And again. I have to apologize for I cannot finish it in a go. Idk. Something's wrong with me. Sigh.

Anyhow, this is the first part, and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Like I write on my twitter (Yes, I have a twitter now under @dsilverstrands if you are interested to follow), it's kinda hard for me to write in college setting since it is so behind me now :)
But, I'll keep trying to get my youth back, hoping it will appear in my story ;p

Without much ado. Please.
 

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Shrilly giggles and occasional coquettish shrieks from the room across woke her up from her midday nap.

"Ugh. Don't tell me they're doing it again. I barely had a proper sleep last night," Sunny gritted through her blanket.

It was a lazy Saturday for her since she had nothing to do the entire day. Well, every Saturday was a lazy day for her though. She made that particular day in a week sacred for the sake of the sloth god in her.

She tried to sleep again, inducing herself in the coolness of her room, the soft cotton of her broken white bed sheet against her open skin, the smoothness and airiness of her pink leopard-print satin pajama wrapping her body.

That, until she heard the flirtatious shriek again. She shot her eyes open, feeling annoyed by the disturbance. She got off her bed hastily and flew out her room.

"Yah! Too loud, you kitties!" She rapped the door a couple of times before leaving it to get a glass of cold water.

Just when she plopped herself down on the couch, the two said kitties came out of their love nest, face flushed due to the constant giggling prior and whatever activities she'd rather not to know.

Tiffany stifled her laughter. She dropped herself on the couch beside Sunny, saying, "We're not doing anything. We're just. . ."

"Nanananananaanaaaaa... I don't want to know. Okay?" Sunny cut her mid-sentence while covering her ears with both hand. This particular friend of her has a habit of confiding her things that she didn't need to know at all.

She shied away from the red-haired woman to face her short pal. "Please handle your girlfriend's mouth. I ain't want to listen any of your business."

Taeyeon who sat on the armchair, chuckled. She raised one finger and another as she said, "First, it's not , it's being creative. Second, we didn't do the just now. We didn't even do anything as you think we did. Third, as much as I enjoy the act, I ain't fond discussing it with other people. So, you woman, silent." She addressed Tiffany who were flashing her neat white teeth.

"Whatever. You disturbed my sleep, and it's friggin' weekend," Sunny dreaded. She threw her head backward, so it collided with the cushy backrest of the sofa.

"Don't you have anything to do?" asked Tiffany.

"Why should I?" Sunny questioned back.

Tiffany sighed. She shook her head, as if saying non-verbally how impossible her girlfriend's best friend was.

"You want to come with us?" asked Taeyeon.

"Where to?"

"Regular gathering."

"Meh."

Tiffany shook her head again, although slightly chuckling. Sunny's indifferent behavior to social gathering always  mused her somehow.

"What's wrong with our gathering? It's fun, you know. And we do have booze too, in case you don't know," told Tiffany.

"Nah. I just dislike meeting too many people at once. S'tiring." She glanced at the round clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you go now?"

She might never come to the gathering, but she knew where and when their regular gathering took place.

Taeyeon just stared at her, knowing what her short buddy was thinking. She sighed weakly, "Yeah. We should. Let's go, Fany."

"Sure you don't want to come?" Tiffany asked once more, made sure.

"Positive. Now go and bring me something when you are back, alright." Sunny's lips broke into a grin, showing her teeth.

"Alright. See you later." Taeyeon excused herself and walked to the front door.

"See you," Tiffany waved her hand as she followed her girlfriend.

Once the two was out of the dorm - her shared dorm with Taeyeon, yet Tiffany spent most of her time there too, the atmosphere turned quiet once more. She got up to her feet and shuffled back to her room, yet she didn't aim for the bed, but for her desk by the window.

She pick the aircon remote to turn it off and push the light fabric of her blue gordyn aside before she unlocked the window and gave it a slight push so the cool breeze came in.

The winter was near, so the sky was often grey and heavy as it threatened to rain anytime. Sunny drifted her gaze from the scenery outside to her desk. She pulled open the drawer and took out a framed picture of a young man and her taken a couple of years ago.

