First: She’s a really good dancer.

Hyukjae’s first day in SM as a new trainee didn’t go as planned.

He was supposed to go into the dance classroom, not hang around outside it, just watching the dancers like a total creep. He felt like a little kid starting school for the first time--nervous, terrified, and self-conscious. Hyukjae never acted like this before; he was here to make it big, so why was he acting like a wimp? But he knew why.

He was afraid. And observing the class only intensified that fear.

As he peeped through the little window, he could see all the guys. They were tremendously skilled in their moves. Of course, he didn’t expect anything from Class A dancers, but did the man who sat before him at his audition place him in the right place? Was he truly on par with these people? He didn’t think he was ready for this level of greatness.

Hyukjae gathered up a few shreds of courage. His hand grasped the doorknob lightly, but then something extraordinary began to take place. A girl--the only girl in the room, he realized--with brown hair pulled up into a ponytail stood. He guessed she had been sitting and watching the whole time, but now, she was launching into a smooth dance routine.

This was dancing.

She took his breath away, literally.

Three minutes later, he was coughing, as silently as possible so he wouldn’t attract the attention of the dancers. Hyukjae retreated before anyone could spot him, but he promised himself he would be back the next day, prepared to train for his dream.

He didn’t know that she caught a glimpse of a boy flashing by.

It was only a flash, but she saw him.

Second: She has a nice laugh, and I guess a pretty smile too.

Second day, here goes nothing. He thought grimly.

Hyukjae made sure to enter the designated dance practice room during the lunch break, so it would be empty. Everyone was gone, in the cafeteria, or out to eat lunch if they had the money, for approximately an hour and a half. It was a nice room for dancing with solid, sleek oak floors and mirrors wrapping around the whole place so you would always see yourself. He took it all in, and found a decent corner to calm his nerves in.

He twiddled his thumbs, chewed on his bottom lip, tapped his feet, stared at the floor, and finally took his cell phone out to have something to do.

Hyukjae was so deep in the midst of sending his sister a text message that he didn’t hear someone enter the room.

“Hey!”

Startled, he glanced up, fingers frozen on the keypad.

It was the girl from yesterday.

His head shot up instantly. Hyukjae’s mind drew a blank, but he knew his manners. He stood up straight and bowed to her respectfully. “I’m sorry for intruding.”

The girl just smiled, and it amazed Hyukjae. Her eyes seemed to be twinkling and her lips were turned up into a perfect smile. She seemed to be a bit amused, curious, or maybe both.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell. I haven’t seen you before.” she commented.

“I’m new,” was all Hyukjae could say.

Had he ever been this shy before?

“Well, welcome to SM.” she stuck a hand out and he tentatively shook it.

It was warm, comforting.

“Are you in the wrong place?” she asked. “This is--”

“Dance Class A, yeah, I’m in the right place.” he cut her off with the slight hint of a grin.

“Oh,” she looked mildly surprised. “You must be a good dancer then.”

Hyukjae shrugged. “I’m alright.”

“Overconfident?” she raised an eyebrow, chuckling.

“More like terrified,” Hyukjae admitted. “Everyone here is amazing.”

“I’m sure you are, too. You can’t get in unless you’re amazing.” the girl smiled again.

And his doubts and fears washed away just like that.

Third: She’s cool because she’s not all girly, so it’s easy to talk to her.

Hyukjae found his friend Xiah Junsu during the lunch break the next day.

“Hey, you’re here!” Junsu exclaimed happily, tackling his best friend in a “man” hug. “Hyukjae!”

“Sorry I never called you or anything, I was freaking out too much.” Hyukjae grinned, gums showing.

“You know Junsu?” a voice spoke up from behind them.

It was the girl, again.

“You know Hyoyeon?” Junsu poked Hyukjae in the chest.

“Oh, so that’s your name.” Hyukjae laughed awkwardly.

“Wow, it totally slipped my mind that I never told you my name!” the girl called Hyoyeon slapped her forehead and rolled her eyes at herself.

“This is Lee Hyukjae.” Junsu introduced his buddy to Hyoyeon. “We went to school together.”

“Ah, that’s so cool!” she remarked, and Hyukjae had a feeling she meant it, and wasn’t just saying it to start a conversation.

“This is Kim Hyoyeon.” Junsu moved over to stand next to the brunette and put his hands on her shoulders, beaming widely at Hyukjae all the while.

“Do I have to call you sunbae?” Hyukjae shook Hyoyeon’s hand for the second time and discovered he was pouting a bit.

“Hyoyeon is fine, Hyukjae.” she laughed, the sound melodic, still holding hands with him.

He liked his name better out of .

“Is everybody acquainted now?” Junsu wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Hyukjae--the reason, he had no idea.

The two dancers nodded simultaneously and Junsu led them both to a packed table of boys.

