“Changmin, where have you been?” His mother was flipping through a copy of Vogue Korea, when Changmin walked through the front door, soaked with sweat.

“I just went to the gym to work out, then I decided to go on a long run. No big deal, Mom.” He said, making his way to the kitchen.

“One of the editors of Vogue called me today. They want you to model for a seven page spread.” Changmin’s mother beamed and clasped her hand together excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Changmin almost spit out his Gatorade he was chugging down. “What?! Why me? How did you get me into this mess?”

“I have connections dear, you know that. Tell me you’ll do it. Apparently the girl you’ll be modeling is the editor-in-chief’s daughter. She goes to your school, and loves fashion as much as you do.” His mother paced in the foyer.

Changmin smirked. There were millions of rich girls at his school. He was suddenly interested. “Who is she?” He took a bite out of a cream cheese pastry on the counter.

“I think you know her. She’s in her class, and quite a beauty if you ask me. Intelligent, great sense of fashion, tall, athletic, polite. I wish she were my own daughter. I met her today when she happened to drop by at the same time I did. She seemed less than happy when she heard it was you that might be doing the shoot.” Her hands covered her cheeks as she went off on her tangent.

Changmin was puzzled. Why would anyone not want to model with him? Every girl at school was in love with him. “How were  you so sure I was going to agree to this? I mean, of course I’ll do it, but you didn’t even talk to me about it first.”

“Honey, I know how much you love high fashion. And you’ll be meeting your match.” She sighed, as if Changmin and this girl were getting married just because they were modeling together.

“So who is this?”

“Her name is Choi Sooyoung. Sound familiar to you?” She searched her son’s face for any recognition.

This time, Changmin gagged on his food and almost choked. “NO! You cannot make me model with that girl.”

She was confused. “What’s wrong with her? Do you know her?”

He was indignant. “Do I know her? I hang out with her every single damn day. She’s Yunho and Tiffany’s best friend. She’s repulsive, she dresses horribly, and she’s been in love with me since I first met her!”

“Well that’s perfect then! She already likes you. And she is not repulsive at all. She looked quite lovely when I saw her.”

Changmin pulled his hair. “You don’t understand, do you? I don’t like her! I’m tired of everyone trying to set us up! I won’t do the shoot! Besides, modeling is for gay people anyways!” He yelled at his mom. She ran up the stairs behind him, while he covered his ears like a little boy.

“Shim Changmin! You need to do this. For me, please? It would make me and your father so happy.” She pleaded with him.

He stiffened, feeling guilty. He loved his mother more than anything. He hated upsetting her. He turned around.  

“Fine… I’ll do it. But Sooyoung better stay away from me. Who knows, she might hump me while we’re posing or faint from being so close to me.” He shuddered at the thought.

She slapped Changmin on the back. “Don’t be smart with me. The shoot is this weekend. Sorry for the last minute plans, dear.”

“It’s okay. You owe me though, I’m only doing this for you.” He went into his bedroom, shutting the door.

“Thank you Min.” He heard his mother thank him through the door.

Changmin collapsed on his king-sized bed. Modeling with Sooyoung? This was ridiculous. He just wanted to get away from the girl he considered crazy.

He sat up in bed. But why would his mother think she was well dressed, polite, and even lovely? He never questioned her judgement on women, so it was surprising to see her praise Sooyoung so profusely.

He thought about Sooyoung’s appearance. Sure, she had potential to be cute if she wasn’t so drab, wore a little makeup, and acted like a lady.

He imagined her at the shoot, in a red dress. He loved women in red or pink; feminine colors attracted him. Obsession didn’t.

Why was he thinking of her anyways? She wasn’t worth his time. He thought about how Yunho always pushed him to give her a chance. He grimaced. He certainly wasn’t interested in her at all. But that didn’t explain how he couldn’t stop thinking of her.

