Chapter Twenty-One

Taeyeon was very lucky. There was one bus that was passing by, having dropped off their last passenger and wanting to return home. Recognizing Taeyeon as a famous idol and also as the leader of a popular girls’ group, the driver agreed to take Taeyeon to her destination, and would then be on his way.

Thankfully, Taeyeon had the entire bus to herself, once she got on. She moved to a seat somewhere in the middle of the vehicle, where she was well-hidden and folded her arms, feeling a bit chilly from the air conditioning. Outside the windows, the traffic was still quite busy, as lines of cars streamed by on the roads, always moving. It was nearing 9:00 now, and Taeyeon wanted nothing more than to just close her eyes and drift off to sleep. She reminded herself that she was riding public transportation though, and jolted awake quickly.

“Taeyeon-sshi,” the male driver spoke up in a calm and soft voice, “Where would you like me to stop?”

Realizing that she hadn’t given the driver a destination, she flushed. “There’s a Starbucks a few blocks away from the SM Entertainment building--”

The man steering the bus veered left smoothly, cutting in front of a few cars to get ahead. “Yes, I know precisely where that is.”

“Thank you,” Taeyeon said politely, nodding her head and beaming back at the bus driver.

“So are you off to meet that one fellow...?” the aged man kept one hand on the wheel and used the other to rub his chin thoughtfully. “The one you’re dating, from Super Junior, Leeteuk?”

Taeyeon smiled delicately to herself, playing with her hands in her lap. “Ah, no, not him--I’m just meeting a friend.”

“I see, I see,” the bus driver simply smiled at Taeyeon through the overhead mirror. “You two are quite the couple.”

“Oh, no, we’re not really--” Taeyeon stammered out, stumbling over her words, and waving her hands wildly.

“Quite different from other couples of your age,” he continued, apparently not hearing Taeyeon’s stuttering. “My granddaughter just loves you two.”

Taeyeon’s eyes lit up appreciatively at the comment. “Does she really? I’m sure she’s a very pretty girl!”

The elderly driver chuckled and grinned. “She says that she wants to grow up and find true love like you, Taeyeon-sshi.”

A pang of guilt stabbed Taeyeon in the pit of her stomach and she tried to smile normally at the kind grandpa. “O-Oh, does she now?”

He simply nodded, pulling the brakes on the bus to a gentle and slow halt. “Here’s your stop.”

Feeling relieved and thankful that the conversation was over, Taeyeon thanked the driver with a deep bow and paid him for his services, even though he insisted against it. She hopped off of the bus and waved as the unnamed driver drove off into the pitch-black of the night. Taeyeon’s eyes darted left and right and she realized that not many people were out and about. She quickly crossed the street and walked straight into Starbucks.

Taeyeon was holding her breath once she was inside the warm, comfortable coffee shop. Her eyes darted around quickly, observing the scene. There weren’t too many people - only the random businessman sitting in the corner, typing away on his laptop and the two older women sitting near the window, having a hushed conversation.

“Taeyeon!”

“Leeteuk?” Taeyeon whirled around on her heels, meeting the confused eyes of Onew.

“Uh, no--were you expecting him?” Onew laughed awkwardly.

“No, no, I just--” Taeyeon bit her lip, at a loss for words. “I didn’t mean to - let’s sit?”

Onew smiled and nodded, walking to the back of the coffee shop. He pulled out Taeyeon’s chair for her, and the girl returned the smile back, happy at the small gesture. Once the two friends were both seated, a tall, dark-haired woman sped over to them, beaming disarmingly at them.

Taeyeon immediately noted that she was probably a huge Shawol, from the admiring looks she gave to Onew. Rolling her eyes a bit, Taeyeon asked for just a regular coffee, and Onew, the same.

The waitress nodded her head enthusiastically. “I’ll be right back with your orders!” she uttered out in a high-pitched, airy voice. She zoomed off to attend to someone else, her entire form wobbling.

“Fangirl,” Taeyeon grinned.

Onew laughed half-heartedly. “I could tell.”

---

“I’m nervous,” Sungmin mumbled, wringing his clammy hands over and over again.

“Obviously,” Kyuhyun snickered.

Sungmin was about to retort, when Leeteuk stopped him. “Just take a deep breath. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Sungmin repeated calmly.

“She’s coming in ten seconds.” Leeteuk whispered.

“What?” Sungmin spluttered incredulously, coming out of his calm stupor.

“Good luck,” Kyuhyun smirked, patting his hyung on the back.

