~The Next Day~

“Sica!” Sunny called as she ran up to her in front of the school.

Jessica held her arms open to her with a bright smile. “Sunny Bunny!”

Sunny ran into her arms and hugged her tightly. “Oh my god, I’ve missed you sooo much!”

“I’ve missed you too!” Jessica squealed and released Sunny from the embrace.

“Oh, and I saw the news about you and Kai,” Sunny said, lowering her voice with a smirk and nudged Jessica’s arm with her elbow, “Chukkae.”

Jessica blushed while looking at the ground and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Yeah… well, you know…” She cleared softly before taking a deep breath and looked back up with a cheeky smile. “I knew he’d finally come around!”

“Well DUH,” Sunny giggled, sighing at the end, “But… I still need your help.”

“Yeah, you didn’t explain last night when you called me…” Jessica said then grabbed Sunny by the wrist and dragged her to a tree to sit underneath. Sunny sat cross-legged while Jessica lied down on her back and looked up at the sky. “Okay, so what is it?” Jessica asked.

“It’s… about Luhan,” Sunny began quietly, picking at the grass in front of her.

“Jen again?” Jessica inquired and propped herself up on her elbows.

“I think he really likes her…” Sunny sighed then drew a slow, deep breath, her bottom lip slightly quivering. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes but she quickly blinked them away and smiled sadly.

“No way! How could he-,” Jessica began until Sunny held up her phone in front of her face… showing her a picture of Luhan kissing Jen.

Jessica gasped then snatched the phone out of Sunny’s hand and stared at the picture intensely as if trying to view every single detail. “No, this can’t be! This… it’s got to be fake!”

“I saw it for my own eyes…” Sunny said, “This is why I need your help.”

“Okay, I’m in!” Jessica hastily confirmed and handed Sunny back her phone, letting out a small growl. She hated to see her best friend so upset and would do anything just to see her happy again.

“Well… I found out that her parents work at your brother’s company so… I was wondering if you could possibly… I don’t know… fire them?” Sunny requested hesitantly.

“Sunny that’s… brilliant!” Jessica praised and clasped her hands together. ‘Since when did my Sunny Bunny get so devious?’ she thought with a smirk.

“Really?” Sunny asked timidly. She looked up at Jessica like a sad little kitten and Jessica ruffled her short brown hair with a grin.

“Of course!” Jessica exclaimed and pulled her cellphone out of her purse thoughtlessly, “And I can make it all happen with one little phone call…”

---

Luhan’s P.O.V:

Luhan opened the school building’s doors and poked his head in, looking up and down the hallway before walking in. ‘Good… still no sign of Jen,’ he thought as he stopped by a water fountain for a drink of water. He pushed the button causing a stream of water to spray out and he bent down to take a drink. ‘I still can’t seem to face her even after all this time…’

Then he heard – “Luhan sunbae!”

He gasped as he was drinking and managed to choke on a mouthful of water.

“Oh… Oh my God, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jen apologized and hit him on the back a few times to help force the water from his throat.

Luhan coughed a few more times before turning around to face her. He shook his head ‘no’ and wiped the water from his face while clearing his throat loudly. “No… it’s okay,” he assured, his voice still quite groggy.

“I’m glad I finally found you… I haven’t seen you in a while,” Jen said with a concerned look.

“I’m in your class…” Luhan muttered.

“Yeah, but… we haven’t talked,” Jen reminded him.

“Is… is that so?” Luhan questioned but he already knew why they haven’t talked… it was his fault more so than not. He was too embarrassed to talk to her after he kissed her that night. It was hard being just a friend to her when he was dying to be so much more than that. What’s more is that he was afraid of ever making that same mistake again because this time he wouldn’t know if she would still be his friend if he kept pursuing a romantic relationship that she didn’t want…

“It’s like you’ve been avoiding me,” Jen continued with a sigh, “I thought you promised you would tell me everything.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Luhan said with a forced smile, “I’ve just been a bit stressed with managing the business properly lately. Sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his head with the same forced smile on his face.

“Okay…” Jen said but was still unconvinced, “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me and a friend this afternoon if you weren’t busy.”

“Uhh… sure, what is it?” Luhan asked.

“Well, we decided to volunteer at a daycare and we wondered if you’d like to help,” Jen proposed with a huge smile.

~Afterschool~

Luhan waited outside the school in the parking lot for Jen and her “friend”… whoever they were. He didn’t even know that she had any friends – not that she wasn’t a good person but everyone here was rather “particular” of whom they were seen with. He used to be like them too but then Jen came along; she somehow managed to change him in such a short period of time. Maybe because she wasn’t like the other girls… her smile was genuine, she wasn’t materialistic, and wherever she went, she would light up the whole room with her presence. This was the kind of girl he could see himself with… now and hopefully forever – the only thing standing in his way was whether this girl liked him back.

“Luhan!” Jen called as she waved to him.  She was being followed by a red-haired guy… the same guy in their first period class.

Luhan smiled at Jen half-heartedly and waved back to her. He was hoping that her new friend would have at least been a female so he wouldn’t feel so jealous. “So this is your friend?”

“Ne, this is Hakyeon… the new kid in our class,” Jen introduced N and gently pushed N forward towards Luhan.

“Why would you introduce me like that?” N asked Jen over his shoulder quietly before turning back to Luhan, “But I prefer to be called N.” He stuck out his hand for a handshake, which Luhan returned firmly. ‘Strong grip,’ N thought smugly.

“Well, are we ready to go?” Jen asked but she was already halfway in the car before she asked.

“Right behind you,” Hakyeon said as he was about to sit in the backseat with Jen.

