I know it has been quite some time since I updated and I apologize.

I have been on the east coast for ten days so I have been unable to access the internet….

Anyway thanks for all of your support and comments 

It really means a lot to me

Hope this chapter is good!

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With only four days left until the competition, Hyoyeon walked down the hallway to the dance practice room. Her palms were sweating as nerves were filling her stomach.  The competition was really only four days away.  Meaning after today, she only has two more practice days to perfect her routine even more. 

She walked into the room to find Donghae and Kyuhyun stretching on the floor while Sungmin and Sunny were talking a few feet away.  Leeteuk was nowhere to be found.

“Where is Leeteuk?” asked Hyoyeon.  She then set her gym bag against the wall and began to stretch out her arms.

“He said he was going to be a little late,” said Donghae.

“Yeah, he is bringing his girlfriend here,” said Sungmin.

“Girlfriend?” asked Sunny.  Hyoyeon then remembered the first day of practice how Leeteuk mentioned that he had a girlfriend.

“Why is he bringing his girlfriend?” asked Sunny.

“Because she has participated in this competition in the past and knows all the rules and stuff. He thought it would be a good idea to have her explain everything you need to know about the competition,” said Kyuhyun as he stood up from the floor.

“I see,” said Hyoyeon.

“When is he going to be back?” asked Sunny.  A three of them just shrugged their shoulders.

“Well, we should probably get started without him,” said Hyoyeon.   

“Sungmin, why don’t you work with Sunny today while Donghae and I work with Hyoyeon,” said Kyuhyun.  Everyone nodded their heads and went to their spot of the room. 

“Feeling nervous yet?” Kyuhyun asked Hyoyeon.

“Yeah, I am.” 

“You have nothing to feel nervous about Hyoyeon, you are a great dancer,” said Donghae.

“Thanks, but I still feel extremely nervous.”  Kyuhyun opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening.  Leeteuk entered the room with a girl next to him.  She was very pretty with a bright smile and short bouncy hair.  Her eyes sparkled as she bowed and greeted everyone.

“Hyoyeon, Sunny, I want you two to meet my girlfriend, Taeyeon,” said Leeteuk.  Sunny stepped forward and smiled brightly at Taeyeon.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Sunny.” Hyoyeon then stepped forward and bowed to the girl in greeting.

“I’m Hyoyeon.”  Taeyeon smiled at both of them and nodded her head.

“I’m very glad to meet both of you.  I hear that you both are great dancers,” said Taeyeon.

“Taeyeon is also a dancer as well,” said Leeteuk.

“Really, you can dance too?” asked Sunny.  Taeyeon nodded her head.

“She is also a great singer as well,” added Donghae.

“Really?” asked Sunny and Taeyeon nodded her head once more.

“Yep, it’s true.  She can sing extremely well,” said Sungmin. 

“Come on, you guys are making me blush,” said Taeyeon as she looked away with a small smile on her face.

“Maybe you can help give me some pointers about my singing,” said Sunny as she continued to smile brightly.

“Sure, anytime,” replied Taeyeon.  This made Sunny jump up and down with glee.

“Are you participating in the competition as well?” asked Hyoyeon.  Taeyeon nodded her head and smiled.

“But don’t worry; I’m not here to see your routine at all.  I’m just here to help explain the rules and hopefully make you feel more comfortable with the competition,” said Taeyeon.

“Okay then,” said Hyoyeon as she shifted on her feet.

“Come on,” said Taeyeon as she reached out and grabbed Hyoyeon’s hand.  “Let’s talk somewhere else, shall we?”  Taeyeon then led Hyoyeon out of the room and into the hallway.  Once the door to the studio was shut, Taeyeon stood in front of Hyoyeon with a smile on her face.  

“So are you nervous?” asked Taeyeon as she leaned against the brick wall.

“A little,” replied Hyoyeon. 

“Leeteuk told me that this is your first dance competition.”  Hyoyeon nodded her head.

