CHAPTER SIX: SNSD Seohyun or Seo Joohyun?

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After two blind dates, Seohyun wanted to stop the whole procedure, although it wasn’t that she felt uneasy with either of them. Instead, it’s quite the opposite.

Minho was always her best friend, and despite the unexpected-but-kinda-expected question at the end, the date was very much enjoyable. She even had the chance to experience Minho the gentleman, which was usually rare due to the nature of their relationship.

And then, Kyuhyun oppa. Again, they had fun, they even laughed about the most random and silly things that either of them could think of. But it was more than that. It was the quiet moments wondering if the other person was remembering the same thing that spoke volume. Their time together was meaningful… too meaningful that it was challenging to pretend that nothing had ever happened.

As much as she loved her dates, she wouldn’t want to be in the same situations again. Who would be next? Another good friend? Another close oppa? Heck, a secret crush from years ago that she mistakenly told one of her unnie when they were drunk?

So she wanted to stop. But when all her unnie begged her to go to the next date because everything was fully prepared, promising that they wouldn’t make her go to any other date, she was defeated.

And that was why Seohyun was pleasantly surprised when she saw an unfamiliar face waiting at the door of Soshi dorm.

- Hello Seohyun-ssi, I’m HyunKi. – A tall, good-looking man with a bright smile greeted her warmly.

- HyunKi-ssi – She bowed lightly. – Thank you for picking me up.

- No problem. – He smiled. His eyes sparked with amusement. – It is my honor indeed.

- Both of you are too polite for my taste – Sooyoung rolled her eyes. – Seohyun-ah, he is my counsin, treat him well? HyunKi oppa, take care of my maknae?

- Sure, Young.

- I will, unnie.

Looking at their back, SooYoung couldn’t help but sighed in relief. She hoped that they would be a good match, even though everytime she was with either of them, she felt so much pressure to behave in her best manner. She couldn’t imagine what would happen to her if they became a couple. Oh well, let’s see.

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Seohyun didn’t expect that HyunKi would bring her to his house, where his family, including grandparents of him and Sooyoung, resided. Although Sooyoung and she had been knowing each other for years, she only visited Sooyoung’s house, and had never been to her grandparents’ house. She was astonished by its aesthetic architecture and the beautiful garden that was covered in autumn colors. As she was admiring the beauty of the season through the window of the livingroom, HyunKi started their conversation:

- I know you have never been here before, but have you ever met my grandparents?

- I did, couples of times, when we visited Sooyoung unnie’s house or when they visited us at the dorm. – Seohyun took a sip of the chammomile tea in front her and smiled happily. – They were really nice to me. How are they doing?

- They are still doing well. – HyunKi nodded, but then spoke teasingly. – They actually do remember you and sometimes tell us that they wanted to have a grandkid like you, and not troublesome like us.

- Oh-oh... I’m sure that Sooyoung unnie and you are much better than me. – She blushed. – Sometimes I’m really boring.

HyunKi chuckled:

- My grandparents tell me many times that someone like you is very rare today. So when Sooyoung told us that you were looking for a boyfriend, they asked both of us to try our best to bring you to the family.

- T-That… I see. – Seohyun just blushed harder and kept quiet.

He shook his head in amusement. Even though he knew a lot of Sooyoung’s friends in SMEnt., he had never had the chance to know the maknae whom his dongsaeng talked about so much in person. Thus, even with his grandparents’ words, he still doubted about her personalities. However, less than an hour spending with her, he felt like he could really believe all the compliments that he had heard from people who knew her.

- Seohyun-ssi, do you trust me? – he kneeled down next to her and asked her with the most sincere look in his eyes.

- Ne…? – Seohyun didn’t know how to respond.

- I have something that I want to show you, but I would need you to close your eyes and follow me until I tell you to open your eyes again. It’s here, in this house so it won’t be too long. – He held out his hand.

