BGM: Super Junior - Geoul

"I GOT DUMPED!"

After Chanyeol's birthday party died out, due mainly, but not entirely to the fact that the birthday boy was no longer in a festive mood, the boys cleaned up the clutter and rearranged the furniture to temporarily convert the living room into their sleeping quarters for the evening. Over a dozen sleeping bags, sprawled on the floor, surrounded the black leather sofa that was currently occupied by the birthday celebrant. 

Tossing and turning on the sofa, Mr. and Mrs. Park's only son sulked at his misfortune of getting turned down by one of the prettiest girls in SM Entertainment. 

"I can't believe it! I got dumped!" he repeated.

Shaking his head, Youngho corrected Chanyeol by reminding him about the rather embarrassing confrontation that occurred right after you all arrived from f(x)'s dormitory. Chanyeol, still fresh from being rejected by Sulli after she admitted her relationship with SHINee's maknae, Taemin, was welcomed back into his home with a heated argument with his rumored girlfriend, Kim Yejin.

Yejin, who had no idea where Chanyeol came from or what he went through when he visited Jinri, requested to spend some time alone with the birthday boy. A bit hesitant to deal with her (or anybody else for that matter) after he just got his heart broken, Chanyeol, in the calmest tone he could manage, asked Yejin whether it's okay to postpone whatever it is she has in mind for another day, insisting that he was already tried and therefore needed to get some rest. Yejin didn't buy his alibi, obviously, and she started enumerating all the silly excuses that he used in the past just to get himself off the hook. Declaring that she couldn't stand all his lies anymore, Yejin told Chanyeol that she was also tired - tired of waiting for him to grow up - and with that statement, she finally ended her relationship with the boyfriend she never really had.

"Two times, Hyung," Youngho reminded. "You got dumped twice today."

"I GOT DUMPED TWO TIMES!" Chanyeol exclaimed.

Crawling inside his sleeping bag like a pupa hiding itself in a cocoon, Kevin chimed in, "On your birthday, nonetheless."

"I GOT DUMPED TWO TIMES ON MY BIRTHDAY!"

With his back against the black leather cushion of the sofa, Chanyeol kicked his blanket off to the floor, and, in his best 'Why me, God?!?' impression, he cried out, "I still can't believe it! Who gets dumped on his birthday?!?"

"You, apparently," Luhan casually answered as he passed by.

"In Jinri's defence, it was entirely your fault why she had to turn you down anyway," Joonmyun commented, drying his still-damp hair with a small white towel. "Remember Valentine's Day? Two years ago?"

Chanyeol groaned. The mere mention of 'Valentine's Day' made him want to repeatedly smack himself with Zitao's wushu stick and Yixing's acoustic guitar after being lectured by Kyungsoo for three straight hours about the difference between pearl crystals and jelly cubes.

"Valentine's Day? What happened?" Zitao asked.

"Oh, right! We haven't met you yet when that happened!" Moonkyu realized.

Excitedly getting out of his sleeping bag, Minseok forced Chanyeol to make some space for him on the sofa. "I'll tell you what happened," he volunteered. "Two years ago, on Valentine's Day..."

"Maybe it's better if you guys re-enact it," Luhan mischievously suggested.  As if struck with a brilliant but rather naughty idea, he suddenly pushed the boy beside him and forced him to partake in the impromptu skit. "Yixing~"

"Why me?" Yixing complained.

"Because it's funnier when you do it, Hyung," Jongin yawned.

"But I'm not even funny," Yixing argued.

Determined to help Luhan and Jongin convince Yixing to participate in the little roleplay, Sehun chimed in with "But you're the only one here with an acting experienthe, Hyung!" as soon as he remembered all those parodies and sketches Yixing participated in when he was still in Star Academy.

When Yixing pointed out that Joonmyun had already been featured in a movie, the group's resident Rich Kid retorted with: "What acting?!? All I had to do was stand there for a few minutes and had my picture taken with Jongwoon hyung!"

After a bit of convincing from his friends, the forgetful Chinese boy finally gave in to the pressure and almost agreed to demonstrate how Chanyeol reacted when Jinri gave him a box of home-made chocolate on the 14th of February, 2008.

"Oh~ just do it!" Youngho mumbled impatiently.

Not to be outdone by Luhan when it comes to mischief, Yixing turned to do the person beside him and suddenly grabbed his hands. "Do it with me," he said. Pretending he didn't hear what his friend just said, Kevin asked "Eh?" as Yixing struggled to pull him out of his sleeping bag.

"You heard me," Yixing sassed, grunting as he motioned for Jongin to help him pull their Totoro-like friend up. "Oh~ c'mon! I thought you wanted to try acting someday?" he asked. "Now is a good opportunity to get some practice, don't you think?"