“Are you sure you wanna sit with us?” Hyukjae whispered to Hyoyeon when Junsu left their sides to greet the rowdy guys. “I don’t want you feeling uncomfortable.”

“What are you talking about?” Hyoyeon slapped his arm playfully, already comfortable with him. “This is my usual table.”

Fourth: She’s a tough girl; she doesn’t cry or get hurt easily. (Except for this one time...)

“So you’re debuting?” Hyoyeon’s mouth was open in a perfect O.

Hyukjae nodded sheepishly. “It’s crazy, right?”

“How could you leave me?” she joked, punching his shoulder.

“I’m not going to, Hyoyeon.” he carefully put one arm around her first and when she relaxed into his chest, he put the other arm around her, enveloping her.

“Congratulations, though.”

“Are you gonna cry?” he teased.

“Unlikely, Hyukjae.”

Much later that night, Hyukjae made his way back to his normal practice room to find his phone.

Instead, he found a girl with her head buried in her knees, hiding in the corner and--was she crying?

“Hyoyeon?” Hyukjae called out in a low voice.

She sniffled once; definitely Hyoyeon.

Hyukjae strode over to her and bent down so they were the same height.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently, placing a hand on her hair.

She made a noncommittal noise in the back of that told him, “Leave me alone.”

“I know you, and you never cry.” Hyukjae argued and tried again, “What’s wrong?”

“You’re debuting.” she mumbled.

“And?”

“And you’ll be all famous and I’ll never debut and you’ll forget about me.”

Hyukjae laughed, causing Hyoyeon to glare at him with her tear-streaked face.

“What’s so funny?”

“You,” Hyukjae grinned.

“What?” she looked angry, so Hyukjae sped up the process.

“You’re obviously going to debut soon, Hyoyeon; just be patient. Your talent is incredible and SM would never throw that away.” he said, meaning every word.

“I’m not convinced,” Hyoyeon said, resting her chin on her knees.

“Well, I am.” Hyukjae retorted stubbornly.

Hyoyeon sighed. “You always are.”

“And hey, it’s pretty much impossible for me to forget you.” Hyukjae rolled his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she aimed for his arm.

He caught her fist and smiled. “It means you’re too close to my heart for me to forget you.”

“If that’s a cheesy pick-up line, I will hit you, Lee Hyukjae.”

“It’s not a pick-up line, Hyoyeon, don’t hit m--ow!”

Fifth: She is very, very scary when she’s pissed.

“LEE HYUKJAE!”

The boy in question ducked behind Donghae. “Donghae, save me!”

“What did you do to her?” Donghae scolded, turning around, therefore exposing Hyukjae.

The victim quickly scrambled to be protected by the younger member. “I didn’t do anything, I sw--”

“Donghae, please move.” Hyoyeon’s arms were folded and there was a certain evil in her eyes.

Donghae was conflicted between the scary person who could possibly murder him if he didn’t move and also his best friend who would possibly be murdered if he moved.

“Don’t betray me!” Hyukjae pleaded.

His life or his friend’s life, Donghae wondered

“Donghae,” Hyoyeon glowered.

He chose his life and ran from the scene.

Naturally, Donghae was not at all surprised when Hyukjae trudged up to him slowly fifteen minutes later, slouching and rubbing his jaw.

“What’s the damage?” Donghae joked nonchalantly.

“She kicked me in unmentionable places and punched me in the jaw and in addition, I have several bruises.”

“Ooh,” Donghae in some air and patted Hyukjae’s shoulder; he winced, so Donghae immediately let go. “What did you even do to her, dude?”

“I might have pulled a few pranks on her and then say Sooyoung’s a better dancer than her.” Hyukjae managed a small smirk.

“Smart move, Hyuk.”

Sixth: She is gorgeous in a dress, but beautiful in (my) T-shirts.

“Nice night, huh?” Hyoyeon chirped when Hyukjae entered the girls’ dressing room after the first night of Gayo Daejun out of three.

“Could’ve been better,” he shrugged casually, taking in her figure.

“Why are you looking at me weird?” she frowned.

Hyukjae realized what he had been doing--admiring her from head to toe, that was what--and his eyes widened.

“No reason,” he replied coolly. “You looked really good in that dress earlier, by the way.”

“Back at ya, but you weren’t wearing a dress and--uh, yeah, you know what I mean.”

He thought she was kind of cute when she rambled and grinned. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“Now get out! I need to change!” she had her hands on his back and was using all her strength to push him out.

“You know I got stronger than you since a while ago?”

“Shush.”

Hyukjae waved at the other girls innocently, ignoring Hyoyeon’s protests and eventually stepped outside for a moment.

Hyoyeon was the first to emerge two minutes later, hair still curled like a princess’s, but instead of the fancy attire, she had on dark skinny jeans, Converse, and...

“Is that my shirt?” Hyukjae’s eyebrows rose in pure amusement.

