We all got a shock when Sungmin emitted a frustrated yell out of the blue. “I… The train was shaking too much. I couldn’t read this interesting article properly…” Sungmin explained with an apologetic look. He looked so cute, that I could not help but laugh.

“Oh Sungmin… You’re so funny!” I smiled as I leaned over and took the magazine from him gently, “You can always read it later when we reach my house. It’s not good to be reading in such bumpy environment…” He gave an embarrassed laugh before starting to say something.

However, I didn’t hear what he said for my attention was snatched away by the approaching train station. As soon as that came into my view, my heart felt like it was going to jump out through my mouth due to my excitement. I really couldn’t wait to see Ryeowook and Auntie Yuri! Would Ryeowook be there to pick us up? Last year, Ryeowook and I went to the train station to pick Heechul up when he came back for the school break. So my guess was that Ryeowook would be there to fetch us! He must be feeling excited as well, after being lonely since we’ve been gone.

Jumping up onto my seat, with the concern for image at the back of my head, I pressed my whole body against glass windows, trying to get a closer view so I could see if Ryeowook was there like I expected. While Heechul started yelling at me to behave myself, I was twirling around in anticipation on my seat.

“Who cares about behaving properly!!!” I laughed, dismissing Heechul’s scolding, “We’re reaching!!! We are REACHING!!! Do you think Ryeowook is here? I can’t wait to see Ryeowook! Oh my god he better be here! I’m going to give him a HUGE hug when I see him! I miss him so much!!!!”

Just as I finished saying that, the speakers whirled to life and the announcer’s voice rang out across the entire train, “Dear passengers, the train will be reaching the station soon, please start gathering your luggage. Thank you for travelling with us, have a nice day.” I jumped off the seat immediately, almost knocking into Sungmin if not for his last minute ducking away.

I quickly slide the cabin door open and went out onto the common corridor in order to reach the windows on the other side so I could look out at the platform. As the train pulled closer to the station, more and more people started coming out to the common corridor to spot their loved ones on the platform. The three boys joined me at the windows as well.

Sure enough, as the train reached the station, I spied Ryeowook standing on the platform. He was dressed in a blue T-shirt that had a huge red heart graphic at the front, together with cameo pants and sneakers. He was also wearing a huge smile on his face when he saw me waving at him enthusiastically from the train as we went past him.

He started running after the train eagerly, waving something that he was holding in his hands. As the train was still moving, I could not see what he was holding in his hands properly. “Let’s go back and get our luggage,” Kyuhyun suggested as he turned to return to the cabin, with the rest of us following behind him.

By the time we gathered up all the luggage, the train had come to a complete stop. Ryeowook was extending his neck to its full length as he tried to spot us among all the passengers leaving the train. Even though I could not wait to get off the train, Heechul did not want to be squeezing with all those people. Having no other choice because Heechul would breathe fire down our backs if we left the train without him, we stood by the windows and waited for the crowd to thin out.

“You got to be kidding me,” Heechul suddenly exclaimed through gritted teeth as he looked out of the windows. I followed his angry gaze, and got a huge surprise when my eyes fell onto Ryeowook. I finally saw what he was holding in his hands just now. It was a full sized colourful banner with GIGANTIC words that reads, “KIM HEECHUL, AN YONNI, WELCOME HOME! WE MISSED YOU! SARANGHAEYO!” There were also two huge photos of each of our faces pasted on the home-made banner.

I covered my face in embarrassment and peeked at Heechul through the gaps between my fingers. He was G-L-O-W-E-R-I-N-G. I heard Kyuhyun let out a soft snicker beside me as he too saw what we saw. “Where’s Sungmin?” I asked Kyuhyun after I nudged him once in the ribs, giving him a “you-better-shut-up” look. He tried his best to cover up another chuckle as he pointed back to the cabin. I softly warned Kyuhyun about Heechul’s dangerous mood before I went back into the cabin just in case he pissed Heechul off any more than he already was.

