January breezed by and it was soon February, the month of love.

            Last year, as a freshman, I’d been heavily pondering about who Taemin would confess to or if he would confess to anyone at all. But he hadn’t confessed to anyone last year. Or, at least, that’s what I heard.

            This year however, I could’ve cared less. I still wondered, of course. But the level of interest hadn’t been as intense as before. And maybe, that was a bad thing.

            On Valentine’s Day, I was at my locker getting my books when someone suddenly pokes my shoulder. I turn around, and there’s Taemin with a big smile and a bouquet of pink roses in his hands.

            I looked around, feeling people begin to stare.

            “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Taemin said as he pulled me into a hug. I awkwardly hugged him back. He gave me the flowers and I looked at him warily.

            “Um…” I bit my lip. “Taemin, what is this all about?”

            “You’re my valentine today, of course,” Taemin said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

            “Yeah but, why me?” I asked, still puzzled.

“Well aren’t me and you kind of a…” He searched for the right word. “…a thing, kind of?”

            “A thing?”

            “Yeah. Aren’t you and I together? An item?”

            I don’t know. Are we?

            “Taemin and Naeun are dating now?!”

            “Oh my gosh I knew he liked her!”

            “Taemin sunbae asked a sophomore to be his valentine!”

            “I am so jealous!”

            The comments and hushed whispers went on and on. I just stood there, flowers in hand, probably looking like a confused idiot. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Myungsoo pass by.

            He and I met eyes. His eyes went to the flowers in my hands, then to Taemin, and he raised a brow. Our eyes seemed to communicate on their own without us having to speak actual words.

            You? And him?

            I don’t even know oh my gosh.

            Myungsoo smirked and went on with his business, disappearing down the hall. I’d half expected to see him on this day with the girl that he’d been dating, although I hardly saw them around anymore. At lunch I’d see her come up to his table sometimes but they didn’t sit with each other.

            “Naeun?”       

            I snapped out of it. “Yeah?”

            “I was thinking,” Taemin said, “that we could have dinner tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

            “O-Oh yeah. Sure,” I said. “Where and when?” I am going on a date with Lee Taemin. This is my dream. Isn’t it?

            “Keegan Steakhouse,” Taemin said. “I’ll pick you up at 6?”

            “Yeah. Sure. Sounds great,” I said. Again with the “sure”…

            “Awesome,” Taemin said with that big smile of his. “I’ll see you then.” He hugged me goodbye and left.

            One of my other good friends named Lizzy, came up to me giggles and all. She was also a senior and had been a good friend of mine in the student council. “Naeun! Taemin asked you to be his valentine! And this is the second time he’s gotten you pink flowers oh my gosh!”

            “He’s gotten me flowers before?”

            Lizzy gave me a look. “Yeah. When he asked you to Homecoming. Remember?”

            “O-Oh yeah.” I’d completely forgotten.

            So apparently, to everyone on campus, Taemin and I were together. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

            That evening, I came downstairs in a white lace dress that went up just above my knees. I came into the kitchen, where Myungsoo was preparing his TV dinner for the night. When he saw me he eyed me from head to toe.

            “Fancy,” he remarked.

            “It’s Keegan Steakhouse,” I replied. “One of the best in town. I need to look at least presentable.”

            “As expected.”

            There was a knock on the door. I grabbed my purse from the counter and said goodbye to Myungsoo before opening it.

            Taemin was dressed nicely, I suppose. His shirt was Ralph Lauren, from what I noticed.

            “You ready?” he asked.

            “Yeah,” I said. “Sure.”

            Dinner was slow. Taemin, no matter how smart and perfect he was, was actually an extremely poor conversationalist.

            At least, with me he was.

            The thing was, Taemin was sort of too nice. So nice that it was unpleasant. I felt cooped up, caged, and I found myself forcing smiles and laughs. I was so used to Myungsoo (the only other guy I actually interact with, to be honest) teasing me and being playful that the whole “Mr. Nice Guy” aspect of Taemin made it hard for me to connect with him. I couldn’t joke around with him, or because he didn’t take those kinds of things too well. With Taemin, it was just compliments and nice things and butterflies and cotton candy all around and that bothered me.

