A/N: For our leadernim’s birthday, I wrote this short yet sweet? Oneshot … I’m inspired by a short note written by one of my

respected senior, K.M, and the very first sentence is directly quoted from her note while 1/3 of the contents are indirectly derived

from her note…. Hope you enjoy this on our leadernim’s birthday! :D

And since it’s already Feb 16 in Korea, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC OPPA!!! Wish you to have all the best in 2014 in solo or Shinhwa

projects! Please take care of our syungie oppa well, too! <3 <3 <3

Let him be an ‘X’. He is a mystery. But he’s not anyone’s to slove.

“Boring!!! What the hell this weather is!”

Together with his sing-sang voice filled with complete boredom, you feel the weight leaning on your back and the warmth being emitted

from that person. For a second, your tapping fingers on your dear laptop stop and so does your heart, unfortunately.

“And you’re not helping at all … What’s wrong with all these papers?”

The sound of him randomly shuffling your neatly arranged documents on the floor beside you surprisingly does not make you mad at him

and instead of it, you even smile at his annoyed tone.

“Play with me … Eric-ah …”

While feeling being poked at your side with his fingers, you do not need to turn your head back to see his “once-in-a-while-spoiled-kid”

expression. That side of him usually comes out when he is extremely bored or when he needs something so bad; both of these situations

never fail to make your head nod, according to your lifetime experience. But, this time, you choose to stay a little stronger than usual,

eyeing your near-deadline documents.

“The deadline’s in front of my door, you know … Hyesung-ah … Spare me this time …”

Your words along with continuous tapping sound on the keyboard do not seem to enter his brain when the poking on your sides does not

stop.

“Then, don’t open your door … and don’t let it in … See … It’s quite easy …”

Also this time, he succeeds to earn a chuckle from you with his weird logic again. Every time when this happens, you cannot help but

wonder where the serious-like-hell home tutor Shin Hyesung disappears. Even though you have already passed more than the half of your

life with this person, you always feel like you are still far away from comprehending what is in his head.

He is still a puzzle to you … with a lot of irresistible charms …

“There’re new DVDs I bought … and a game too … Beers in fridge, chilled already … Snacks in cupboard … Help yourself and just give me

a few hours more …”

You try not to shift your eyes away from the electronic screen in front of you since you already understand once you give him a look,

there will be no chance to go back to your opened Microsoft Word. Well, at least until the rain stops and he goes back to his home after

he gets satisfied with playing with you.

“You can still do them when I go … No matter if you play with me or not, I know you’ll end up staying up this night … making your lovely

work perfect …”

Overflowing with sarcasm, his voice directly enters your left ear since his chin has already been placed on your shoulder. Skinship is not an

awkward thing anymore in your world but that kind of unexpected action from him still makes your heart warm and fluttered since at

most of the times, it is you who have to initiate it. However, after all, being unexpected is his middle name. He is your back of hand and

your back of head.

You know him too well like your back of hand and at the same time, you know him too little like your back of head …

 He is an ‘X’ of your life … the unknown factor all this time …

His soft breaths are grazing your neck and sometimes, being too comfortable with each other has its own pros and cons, like in the

current situation. Like when you are not under any other title except “childhood besties”.

Even in your photo albums, there is not at least one album which does not include a single photo of him and you. You at awarding

ceremony of a drawing contest in primary school, your middle school excursion, your high school graduation, your congratulation party of

entering one of the big co-operations after university. There would be always his face beside yours, like a head and a tail of a coin. He

appears more than your parents and your family members in your photos and your memories.

But still, he is a mysterious being to you … an existence that you never completely understand …

Is he merely a friend to you? The answer is “Not at all” …

Well, if so, are you in a relationship more than ‘friends’? You will shake your head at this one too …

You two never cross that line. You two date with girls. You two break up with them. You two run to each other at such times, knowing

the other will always be there waiting.

But you two have never been there … not even at the brink … You are still best friends …

Sometimes, it seems like he is playing you all this time and when that kind of thoughts invade your mind at your bad moods, you hate

him. This is the truth.

But most of the times, you love him. This is also the truth.

He is an ignorant jerk sometimes while being a caring bestie at other times. He can be a sly fox or a cute bunny depending on his moods.

