Chapter Eleven

“Well, well, well...” Heechul grinned once their car was far from the SM Entertainment building.

“Looks like our leader has a girlfriend,” his grin turned into his signature smirk.

“Shut up,” Leeteuk muttered, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“You can lie to those reporters, but you can’t lie to us.” Ryeowook smiled. Henry and Zhoumi nodded in full agreement.

“Well, I’m not lying. We’re not together.” Leeteuk stated with a distant look in his eyes.

“Yet,” Kyuhyun whispered evilly.

Leeteuk shook his head and glared. “It’s not gonna happen.”

“Ohoho, I wouldn’t say that...” Shindong said.

“Hyung, let’s go on a double date!” Eunhyuk suggested with his signature gummy smile.

“Double--?! Taeyeon and I aren’t together!” Leeteuk groaned, frustrated.

“Can I come?” Donghae asked hopefully.

Eunhyuk laughed as Donghae pouted, “No, you don’t have a girlfriend!”

“Neither do I,” Leeteuk reminded s.

“Yet,” Kyuhyun said again with a smirk.

“Let’s drop it, okay?” the leader said, folding his arms grudgingly.

There was a moment of silence, until Heechul broke it. “Yeah, okay, we’ll continue this back at the dorm.”

The other members snickered. Leeteuk banged his head on the window in frustration.

---

Taengoo! It’s Tiffany.

          What’s going on with you and Leeteuk-oppa? I don’t think you guys are together...Is something going on that you’re not telling us?

          You should trust us with whatever you’re hiding! Because I KNOW you’re hiding something.

          Let’s talk back at the dorm.

                   -Fany

Taeyeon folded the note back up and held it tightly once more in her hand. The other girls were consumed with talking about the SunSun and HyoHyuk scandals.

She was glad.

The motion of the car soothed Taeyeon. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

She felt exhausted.

“Well, we’ve both always been good friends so a relationship ispossible.”

Taeyeon opened her eyes to darkness and silence. The girls were asleep and night had begun.

I guess I’m not the only one who’s exhausted...

She leaned her head on the window and heard cars and trucks zoom by. What Leeteuk had said at the press conference...

Taeyeon hoped that there was at least a little shimmer of truth behind those words.

It was true; they were great friends. Deep down, Taeyeon knew that Leeteuk saw her as only a little sister. He liked Yoona better, didn’t he? She was his ideal girl.

Not Taeyeon.

“KIM TAEYEON!”

Taeyeon jumped and banged her head on the window. “OUCH! Aigoo, I’m so clumsy...”

Jessica shook Taeyeon by the shoulders. “We’re home. I’ve been calling your name for the past two minutes.”

Taeyeon blinked sleepily. “Chincha?”

Jessica nodded. “The other girls already went inside. Let’s go.”

“Ah, ne...” Taeyeon climbed out of the car and clutched her head, which was throbbing with pain.

“Gwenchana?” Jessica turned back to glance at the leader worriedly.

“Mm, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

The door to their dorm was wide open as Jessica walked in, dragging Taeyeon along. She stared irritably at the door and closed it.

“Yah, who’s stupid enough to leave the door to our dorm open?”

Seohyun poked her head out of the kitchen apologetically. “Mianhe, unnie; I was the last one in and I was in a rush to get to the kitchen.”

Jessica nodded slowly. “Alright...just be more careful next time, arasso?”

Seohyun nodded obediently and disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Aish, that maknae...no one can really get mad at her.” Jessica shook her head at the closed kitchen door. “Taeyeon, I’m heading to my room. You might wanna ask Seohyun to check your bumped head.”

Taeyeon shrugged. “I’m fine; it’s just a bump.”

Jessica looked at Taeyeon, unconvinced. “You sure?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure, ahjumma!” Taeyeon grinned.

The Ice Princess smacked Taeyeon lightly on the arm. “Yah, aren’t you the ahjumma around here?”

Taeyeon held her hands up defensively. “Mianhe, Princess Sica!”

Jessica muttered some incomprehensible things under her breath and went off to her room.

“Taeyeon!” Tiffany’s voice came from down the hallway. She skittered into the room, almost slipping in her fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

She plopped down next to Taeyeon. “Are you okay?”

“Er, are those Sunny’s...?” Taeyeon asked, pointing to the slippers on Tiffany’s feet.

