The next day was a school day and somehow, most of the partygoers managed to make it to school not too hung-over and somewhat on time. Seohyun, her pack slung over her shoulder, waited nervously by the pillar right by the front door. When she woke up that morning, groggy and slightly nauseous, she checked her phone and found a text message waiting for her. Her heart beat sped up and she became wide awake when she realized it was from Kyuhyun. How he managed to get her phone number was a mystery but she didn’t care as she hurriedly read the text.

“Seohyun-ssi…meet me by the pillar on the left of the front door of school?”

Now that she recalled, nothing except the words of that message had been running through her mind as she rushed out the door with her things. A foolish thing to do though, she thought, as she got there so early that she had to wait for him. What if he didn’t come...what if that had been a prank by his friends? Her doubts started to increase as students on the campus began heading into the school for class and she began to worry more.

But sure enough, she saw Kyuhyun coming over to where she was. His friends- Donghae, Eunhyuk and Ryewoook- appeared to be around him chatting but as soon as they caught sight of Seohyun, they exchanged secret grins amongst each other and went off somewhere else, leaving the two alone with each other.

After a moment of silence, he glanced at her and said, “Well? Let’s go in now.” The words were spoken plainly, but there was a small, genuine smile forming on his face. She smiled back at him and they walked into school and to homeroom- along the way, they unconsciously reached for each other and their fingertips just barely interlocked with each other.

It was through moments like this, they became closer to each other. They met everyday at the pillar by the front doors and every chance they found they spent it with each other and through this process they learned more about the other. Kyuhyun found that despite her intelligence and grades- which he also found were equal to his if not even slightly superior- she had extremely low self-esteem and had little to no confidence in herself. Seohyun realized that there was more to him than just his cool composure- he despised that his rich family had such an influence on everyone and that most people judged him before they really knew him.

Occasionally, his best friends joined them at lunch and joked around or her girl friends Taeyeon, Yuri and Yoona would come over to gossip. Seohyun came to really like Donghae, Eunhyuk and Ryeowook and Kyuhyun sometimes talked to her friends about her (secretly of course). He sometimes visited her when Taeyeon dragged her to glee club meetings and even when she seemed slightly intimidated and embarrassed, he always smiled at her, giving her courage and telling her with his eyes: “It’s okay- I think you’re awesome.”

One time, when Seohyun went to the chorus room to retrieve her pack, she thought she heard delicate piano music coming from the other music room and a strong, smooth and elegant voice singing along with it. Curious and intrigued, she followed the sound and to her utter surprise, the source of it was Sungmin, the “flower boy” of their grade, playing on the piano… and Kyuhyun singing!

“My heart listens to you from Head to toe, even though my friends tease me, my heart hears only you, One two three you are smiling…you take my breath away…”

She stood there in shock and amazement at the talent this mysterious boy had managed to hide from everyone. When he finished singing, he came out of that trance he was always in whenever he sang and noticed his surroundings- and saw her standing by the doorway, applauding softly. While his face flushed a rouge color knowing that she heard him sing, he secretly thought to himself how cute she looked when she was shocked.

“…Singing isn’t something I do often,” he told her later when they were alone in the music room. “But oppa, your voice is amazing!” Seohyun said, still remembering that beautiful that sang along with the piano. “Yeah well…my parents…discourage it. They don’t like it. And so I don’t like singing to many people...” he trailed off, caught her gazing at him and turned crimson again and finished (he thought, rather lamely), “So…so…just don’t go telling people alright?” Seohyun smiled and agreed.

In any case, it was no secret to the school that the two were becoming close to each other. Rumors and gossip spread around the school like wildfire- and Kyuhyun’s “fans” were jumping on the news like wildcats pouncing on prey.

“Ah- Kyuhyun-oppa’s with her again!”

“Do you think they’re going out?”

“Anyeong~ she’s so lucky…”

“What about…her…she can’t be taking this well…oh my…”

For the most part, most girls actually accepted Seohyun as someone suitable for Kyuhyun- except for one girl. Standing with a crowd of her friends, she looked over to see her ex-boyfriend and that oh-so-innocent nerd girl walking together again. At this, Hwang Mi Young, known as “Tiffany” to the majority of the school population and also one of the most popular girls, ground her teeth together in jealousy and hate. True, she and Kyuhyun had merely gone out for two weeks and it had been a mostly one-sided relationship- he had had a mostly bored expression whenever he had been with Tiffany. But when he was with her…she made him smile his rare smiles so much... Well we had something more between us, Tiffany told herself, pushing further into denial. Those two weeks together had meant more to her than she had let on and it still stung inside, his listless reaction when she insisted that they break up.

