Chapter Nineteen

Seohyun watched her unnie eat with a grateful smile. “Is it good?” she asked carefully.

“Great.” Yoona said, with full.

“Unnie, swallow your food!”

Yoona swallowed and grinned cheekily. “Sorry, Seo.”

“Are you really that hungry?” Seohyun asked worriedly. “Did you eat lunch?”

Yoona didn’t answer and instead, focused on eating. She avoided Seohyun’s piercing stare and never looked up at her. As much as Yoona trusted Seohyun, she didn’t want to worry her by telling her that she had skipped lunch because she was too depressed and frustrated, and that she had went straight home without eating a proper lunch.

Yoona knew that Seohyun was particularly strict about the girls’ health. She always made sure that everyone ate right, got their proper meals, and whatnot.

“Yoona-unnie?” Seohyun tried again.

Yoona glanced up slowly and lied smoothly with a small smile. “Yeah, I did; this is just really good.”

Seohyun was unconvinced and pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Hm.”

“I did!” Yoona insisted. “Don’t worry about me.” she added, smiling more genuinely.

Seohyun accepted Yoona’s response and sighed, getting up. “Well, the rest of the unnies aren’t coming home for a while, so I’ll just go to my room.”

Yoona nodded, still smiling. “I’ll be eating~”

Seohyun laughed slightly. “Enjoy it.”

“I will!” the choding vowed, giving a small salute. Seohyun rolled her eyes at the choding and left the kitchen, making the short journey to the room she shared with Hyoyeon.

The maknae pushed open the door that was already slightly ajar. Her eyes immediately went to the walls of the room, which were decorated with many pictures and other cute things.

On Hyoyeon’s side were many pictures of her and Eunhyuk. Seohyun walked past each one, smiling every time she saw the pair making silly poses at each other, being affectionate to the other, laughing at each other, and--Seohyun was a little shocked when she saw this, because it looked new--the two kissing each other.

She quickly turned away, a bit embarrassed, and skimmed over the pictures Seohyun had seen a hundred times of her unnie with the members of SNSD.

Nothing had changed.

Over on Seohyun’s side, there were cute stickers of Keroro, small posters of Keroro, charms and toys that resembled Keroro, and many other things related to Keroro.

The young maknae was a bit obsessed with the adorable anime frog character, and she thought back to the time when she introduced Taeyeon to the cute Japanese cartoon.

Finally, Seohyun reached the small section of her room that she reserved for pictures of her with the people most important to her. There were quite a few pictures displaying her and her unnies in SNSD, as well as some of her other unnies from other groups, and her dongsaengs from f(x).

There were a couple photographs of Seohyun with Yonghwa, her husband from We Got Married. Seohyun didn’t really want to put pictures of her with her fake spouse on her wall, but her unnies had insisted.

If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that her unnies were very persistent about things surrounding Seohyun and her possible love life.

Surrounding those few photos were others of Seohyun with the members of SHINee and Super Junior. There were more of those pictures than the ones of her and Yonghwa, because Seohyun was naturally closer to them.

One particular image caught her eye instantly, one that always did; no matter how many times she would see it every day or wake up every morning to have it looking back at her face, it would always grab her attention.

It was one of the biggest pictures as well--a portrait of her and Kyuhyun from the filming for the SEOUL music video.

The two maknaes portrayed a young couple falling in love in the video, and the picture plastered on Seohyun’s wall was one taken by Jessica. The two of them were smiling up at each other sweetly, holding their respective doll heads in their hands. The doll heads were also gazing at each other, and whether that was a coincidence or not, Seohyun didn’t know.

The picture was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and completely un-posed. Jessica had captured the cute moment secretly, as Kyuhyun did not know about this picture, and neither had Seohyun--until Jessica shoved it in her face a few weeks after the filming.

Seohyun had been a bit mortified to see the picture, and not to her surprise, found it taped nicely on to her wall the next morning with the caption in permanent marker, “The lovely Maknae Couple staring at each other lovingly~”

Yuri and Jessica had confessed at breakfast that they had been the culprits in this, when Seohyun came to the table, looking seriously distressed.

“Kyuhyun and I are friends.” Seohyun had said, with a serious tone in her voice.

“Whatever you say...” Yuri muttered under her breath quietly, not wanting Seohyun to hear and start up an argument.

