Aw darn! Taecyeon ran as fast as he could to the community garden, his thoughts occupied by Yoona and only Yoona. Yoona's going to get so mad at me. Please be at the garden! Please–

When he arrived, his face fell. On the bench, Yoona wasn't there. Instead, Bora sat still, examining the leftover dead leaves around the garden. She looked up, surprised to see Taecyeon.

"Good afternoon, Taecyeon!" Bora greeted him.

"Where Yoona?" he asked, not bothering to say a word to her. "I need to see Yoona."

She let out a soft laugh. "I know, I know. I saw the little flower she had in her hands. Yoona just left to the convenience store with Hyorin. They'll be back in a flash. Why don't you sit down?" Taecyeon gave her a skeptical look. "I'm not going to do anything. Just sit!"

It took him a few moments to trust her words. He sat down, but he sat down far enough so that Bora couldn't touch him. She sighed, and looked down at the ground with a smile. Then, she flipped her hair to the side and flashed him a fake grin.

"So? Aren't you excited? Yoona might be your girlfriend!" Bora pointed out.

"W-Well, we don't know what her true feelings are–"

"I'm sure she'll accept you. I mean, you two already match well. You always did match with her, anyway," she muttered, slowly looking away. Taecyeon managed to get a glimpse of her eyes. They looked blank, as if she was going back in the past, remembering something that she didn't want to remember.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Her eyes were brought back to life. "H-Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine! It's not that I still like you or anything."

Taecyeon slowly scooted away from her. "Yeah, of course not. Otherwise, there would be no reason for you to encourage me with Yoona."

The two exchanged awkward laughs, then stopped after a brief moment. Bora was unusually quiet, and Taecyeon noticed. He wasn't familiar with a quiet girl's behavior, as Yoona was always noisy and wild. It was kind of strange for him to be near Bora, who was the complete opposite of Yoona.

Suddenly, she let out a loud groan. Taecyeon jumped, startled as the girl covered her face with her hands.

"I'm so sorry. That's a lie. I still like you," Bora confessed. Taecyeon widened his eyes. He scooted away a bit more, knowing that he was in a bad situation. "I know you didn't want to hear this, but I just had to say it! It might seem that I flirt with you to make Yoona envious of me, but in reality, I'm more envious of her. I liked you in middle school and I always hated how Yoona was able to be so casually around you. I always tried to make you look at me, but you never budged. Instead, you would always like Yoona, and you would always look at her."

He blushed. Did I like Yoona since middle school? How long was I unaware of my feelings for her?

"I'm so sorry, Taecyeon. Truth is, I still like you," she said.

"Then why are you helping me?" he asked.

"You guys are perfect together. Even I can see that." Bora took a deep breath. "I know that you aren't going to back down, so treat Yoona well. If there's ever a time where the two of you break you, you can always turn to me."

Taecyeon couldn't help but smile. "Sorry, Bora, but I think you know that I only want Yoona in my life."

"Yeah… I know. Just keep note of my offer, though," she said, laughing a bit. "I'm glad that I got to see you during the middle school festival. It was nice."

"Same here. It was nice seeing you, even though I didn't really remember you," he said.

"I figured," she added, laughing. "Good luck, Ok Taecyeon."

"Thanks, Bora," Taecyeon replied.

Soon, Hyorin and Yoona came back. Yoona seemed surprised, and she looked like she wanted to run away. However, Hyorin managed to grab ahold of Yoona's arm and pushed her towards Taecyeon, who stood up right when he saw her. The two collided against each other, yelping as their arms unconsciously wrapped themselves against the partner's waist.

Bora snickered and gave Taecyeon a teasing glare, who only bit his lip in response. She walked over to Hyorin, sneaking into the building to avoid hearing Taecyeon's confession. As the two disappeared, Yoona and Taecyeon stood in front of each other, feeling a bit awkward.

Ugh… What am I supposed to say? he wondered, noticing how anxious Yoona looked. I better say something later. She looks like she needs some time.

Do I bring up the topic first? Is that the guy's job? Darn it! How did Sooyoung do this with her boyfriend? she thought, panicking. At that moment, she felt her book bag in her hands. She blinked her eyes and looked up, staring at Taecyeon had swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Well, should we go home?" he suggested.

Yoona paused. She nodded her head, but it was obvious that she was confused. Wasn't he going to talk about his confession? Or was it not a confession? Did she get the message wrong? 

"This isn't going well," Hyorin whispered from afar. "It's obvious that Yoona's just waiting for him to say something."

"I know. If a girl wants something, she has to say it! This is why I don't want to give Taecyeon to Yoona just yet," Bora agreed, rubbing her chin. "Should I go and tangle things up a bit?"

"Sounds like a plan. Should I do anything?"

"Nah, just stay back. I think I know what to do," Bora muttered. She came out of the building, then dashed over to Taecyeon's side. She wrapped her hands over his arm, causing Taecyeon to widen his eyes in surprise.

He gave her a "What are you doing?" glare. Instead of an apologetic look, Bora eyed him, indirectly telling him to "Shut up and just watch." He obeyed her tough orders, keeping silent while pretending as if he though that linking arms with another girl was fine.

"Are you going home? Then is it okay for me to go with you?" Bora asked, smiling at Taecyeon.

Yoona frowned. "Um, sorry Bora, but today, Taecyeon and I have something important to talk about."

"Really? Well, I'll have you know that I confessed to Taecyeon today," she boasted. She kind of liked seeing Yoona's terrified expression. "He said that he's waiting for his own confession to be answered, so I took the initiative to confess."