Letting out a sigh of submission, Kevin reluctantly got up from the floor and zipped his jacket up. "Fine," he gave in, lazily brushing his hair up with his fingers. He then pointed to Yixing and gave him an authoritative stare. "But I'm playing Chanyeol," he said firmly. 

"There's no way I'll act out a girl's part."

"Do those things really work?"

As soon as she stepped outside of the bathroom, Jung Jihye rummaged through her bag to find three white and pink packets of what you assumed to be some sort of beauty products. The contents of the packets, you found out later, were sheets of facial mask from The Face Shop.

credit to: cjibicollection

"Of course, they do!" your best friend replied, sitting down on your bed as she tried to figure out which packet to use. "You can have this Real Nature Mask Sheet Pomegranate, if you want," she offered, turning it over to read the product description at the back. "Apparently rich in Vitamins B1 and B2, this facial mask will not only give your skin a healthy glow, but it will also provide it with more elasticity."

"Elasticity?!? Why would I want my skin to have more elasticity?" you asked.

Jihye put down the pomegranate-variant of facial mask and picked up the one that was labeled 'collagen'. "To avoid getting wrinkles! To help your skin stay young!"

"I am still young!" you reasoned, getting up from the swivel chair to retrieve the orange V-line face roller from one of the drawers in your bedside table.

"It helps moisturize your skin too!" Jihye added.

"No, thanks," you politely refused, positioning the V-line face roller on your jaw. "I think I'll just stick with this," you added, pulling the orange thingamajig up and down to gently massage your cheeks.

Your best friend picked up the third packet, the one with the word 'pearl' in it, and tear it open to free the sheet of facial mask that was enclosed in it. "Suit yourself~" she cooed, meticulously positioning the thin white sheet of Essential Pearl on her face.

"Why is it soaked?" you asked.

"It's the pearl extract!" she responded, a hint of irritation noticeable in her voice. "It helps smoothen and whiten the skin!" You knew immediately that Jihye was starting to get annoyed at your constant criticism of her beauty regimens and product choices, so you decided to just change the subject before she snaps at you.

Still massaging your face with the V-line roller, you lay down on your bed and stared at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on your ceiling. "I feel bad about Chanyeol..."

Jihye sighed. "Yeah, me too," she said, laying down beside you. "Who would have thought, no? Taemin and Sulli. It feels strange when this sort of things gets confirmed. I mean, I originally thought it was a crack ship, you know, since the two of them hardly interact in public, with the exception of Star King, of course, but that doesn't count since it's a variety show, anyway, what I'm trying to say is... what is it again?"

"I ship Chanlli, though," you uttered.

Your best friend reached for the compact mirror on your bedside drawer and examined the sheet mask on her face. "Well, your ships always sink, so what's new?"

She was right. Chanlli isn't the first OTP that broke your heart. Almost all of the couples you 'shipped' in the past never ended up together in the end: Soohyun and Nayoung, Tasuki and Miyaka, Taesuk and Eunseo, Morita and Hagumi, Joonmyun and Taeyeon (but you support both TaeSu and JoonNa now), and you and Yixing. Even in the recently-concluded Sungkyunkwan Scandal, the pairing that you were rooting for obviously didn't end up together.

"Geez. Thanks for reminding me that Geol-oh didn't get Kim Yoonshik in the end!" you said sarcastically, referring to the characters portrayed by Yoo Ahin and Park Minyoung, respectively.

"You were only rooting for Geol-oh because your inner Cassie got the best of you and you refused to see your beloved Yoochun oppa with another girl," Jihye argued as she checked the time on her mobile phone.

"Hey! My love for my Dong Bang Shin Ki oppas has nothing to do with the drama!" you maintained, reaching for the Bambi plushie near the headboard. "You might not believe it, but I really liked the Cha Bonggoon-Kang Haebin couple in Heading to the Ground! Besides, I wanted Yoonshik to end up with Geol-oh because - and I can't believe I'm going to say this - Yoochun oppa's character was too boring!"

Jihye, getting a little too excited, went on to pat your arms repeatedly as she tried to calm herself down so she could comment on what you just said. "I KNOW RIGHT?!?" she exclaimed. "I know he was brought up to be this model citizen sort of guy who always follows the rules and unconsciously annoys his classmates for being such a bright student, but MY GOD! He really was boring! He was so boring he actually annoyed me most of the time!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Watch it!" you warned, playfully smacking her arm back. "Only I can criticize my Yoochun oppa!"

"And why is that?" Jihye asked.

"Because I love him, that's why!" you answered, flapping Bambi's little ears as you suddenly recalled how Luhan played with it. "Only Cassies like me can criticize my Dong Bang Shin Ki oppas. I mean, if I say Yunho oppa's voice is really nasal, that's okay because I love him; but if you were the one who made that comment, then it would sound offensive!"