There was no way she was letting some seemingly quiet nerd girl get so close to him- without her interference at least. Tiffany was already plotting in her mind how to make it clear to that girl that Kyuhyun was hers and hers still- and get him back in the process. She was going to make that girl regret ever coming in contact with him in the first place.

“…Earth to Tiffany!” called an annoyingly loud voice. Tiffany broke out of her thinking trance to throw a glance at Sunny- God, that girl was so annoying. She still had no idea why she hung around her- as far as she could tell, the girl had no personality whatsoever and was so freaking clingy. “What is it?” Tiffany snapped. “You want to be late to class and get us into trouble?” came the response. I honestly couldn’t care less, you two-faced loser, was what Tiffany thought of in her head but she only said out loud, “All right, let’s go.”

While Sunny and the other girls went ahead, chatting and gossiping about various things, Tiffany walked behind, not feeling like being associated with them today. Her best friend, Jessica Jung, soon caught up with her and after a few moments of small talk, she said, “You’re thinking of something.” Tiffany looked up at Jessica for a moment, then a scene nearby caught her eye. Sunny was in a seemingly secluded corner with Sungmin and they were making out, Sunny’s mouth practically devouring his. Well so much for getting to class on time, Tiffany thought, amused and disgusted. Then, she was suddenly inspired, and she smiled a devious smile. Jessica noticed that smile and, bemused, asked, “What’s on your mind, huh?” “I’ll tell you in class, Sica-unnie,” Tiffany replied, still smiling somewhat evilly. She now knew exactly how to make sure Seo Joohyun regret ever trying to get close to her ex-boyfriend.

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It was lunchtime and Seohyun, lunch in hand, settled with her girl friends as Kyuhyun seemed to be somewhere else at the moment. As she sat with Taeyeon and listened to her friends chatter, she could not help but feel restless- where could he be? She tried to calm herself down and tried not to get so paranoid, but she couldn’t help it.

Just then, Jessica Jung ran over to where Seohyun was and said breathlessly, “Oh, Seohyun…could you help me with some research at the library? I can’t exactly figure it out…and you’re like the smartest girl in our grade! Could you help me please?” Seohyun glanced up at Jessica and couldn’t help but marvel a bit- Jessica was amongst the most beautiful faces in school and with the slightly pouty and begging stare she wore right then, well, nobody could really do much but help her with whatever it was she needed. Seohyun agreed and followed Jessica to the library. As she did however, she felt a slightly sinister feeling shiver down her spine. Somewhere in her subconscious, she knew something somewhat unpleasant was going to occur.

When they arrived at the library, Jessica told Seohyun, “Wait here while I go start up the computers, ‘kay?” flashing a smile. Seohyun smiled back in agreement and Jessica went off. She sighed a bit and leaned against a nearby shelf. It felt as if Fate had decided to turn her life around for the better ever since her encounter with him at the party. Her feelings for him were still rooted strong and although she doubted he felt the same, her heart still did flip-flops when she saw him, when they spent time together and when they shot each other little gazes at each other they pretended not to notice.

Somewhere near the library, she heard a confrontation going on. Curious, Seohyun straightened up, wanting to see what the matter was but thought of Jessica. Wait…come to think of it…where was she? It’s been about five minutes and she hasn’t even come back… Seohyun shrugged and decided to go search for Jessica while seeing what was going on.

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“So what do you want, Tiffany?” Kyuhyun said impatiently. His ex-girlfriend had apprehended him while he had been on to the lunch table where he and Seohyun sat together and then practically dragged him to the library. Tiffany turned to him and smiled, “Hello, Kyuhyun…long time no see. How has life been treating you?” Kyuhyun didn’t respond, just stared off to the side, wondering if Seohyun was worried about him. Tiffany stepped closer- a little too close in his perspective- and said, “I’ve missed you…” eyeing him lustfully. “Oh, really now?” he questioned her, keeping a cool face, but now a bit nervous, trying to figure out what exactly her motives were.

