Forty

     Everyone is sitting around a coffee table enjoying their cake and talking to one another.  The foods present are cake, pizza, chips. soda and kimchi.

     “When did you guys find time to make the kimchi?”  Yuri asks, looking at Onew who is sitting in the wheelchair beside her.

     Onew chuckles, “We didn’t, actually.  We asked our dorm lady to help.”

     I knew it.  Oh well.  Can’t help it.  Yuri smiles, “When you see her, please tell her I said ‘thank you’.”

     Jonghyun has been eyeing Yuri the whole entire time ever since everyone’s sat down.  He’s waiting for the right time to ask Yuri on a couple date.  But, is it really consider a date if we’re not going out?  What about me and Jessica? Jonghyun exhales loudly as he sets his plate on the coffee table. 

     “What’s wrong, Jonghyun?”  Taemin asks.

     Jonghyun perks up and tries to smile, “Nothing.”

     Yuri is reminded of yesterday with Jonghyun and a Jessica look-alike girl in the elevator and wants to ask but knows it’s none of her business.  Why am I so worried about it?

     “Yuri.”  Yuri blinks and looks up from her plate to the person who called her name.  It is Jonghyun, “I remember my challenge.”

     Yuri sits up straight and stabs a piece of her cake for a bite, “Okay.  What is it?”

     “In order for you to officially be accepted as our temporary manager, I’m going to challenge you to a project!”  Jonghyun seriously says out loud.  Everyone practically stops eating.  Taemin and Key want to laugh but hold it in.

     Yuri’s expression shows she’s confused, “Project?   What do you mean?”

     “After our schedule ends this Tuesday, you’re going to accompany me on a journey for information.”

     “What kind of project is it for?”

     “I’ll tell you when we reach there.”

     Yuri looks around the room at the members, “No one’s going but just us?”  She feels uneasy about this.

     If I say Minho and Yoona, no, just Minho’s name, she’d definitely back down.  “For now, it’s just us.”  Jonghyun lies through his teeth and avoids looking at Minho, who is standing behind him.

     “Okay.  Remind me again.”  Yuri grabs her drink off of the coffee table and takes a sip.  Jonghyun sighs a sigh of relief.

     Key and Taemin are downstairs throwing away the trash while everyone else helps take down the decorations.  The room seems quiet, now that there is no conversation but just action amongst the people.

     How am I going to apologize properly?  Yuri is storing away the decorations gathered by Jonghyun, Onew and Minho.  When Minho walks over to her to place down the ‘HAPPY’ sign, their shoulders slightly touch one another and they gently flinch in response. 

     She takes this opportunity and apologizes to Minho, “Sorry.”  She stops packing the decorations, “Sorry for what happened earlier today and…”

     Minho quietly listens to Yuri.

     “…sorry for snapping at you that morning when you guys were just taking me to school.”  She finally says it.  To cover up the tension, she continues to pack.

     Minho stands there, fidgeting on trying to come up with a response to this unexpected scene, “There’s no need to apologize.”  They both look at one another.

     Minho turns to look at Yuri and with his beautiful eyes and a charming smile, he calms down the tension with, “We just got off to a bad start.”

     Yuri can’t help but smile back warmly at him, “Yeah.  We did.  Thank you.”

     “Hey.”  Minho playfully says, “Welcome to our dorm.”  I guess she isn’t that bad after all.

     Yuri’s heart flutters as they both locked eyes, looking at one another, accepting each other.