Jihye snorted. "But Yunho oppa's voice is really nasal!"

You pinched your best friend's arm. "That's not that point! Only us Cassies have the right to say that!" you insisted, swatting Jihye's hand away when she tried to get even. "What would you do if I said Shindong oppa was fat?"

"Why you~!" Jihye finally succeeded in pinching your arm back and you couldn't do anything but squirm in pain. "For your information, Shindong oppa lost 10kg last year!" she informed. "He is not fat! He is just... just... he's just chubby!"

"See? Even if I was just telling the truth when I called Shindong oppa 'fat', you got mad at me because I'm not an ELF!" you pointed out, gently rubbing the spot where Jihye pinched you. "It's in the fangirl DNA to behave like that! The only people who can love our oppas to death and point out their flaws is us! If anyone else does it, then it would only cause a fanwar or something."

"You're probably right," Jihye submitted. "By the way, going back to Sungkyunkwan Scandal, is it just me or did you also feel something about the Geol-oh and Gu Yongha pairing? I mean, I know they're both guys, and the writers were probably just going for a bromance type of relationship, but somehow I've gotten more feels because of them than Sunjoon and Yoonshik."

Slowly rubbing the tip of your Bambi plushie's nose against yours, you admitted, "I cried when Gu Yongha tried to stop Geol-oh from heading into the trap in Episode 13."

"Does that mean we like now?" Jihye asked.

"I don't think so!" you disagreed, resting the Bambie plushie on your tummy. "Maybe we just felt something because the scene was outstandingly-written and brilliantly-acted. Song Joongki deserves an award for perfectly portraying the vulnerable side of the usually over-confident Gu Yongha."

"You have no idea how much I sobbed when he said 'kajimara'." Jihye took the Bambi plushie from your tummy, but you snatched it back almost instantly. "Hey! Why are you being so possessive of Bambi all of a sudden?"

With the Bambi plushie still in hand, you got up from your bed to fetch a brown Teddy bear from your desk. "Here," you told Jihye, placing the stuffed toy on her chest. "Play with this instead," you suggested, flapping the tiny ears of your Disney plushie as you lay down on your bed.

"Speaking of Dong Bang Shin Ki and dramas..." Jihye started playing with the Teddy bear you lent her, running her fingers through its tummy, pretending to tickle it. "When are they going to air Changmin oppa's? I've been hearing about it since Heading to the Ground wrapped up, but even Yoochun oppa's drama was released first."

"Paradise Ranch? Last time I heard, they pushed back its release date to the first quarter of 2011, so I guess, they want to air it around the same time of HoMin oppas' comeback," you assumed, still not taking your eyes off your little deer. "You do know that they're going to start promoting a new album this January, right?"

Jihye poked your arm with the Teddy bear's rubber nose. "Only because you've mentioned it too many times I'm starting to suspect Park Chanyeol has rubbed off some of his annoying constant reminder habit on you!"

"Wait! Do I start with the actual confession or-"

"Do it from the beginning," Kyuwan butted in, squeezing himself between Minseok and Chanyeol on the sofa to get a better view of the upcoming roleplay. "Start from that time when we saw cute little Jinri waiting outside the practice room," he suggested.

"Cute little Jinri~" Chanyeol repeated, slowly leaning his head on Minseok's shoulder. "Cute little Jinri with cute little pigtails and a cute little smile~"

Joonmyun shook his head. "He's got it bad," he observed.

Taking his hyung's advice, Minseok began recounting the story. "One breezy Thursday afternoon, a couple of hours before practice began, we, the male trainees, were huddled up inside the cloud room as we watched So Nyeo Si Dae's special Valentine's Day performance on Music Bank-"

"Isn't Music Bank aired on Fridays?" Kyungsoo interrupted.

"Yeah, it was M! Countdown, Hyung!" Moonkyu corrected. "M! Countdown!"

With a slightly embarrassed smile, Minseok scratched his temple as he apologized for the inaccuracy in his story. "Oh yeah! It was M! Countdown! I'm sorry!" he chuckled. "So, as I was saying, Joonmyun was excitedly watching-" When his dongsaeng glared at him for singling him out in the story, Minseok paused briefly to correct himself. "WE! I meant we! We were excitedly watching SNSD's performance of I'm Your Girl by S.E.S with Siwon hyung when suddenly..."

Yixing stood in the corner of the room with Chanyeol's copy of SM the Ballad's CD in hand.

"Yixing why holding CD?" Zitao asked.

Temporarily going out of character, Yixing puckered his lips and raised both of his eyebrows. "This is just a prop," he explained. "Just pretend that it's a box of chocolates."

