BGM: SNSD's Sunny and f(x)'s Luna - It's Me

Autumn 2010

It has been two weeks since you received the first love note from your secret admirer and since then, you have read ten different versions of the 'Roses are red, violets are blue' poem; every single one of them referencing bubble tea or something related to it.

"I actually copied all of the 'Roses are red' poems you received," Jihye informed, taking out her precious snowflake-embellished mini-stationery pad. "And I'm going to recite them whether you like to hear them or not," she declared, clearing before she started reading. 

Roses are red, violets are blue, the smell of tapioca reminds me of you.

Roses are red, violets are blue, your smile is sweeter than a thousand honeydew.

Roses are red, violets are blue, you are the bubble tea to my jelly cube.

Roses are red, violets are bl-

"I didn't get one today, though," you suddenly interrupted, flipping the pages of your biology textbook. Unlike the past few days, there were no Teddy bear-designed pink envelopes to welcome you when you arrived at the Happy Bubble Tea Shop and somehow, it made you feel - well, a bit disappointed.

Your best friend's eyes widened a la Kyungsoo. She then put her stationery pad down, rested her elbows on the counter, and leaned closer to you. "You're disappointed!" she noticed. 

"No, I'm not. I mean, I don't know. It's not like I'm upset about it. It's just that... well, I guess I just got used to receiving a note every day and now that I didn't get one... I think I sort of miss it," you confessed, still not realizing you've already flipped through the page you were looking for.

"So, what are you going to do when you find out who he is?" your best friend suddenly asked, sitting properly on the black stool at the other side of the counter. "I mean, are you going to accept his feelings or are you going to reject them?"

The truth was, you still have no idea what you're going to do if ever your secret admirer decides to reveal himself. You're not the type of girl who will easily by lured by two weeks' worth of cheesy 'Roses are red' poems, that's for sure, so there really was no way you'd agree to go out with him in case he confesses, unless...

"I mean, what if he turns out to be your secret crush - who, by the way, you haven't told me yet, but since I'm such a good best friend, I'll just wait until you're ready to share that information with me - anyway, what I mean is that if your secret admirer turns out to be the same person as your crush, does that mean you'll start dating him?"

You thought about it for a while. What if Jihye was right? What if the guy who has been sending you cheesy poems for the past two weeks turns out to be...

"Nah, it can't be him," you surmised, shaking your head.

"How can you be so sure?" Jihye asked.

Slumping yourself into your biology textbook, you let out a sigh. "Ji, please stop keeping my hopes up," you pleaded, your right cheek still in contact with the counter. "I know it isn't him, but if you keep on insisting it, I just might end up believing you,"

"Do you really like him that much?" Jihye asked, slumping herself on the green-painted store counter so she was facing you. "You know, this conversation would be a lot easier if you'd just tell me who he is," she said.

Letting out another sigh, you realized how unfair you have been for keep this secret from your best friend. Jihye, after all, would never hesitate to trust you with any sort of information... not even for a minute. Lacking the confidence to say his name out loud, you decided to let Jihye exercise her lip-reading skills in order to find out who your secret crush is, and when you finally revealed his identity, your best friend's eyes widened before she let out a little squeal.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Jihye exclaimed, suddenly standing up from her seat. "Really?!? You like him?!? Oh my God! Why didn't I notice it before?!?" she babbled, pacing back and forth in front of the counter to calm herself down. "B- b- but Moonkyu told me-"

You sat down properly and looked up. "What? What did Moonkyu say?"

Your best friend considered it for a while, hesitated, then shook her head. "Oh, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but..." Jihye then leaned in closer and finished what she was trying to say by whispering it to your ear.

And just like that, you suddenly felt like eating ice cream.

"It's been a while since I've had this,"

When you mentioned that you wanted to eat ice cream, your best friend immediately ran to the nearest convenience store to buy two packs of Bungeo ssamanko, a type of Korean ice cream with red beans, sandwiched between a pair of fish-shaped waffles.

"Yeah, me too," you said, patting your lips with a paper napkin. "We used to eat this every afternoon during junior high, remember?" you asked, automatically picturing your fourteen-year-old selves stopping by the ice cream store near the school on your way home.

After swallowing the piece of Bungeo ssamanko she just bit off, Jihye cleared before answering you. "Yeah, I remember it started that day when your pet puppy died. Instead of crying your heart out, you just drowned your sorrows by eating ice cream," your best friend recalled. "I still wonder why you never adopted another pet after that,"

"I did name my new laptop after him, though," you pointed out.

"I miss Shinki," Jihye sighed.

"But you weren't even fond of him when he was alive!" you returned, recalling those days when your best friend avoided your beloved Maltese as if his only goal in life was to infect her with rabies. "In fact, I don't remember you touching him even once!"

Jihye rolled her eyes. "How can we build a good relationship when he peed on my feet the first time we met?!?" she exclaimed, taking a paper napkin from the newly-stocked napkin holder. "And I was wearing sandals then!"

Despite the heartbreaking news Jihye shared with you earlier, you couldn't help but laugh when you replayed that particular scene in your head. The look on Jihye's face when Shinki the puppy refreshed himself on her white strappy sandals from Myeongdong was funny enough, but the fact that your beloved pet posed cutely and acted as if nothing happened after committing the crime made it even more hilarious!