“I remember my first dance competition.  I was extremely nervous and I let my nerves get the best of me.”

“What happened?”  Taeyeon sighed.

“Let’s just say, it did not go so well.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.”  Taeyeon waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s in the past. What I want to focus on is making sure that you are ready for the competition.”   Hyoyeon nodded her head and leaned against the wall across from Taeyeon.

“I hope that you don’t mind, but Leeteuk told me about how you don’t have very much confidence.”  Hyoyeon froze for a second and then slowly nodded her head.  She kind of figured that he would tell his girlfriend about it.

“That is what made me want to talk to you about the competition before hand to maybe help boost your confidence a little,” said Taeyeon.

“Yeah maybe it will,” replied Hyoyeon.  Taeyeon then started explaining the competition to Hyoyeon, who just nodded along and listened. 

 

Later that same day, Hyoyeon was walking through the park as her mind was working through her routine step by step. She had her head phones in as she pictured every movement and every step with the music.  It was after her little dance practice and now her stomach was filled with nerves. 

The competition was coming quickly and she still was nervous about dancing in front of people.  She was able to gain some confidence over the past couple of days, but she still did not feel completely confident. 

Even as she danced her routine perfectly, she still did not feel like it was good enough.  It felt like she was missing something.

Something that would make it perfect, but she could not seem to figure it out. 

Then she thought of the events that had happened that day.  The scene between Suzy and Eunhyuk kept on replaying over and over again.

As she continued walking, she noticed someone was sitting on the bench a few yards away.  The figure seemed familiar and Hyoyeon then realized the figure was actually Suzy.  She was sitting on the bench, hunched over with her black hair falling into her face. 

Hyoyeon could then see her eyes were red, meaning that she must have been crying for some time.  Hyoyeon stared at her for a second as she turned her music off.  Her heart began to ache again for the girl.  She pictured the panicked face Suzy had with Eunhyuk earlier that day. 

Hyoyeon took a deep breath and decided to walk over to the sulking girl.  With every step, Hyoyeon grew nervous as she did not know what to say to Suzy.  She felt like she needed to comfort the girl, but at the same time she also feared Suzy.  Maybe she will be upset if Hyoyeon tried to comfort her. Or maybe she will be grateful. 

Hyoyeon paused for a second and then quickly walked up to Suzy before she was able to change her mind and turn back.  She now stood only a foot away from her and it seemed like she did not notice her presence yet.  Hyoyeon slowly sat down next to Suzy as she held in her breath.

“What do you want?” asked Suzy.  Hyoyeon was startled for a second.  She thought that Suzy did not know that she was there.

“Umm,” was all Hyoyeon managed to say.  She then decided to stay silent for a moment.

“With your silence, I take it that you saw the scene between me and Eunhyuk.”  Hyoyeon nodded her head slowly and stayed silent.  She did not know what to say to Suzy.

“What? Did you come over here to laugh in my face or something?”

“No, I would never do that.”  Suzy snorted as she sat up straighter.  She still kept her gaze focused on the ground in front of her.

“Funny, I would have done it to you if the roles were reversed.”  Hyoyeon knew that was probably true.  Suzy’s hatred for Hyoyeon was great, but Hyoyeon did not want to laugh in her face.

“I did not come to laugh, but to sympathize.”  Suzy laughed and then turned her gaze to face Hyoyeon.  Her eyes were red and puffy.  Light black lines stained her cheeks.  Her face was solemn and filled with grief.

“Yeah right, why would you choose to do that after all the I put you through?” Her eyes then hardened as Hyoyeon’s eyes only softened.

“Because, I feel like it is something that I don’t necessarily have to do, but it’s something that I want to do.”  Suzy turned her gaze back to the ground. 

“Why?  What in the world is making you want to sympathize with me of all people in the world?”  Hyoyeon did not respond, but placed her hand gently on Suzy’s shoulder.  Suzy’s eyes went wide as Hyoyeon patted her shoulder softly.

