''Love? are you in love?''

''nah! I am just asking. Tell me quick oppa!''

''aye fine. hmm.. love.. is.. when you smile at the thought of that person. Your heart will race when you're near that person..''

I picture the girl when Lee Teuk is describing to me how does it feel like to be in love. The sun ray that shone on her face just now when she's standing in front of me. Her brown hair seems so soft and silky. The pair of mysterious brown eyes looking directly into mine. Her skin complexion is flawless. I didn't spot any flaw on her at all. Why does she have to be so perfect?

''YAH TAEYEON!''

I jump up when Leeteuk screams at me through the phone. My phone drops onto the floor and I have to pick it up. Stupid Leeteuk.. When I hold my phone up, it shows that the call has ended. woops, i think he will question me tomorrow, but who cares. For now, I will just try and finish my essay. I won't think about any other thing. I have to have a clear mind to write the essay. I wonder how will the girl look like when she smiles.. ARGH Kim Tae Yeon you're not supposed to think about her.

My door fling open and my mother is standing there with her arms cross. ''Taeng, teukie called to ask if you're alright. what happened to you?''

Damn that Leeteuk. ''huh? nothing happened. I dropped my phone just now that's all. Don't worry so much omma. Now I have to start on my essay. Can you please leave me alone? Thanks omma, love you lots.'' I blow some kisses to my mother and she just shakes her head as she mumbles a few inaudible words.

She leaves the room and the door shuts close again. Here I am, alone in my room and thinking about the things that I am not supposed to be thinking. Why? No, if this is love, then i don't want to be in love! This is wasting my time. I still have loads of work to be done. Man, I should really start doing now.

-----------------

The next morning, I wake up feeling drained. I have no idea why am I feeling so tired. I stayed up quite late last night to complete my essay. But I still manage to get 7 hours of sleep. I look at my essay with satisfaction and put it into my bag. The topic is < Joy >

I wrote about 700+ words and it makes me feel accomplish. After I get ready for school, I leave the house quickly as I do not want my mother to ask why do I look so dead. She is very observant and claims that she always knows what I am up to when I just blink. Well, that's her.

I board the same bus everyday. Bus 189. There isn't many commuters in the morning. Everyone is still in their dreamland except for us, students. Working adults do not have to report to their workplace as early as us. I find it unfair. Why can't we all get enough sleep and wake up at anytime to go to the school.

I am feeling grouchy as I find a place to seat. What a way to start my day. Someone sits beside me and he smells. What's worse is that he even yawns without covering his mouth. I tell myself to bear with it, or change a seat. But he is so much bigger built and I can't possibly get out. Then, again, that's it, he turns to me and smiles with his ugly teeth. I roll my eyes and purse my lips as I stand up to move out. He looks at me in puzzlement but still makes way for me to get out.

Then I realise that there are many empty seats but he chose to sit beside me. That's sick. Anyway, I decided to sit further in as not many people would want to sit there. Yes, I am sensitive to strangers. I pull out my earpiece and listen to iPod like I always do. After a few more stops, the bus starts to get more crowded. I try to squeeze myself in the seat to minimise any contact with anyone.

But someone chooses to sit beside me even when I have clearly shown that Please Do Not Sit Beside Me. I know my face will have unhappiness showing all over, but like i care. I really hate to interact with other people except my friends. They just don't understand me and will judge. I look over to my right and my heart almost drops out.

It's her.

She has her hair done neatly and she's wearing a nice dress. Well, it's just a plain dress but it suits her very well. I find myself gawking at her so I decide to cut it off. I shift a little and look out of the window. I can't look at her. I must not look at her. What if she finds me weird or something? Will she slap me since she seems so unfriendly?

The bus ride is torturing me. I can't be myself. I keep fidgeting and trying my very best not to look at her. She seems to be not minding anything though. What now? Do I ask for her name? I am going to reach school soon, what if this is my only chance to ask for her name? Why isn't Nike commercial showing now? Just Do It. ARGH. Said is easier than done.

I press the bell to ask the bus to stop and I stand up with thoughts running all over my mind. This . I can't seem to concentrate on what I am doing. I almost stepped onto her shoe when I tried to move out. She looked at me with a straight face that makes me tremble a little as I think back. I am now walking to the school gate and scolding myself mentally for not asking her name. Why didn't I have the gut to do that?

If only interacting with stranger isn't hard for me. As I am pondering, someone slaps my back with a great force and I don't have to turn around to know who is the culprit. Kim Hyo Yeon. My cousin/friend. We act more like friends than cousins. I don't really know how to describe it but we don't love each other like cousins do. Sometimes, we even forget that we're relatives.

''YAH! Can you be gentler? No wonder guys are scared of you.'' I complain as I try to soothe the tingly pain on my back.

''HA! You're so tiny that's why it hurts. And guys aren't scared of me, they respect me as a noona!'' retorts Hyoyeon.

''Whatever..'' I mumble as I can't be bothered to argue with her. She's the queen of arguing and reasoning. There's no way that we can win her.

''alright. I heard from Leeteuk oppa that you asked him about love. What's up cousin! Are you in love?''

Well, news spread fast. That Leeteuk.. I bet my friends know about it now. I am prepared for more questions later on when I step into the class.

''What? I am not in love.'' I deny. Of course I deny, because I am not even sure if it is love. Maybe it is just pure admiration. Why will i be in love with a girl right? My mother will kill me. But she's really beautiful. Wait, why am I contradicting myself.

