Pairing: Hyoyeon/Hyukjae

Note: Not for Write Like the Wind. Happy birthday, Hyukjae~

“Truth or dare?” Sooyoung smirked evilly at Tiffany.

“Da--”

“Don’t say dare!” Jessica exclaimed, jumping to Tiffany’s rescue.

“Why not?” the current player pouted.

“Sooyoung’s dares are the worst!” I glared.

Sooyoung merely smiled in return. “Now, now, let’s let Tiffany choose what she wants to choose.”

“Truth then,” Tiffany bit her lip nervously.

“Very nice choice, Miss Hwang,” Sooyoung grinned, rubbing her hands together with excitement. “If you had to date any guy in Super Junior, who and why?”

“Eh?” Tiffany squeaked.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re taken already; just pick your ideal guy.” Sooyoung explained further.

The eight of us sat, holding our breaths with anticipation. Honestly, I don’t think any of us were prepared to hear the answer that would come out of Tiffany’s lips.

“...Eunhyuk-oppa?”

She said it hesitantly like she was afraid there were wrong answers in this game. Tiffany glanced at me for a split second and I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do or say.

“Eunhyuk-oppa?” Yuri repeated, mouth agape. “Like Lee Hyukjae?”

Tiffany nodded timidly and if there was one thing any person could know about Tiffany, it was that she was never shy--about anything.

“Since when have you liked him?” Sunny asked, immediately curious.

“Was it because of ‘FAME’?” Jessica guessed.

“Before that?” Yoona butted in.

“After?” And even Seohyun was on board, at this point.

“During, I guess,” Tiffany smiled, probably a little embarrassed.

Usually, it was vice versa. Tiffany would be the one interrogating us about our love lives. But now, it was the other way around.

“Well, I approve!” Taeyeon joked, earning laughs from us and a smack from Tiffany. “What? He’s a nice kid.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Then how is it like?” Sooyoung giggled gleefully.

“I don’t know, he just...he’s so sweet and funny and--”

“So you fell for his charms?” Jessica laughed, batting her eyelashes  and mocking Tiffany.

“Shut up!” Tiffany whined. “It wasn’t just his charms, he’s really handsome, too.” she muttered the last part quietly, allowing her hair to fall over her face.

“You’re in love!” Yuri proclaimed, jumping up and pointing wildly.

“What about us?” Taeyeon feigned anger. “What about TaeNy?”

“Although he has tons of good points, Eunhyuk can be a bit of a playboy sometimes.” Yoona cautioned.

“He’s a really good guy!” Sunny argued.

“When’s the first date?” Sooyoung clapped. “Should I plan it?”

“Date?!” Tiffany squealed, overwhelmed.

“I’m so happy for you, Tiffany-unnie.” Seohyun clasped her hands together.

“Hey, Hyoyeon hasn’t said anything in a while.” Jessica looked at me with careful, analyzing eyes.

“Sorry,” I smiled, but it came out forced. “I totally zoned out there for a second.”

“Uh-huh,” Sooyoung definitely wasn’t buying my unconvincing act.

“I was!” I lied to the best of my abilities.

“Hyoyeon,” Tiffany began, “I’ll totally back off on Eunhyuk, because I know you like him and all--”

My eyes widened and I covered it up by laughing it off. “No, it’s fine. I don’t like him.”

“You don’t?” Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung, Sunny, and Taeyeon chimed in, confused.

I gave them a weird look. “Really, guys? Really?”

“There goes our bet,” Yoona whispered to Yuri.

“He’s like a brother to me.” I quickly fabricated an excuse.

“Are you sure?” Tiffany frowned, trying to read my expressions.

“Positive,” I beamed.

But it sounded like a total bluff in my mind.

Jessica was still staring at me with those calculating, piercing eyes. Taeyeon grinned to lighten the mood, which I was thankful for.

“So you gonna confess any time soon, Fany?”

“Taeyeon!” she moaned.

They all laughed, and I laughed along with them.

It felt so wrong.

-----

“Five, six, seven, eight,” Hyukjae counted off.

I launched into the choreography, but stared to lose focus almost instantaneously. On the second verse of the song, I stumbled over my feet and was close to falling on my face, if it weren’t for Hyukjae putting his hands on my shoulders to steady me and bring me back to my feet.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, which was unlike me. “I’m just wasting your time.”

“Hey,” he started gently, hands still on my shoulders, “I promised you I’d help you with this dance for your next solo stage. I always keep my promises, you know that.”

“Let’s just try it again, from the top.” I said indifferently, ignoring him.

“Let’s take a break,” he suggested, contradicting what I had said earlier and pushing me down to a sitting position.

