[MC Tales: Hey readers! How've you all been? Sorry I haven't been talking much. Blame the author *HEY!*... Anywho, Seems like I missed quite a bit, eh? What's with all this avoiding cr*p? Sandeul, buddy, GET IT TOGETHER, or else you might lose her. Anyway, on with the show!]
//

            'This is it. Today’s the day I make my move, the day I break the Bro Code. I'm sorry, my fellow gentlemen, these are emotions I can't hold back any longer.'

- -

            Ella stared at the notes hanging in her locker and carefully pulled the adhesive off of them. A bad feeling settled at the pit of her stomach as she read both notes, which, surprisingly, read the same thing. 

            [Meet me in the courtyard at lunch.]

            Neither of them was signed, but she knew the handwritings well enough to figure out who the authors were. With a heavy sigh, she slipped the notes into her pocket and shut her locker. 

            It was a gloomy day, despite it being spring. The usual warm, breezy day was replaced by overcast skies of dark gray clouds and cold winds. Ella somehow felt that the weather was trying to tell her something. Not just the weather, but other things that morning were clear indicators telling her to stay at home that day, the door that got stuck, the telemarketers informing her about minor accidents that could cost a lot, or even the article in the morning newspaper talking about a man who never left his house in the last 50 years and is still alive and healthy. 

            'Maybe I should've stayed at home today,' she thought, gazing out at the dreary weather outside. The bell rang as students began to trickle into their classrooms. Ella sighed once more before taking one last look outside, doubts and questions momentarily racing through her mind for that one split second. 

--

            "Okay class, that's about it for today's lesson. Here's the homework for next class. You can start now, if you'd like, since we have some time before lunch." The teacher clapped and ended class early. Ella stretched out her sore limbs. Sandeul's seat next to her was empty, but she knew he was around somewhere, probably in the music room or the nurse’s office feigning sickness. Besides, he did leave her the note, so he must be at school. Curious, she pulled out the notes and placed them on her desk. 

            'What do they both want? Maybe Deul oppa wants to hang out since he's been so busy these past few weeks,' she thought, trying to convince herself that it wasn't for any other reason, but a small feeling at the back of her mind was telling her otherwise. 'Oh well, nothing much I can do now.' She slipped Sandeul's note back into her bag and turned back to the other one. She traced over the lines as a bittersweet guilty feeling washed over her. Butterflies fluttered lightly in her tummy. 

            'I shouldn't be feeling this way. I can't be,' she thought, sighing deeply. Subconsciously, she mentally compared and analysed the two notes. Jin Young's neat handwriting was aesthetically appealing and seemed more sincere compared to Sandeul's chicken scratch, which seemed to have been written in haste. Another sigh escaped from her lips as the bell rang. 

            'This is it,' she thought. 

--

            The courtyard was quiet when she entered, an unusual occurrence from the normal day activities of lunchtime. Ella glanced around for any signs of the boys, but nobody was around. 

            'They asked me to meet them here, but where at they?' she wondered. What seemed like the hundredth time today, she let out a sigh and sat down on the bench. Time seemed drag on as she continued to wait for the boys. To kill some time, she plugged in her headphones and turned up the music. Unknowingly, she fell asleep. 

--

            'You're killing me,' Jin Young thought as he traced her features with his fingers. ‘She must've been tired because the slightest of disturbances usually wake her up, yet she was still fast asleep. She looks too peaceful to wake up. I'll yell her later or something.' He sighed and leaned back, enjoying the soft rays of sun that had managed to break through the clouds.

            Silently, they stayed in the courtyard. The sun shone lightly down on them through the open roof, casting its warm rays upon their cold chapped skin. The light moved with time, eventually shining itself on Ella. She flinched and woke up. 

            "Ah, what a nice nap," she mumbled, stretching out her arms, at the same, knocking Jin in the head. Startled, she jumped out of her seat and stared at him wide eyed. "OMO, Jin Young-sshi! I didn't see you there. I'm so sorry!" she yelped, panicking by herself. Jin young watched on in amusement.

            "It's okay," he said, "I didn't lose an eye or anything." he chuckled as she blew out an air of relief. 

            "That's good then," she sighed. "Oh, right, when did you get here?" she asked. 

            "A while ago," she replied. Ella raised an eyebrow at him. 

            "A while ago? Why didn't you wake me up? You were the one that called me out here in the first place." She pouted at him. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly looked away, suddenly taking interest of the spring trees. 

            "*Cough* Well, that's true. Anyway, I need to talk to you."

            "I'm listening." Jin young took a deep breath and turned to face her. He looked her right in the eye began to recite what he had written the night before. 

            "These past few months of school have gone by so quickly, I still can't believe it. I remember the first time we met. You were new to this school was cleaning the classroom by yourself, a classroom that wasn't even yours if I remember correctly. I'll never forget that day because that was the day I realized 2 things: one, I had to make you life miserable for ruining my day, and two, I really loved my shoes”

            Ella scoffed at him in disbelief. Where was he trying to get with this?

