"What? You confessed?"

Changmin and Kyuhyun were shocked when they saw Taecyeon's disturbed expression. The boy in love shyly looked away, kind of irritated over the fact that his friends could not believe that he confessed. Soon, Kyuhyun smirked and leaned back in his chair, slouching while proudly looking at Taecyeon.

"Well, why am I this surprised? Of course you would confess. I knew this all along!" Kyuhyun bragged.

"That's true. Everyone did say that you two would be a couple someday. I'm just surprised that you took action in high school. I was thinking that you would wait for Yoona until she went to college," Changmin said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, congratulations."

"Yeah! Make sure you invite me to your wedding, okay?" Kyuhyun said, slapping Taecyeon's back. Taecyeon coughed, then glared at Kyuhyun.

"She didn't say anything yet! All I did was put a flower on her desk. I didn't say anything," he muttered.

"At least you're safe for now. All the guys who had a crush on Yoona aren't saying anything. They don't want to touch 'your girl,' if you know what I mean," Changmin said, giving him a wink.

"Not for long! If you don't say anything to Yoona, she might just forget about you and go for some other guys. People will soon forget about your confession, Taecyeon. I heard that a second year is interesting in Yoona right now, and he's waiting for you to be rejected," Kyuhyun said.

"Oh, right! The guy in the next class also said something about confessing to Yoona. He said that he's going to wait until Yoona dumps Taecyeon, too. Or was it the other way around? Either one, you don't have much time yet. Just go for it and be honest!" Changmin encouraged.

Taecyeon stared at them with a weak look. "I… I didn't realize that I had so many rivals…"

Was Yoona this popular? I know that a lot of guys like her, but they never said anything to her, he thought. He suddenly felt exhausted, and he wasn't sure why. His lungs felt heavy, and when he tried to take a deep breath, he would still feel a bit tired.

"Just do it as fast as you can, but gently. Girls are like flowers, you know?" Changmin advised.

"Plus, a flower can only carry a message. It can't convey them for you," Kyuhyun added. "Good luck, Taecyeon!"

"Yeah… Thanks," Taecyeon mumbled, staring out at the window. The lunch bell rang, and the students rushed back to their seats. As the teacher entered the classroom to begin the lecture, all Taecyeon did was outside, watching the sky and the birds fly by.

Everything seemed so much brighter. The sun seemed to glow with a white radiance, and the azure sky seemed to expand like an endless dream. He had never really noticed how carefree the birds seemed. Was this how it felt to fall in love?

Imagine how amazing the world would be if Yoona accepted you, a voice said. Taecyeon snapped out of his thoughts and looked around him. Was that his thoughts, or something else? No matter what he thought, he could only confirm that it was his thoughts. He suddenly blushed, then let out a soft groan. Damn it! Falling in love kind of !

"You there!" the teacher shouted, glaring at Taecyeon. "Answer the next question!"

Taecyeon snapped out of his thoughts and widened his eyes. He wasn't listening, and he knew that this was the kind of teacher who would give him a detention for not paying attention. He slowly stood up from the chair, grabbing his book.

Darn, where are we? What subject was this again? English, right? I'm pretty good at English, so I should manage… He cleared his throat. "U-Um…'The dog hates cat. The cat hates dog.'"

The classroom suddenly erupted into soft giggles. Taecyeon turned bright red. Was he wrong?

The teacher stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed. "Mr. Ok, I praise you for getting your English correct, as I have taught English a few years ago. However, please remember that you are in math class and that there is no reason for you to speak Englsih unless it is a word problem written in English."

Taecyeon felt his face burn. Aw, darn! I even got the subject wrong!

"I guess I don't have to say anymore, yes? I'll see you after school for an hour, Mr. Ok," the teacher said, turning around.

Taecyeon sighed and sat back down, running his fingers through his hair. He took out his math book and tucked away his English book back in his back. When he turned to his right, he saw Kyuhyun secretly passing a note to him. Taecyeon took away the note, and unwrapped it as he read it.

Dude, what are you going to do about Yoona? Weren't you going to talk to her?
- Changmin
Man, you're toast. Have fun in detention! 
- Kyuhyun

"Aw man! I totally forgot!" Taecyeon said aloud.

"Mr. Ok! Don't make it an hour and a half detention!" the teacher shouted back. Throughout the entire day, Taecyeon sulked and kept quiet, knowing that he would have to stay back in class, anticipating on Yoona's reaction.