He sat in front of me and watched a variety of emotions flicker across my face. “What’s up lately? Is everything okay?”

“Fine,” I answered vaguely.

“Define fine,” he nudged my knee with his.

“Just fine,” I went on stubbornly.

“Come on, tell me, Hyoyeon!” he insisted, poking me in the side--my weak spot.

“Ow!” I slapped his arm and glowered, “You jerk!”

He chuckled and apologized, but when he saw that I was still glaring, he frowned. “I’m really sorry, Hyo, come on, don’t be mad at me. Okay?”

On the inside, I wasn’t mad at him. It was really hard for me to stay angry at him.

“I’m not,” I rolled my eyes.

“Then smile for me?”

I smiled falsely and resumed making my indifferent face.

“Hyoyeon.”

I turned to look at his serious facial features. I sighed and pondered for a few seconds, formulating the words in my head.

“What would you do if you had this really good friend who was in love with one of your other friends, who you’re not quite sure how you feel about?”

Hyukjae seemed alarmed. “Are you in love?”

“No, it’s just a question for my friend!” I denied.

Hyukjae calmed down and exhaled deeply. “I think I would give my friend a chance with that person, since they’re sure of their feelings, whereas the other person isn’t.”

He stood up, and I thought about his words. “Okay then.”

“Wanna get some ramen?” he grinned.

“You’re always hungry.” I cracked a smile, the first real one that night.

“I made you smile!” he cheered, putting an arm around my shoulders and leading me out.

I laughed and shrugged off his arm.

My new plan: Lay off of Hyukjae for Tiffany.

Tiffany was a friend--a really good one at that, and I cared about her happiness a lot. I was just a confused girl, so the right thing would be to sacrifice for her, right?

-----

NEW TEXT MESSAGE

From: Hyukjae

Hyoyeon~

NEW TEXT MESSAGE

From: Hyukjae

HYOYEONNNNNNNNN. I MISS YOU. D:

NEW TEXT MESSAGE

From: Hyukjae

Are you ignoring me...? What did I do?

NEW TEXT MESSAGE

From: Hyukjae

WHATEVER IT WAS, I’M REALLY SORRY! :’(

NEW TEXT MESSAGE

From: Hyukjae

Are you just asking me to blow up your phone with voicemails or something? ‘Cause I will.

NEW VOICEMAIL

 “Hyoyeon? It’s me. Call me back, please?”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“Are you that busy these days? If you are, I understand, but you should tell me!”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“I am persistent.”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“KIM HYOYEON! TEXT OR CALL BACK LEE HYUKJAE THIS INSTANT!”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“Now I can guess that you’re purposely ignoring me. Will you forgive me if I buy you chocolate cake? I know you love cake! Come on!”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“Sometimes, you frustrate me. Like now. You’re making me really worried for you. Do I need to come over? Are you okay?”

NEW VOICEMAIL

“If you don’t call back after this one, I’m coming to you and you can’t stop me.”

-----

I erased the newest voicemail automatically, after listening to it, of course. I tried to breathe steadily, but it was difficult.

Lee Hyukjae was difficult.

If he was your friend, he would be stubborn until the end and never allow you to ignore him. He hated making his friends angry, and he would always do everything in his power to fix the problem. He never gave up.

He wasn’t giving up on me.

I heard something hit the windowpane and became instantly alert. Fortunately for me, Seohyun had been sleeping in Tiffany’s room for the past few weeks. She was a smart girl, and I think she caught on that I was a bit off lately. Respecting my wishes, Seohyun decided to give me some space. I couldn’t thank her enough for that. I sensed movement outside and climbed into bed, shut my eyes, and feigned sleep, even though it was only midnight, and I never slept until much later.

The window creaked open--I was stupid for never locking it--and despite the cold air, I put all my effort into acting unconscious, to the best of my abilities anyway.

“Hyoyeon,” Hyukjae hissed.

I stayed silent and breathed regularly, so the act was more believable. My ears pricked up at the sound of his feet moving across the room, coming closer and closer to my bed. I felt like I was about to burst, what with how hard I was trying to continue breathing normally.

His hand touched my face for a second, and it lingered there, on my cheeks. My mind raced, my heart pounded, and I almost broke into a sweat.

“Sometimes, I wish you knew.” his hand moved to my hair, playing with a few of the strands carelessly.

I wanted so badly to scream a thousand things at him, but I had to keep up my performance.

“I think about it all the time.”

What did he think about?

“You and me; us.”

His hand dropped back to his side. “I love you, Hyoyeon.”

He was just saying stuff; he was joking. He was kidding, messing with me, like usual. He had to be.

“I know you only see me as a brother. I know why you’ve been ignoring me, too. Jessica told me everything, about Tiffany liking me and your secret plan to avoid me so that maybe I would forget you and just spend more time with her.”

