"I can't take it anymore! I'll go straight to her and ask her when I see her in school!" Wooyoung was talking to himself.

It was already 2am, but the scene of Taeyeon's arms wrapped around the mysterious guy was still fresh in his mind, and he kept thinking of it ever since the previous day. He could not sleep. He was still fuming.

"That's it. I will ask her if she is in a relationship with him!" Wooyoung decided by himself. With that, he closed his eyes, and went immediately to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooyoung was pacing around the drop-off point in school the next day, waiting for Taeyeon again. This time, he will not stomp away. He must not stomp away. He...

"Bye oppa! See you later~" Taeyeon's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Taeyeonnie! I have something to ask you!" Wooyoung called out to her, while walking towards her.

"OMO! You scared me! YAH! We're not that close! Call me Taeyeon-ssi!" Taeyeon snapped at him.

Wooyoung was confused, "huh? You mean... your name is not Taeyeonnie?"

"Are you crazy? Which parents call their child Taeyeonnie for a real name? Obviously it is a nickname, babo!" Taeyeon reached up and gave his head a slight knock.

"Okay, Taeyeonni-Taeyeon-ssi. Happy? I wanted to ask you... Is that guy your boyfriend?" Wooyoung asked, crossing his fingers behind him.

"Huh? Which guy?" Now it was Taeyeon's turn to be confused. How would he ever get to know Junsu?

Wooyoung was a little frustrated. He really wanted to know the truth, "that guy! The one who drove you on his bike!"

"Oh... THAT guy... Wait, you thought... HAHAHAHAHA!" Taeyeon began to laugh uncontrollably. Just when she was about to stop, the bell rang.

"OMO! I am late! It's all your fault!" Taeyeon stopped laughing and started to run towards her classroom.

"Wait! You haven't answered... me," Wooyoung watched as Taeyeon was running off. He really wanted to know the answer. He did not have the mood to go for his lessons, so he headed to the lounge, hoping time pass fast enough until lunch, when he would be able to ask her again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Woo, there you are! You've been in the lounge the whole time?" Yonghwa and Nichkhun walked into the lounge, only to find him walking back and forth.

"You are going to smoothen the carpet by doing that, you know?" Nichkhun joked.

"Hey guys, come with me!" Yonghwa told them.

"Where to? I need to go somewhere else!" Wooyoung asked, while looking at his watch, something he kept doing for the past few hours.

"I need your presence!" Yonghwa replied, and dragged both of his best friends out of the lounge.

10 minutes later...

"You wanted to eat?" Wooyoung stared at Yonghwa. They had arrived at the school cafe.

"No, I needed company to see... her," Yonghwa replied, staring at a spot behind where Wooyoung was standing.

Wooyoung turned his head, and saw who he was waiting to see the whole time.

Yonghwa was walking slowly towards Seohyun, when he felt a wind rush past him... Wooyoung was walking... no, almost running towards the same direction.

"So, you haven't given me your answer," Wooyoung looked at only one person, who was halfway through a joke she was trying to share with her two best friends, when he reached her table.

"What... oh... that..." Taeyeon suddenly remembered, and started laughing again.

"What answer did you want from her?" Sunny inquired curiously.

"If she is in a relationship with the guy," Wooyoung replied.

"Which guy?" Seohyun asked, hoping it was not Junsu he was referring to. Though Taeyeon told them that she was already over him, those in the know still tried their best to avoid mentioning him.

"The guy who sends her to school in his bike," Wooyoung told her, still staring at Taeyeon the whole time.

"The guy who..." Sunny started, and turned to look at both Taeyeon and Seohyun. Soon, both she and the maknae were laughing too.

"What's so funny?" Yonghwa tried to join in the conversation now that Seohyun was in a lighter mood. However, once she saw him, she stopped laughing, and turned away from Yonghwa. She was still upset with him for seemingly flirting with the fanclub members, though she did not know what the reason is. Nichkhun had arrived last, and noticed the exchange between Yonghwa and Seohyun, and understood. No wonder his friend needed company.