“Seo, you gotta admit,” Sunny smiled slightly, “That picture doesn’t look like it.” Yoona nodded in complete agreement with Sunny.

“Oh, we’re not even doing anything!” Seohyun retorted, keeping her calm. The girls all shrunk back; Seohyun was getting angry, and no one could win against the youngest member in an argument.

“He clearly likes you, though!” Jessica added with a frown. “Why can’t you just admit it?”

“Because he doesn’t,” Seohyun said coolly, folding her arms.

“You’re being stubborn!” the blonde Ice Princess exclaimed.

“How do you know?” Taeyeon questioned the maknae, joining the dispute. “Have you asked him lately?” she inquired with a smug smile.

Seohyun responded immediately. “Why would you ask someone something like that? And anyways, if I did, I already know his answer. He’d say that we’re just friends.”

“Then let’s ask him right now!” Hyoyeon suggested, grabbing her cell phone off of the kitchen counter.

“Girls, let’s stop.” Tiffany went over to Seohyun’s side and gave the maknae’s shoulders a squeeze. “Seo and Kyuhyun-oppa are just friends.” she winked subtly at the others.

They all sighed, nodding, shrugging, and grumbling, which was their way of admitting defeat. Yet another lost argument to Seohyun...

“Thank you, Tiffany-unnie.” Seohyun murmured, nodding her head appreciatively.

Tiffany eye-smiled at Seohyun. “It’s nothing.”

Seohyun blinked hard a few times and came back to reality, emerging from her flashback.

She traced her fingers around the edges of the picture--it all felt like it was just yesterday. Time was moving so quickly now, that there was barely time to breathe. With SNSD’s comeback quickly approaching, there were photoshoots, radio shows, and interviews that needed to be done. She couldn’t forget about the concert, of course.

“Nine days...” Seohyun whispered to herself.

What would happen in nine days?

How many more problems would arise in this short amount of time?

---

Leeteuk and Sungmin ambled into the 12th floor’s dorm--the door was unlocked, and that could only mean that Heechul was the only one home. He was always a careless person, never paying attention to small things like locking the door.

Leeteuk contemplated whether or not to scold the member for being so careless; what if a fan had entered their dorm? What if burglars invaded their home?

“Heechul-ah!” Leeteuk called, remembering that he was here for Sungmin.

Heechul appeared in front of them after a few moments, coming from the direction of the kitchen. “What now?” he asked, slightly annoyed. “I’m starving and--”

He noticed Sungmin standing next to Leeteuk, looking anxious. “Oh, Sungmin, what are you doing here?”

Leeteuk put his hands on Sungmin’s shoulders, smiling. The two looked like Father and Son in that kind of pose. “Our Sungmin is going on a date tonight.”

Sungmin’s eyes widened considerably and he coughed. “I’m what?!”

Heechul clapped excitedly, laughing. “This is great! Sunny, right?”

Sungmin glared. “Why do you always just assume that--”

“Right,” Leeteuk said, cutting Sungmin off.

Sungmin looked up Leeteuk, mystified. “He’s right?”

“I’m always right!” Heechul flicked Sungmin in the forehead and rolled his eyes, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

“Sure,” Leeteuk said, rolling his eyes at the eye-roller. “Anyway, this is a very important date for Sungmin, Heechul-ah.”

“Can’t you tell me what’s going on?” Sungmin pleaded.

“Later,” Leeteuk promised with a small nod, turning back to Heechul. “So get him ready and stuff, got it?”

Heechul grabbed Sungmin from Leeteuk and shrugged. “How much time do I have?”

Leeteuk whipped out his phone and clicked a few buttons, going through his messages. He had a text from Taeyeon somewhere, he knew.

He skimmed over the message before finally answering. “An hour and a half...technically, an hour, because I’ll need to fill Sungmin in before he leaves.”

Heechul nodded and spun Sungmin around, inspecting the younger member from head to toe. Sungmin glanced at Heechul, a bit excited and a bit nervous and scared all at the same time.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you, Heechul.” Leeteuk patted Heechul on the back and strode towards the door.

“You’re leaving?” Sungmin asked, as Heechul began dragging him from the room. “Where are you going?”

“I have my own things to take care of, Sungmin.” Leeteuk replied with a mysterious smile. “Now go get ready for your date!”