“Get back to Seohyun right now,” Leeteuk pointed fiercely. “You two are supposed to be a couple.”

“Is that what’s going on?” Sungmin smirked this time, as Kyuhyun returned to his table.

Leeteuk cleared his throat loudly and hissed, “She’s coming.”

Sungmin’s eyes widened in horror as he spotted the petite brunette enter the room. He had no time to panic or call for help, because she locked eyes with him almost immediately. She smiled cheerfully and waved, strutting towards him. Sungmin waved awkwardly back, trying his best to appear casual.

“Sungmin, what are you doing here?” Sunny asked, standing behind the empty chair across from the anxious male.

“Um, just,” Sungmin thought quickly on the spot and smiled, “Watching Kyuhyun and Seohyun.”

He glanced behind him and Sunny’s eyes followed naturally.

“They’re dating?” Sunny asked, with mild surprise evident in her voice.

“Yeah,” Sungmin answered eventually, knowing that he was fabricating a fib.

Sunny giggled, “Well, that’s something I did not know.”

“Why don’t you sit down, Sunny-ah?” Sungmin offered politely, getting up to pull the other chair out.

“Oh, I’m actually supposed to meet Taeyeon,” Sunny responded, shaking her head.

“She’s not here though, she...” Sungmin trailed off and brainstormed another lie.

“She went out with Leeteuk-hyung.”

“She did?” Sunny echoed, confused.

“Mhm,” Sungmin motioned for Sunny to sit down, smiling.

“I guess I could sit here for a bit,” Sunny smiled back lightly, sinking down into the lavish chair.

Sungmin went back around to his seat and plopped down onto it, his smile never leaving his features. As Sunny smoothed her skirt out, a man who was dressed in chic black and white attire and looked to be in his early 30’s sidled up to their table. He set down two menus with deep red covers and smiled pleasantly.

“Good evening, my name is Sang Kyu, and I’ll be your waiter tonight. To start, what would you like to drink?”

Sunny flipped the menu open and perused its contents, peeking at Sungmin for a brief second. “You can order for me, Sungmin.”

“Could I offer you two with a selection of our finest wine, for tonight?” Sang Kyu interjected.

“That would be great,” Sungmin responded happily.

“Wonderful, I’ll be right with you to take your orders soon,” Sang Kyu bowed a little and retreated to the kitchen area.

Sunny smoothed the cream-colored skirt of her dress and pulled her brunette locks over her shoulders. Sungmin glanced up from the menu and smiled softly. Sunny caught his eyes and started to form a curious smile.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Sungmin shrugged nonchalantly, “You just look beautiful.”

Sunny wrinkled her nose. “Really? You don’t need to lie to me.”

She held up a piece of pin-straight hair, the piece that Sooyoung neglected to curl. “Look at this!”

“I’m giving you a compliment, Sunny!” Sungmin huffed, “Besides, have I ever cared how your hair looks?”

“If I shaved my head?” Sunny teased.

“I wouldn’t care,” Sungmin answered honestly. “Come on, our friendship is more than that.”

“What if I dyed my hair bright pink?” the petite brunette countered.

Sungmin grinned and said half-jokingly, half-seriously, “I’d be in love.”

Sunny let out a sigh, picking up the menu and skimming her eyes through it once more, carelessly. “You’re too nice, Sungmin.”

“Only for you,” he mumbled, barely audible.

Sunny made no movement, leading Sungmin to think that his comment went unnoticed. Sungmin drummed his fingers on the table, cursing himself mentally for even blurting such things.

“Your drinks,” their waiter, Sang Kyu, appeared once again, placing two wine glasses in the center of the table.

“Thank you,” Sungmin and Sunny said together.

“And now, what would you like to order?” Sang Kyu clicked his black gel pen and had a small notepad in his right hand.

“I’ll have the Chicken Teriyaki.” Sungmin decided, handing the deep red menu to Sang Kyu.

“And for you, Miss?”

Sunny bit her lip hesitantly. “Sungmin-oppa, I don’t want to be a burden or anything.”

Sungmin waved his hand and shook his head. “When are you ever a burden to me, Sunny? Just pick something, I’ll treat you.”

“I’ll have the same,” Sunny said finally, as Sang Kyu recorded the orders and collected up the menus, heading back to the kitchen area.

“I’m paying for myself, you know,” Sunny told Sungmin, taking a small sip of her wine, “When we get the bill.”

“Not gonna happen,” Sungmin retorted with a cute smirk.