I subtly bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t blurt out the truth accidentally. The temptation to do it was strong.

“But if Tiffany’s happiness makes you happy, I’ll make her happy, for you.”

Part of me wanted to “wake up” and tell him that I didn’t want that. Another part of me, the more dominant part, remained unmoving, because Tiffany deserved him.

And I didn’t.

“I’ll make Tiffany the happiest girl ever, Hyoyeon. That’s a promise.”

-----

“God, Hyoyeon,” Tiffany said in awe. “You’re so beautiful, I swear.”

I looked down at my attire; I was wearing a sleeveless white dress that stopped a few inches above my knees. It was simple, yet elegant. A layer of soft lace covered the actual dress. The outfit was rather feminine, especially for me. My hair was left down and curled prettily, adorned with a little tiara.

I was Tiffany’s bridesmaid.

And Donghae was Hyukjae’s, naturally.

“You’re more beautiful, Fany-ah. I look weird.” I laughed.

“You look perfect for winter! It’s December, after all.” she giggled, giving off a happy glow.

“It’s freezing!” I complained. “You couldn’t have a spring or summer wedding?”

“Winter’s the most romantic season,” she sighed dreamily.

I rolled my eyes.

“Can we come in?” Taeyeon knocked from the outside.

“I’ll be right back,” I told Tiffany.

“Thank you,” she embraced me tightly.

I opened the door and let a few of the girls in, not able to escape the flood of compliments. Eventually, I managed to slip away. I walked across the chapel area, where many of the guests had already arrived and were being shown to their tables by various Super Junior members. I went to the other side of the grand hall. A door marked “BOYS ONLY, KEEP OUT. THAT MEANS YOU, SO NYUH SHI DAE.” was shut tight.

I rapped my fist on it once.

“Who is it?” Donghae’s voice came from inside.

“Hyoyeon!”

“Yah, can’t you read a sign?” Heechul exclaimed fussily.

“Hyung! She’s an exception!”

I smiled, recognizing Hyukjae’s voice.

The door was flung open by Sungmin and I poked my head in warily.

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” I greeted them all with a cheerful grin.

“He’s just really irritable today.” Kyuhyun jerked a thumb at Heechul.

“Yah! Cho Kyuhyun!”

“See?” Kyuhyun cried out.

“Hey, Hyoyeon,” Donghae grinned back at me, ruffling my hair.

“Don’t!” I slapped his hands away.

“You look pretty, Hyoyeon!” Heechul complimented, smirking just the slightest bit.

“Leave her alone,” Hyukjae flicked Heechul in the forehead.

“Disrespectful!” Heechul barked. “I’m going to find Jessica!” he announced grumpily, stomping off.

“Try Tiffany’s room,” I offered helpfully.

“I’ll come with!” Donghae perked up, forming a pout. “Hyung, wait up!”

“Can you two leave for a second?” Hyukjae looked at Kyuhyun, who was sprawled on the couch, and Sungmin, who was texting furiously.

“What?” Kyuhyun opened one eye lazily. “I just made myself comfortable!”

“Come on, Seohyun probably needs you for something.” Sungmin rolled his eyes, pulling the maknae out of the room.

“I’ll see you later then,” I smiled and turned.

His hand grabbed mine and my heart raced out of control.

No, no, don’t do this to me. Not right now. I told my heart.

“No, I needed them to leave, so we could talk.” he spun me around to face him.

“About?” I stared up at him, pretending to be clueless.

He shrugged, letting go of my hand. “Just some stuff.”

“Come on, out with it, Hyukjae.”

“Hyoyeon, I’m getting married.” he put his hands on the make-up table and glanced at his reflection worriedly.

“So what?” I looked away.

“This is like the biggest decision of my life. I don’t know if what I’m doing is...right.”

My eyes widened and I remembered--he never knew that I was awake that night in my room.

“I’m getting doubts all of a sudden,” he said quietly.

“You’re doing the right thing,” I did my best to smile confidently at him. “Tiffany’s so incredibly happy.”

“I know she is,” Hyukjae sighed, focusing his gaze on me now, “But what about me?”

He was hoping to back out at the very last second. I had to stop him, no matter what it would take.

“You love her, Hyukjae.” I said in a low voice. “Don’t you?”

“I do love her,” he assured me, never tearing his eyes away from mine. “Hyoyeon, you need to know, though; I don’t love her like that.”

“Like that...?” I repeated dumbly.

“I made a promise that I’d make her the happiest girl ever.” he finally stopped staring at me.

I felt completely numb.

“And I don’t break promises.”

THE END.

No, I'm kidding. Part two will be up tomorow. x)