He can switch from an angel with a halo above his head to a devil with little horns on his forehead. Anyway, he is indescribable.

Like an ‘X’ you often found in Maths problems in your high school time …

The ‘X’ that keeps you wondering and makes you curious throughout your life, entertaining you with its mysterious sparks …

“You really decided to look only at that screen in your weekends? Your lovely bestie is here all the time … and isn’t he worth enough to

have you a few hours, huh?”

You realize you have been completely knocked out with those words and when you turn off your laptop finally with a heavy sigh, you earn

a back hug with a little jump from the one behind you.

“So … Tell me … what do you wanna do with me seriously?”

You try to pretend like he is getting on your nerves but he is Shin Hyesung after all. Unlike you, he can see through you like a crystal;

sometimes it is even frightening to you knowing how much he knows you. 

“Let’s cook something … I’m hungry …”

With a seemingly innocent grin being spread all over on his face, he is pulling you into a standing position before pushing you from the

back towards your small yet neat kitchen.

“Let’s see what’s here … Eggs … and what is it? Kimchi? And that’s all?”

Nodding back at him whose head is inside of your fridge, you curl your arms around his waist before lifting him up to get him out of your

way in getting some eggs and a box of kimchi from your fridge.

“Just sit there … I’ll make you kimchi fried rice and omelet  …”

Silently preparing the ingredients and listening to his unnecessary nagging as usual, you cannot help but analyze the situation. You are

really like a couple right now, cooking together in the kitchen. It is just not right to find two guys cooking and playing in the kitchen,

however they are claiming as being best friends.

You spend most of your weekends in one of your apartments, playing games or watching movies or just bickering over a small nonsense.

Sometimes, you go out together for shopping or just driving around the city or sometimes even out of the city.

Even in weekdays, you exchange texts and call each other at least once a day. It became a routine. Once you were even asked by your

colleague if you were dating after being seen texting often in work. Many of your girlfriends often get jealous seeing your interaction

with him and this usually leads to fights and sometimes even breakups.

But still, you can’t break that routine.

It is like he is stuck with you like forever and you even no longer feel he is in your life.

He is your life …

You cannot recite your daily life without mentioning him. It is just he simply exists in your life, like the most natural thing in the world.

But nonetheless, the relationship between you two is still undefined, still ‘X’ …

He is annoying. He is spoiled to the bone. He is evil. He is bossy. He is a perfectionist type A.

But when you get tired of it, he turns into a caring, understanding, cute, and huggable one in a flash while you even do not notice it.

Indeed ‘X’ with many unpredictable things …

“All done … But … I warn you … It’s still hot … Don’t tell me bad when you get your tongue burnt …”

 “I know …”

Then, he straightly dives into the plate full with kimchi fried rice, not forgetting to pick some omelet with his chopsticks on the way.

“I told you to put more salt … It’s blend … See …”

“Tell Omonie that I like her kimchi so much …. It’s best with fried rice …”

“There’s something weird with omelet … What’s that? It’s just not right …”

Being immune to all his nagging, you do not even bother to reply and just give him nods and “hmmmm”s, while stuffing your mouth with

your self-cooked fried rice.

“Ah … good … I’m too full … Thank you!”

 One of his habit, saying “Thank you” in English with sing-sang tone when he gets something he wants from you, still can make you smile

in your head and feel kind of good in your chest.

When you turn on the tap to wash dishes, he appears behind you, pushing away in front of the sink and lifting his sleeves to his elbows.

“You cooked … so I’ll wash them … I can’t be called I’m spoiled by you …” he says with a quick wink.

Those little unexpected actions never fail to make your heart leap a bit, skipping one or two beats. You just nod but still stand beside the

sink, watching him washing all dirty dishes in a relaxed manner. He seems like he is in a good mood since you just stopped working to

play with him and cooked for him.

“You also feel I’m ‘X’ to you?” You ask out loud in your mind.

Like he can read your mind, coincidentally, he let out “hmmm” after your words in your head. Maybe he is just humming while washing.

Or he can really read your mind?

You cannot guess …. Like always …

It is natural since he is an unsolved problem ….

YOUR unsolved problem …

YOUR unsolved problem that will be stuck with you till the time who knows when … maybe forever?

Let him be an ‘X’. He is a mystery. But he’s not anyone’s to slove.