“Whatever you say,” Sunny rolled her eyes, giving herself another taste of the wine.

“Then that settles it, right?”

“Stop being a gentleman,” Sunny pouted.

“Only if you stop your ridiculous aegyo, SoonKyu,” Sungmin shook his head, feigning disappointment.

“That wasn’t aegyo!”

“Okay, SoonKyu.”

“It’s Sunny.”

“You’re SoonKyu to me,” Sungmin smiled, knowing he won the fight.

---

“What’s Sunny-unnie up to?” Seohyun murmured aloud, trying to spy on the couple by peeking around Kyuhyun’s head.

“She’s on a date with Sungmin,” Kyuhyun said blatantly.

Seohyun pretended like she didn’t hear Kyuhyun’s witty comment and kept staring at Sunny, since Sungmin’s back was to her.

“Are you still mad at me?” Kyuhyun asked, not tearing his gaze away from Seohyun.

“I’m not mad,” Seohyun said carefully in a clipped tone.

“I already apologized,” Kyuhyun reasoned.

“And you honestly think I’ll be fine just because you said sorry?” Seohyun snapped, appearing extremely out of character.

“Well, what do you want me to do, Seohyun? We can move on if you accept my apology, because I can’t really do anything else but say sorry.” Kyuhyun ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

Seohyun opened , about to retort, but closed it just as quickly. She stayed silent, twirling strands of noodles onto her fork to distract herself from her own bubbling anger. She was usually able to control her emotions well, but she felt like she was at her limits, her breaking point.

“I am sorry, Seo,” Kyuhyun repeated, more sincerely this time.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not; you’re lying.”

Seohyun exhaled slowly through her nose, obviously trying to keep her calm. “I’m accepting your apology like you wanted me to, Kyuhyun-oppa.”

“You’re not being honest though.”

“You want me to be honest then?” Seohyun’s eyes went up to Kyuhyun’s.

“Yonghwa-sshi was,” she stopped to correct herself, “Is one of the people who care for me most. You really can’t expect me to sit here silently, while you insult someone I treasure so much. You don’t know him like I do, oppa, so how can you say those things about him?”

Kyuhyun was speechless, not realizing that his little “joke” could have been blown so out of proportion. He didn’t realize that Yonghwa was such a touchy subject that it could anger the usually calm and angelic Seohyun, to this extent. He had nothing against Yonghwa in reality. At least, he didn’t think so. It was true; Seohyun’s fake ex-husband had never been cruel or malicious to Kyuhyun. They only talked on one occasion, and Yonghwa had been polite.

Yet Kyuhyun felt like ripping the man’s throat out, for no apparent reason at all.

“There, I told you,” Seohyun uttered quietly under her breath.

“I’m sorry,” Kyuhyun mumbled for the last time.

---

Taeyeon slipped through the front door stealthily, her head turning left and then right. She let out the smallest of sighs, relieved that the manager was nowhere in sight. She crept down the hallway, poking her head into the manager’s room, but it was empty.

Hopefully, Taeyeon prayed, he would never know that the leader snuck out, against orders. Recently, he took away Taeyeon’s restrictions against leaving the dorm late at night. Now, she was permitted to go out, only if she was going to be with Leeteuk.

Leeteuk.

Where was he? Taeyeon frowned, thinking for a bit.

Making a mental note to remind herself to text or call him later, Taeyeon set out in search of her members. The room closest to the front door was the room she shared with Sunny, but she knew where Sunny was. Next was Hyoyeon and Seohyun’s room. Taeyeon remembered that Seohyun was out, as well. Poking her head in without knocking, Hyoyeon was nowhere in sight. Narrowing her eyebrows, she continued on to Tiffany’s room.

She heard the faint hum of the TV and knocked twice. “Fany, you in there?”

The sound of feet shuffling to the door registered in Taeyeon’s ears, and eventually, she met Tiffany’s unusually drained-looking face.

“Hi, Taeng,” Tiffany smiled palely, opening the door wider.

“Tiffany, are you okay?” Taeyeon pushed Tiffany back into the room and shut the door, guiding the frail girl to her bed.

“I think I’m just sick, why?” Tiffany crawled under the covers and took a tissue from the tissue box on her lap, blowing her nose loudly.

“How did you get sick?” Taeyeon questioned worriedly. “Tiffany, you rarely ever get sick...”

The girl shrugged, rubbing her hands together. “I just have a cold, it’s no big deal.”