“Oh, yeah, I just borrowed them.” Tiffany said dismissively. “Are you okay?”

Taeyeon frowned, confused. “Of course, Fany, why wouldn’t I be?”

Tiffany shrugged. “You seem kinda out of it.”

“Oh.”

“So did you read my note?” Tiffany asked eagerly.

“Ah, this?” Taeyeon unfurled her fist to reveal a wrinkled ball of paper.

“Well, it looks a little different.” the American girl laughed. “But that’s my note!”

She turned serious. “So do you have anything you wanna tell me? We’re best friends, Taeyeon, and I’ve never kept any secrets from you.”

Taeyeon averted Tiffany’s intense gaze. “I know.”

The head of SM specifically told Taeyeon--and Leeteuk--to tell no one. If she told Tiffany, wouldn’t that be telling someone?

But if she didn’t tell Tiffany, that would be ruining their friendship. She hated lying to the girls, but would it be safe to tell?

Could Lee Soo-man even find out if Taeyeon blabbed or not? It wasn’t like he had secret surveillance cameras set up everywhere.

Or did he?

Taeyeon gulped and glanced around the room frantically, trying to spot a red light.

Tiffany narrowed her eyebrows. “Um, Taeyeon? What are you doing...?”

Taeyeon shook her head quickly. “Ah, nothing, nothing! You were saying?”

Tiffany sighed. “I’m not forcing you to tell me anything. Just, if you ever wanna tell me anything, I’m here to listen.” she stood, smiled, gave a little wave, and shuffled back to her room.

---

Sunny peeked out of her room, making sure the coast was clear.

The hallway was empty; excellent.

“Ahem, where do you think you’re going at this hour?”

Crap--caught by the Shikshin.

Sunny smiled innocently. “Annyeong, Sooyoungie!”

Sooyoung tsk’ed and folded her arms. “You know very well your aegyo has no effect on me, Sunny.”

“It was worth a shot, right?” Sunny muttered to herself.

“Where are you going?” Sooyoung repeated, walking slowly in a circle around Sunny, like a predator playing with its prey.

“Um, I’m making a quick run to the grocery store!” Sunny answered. “We’re completely out of snacks and we all know how much Sooyoung needs her snacks...”

Sooyoung cracked a grin. “If you’re going to meet with Sungmin, just say so, dude.”

Sunny let out a big breath that she had been holding. “Is it that obvious?”

“Very.”

“Don’t tell the others, okay?” Sunny pleaded.

Sooyoung waved her off. “Yeah, yeah, you can trust me. Just tell me everything when you get back, got it?” she winked.

---

“Home sweet home,” Heechul sighed, settling in on the couch.

Siwon sat next to him and switched the TV on.

“You rarely ever watch TV, hyung.” Donghae frowned.

“I’m seeing if they’re broadcasting anything on the press conference.” Siwon said, flipping through the channels at rapid-fire speed.

“Ah, yes, the press conference.” Shindong said, grinning madly at Leeteuk.

“I thought I told you guys to drop it--”

Kyuhyun chuckled darkly. “We said we’d continue it when we came back to the dorm.”

“And we’re back at the dorm.” Eunhyuk added.

“STOP! IT’S THE WONDER GIRLS!” Heechul cried out.

Siwon dropped the remote in a panic. “Hyung, calm down!”

“He loves Sohee, remember?” Donghae grinned cutely.

Henry’s eyes grew bigger. “Heechul-hyung loves someone?!”

“Ah, what do you know, Henry, your eyes are still small.” Donghae teased, pinching the maknae’s cheeks.

“They’re not that small!” Henry whined.

“It’s just fanboy love.” Zhoumi told Henry.

“Kim Heechul is not a fanboy!” Heechul denied.

“Oh, really?” Leeteuk gave him the look.

“Sohee’s not in this.” Siwon nudged Heechul. “Can I channel surf again?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Heechul muttered.

“What’s his problem now?” Kyuhyun asked from his spot on the floor. He was playing Starcraft again--shocker.

“He’s just upset because his number one girl isn’t featured on TV.” Eunhyuk remarked, grabbing a soda from the refrigerator.

“Ooh, get me one!” Donghae asked.

“I’m thirsty!” Shindong jumped in.