Sunny tried to hold back her laughter while explaining, "he... he is... haha, he is Taeyeonnie's... hahaha... oppa!"

"I know she calls him... No wait... you mean, real one? Blood related type? As in... jjincha?" Wooyoung was surprised at this revelation. Everything made sense now. Why he was so concerned about her. Why she was so close to him. Why she calls him oppa. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, he's my real, blood-related, born-from-the-same-parents' oppa!" Taeyeon had at last managed to stop laughing.

"But it's no wonder you thought they were in a relationship, they are really close. Their whole family is," Seohyun looked up at Wooyoung, still firmly trying to avoid looking at Yonghwa.

"I love my appa, omma, and oppa! They are the best in the world!" Taeyeon cheered.

Both Wooyoung and Nichkhun looked at her, with same line of thought going through their mind, "she's so cute, and she loves her family so much." They both smiled as she stood up and skipped a little. Their expressions were not seen by anyone else, as Sunny was also looking at Taeyeon, and Yonghwa was looking at Seohyun, who was looking at Taeyeon just because she wanted to avoid Yonghwa's eye contact.

What happened next came really fast.

Being clumsy, Taeyeon accidentally tripped.

What's more, she tripped while she was skipping near Nichkhun.

Nichkhun immediately reacted, and caught her in his arms. The two stayed in that position for a few seconds, staring into each others' eyes, and Nichkhun gave her a smile.

Wooyoung felt his blood boiling again. He grabbed hold of Taeyeon and pulled her up, and out of Nichkhun's protection.

"YAH! Why are you so clumsy?" Wooyoung chided her.

"YAH!" Taeyeon snapped, smacking Wooyoung hard on his arms. However, he did not return the favour, but laughed it off, and ruffled Taeyeon's hair while teasing her, "clumsy girl~ clumsy girl~"

Nichkhun was shocked when Wooyoung grabbed Taeyeon from him. He had the urge to pull her back, as he had a familiar feeling of losing someone, as if he would lose her forever. However, he caught himself and remained calm.

Yonghwa, who had already stopped staring at Seohyun when Wooyoung grabbed hold of Taeyeon, sensed something different about Wooyoung. He would never ever let someone go that easily if that person dared to smack him, let alone ruffle that someone's hair, and . Wooyoung had never even ruffled a girl's hair nor joked with a girl before.

Yonghwa smiled. He had a feeling he knew who the girl who made Wooyoung jealous was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll be heading home myself, don't worry girls. I have to go get this book from Soshi Bookshop too. You girls just go and settle your issues fast. I can take care of myself," Seohyun smiled reassuringly at her two friends.

Sunny's parents had called her to head to their company fast as they needed her to be there, while Taeyeon had to help her family head down to the phone headquarters to settle a problem with her family's bills, since her whole family was not free to do so.

"Okay, do call us once you reach home to let us know you are safe and sound!" Taeyeon told her, and started to walk off.

"Yeah, don't let us be worried about you!" Sunny said, before entering her car.

"Don't worry girls, it's not the first time I had gone home myself!" Seohyun waved goodbye to both of them, and walked out from one of the school's sidegate.

After leaving Soshi Bookshop...

Seohyun was walking to the nearby park while reading the book she just bought from the bookshop she frequents. The shopowner, Ms. Yoon, usually calls Seohyun whenever she has new books of the genres that Seohyun enjoys reading, and she would head down and take a look at the book. Sometimes, she would find titles online or have books recommended by others, and she would call Ms. Yoon and ask her to try and get the book.

"Wow, this is a fascinating book!" Seohyun mumbled to herself, totally engrossed in the book.

If you look at the three best friends, you might think that Taeyeon is the nerd of the group. However, the real bookworm is actually Seohyun. Her vast knowledge came from her love of reading non-fiction books. It came to no one's surprise that she was given scholarship to their current college.

