“It’s been a few days; do you think I should call Jaehwa? Would it freak her out since I’ve waited this long?” Yoochun asks, playing with his phone on the couch after we get back to the dorm at the end of a long day.

I don’t bother answering. I don’t want him to call her. Period.

“Aish, you’ve been asking us that for three days now,” Jaejoong sighs from the kitchen, having insisted it was his turn to make dinner. “Just do it or don’t.”

“What’s wrong with you, Yoochun? You usually don’t make a fuss about this kind of thing,” Junsu says, sitting beside him.

“Nothing’s wrong. I don’t know why I’m like this,” Yoochun replies. He turns to look at me, sandwiched between Yunho and Changmin on the other couch. “_______, you’re a girl. What do you think?”

"Thanks for noticing," I answer sarcastically. I shrug before answering reluctantly. “Call her if you want. Seems like she’s leaving it up to you since she hasn’t called.”

“You’re right...Was she just being nice and doesn’t actually want to talk to me?”

“Girls don’t give you their numbers to be ‘nice,’” Changmin says, rolling his eyes. “Even I know that.”

“If you want to, just do it,” Yunho advises. “Jaehwa probably knows we’re really busy.”

“You know what, I will,” Yoochun smiles, digging the crinkled piece of paper from his pocket and walking to the door.

Seeing that smile that usually makes me happy instead makes me feel like someone’s squeezing my heart. I get up, looking away from Yoochun. “I think I’m going to turn in, guys. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“But you haven’t eaten yet,” Changmin points out.

I smile and brush his shoulder with my hand. “It’s all right. I’m not hungry, just tired. I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Are you sure, ______? I don’t think you ate much today,” Yunho says, giving me a concerned look.

“I’m fine. Thanks, oppa. Goodnight, everyone.”

“Sweet dreams, noona,” Junsu calls after me as I leave.

    When I reach my room, I quickly change into my pajamas and curl under the covers. I gaze out my windows at the stars, searching for an answer for the turmoil in my heart.

Pabo, I tell myself. You love him and he’s going after another woman. Pabo. Maybe telling him would make him realize he loves me too? No, if he loved me he wouldn’t be going after Jaehwa.

    I feel a bitter taste in my mouth when I think of her. I still don’t like the way she was flirting with each of the guys, all the while examining them like they were pieces of meat up for sale. There was also the way she treated me before Yunho stood up for me. Maybe I’m exaggerating since I’m not exactly unbiased, but I still don’t like her.

Why Yoochun? Why did you have to choose Yoochun?

    My stomach rumbles after a few hours of my rambling thoughts. Giving up on sleep, I get dressed again and head out. Walking towards the twenty four hour convenience store, I keep my eyes out, not wanting a repeat of my other experience on the late night streets. Once I get inside the store, I quickly grab a cup of ramen. As I go to pay, I see a familiar hoodie step up to the counter just before me. I watch, but the guy keeps his head down and hood up. Paying for my ramen, I quickly walk out of the store, waiting until we’re almost back to the dorm before catching up to him.

“Yah,” I say as I tug on his sleeve. “Changmin-ah, what’re you doing up? You should be asleep.”

Changmin jumps, juggling his packages of ramen before giving me a reproachful look. “Aish, don’t scare me like that, noona! I almost dropped the food.”

“Mianhae.” I scoop some of the packages out of his arms. “Here, I’ll help. Now what’re you doing out? We have an early day tomorrow.”

“Yoochun and I were hungry,” he shrugs as we start walking back, me having to double my pace to match his long strides. Changmin smiles and slows down for me. “But what are you doing? You said you weren’t hungry and left early.”

I look away sheepishly. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t, but now I am. My stomach woke me up.”

He laughs. “I understand that. Since you’re up, want to join us?”

The thought of seeing Yoochun again tonight gives me mixed feelings. “I don’t-”

“Come on, noona.”

“All right, Min-ah. Thanks.”