“Who wants smoothies?” Ryeowook spoke up, getting to his feet.

“ME!” Ten voices chimed in.

Ryeowook frowned and did a quick head count. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...ten. Where’s Sungmin?”

“I don’t know...”

“Wasn’t he behind you?”

“Kyuhyun, what’d you do to him?”

“Why must you all assume it’s always me?” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes as Ryeowook went to the kitchen to prepare drinks.

Leeteuk’s phone beeped. “Ah, text from Sungmin...he went out.”

“That’s descriptive.” Heechul snorted.

“Out where?” Eunhyuk and Donghae asked in unison.

Leeteuk shrugged. “It just says ‘out.’”

“How suspicious...” Shindong murmured, his chin.

“Hyung, you don’t have a beard...” Eunhyuk poked Shindong’s chin.

“Does he have a secret girlfriend that we didn’t know about?” Yesung wondered aloud.

“That makes Teukie-hyung AND Sungmin-hyung now.” Henry concluded.

“I don’t have a secret girlfriend!” Leeteuk roared.

“MANGO OR BANANA?” Ryeowook shouted from inside the kitchen.

“MANGO!” the group answered in complete agreement.

Leeteuk’s phone beeped again and ten heads turned to look at him. He smiled. “I’ll just...go to another room.”

One New Text Message From:

Taeyeonnie

Curious, he opened the message and read:

Let’s meet tomorrow.

Same ice cream shop? 8:30 pm?

Try to make it, okay?

We need to talk.

- Taengoo

Leeteuk exited out of the message and pulled up his schedule for the next day on his phone.

AM

9:00 - 11:00: Super Junior Comeback Photoshoot

12:30 - 1:00: Meeting with LSM at SME Building

PM

3:00 - 5:30: Super Junior Final Recording Session

6:30 - 8:30: SBS Star King Recording

10:00 - 1:00 (AM): KBS Cool FM Super Junior’s Kiss The Radio

He went back to the text message and began typing a reply:

I’ll be wrapping up Star King at 8:30.

Don’t worry, I’ll run like lightning. :)

- Teukie-oppa <3

SEND--Wait!

Message Sent

Leeteuk groaned inwardly. Why did he put a heart at the end of his name?

He was getting himself into a bad habit.

“Psst, whatcha doing?”

Leeteuk flinched and glanced at the doorframe. “Oh, Kyuhyun-ah...nothing.”

“Well, Wookie just finished the smoothies. Better hurry or I’ll devour yours~” Kyuhyun smirked evilly and disappeared.

Leeteuk glanced at his cell phone background and realized with a start that it was a cute picture of Taeyeon. How in the world did he not notice it before?!

He entered the living room to see everyone slurping happily.

“Hey, hyung, want a smoothie?” Ryeowook held out a glass with a straw and tiny umbrella for decoration.

“Who did this?” Leeteuk demanded, showing his cell phone screen. (The main image for the chapter is Leeteuk’s cell phone background^^)

Heechul snorted and he and Shindong both tried to contain their obnoxious laughter. Siwon looked amused and raised his eyebrows. Eunhyuk and Donghae just grinned idiotically. Ryeowook, Yesung, and Henry frowned and Zhoumi shrugged--clearly, they didn’t know. Kyuhyun didn’t even bother to look up as he was too focused with his game.

“I bet my money it was Kyuhyun.” Eunhyuk declared.

“You have no money.” Donghae frowned. “I wouldn’t be betting anything if I were you.”

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun!” Heechul called.

Kyuhyun glanced up while still pressing keys on his keyboard swiftly. “What now?”

The others stared in awe.

“Kyu, how are you doing that?” Zhoumi asked, bewildered.

“Doing what?”

“You’re playing without looking at the screen!” Ryeowook exclaimed.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “Oh, yeah. See, you guys talk so much that I needed a way to play my game while you guys interrogate me for whatever prank I pulled...or didn't pull.”

“And how long did it take you to learn how to do that?” Siwon questioned skeptically.

“Not long--I just pulled an all-nighter.” the Evil Maknae grinned.

Leeteuk shook his head. “Uh, anyways...Kyuhyun-ah, did you do this?”

Kyuhyun squinted at the screen then shook his head, snickering. “Ah, that’s genius. But no, not me.”