Hearing a groan emit from Sungmin, Leeteuk stepped out of the dorm. He turned to his left, to make sure no one was following or stalking him. He glanced to his right, and jumped, seeing Taeyeon giving him a weird look.

“Are you scared of me?” Taeyeon joked, giggling.

“No, you just startled me.” Leeteuk corrected, running to catch up with Taeyeon as she began walking away. “Where are you going?”

“Where were you going?” Taeyeon asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Just going to see you,” Leeteuk grinned, pinching Taeyeon’s nose.

Taeyeon scrunched up her nose and laughed loudly. “Well, I was going to find you!”

“Aww, Taeyeonnie was looking for me.” Leeteuk said teasingly, ruffling the younger leader’s hair warmly.

Taeyeon smacked Leeteuk’s hand away. “Yah, yah, you’re always messing up my hair!” she stuck out her lower lip in a cute pout.

“I only do that to you because you’re special.” Leeteuk smiled, taking Taeyeon’s hand and starting to stroll down the sidewalk.

Taeyeon snorted. “And what movie did you get that cheesy line out of?”

Leeteuk looked offended. “None! I got it from myself.”

Taeyeon held her head back and laughed noisily to the sky. She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. “Oh, you’re funny, oppa.”

Leeteuk rolled his eyes, but was smiling widely. He didn’t really mind if Taeyeon laughed at him--it just meant that he was the one making her laugh and that was more than enough to bring a smile to his face.

“But aren’t you the special one?” Taeyeon countered, smiling playfully.

“Why, just because my stage name means that?” Leeteuk was still all smiles. It was hard for him to get that ridiculous grin off of him when he was around Taeyeon.

Taeyeon flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “Aish, forget it--you’re difficult.”

And together, they burst out into uncontrollable laughter, for no reason at all. They stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and clutched their stomachs, laughing so hard that tears were spilling out. After a few moments, Taeyeon leaned against the stone wall surrounding a random house and held her face in between her hands.

“Oh, my face hurts from laughing so hard...”

Leeteuk pinched her cheeks. “You have some very chubby cheeks, Taeyeonnie.”

“Ouch!” Taeyeon held her hands over her cheeks again. “That hurts~”

“Sorry.” Leeteuk smiled apologetically and removed her hands, taking one of them and resuming their casual stroll through the neighborhood.

They walked on in peaceful silence, each one enjoying the other’s company, but not expressing it out loud. Their hands were intertwined, and it was like they were meant to be held together.

Leeteuk glimpsed at Taeyeon out of the corner of his eye and saw her staring around at everything--the tress, the birds, the sky, the path, the houses...

He chuckled quietly to himself; Taeyeon was such a curious and interesting girl.

Then he heard it--click!

He jerked his head around, looking every which way to locate the source of the clicking sound. Taeyeon followed Leeteuk’s actions, confused. Once a few moments passed and the noise did not return, Taeyeon spoke up in a quiet whisper.

“What was that?”

“You heard it, too, huh?” Leeteuk grit his teeth together. “I think it’s just paparazzi or something.”

“Oh, well, that’s okay.” Taeyeon smiled lightly. “I don’t care.”

Leeteuk gripped Taeyeon’s hand tighter and sighed softly, smiling down at her.

“I don’t either.”

---

“This is itchy.”

“Stop whining; this is all for Sunny, remember?”

Sungmin grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as Heechul was using a lint roller and getting off any lint, dust, or hair on Sungmin’s outfit.

“Hyung, stop--that feels weird!” Sungmin objected rather loudly, wriggling away from Heechul.

“Aish, I’m doing this for you!” Heechul retorted angrily, rolling the lint roller faster over the gray jacket.

Sungmin winced and squirmed, feeling violated. “Hyung~”

“Almost done,” Heechul grunted, not paying much attention to Sungmin’s whines, moans, and complaints.

“I don’t need to be all dressed up.” Sungmin said grumpily.

“It’s a fancy restaurant. Don’t they have dress codes?” Heechul asked aloud, a bit unsure himself.

“You still don’t need to go through all this trouble...”

Heechul snickered. “Oh, you’ll thank me when tomorrow, you and Sunny are all lovey-dovey and kissing--”

“HYUNG!” Sungmin roared, feeling humiliated. He covered his ears. “Stop saying weird things!”