            But of course, I didn’t say anything. The steak was really good, though.

            When I got home, (which was around 7:30 pm because Taemin apparently liked getting home super early) I found Myungsoo watching TV on the couch. He’d been coming home earlier since New Year’s, which pleased me greatly.

            “Where’s your dad and my mom?” I asked him.

            “Out to dinner on Valentine’s Day, of course,” he replied. “So how was the date with Taemin hm?”

            I shrugged. “Eh.”

            “Eh?”

            I thought about it. “I don’t know,” I said. “I mean it wasn’t the time of my life or anything but it was alright. He’s nice.”

            “Well Naeun, he is Mr. Goody-two-shoes,” Myungsoo said.

I gave Myungsoo a look but let it slide. Because after tonight, I kind of agreed with him. “So why aren’t you going out tonight?” I asked. “It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Myungsoo shrugged. “Got no one to go with.”

            “Aren’t you still dating that girl?” I asked.

            Myungsoo shrugged. “I kinda broke up with her so I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

            I gasped. “You broke up with her?! Since when?!”

            “Last month. Why do you sound so surprised?”

            “I-I don’t know,” I said, looking away. “I just thought that you liked her a lot.”

            “What makes you say that?”

            “You held hands with her and stuff,” I said, “and she always sat with you at lunch.”

            “That doesn’t mean I like her,” he replied.

            “What do you mean?” I asked, confused. “You date someone if you like them, right?”

            He shrugged again. “Or it can just be a distraction, to keep you away from the person that you really want to be with.”

            “But why go through all that trouble?”

            “Because the person that you really want to be with is taboo. So it’s better to be distracted than to fall too deep,” Myungsoo said.

            “I guess so...but that just seems like a lot more trouble.”

            “You gotta do what you gotta do, right?”

            I didn’t exactly understand what Myungsoo was trying to explain to me that day. Little did I know that I would find out soon enough, when the exact same thing would happen to me.

            Myungsoo got up and threw his TV dinner into the trashcan. Then he checked the fridge. “Hm…we’re short on groceries…,” he murmured. “I’m gonna run down to the supermarket. Wanna come?”

            I grinned. “Yes!”

            “Cool. Go get changed, though. It’s colder outside now,” Myungsoo said.

            I obeyed and headed upstairs to change into some warm pants and a sweatshirt. I wanted to wear a scarf and saw Myungsoo’s scarf hanging in my closet. So I grabbed it and dashed back downstairs.

            “Ready?” I asked him as I met him by the front door. He was dressed in a beanie and scarf himself.

            He noticed the scarf that I was wearing and smirked. “Of course.”

            At the supermarket, Myungsoo and I wheeled through the aisles, picking out things here and there. I rolled the cart while Myungsoo threw the things into them. He seemed to know what he was doing.

            An old lady passed by us and smiled. “You two,” she said, “are such a beautiful couple.”

            Myungsoo and I looked at each other, wide-eyed.

            “No ma’am,” Myungsoo and I quickly said, “we’re not—

            But all she did was smile at us once more before leaving.

            There was an awkward air around us now and we both knew it. And just before I thought that things couldn’t get anymore strange, up ahead I see two people: Yookyung and Myungsoo’s friend, Sungyeol. Together. Alone.

            “!” Myungsoo and I both said as we dashed to another aisle.

            “What the heck is he doing here?!” Myungsoo hissed.

            “More importantly,” I said, “what are Yookyung and Sungyeol doing here together.”

            Myungsoo and I made a move to peek from behind the corner, but they were no longer there. When we turned back both Yookyung and Sungyeol were standing right in front of us. I flinched and Myungsoo tensed up.

            “Naeun?” Yookyung said. “What are you doing here with Myungsoo?”

            “U-Uh…” I made an attempt to turn the tables. “The question here, Yookyung, is what are you doing with Lee Sungyeol?”

            Yookyung grabbed Sungyeol’s hand and leaned against his shoulder. “We’ve been dating since last week,” she replied. “I told you at lunch! Don’t you remember?”

            “Wait what,” I said. “You never told me anything!”