Yoona hung around the community garden, watching Myungsoo tend the garden inside the building. She and Naeun were outside, sitting on the same old bench, waiting for time to fly by. At first, Yoona was planning to walk to the garden with Taecyeon, but she found out that he had to stay back for a few hours because of dentention. It was getting more difficult to calm down, and she was troubled over the flower's meaning. What did Taecyeon mean by falling in love? Did he mean that he liked her? Since when? Why?

She glanced at Naeun, who seemed exhausted. The middle school girl had slightly red, puffy eyes, showing that she might've cried a bit at school. Her complexion wasn't at its greatest state; her skin was as white as the first snow. Yoona assumed that she was still ignoring Myungsoo, yet the two were close enough to come to the garden together.

"When are you planning to go home?" Yoona asked Naeun.

"When Taecyeon comes over. I want to talk to him," she said, picking up a dead leaf from the ground. "He's a good guy who will listen to you. You're lucky."

Yoona blushed. "What? Why would you say that I'm lucky?"

"That flower. Didn't Taecyeon give it to you? Myungsoo used to give it to me a lot, but it was always a sign of friendship," Naeun said.

Ah, I don't think it was supposed to be a sign of friendship, Yoona thought. "Well, it was pretty sweet of him to give this to me. I still don't know what's going in his head. I mean, I don't really match him. I'm just a loud, crazy girl who happens to be his childhood friend. We go way back, but I can't understand why he just fell in love with me."

"Hm, that's strange. I wonder why I'm in love with you-know-who. I've always seen him as a friend, but now I see him more than that. I wonder why," Naeun repeated, staring at her nails. "Should I go on some group dates? The article did say that romance is awaiting for me."

"Would Myungsoo like that?"

"Who cares about what he likes? Besides, he likes you, remember?"

"Y-Yeah, he did say that, but…"

"Kim Myungsoo! You bratty little cousin! Come here!" a voice from afar shouted. The girls looked up, only to see Hyorin and Bora approaching the garden. Myungsoo, who was busy taking care of the flowers, stared up at the unwelcome guests, then scowled. He tried to run away, but Hyorin managed to rush forward and lunged for his collar, grabbing his shirt by a hair.

In seconds, the boy was knocked down with Hyorin sitting on top of him. She had a victorious look on her face, and no matter how much Myungsoo struggled to get off the ground, Hyorin would only kick him and force him back down. After he stopped squirming around, she smiled and looked at Yoona. Her eyes soon fell on the lovely flower, and her eyes flickered with excitement.

"I know that rose! Did Taecyeon give it to you?" Hyorin asked.

"Um, yes, he did," Yoona answered. Her eyes wandered over to Bora, who smiled at her. 

"Oh, so Ok Taecyeon did? Interesting," Bora mumbled, nodding her head. Yoona almost glared at her, and pulled the rose closer to her chest. She kind of felt threatened by Bora's smirk, even though it seemed like she meant no harm.

"By the way, did you reply?" Naeun asked.

"Reply? I was going to, but he's in detention right now," Yoona explained.

"So he's still single, am I right?" Bora questioned her.

Yoona threw her a haughty look. "Are you really after him?"

"Shouldn't I be? He's a guy with a great personality," Bora teased.

"So Taecyeon's in detention, huh?" Naeun whispered to herself, ignoring the conversation. Finally, she got up and grabbed her belongings, straightening her skirt. "I'm going to go home, then."

Myungsoo looked up with wide eyes. "What? Why are you leaving?" He turned to Hyorin. "Get off of me, you fat pig! You're heavy!"

He only let out a loud "Ow!" as Hyorin pulled his ears. When he became quiet again, Hyorin turned to Naeun with a neutral expression.

"Yeah, why are you going? Why don't you stay? Let's talk!" Hyorin suggested.

"No. In fact, I was only here for Taecyeon. Goodbye everyone," Naeun said casually. She walked away from the garden, silent and unhappy. Hyorin stared at the young girl with a guilty expression, as if she knew that she had caused some parts of this drama. 

"Are you done gardening?" Hyorin asked Myungsoo.

"I just need to put the flower pots over there into the building. Why? Is my mom calling me to eat?" Myungsoo asked.

"No, not yet. Here, I'll take care of the pots with Bora. Go after her," Hyorin said, jumping off of Myungsoo's back. He slowly rose up from the ground, but his eyes were still on his cousin. When she realized that he was taking too long, she finally gave him a good kick, causing him to scream in pain and snatch his bag. He shot her a glare for the kick, then gave her a sincere smile.

"Thanks for taking care of the chores, Hyorin," Myungsoo said. He rushed outside of the gates, chasing after Naeun in hopes that the two would talk.