Damn you, Choi Sooyoung.

~~~~~

A few days passed and the six teens slipped back into the monotony of high school. Sooyoung couldn’t wait for her birthday, and she caught Junsu and Taeyeon talking about the surprise party they were going to put on for her.

“She’s eighteen, we have to make it her best birthday yet.” She was listening in on their conversation.

“But how?” Junsu whispered to Taeyeon.

“Easy, just ask Changmin to show up.” Sooyoung frowned at this.

She decided to interfere. “I’m not trying to eavesdrop or anything, but you two aren’t the best at keeping this secret.”

“Oh! You heard all of that, Sooyoung?” Junsu tried to act innocent, while Taeyeon shot him a dirty look.

“You’re so loud, Junsu. Now she knows. You’re hopeless.” Taeyeon stormed off towards her next class.

That’s weird, they never fight. Sooyoung watched as Junsu followed her, asking what he did wrong.

Changmin appeared next to her, grabbing his books during passing period. He stared into his locker, waiting for Sooyoung to greet him and gush over how good he looked today. This was a routine for her everyday.

He had been thinking about her constantly the past few days, curiosity of how she would look this weekend at the shoot got the best of him. In his peripheral vision, he checked out her legs, hidden under sweatpants. They must be long…

Instead, she stated a fact. “You’re modeling with me.” Her face was blank.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes, and?” It was a breath of fresh air that she wasn’t excited or even outwardly happy about it. Secretly, he wanted her to tell him how she was looking forward to the weekend with him.

“I was forced into it. I’m sorry if my mother was pushy about it. She kind of knows you.” Sooyoung looked at Changmin with the same blank expression.

He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t used to this Sooyoung. The only side of her he knew was the gushy, in-love Sooyoung. “Uh, it’s okay. My mom wanted me to do this. And what can I say? I hate disappointing her.”

“Well, I’m still sorry. I don’t want to do this either.” Sooyoung took out her phone, texting someone.

Changmin felt himself growing irritated again. How rude. The least she could do was act like she wanted to talk to him. “Who are you texting?” He couldn’t stop himself from blurting out his thoughts.

She gave him quizzical look. “Why do you need to know?”

“If you weren’t aware, usually when you have a conversation with someone, you don’t pull out your phone in the middle of it. It’s quite rude if you ask me.” He sniffed, glad he was gaining the upper hand.

Sooyoung’s thumbs stopped moving on her screen. She gave him a hard stare. Changmin thought he saw resentment on her face. Yet, he saw through her façade, knowing she would crack anytime soon. He was gifted with the ability to read anyone.

“I’ll see you on Saturday.” He walked past her. Changmin smirked to himself, heading to his next class.

Sooyoung took deep breaths. “Don’t cry, don’t cry.” She whispered to herself.

“Sooyoung! Wait for me!” Kyuhyun ran up to her. Kyuhyun appeared by her side.

She looked up at him. “Were you watching me again?”

He made a sound of disgust. “You need to stop getting your hopes up around him. I hate seeing you like this.” He put his arm around her. “Here, let me take you to class.”

“Thank you, I would love that.” She didn’t mind that he was watching over her, like her guardian angel. It felt so nice to be wanted.

“Do you think I should give up on him, Kyuhyun?” They had reached the door of her next class, Psychology.

“Yes, I think so. His chapter in your life is over. Look how he treats you! It makes me angry.” His jaw clenched, fists curled.

Before she could think about what she was doing, she kissed him on the cheek. Her lips lingered there, and once she pulled away, he touched the skin where he lips had been.

“I’m grateful I met you last week, Kyuhyun.” She smiled. Kyuhyun felt breathless, he didn’t expect to make so much progress with her.

“Why did you give me a kiss?” He stuttered.

She giggled. “You’re such a dork, I just wanted to show my appreciation for you. You’re helping me in ways you don’t even know.” The bell rang, and Kyuhyun ran off without another word.

Sooyoung hurried into the classroom. She forgot she had this class with Changmin. He had been sitting down for a few minutes, waiting for her to show up. He watched her as she entered. She was smiling like an idiot. He wondered what was making her look so happy. He became infuriated.

As she was about to pass by, he grabbed her wrist. She looked down at him, scowling. “What now, Changmin?” He realized she was trembling.

“Why are you smiling so stupidly? Thinking of me?” He smirked at her. She yanked her arm away from him.

He had never addressed her blatant crush on him in front of her before now. It was about time.

Just tell me you like me, Sooyoung. He was waiting for her to confess to him, like a hundred others girls did. He wanted someone to feed his ego today.

“If you really want to know who I was thinking about, it was Cho Kyuhyun.” Despite her pounding heart, she managed to smirk back at him before sitting down a few desks behind him, leaving him dumbfounded.

Cho Kyuhyun? How does she even know him? I’ve never seen her talk to him in my entire existence. Why would she be thinking of him?