"Stop laughing!" Jihye pleaded, throwing a crumpled piece of paper napkin that missed you by a few centimeters. "I had to wash my feet several times after that because it smelled so bad!"

"Should I get myself a new puppy?" you contemplated, resting your chin in your left hand.

Jihye put her half-eaten Bungeo ssamanko on top of a paper napkin, rested her elbows on the counter, and intertwined her fingers. "Do you really want to take care of a new pet or are you just looking for something to distract you while you're nursing a broken heart?" she asked, quite seriously.

"What broken heart? It's not like I was in love with him!" you countered, putting the remaining piece of that fish-shaped ice cream into your mouth.

"Yeah, right! That's why you just wolfed down an entire piece of Bungeo ssamanko in less than five minutes!" she pointed out, taking her fish-shaped ice cream again so she could continue eating.

You gulped down half a glass of water before explaining yourself. "I like him, okay? But I really don't think I was in love with him yet. Of course, I'm going to be sad for a while, that's inevitable, I guess, but that doesn't mean I'll turn suicidal just because I have no chance of being with him,"

"Who said anything about not having a chance with him?" Jihye asked, pouring water on her nearly-empty glass. "It's not like he's married!" she added, drinking from her newly-refilled glass of water. "He doesn't even have a girlfriend right now!"

"That's beside the point!" you argued, opening your biology textbook again. "Ji, he's in love with another girl. I think that in itself made it pretty obvious already," you added, finally arriving at the chapter on cell division you were supposed to be studying minutes ago.

"So, you're giving up? Just like that?" Jihye questioned.

"What choice do I have, anyway?" you asked back, taking out your notebook so you could start jotting down notes. "Besides, you know me too well. It's not like I have the guts to confess,"

"Confess to who?" Yixing suddenly asked.

You and Jihye were a little too absorbed in your discussion that you didn't notice the boys when they arrived at the bubble tea shop. So, when Yixing asked you a question about confessing, you and your best friend immediately panicked, silently praying hard that the boys failed to hear the rest of your conversation.

"Nobody," you responded, albeit too quickly.

"Why Jaemi? Are you planning on confessing to your secret crush?" Kyungsoo asked, smiling knowingly. "Because if you are, I'd say go for it! Fighting!" he urged, pumping his fist into the air as he mentioned the word 'fighting'.

Joonmyun, who seemed to have forgotten to stop by the coffee house next door, just laughed at Kyungsoo's suggestion. "Jaemi? To confess? Oh, please," he commented, taking a seat in their usual spot at the corner of the store. "Jaemi's so passive she wouldn't have enough confidence to confess,"

"How did you know?" Jihye asked.

"Because they're the same," Chanyeol answered, sitting on the stool beside Jihye. "If he wasn't so timid about those things, I'm sure Joonmyun hyung would have a cute girlfriend right now," he explained as he studied the Happy Bubble menu to figure out his bubble tea order for today.

All of a sudden, an image of Taeyeon kissing that mysterious blond-haired guy in Hangang Park popped into your head. When Yixing asked you to keep it a secret from Joonmyun, you immediately assumed that it was because the Rich Kid has a thing for SNSD's kid leader, but after hearing Chanyeol's comment, you suddenly weren't sure if he was referring to Taeyeon. After all, she seems to be dating somebody else already.

"What about you, then?" you asked Chanyeol, putting your school stuff aside so you could start preparing bubble tea for the boys. "You already know who you like, but I don't think you're doing something about it either," you pointed out, recalling how Chanyeol the social butterfly automatically curled inside his cocoon when Sulli stopped by the bubble tea shop.

"I'll have a nutty choco milk tea, then!" he responded, successfully avoiding the topic by ordering bubble tea. "And for the sinkers... I want pearls. Yeah, just pearls," he added, going back to their usual spot as soon as he completed his order.

"How evasive!" you commented, as you started taking out plastic cups for their bubble tea. "How come there are only four of you? Where are the others?" you asked, noticing that only Joonmyun, Yixing, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo arrived.

Although he was rummaging through his MCM backpack, as if he was trying to find something, Yixing was still the one who answered your question. "Running some errands, buying food, etc," he replied, taking out random stuff from his bag. "They'll be here soon, don't worry,"

"I was just asking because I'm going to start making bubble tea," you noted, looking for the scoop you're going to use to collect the sinkers. "Hey, Rich Kid! Aren't you going to buy coffee today?"

"Yeah, in a minute," Joonmyun replied, flipping through the pages of an insanely thick, hard-bound textbook about art history.

When the front door of the Happy Bubble Tea Shop was pushed open, the four boys automatically turned their heads to find out who is about to come in. The way they let out a collective sigh after realizing who just arrived was quite weird, but you quickly brushed off any suspicions and figured that they're probably just waiting for the rest of their friends.

"Hey! Look who decided to drop by!" you greeted, noticing the relatively-short guy in a green shirt walking beside Minseok. It has been more than a month since you last saw him and you instantly noticed the change in Jinho's hairstyle.

"Jaemi! Jihye! Long time no see!" Jinho greeted, smiling and waving as he walked towards the counter, eventually settling on the stool beside Jihye, clea