She was still reading the book as she crossed the road, not looking at what was coming towards her.

A car was speeding towards her, going way over the speed limit, with the irresponsible driver not noticing her crossing the pedestrian crossing.

When he eventually saw her though, it was already too late. He could not decelerate fast enough.

Seohyun looked up when she heard the screeching sound. She might have made it to the other end if she reacted immediately, since it was just a couple of metres left before she reached safety. However, she stood rooted to the ground, unable to move from the shock.

"BAM!"

Seohyun felt the impact.

She was knocked onto the ground. Hard.

"Am I dead?" she thought. She had closed her eyes right before she got knocked, as if her unconscious mind did not want her to see the scene, "why do I feel something heavy... something preventing me from moving?"

She slowly opened her eyes, and immediately saw that a man was lying on top of her. She freaked out and tried pushing him away, but to no avail. She was too weak from the shock.

Seohyun looked around, and saw that she had fallen safely on the pavement. The side where the park was.

She saw the car that was coming towards her a few seconds ago. She saw it stop, and the driver's head came out from his side of the window.

"Hey, you there! errr... you alright? That was a nice save there man! So sorry about earlier, but you're alright now, right?" the driver asked.

"Yeah..." Seohyun told him, but in a soft voice.

"Great then! I've to go... errr... somewhere," the driver called out, and quickly drove off, not wanting to bear any responsibilities to the two lying on the pavement.

Seohyun slowly realised what had happened. The man lying on top of her had pushed her away just in time, and she did not get knocked. She did not get knocked! She wished to stand up and cheer, but she could not. Not with the man lying on her.

"Hey, thanks for saving me, but... is it possible that you errr... get off me?" Seohyun tried asking him as politely as possible. She found him familiar.

She looked at his hair... his clothes... his back.

It was like a lightbulb popped in her mind. She realised who he was.

"Yonghwa! Get off of me!" Seohyun pushed him away, not as politely now.

When she eventually managed to, she understood why he was lying on top of her. He was hugging her... and crying.

"Yonghwa... you alright?" Seohyun asked him with a much more gentle tone than before. She went over to him and looked at his crying face.

"Don't scare me, why're you crying? Are you hurt?" Seohyun held his face and looked into his eyes, "talk to me, please!"

Yonghwa hugged her again, this time tighter than ever. Seohyun wrapped her arms around him and tried to console him.

After a few minutes, he finally calmed down. Seohyun led him to one of the benches in the park, and they sat down there.

"I... I'm so afraid of losing you... I thought you'd get knocked by the car... I thought I'd never be able to see your smile again..." Yonghwa explained to her.

Seohyun felt her heart thumping fast at his words. She thought that he might hear it, so she quickly changed the topic.

"Well... I would like to thank you for saving me. Thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart," Seohyun told him.

Yonghwa chuckled, thinking to himself, "I guess she's still a little awkward with me. It's okay, at least she's not mad at me anymore."

"Don't worry about it. Men are supposed to save damsels in distress," he joked. Seohyun gave a small smile. Yonghwa sensed that his joke was not that funny, so he asked her, "so... why're you here?"

"Me? I frequent the Soshi bookshop, which is right across the road. Usually, after getting a book, I will head down here and read," she explained. Giving a small giggle, she continued, "and I will usually read until it is around 6pm, then Sun or Taeyeonnie would call me and ask me if I am still reading, and I should get back home before my parents get worried. Usually I would give them a call once I reach home on these days, so if they didn't receive it, they always assume I am still engrossed in reading."

"You three are really close, aren't you? How'd you meet?" Yonghwa smiled.

"Oh... about that... Sunny and Taeyeon knew each other first, when they were 10. I only got to know them in high school. I was this quiet loner, and no one else wanted to talk to me. Sun and Taeyeonnie kept trying to talk to me, but I was pretty awkward with them. One day, this group tried to bully me, taking my homework and money, and almost beat me up. Taeyeon and Sunny both came over and saved me. From then on, I gradually warmed up to them, and we have been best friends since," Seohyun reminisced her past, with a tear falling from her left eye.

