left margin.

"Choi EunMi is annoying, stupid, short, annoying, cute annoying, adorable short, kind of pretty NEEDS TO DIE."

In shock, EunMi dropped the paper, letting it flutter to the ground. She stared at the wall for a good minute, a million thoughts racing through her mind.

"Oh... So that's why he wanted it back so badly. Because he wrote that I'm cute."

Suddenly, her knees buckled, and she sat back down on the edge of her bed, practically hyperventilating.

"He thinks I'm 'cute, adorable, and kind of pretty.' But...WHY?! And when has he ever thought that? He hates me..! And...and I hate him!"

For a fleeting second, EunMi had second thoughts about that last part, but quickly shook it off, yelling,

"I hate you, Shim ChangMin!"

Burying her face into her pillow, EunMi screamed into it in an attempt to clear her mind. After slowing down her heart rate, she peeked at the paper on the floor, and picked up her cell phone.

~  ★  ~
 

ChangMin was in the middle of solving a Calculus problem when his mom came into his room, holding the home phone. She handed it to him, covering the mouthpiece and whispered,

"For you."

ChangMin took it and mouthed, "Who is it?"

Mrs. Shim just shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind her. Putting the phone to his ear, ChangMin answered,

"Hello, this is Shim ChangMin."

"Ah, good evening, ChangMin. This is Mr. Song, head of Song Electronics. I apologize for calling at this hour."

"Oh, it's no problem, sir," ChangMin replied  professionally, sitting up straight on instinct. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I called to help you," Mr. Song said, surprising the other. "My son, JaeSung, goes to Kyunghee Private High School, too, and he's told me about the end of the year class trip. I'd like to donate 50,000,000 won to help cover the expenses."

Blinking once to make sure he wasn't dreaming, ChangMin struggled to get the words out.

"F...Fifty million won..?"

"Is it not enough?"

"N-No, sir!" ChangMin quickly replied. "T-That's more than enough."

"Is that so?" Mr. Song asked. ChangMin, smiling brightly, answered,

"Yes, sir. In fact, it'd be best if you only donated 28,000,000 won. I wouldn't want to take too much money from you, sir."

"All right, then. I'll handle all the transfers. Oh, and ChangMin?"

"Yes, sir?" ChangMin wondered, and Mr. Song said,

"Grades are certainly important, but so are human relationships. It's okay to be cautious of deceptive people, but it's always good to open up to others and make friends."

At a complete loss for words, ChangMin could only say, "S-Sir..?"

"Well, that's all. Good night, ChangMin," Mr. Song simply stated, leaving ChangMin more confused than he had ever been his whole life.

~ ♥ ~

"Mom... I, um, forgot my cell phone," EunMi said, trying to escape from the last place she wanted to be at. But her mother hushed her, asking,

"We're just eating lunch. Why do you need it?"

"Well--"

Before EunMi could finish her sentence, the door opened, and Mrs. Shim took EunMi into a tight embrace, exclaiming,  

"EunMi-yah, you look so cute in that dress!"

"T-Thank you, Mrs. Shim," EunMi managed to say, being suffocated by the older woman. After the two mothers had exchanged greetings, Mrs. Shim led them into the house. In the living room, Mrs. Shim sat on one couch next to Mrs. Choi while EunMi sat on the adjacent couch. EunMi had, for a moment, wondered where a certain obnoxious boy was before Mrs. Shim suddenly yelled,

"ChangMin! Get down here now!"

Mrs. Shim smiled at EunMi, and the latter could only return the smile, albeit uneasily. A few moments later, ChangMin arrived in the living room, his face losing some of its colour when he saw EunMi. He was about to sit in a chair opposite EunMi, but his mother lowly murmured,

"ChangMin..."

His face paling even more, ChangMin slowly sat down next to EunMi, avoiding eye contact with his mother. When he sat down, Mrs. Shim's bright smile was back on her face, and she happily said,

"Well, you two go ahead and chat until lunch is ready. Mrs. Choi and I have something to discuss."

As soon as Mrs. Shim turned away, ChangMin and EunMi glared at each other from the corner of their eyes, a frown set upon each of their faces. For nearly three minutes, they sat in uncomfortable silence before EunMi broke it.

"So are you done gathering the money?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," the other replied with an air of haughtiness. When EunMi did nothing but nod, ChangMin asked,

"And you?"

"Of course," EunMi quickly replied, not even looking at ChangMin as she went through her purse, which annoyed him. He was about to say something when she pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to him, mumbling,

"Here."

ChangMin was confused for a second, but when he realized it was the paper EunMi had kept from him, he grabbed it, never wanting to let go again. He unfolded it to make sure she hadn't tampered with it when he noticed he had writeen some things about her in the margin. His eyes widened in horror when he read the words he had crossed out.

 "Did...Did I really write this stuff?! But I was half-asleep the whole time, so...so it's not... Wait. Has she read it..?"

Fear rising up in his heart, ChangMin glanced at the girl next to him, but her face was completely calm.

"Did she not..?"

Interrupting his thoughts, Mrs. Shim called out to the two of them, letting them know lunch was prepared. And before he had the chance to ask her anything, EunMi had already gotten up and gone to the dining room.

"I guess she didn't read it then..." ChangMin whispered to himself.

But he had no idea that EunMi felt like her heart was about to explode at any moment.

I'm so sorry, you guys! I know, I know... I haven't updated in like...a month. And I feel really bad about it, because this chapter wasn't very good. Anyway... Super amazing thank you to Superseoul11! She made that poster up there! It's so beautiful~ She didn't even tell me she had made it, she just posted on my wall one day that she had made it! Thank you so much~

Did anyone notice the symbols I used when the point of view changes from ChangMin to EunMi? Haha. It's okay if you didn't. I just wanted to mention it.

Oh, and I give cookies with sprinkes and icing to those who have read Chocolat.  It's sooo cute~! If you don't know what it is, you should definitely read it! It's kind of old (not really), so the style is a little old-fashioned, but it really grows on you. AND IT'S SO CUTE. Did I say that already? Well, it is. Read it~! It's pretty much every k-pop fangirl's dream. And if it takes anything else to convince you, may I say it's a Korean comic?

Oh! I have two weeks off from school starting Monday, so I have a lot more free time to write. Hopefully, I'll be able to update a lot for all my wonderful readers.

And now... I give special thank you cookies to:

missmomentai
dbsk4evr
alyssa
yncassie
seowon
Jadoreshoes
sjlovessuju

And one more thank you to all my subscribers~ You really give me the motivation to keep writing.

And if you're a silent reader, please comment! I'm not looking for karma points, really. I just want to know that people out there are reading my writing. Thank you so much~

Also, I will always, always, ALWAYS reply to your comments. And, no, it won't be a single comment addressed to the masses, but I will reply to every individual comment, no matter how many people comment. And I promise I won't treat you like strangers. The more you comment, the more I get to know you. I have a really good memory (you'd be surprised), so I won't forget you~

Please look forward to chapter seven~ ♥