She remembered how furious Taeyeon was for seeing that that picture was still with her all these time.

"Are you a sadist? She dumped you and you still keep your photo together although you are hurt by just looking a it?! You're impossible, Sunny! Don't tell me you are reminiscing the memories by looking at that photo?!"

She stared at the photo where they were hugging with their heads faced  the lens.

I do. First love is the hardest to forget after all. She talked to herself.

She shook any thoughts reminding her of him before placing it back to its hiding place. After the breakup, she never had eyes for anybody. She felt numb and unable to love any other guy. The memory of him was so vivid and it wouldn't leave her mind although she kept trying to remind herself that he wasn't worth remembering at all.

I think I need a drink, she thought as she made her way out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge to get her favorite booze, yet she found none. Hmm? I drank them all? She peered at the clock. Is it weird to go and get it on four o'clock? Well, whatever.

She went back to her room to grab her towel and headed to the bathroom. After a quick hot shower, she changed her clothes and got her purse. The young lady put on her jacket, went out of the front door and locked it from the outside before she climbed down the stairs to the first floor.

The sky was gloomier than when she saw it from her room just then. She walked in big strides hastily to the convenient store just around the corner.

Passing through the jingling door, she went straight to the cooler to find her favorite brand of lager. Just when she placed her hand on the handle, somebody reached out too, resulting his hand on hers.

"Sorry," letting go the cooler handle, he quickly apologized while looking at the tiny young lady beside him.

"It's okay," she let go the handle too, turning her head to face him. "Sungmin-ssi?"

"Sunny-ssi?"

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at the gathering?" asked Sunny.

"I lost to a game, so I have to buy them beers as a punishment," he answered.

"Ah, that's what Fany means by saying there will be booze too. So someone has to buy that as a punishment."

Sungmin grinned, "Yeah. By the way, why are you here and not coming to the gathering?"

"I'm not comfortable with such get together," she replied shortly.

"What kind of get together are you comfortable with then?" He asked while reaching the cooler handle once more to pull it open and squatted down to get his pick of beer. He held the cooler door open with his shoulder.

Sunny being unconsciously thoughtful, pushed the door a little to the back so it didn't squished Sungmin and held it open for him. "Hmm.. Don't know. Nothing, perhaps."

She saw him filling up the grocery basket he carried with cans and cans of lager until it was fully loaded and wasn't able to hold any more can.

He got up from his squatting position, grunting in process as he picked up the now heavy basket. Stepping aside from the opened cooler, he let Sunny to have her turn as he thanked her for her little help.

"No prob," Sunny replied casually.

She bent her back to the front to reach her favorite brand of booze which was placed on the third rack from the bottom. Sungmin in the other hand, took turn to hold the cooler door and closed it when she had done loading five cans in her grocery basket.

"Thanks." This time Sunny said the phrase, to which Sungmin answered in the same casual tone, mimicking her, "No prob."

The two of them their heels and walked up the aisle of snacks to the cashier. Sungmin quickly grabbed two bar of dark chocolate and loaded it in his basket as he was walking.

Both of the side by side cashier were empty when they reached there, so they stood next to each other in front of the cashiers.

"You sure don't wanna go to the gathering? You're not so late, you know. We're usually end until later at night," he persuaded.

"I know. The lovebirds are regulars on the gathering."

"Lovebirds? You mean Taeyeon and Tiffany?"

Sunny nodded.

"Such a cute pair they are."

"Revolting if you are with them nearly 24/7." Sunny made a face.

Sungmin grinned, "So, will you come? You never joined anyway. Give it a try, will you?"

Sunny stared at him, confused why he was being so persistent to make her come with him to the gathering. For a brief moment, her mind wandered  to the framed photo in the drawer and Taeyeon's words surged up in her memory.

"Stop moping around! Stop being all alone in your shell! Forget him, go out and meet new people or old friends."

She sighed as she gave him a shrug, agreeing to it finally. Sungmin's lips curved a happy line.

"Good. Now let's go," said Sungmin.

