Author's Note: Hey, it's been a long time since I'm back into the fanfic writing world. A lot of things happened and it interupted with my writing. But now, I think it's gonna be alright. Maybe I just need to write more to get my drive back and eventually, all the stories that are locked away in my folder will finally be free and be read by y'all.

Pairing: Hyoyeon/Seohyun, slight Hyoyeon/Jessica

Genre: Romance, Slice-of-life

Summary: Hyoyeon has a gift ever since she was born , and it's also a curse that she has to live with all throughout her life.

She shuffled her feet about, trying her very best to dissipate the awkward tension hanging in the air. The young man stood in front of her, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck and darting his eyes back and forth, thinking of something to say to her. She wasn’t looking at him, though. Instead, she eyed the empty space near the top of his head with intense scrutiny.

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“I really think that you’re such an amazing person and...”

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“...I was wondering if we could go out you know, like dating?”

Another awkward moment was shared between them in the middle of the empty hallway. Everyone else was in class, while she was the one who got dragged away by this classmate of hers who needed to speak to her in private about ‘something important’. And being the easy-going and nice person that she was, she ultimately agreed without a second thought. She immediately regretted that decision.

Curse her laidback personality, and this special ‘gift’ she had.

“So...would you like to? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

‘Yeah, like nobody has ever gone silent after they’ve been confessed to on a short notice.’

“Tell me,” she finally spoke to him and folded her arms casually, “how many exes do you have?”

“Eh? O-oh, I’ve never dated anyone before so...”

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The number increased yet again, as expected.

Even without this gift, it didn’t take a lot of intuition to know that he was covering up for something. The slight stutter just now, his blinking was becoming more rapid, and the way he scratched his nose.

Yup, that’s all it took. A simple scratch on the nose. Or touching anywhere on the face for that matter.

Because the brain couldn’t help but to release a chemical that makes your nose itches if you dare say anything untruthful. That’s just how it works. She had already learned and knew all of the signs to know if someone was lying. Heaving a sigh of frustration, the blonde uncrossed her arms and stared straight into the young man’s eyes. “Look, I don’t like to hurt anyone’s feelings but...I’m not interested in you okay?”

He was persistent though.

“Why don’t we try out then?” He took a step forward towards her. “See if it works out or not.”

Hyoyeon resisted the urge to sock the guy right in the face. He will be the reason why she was going to be dreadfully late for first period; wasting her precious time by listening to all of his nonsense.

“Hey, do you think love is just a game to you?” She saw him tensed up slightly and decided to get this over with once and for all. “Do you think that you can just play with someone’s feelings like they’re your toy just for your entertainment? Well, pal, it doesn’t work that way in reality. Sooner or later, karma is gonna be a and haunt you wherever you go unless you get a proper makeover on that attitude of yours. Hate to burst your bubble but that’s the truth. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for class.” Adjusting the strap of her bag properly on her shoulder, Hyoyeon her heels and marched onwards to the staircase nearby. But before she could even make it to the second step, a rough hand firmly grasped onto her forearm from behind.

“Nobody talks to me that way, you piece of- !” The enraged voice of her classmate could not even finish his sentence before a strong force suddenly whacked him right in the nose. An unfortunate crunching sound was heard when Hyoyeon’s fist met with his face, followed by a loud thump. The blonde hissed as she tried to get rid of the pain running through her hand after the impact happened. Opening her eyes, she saw that her classmate laid flat on his back; groaning and with blood dripping down his complexion. Hyoyeon grimaced at the sight before her.

She was going to have a lot of explaining to do later on.

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Hyoyeon heaved a sigh of relief once she finally exited the principal’s office. Hearing him blabbering on and on about the consequences of her actions earlier was enough to make her brain shut down. Of course she knew what will happen if she punched someone. She didn’t need a second voice to remind her about it. Hopefully, that unfortunate event won’t lead her to become the hot topic of the school. She’d love to have people talking about her but not in a negative light quite like this.

“Rough day, Hyo?”

A familiar voice broke her from her reverie, and she turned towards its direction. Leaning against the wall by the side of the office’s door, a slender and attractive brunette was waiting casually for her to come out. A look of indifference was plastered on Hyoyeon’s face when she saw who it was.