“Why thank me?” he asks, opening the door for me. “You’re family. Family doesn’t let family eat ramen alone, right?”

“Right,” I giggle.

When we get to the guys’ door, I let Changmin go first, suddenly reluctant.

“Noona, you coming?” Changmin asks, looking back at me.

I shake my head. “Mianhae, I’m coming.”

“Yoochun hyung, look who I found outside.”

Yoochun sleepily lifts his head from his arms and smiles. “You’re still up too, ______?”

“What’s with the ‘too’?” I ask, his smile melting away my uneasiness. For now, Jaehwa doesn’t exist. “Looked like you were sleeping.”

“No way,” he yawns. “You think I’d let Changmin make my ramen? His is too watery.”

“Is not,” Changmin retorts, already starting to make his food.

I laugh quietly, looking up in surprise when Yoochun takes my package from me. “Oppa, you don’t have to do that.”

He just smiles at me and does it anyway.

Yoochun, I growl silently. How am I not supposed to be jealous when you act like this with me but you’re going after someone else?

“So,” I ask slowly. “Did you talk to her?”

“Just for a little. She had to go to bed because she has an early shoot,” Yoochun answers.

“Oh.”

“She promised to call me tomorrow though,” he smiles.

“Brilliant,” I say softly, giving a half hearted smile.

Yoochun beams back before returning his attention to our ramen.

“Guys, look at this!” Junsu shouts, running into the living room that Friday night.

“What is it?” Jaejoong takes the flyer from Junsu’s hand. “A carnival?”

“Can we go? It's going on right now! Please, please, please!”

“Sounds fun,” Yunho says, opening his eyes and sitting up. “Choi hyung did get us tonight off to relax...”

Changmin rests his head on Jaejoong’s shoulder to look at the paper too. “Is there food?”

“Of course there is,” Junsu replies, rolling his eyes. “So can we go?”

“Won’t you all be recognized? There’ll probably be a ton of teenage girls there who might know you,” I point our slowly, not wanting to crush Junsu’s mood.

“We have ways around that,” he says, smiling.

Yunho slaps the arm of the couch and stands. “You know what, let’s do it.”

Junsu jumps up and down before hugging Yunho. “Yeah!”

“Yah, Yoochun, you coming?” Jaejoong asks.

Yoochun looks up from his phone. “What?”

Changmin points to the flyer in Jaejoong’s hand. “The carnival. It’s only a few blocks over. We’re all going.”

“I think I’ll pass, guys. I’m really tired.”

“That’s from staying up all night to talk to Jaehwa,” Junsu reveals.

My heart tightens. I walk over to Yoochun and sit beside him on the window seat. “Come on, Yoochun-ah. You’ve been working really hard this week. You need the chill time.”

“I don’t know, ______. I really just want to sleep.”

“All right,” I say, taking a deep breath. “You asked for it. Just know I don’t take pride in what I’m about to do.”

Yoochun eyes me apprehensively.

I cover my eyes with my hands to compose myself before lowering them. I let my lips form what I hope is a cute pout and playfully hit his arm, squirming a little. “Yoochun oppa! Please go with us. We’ll have fun, promise. Pretty, pretty please with sprinkles and cherries on top!”

His eyes grow wide.

I make puppy eyes at him for a few more seconds, finally throwing up my hands. “Seriously? I can’t believe I just lowered myself to do aegyo and it didn’t even work!”

Changmin bursts into laughter, followed closely by the other three and Yoochun, making me whip around to glare at him.

“Mianhae, _______ noona. That was just-” he barely manages, laughing even more when he looks at me.

“Aish, you five,” I huff. “If you’re only going to laugh at me, I’ll just go by myself.”

As I stand up to walk away, Yoochun grabs my arm and pulls me down into a hug, still laughing. “Don’t be mad, _______-ah. We can’t help ourselves. It's just so unlike you.”

“You’re adorable, really,” Jaejoong assures me, wiping at his eyes as he giggles.

