Lee Taemin – U

I couldn’t bear to say that I like you

I’m fine just by staying by your side like this

Okay, should I be brave one more time?

Should I tell you how I feel?

“You don’t have to…already we know it. You went out with Krystal so that…you could go after her, right?” A girl was trying to hold her voice down. “I really couldn’t believe this…” She exited with all of the students making a very huge fuss over it.

Sulli was left alone. She tried to pick up the torn pieces of photographs and put it in the trash bin. She looked pitiful as she did that.

“Hey…stop with this!” Kai tried to hold her back.

“I’m doing what I wanted to do…” Sulli was trying to wipe the forming tears. “…this is my fault. I got you involved.”

“Why…do we look like we like each other? Isn’t it definite to solve a friend in need?”

“What would he think of me now…?” Sulli looked at him, with puppy eyes. She tried to go to the classroom.

As the two went together, Krystal was glaring at Sulli. She never had this kind of expression ever since. This one looked pretty intense.

Sehun was playing around with his mechanical pencil, scribbling anything on his notebook. He looked bored and wanted to sleep already. He didn’t even want to see Krystal.

Taemin was just spacing out. He closed his eyes and wanted to remove all of these from his memories. He didn’t know what to do and just try to respond to a few greetings exchanged by him and his classmates.

“Oppa…” Kim Yaera sat beside Lee Taemin. He looked at her, perplexed and unaware of what she was plotting about. “Do you know…that KAI AND SULLI LIVED TOGETHER BEFORE?” She giggled menacingly. Just like a virus, everyone got pretty hyped up again over the topic.

“Really?” A girl with her pony-tailed hair looked like she was going to devour Sulli already.

“Yeah….I know and they were with Han Geun Young-noona.” Taemin quietly murmured and it quieted everyone down.

“So, he knows…perhaps…he was just jealous.” A guy tried to piss Taemin off. “Our angel won’t do this kind of thing…they were just friends.”

“You guys, really?!”Kim Yaera tried to act in front of the majority of the guys who were trying to defend Sulli. “All of you…you liked her even more than your girlfriends?”

They looked alarmed as all of them looked at their girlfriend in the class.

“Well…it couldn’t be helped, right?” Krystal started to talk. Everyone wanted to listen to her that they opened their ears for her speech. But, she kept her silence to herself.

The teacher arrived and the rest of the class went to their respective seats. The teacher feigned ignorance in the topic and wanted to discuss about the café.

“Uhmmm…From today up to tomorrow, you would prepare for the Cultural Festival. So, how is it going, huh?”

“Ma’am…Sulli’s the one organizing, right?” Kim Yaera stood up. She went beside her teacher and tried to talk about it as if she was working hard for it.

“Then…everyone should help.”

“But, Sulli didn’t want us to help. She said that she only needs the guys to do it.”

“Why is it, Sulli-ah…” The teacher raised a question. Sulli quietly stood up. All eyes were fixated on her.

“Uhmmm….” Sulli was nervous and trying to calm her nerves but she couldn’t.

“Ma’am…we are asked to.” Sehun raised his hand. “Because…we could do the heavy work we would be doing it voluntarily..” The majority of the voice nodded.

These boys really pissed me off. She thought and tried to ask the teacher, “Ma’am, then can the girls be in the Home Economics Room. Please, permit us.”

The teacher pitied her and gave her the keys.

“Fine…you guys, I wanted our class to be the best. Class dismissed.”

Sulli and the guys tried to clear everything out in their classroom. They tried to bring the tables and covered it with the table cloth. Sulli tried to make the designs as the boys voluntarily made the signs for the café. Everything went on smoothly just like Sulli planned.

“Uhmmm…guys..” Sulli coyly smiled at all of them. The boys stopped doing their work. “Thank you for helping me…I thought that you wouldn’t.”

“It’s because we hate Yaera…” The boy painting the signs said as he tried to smirk a little. “She was the cause of my breaking up with my girlfriend. She spread rumors around that I’m dating my bestfriend. She got flustered and broke up with me.”

“Yeah…” Another boy agreed, taking out the trash. “She even sent my girlfriend to a place where she thought I would meet up with her.  Because, I didn’t come my girlfriend got fed up on me and she broke up with me.”

Sehun patted the guy’s shoulder. “But, take note Sulli-ah. She has a thing for Taemin-hyung.”

“Oh…now that you think about it…He’s the only one not around.” Sulli quietly went to help cleaning the windows.

“I saw him with Yaera, clinging on her.” Kai mentioned while mopping the floor.

“All of you… why didn’t you explain it with your previous girlfriends?” Sulli sat down, trying to massage her muscles.

“She has superior power over the girls. She even has a very powerful family to back her up. Everything goes smoothly.” A boy said, getting frustrated as well.

“I never thought…that she would be like that.” Sulli tried to think about Kim Yaera.

Meanwhile, Taemin was out of his mind, only observing the girls chatter around him. He wished he could go out and play soccer at the field. Oops…his usual hobby resurfaced as he tried to keep it out of his mind. He hasn’t played soccer for a while. He wanted to but he lost the will to do it.