Hyoyeon gives me a skeptical look and I manage to change the topic well. She's smart but I think I am smarter. ''Hyo, you know that appa is gonna come back from London soon right?''

''Really? WOW! Then that means my appa is gonna be here soon too! I miss him soooooo much!'' She is practically jumping in joy now. Well, I don't blame her, she's actually a choding.

''yeap yeap. And that means.. we're gonna get our prezzie soon!'' I exclaim in excitement. My father has promised me that he will buy me a sound system from London and install it in my room. I have always loved singing but my room isn't soundproof, so my neighbours will complain when I sing too loud. I guess he's gonna renovate my room to make it soundproof as well!

''oh yay! I can't wait already! C'mon let's go to our class soon.'' she says and pulls me into our classroom. Our homeroom teacher is already there marking the attendance. She glimpses at us and looks back at the attendance list. I walk all the way to the end of the classroom and sit down beside Hyoyeon. Yuri turns around and hits my table twice to get my attention.

''I got cha,'' she whispers and winks at me. Darn it, didn't i tell her not to do that already. ''We will talk about it later during lunchbreak. You can't get away with it, little friend.''

I roll my eyes again, this is my usual habit when I find something annoying or just.. whatever that I don't like. ''Suit yourself.''

I dread the lunchbreak. It means tonnes of questions will be shot directly at me by my 7 friends. I am going to kill Leeteuk any sooner. He just can't keep a secret! I even told him not to tell anyone, right? Argh, i shouldn't trust him next time. Well, whatever that will happen, happens.

''So who's the person?'' asks Yuri

Right now, I am sitting down with my 7 friends crowding around me. They're all tall, except for Sunny and Hyoyeon. I shoot a hard glare at Leeteuk and he gives me an apologetic smile. I feel like smacking his face. Yoona and Sooyoung are eating as they wait for me to answer. I am not going to answer it.

Firstly, I am not in love. Secondly, I don't even know her name. Thirdly, I don't want them to tease me like how they tease Yuri when they found out about her relationship with Tiffany. I am not going to let that happen.

''there's no one.'' I reply shortly with an innocent look. I bet they don't buy it. Hyoyeon clicks her tongue in annoyance and flicks my forehead. I flinch and stare at her as I rub the red spot on my forehead. ''There's really no one!!''

''I don't believe. You think that we're stupid, don't you?'' says Yoona

I can't believe they are actually doing this to me. Hyoyeon and Sunny grab each of my arm tightly while Tiffany and Yoona grab my legs. I am trapped. There are people looking and I feel extremely embarrassed. Should I tell them? But I am not in love! Argh. This is annoying.

''Right, you're trapped now. Tell us quick.'' orders Sooyoung. She stuffs the last piece of kimbap in and chews it as she stares at me intensely. Am I a criminal or something?

''yah, y'all are too much!'' I protest. But like they care, they know that I won't do anything to ruin our precious friendship so they're taking advantage of that.

''Tell us. Why is it so difficult to tell us?'' asks Yuri

''We've been friends for so long and we haven't seen you with anyone else. You can't be bothered with guys or girls and we just want to know who is that special one so that we can help you.'' says Tiffany softly. Well, they're trying to be soft to make me let down my guards. I am not going to fall into their trap. NEVER.

''It won't work, stop it and let me go.'' I say calmly. The images of that girl flash through my mind again as they keep questioning me about who is that girl.

Ten minutes pass by with their interrogation. I am mentally tired and almost feel like giving up. Then the most emotional one in our clique grasps onto my shoulders and looks at me with her oh-so-pititful eyes. ''Taeyeon, you should not be ashamed of who you're in love with. It's just love. We understand it if it is a girl. We don't really care. We just want you to be happy. You always seem to be so lonely even when you're with us. We don't wish to see you being like that. Let us know who is she and we'll help you, alright?''

I look at Sunny in daze and i nod subconsciously. Wait, I am not nodding right? What have I done? GAH I have to slap myself to wake myself up, seriously. Sunny gives everyone a wink which probably means yeah i did it . I want to face palm myself but I am still trapped.

''So, tell us who is she.'' says Yuri patiently. I can see that she has already ran out of patience but she still pretends to be patient. You get what I mean? Patience is virtue but she's lack of it.

I bite my lower lip as I am contemplating whether to tell them or not. If I tell them, that means I am admitting that I am in love with the unknown girl. If I don't tell them, they will probably keep questioning me until I spill out who is she. The funny thing is, i don't even know her name, how am i supposed to tell my friends who is she?

''fine. It's a girl i met on the bus yesterday and today.'' I finally relent and say in defeat tone.

They gasp a little but their reactions are not that big. I guess they're suspecting that it is a girl after all. Well, it doesn't matter. We're all open-minded people. The grips on me loosen and I sit up properly as they back away.

''So we are right.. about you liking a girl.'' says Yuri and she looks at Tiffany.

I keep quiet. What's the point of explaining when you barely know the tip of the iceberg? I only know how does the girl look like. I don't even know how does her voice sound like. I am ridiculous. I am actually admitting that I am in love with the girl.

''Don't you worry. We'll help you for sure.'' states Yoona firmly and everyone nods.

I am doomed. I don't know what my friends are up to. But I am kind of thankful for them. Actually, I was wondering if I am in love with the girl when I couldn't sleep last night. That explains my drained brain and my tired body. Still, I am not going to say it out that I love a stranger girl.

''Count on me Taeng.'' says Yuri as she looks as it a scheme has devised.

TBC. I am not updating again until the next week probably? :) In the mean time, enjoy :D