Sungmin was sitting quietly by the window, leaning back against the seat with his eyes closed when I entered the cabin. He didn’t seem to notice that I had come in. I settled down opposite him and asked concernedly, “Sungmin-ah, are you okay?”

“What?” He jolted his head towards me abruptly, seemingly shocked. Then, he flashed a somewhat forced smile at me before replying, “N-Ne~ I’m fine…” I frowned, he was awfully quiet for this journey, was he feeling unwell? I leaned over the table and reached out to check his temperature, “Did you get a heat ?”

I saw his eyes widened in surprise as my fingers came into contact with his skin. He felt pretty hot to the touch and his face was quickly becoming red. Jumping up in anxiety, I hurriedly moved over to his side to get do a clearer check. He seemed to be in shock as he simply sat there while I fussed about him.

“Do you feel dizzy? Are you okay? Did you get a heat ? Water! Water…” I gabbled, more to myself, and ran over to our many paper bags, ransacking through almost all of them before pulling out a bottle of mineral water. Then running back, I held out the bottle anxiously and pressed Sungmin to gulp it down. He had a dazed look on his face as he took the bottle from me, slowly turning the cap absentmindedly. Vexed, I snatched the bottle from him and twisted the cap viciously before ing it back into his hands and pushed it up towards his mouth. Apparently I had pushed too hard for some of the water spilled out onto his shirt before the bottle reached his mouth.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” I apologised profusely as I pulled out some tissue to try to clean up the mess. The accident seemed to snap him out of his daze for he suddenly came to his senses and looked down at his slightly wet shirt. “It’s okay, it’s okay!” Sungmin said as he took the tissue from my hands, “I’ll do it myself… You… You just go look out for your… your family…”

“I found him already… Come, let me help you…” I said as I reached out to take back the tissue, only to get my hands pushed back by him. I almost lost my balance because Sungmin pushed my hands back rather hard. I stared at him in surprise and saw that he had a small look of shock too. He then opened his mouth as if to say something, but hesitated as a frown took over the shock on his face.

Then, turning away from me, he said in a low tone, “Just… Just go. I’ll do it myself…” I threw worried glances over my shoulders at him as I left the room unwillingly, closing the door gently behind me. What’s wrong with him?

*~Sungmin’s POV~*

The happy look on Yonni’s face was tearing me up from the inside. Her anticipation on seeing Ryeowook only served to reflect how much this person mattered to her. The happier she was, the lesser the probability of my evil wish becoming reality. I felt like a rotten apple core, so rotten I didn’t even deserve the right to love her. So rotten I should just drop dead and sink straight to hell.

She had her face pressed against the windows, trying fervently to look out for her love. Feeling low-spirited, I trudged into the cabin, closing the door slowly behind me. I flopped back into my seat with a loud sigh, before turning to look at Yonni’s seat. Without much thinking, my hand automatically rested gently on the bench, which was still warm from her previous presence.

Moving into her seat, I leaned back and closed my eyes, feeling Yonni’s warmth seep slowly into my body. This was by far, the fifth time I experienced her body warmth. The first two times were vague, being chance encounters. Who would have thought that by the third time, when she comforted me in my weakest moment, her warmth would embed itself firmly in my heart, the place where no one had entered before.

The fourth time was during the night that Yonni fell asleep in my room, when I carried her onto my bed as I didn’t want to wake her up from her deep slumber. As she lay soundly asleep in my arms, her warmth was a reminder of how she crept into my heart, a bashful yearning that I wished to make mine.

Regretfully, by the fifth time, it had become a symbol of how near yet so far she was from me, the memory keepsake of how I fell in and out of love within the short timeframe of a day.

“Sungmin-ah, are you okay?”