“Nothing’s a big deal to you anymore,” Taeyeon walked around the room, picking up wrappers, dirty clothes, tissues, and other trash.

“Why is your room so messy?”

Tiffany shrugged again and Taeyeon rolled her eyes, her hands already full with worthless things. “Just sleep, and hopefully, it blows over in the morning.”

“Okay,” Tiffany obliged, lying down.

Taeyeon clicked the TV off and flicked the light switch, letting the darkness fill the room. “Sleep well.”

“Thanks, Taeyeon.”

Dumping the garbage in the dining room’s trash can, the leader trooped off to Yoona and Yuri’s room, finding the door slightly ajar. It was pitch-black through the crack of the door, and completely soundless. Concluding that the two girls were probably sleeping, Taeyeon headed off in pursuit of her other members.

On her way to Sooyoung and Jessica’s shared room, she ran into the tall shikshin herself. Sooyoung’s arms were full with chips, cookies, Pocky, and beverages.

“Oh, hi, Taeyeon,” Sooyoung grinned cheekily, trying to wave, but ultimately failing.

“Are you eating all of that?” Taeyeon raised an eyebrow. “That’s a lot, even for you!”

“There’s an Oh! My Lady marathon,” Sooyoung stuck her lower lip out. “That’s one of my favorite dramas, you know that!”

“How long does it last?” Taeyeon muttered, knowing that it was nearing midnight.

“All night,” Sooyoung chirped cheerfully.

“Fine, but it’s not my fault if you’re dead in the morning,” Taeyeon shooed a delighted Sooyoung off and began to turn away.

“Wait, Sooyoung!”

“Yes?” Sooyoung spun around, already munching on a chip.

“Where’s Hyoyeon?”

“With her boyfriend,” Sooyoung rolled her eyes, emphasizing the last word.

“She’d get in so much trouble if the manager found out that she was constantly sneaking out to see him! She’s so lucky that I lie for her, and that I’m good at it.”

Taeyeon cracked a smile. “Okay, and Jessica...?”

“Balcony,” Sooyoung nodded her head towards the closed double doors.

“Thanks,” Taeyeon waved Sooyoung off. “Have fun with your marathon!”

“Oh, I will. I am set,” Sooyoung smirked.

Taeyeon laughed a bit, and turned back around, taking long strides to the big balcony. Pushing the doors open gently, she instantly spotted Jessica standing at the edge, holding on to the railing. She wasn’t making any movement and wasn’t doing much, except standing.

“It’s kind of cold out here,” Taeyeon rubbed her arms, dismayed that she was only wearing a T-shirt. “Are you okay, Sica?”

“Yeah, I’m not cold,” Jessica smiled faintly.

“Not that,” Taeyeon persisted. “Are you seriously okay?”

“Honest?

“Honest.”

“No.”

Taeyeon nodded understandingly. “It’s okay, if you’re not okay. I’m just glad you could admit it.”

Jessica snorted. “I’d be okay if Donghae wasn’t such an--”

“Alright, um, let’s not use those kinds of words,” Taeyeon chuckled nervously.

“He’s so damn stupid,” Jessica blurted. “I hate him.”

“You don’t.”

“Which is why, I hate myself,” Jessica muttered, clearly distraught.

“Donghae’s,” Taeyeon paused, searching for the right word, “Confused. He’s confused about a lot of things right now.”

“Do you know what he’s not confused about? The only thing he’s not confused about?”

Taeyeon shook her head and Jessica breathed in deeply, before speaking. “The one thing Donghae is absolutely sure of is that he loves Tiffany, with all his heart.”

“Jessica,” Taeyeon started, not quite sure of what to say for comfort.

“What am I supposed to do, Taeyeon?” Jessica asked in a whisper, sounding helpless.

Instead of responding with words of wisdom, Taeyeon leaned over and hugged Jessica with one arm, tightly. “I don’t know, Jessica.”

“Really, I don’t think I know anything about anything anymore.”

---

“Onew-hyung,” Minho greeted from the dining room, slurping ramen noodles.

Onew grinned, but stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the disturbing sight in the living room. “Guys...?”

“They’ve been cuddling for hours, watching Disney movies.” Taemin winced at the scene before them.

Jonghyun and Key had a light pink Hello Kitty blanket enveloping the two of them on a small couch. Aladdin was playing quite loudly, and Jonghyun’s head was currently on Key’s shoulder. The bizarre pair made random remarks throughout the movie and aww-ed at the cute, but cliché moments.