“Perhaps,” she shrugged her shoulders. “Could have been worse but stuff like this is what makes the spices of my life, right?”

“Would’ve thought that your special talent was the main ingredient of that spice,” the brunette smirked.

“Whatever. How long have you been standing there, Jessica?”

The woman named Jessica pushed herself off from the wall and stood casually in front of Hyoyeon. “Long enough. Just finished Maths class a while ago and headed straight here after you sent me the text. Wanna go grab some lunch? We still have time before the next period.”

“Food sounds good,” Hyoyeon agreed as she followed her friend to the cafeteria. “Damn, the principal was going down hard on me back there. And it’s not even my fault. Luckily he let me off the hook just this once.”

“What exactly happened till you were sent to the lion’s den?” Jessica glanced to her side at the blonde who was massaging her forehead exasperatedly. “Last time you went in there was when you broke one of the mirrors in the dance studio after you kicked around so much during practice.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry,” the brunette gave an amused smirk.

“Anyways, I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble earlier if it weren’t for the playboy in sheep’s clothing dragging me off to the side and trying to whisk me off my feet.”

Jessica widened her eyes at the news. “Junho wanted to date you?”

“Why do you seem so surprised?” Hyoyeon quirked her brows as she pushed the doors leading to the crowded cafeteria, holding it open for her friend until she entered too. “That guy’s been eyeing me since the start of the term.”

They looked around and managed to find an empty table fit for two further in the cafeteria.

“I thought he had a girlfriend?” Jessica pulled out a chair and took a seat. “Who was it again? Um...a girl named Yenny right?”

“They broke up, Sica.” Hyoyeon said, deadpanned. “Like what he always does to girls he toys with.”

“I don’t pay attention to school rumours, okay? Not my thing.”

“Yeah, because you’re always sleeping when all the juicy stuff happens,” the blonde grinned before she furrowed her brows at her surroundings. “God...I still hate places with too many people.”

“Must be a hard life, having to see numbers floating above people’s head everywhere.” Jessica then pointed up. “What’s my number now?”

Hyoyeon turned her head up, eyeing the digits for a moment before answering.

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“It went up by two. Who did you lie to this time?”

The brunette looked down guiltily. “My parents.”

“Again?”

She nodded slowly.

“They still want you to take over the family business, huh?”

“Correct.”

“Jessica, you can’t keep lying to your parents like this. They have to know that you have other dreams to pursue too. It’s your life, not theirs.”

“I’ll...say it to them when I’m ready.” She gave a wry smile.

“You better tell them soon, okay? Their hopes are gonna be crushed in the end, but it’s better than you having to do something you hate for the rest of your life.”

“You’re always so surprisingly wise for a professional dancer in the making.” Jessica’s expression softened

“Is that a compliment or...?”

“Maybe.”

Hyoyeon rolled her eyes. “Alright Ice Princess, let’s just go and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

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“I’ve always wondered...”

Hyoyeon turned to Jessica as they walked home together on the streets of Seoul.

“About what?”

“Have you ever encountered anyone who has never told a lie in his or her life?”

The blonde wrinkled her forehead, trying to recall her memories.

“Never, unless you include babies. It’s impossible to not lie. It’s human nature. Everybody does it.”

“But what if you met someone like that? What would be your reaction?”

They both stopped at a pedestrian crossing, waiting for the green man to appear.

“I’d be surprised, I guess. Be pretty amazed too, because this person managed to survive without telling a single lie. This person must be one brutally honest human. Might not have a lot of friends too because of that trait.”

Jessica giggled at that remark.

“Must be fun at parties then.”

“But will never be the life of the party like me,” Hyoyeon proudly said before a tight whack made impact with her arm. “I’m getting immune to your slaps of doom, missy.”

“Wanna get a first taste of my punches of doom then?” Inching closer, Jessica quirked a brow at her and used her height to her advantage as she stared down at the dancer.

“Oooh, scary.”

Before Jessica could even lay a hand on her, the traffic light turned green and Hyoyeon bolted across the street without a care in the world.

