When period 1 was over, Taeyeon stretched her arms as her professor left the room. She checked her phone and found a message from Yuri.

To: Tae

Meet me at our usual spot! Lunch and someone is waiting for you ^^

From: Yuri

Taeyeon felt confused. Someone is waiting for me? She tidied her things and quickly headed to her usual spot near the garden with Yuri, feeling desperate to find out who that ‘’someone’’ is.  As she approached her usual lunch spot, she saw Yuri chatting happily with a tall boy with brown hair who was sitting opposite her. Taeyeon couldn’t see the boy’s face, but she knew he was a junior as he was wearing his school uniform. Yuri spotted Taeyeon from a distance and gestured her to come over, as the boy moved his head to meet eyes with Taeyeon.

Taeyeon gulped. This junior is sure better looking than all the seniors we have in this school, she thought.

As Taeyeon finally neared the two, the boy stood up and slightly bowed.

"Nice to meet you, Noona. I've heard a lot about you."

Taeyeon was surprised, as she looked up to meet eyes with the tall boy again. "Yo-you have? Like what?"

Baekhyun grinned. He bent down a little to match Taeyeon’s height and whispered, "All the good things."
 

Yuri chuckled at the interaction between the two.

‘’Taeyeon, this is Baekhyun. As I mentioned, he’s a junior who is 3 years younger than us.’’

Baekhyun and Taeyeon continued to stare at each other and Taeyeon slightly nodded. ‘’Nice to meet you, Baekhyun-sshi.’’

‘’Noona, please drop the formalities. I am younger, after all.’’

Just then, another boy in uniform who was much taller than Baekhyun with blonde hair approached the group.

‘’Baek we can go- oh. Hello sunbaes.’’ The blonde boy slightly bowed as he noticed the two girls in casual clothes, indicating that they were seniors.

‘’Sehun-ah, you’re back. Sure, let’s go now.’’ Baekhyun turned to the girls and apologized. ‘’My friend got his book back, so I’m going to leave with him now. It was nice talking to you again, Yuri noona.’’ He stood up and smiled, as he offered his hand to Taeyeon. ‘’It was nice meeting you, Taeyeon noona. I can call you that, right?’’

For Taeyeon, it was in fact the first time someone called her noona. Unlike Yuri, she didn’t always seem too friendly to the younger ones. All the juniors in the school often thought she looked cold, so it was always just sunbae to her. Byun Baekhyun was the first.

She nodded and shook Baekhyun’s hand gently. ‘’Nice meeting you too, Baekhyun…’’ she whispered.

Baekhyun straightened up, and waved at the girls before he walked off with his friend Sehun.

‘’Tae, you look like dazed.’’

Taeyeon looked to the side as Yuri stared at her. She shook her head and blinked rapidly. ‘’No, no. I was just, stunned. Well, surprised. Not really, like-‘’

‘’Is something wrong? You don’t like Baekhyun?’’ Yuri’s eyebrows furrowed.

Taeyeon took a deep breath. ‘’No no, of course not. I mean, I don’t even know him yet. But well…he seems nice.’’ And charming. ‘’And he looks a lot older than his actual age…’’

‘’I know! I was so confused at first, I thought he was a new prefect I didn’t know about.’’ Yuri chuckled. ‘’Anyways, I got you salad since you said you’re on a diet…which is ridiculous, really.’’

Taeyeon smiled at her best friend. “Ate way too much during my time in Japan. Anyways, thanks Yul. Pay you back?’’

Yuri waved her hand. ‘’No worries. I’m going to enjoy my pasta right next to you!’’

The girls laughed, and they continued to enjoy their lunch as Yuri complained about school, but really, Taeyeon wasn’t listening. Her mind was too occupied by someone for now. Byun Baekhyun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When school finally ended, Taeyeon was heading home by herself as Yuri had dance practice with her crew. She was listening to music and humming to the tune, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Taeyeon unplugged her earphones and turned to meet eyes with Baekhyun, for the third time that day.

As Taeyeon turned around, Baekhyun broke into a wide smile. ‘’Hi Noona. Are you heading home?’’

“Ye-yes. You walk this way too?’’

‘’Oh no, I don’t live near here. I’m just heading to the mall today.’’

Taeyeon nodded. ‘’Oh, I see.’’ I thought we might live in the same neighbourhood.

Silence remained between the two of them. ‘

‘’So, you want to walk together?’’ Baekhyun was the first one to break the silence.

‘’Sure.’’ Taeyeon smiled, as she continued to walk side by side with Baekhyun.

After a few minutes of walking, the two only continued to look down and didn’t attempt to speak a word to each other.

Think of something to say, Taeyeon!

Taeyeon cleared . ‘’So what are you going to the mall for?’’ She glanced up to wait for the younger’s response.

Baekhyun rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. ‘’There’s something important I need to do…’’ he continued to look down at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing ever, at least, more interesting to look than Taeyeon.

‘’Oh…alright…’’

Baekhyun suddenly stopped walking, and Taeyeon turned to look at him with a confused face. ‘’Is something wrong?’’ she asked.

Baekhyun smiled shyly as he looked into her eyes. ‘’Taeyeon noona, can I ask a favour from you?’’