Yonghwa's hands went up, and his right thumb wiped the tear away. Seohyun did not recoil, but she did look at him in surprise at his actions. He looked deep into her eyes, but before he could do anything else, she tried to distract him again.

"W-what about you? Why're you here?" Seohyun asked him.

"Me? My music studio is nearby, I wanted to practice on my guitar today, so I came over," Yonghwa explained.

"You know how to play a guitar? Wait! Oh no! I must've been wasting your time here then! You better head over there!" Seohyun was flustered.

"It's okay, no worries! I can always head over there now!" Yonghwa reassured her, while standing up. He then turned to her and smiled, "say, if you're free, do you want to come with me?"

"Huh?" Seohyun was confused, looking up at him.

"I've this song I just composed... and it would be great if you are willing to hear it," Yonghwa told her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is my music studio! Just make yourself at home," Yonghwa smiled. He was really happy that Seohyun agreed to go to his music studio with him. Though it was not like a date or anything near, he was glad they had made progress. He had never been alone with her before, but now, not only is she not mad at him, they were together. Just the two of them.

"Wow, I've never been in a music studio before," Seohyun told him, while she walked around and took in what she saw in the new place.

"How does it look?" Yonghwa walked over to her, "this is the place I truly call my own. I decorated everything myself, carried every single piece of equipment and furniture, and painted the walls. Everything done by myself. Actually, no one ever came in here, except the two of us," Yonghwa told Seohyun, who was surprised.

She thought to herself, "he's such a playboy, yet he never brought any girls in here before?"

"Come here, sit down here, I'll perform the song I composed," Yonghwa patted the chair next to him, snapping Seohyun out of her thoughts.

She sat down and asked, "what's the title of the song?"

"It's called Banmal Song. It's not totally done yet, I'm still halfway through it. And actually... actually I composed while thinking of... you," Yonghwa admitted shyly. He did not dare look at Seohyun as he cleared his throat and started his song.

"The day when I first saw you
Your bright smile full of shyness
we’ll get closer after today
Every day, I have heart-fluttering expectations

What to say to you
How to get you to laugh
I fear it’ll get awkward when I try to hold your hand
All I can do is smile shyly

Hopefully we can speak banmal to each other
Even though it’s still awkward and unfamiliar
Instead of saying ‘thank you’
Talk to me in a friendlier way"

He finally looked up and faced Seohyun, and was in shock. Seohyun was crying.

Yonghwa quickly put down his guitar and knelt down right in front of her, holding her face with his hands.

"What's wrong? Is my singing that awful?" He tried to make a joke, to which Seohyun chuckled through her tears.

"No... it's just... just... I actually felt for the song. I was really very touched. Even though the lyrics was not that special, the music was not that majestic, but I actually... really love the song, and I am very touched by it," Seohyun then looked down, as if she was really shy by what she was about to say next, "and I am very glad that you composed it thinking of me..."

Yonghwa wiped away her tears gently, and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

He approached her first, leaning in nearer and nearer to her, and he closed his eyes when their lips touched.

He expected her to push him away, but she did not. Instead, she reciprocated it...

She kissed him back.

After awhile, they broke apart. He was smiling, while she was blushing furiously.

"Seohyun..." he spoke up first.

She looked at him.

"Yes?" She asked softly.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's notes:

I suddenly realised... the Sunny I described in this fanfic is similar to herself in real-life. :) I wrote that she is the "protector" of the group, and in reality, she protects Taeng. XD

I kept to my promise and delivered Chapter 9 on Monday! :) I love my subscribers, even though two of them unsubscribed. :( Edit: I finished writing around 6pm on Monday, but after proof-reading, it ended up 12+am on Tuesday!

I felt that this part of the lyrics sort of matches their situation up until now. He will, of course, complete the song in the future chapters, and present it to her.