“What?” I jolted up in shock as Yonni’s voice entered my thoughts. She was sitting opposite me, with a concerned look on her face. How long had she been sitting here? Did I look stupid? Forcing a smile, I tried to answer her as the worrying thoughts soared through my confused mind, “N-Ne~ I’m fine,”

I was still trying to calm my thoughts, which were all jumbled up because of Yonni’s sudden appearance, when a seeking hand suddenly came into contact with my forehead. The warmth was all too familiar…

“Did you get a heat ?”

My mind went blank the instant our skins touched. It was as if the touch had out all of my thoughts. I was no longer capable of feeling, thinking, anything. I simply felt the soft heat of Yonni’s hand, minus the sudden blood rush as my heart doubled its thumping. Everything seemed to have gone on muffled mode as I stood there, with my heart palpitating so hard I could literally taste my heartbeats.

Yonni was saying something, but my ears were not working due ringing thumps of my heart echoing in my ears. My whole body was frozen due to the lack of blood. My blood was all at my face, turning my face blood-red. Only when she sat down beside me, holding out a bottle then did I started to snap out of my induced daze. I took the bottle of unknown liquid from her slowly, trying to regain control of my mind as my memories of her started entering my thoughts.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” I suddenly heard her said as she once again came close to me. I looked down at her hands that were on my chest as she tried to clean up my slightly wet shirt. As she got even closer to me, my heart started running on double time again. Afraid that she would be able to feel my rapid heart rate through my shirt, I took the tissue from her hands, “It’s okay, it’s okay! I’ll do it myself… You… You just go look out for your… your family…”

I wanted to say “boyfriend”, but my mouth refused to form the word. There was a stabbing pain in my heart when I heard her reply that she had already found him.

HIM.

I was right, she was looking out for her boyfriend… Oh, the pain in my heart!

“Come, let me help you…” she said as she reached out for the tissue I was holding. I pushed her hands back to her, harder than I intended to. I only wanted to keep her away as feeling her warmth would only cause me more agony at this moment in time. I watched as she almost lost her balance, staring at me in surprise. The word “sorry” was hanging off my tongue. I wanted to apologise, to let her know that I was not being a jerk. However, thinking about it, if I can’t have her, I should let her stay away from me. Then maybe I’ll be able to get over her, and stop cursing her relationship covertly.

“Just… Just go. I’ll do it myself…” I said quietly as I turned away from her, feeling a wetness in my eyes as a tear welled up. I continued facing the windows as I willed for the rest of my tears to go away. The pain of losing my first love without even being given the chance to fight for it was almost too much for me to bear. I heard the shuffling of her sneakers as she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Sniffling, I started wiping the wet spot on my shirt, using more force than needed. I was trying to convert the agony in my heart into energy as I rubbed furiously at my shirt, turning the piece of tissue that I was using into paste. My tears were slowly going back to where they came from.

Despite my effort, a tear still got loose. I watched as that drop of salt water carrying my silent goodbye hit Yonni’s seat, shattering into a million smaller bits just like my heart. A sharp knock on the door pulled my attention away from the fallen tear. It was Kyuhyun.

“Sungmin-ah, it’s time to go.”

I nodded as I stuffed the remnants of the tissue into my jeans pockets and joined my other three companions in picking up the luggage and paper bags. I avoided eye contact with everyone, fearing that my eyes could still be red. “Ryeowook~~” I heard Yonni’s voice coming from the platform as I exited the cabin.

I watched on silently as the owner of my heart ran towards a boy who looked around our age. I only caught a short glimpse of him before Yonni pounced onto him with a big hug, followed by a quick kiss on his cheeks. I felt my heart wrench as a stab of jealousy pierced through it. Forgetting her might be harder than I imagined.

Stepping out onto the platform after Kyuhyun, my eyes were still on Yonni and her boyfriend. They were now smiling happily and exchanging words which I was too far away to catch. She still had her arms around his waist as Heechul approached them. Only then did she released her hold on Ryeowook, using her hands to gesture for Kyuhyun and I to come closer instead.

As we neared them, Heechul’s next line of action left all of us staring open-mouthed. He approached them steadily, with his head turned up looking at the huge banner that Ryeowook was still holding up in the air.