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Bopping her head to the rhythm of the music that was blasting through her earphones, Hyoyeon flipped through the thick book for the solution to her Physics homework but her mind was more focused on wanting to move around to the beat of the song. Not particularly an appropriate place to dance in, as she was in the school’s library. She silently groaned at the amount of papers she had to do in one day. School was a killer, but she had to complete this or risk getting sent into the principal’s office again. She wished Jessica was here with her but she had club activities to attend, so here she was all alone in the library with the librarian and students she didn’t know. Thinking that doing everything in one shot was not going to do much good, the blonde decided to take a short break before attempting to do the next question. As she looked at her phone to select another song, a presence made itself known at the table that she was sitting.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a voice asked.

With her music on full volume, Hyoyeon could not hear said voice and obliviously carried on with her search for the perfect song to fit her mood.

“Excuse me.” The voice repeated again, albeit a tad louder.

Still no effect.

It was when the newcomer waved her hand in front of Hyoyeon did she finally took notice of the girl.

“Yes?” she asked while taking out one of her earphones.

“Is this seat taken?”

"Nope, go ahead." Hyoyeon gestured to the seat.

"Thank you."

Hyoyeon returned her attention towards her phone but took another glance back up at the newcomer. Her eyes almost popped out from their sockets.

0

Zero.

Nothing. Absolutely no lies. She darted her eyes back and forth between the ebony-haired female to the empty integer above the crown of her head. Hyoyeon fought the urge to rub her eyes until they become red, just to make sure that they weren't just seeing things. She just couldn't believe it.

The young but mature-looking girl noticed the strange behaviour by the blonde. Furrowing her brows, she looked up from the book she was reading.

"Um, is there something that's bothering you?”

Caught red-handed for her blatant staring, Hyoyeon tried dismissing it. "No, no, nothing! There was a...a fly buzzing around so I was kinda annoyed by it," the blonde let out an embarrassed chuckle.

‘That was the most unconvincing lie I've ever told to anyone,' she mentally face-palmed.

"You're lying."

If Hyoyeon could get any more surprised, then she must be flabbergasted by now.

"W-wha?"

"You lied just now," the girl said matter-of-factly.

"How can you tell?"

"It was very obvious."

"Well...sorry about that," Hyoyeon scratched her head sheepishly.

Their brief conversation ended on an awkward note, both not having much to say after the abrupt calling out from the stranger. Hyoyeon tried getting back to her studies, though having a rather difficult time doing so. The zero above the girl's head bothered her oh so much. It stood out like a sore thumb. This was the very first time she encountered someone who had never told a single lie before.

Who was this girl? This...honest human being.

"You're staring again."

Hyoyeon snapped out from her reverie once again.

"I wasn't staring at you. I was just thinking about something."

The girl did not look entirely convinced at her answer but decided to play it off this time and returned to her paperback, much to Hyoyeon's relief.

'Talk about being straight to the point.'

The blonde massaged her left temple, the sudden ache annoying her. It wasn’t too bad. There were more terrible headaches than this. If she had to rate it, it would be a meagre 2 on the pain scale. She was used to experiencing the common headaches which was one of the curses of having this 'special' gift of hers. Having too many people in her surroundings triggered these headaches. Too many numerical digits floating around her were a pain in the noggin'.

"Are you alright?"

The girl again...Hyoyeon opened a tired eye and stared at her. She seemed concern all of a sudden. It confused the blonde slightly.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just tired..."

"Did you get enough sleep?" The stranger asked with a genuinely curious tone. "It's ideal to have 8 hours of rest so the body can fully recharge itself."

"You sound like my mom." Hyoyeon gave an amused smirk. The headache was getting calmer now. "And no, most people our age don't get that much sleep to tell you the truth."

"They don't?" The girl pondered with a confuse tilt of the head.

Hyoyeon fought the urge to burst out into a tearful laughter in the library. "Of course they don't! I think you're the only one in this campus who actually bothers to get a decent amount of sleep."

"Oh," the young girl uttered. "Well, that is not very good for the body. Everyone should get a good night sleep every day."

