Author's notes: A few readers were really curious about the real score between Siwon and Yoona. I apologize beforehand if I kept my silence about it. Rest assured, this chapter would answer your questions. :) Also, there are a few pages left before I mark this story complete. I am indeed very thankful to those who supported The Pages Of Their Book from the very beginning.

She rejected him that time. It was not as if he was expecting her not to. His confession came all of a sudden afterall. He even kissed her.

Ironically, that same kiss was the one that gave him something to hoped for. Although he had to admit that he was the one who did all the kissing, it was also an undeniable fact that Yoona never pulled back. Still, it might just be his wishful thinking.

"I... I'm sorry, oppa." she said in almost a whispher. "Believe me, I really like you as a person, but I don't... I don't know if it's something more than that."

Donghae could feel that she was really struggling to properly assessed the situation. He heaved a sigh before pulling her close to him and enveloping her in a hug. As he placed his chin at the top of her head, he said, "I didn't mean to confuse you, Yoona. I should have known that you are too young for this. But..." Donghae paused as he released her from his hug and cupped her face, "I want you to know that I love you. I really do. And someday... when you are finally ready, promise me... promise me Yoona... whether or not it's me that will be in your heart... you have to tell me, you have to tell oppa, alright?"

Yoona's ability to speak was completely overpowered by her emotions but she managed to nod her head a little.

Donghae gave her a smile and teased, "How could someone be so beautiful even when crying?"

It was Yoona's turn to smile, but she gave him a worried look and said, "You will still be my friend, right oppa?"

"Until then I will." he replied. "Who knows, maybe in the near future, I might be more than just a friend to you."

And so, as a man of his words, Donghae remained (more or less) a friend to Yoona. It was seemingly easy at first, but as they both started to get busy with group promotions and individual activities, catching a glimpse of her became an occurence of sheer luck, and he began to longed for her presence in  a way a normal friend woud not do. 

There was once when he acted on pure need and decided to take her on a friendly date at a newly-opened ice cream shop. He could clearly remember the shock faces of Taeyeon and Jessica when he showed up at their dorm, asking if he could take Yoona out for the day. Seeing that the girl he was fond of was one of the youngest in her group, and not to mention, the face of SNSD, it was understandable that her sisters were quite protective of her well-being as well as her image.

That is why, even though he was their senior, Taeyeon and Jessica sternly asked him for a valid reason to convinced them to let Yoona go with him but Donghae only managed to came up with a lame answer of wanting to spend time with his dongseng.

"And why only Yoona?" Jessica retorted icily.

"She is my favorite." Donghae answered honestly.

Taeyeon and Jessica were obviously unconvinced as they even exchanged doubtful glances at each other, but to Donghae's relief, Jessica let him in while Taeyeon banged on Yoona's bedroom door, informing that she had a visitor.

Yoona came out of the room followed by Seohyun who, upon seeing Donghae, gave a quick bow and quietly retreated back. Donghae knew that Seohyun, up until now, was never fond of him because of her general disinterest in men. Considering that she was closest to Yoona even during their trainee days, he somehow theorized that her antics rubbed on to the older girl which was why the two of them were famous for being "man-haters". 

His thoughts were easily forgotten when Yoona walked towards him and gave him a quick hug. It was the first time that she initiated the contact between them but, as much as he wanted to announced it to the world, Donghae refrained himself from pointing it out and instead, told her to get dressed as he would take her to somewhere she'll like.

Yoona agreed and after a few minutes, the two headed downstairs to Donghae's car. Taeyeon reminded him to bring Yoona back at the dorm before seven in the evening, as their manager would checked on them that time.

"Yes ma'am!" he said, giving the kid leader a salute  before setting off.

They were in the middle of a heavy traffic in one of Seoul's busiest street when Donghae decided to break the silence between them.

"So, how did your drama filming with Siwon go? I heard you had  a lot of fun in Japan."

Yoona, who was then busying herself looking outside the window, turned her head to faced him and said, "It was great oppa, but it was also very tiring."

"Didn't Siwon take care of you?"

"Of course he did. Siwon-oppa would always..." Yoona stopped when she realized where their talk was heading to.  She inwardly smiled at herself before completely changing what she was saying, "You know what Donghae-oppa? I love Siwon-oppa."

Donghae's eyes widened at this and his heart started pounding like mad. He turned his head to fully stare at Yoona and mumbled, "Wha... what did you just say?"

"I said I love Siwon-oppa. I love him and I knew he loves me too." she continued. "But it's not the romantic kind of love."

Donghae was now hanging on every word that Yoona was saying.

"Siwon-oppa is a childhood friend of mine and I've always considered him as an older  brother. I'm perfectly sure that he feels the same way. Although I admit that he's quite overprotective of me, Siwon-oppa already has his precious someone... and I can assure you Donghae-oppa, that precious someone is not me."

Donghae cannot believed what he just heard. He was gaping at her like an astounded flounder until Yoona pointed out that the other cars were already moving. He snapped out of  his reverie and gave Yoona's hair a ruffle before happily saying, "Oppa will buy you  the largest chocolate mint ice cream once we arrived there. I might as well buy Siwon a gallon of his favorite  flavor."

Yoona gave out a hearty laugh and said, in between giggles, "He'd love that."