“Where have you been? It’s almost lunch already! We have to go home now.” An annoyed Sooyoung asked a panting Changmin as he ran over to where she and Seohyun were standing.

“I just checked something out.” He said in between breaths as he took his huge bag from the ground.
The tall girl looked at him with a confused expression. “What’s there to check out in here?”
“Umm... Trees?” the boy gave her a toothy grin before walking in front of them. He reached the place where their bicycles are packed and dumped his bag at the back of Sooyoung’s bike.

“You ride that one. I’m riding your bike and I’m taking maknae with me.” The girl immediately quipped upon seeing what the boy did. Changmin looked at her for a few seconds but instead of receiving her expected annoyed retort from him, the boy simply shook his shoulder and smirked evilly at her.

“Your choice, honey. You lost another good opportunity to feel my abs.” His laughter echoing above the treetops when he saw Sooyoung’s face distort in annoyance. His laughter was so contagious, Seohyun had to fake a cough when her unnie’s eyes dangerously darted in her direction as she was about to chuckle.

“Yah, yah! Shut up and just go.” She pushed the boy towards the bike before mounting on hers.

The expedition started and the three rode in silence. It was a clear spring day and the birds were chirping.

“Omma, unnie. Look at that tree.” Seohyun pointed at a citrus tree on the left side of the path. “It’s almost ripe!”
“Neh, those kinds of oranges are the fastest to mature. I’m giving them six to eight days before they ripen completely.”
“Just in time for my birthday?” Seohyun asked her with wide, innocent eyes and Sooyoung nods happily in reply.
“Oh? How old will makdoongie be on her next birthday?” Changmin called from behind them.

“Oh, I forgot we have a talking worm with us.” Sooyoung said under her breath.
“What was that?” the boy asked loudly.
“None. I said, she’ll be turning twenty.” The tall girl replied lazily.

Changmin pedaled faster until he reached the two girls. “What birthday gift do you want to receive Seohyunnie?”
“Don’t bother oppa.” She answered sweetly.
“No, I’m serious. Do you want a sweet potato boiler?”
Seohyun laughed at his suggestion but he continued mentioning stuff.

“How about a sweet potato peeler?”
“A piano cleaner?”
“Keroro DVD? All episodes.”
“Self-help books?”
“Health Magazines?”
“Food supplements?”
“Be quiet Shim.” Sooyoung snapped.
“A sticker album and a set of limited edition cartoon stickers?”
“A pet?”
“Watering cans and shovels?”
“Biology Laboratory kit?”
“Get going Shim.” Sooyoung’s annoyed voice cut him off.
“A globe?”
“Swimming tubes?”
“Boyfriend?”

The last thing Changmin heard before he fell on the ground was Seohyun’s “omo oppa!” as Sooyoung extended her long, long legs as she gave his bike a mighty kick.

“IS CHANGMIN back?”

Tiffany looked up upon hearing Taeyeon’s voice. “Not yet, Taengoo. Why?”

“Oh, you just look as if the worst part of the storm is over.” The short girl pulled the chair in front of the vice mayor’s table and seated herself comfortably in it.
“What do you mean?” Tiffany put down the pen she’s using to check the documents and gave her best friend a confused look.

“We never really had the chance to talk right after the news broke and its bad timing that I was out of town for a week. But you do not look that depressed anymore. And you seem to be very happy. So I thought Changmin’s back and that you have talked about the weird turn of events.” Taeyeon smiled at her before continuing. “But if Changmin’s not yet around…” she put her arms on the desk and leaned forward towards Tiffany. “Why do you look so happy?”

“Am I not allowed to look happy?” Tiffany asked half-jokingly.
“With your current problem, yes.” The short girl then gave out a merry laugh as the vice mayor pouted at her. “Ah, seriously tell me what’s making you happy nowadays. You have to keep me updated! What kind of person keeps secrets from her best friend?”

“I'm fine. Changmin-oppa is still out there somewhere but everything's going well. I don't know what Madam Shim did but nobody's bothering me about the wedding. I know it's been canceled and all but it's refreshing to continue with life without anyone looking at me pitifully.”

Taeyeon did not look impressed with the answer.

“I mean, I had readied myself with the blow; but so far, everything is going fine. It even felt as if no wedding announcement had happened. People were even commenting that I looked happier.” The vice-mayor buried face in