He carried his two heavy loaded plastic bags in one hand and reached out to help Sunny to carry hers, but the later refused. She grabbed the plastic bag first and carried it.

"It's okay. Mine is light compare to yours. I can carry it myself."

"Alright. You don't mind walking, right? I don't drive here."

Sunny nodded, "Your dorm is not that far anyway."

The regular monthly gathering was held in Sungmin's shared dorm with Kyuhyun and the other three fellow senior students, that she knew. It was a big unit of apartment with five bedrooms for them to share, and they also had  big living room where they held those gatherings.

The get together members were not that many actually. Should all members attended, it was fifteen people the most, all were public relation students. However, it was rare lately to see the fifteen members gathered especially when the third years were away for internship.

As they were walking toward his dorm, the sky began to rumble. Tiny drops were falling from above. It was little at first, but soon the drizzle got more frequent.

"Run, quick!" Sungmin cried while keeping his eyes on Sunny who was running up the pavement behind him.

The bag they carried jingling loudly as the cans were colliding with each other. He saw her running her one hand over her head, trying to block the rain drenching it, yet to no avail since the rain had gotten even bigger.

When the two was finally arrived at the humble entrance hall of the four-story apartment building, they were already drenched from top to toe. The gush of strong wind didn't help as it made them shivered.

"Come on, let's go upstairs," Sungmin led her to the stairs where they climbed until they reach the topmost floor. Sunny rubbed her arm along way with the free one, trying to gain any warmth. Rain on late autumn was never pleasing indeed.

From behind the closed door, they were hearing laughter, giggles, loud chatter and even a shriek or two. Sungmin threw Sunny a grin before pushing the unlocked door open.

"Hey, look who's here!" He shouted to the disarray lot.

Yep, disarray. Most of them were practically huddled in the middle of the room, one on top of another, bodies grazed bodies. Meanwhile two were standing on the side, clapping and laughing at the tangled pile of humans in front of them.

If you think they were doing something indecent, you had to stop thinking. No, they didn't do anything indecent like for example, group . No, they didn't do it. Certainly did not.

"Whoa! What's this? You guys were sitting nicely when I left you just now," Sungmin placed the belongings on the foyer floor and dashed to his room afterwards.

"Hello to you too. And hello, Sunny. Good to see you here," muffled Kyuhyun from below Tiffany.

"What?! Sunny?!"

The owner of the sweetest eye smile shrieked in surprised that she accidentally lost her foothold and fell on Kyuhyun who was at the very bottom of the pile, causing the two of them to crash on the colorful plastic carpet on the ground. Kyuhyun's foot accidentally knocked Seulong's long leg, sending him and Yuri who was under him to crash on them too. Taeyeon and Jessica who was the first to lose, thanks to their stiff limbs, were laughing and clapping wildly on the side.

"Yah! Get off the carpet, you guys!" shouted Hyoyeon to the four fellows scattered on the ground. "Quickly! I need to change my position. My hand couldn't handle it any longer."

"Just admit defeat, Hyo," Jokwon who was on all four beside her with one leg under and across Hyoyeon's back taunted her.

"Tch. Never," she stuck out her tongue and shot back at him.

"Twister?" Sunny threw a question to any body in that room, or nobody at all.

"Seems like it," Sungmin who was standing beside her again answered. He spread a wide towel and threw it casually around her slightly shivering shoulders. "They were not playing this when I left them though. We played poker, and I lost."

Sunny turned her head to look at him, rather surprised by his casual care although it was the first time they had interacted that intense after last two semester where he had to retake a subject, resulting him to take a class with his juniors. She was his assignment partner for the entire semester.

"Hey, what if we rematch and Sunny can join us," Tiffany suggested. She had moved beside Taeyeon, side hugging her. The shorter stole a light kiss from her girlfriend's thin lips, making Sunny shook her head, feeling embarrassed by their PDA.

"Thanks, but I'm good. Just continue. I'll sit and watch. I have this anyway," Sunny answered as she ignored her best friends. She raised her plastic bag, which was clanking as she shook it in front of them.