“I didn’t think you’d do aegyo,” Yunho adds, leaning on Jaejoong, his laughter now confined to his eyes.

"I can teach you," Junsu giggles, making cute expressions.

“I hate girls doing aegyo, but I wanted to see if it actually worked,” I retort, pushing away from Yoochun and crossing my arms. “It was an experiment and I’m never doing it again.”

“Aw, come on, _______. One more time. Pretty pretty pretty please,” Yoochun teases, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

“Nope.”

“Pretty please,” he laughs.

The others quickly pick it up, and despite being unable to stay mad at them, I refuse to humiliate myself again.

“All right, enough. I’m not doing that again and that’s that. Do you all want to go to this thing or what? Yoochun?”

“I’ll come,” he smiles. Yoochun reaches over quickly and pinches my cheeks. In a baby voice, he says, “Who could resist such a face?”

I pout for real and smack his hands away. “What face? Let’s go already.”

    I lead the way out of dorm with the still giggling guys trailing behind me. At the corner, I turn around and find that they’ve put masks over the lower parts of their faces. I smile, allowing them to catch up. Making our way through the city streets, we easily find the festival with its bright lights, sounds of laughter, and medley of delicious smells.

Changmin immediately gravitates towards the food stalls. “What to try first?”

My mouth waters at the array of food. “How about we each get something and share?”

“Only if he promises to share,” Junsu says.

Changmin raises his right hand, “I promise."

    After a few more minutes of deliberation, we buy our food and find a space in a small alley courtyard away from the press of people. The food quickly disappears even though we ate before. Changmin goes back for more while the rest of us move towards the craft and game stalls.

I stop to gaze at a jewelry display, drawn in by the intricate charms and polished beads. “You guys can go ahead. I want to look here.”

“We’ll wait,” Jaejoong assures me.

“Maybe I can find something for Yejin.” Junsu excitedly steps beside me to look.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” the old woman behind the counter smiles. “They’re all hand carved. Ah, I notice you like the jade butterfly pendant.”

“It’s beautiful.” My fingers itch to pick up the circular pendant with two butterflies caught mid-flight.

“There’s a story that goes with that. Once, there was an old man who’s true love had died when they were both young. He lived the rest of his life alone, tending her grave. When he was dying, a white butterfly came to his side three times despite being chased away by his relatives. That butterfly was the soul of his love, and when he breathed his last, they ascended to Heaven together.”

“Do you have it in purple?” Junsu asks.

The woman nods and turns to rummage around. I watch Junsu buy an amethyst version for Yejin, sighing and stepping back.

“Aren’t you going to get it?” Yunho asks.

I give him a small smile, shaking my head. “It’s too expensive. Can we go to the games now? I want to win a prize!”

“You guys walk slow.” Changmin comes beside Jaejoong, slowly working his way through a cone of flavored ice.

“I bought a present for Yejin,” Junsu says proudly.

“Come on guys. _______ wants to go to the games,” Yoochun smiles, putting an arm around my shoulder.

He leads the way, keeping me close to his side.

“Basketball,” Yunho says excitedly, hurrying up to the second stall. “Who’s going to challenge the great Yunho?”

“You’re going down,” Jaejoong laughs, grabbing a ball.

We cheer the two of them on as they shoot basket after basket, the competition finally ending in a tie.

Yunho gives Jaejoong a high five after they turn in their last balls and come back to us. “Where’s Yoochun?”

“He was right here,” I reply, looking around. “There he is.”

Yoochun ambles up to us, starting on a cone like Changmin’s “Sorry, guys. I had to get one too.”

Junsu laughs. “On to the next game?”

As we pass a shooting game, a medium sized panda catches my eye. “Can we do this one guys?”

They smile at me and readily agree, sitting down. I bring the gun against my shoulder and wait. A bell rings and I pull the trigger, aiming the spray of water at the small target. My tower quickly rises, but a second before it reaches the top, the siren sounds.