"Are you some kind of goody little two-shoes or something?"

“That is a very huge overstatement.”

“I’m guessing you are one.”

“Excuse me?”

“No offense, but you sound very pampered.”

“You’re being very rude.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that from other people. I’m just saying the trut-”

“Excuse me, ladies.”

The two bickering girls stopped abruptly and faced a stern middle-aged woman crossing her arms in front of them. Both of them knew who this lady was. Meekly looking around, Hyoyeon saw that all eyes in the library were focused on them. Awkward...

“Do you realise where both of you are arguing right now?” The head librarian tapped her finger against her crossed arms, scrutinising the two students who were now staring at the table in shame. “If you still want to continue on with this argument, I suggest that the both of you take it outside. You are disrupting the peace in this library.”

'Good thing she's not putting this into my permanent record. As if I needed more stuff to add into my already tainted record', Hyoyeon heaved a small sigh of relief as she timidly hurried to pack up her belongings and leave the premises, trying to shove the embarrassing moment to the back of her mind. She glanced up at the girl and she too did the same thing with a pout which made her look like a kid who just got a scolding.

It was cute. In a weird way.

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Hyoyeon was the first to leave the library. She thought about waiting for Miss Brutally Honest, but decided against it. They had just met and it wasn't like they were friends or anything. The girl probably hates her now after the commotion that happened earlier. Hyoyeon might have also break her track record of 'Not Breaking Any Rules' too, judging by how uptight she was with her sleeping schedules and what not. Maybe it was just better to leave and forget all about it.

"Yah! Don't go!"

Hyoyeon flinched at the loud voice entered her ears just as she was about to climb down the staircase. Turning around, she met with two ticked off yet desperate eyes, boring into her soul like she just did the most inhumane act ever.

"Don't ..." The strange girl muttered breathlessly, "Go...Yet."

"What do you want now?" It came out rudely than she intended to when Hyoyeon asked the question, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

After regaining her composure and breathing in the much-needed oxygen, the girl stood up straight and simply said, "I want to talk with you more."

Hyoyeon wasn't the type who could handle awkward situations well. Yes, she could be the life of a party but when it came down to awkward moments, she was a total 'noob'. Hell, if there ever was a phobia of awkward situations, she'd be the first in line to be diagnosed for it.

"Uh, you wanna talk with me?" The blonde stupidly points a finger at her own self. When the girl enthusiastically nodded, Hyoyeon did a double-take at the lies counter. Nope, it was still stuck at zero, meaning the girl was telling the truth.

She really wants to talk with Hyoyeon more. This strange and honest girl wanted to talk with her. Boy, this was going to be...slightly interesting. And she had not even gotten to know her name yet.

"Well...we can't be talking if we don't even know each others' name."

"Seo Juhyun. But people like to call me Seohyun."

"Okay, that's cool with me. I'm Hyoyeon. Kim Hyoyeon," the blonde bowed and offered her hand, "Nice to meet you, Seohyun."

Seohyun did the same, and shook the dancer's sweaty and clammy hand. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

"Me? Nervous? Naww..."

"That's the third time you lied. Are you a compulsive liar?"

"No, I'm just really bad at these kinds of situation."

"What kind of situation is this?"

"One where you will never understand with that sharp tongue of yours."

Seohyun became perplexed. Just as she was about to argue back, Hyoyeon stepped in again. "I'm still not sure why you want to talk with me more. All we've been doing up till now is debating with each other."

"I like debating with you."

Hyoyeon gave up on finding a good reason why this strange person chased after her and suddenly wanted to 'debate' with her. Everything just didn't make sense to her, and this Seohyun girl was one of them.

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So, I met someone in our school.

Oh? More of your party-goer types?

No, the complete opposite of that.

That’s new. Who is this person?

Someone you asked me about when we walked home from school that day.

You mean -!?

Yeah, that kind of person exists. She exists. And now she wants to ‘debate’ with me every day.

Debate?

I’ll tell you later once I’m done with this damn homework.

Okay, you better. And you have to tell me if she’s fun at parties or not.

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To Be Continued...