“Oppa,” Tiffany said, looking him straight in the face, batting her lengthy eyelashes and giving him her most lustrous look, advancing forward. “Let’s hook back up together.” Kyuhyun groaned inwardly- he had totally known inside that this was coming. He had only gone out with her because despite her cool façade, he could tell that she really wanted to and he hadn’t felt like dealing with a bunch of messed-up crap. He later learned that Tiffany was seriously self-centered and just plain annoying to be with. Why she was coming back to him now when she was the one who broke things off with him anyway, he hadn’t a clue.

When she saw his practically blank and bored expression, moving quite quickly, she managed to pin Kyuhyun against a wall and wrapped part of her leg around his. Her voice becoming husky, she drew her face closer to his and said, “Don’t you want me? I’ve missed you.” Kyuhyun, totally taken aback by this sudden movement and getting more annoyed at Tiffany, said, “What…What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” “I’m seducing you…I want you back…” came the reply as she drew even closer to him. He had to admit that his hormones were starting to act up now that she was being so freaking forward…but this was so wrong. He didn’t even remotely like Tiffany…and what about Seohyun? With these thoughts running through his head, he pushed her away and glared at her. “We’re over, Tiffany. Deal with it.”

Extremely frustrated now, Tiffany suddenly heard a small electronic sound in her back pocket and from the corner of her eye could see a blonde head nodding to her. She had to act now. When Kyuhyun was just about to walk away, she grabbed his arm. Dragging it and placing his hand on her , she cried out, “Ah! Kyu…you…you ert!” While Kyuhyun was stunned and confused, Tiffany gave him no time to pull away and proceeded to drag him down on her and yelled out, “S-Stop it, Kyuhyun!! I know you want me so much, but not here…oh please no!” Kyuhyun had forgotten how good she was at acting and tried to pull away, saying, “Are you crazy?!” “Ahh…oppa!” Tiffany continued to scream.

There was a slight shuffling noise that caught Kyuhyun’s attention and he strained to find the source of it. His heart dropped to his stomach when he realized who it was. It was something he had hoped would never happen- and it wasn’t even half true of what was happening. Tiffany had totally seduced him- but he guessed that she had only seen part of what happened. He saw her frozen expression and inside, he felt a stabbing twinge of guilt and horror.

Before he could go over to her to explain himself, she ran straight away, not even daring to look back. Unexplainable crushing grief settled in his heart as he watched her go, unable to make himself chase after her.

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Seohyun had sprinted headlong into two corridors before she came to a full stop and realized that she was crying. The tears flowed freely down her face and, hiccupping, she dashed into the nearest bathroom, made sure no one was there, and then cried from the bottom of her heart. Never in her life had she felt pain so acute and real- even though there was physically nothing wrong with her, she still felt as if she was slipping away from the world; as if part of her had just died.

Her mind still wasn’t able to register what she had witnessed- and she didn’t want to. Mixed emotions- grief, anger, resentment, heartbreak, brokenness- they all washed over her and swirled around as she sat in the corner of the bathroom, as heaving, racking sobs escaped her lips and she simply hunched over and just let loose all her sadness.

Is this what it’s like to be in love? Is this my punishment for being happy? To suffer this heartbreak forever? Oppa…I believed in you…why did I do that?

The bathroom door opened and Seohyun stood up quickly and attempted to dry her tears and pretend nothing was wrong. But when she saw her best friend Taeyeon near the door and she asked, “What’s wrong, Seohyunnie?” Seohyun couldn’t help but fling herself at her unnie and cry. Taeyeon, surprised at first but then her heart reached out to the crying girl and she silently comforted her while Seohyun wept on.

A/N: hai everyone! part 4 is the last part of this mini-series :D

i'm still debating whether or not i should establish an organized system of taking oneshot requests from you dear readers- it's kind of both satisfying what you readers want to see and, in a way, to kind of challenge myself ^^

so seriously you guys! tell me what you think of this idea! i've also decided that i'm not going to limit it to just the pairings that i have featured in the foreword (of course, i'll have to take into consideration whether i like the pairing or not, blah blah blah) so...yes...no...? maybe i should make a poll for this...? xD