"Just to refresh your memory, the song was performed by Taeyeon noona, Sica noona, and Joohyunnie," Minseok continued, grabbing a throw pillow to rest it on his lap. "But, since it was a Valentine special, they recorded a drama-like bit where Yoona, with the help of Fany noona and Sunkyu noona, confesses to Siwon hyung by giving him a box of chocolates... anyway, if you guys want to see it again, I'm sure Joonmyun has a copy of the performance on his phone - although it would probably be just a 'Taeyeon cuts' version-"

Joonmyun could only bury his face in a pillow as his Minseok hyung kept blabbering about his admiration for So Nyeo Si Dae's one and only kid leader. This is one of those really rare instances when he wants to punch his hyung in the gut. He knew perfectly well that he was only kidding, but how is a boy supposed to completely move on from an unrequited love when he is constantly reminded of it?

"I don't really think this is a good idea," he voiced out, suddenly realizing that re-creating Jinri's confession scene would probably be painful for his best friend. It was, after all, the moment he probably regretted the most.

"Oh~ don't be such a spoilsport! I wanna see it!" Chanyeol commented.

Seeing Chanyeol's enthusiastic anticipation of the story, Minseok continued narrating while Joonmyun just rolled his eyes in disappointment. "Midway through the performance, Sehunnie noticed Jinri-"

"Cute little Jinri," Chanyeol reminded.

Minseok sighed. "Cute little Jinri," he obliged, casting Chanyeol a little 'Are You Happy Now?' look afterwards. "Sehunnie noticed cute little Jinri standing by the doorway... looking all coy and shy as she stared down at the box of homemade chocolates in her cute little hands..."

"Kevin hyung! You should brood more," Youngho directed, and Kevin automatically made the 'I-know-I-look-so-damn-good-but-it-doesn't-really-bother-me' face that he has allegedly been practicing every single night, instantly cracking Yixing up. "Chanyeol hyung acts all quiet and mysterious whenever Jinri's around, remember?"

An awkward air of silence suddenly filled the room.

Confusion was written all over Sehun's face when he noticed all of his hyungs' eyes on him. "What did I do now?" he thought, hurriedly racking his brain if he did something or forgot to do something that was worth a scolding.

"Pabo! You were supposed to acknowledge my presence!" Yixing reminded, scratching his nape. "How am I supposed to say that I'm looking for Chanyeol if you hadn't told them that I'm here yet?"

Sehun groaned. Resting his chin on his hands, he asked, "Oh Jinri-ah, what are you doing here?" without the slightest hint of emotion whatsoever.

Moonkyu smacked his own forehead with his right palm. "Boy, you can't act to save your life!"

"Yeah, you can't even play yourself properly!" Jongin added.

"Nevermind that! Now isn't the time to criticize someone else's acting ability. We have to finish this skit soon if we want to wake up just in time for Jinho's debut tomor-" Kyuwan took a quick glance at the wall clock and realized that it was already a quarter past one in the morning. "-today. I can't believe it's Sunday already!"

"May I deliver my lines now?" Yixing asked.

Kevin, who doesn't really share his friend's eagerness to participate in this one-act-play of Park Chanyeol's biggest mistake, lazily sat down in his designated spot. "You're liking this way too much, Xing-Xing." he noticed.

Ignoring Kevin's comment, Minseok gave Yixing a go-signal before the Chinese boy forgets what he was about to say. Bowing his head again, Yixing internalized his character for a few seconds before acting the part of a blushing teenage girl. This simple performance, for some odd reason that nobody really understands, was funny enough to elicit chuckles, or in the case of Luhan, laughs, from the rest of the boys.

"YA! Stop laughing! I haven't even said anything yet!" Yixing demanded.

"Sorry, Hyung," Jongin apologized in between chuckles.

As the narrator, Minseok realized that he has to stay composed if they wish to get through with this skit. "Enough interruptions!" he ordered, trying his best to contain his giggles. "Go ahead, Yixing."

"Uhm, Chan-Chan oppa~"

Yixing's opening lines made everyone else burst into laughter. Even Kevin, who was putting in an extra effort to look cool and stay calm while the others seemed like they inhaled a generous amount of laughing gas, also went into hysterics as soon as Yixing mentioned the word 'oppa'.

"YA! LI JIAHENG! STOP LAUGHING!" Yixing pleaded.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kevin repeatedly apologized as he fought the urge to laugh even harder. "I'm sorry. I really can't do this. Let's just skip the roleplay part and let Minseok narrate the entire thing," he suggested.

"I swear! If I were a PD, I'd give Yixing hyung his own variety show right away!" Moonkyu commented while his pseudo-twin Jongin gave him two thumbs up of approval. "I'd even beg him to sign a movie contract!" he added.