“N, why don’t you sit up front with me so we can get to know each other a bit more?”  Luhan offered – his intentions were to keep him away from Jen… at least while he was around.

‘This guy… I know what he’s up to,’ N thought to himself as he moved around to the passenger’s side of the car. “Sure… why not?” He slowly got into the car and sat down, letting a small sigh escape his lips.

Luhan got into the car after Hakyeon and flicked his hair out of his eyes. “Now what daycare are we heading too?”

“Bundles of Babies,” Jen answered while putting her seatbelt.

“This will be a piece of cake for me… I’m great with kids,” N said confidently as he, too, strapped himself in with his seatbelt.

Luhan snorted and put the key in the ignition and started the car. “So am I,” he said and put on his seatbelt before driving out of the parking lot.

“Well I’ve taken care of two toddlers at once,” N bragged.

“That’s nothing… I’ve taken care of five when I was only 17 years old,” Luhan countered with his own “accomplishment”.

“Yeah? Well-,” N began.

“Guys… jeongmal?” Jen sighed with a roll of her eyes, “This isn’t a contest… we’re going to volunteer and do a good deed.”

Little did she know… it was indeed a competition in the minds of N and Luhan.

---

Kyungsoo’s P.O.V:

Kyungsoo sat in the chorus room again but was there much earlier than was expected of him. For some reason he was restless to see Minah again and was hoping that maybe if he arrived early, time would comply with his wishes and speed up. It was a stupid thought but he still couldn’t help but wish it would happen anyway.

“Well someone’s a bit early,” said a female voice in a slight taunting manner.

Kyungsoo’s heart fluttered a bit as he turned around on the piano bench to face to owner of the voice. Minah smiled at him and walked over to the piano, sitting down on the bench beside him. “Didn’t have anything else to do either, huh?” she asked.

Kyungsoo shook his head ‘no’ with a small, awkward smile. He brushed his hands over the ivory piano keys and admired how brightly they shone – he was able to see his own reflection in them… not only that but he could see Minah’s reflection in them too.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Minah said and watched him observing the piano keys, “Would you like to play?”

“I don’t know how…” Kyungsoo sighed. It was one of his desires to learn how to play but his friend Yixing moved to China before he could teach him.

“It’s really easy,” Minah assured, “I can teach you an easy song if you’d like.”

Kyungsoo nodded, giving her his approval and she smiled a bit. “Follow my lead, okay?” she said and gently grabbed his hands, placing them on the correct keys.

Kyungsoo blushed lightly at the skinship but tried to take his mind off of it so his blush wouldn’t deepen. He wished he could keep a “cool” image like Kai or his old friend Kris but he wasn’t like that… he didn’t show emotion easily but when he did, it was usually either excessive or unnecessary and he always ended up embarrassed at the end. The mere thought of embarrassment reminded him of when his childhood friend Chanyeol caught him crying to a tennis animation and told all his other friends the next day… it was so embarrassing that he avoided all his friends for a whole week.

She noticed the small blush on his face and smiled to herself. “Now play these keys in the same order I do.”

Kyungsoo nodded to show that he understood and sat up more straight to correctly position himself for piano playing.

“1… 2… 3… and start!” Minah announced and began playing her side of the piano flawlessly.

Kyungsoo intently watched her as she played and messed up several times before finally falling into the rhythm of the song.

Minah was completely engulfed in the music and was slightly swaying back in forth. And then she began to sing:

There’s a song that’s inside of my soul,

It’s the one that I’ve tried

To write over and over again,

I’m awake in the infinite cold,

But you sing to me over and over again.

So I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray to be only yours~

Kyungsoo looked over at her in shock that she could sing so well – he hadn’t really expected that from her.

~After the song~

Minah snapped out of her “trance” and blushed deeply when she noticed Kyungsoo’s intense stare. “I-I… well…”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had such an amazing voice?” Kyungsoo questioned in awe.

“I… do?” she asked looking genuinely surprised, “I never really sing in front of people so…”

“Why” Kyungsoo asked.

“Too nervous,” Minah answered with an awkward laugh, “But when I play the piano… I feel so invincible; its like I can do anything.”

“Well then play the piano to take your mind off of being so nervous,” Kyungsoo advised.

Minah twirled her hair with a small smile. “I don’t know why I never thought of that… You have great advise, Kyungsoo. Thank you.”

“You can call me D.O. if you want,” Kyungsoo offered while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Okay D.O,” she corrected herself, her bright eye smile returning, “well, I have to go work on a project but I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Do I… have to wait all the way until afterschool to see you again?” D.O. asked softly and looked away, breaking their eye contact.

Minah looked taken aback by his question but inside she was truly excited. “How? W-When? I… I mean yes, of course but… well, yes,” she stammered. ‘Oh my god, now he probably thinks I’m an idiot!’ she scolded herself.

‘Cute…’ he thought as he watched her cutely fluster to try and find the right words. “Great!” D.O. exclaimed but then his eyes widened as he realized how overly excited he sounded. ‘Great way to make yourself seem weird,’ he thought while mentally slapping himself. “I mean… I’m glad that you agree,” he added, “How about at lunch?”

“I’ll be there,” Minah answered with a playful wink. She scooted off of the piano bench and went to go pick up her purse, “Bye Kyung- I mean… Bye D.O!”

Kyungsoo smiled and waved her goodbye. Well… not technically “goodbye” because he would see her again tomorrow but still… And he was happy that it wasn’t a true goodbye because he hasn’t been this content around someone in a long time and he was hoping that he wouldn’t ever have to say goodbye either.