“I’m not really surprised,” Minho commented with a shrug.

“I’m going to bed now; I’m tired.” Taemin yawned, trudging past the kitchen.

“Goodnight, Min,” Minho patted the maknae’s head, who smiled appreciatively.

“Oh, Onew-hyung!”

Onew recognized the voice instantly as Key’s and entered the living room warily. “How’s the movie?”

“Why would you lie to Jasmine, Aladdin?” Jonghyun shouted at the screen. “What an idiot!”

“Calm down, Jonghyun,” Key ordered irritably. “Okay, Onew; how was your date?”

“It wasn’t a date!” Onew replied, flustered.

“Uh-huh,” Key rolled his eyes, throwing the blanket off of him.

“It’s cold!” Jonghyun whined.

“You complain so much! Just go turn on the heat!” Key shouted obnoxiously.

“You do it!”

“You’re the one who’s cold!”

In all of the bickering, Onew held his breath and slipped away, dashing madly to his room and miraculously not slipping and falling on his face. He penetrated the darkness of his bedroom and slipped under the covers without ever turning any lights on. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he noticed he had quite a few unread text messages.

He would read them later, he decided.

---

“Donghae’s gone!”

“Why are you whispering?” Hyoyeon smacked Eunhyuk on the arm. “And why does it matter if he went to the bathroom?”

“I have a plan,” Eunhyuk said slowly, wearing a goofy grin.

Hyoyeon’s face brightened up. “You have the same plan as me?”

“For Donghae and--”

“Yeah!”

“Hey, that’s awesome! We can work together then.” Eunhyuk gave the blonde girl a little high-five. “I just hate seeing him miserable.”

“I hate seeing both of them miserable.” Hyoyeon corrected.

“Right; what are we going to do then?” Eunhyuk wondered aloud.

“Not sure yet, but I’ll think of something.” Hyoyeon stood up.

Eunhyuk frowned. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Hyoyeon laughed. “I’ll get in so much trouble if anyone knows I was here.”

“No one will know,” Eunhyuk huffed selfishly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hyoyeon inched towards him with her arms outstretched for a hug, and he quickly unfolded his arms, wrapping them around her warmly. “Stop whining; I see you every day.”

“That’s not enough,” Eunhyuk mumbled.

“Are you pouting, Hyukjae?” Hyoyeon moved away from him, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

“No,” he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Err...”

“Oh, Donghae!” Eunhyuk called. “Did you go pee?”

Donghae chuckled. “Yeah, I did. Hyo, are you leaving?”

Hyoyeon nodded, picking up her jacket and slipping her arms through the sleeves.

“Wait, I should walk you home!” Eunhyuk suggested.

“And if we get caught walking together?” Hyoyeon had to sigh at her ridiculous boyfriend.

“We won’t,” Eunhyuk said, positively.

“We will,” Hyoyeon zipped up her gray hoodie. “And you know we will. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Are you guys gonna kiss now?” Donghae slapped his hands over his eyes, counting the seconds that went by.

“Donghae, you’re so cute!” Hyoyeon giggled.

“WHAT?” Eunhyuk gaped.

“You’re cuter, so shut up.”

“If you say so...”

“Bye, guys,” Hyoyeon waved to the two boys, walking briskly out of the dorm.

“You’re sick,” Donghae smirked.

Eunhyuk cocked his head to the side. “I feel fine.”

“Not that kind of sick, dude,” Donghae patted his best friend’s shoulder, “The love kind of sick.”

Keep talking, Donghae. I just hope Hyoyeon thinks of a plan to get Donghae and Tiffany together soon.

First, here's an update, before I hit the two-month mark of no updates! Yay~

Thanks for 140+ subscribers for this story, it means SO MUCH!

This chapter is 3500+ words, I hope this makes up for everything?

This is getting so difficult to write. XD Btw, SHINee will not be returning. They only made a guest appearance because I had this game and someone won and requested JongKey in this chapter, so yeah.

Last thing: I won't be replying to comments in the update anymore. It takes SO much time. And I'd have over 50 comments to reply to right now. Between the last update and now, I got over 50 comments. O.o

THANK YOU THOUGH! <3

To my new readers, welcome! To my other loyal, faithful subscribers, I love you!

Oh, and also, no image for this 'cause it's like 5:00 in the morning, AM, and I have a headache and I'm tired as heck. My updating habits . .__. Anyways, I'll add an image later and also edit this chapter. I just know it's riddled with mistakes. .__.

Enjoy~ Comments make me happy.