“Maybe not sympathize, but to more understand what you are feeling,” said Hyoyeon, “from the beginning you hated me and I cannot seem to understand why.”

Suzy fell silent for a few seconds and took a deep breath and exhaled. Hyoyeon took her hand off of Suzy’s shoulder and placed it in her lap, waiting to hear what Suzy had to say.  

“It’s because of Eunhyuk.”  Suzy shook her head and sighed again as she continued.

“I have known him since middle school and I always had a crush on him. As you could probably have guessed.”  Suzy smiled sheepishly.  It was a facial expression Hyoyeon had never seen Suzy give before. 

“I always have wanted to make him mine and for a long time, I truly thought he was mine.”  Suzy’s eyes seemed to be lost in memories with the silence.

“What happened?” asked Hyoyeon as she brought Suzy back to the conversation.

“You came along.”  Suzy turned to face Hyoyeon who became surprised.

“Me?” Hyoyeon pointed a finger at herself and Suzy slowly nodded her head.

“The day when his attention suddenly switched to you, I felt betrayed.  I felt like I was losing Eunhyuk to you.  He was spending all of his time with you and I was a bit jealous.”  Suzy paused for a second and sat up straight again with a small smile on her face. “Okay, a lot jealous.”

Hyoyeon continued to watch Suzy confess all of her true feelings.

“I then felt it was a competition and my rival was you.”

“But, Suzy, I never felt like we were actually competing for Eunhyuk.”

“I know you didn’t feel that way, but for me it was a competition.  I wanted Eunhyuk back, but bit by bit you were taking him away from me and that hurt, a lot.”

“I’m sorry Suzy I did not realize that I was hurting you.”

“I always thought that it was your fault, but it actually wasn’t truly your fault.  It was all my fault.  I made Eunhyuk hate me.”  Suzy’s eyes welled up with tears again and they began to roll quickly down her cheeks.

“Suzy, don’t say that, I bet Eunhyuk does not hate you,” said Hyoyeon as she placed her hand again on Suzy’s shoulders.

“Yes, he hates me.  He truly despises me,” said Suzy in between sobs.  After a few seconds had passed and Suzy was able to calm herself down, she dried her tears and continued.

“The way I bullied you, he found out about it all and became angry with me.  He became disappointed in me. That is why he hates me.  He called me a monster and a witch.”  Hyoyeon fell silent and felt even more pity for Suzy. 

“For what its worth, I don’t hate you Suzy,” said Hyoyeon in a quiet voice.  Suzy turned to face Hyoyeon with her dark brown eyes wide in shock.

“You don’t hate me?” she asked.

“I don’t think that you are a witch or a monster.  I just think you are a normal human girl in which I just did not get along with.”

Even through all the evil that Suzy actually placed on Hyoyeon, she did not hate Suzy.  She surprisingly did not despise the crying girl next to her.

“You have got to be kidding me.  Even after all the I did to you, you seriously do not hate me?” Hyoyeon nodded her head and it made Suzy smile a little.

“And I don’t think that Eunhyuk actually hates you.  He probably was just angry and was just saying things he did not actually mean.”  Suzy’s eyes filled with hope. 

“Really?” she asked.  Hyoyeon nodded her head.  Suzy then began to smile.

“Thanks Hyoyeon.”  Hyoyeon nodded her head.

“And, I’m really sorry about everything that I have done to you.” Her eyes were genuine as she spoke to Hyoyeon.  This was a true apology and Suzy really wanted forgiveness from Hyoyeon.

“I forgive you Suzy.”  Suzy smiled again and nodded her head.

“I don’t expect you to like me now after this conversation, but thanks again.  You are a great person.” Suzy turned her gaze back to the ground in front of her.  She seemed to be lost again in deep thought.

“I’m glad I could help a little,” said Hyoyeon as she stood up from the park bench. Hyoyeon then left Suzy with a smile on her face.