“Heechul?” Leeteuk asked.

“I don’t sink that low.” Heechul responded casually.

“Ryeowook?” Leeteuk turned his smoldering gaze to the seemingly innocent one.

“What?! Me?”

“Yeah, you always pull pranks!” Yesung commented, shoving the Eternal Maknae playfully.

“Well, sometimes, but...”

The leader sighed. “So it was no one here?”

“Yup.” Eunhyuk answered for everyone.

“I find that hard to believe...who else could have gotten a hold of--”

“SNSD!” Donghae shouted out. “We’ve been with them all day today.”

“When was the last time you checked your phone?” Henry asked.

“This morning, why?”

Donghae grinned triumphantly. “Then it’s possible one of the girls could’ve messed with your phone!”

“I don’t see them doing that...” Leeteuk murmured.

“Sooyoung-sshi?” Shindong guessed.

“Or maybe Hyoyeon...” Heechul suggested.

“She’s innocent!” Eunhyuk cried out defensively.

Heechul rolled his eyes. “Oh, she’s always innocent in your eyes, huh?”

“What about Jess--?” Donghae spoke up once again.

“She wouldn’t.” Heechul interrupted in a know-it-all tone.

“Well.” Donghae huffed.

Leeteuk slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Okay, at this rate, we’ll just be naming all the members. Forget it.”

“Aren’t you gonna change your background first?” Kyuhyun smiled.

“I’ll do it later.” Leeteuk replied irritably.

“See, he doesn’t mind having Taeyeon-sshi as his background.” Ryeowook whispered to Henry and Zhoumi, who were nodding in understanding.

Guess I should go to bed early. Leeteuk yawned and stretched his arms up above his head.

It’s been a long day.

Leeteuk slipped into his room quietly, savoring the peace and tranquility of his bedroom.

---

“I found it!” Siwon cheered, putting the remote down.

“Sohee?”

Siwon tossed Heechul a dirty look. “Yes, hyung, that’s exactly what I found.”

Heechul coughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I--continue?”

“Yeah, that’s totally not fanboy material.” Kyuhyun snickered, his eyes never leaving his laptop screen.

“Popular Korean idol groups, Super Junior and Girls’ Generation, held a press conference earlier today in one of SM Entertainment’s private conference rooms. The conference was limited, but many reporters and press managed to gain access and bring back interesting information.”

Siwon turned the volume up and leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands.

“Super Junior and Girls’ Generation will be having a ‘joint concert,’ a first for idol groups in Korea. These two groups will be making their comeback on the same date and holding this joint concert in Seoul to promote their new singles, yet to be revealed.”

Kyuhyun glanced up at the TV, getting interested.

“Many different scandals were discussed at the press conference, from the speculations behind Super Junior member, Eunhyuk and Girls’ Generation member, Hyoyeon dating to a photo recently discovered online by netizens of Super Junior and Girls’ Generation’s Sungmin and Sunny. The hottest topic at the conference was relating to the groups’ leaders, Leeteuk and Taeyeon.”

“Turn it up a little!” Heechul ordered.

“The two have been spotted on what fans say was a ‘date’ at the Han River a few days ago. Moreover, the leaders have been seen together interacting and their signs of affection just added to the growing flame. The pair denied any official relationship status, but Super Junior’s leader ended the press conference with words that can keep us guessing.”

The news reporter on-screen was replaced with a short clip of Leeteuk at the end of the press conference.

“The leader of Super Junior saying that there is indeed, a possibility of a relationship leads us to wonder...are Leeteuk and Taeyeon really a couple? Stay tuned.”

Siwon turned the volume down so that the sound on the TV was barely a whisper. “Well, that’s it.”

Heechul smirked. “They’re so together.”

Heyo! :) How's everyone been doing? Who else enjoyed SMTOWN Paris as much as meeeee? (Even though I didn't go, lol~)

HeeSica, HyoHyuk, SeoKyu...I'm pretty much a happy fangirl. ^_^

Some SoHeeChul in here...will Sohee make an appearance? Who knows? Wait, I know. x)

Did you guys see the poster for this story? CHECK OUT THE FOREWORD! Made by my lovely little sister. Tell me what you guys think!

Wow, this A/N is really...colorful. Kekeke.

Comments keep me going!

- Jess