She looked into his eyes deeply, and then gave him one of her angelic smiles, while slowly closing her eyes and placing her hand in his. At that very moment, HyunKi almost couldn’t stop himself from leaning in closer and steal a kiss. He had to step back right away before held her hand tightly and gestured her to stand up.

They walked together quietly. And in that stillness, she could feel his body heat, his freshly showered scent that oddly made her feel safe, and his sturdy hand with long fingers that were perfect for playing instruments. She tried to understand her own random thoughts, but was cut off in middle because they had reached their destination.

- Seohyun-ah, open your eyes.

Seohyun blinked a few times. Once she fully realized where she was standing, she was in awe. Although in awe was the least way to put it. She was bewildered.

In front of her, under the golden light of a beautiful autumn day, there were hundreds of book sitting in silent, waiting to be touched, read, and discovered what they had preserved for generations. The shelves that reached up to the high ceiling, the tables, sofas, and even the floors: all were full of books. Old and new. Thick and thin. Regardless, Seohyun was so excited upon seeing the heaven before her eyes. 

- Sooyoung told me that you love reading. – HyunKi whispered. – So I hope it’s not weird to bring you here on our first date.

- Please don’t think so. This is my ideal date. - Still amazed by the library, Seohyun said the first thing came out of her mind . – I mean…this is more than what I could ask for.

- If you don’t mind, we can spend our date entirely here.

- Can we actually? – Seohyun turned back to look at him and couldn’t hide her excitement. – You love reading too?

- I do. – HyunKi simply nodded. This is much better than what I have imagined.

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After Seohyun safely got back to the dorm from the date, Sooyoung couldn’t wait but had to drive to see HyunKi right away. Although Siwon and Tiffany were chosen to follow Seohyun this time, after her begging and pleading, they both reluctantly to give up on their mission.

Probably because they wanted to give Seohyun some privacy?

Or probably because they wanted to have their own date?

Well, either way, it wasn’t Sooyoung’s biggest concern. However, in exchange, she had to make sure that she got every detail right from her counsin, just in case they would be questioned in the next meeting. And that was exactly her purpose when seeing HyunKi, besides scooping some homemade food back to her dorm.

- So oppa, how did it go?

- It was good. – HyunKi sat at his desk, answered calmly. – We only stayed here and talked. I didn’t touch her purposely at all.

- Oh… - Sooyoung was a bit disappointed, but probably because she was too into the good food, she missed the word “purposely”. – What do you think about her?

- She is just like what you and everyone say about her: well-mannered, shy, smart, and in general a nice person.

- That’s it? Aren’t you good at reading people? Do you see any potential?

- It’s too early to tell anything, Young. At least I don’t despise her.

SooYoung pouted and sticked her tongue out at him

- Arasso, picky oppa. I guessed it’s a good news, because at least you didn’t run away from her like what you did with the last few dates that our grandparents set you up.

Seeing her small gesture, his mind suddenly drifted back to when Seohyun did the exact same thing. They had an arguement about the book named The Prince, and when they realized that they had to agree to disagree, she pouted so slightly that if he hadn’t paid attention closely, he would had never caught it. At that moment, HyunKi no longer could resist her cuteness and had to reach out to rub her head. And her chubby cheek turned pink…

- Oppa… - SooYoung yelled to grab his attention back – What were you thinking?

- Oh. Just a few things at work. – HyunKi tried to focus on the papers in front of him, and answered as calmly as possibly to hide the fact that he just thought about Seohyun’s baby face and her plump lips.

SooYoung looked at her counsin suspiciously, but after a few minutes, she couldn’t see anything different from the normal workaholic HyunKi. So she bid goodbye and went back, deciding that she would be much better off interrogating her maknae.

Contrary to her observation, HyunKi wasn’t 100% concentrating on his work, like his usual self when he started working. He wasn’t sure what the distraction was. Could it be her delicate scent that was lingering around in the room? Could it be her handwritten questions on his note that still left his mind unsettled? Or could it be her scarf on his sofa, reminding him of her slender neck with her silky dark hair drapped around?