Yoona turned to Taecyeon, who only shrugged his shoulders. "I… I don't think you should be hanging so close to him. I mean, the girl he confessed to might get wrong ideas."

Bingo, Bora thought, smirking. "What? Isn't he rejected? I thought he was rejected."

"No, he's not," Yoona answered.

"So you're accepting me?" Taecyeon asked, almost grinning.

"What? N-No, not yet–"

"So he's still single?" Bora asked.

"H-H-He's not rejected yet, okay? He just didn't hear  the answer from that girl he likes," Yoona stuttered. 

"But he's still single. If he's still single, I don't see a problem with doing this or…" Bora lowered her hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "…this."

Yoon grimaced. Why was it suddenly difficult to express her feelings? She usually never had any trouble with this. She took a deep breath, and stared at Taecyeon straight into his eyes.

"I… I think that if the guy really likes me, he will tell me that he likes me in person. I know it's difficult, especially since he never did such a thing, but I would like to hear those words from him instead of a flower," Yoona said earnestly.

Taecyeon looked down at his hands, and gently pulled away from Bora's grip. "Sorry, Bora." He turned to Yoona and gave her a bashful look. "Im Yoona, I like you. What do you have to say about that?"

Oh gosh. It was a lot harder to contain her happiness after hearing those words. Her ears and cheeks were burning, not to mention that she could hear her heart pound against her chest. She had tons of guys tell her that they loved her, but Taecyeon was definitely special. Was it because they were childhood friends? 

No, it can't be. A friend won't make me feel like this, Yoona thought. She took a deep breath.

"Ok Taecyeon, I like you to," she replied.

Taecyeon felt butterflies in his stomach. He remembered how when he confessed to Yoona, the sky seemed so much more brighter. He imagined that he would view his world like paradise. He thought that once Yoona accepts him, birds would soar all over the sky, gentle creatures would pop out of nowhere, and nature would blossom in celebration to his successful relationship.

However, once he heard Yoona's response, his heart skipped a beat, and in his vision, he could only see Yoona shyly smiling at him. At that moment, he understood something important: Yoona would be the only beauty in his world, and no one else (not even nature) would surpass her purity.

"Can I kiss you?" he blurted, shocking his girlfriend. Seeing her reaction, he gave her a fake smile. "I-I mean… Not right now. Maybe next time?"

Nevertheless, Yoona took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and stood on her toes. She pressed her lips against his, wrapping her hands around his shoulder. He had his eyes opened for a minute, but then gently closed them as his fingers ran through her long, silky hair. The fragrance of roses wafted around their nose, creating a sweet, romantic atmosphere. The two quickly parted in seconds, catching their breath.

"S-Sorry! I don't know how to kiss," Yoona confessed, burning as red as a rose.

Taecyeon quickly cupped her cheeks in his hands. "It's okay. We can both learn."

This time, the two closed their eyes in unison, brushing their lips against each other as their hearts fluttered towards the orange sunset. 

At that moment, the two didn't need to know what made each other so special; their feelings were meant to be, and they were going to go with that thought and fall in love again and again and again…

When the new couple left to walk home, Hyorin and Bora stood back, cleaning up the community garden. The two worked hard in silence, putting away the pots while cleaning up the dead leaves. As the two did their work, Hyorin couldn't help but speak up about the situation.

"Bora, why did you help Taecyeon and Yoona? I thought you didn't like Yoona that much," Hyorin said.

Bora faintly smiled. "You know what, Hyorin? I don't like her. To me, she's like your Naeun."

"Then why would you help her?"

"Why did you let Myungsoo go to Naeun?" Hyorin kept quiet while Bora let out a chuckle. "As I thought. We both care about other people's happiness. No matter how bad we are and try to tear them away, these guys were always stick together."

"Project Crush failed, I guess. Plus, we're also cleaning up this garden. We got double the punishment!" Hyorin joked. She looked around the empty garden. "It's going to be winter soon, huh?"

A cold wind blew across their face. 

"Yeah, winter is definitely coming," Bora said. She paused for a few seconds. "You know what, Hyorin?"

"What?"

"Those guys–Taecyeon, Yoona, Myungsoo, and Naeun–are just like roses. It's a miracle to see them bloom. It's beautiful to see them grow up to be good people," Bora commented. "But at the same time, it's tiring to watch over them. They're all weak and depend on others to help shape them up to be the blossoming roses they have yet to be."

"So it's like tending the roses, huh?" Hyorin added. "Myungsoo would've loved hearing that comparison. He's the one who likes rose expressions."

Bora sighed and rubbed her shoulders. "Oh, by the way, my parents won't be home this afternoon. Do you want to stay at my place and talk about how we have bad luck with romance?"

Hyorin threw her head back and laughed. "Why not?"

The two friends walked away from the community garden, swearing that they heard the sweet giggles from the two couple who were together in bliss.

The End

Author's Note: I know, I know. The ending was wayyy too fast and sudden. I apologize, but I was starting to have writer's block with this story again. To me, it was better to end it rather than deleting it. I could've extended the story, but with so much happening around me, I think it was best to wrap up the story. Anyway, thank you to all the subscribers and commenters, including those who have supported my fanfic (in silence or not). I really appreciated the support! I believe that this will be my last Yoona fanfic. As originally a YoonTaec shipper (then converted to a YoonHae shipper), I thoroughly enjoyed writing fanfics about Yoona. It was fun writing about my old OTP. Though now, Yoona has Lee Seung Gi, so I think it's best for me to take a break from writing Yoona fanfics. Once again, thank you for the support! :)