          Yookyung rolled her eyes. “You’ve been so out of it Naeun that I wouldn’t blame you for not listening to me.”

            “But what are you doing with Taemin’s girl, Myungsoo?” Sungyeol asked him.

            “Yeah,” Yookyung concurred. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Taemin, Naeun?”

            “I was,” I said. “Our date ended about an hour ago.”

            “So what are you doing with Myungsoo?”

            “Yeah,” Sungyeol added, also curious.

            “W-Well, you see,” I started.

            “We’re working on a project together,” Myungsoo said. “A cooking project. For, uh…home ec.”

            “You take home ec?” Sungyeol asked with a raised brow.

            “Yeah,” Myungsoo said. “You didn’t know?”

            “It’s an after school thing,” I added. “For extra credit.”

            “Riggghhhtttt,” Sungyeol said.

            Yookyung pulled me aside and whispered, “Cheating on Taemin huh?”

            I slapped her shoulder silly. “It’s nothing!”

            Yookyung was giggling, however. “I knew you had an interest in him! You two would make an extremely cute couple. We should double date!”

            “Nonononono.”

            Yookyung paid no attention to my claim as she winked at me before leaving with Sungyeol.

            “Well that was weird,” Myungsoo remarked as we headed to checkout.

            “Very,” I agreed. “Everyone keeps saying that we’d be cute together.”

            “What?” Myungsoo asked. “Is that such a bad thing?”

            “I guess not,” I said. “It’s just weird. I don’t know.”

            Myungsoo shrugged. “Maybe.”

            He and I exited the supermarket. A man outside was selling flowers.  Myungsoo stopped by.

            “How much for a rose?” Myungsoo asked him. “A red one.”

            The man looked from Myungsoo to me. “For your girlfriend?” he asked, nodding at me.

            “Yeah.”

            What. My cheeks turned pink again.

            “Well,” the man said, “if that’s the case, then I’ll give you one for free.”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah,” the man said. “Valentine’s Day is almost over anyways. And you and your girlfriend are such a beautiful couple. Here, take it.”

            Myungsoo took the red rose from the man. “Thank you,” he said, “thank you very much.” And he gave it to me.

            “Are you seriously giving this to me?” I asked him.

            Myungsoo nodded. “Why not?”

            He seemed so nonchalant about it that I felt ridiculous for acting so damn awkward about it. So I took it.

            Playing with the red rose in my hands during the ride home, I was suddenly reminded of the red rose I’d gotten in my locker on the day Taemin had asked me to Homecoming, and the mysterious boy in the red mask who’d also given me a red rose during the Homecoming dance. I looked over at Myungsoo, at his handsome side profile as he drove. I’d had my suspicions. But now they were becoming more and more evident.

            I chose to ignore my thoughts however, because I didn’t want things between me and Myungsoo to be awkward. I liked it when we joked around and had fun. I would never want to break that bond between us.

            That night before bed, I knocked on Myungsoo’s door.

            “Yes?” he said as he opened it.

            “Myungsoo,” I said. “Can you promise me something?”

            He gave me a look. “You’re scaring me here.”

            “Promise me,” I pressed, “that things will never be awkward between us. Please?”

            “Why would things be awkward?” he asked.

            I shrugged. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t want it to ever happen.” You’re too important for me to lose.

            “Okay,” Myungsoo said after some thought. “I promise.”

            I stuck out my pinky. “Pink promise?”

            “What grade are we in, Son Napoop?”

            “Please.”

            Myungsoo sighed and intertwined my pinky with his. “Happy now?”

            I smiled, genuinely smiled. “Yes!”

            Myungsoo smiled back and patted my head. “Now go to sleep.”

            “You can’t tell me what to do,” I said, sticking out my tongue at him as I left.

            He chuckled while shaking his head before closing the door.

            Before going to bed I found it funny how I’d almost completely forgotten about my date with Taemin. If anything, this Valentine’s Day was filled more with that future stepbrother of mine than anybody else. But I wasn’t complaining. 

A/N: I'd very, very briefly introduced Lizzy and I just want you all to keep in mind that besides Yookyung, Naeun is also really close to Lizzy who, in real life, had been one of Naeun's bffs in high school (: