The next morning, Sooyeon wakes up later than usual. But she doesn't quite mind since it was Friday and the students of Cheongdam usually liked to be late during the end of the week, even her classmates. The usual morning routine was cut short since she didn't have to prepare breakfast for two. Solgi still hadn't come back, but Sooyoen doesn't mind that either in fact, she even likes it better that her foster mother is away. She's not the least bit concern of where that woman was.  But at least she had less things to do and worry about until she even comes back. 

Sooyeon breathes in the fresh air as she walks towards school at 7 in the morning. In reality, her house was pretty near from Cheongdam but yesterday afternoon, when she had accepted Yifan's offer on walking her home, it felt a little longer to her. 

She unknowingly smiles to herself. Yifan.. He was slowly and surely opening up to her and because of that, their friendship was blossoming meaning there's progress between them. 

Or maybe, only on Yifan. 

I hope you'd let me in, too. 

Those seven words, that on phrase, echoes in her mind as she turns the corner, the school already in her line of sight. Sooyeon sighs to herself, thinking back to what Yifan had said to her yesterday. Could it actually be true? That she was, unintentionally, pushing him away this time? 

Last night, she had almost stayed up thinking about it. It was almost 10 o'clock when she had tucked herself in because of the assignments and projects that had to be done last night. But Sooyeon had ended up sleeping at almost 12 because of what Yifan had said to her, and what she could of said back. 

Sooyeon thinks she's been to selfish and oblivious these past days. She had only shared a piece of her past to him once, while he's slowly opening up who he was and is to her day by day without her even telling at least one more thing about herself.

Now that she thinks about it, it is quite unfair on his part. 

Sighing, Sooyeon trudges up the steps of the building to get to their classroom. As she arrives, her prediction is correct; only four students were outside the classroom waiting on her the rest might even be late for today and Sooyeon is saddened to think that maybe Yifan is one of them. 

/\ | \/ 

Yifan thinks Sooyeon is acting quite strange and not behaving like she used to.

In the morning, when he was late, Sooyeon threw him a sharp look before telling him later on that tardiness is not tolerated in school and that he should be early next time. Yifan was surprised, he had been late a handful of times but Sooyeon hadn't scolded her even once back then even though she was supposed to watch out for him.

When they had a surprise test, Yifan was quite pleased with his score; he had only one mistake. He was only lucky because he had done some advance reading a few days back and it just so happens he was reading that lesson in which they had a test on. He had the highest score in History and for once, he wasn't in a tie with Sooyeon. He expected her to playfully roll her eyes at him or even mock a glare towards him as the teacher acknowledges his score, but again, to his surprise; she was smiling at him with no hint of annoyance or sarcasm hidden behind it. 

Yifan had managed to awkwardly smile back before he averts his gaze elsewhere. Strange.. he had thought in that moment. Even though things were going quite smoothly between him and her, there still was a some sort of competition between the two of them and Sooyeon was the one who was more eager to be on top even though it was a friendly competition nowadays. 

Sooyeon had surprised Yifan yet again when she approached him while he was still seated on his chair, almost about to get up and join the rest to go to the cafeteria for lunch. "Want to eat with me?" she says, smiling rather widely. 

Yifan stares up at her, an eyebrow raised. "Uhh.." he hesitantly places the back of his hand on her forehead, making Sooyeon look at him weirdly. "Do you, by any chance, have a fever perhaps?" 

Sooyeon snorts, swatting his hand away making him laugh. "Why? What's wrong with asking you to lunch?"

"Well, I always ask you.. and this is the first time that you properly asked me." Yifan states, remembering the time in where Sooyeon had sat with him during lunch once, totally uninvited back then. "It's just, weird. What's wrong, Sooyeon? Do you have something to say to me or anything?" he inquires, looking at her as if he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. 

But Sooyeon was good at hiding, little did Yifan know. She only smiles at him, and it's too sweet and sincere for Yifan to say that it was fake. "You know what? You're funny. That's not the case at all. Let's just go, hm?" she says and before he could reply to that, she walks ahead with her hands behind her back. 

And he has no choice but to follow her. 

At the cafeteria, Sooyeon and Yifan choose a seat farthest to crowd in where they could eat in silence and peace without anyone bothering them. The only seats that were unoccupied was by the dark corners of the cafeteria usually where the outcasts and loners of the school would sit, making them invisible from the people's eyes. But that wasn't the case at all when they had walked towards there, with Yifan's height and Sooyeon's powerful aura, they caught the attention of more than half of the students there. 

Are they dating? For how long now? 

Does Yifan like her? I heard he does. They always go home together, don't they? 

What the heck? President Jung is actually falling for him? Whoa, daebak! 

They actually look good together, huh? Omo, so cute! 

Beside him, Sooyeon snorts under her breathe at the whispers and murmurs of their fellow schoolmates. They sit down opposite to each other and place their trays on the round table. Yifan looks around the cafeteria, only to find out that probably all eyes were on them, this makes him chuckle. "Everyone's staring at you." he says, his eyes back on the girl in front of him. 

Sooyeon snorts again. "No, idiot. They're staring at us." she clarifies before eating her black bean noodles. 

Yifan leans in, smiling. "Us?" 

She shrugs. "Well, maybe just at you. The kids here still aren't used to you, you know." she states, ignoring the playful tone Yifan was using. 

He picks up his chopsticks. "Maybe," he says, shrugging. "Or maybe because they still find me amazingly hot and handsome, right?" he says before he too starts eating. 

In front of him, Sooyeon fakes a gag. "Oh no, don't make me barf out my noodles, Yifan. Or my breakfast either." she says, looking at him pointedly. 

"Sorry," he laughs. 

Silence fell between them like a blanket, and that's when Sooyeon thinks back to her thoughts this morning. She thinks back to why she was even acting extra kind to him. She thinks back to what she had been wanting to say to him. And then, as she looks up, she suddenly feels a pang of guilt wash over her. 

Yifan caught her staring, so he raises an eyebrow and clears his throat to catch her tone. In which, he succeeds. "What is it?" 

She only shakes her head, smiling faintly before going back to her noodles. "Nothing," she murmurs. 

"Are you thinking about 'us'?" Yifan asks, obviously teasing her. You could sense the smirk in his voice as he spoke.

Sooyeon rolls her eyes before looking back up at him. "There is no 'us'." 

"People think otherwise." 

"Are you seriously taking in their opinions of you and I?" 

"You and I is still technically 'us', you know." 

Sooyeon puts down her chopsticks, sighing. "What are you actually trying to imply here, Yifan?" 

Yifan takes his time in answering her. They lock gazes with Sooyeon sharply staring back at him as Yifan tries to read what's behind her eyes with pursed lips. He doesn't break his gaze on her, he doesn't look away and neither does Sooyeon. It felt like an eternity before the two of them say something. It was Yifan who did. "Nothing.. you're right. There is no 'us'. We don't even know that much about each other yet." he says, chuckling at the thought. 

"Techinically, you don't know that much about me." Sooyeon corrects him. "I've heard and read a lot about you and your family in articles online and on the newspaper. I know a handful of stuff about you, Yifan." she had the nerve to brag to him, and this makes Yifan chuckle again. 

"Nuh-uh, correction." he says, sitting up straighter as he folds his arms on top of the table while he looks at Sooyeon. "That's Kris Wu. The son and successor of the company? The one they write about and talk about in the news? That's Kris. You know Kris Wu, not Wu Yifan." he shakes his head. "Funny how you call me by my real name, yet.. you still don't know the real me." 

Sooyeon manages a dry laugh. "Maybe so, but admit it, you're slowly showing me your true colors, aren't you?" she says, a sly glint in her eyes. 

"I can't really say otherwise, can I?" he says, making the two of them laugh. As Yifan looks at her seated in front of him, laughing and smiling and her eyes turning into crescent moons as she did, Yifan couldn't help but feel something overwhelming inside him, making him smile at the mere sight of her smiling. It made him feel something in the pit of his stomach, something good. It was weird, but that's what he felt right there and then. 

"Come on, let's eat." she says, the smile was still on her face.

For a few minutes, neither of them talked or uttered a single word. Yifan would occasionally look up at her or glance up, only to see if she was finished with her meal. Sometimes, Sooyeon would glance up at him too but obviously Yifan didn't know this. He just couldn't catch her doing so, while Sooyeon had already caught him looking at her two times but she said nothing. 

The only thing they could hear were the chattering of the different students present inside the cafeteria. And there were quite a lot. But those who were seated near Sooyeon and Yifan stayed quiet and observed the to from their seats. The sight of the President sitting with the new foreign boy during lunch obviously shocked them. 

