"At her side, always by her side, I want to make my place next to her, not as a friend--but as a man."


"I'll take it." I paid the apathetic cashier for my new SHINee CD.

This is week three. Came fast, didn't it? Yes, sir, it is week three and it has been exactly five days since my last talk with Kibum or any of my sisters. Oh, how time flies when you don't have anywhere else you need to be.

In a way, I felt relieved. There was no one around to harp on me every couple of seconds or to watch me complain. There was no one really enforcing this.

And in another way, I felt kind of empty.

There was no Kibum to hug every night before I felt asleep. Where has that hand that usually my hair before my eyes shut and I drifted away? Where did that voice that sang me to sleep go? There's no Kibum here. No Kibum at all.

I shook my head of the thought. No need to linger on subjects that tangle my thoughts more than they ever needed to be. Urgh, why must things be so complicated?

"Excuse me," someone asked beside me. A pair of brown eyes met mine.

My jaw basically dangled freely until the nerves settled in their place so I could say something remotely audible.

"Hi." Yep, that was it.

There certain brown eyes were attached to a particularly handsome face. Just below those soft eyes were a pair of pink lips that were slanted a bit to form a charming smile.

"Nice choice," the handsome stranger pointed out.

You'd think that I would have come up with something cute and witty to say, but..no.

No, instead my jaw proceeded to yet again dangle like something with a broken hinge.

"Hi." I said once again.

And you know that hair slip thing that guys do? Yea, he then did that with a laugh that made my palms sweat.

Before I knew it, this nonsense, goofy laugh slipped out of my mouth. I slapped my hands over my lips as soon as I realized how that must have sounded.

"Uh, I-I-I mean--w-what I was trying to say was--" I stuttered. "Hi." Wow, I am stupid..

He chuckled, "Hi, yourself." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I--uhm," I started.

"Leeteuk," he cut me off. "My name is Leeteuk."

"Yuri." I smiled. Finally, I said something coherent.

Leeteuk's blinding white smile gleamed at me. "I've seen you here a couple of times, but this was the first time I gathered up the courage to talk to you."

I laughed, "Why the sudden spurt of confidence?"

"Well," he reached for something in his back pocket. "I got this.. I was kind of taped to my car."

Leeteuk slipped two Polaroids into my hands. One of of his, the other of me. Stalker material much? I flipped it over only to find a note from Sunny.

Give him a chance, it read.

Goodness, they're everywhere! Creepers..

"Freaks.." I hissed.

"Who?" Leeteuk suddenly asked.

"Oh," I shook my head. "Nothing. My sisters, they--well, never mind." I laughed nervously.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to get some coffee.." He trailed off.

Must I go through with this again? Ugh, so not how I planned on spending my afternoon. But, really, who could it hurt? Then again, my sisters would never know it if I skipped out if I chose to.. Oh, but look at him! He's gorgeous! Very model worthy. He just had that charming model-esque style.

What the hell.

"Sure." I smiled.


Being at coffee shops always seemed to make me think of home. It was the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans and the sound of whipped cream from out of the can. It was the warm colors, burgundy and rust orange. It was like I was home.

Leeteuk and I made conversation and small talk. I had to remind myself of everything every couple of seconds. Our conversation was a particularly odd one. Instead of talking about ourselves, we kind of talked about our friends. I talked about Kibum while he, on the other hand, talked about his friend SunHee. It was interesting, seeing Teuk's face as he described what she looked like. He spoke with such detail and depth. It was as if he was drifting away into a daydream after each word.

Safe to say that he's just playing himself.

"You know what I think?" I told him.

"What?" Leeteuk blinked away the image in his mind.

I held up my cup of coffee in between my hands. "I think... You only asked me out because you're afraid to admit that you're in love with your best friend."

Cue the awkward silence of revelations.

"Pfft! What? Are you crazy? SunHee?! No!"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't lie. You described that girl in such detail that I could paint a picture for you."

"So?"

"So, either you're lying or you're just simply in denial."

Leeteuk ruffled his hair then bit his lip. "Am I that obvious?"

I chuckled, "Yea, a bit."

"So what do I do? I want to tell SunHee, but I don't want to risk what is for something that might never be."

Leeteuk's words rang in my mind. He made a point.

"Well," I tucked my my hair behind my ears. "Think of it this way. If you don't tell SunHee, she'll move on and so will you. You'll both get married and get on with your lives. But if you never tell her, the possibility that she might love you, too, will never disappear."

Leeteuk stared in question.

"In other words," I sighed. "Are you willing to risk everything for the one thing that makes you happy?