“Taemin-oppa…” Yaera with her ugly voice tried to call out to him. “Why are you spacing out? Could it be that you wanted to go to Sulli’s place rather than—“

“No way. I’d rather be here.” I don’t want to see Kai and Sulli right now. Even if it’s like that about Choi Min Ah, I would punch Kai at this moment if I ever see the two of them alone together. These thoughts bugged his mind for a while.

“Oppa…” Krystal tried to call out him.

“Hmm…” He said as if waking up from a dream.

“Ahhh…”Krystal fed him with a spoonful of omurice.

“Mnmmm…” Taemin put his thumbs up.

“Thanks…” Krystal tried to sit beside him by the window.

“Krystal…why did you.. slap her in the face?” Taemin looked concerned about it.

“Ahahahahaha. Is my acting really that good?” Krystal was looking at Kim Yaera. She whispered softly so that only Taemin could hear, “She’s my only friend. I couldn’t afford to lose her. If the world would doubt her, I wouldn’t. I would still believe in her. Then, you…why did you pass by her? Your expression looked so intense…”

“Ah, it’s because… I saw Kai at that time approaching her. I couldn’t help but to get jea---“ Taemin tried to cut off his words. “Well…for now, I’d be going to Kim Yaera. I really wanted to protect Sulli from her.”

“Hmm…my oppa’s really a grown up now. I should as well make my mood. How could I get Kai to care for me?” She thought of petty plans. “Oh well…I should get along with Kim Yaera for now.”

Kim Yaera tried to use the stove and it almost burned the place. She tried to call out to her bodyguard and tried to fix the fire place. “Aish….” She then gave a plate of some unidentified charcoal-like food to Lee Taemin.

“What….I’m going to eat this?” He wanted to vomit already.

Yaera got the idea and tried to throw it away.

As the whole class already left, Choi Sulli tried to use the Home Economics Room. She wanted to try out the recipes she had searched on the net. She hurried up and tried to make something out of the raw ingredients the class had left her. She didn’t have a choice and tried to make kimchi fried rice.

She hurried up and tried to wash the rice fast. She did all she could so last night wouldn’t happen again.  She got scared at the thought of it.

“Knock, knock.” Someone was knocking at the door.

“Wait…wait up…I’m cooking. Please…please…don’t leave yet.” Sulli pleaded for the other person from the outside. Because she was too occupied with what she was doing, she could only see his silhouette.

“Okay.”

Sulli couldn’t even recognize his voice. She also tried to make some soup as it was about to finish. She tried to transfer it to the table on her right but the casserole slipped on her hand as the soup poured to her hand. “Ouch!...” She shrieked in pain. “Ah….”

“Hey…what happened?” Lee Taemin was right in there. She thought it was Kai at first.

They really quite resemble each other. Maybe, that was why I got so comfortable with Kai around me…What am I thinking?

Taemin tried to wrap the swollen area with his handkerchief. “Something doing things so recklessly…you hurt yourself again. Don’t always try to burden yourself alone…that’s why friends are here. During practices, you never even try to say you’re in pain. For hours, without even anyone looking at you, you’re always practicing your tennis. So that, you wouldn’t embarrass yourself. And, don’t you dare turn me down when I’m being so kind to offer you a ride back to your house!”

“Lee Taemin! Stop being absurd with me…” Sulli tried to release herself from his grasp. But, she couldn’t. She also liked the way he cared for her. It was her first. “I thought you hate me…”

“Is that why… last night… you didn’t ask me to stay with you…” Taemin was being sincere with his words. “Why does it that you wanted Kai to stay behind with you and I can’t?!”

“What are you talking about? Stop holding my hand. These are just minor burns. They will heal by the time I go back home.”

Taemin quickly loosened his grasp on her hand. He was shaking, as he expected.

“I didn’t ask Kai to stay behind… he was there by chance.”

“How could I believe that---“

“Lee Taemin-sshi, how could I say it…how could I say that I wanted you to be the one who would stay behind? How could I say that I hope you are the one who discovered me locked in that stock room? How could I say that I…”

“You…what?”

“Lee Taemin, PABO-YAH!!!”

How could I say that I love him so much? I really did feel hurt when he chose Kim Yaera over me. But, I don’t want to be selfish. I don’t want him…to stay behind, I felt like I would have sinned. I couldn’t get over to the fact that… it was me who got between Krystal and Taemin. It was also me… who wanted Taemin to forget about Geun Young-noona… I’m such a bad person, Choi Jinri, you pabo.

I also wished that I was the one who would save you. I also wished that I should have stayed behind so that if you would need someone to rescue you, I’d be the hero saving you, the damsel-in-distress. But, life wouldn’t work just the way you wanted it to be. I always get jealous all the time. I couldn’t help it. Maybe, because… I wanted you to stay beside me. But, I also don’t want you to get hurt because of me…

I'm going to continue this at the next chapter...

Oh, my head's been having many stresses.

Oh my god, my heart tells me to right more.

Hehe. So, here. Hope you all like it.