Yoochun whoops and jumps up, pumping his fist in the air.

Feeling a twinge of disappointment, I still laugh, enjoying his good luck.

“Which prize would you like?” the boy in charge asks.

Yoochun puts on an overly serious face before pointing to the panda. “That one.”

The boy hands it to Yoochun, who immediately offers it to me.

“You think I didn’t notice you eyeing it?” he asks, winking at me.

“Thanks, oppa,” I smile back, burying my face in the soft fur and giggling. “I think I’m going to name him...”

Yoochun’s phone interrupts me. Sliding it out of his pocket, his face breaks into a bigger smile. “It’s Jaehwa. I gotta go. I’ll meet you back at the dorm.”

With that he races off, leaving me to watch him fade from view.

“Noona.” Changmin smiles at me. “What’re you going to name it?”

“Him,” I reply absently. “I’m going to name him Wangja.”

Yunho steps forward, takes one of Wangja’s paws, and bows low. “Nice to meet you, Wangja. It’s an honor to be in the presence of a royal.”

Jaejoong copies him, giving a stately bow. “Thank you for gracing our lowly celebration, Your Majesty.”

“I am not bowing to a bear, even if he is named ‘Prince,’” Changmin says, quirking an eyebrow at his hyung’s behavior.

“All hail Wangja, king of the pandas,” Junsu laughs.

“Ridiculousness,” I giggle.

“Let’s go play some more,” Jaejoong suggests. “I want to try a dart game I saw. Think you can beat me?”

“Darts? I’m a whiz at darts,” I smile cockily, grateful I have these guys to take my mind off Yoochun.

++++++++++

When the four guys return to the apartment after seeing _______ safely into hers, they find Yoochun still up, sitting on the couch and talking on the phone. “Goodnight,” he mouths, waving.

“Pabo,” Changmin mumbles as he passes him.

“What was that?” Yoochun asks, temporarily covering the phone’s mouthpiece.

Changmin shrugs and gets up. “Nothing, hyung,” he says as he walks away.

====================

Annyoung lovely readers! I know, I know, the Chunface is being less than smart here, but he is a guy, so us girls can cut a little slack (not too much though), right? Just remember, our girl/you are a strong woman and will get through anything the world throws at her, arasso? A lot of you want Yoochun to be jealous...it might happen, so keep tuned. Saranghae!

MewNikkiChan: Ke ke, I think it's so late for that. Hmm, who was he dreaming about? ^^ I know! XD

WhiteAutumn_x: ah, you like the jealousy game. We shall see, lovely.

SuperSHINeeB2stJr: Yay! I know it's not fair, dongsaeng-ah, but life rarely is *sigh*. Hmm, a jealous Yoochun might be a fun write... Also, I already said it on the other story, but I'll say it again so you get twice the luck ^^. SuperSHINeeB2stJr hwaiting!

ljolson: Maybe, maybe.

ChinkyKayla: You're such a sweetie pie! *big bear hug* I know it's frustrating, but remember, clueless Yoochun oppa has no idea she/you like him, and in his defense, it would be hard for a guy to resist a pretty thing flirting with him. Still, he is a bit of a pabo.

nar12345: Another sweetie pie! *big hugs* What'd I do to deserve you guys? ^^ I've had this part in my mind for awhile. Hmm, I don't think Jaehwa would listen unfortunately...

Jun_KOI_Mi: That it is. Mionyu: Breathe, lovely, breathe until you don't see red. Yes, Jaehwa is a bit annoying and we'll see about the jealous thing...

yellow14: He's a guy, they can't help it sometimes. Keep in mind, she/you hasn't told him yet.

Champions27: Yes, bad Jaehwa.

PurpleangelSJ: It's okay, I only knew him for a day or so. Everyone needs to feel beautiful. ^^ She'll be okay since she's got the others to take care of her too when Yoochun falls down on the job. Junsu loves his Yejin ;) He even bought you a present for no reason! Saranghe, dongsaeng-ah!