Yifan was greatly bothered by this, he wasn't quite used to people staring at him. Because unlike his older sister, who was also a model, he wasn't quite exposed to the public as much as the other family members in the Wu. Even when he walked in the streets, he would feel a little uncomfortable when the women's gazes and attention were directed at him. 

Pushing his tray back, he looks at Sooyeon and is eager to leave the cafeteria already. "Hey, Sooyeon, let's-"

"President Jung," someone says, cutting off Yifan mid-sentence. 

Both Sooyeon and him look up the uncalled visitor that stood in front of them, tall and smiling down. Yifan traces his gaze and sees him having eyes only on Sooyeon, then he realizes it was that kid from yesterday that approached her near the gates. Yifan narrows his eyes on him. 

"Oh, Donghae, what is it? Something's wrong?" she asks, looking back at him.

Yifan darts his eyes from Sooyeon to the boy named Donghae, back and forth he looks at the two of them. "Actually, the administration office would like to see you, President Jung." he says in an uptight tone, but he was smiling slightly at her. "Regarding to the winter ball, President."  

His ears perk up when he hears Sooyeon laugh, and his eyes widen a bit when he's looking at her, seeming to enjoy the other guy's presence. An indescribable, irky feeling was growing inside him, almost overwhelming him. He suddenly had the desire to push this guy aside from Sooyeon's line of vision.

"I told you so many times, Donghae, you can just call me Sooyeon." she says, smiling at him. "But, alright, I'll head over to the Administration office now af-"

Yifan doesn't hesitate to take the opportunity. "I-uhh, I'll go with you, Sooyeon." he says, stuttering a little. 

Both Sooyeon and Doghae turns to look at him, as if noticing he was there for the first time. "Oh, wait, what?" Sooyeon says, raising an eyebrow at him. "You'll-"

"Go with you, to the administration office. Come." Yifan stands up, adjusting his blazer before smiling at Donghae. "I'll be the one to her there." he says, not giving the guy a chance to respond before pulling Sooyeon with him, walking out of the cafeteria with his hand grasping her wrist. 

/\ | \/ 

Sooyeon was laughing, because she finds Yifan getting stranger and weirder by the day. "Whoa, hey there boy, slow down." she's been trying to match his large steps with her own, but it was near impossible since he had very long legs compared to Sooyeon. 

Yifan finally lets go of her wrist, and Sooyeon laughs while slapping him playfully by the arm. "What was that back there?" she asks, totally perplexed by his sudden action of grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out of the cafeteria. 

Yifan only shrugs, not bothering to answer her. Sooyeon rolls her eyes. "Aish, so bipolar." she states, earning a scowl from him.

They walked the slightly deserted halls with the exception of some students here and there since mostly everyone was at the cafeteria during this time. "Anyways, what's with that Winter Ball thing?" he asks as their footsteps echoed through the marble-tiled floors. "What's that?" 

"It's just a stupid dance." Sooyeon snorts, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I don't even know the significance of it. It happens every second week of December, the school always hold it and they even get to crown Winter King and Queen. But you know, even though I find it insignificant, I also think it's a great time for some of the students to relax and let loose before the break." 

Beside her, the taller one of the two snorts, "You're so perplexing." he mutters. "You think it's stupid?"

"And irrelevant." Sooyeon admits with a shrug of her shoulders. "I usually don't go even though I'm the one who organizes it every since three years ago. I usually work during that time." 

Yifan stays quiet, not really knowing what to respond to that. He already knew she had part-time jobs, because Sooyeon was middle class unlike him who was from a family that was treated and known as royalty throughout Asia, specifically in China. 

His mind clicks when he remembers something. "Second week of December, you say?" he asks her.

Sooyeon glances at him from the corner of her eyes. "Yeah, that's what I said." she tells him, oblivious to the change in his tone. "Oh, look. We're here. Just stay outside or go back to the room if you want." 

Yifan shakes his head. "I'll stay here." he tells her before she goes into the office, leaving Yifan outside in the corridors. 

You know what guys? I have no inspiration for this story anymore. -_-
I, like, really need to read stories with similar plots and concept to make me pumped up in writing for this exoshidae story, so I might not update for the next few weeks. Please bare with me. I really want to finish this as soon as I can but I need inspiration for that and I'm having a bipolar author's block these days. Very stressful, I tell you. 
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^^