For a few minutes, Myungsoo ran at the same direction Naeun disappeared to. However, he soon found himself an a four-way intersection. Which way did Naeun go? From where he was standing, he was sure that she didn't go directly to home. In fact, there would've been her driver somewhere nearby if she was going home. His eyes slowly moved from left to right, examining the empty streets.

Then, he slowly pulled out a soft rose petal from his bag. He tossed away the pink rose petal, then pulled out a blossoming red rose. The rose had a beautiful, crimson texture which soothed his brown orbs. He sniffed the nature's fragrance, and the scent of fresh water and flowers wafted in the air. Pressing his thin lips, Myungsoo held the rose in his hands with care.

If I go and meet Naeun, then I'll confess. If I don't meet her, then I'll wait again, he thought. Looking around, he had trouble deciding where to go. Whatever path he chose would determine his future. Suddenly, his heart pounded and his palms began to feel sticky. He had always confessed to Naeun with flowers, but was now any different from the series of confessions in the past? He felt oddly compelled to run away, but there was a part of him that wanted to desperately search for the rare beauty.

Aw geez! Don't screw up, don't screw–

"Myungsoo?" a familiar voice called him. Myungsoo paused, then gulped. He felt a drop of sweat trickle down his neck as his face burned with passion. He slowly turned around, only to see Naeun staring at him with curiosity. "What are you doing here? Aren't you going home?"

"D-Didn't you go home?" Myungsoo asked quietly. It was difficult for him to speak. The words wouldn't come out of his mouth. His throat felt dry, and his lips wouldn't dare to move.

"I was just walking around. There was a guy who got lost and asked for directions. I only showed him the way and left as soon as he found the house," Naeun said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "So can I ask you what you're doing he–"

"You escorted a guy? Alone? With no one around you?" Myungsoo frowned. "What were you thinking? What if you got kidnapped? What if something happened?"

Naeun blinked her eyes. "It was just a pre-school kid, Myungsoo. It's no big deal." She raised her eyebrows. "Are you feeling okay? You seem to be a little red."

Red. 

Myungsoo snapped out of his worrisome thoughts as he remembered about his confession. He reminded himself that he just had to confess today. He had to be honest and blunt, no matter how bad the situation was going to get. He was going risk his friendship just for this one moment.

"Naeun… N-Naeun… Son Naeun!" he called her. She seemed surprised to hear her full name, and Myungsoo knew that he had her attention. "S-Son Naeun. I just r-really wanted to say that I l-l-like y–"

Before he was able to complete his sentence, he felt her small hands over . His widened his eyes, shocked to know that he was interrupted in the middle of his confession. When he stare down at Naeun, she looked troubled as if she didn't want to hear his last word.

"I know. I get it. I beg of you, please don't say it again. Please don't say that you like Yoona. It's irritating," Naeun said in a hush voice.

Yoona? No, no, no! She had the wrong idea!

Myungsoo quickly grabbed ahold of Naeun's wrists and pushed them together. She gasped as Myungsoo placed a single red rose in her tiny grasp. He leaned close, making sure that she heard exactly what she needed to hear.

"Son Naeun, I liked you ever since I met you. I'm not asking you to stop being friends with me or to be my girlfriend. I'm just asking you to love me back as much as I love you," Myungsoo confessed. "So, in short… I like you, Naeun."

He slowly backed away, studying Naeun's face. He kind of found it funny when Naeun began to show different facial expressions. She seemed puzzled at first, then surprised. Soon after, she began to look down with a shy face, and finally avoided any eye-contact to suppress her happiness. Gently, she took Myungsoo's flower and held it close to her chest.

"I… I guess that I could date you and like you back," Naeun stammered, unsure of what to say. She stared at Myungsoo for a long time, causing him to feel a bit vulnerable. "I guess I like you too, Kim Myungsoo."

The embarrassed boy paused, only looking at his girlfriend's brightened expression. For years, he had been chasing after her. He had always given her flowers, trying to tell her that he loved her and wanted her to love him back. It took him forever to realize that the flowers only held meaning, but they didn't hold the words he wanted to say. 

Myungsoo broke into a smile, then laughed as he hugged Naeun in his longing arms. He was sure that if he could get Naeun–who had always turned her head away from him–to finally look at him as a proper man, then Taecyeon would have no problem with winning Yoona's heart.

If they could get along like how Naeun and I are getting along, then that would be nice, he thought, hearing Naeun complain about how embarrassing the situation was.