“Fine, fine, suit yourself...” Heechul mumbled with a typical roll of his eyes. He turned Sungmin around so Sungmin could see himself in the mirror.

“Are you ready?” Heechul pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. “You have fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, which is more than enough.”

“No, I’m not ready!” Sungmin sputtered. “I don’t even know what’s going on!”

“Well, I did what I was supposed to do, so figure it out yourself.” Heechul said lazily, ambling out of the bathroom in a supposedly cool way.

Sungmin scoffed, rolling his eyes at his hyung. He took one last glance at himself in the mirror and inhaled a big breath of air.

“This is for Sunny...for Sunny. You...love Sunny.” Sungmin said, the words spilling out of his mouth. He found himself smiling at his reflection as he said those words.

“I knew it.” Heechul smirked, poking his head back into the bathroom.

Sungmin shouted in surprise and pushed the door, closing it on Heechul’s face.

“...I still knew it.” Heechul said from the other side of the door, his voice a bit muffled.

COMMENT REPLIES!

@lingericious: Maybe, possibly, keke. :) Yeah, Taengoo ftw! <3 Hehe.

@kyufever: Aren't they? :D Yes, Donghae's a bit...er, confused, haha, but all will be revealed--he's NOT actually the bad guy! ;) And if you look at the relationship map in Chapter 20, it shows that Siwon MAYBE likes Yoong. :) Uwahh, thankyou so much! You're an awesome commenter, Fitri! <3

@shalalapaula: I just call it a love polygon now, haha, I can't even remember the numbers. x) Updated! Thanks so much for commenting as always~

@StrawberryFantasy: Yes, he does! Haha, sis, I love your long comments. :3 HECK YESHH, SUNSUN'S GONNA BE TOGETHER. <3 Woopwoop! :D I would, but how the heck would Key fit into this? O__O Oh, Key...is that a compliment, sis? Hehe, I'm taking it as one...OH YEAH! Still, they love each other, right? :D

@chococcino30: Onew's just a bit shy, hehe. :)

@HaeSica4ever: Aw, I'm so sorry. :( Sica will get a happy ending, that's for sure!

@Tikatikolala: Thanks for the comment, Tika-unnie! :D <3 Yes, it only gets more complicated from here, hehe. The drama is actually JUST beginning^^

@cutieyzza: Sica's heart is so pure. :) YulSic ftw! <3 Hehe, thanks! I like making it so the readers don't know which pairings will be together; makes it all the more dramatic. x) Thankyou sooo much for your comment~ <3

@isabelle: Awhh, thanks so much then. (: <3 Yeah, everyone's wondering. Lol, I'm gonna keep everyone guessing for a while. x)

@chinkyasian: OLIVIA! :D Aw, thankyou, my friennndd. <3

@sonelforever: I tried to put some SeoKyu in this--it's a bit indirect though, hope that's okay. :)

@QueeeenB: MY PRECIOUS OTP~ ♥

@RippledOcean: Haha, yes, it was! Felt like centuries, lol. Updated! Aw, saranghaeyo, Clo! (: Btw, I loveloveLOVE your comment for Chapter 20. :D Made me all grinny, hehe. <3

@SuGenLover: Thanks so much, Hyewon-unnie! ^_^ Yeah, Sica's really truly kind. (: Aw, thankyou for loving my story~

@StarryKelly: OMG, Sandeul and Ming DO look alike! xD Hey, I didn't know you were a fan of B1A4. :D I love them! <3

@KathyXVII: Yes, her heart is made of gold^^ Hehe. Thank you for supporting this story, I really appreciate it! :D Updated~

And thanks for voting everybody! It's now officially over. :) Also, thanks for the nice comments about the relationship map and just THANK YOU for your awesome comments! Really, you guys make me smile. :)

BONUS: Does anyone know where that cute TaeTeuk gif is from? ;D

One more thing--check out this new story of mine? :)

A Hundred Ways to Love ♥

Coming up, next time...

*Taeyeon's plan gets put into action.

*SunSun? :)

*Hyoyeon commences her plan for HaeSica...

*Taeyeon and Onew talk...about what?

*Siwon's perspective on the love polygon.

Just thought this might psych you guys up for the next chapter. :) Does it?

- Jessica