Hyoyeon glanced down at her black and pink Adidas T-shirt and her face broke out into a grin. “I have no idea why I have this, but--”

“You look better in that than the dress.” Hyukjae examined her top to bottom again, this time with only good intentions, and that was her, wearing his shirt.

“Really? I liked the dress better.” she stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

The eight other girls all finished at the same time and heard Hyoyeon’s screams from outside. In a panic, Taeyeon flung the door open, only to find Hyoyeon on the ground, unmoving. Hyukjae stood over her, noticed the other girls, and waved and grinned stupidly.

“What did you do to her?” Sooyoung demanded, grabbing Hyukjae by the front of his shirt.

“I tickled her.”

Hyukjae tumbled unexpectedly to the floor then. He fell beside Hyoyeon and she gave him a devious, smug look.

“Your ankle was wide open.”

Seventh: She’s smart because she can read her closest friends like open books.

“What’d you call me here for?” Hyoyeon inquired, plopping down in the empty swing seat next to Hyukjae on the abandoned playground.

He kicked some of the sand absentmindedly, without looking up to acknowledge her, dirtying his sneakers in the process. “I don’t know, Hyoyeon.”

“Something’s bugging you, right?” she assumed, gently swinging herself back and forth with her feet.

“I guess you could say that.”

Hyoyeon leaned forward to get a good look at Hyukjae’s face. He was gazing straight ahead, at the colorful slides. His jaw was set, his lips held together in a tight line--that much made him appear livid, Hyoyeon deduced. But his eyes said something else altogether. They were soft, sad, confused, and possibly unsure?

“Either you got in a fight with a Super Junior member or you’re crushing hard on some girl.” Hyoyeon smiled.

Hyukjae almost fell off the swing in shock. He regained his balance and gawked at his best girl friend in disbelief.

“How did you--”

“Am I right?” she dodged his question, persistent.

“Yeah, the second one,” Hyukjae confessed quietly under his breath.

All he could think was: She’s a genius.

“I knew it!” Hyoyeon declared proudly, and punched his right arm with her left hand.

“Why do you always have to hit me?” he groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

“Force of habit,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” he insisted. “But seriously, how did you know?”

“I could just tell by reading your face.” Hyoyeon answered thoughtfully, eyes trained on his.

“And how do you do that?”

Hyoyeon shrugged her shoulders once. “I can’t explain it.”

“What am I thinking?” Hyukjae asked excitedly, staring at her wide eyes.

“Nothing.”

“What about now?”

“You’re wondering if I can guess everything you’re thinking of.”

“Okay, now?”

“Hyukjae,” Hyoyeon interjected. “You don’t need to be confused over a girl. I say, go for it.”

“Go for it?” he repeated slowly.

“You can’t bottle up this feeling forever, so you’ve got to let it out.” Hyoyeon advised. “Tell her. The worst thing that could happen is that she says no.”

“What if her saying no ruins our friendship?” Hyukjae questioned, doubtful still.

“Everything is worth a shot. You’ve only got one life, so live it with no regrets, no secrets, and no--”

He kissed her then, closing the small gap between their faces.

She kissed him back.

Eighth: She is perfect.

A day passed, two, three, four, five; then Hyukjae couldn’t take it anymore.

He had to see her again, if only for a second, two, a minute--he just had to.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jungsu shouted after Hyukjae.

But he was already gone.

He found his way to their front door. His fist went to the door immediately; for some reason, he knew that she would be the one to answer the door, and not any other girl.

“It’s late,” she said, frowning deeply.

“I know.”

“What are you doing here?” she sighed tiredly.

“I don’t know.”

Hyoyeon simply raised an eyebrow. “So you randomly decided to come to my door and wake me up?”

“You weren’t sleeping.” Hyukjae stated, as if it were the obvious.

“How do you know?”

“Because I know that you always sleep past midnight. I know that you only ignore people for a few days when you’re feeling confused. I know that I’m a big idiot and I messed up big time, but I’m sorry.” he blurted out, feeling a lot better than he had the previous days.

Hyoyeon sighed, but this sigh was an apologetic one.

“No, I was the one who ignored you and led you on and probably made you feel miserable.” she ran a hand through her blonde hair--oh, how much Hyukjae wanted to do that instead--and gave him another one of her flawlessly pretty smiles.

“I was only a little miserable, don’t worry.” Hyukjae tried a small grin.

She smiled back, and his grin grew wider.

God, she’s beautiful.

“So is there anything you wanted to tell me?” she asked, her body halfway back in the dorm.

“Um,” Hyukjae blinked, “Yeah.”

Her eyes told him to go on.

Wow, her eyes are pretty, too...

“I can be patient, Hyoyeon.”

“Hm?” Hyoyeon’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I’ll wait,” were Hyukjae’s last words, as he ruffled her hair.

She nodded and smiled appreciatively, retreating inside, and shutting the door.

He would wait for her, because she was Hyoyeon, she was perfect, and she was worth it.