“Br-”

Ryeowook was cut off as Heechul grabbed the banner angrily, throwing it onto the ground at Yonni’s feet. “Michyeosseo? Who asked you to make such a thing? Aiish… Really… YAH! KIM RYEOWOOK! If you have so much free time, spend them on studying, you punk! Why are you wasting your time to make this kind of things?! Are you very free? Don’t you have homework to do, exams to study for? Yah! I’m warning you! If you don’t get good grades for your exams, I’m going to kill you! Aiish!!!” he spat crossly before walking off, with Kyuhyun following behind him.

I almost felt sorry for Ryeowook. "Almost" because he was my love rival, if not I would feel really sorry for him. He had a hurt look on his face as he stared after Heechul’s back. Yonni had an apologetic look on her face as she gave him another hug, before saying, “I’m sorry, I forgot to warn you that he was in a bad mood for weeks before we came back…”

“WHAT?!” Ryeowook gave a loud shout as he pulled Yonni out from the embracie, holding her by her shoulders, “He was already in a bad mood before this?!”

Yonni nodded and started to say something. However, that Ryeowook shoved her abruptly, causing her to stumble backwards. She stepped onto the wooden support by the side of the banner that was lying by her feet and slipped, falling backwards. Shocked, I dashed forward immediately, catching her by her waist before she hit the ground.

I exchanged looks with her as she fell softly into my arms. The astonishment on her face pained me as I straightened her up on her feet. I turned to face Ryeowook. His hands were outstretched, as if wanting to grab Yonni when she lost her balance.

Enraged, I grabbed the shirt of the bastard that had almost caused her to get hurt.  The look of concern on his face was quickly replaced by shock as I tugged hard on his shirt, bringing him closer to me. Instinctively, I was about to punch him in the face when Yonni’s voice stopped me.

“Sungmin! Sungmin!!!” She was tugging on my hand that was grabbing Ryeowook’s shirt, “Sungmin! Let go! What are you doing?!”

“How could you push her?!” I asked him in an accusing tone.

“I… I…” he was stammering due to shock.

“Lee Sungmin! Let go! Ryeowook didn’t do it on purpose! He only gave me a light shove! I lost balance because I stepped on the wooden rod!” Yonni was trying her best to pry my fingers off her boyfriend’s shirt.

“How could you push her? She could have gotten seriously injured if she hits her head!” I asked insistently, using my other free hand to hold Yonni off. I wasn’t prepared to let this without letting him know the price of hurting someone I hold dearly.

“I really didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean to push her that hard! I only meant to give her a playful shove!” He finally got the words out of his mouth.

“You shouldn’t even think about laying your hands on her! How could you treat her like that? She loves you so much!”

“I love her a lot too! Why would I hurt my own si-”

“If you loved her you wouldn’t put your hands on her!”

“Sungmin! You’re over-reacting! Let him go! Why did you turn so violent suddenly?!” Yonni was talking to me in an angry tone now.

“Why did I turn so violent? It’s all because of you, Yonni-sshi… How could I stand by and watch while he treated you in this manner?!” I silently answered as I threw a look at her before turning back to glare at Ryeowook.

“See? She’s still so concerned about you! How could you push her just because you were angry? HOW COULD YOU?!” My voice was getting louder in relation to the boiling anger I felt in my heart as I continued on with my rant, “HOW COULD YOU? SHE’S YOUR GIRLFRIEND!”

[A/N]

Hi my dearest readers! 

OMG... Finally manged to finish this chapter... I was stuck so long on the emotional part of Sungmin... Did I manged to pull it off? My eyes actually turned red as I wrote the part about Yonni's body warmth... I feel so pained for Sungmin... =((

Am I the only person??

COMMENTS PLS!!! AND HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD IF YOU LIKE MY STORY HEHE... =))

I LOVE YOU GUYS~~

SaRangHaeYo~~ <333