            "However, I've come to realize that, those things don't matter to me as much as they had before. I don't care about the shoes and I especially don't care about ruining your life. Yes, at first I did. I even wrote that contract, but lately, I don't want to use you and torture you anymore. Your company isn't so much a nuisance, but a comfort for me. What I used to dread waking up to, I now look forward to.”

            Her breath caught in . Why were his words making her restless? It's not like he was confessing to her or anything. Even if he was, it's not like it'll affect her, right? Jin Young cleared his throat and continued.

            "I think what I've been trying to say is that over these past few months, my feelings toward you have changed. I no longer loathe you, nor do I want to burn you for humiliating me. Now, I want to be near you every second of the day. I want to be able to help you when you're being clumsy. I want to stop other people from using you for their own selfish gains. I want to be there to protect you, no matter what. Ella, this is my confession. I like you. I want to be with you. I want to be the only person in the world that can say 'Ella Choi is my girlfriend'."

//

[MC Tales: NO WAY, NO WAY! ASDFOIWANBAZXK;AIOAWE;MFKLSDFZ.LBKH;A. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?! *ducks out of Jin’s reach*]

//

            She stared at him, shocked beyond belief. parted, but the words wouldn't come out. Jin Young was the last person she would guess to confess to someone and to her for that matter. She never would have guessed that he looked at her in any way other than his slave because that was all she really was, his slave by contract, the girl he despised the most for getting on his nerves. Why, all of a sudden, was he confessing too her? 

            This was wrong on so many different levels. A person could not possibly like somebody after hating them for the last 5 months. Not only that, the interest is another buddy's girlfriend. 

            Yet, Ella felt her insides tingling with joy. Even though she was with Sandeul and these boys were friends, she knew she shouldn't be reacting to Jin Young's confession, but she was.

            'Don't lose your head, Ella. Remember, you're already committed,' she scolded herself and jumped off her bittersweet ride on cloud 9. Recollecting her scattered thought, Ella pulled her hands out of his. When had he held onto them? She couldn't remember, but she had to let them go. Holding on too long might give him false hopes of her possibly saying yes. She took a breath and gave it some thought. Obviously, she couldn't say yes, but she just couldn't say no. Her conscience wouldn't let her. The word, no matter how hard she tried to say it, would not escape her lips. How was she supposed to handle this? 

            Just as she opened to try and convince him that he was confused and that there was possibly no way that he liked her that way, the bell rang. 

            'Saved by the bell,' she thought. 

            "Looks like we have to get to class. I'll talk to you later, sunbae-nim." Jin Young stayed seated, head turned in confusion. Ella never called him sunbae, always 'Jin Young-sshi'. 

            'Did I scare her?' he thought. With a sigh, he grabbed his bag and headed off to class.

//

[MC Tales: Wait…wasn’t Sandeul supposed to meet her too?]

//

            Ella scrambled out of her seat and rushed to her locker at the final bell. She couldn’t risk staying behind too long or else she would run into Jin Young. At that point, it wasn’t something she needed. Entering her locker combo in haste, she pulled the door open and stuffed all her books into her bag. A piece of paper taped to the back of her locker caught her attention and she reached for it.

            ‘Another one?’ she thought. She unfolded it and skimmed the letter.

            “Can’t meet up after school…yada yada yada…Sorry for ditching lunch…blah blah blah…,” she mumbled random words and rolled her eyes as she finished reading the excuses. “I thought you were better than this, oppa,” she grumbled to herself. Slamming her locker shut, Ella raced out the front doors and jogged all the way home, not even glancing back at the voice that was calling out her name.

//

[MC Tales: Oh brother. Deullie…WHAT’S WRONG WIT’U? Aigoo, this MC is getting too old for this drama. I need a break. Hopefully things get settled soon and Ella and Sandeul patch things up. TEAM SANDEUL! *TALES, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU CAN’T TAKE SIDES!* Oh, that’s panda-nim, GOTTA RUN!]

Aaaaaaand, that's chapter 15 for you. I know, it's been a while. Hi. I'm tired. I'm almost done. I have one more week of school, three more weeks of packing, and three more weeks until I leave the house I've lived in for 11 years....it's hard packing up all those things that have accumulated over the years....especially my library >_> goodness me.....it has a life of it's own...I swear...When I think I've packed them all away, others keep popping up lol. Anyway, I'm rambling. I hope you liked this. If not, well, sorry? Please do comment,subscribe,friend, the whole nine yards. I need them T^T 

Also, I would just like to say thank you to all the wonderful aff-ers who have subscribed to me despite my sporadic updates and non-existent social life on aff. It makes my day knowing that you stay around even though I don't update often. Give me a couple more weeks and I'll be able to update more often in the summer since I'll have a lot more free time ^^ Anywhoooo

See you in the next Chapter!

-greenninjapanda GNP-