HyunKi didn’t know.

The only thing he knew for sure was that he just couldn’t get her image out of his mind.

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SooYoung could never imgine a date could be as boring as the date of her cousin and her maknae. They only stayed in HyunKi’s private library and talked. And read. Ewww.

- Are you both serious? – SooYoung started wondering if they lied to her. – Ok I understand that you don’t have much experiences, but he does. He dated few girls before. Seohyun, why are you lying to me?

- We both like reading. And unnie, why should I lie to you? – Seohyun raised her voice a bit, trying to hide her loud heartbeats. – I’m not you.

- Yah, maknae! Sooooo…- SooYoung glared at her maknae, smiled mischievously as she mistaken the sign of her dongsaeng’s reaction – You like him.

- Unnieee… I-I do-on’t know yet.

- Now even the ways you answered are similar. – SooYoung pointed out. – Did you two plan this all or something?

- Of course not! – Seohyun exclaimed.

- If you didn’t do anything, why would you be this overracting?

Just as when Seohyun thought that SooYoung might figure something out, her unnie decided to change the topic

- So you are up for a second date?

- I do. – She answered almost too fast, which made SooYoung keep glancing at her like she actually did see through her words.

- That’s good. Seohyun-ah, if there’s anything, you know that you can always talk to me right? Anything at all, maknae.

- Thank you, unnie. – Seohyun smiled absent-mindedly, and SooYoung could only shook her head at her dongsaeng before leaving her alone.

But how could she tell anyone about her problem? She wasn’t even sure if it was a problem.

To be utterly honest, she did want to have a second date with HyunKi. For most of their first date, they were in their own world, and only at the end, they spent some time discussing about the book The Prince. HyunKi was undeniably smart, but at the same time, humble and respectful. Their conversation was great, even when it was disrupted by his sisters and her friends, who turnt out to be the fan of SNSD Seohyun. The encounter didn’t last long, although she did do what she usually did when seeing her fan in real life: taking pictures, signing on something, and most importantly, suddenly being more conscious of her image. HyunKi probably had sensed her uneasiness, so shortly, he asked to drive her home. Even though HyunKi was definitely a gentleman, an almost perfect man that anyone girl could ask for, what he said in the car while driving her back was the reason why she wanted to see him again.

FLASHBACK

The ride back was quiet. She was still subconsicously affected by the present of her fan that she temporarily forgot that she was on a date. So HyunKi started the conversation first, again:

- Seohyun-ssi. We probably have heard about each other before.

- I did. SooYoung unnie is always proud of you.

- Same for you. – HyunKi paused for a few minutes before speaking again. – This is probably nothing new to you, but I want to let you know that I do love the image of SNSD Seohyun, like many of your fan, including my sister.

- Thank you very much. I appreciate it a lot. – She was polite and professional, like always.

- It’s probably too early to say whether I have any romantic feelings for you. And I guess it’ll probably go the same way for you.

Seohyun nodded. HyunKi shook his head lightly and chuckle, before turning back to the serious mood. He stopped the car at the side of the road, and looked at her with a sincere expression:

- But, I know that I want to have a second date, because what I am interested in after a few hours with you is Seo Joohyun.

- … - She was too surprised to respond.

HyunKi smiled and continued even when he didn’t hear any response from her:

- Or better off, the side of Seo Joohyun that wasn’t SNSD Seohyun. Joohyun, would you give me that chance?

END FLASHBACK

She never knew that someone could sense her differences that quickly. She was SNSD Seohyun and Seo Joohyun almost always at the same time that sometimes even she didn’t notice the differences. So she said yes.

She wouldn’t mind giving him that chance. And in doing so, she gave herself a chance: the fact that there was something familiar about him that made her feel safe was so intruging that she wanted deadly to know more about him.