"Drunkard." Taeyeon snorted. She smiled though.

Sunny coming out from her cocoon which was her room was a good sign. A sign that she was waiting for as a best friend who concerned about her best pal's sanity after the disheartening break up.

The shorter one walked toward the pushed aside sofa, put her plastic bag on the coffee table which was set aside for the lot were using the middle section of the living room, and plopped down on the cushy canvas surface.

Sungmin followed her after picking up the plastic bags. He sat down beside her after placing his loads on the coffee table and reached out inside to get a can. He opened it with a loud hiss, and the light gold liquid spilled out thanks to all the shaking while they were running up to his dorm.

"Hey, watch your pants," Sunny reminded Sungmin, all the while grabbing his wrist to keep the spilling drink away from ruining his pants, out of her good reflex.

"Thanks," he muttered. His eyes sparkled and goofy grin broke out.

When their eyes met, a tiny spark leaped, sending some kind of electricity jolt between them. Sunny quickly withdrew her hand and looked away, so did Sungmin who were suddenly finding the can of beer in his hand interesting.

"Hey, pass the beer please," Kyuhyun shouted from the middle of the room. They were still watching the battle of flexibility between Jokwon and Hyoyeon, the ultimate contenders.

However, with only a quick glance, he knew something happened between the two cutest persons in their department. Not to mention that he knew how much his buddy crushed on that tiny young woman since a year ago.

"Yah, Hyung. Do you have a situation there?" He called on him, teasing him.

"What situation?" Seulong asked, interested.

"Something's heating over there I think," Kyuhyun continued his teasing.

"Is that so, Soonkyu?" Fany asked. The sudden commotion got her curious.

"Yah! Do you need to use that name, Miyoung-ah?" The tiny young woman protested, but not without a come back.

"Yah! Don't call me with that name!"

"What goes around, comes around, Miyoung-ah," Sunny smirked.

She rose from her seat, carrying one plastic bag of beer, silently felt grateful for the diversion. She handed the cans to the coterie who were happily received.

When she reached Kyuhyun, he remarked, "Play nice to my hyung, alright. Just as his face suggest, he's a real sweetheart."

Sunny shook her head. "I don't understand."

"I know you do understand," he smiled knowingly, emphasizing on the 'do'.

"Yah! What are you talking about?!" Sungmin shouted from his seat on the sofa, feeling suspicious of the silent conversation exchanged between the girl he had a crush on and his best pal.

Kyuhyun threw a glance at his senior. "Nothing. Just man up, Bro!"

"Yah! Shut your ing mouth up! You're gonna ruin everything!" He yelled.

Kyuhyun just smirked in return. The crowd was glancing back and forth. They started to grasp situation, their smug expression told it.

Sunny tried to ignore the teasing as she continued to distribute the cans as if nothing happened. However, Fany nudge her and gave her a thumb up.

"This is what I was talking about. Good step forward," she praised, gesturing her thumb up like a proud momma.

"Shut up, Fany. It's nothing," Sunny hissed through her gritted teeth.

"Eyy... Sungmin oppa is a good guy, hon," Fany continued.

"And you know how much I hate you when you're like this, right?" Sunny snapped. "One more word from you about this, and I'm going home."

"Hey! Why are you so rude? Hate is a strong word, you know," she complained to the shorter woman who was already walking away.

"Let her be. She's right, babe. You're annoying when you're being nosy," Taeyeon defended her short pal.

Sunny heard a loud "yah" and crisp smack which she sure was landed on Taeyeon's upper arm. The two continued their petty quarrelling while she was making her way back to the sofa and took her seat once again. Sungmin handed her her can of beer which he had it opened before hand.

"Thanks," she took the can in nonchalant manner although the truth was she was suppressing the awkward feeling inside.

"No problem," Sungmin said. "By the way, about that. Well, you know, about that. Um... Just ignore it, okay."

Sunny looked up to see his face, observing him a little, before she finally nodded. "Cool. I'm cool." And she took a big gulp of the lager.

***