Chapter Five

TAEYEON

It wasn’t real. He couldn’t be standing in front of me right now! It can’t be real!

Taeyeon felt her heart sink and her brain start to malfunction. She was shocked to her core. The one person standing in front of her was the last person she ever expected. It was her past. Specifically her childhood looked back at her. Nothing in this world would have prepared her for him to be standing where he stood. When she heard that knock she believed it would be Wooyoung.

It was meant to be Wooyoung in front of her, not him. When she opened the door she could only register his name in her thoughts but words failed her when it came to speaking. Her hands had started to sweat as the memories of her childhood flooded through her thoughts. The universe was throwing her another curve ball. The one person she was so sure hated her more than anything in this world stood centimetres from her.

Kim Hyoyeon.

Taeyeon looked at her white painted door. She felt her breathing heavied as she tried to process it all. But no matter how much she tried the fear in her grew. Her brother’s best friend was here. It was a concept she couldn’t understand.

Oh, God.

Taeyeon turned and rested her back against the door, hands covering her face. If she could have chosen a better situation for her to be in, she would rather go back to the night she found out about Onew cheating rather than face Hyoyeon. She couldn’t ignore the fact that he just appeared out of the blue on her doorstep with luggage in hand.

Of all the people in this world!

He didn't even remember who she was. Hyoyeon would have rather frolicked with hungry sharks than babysit her.

Babysit?

Taeyeon was confused. His sudden appearance baffled her. He was here the day before Sooyoung with luggage in hand and he was on the other side of her door. He said he needed to babysit her and that’s when it made things difficult to decipher. Factors kept running through her mind. Taeyeon put more pressure on her back and started to slide down the door until she felt the floor beneath her.

Taeyeon's back still firmly placed on the hard door, her hands still covered her face.

Why would she need babysitting? Taeyeon would be nineteen on Friday and that was six days away. She didn't need an arrogant like Kim Hyoyeon to look after her. She was more than capable of looking after herself; she had done so for over a year. It had felt like hours since Hyoyeon knocked on her door and had surprised her with his presence but Hyoyeon knew it would have only been minutes, time seemed to drag for her, stuck in a time of unknown.

As Taeyeon withdrew her hands from her face, it started to make sense, all of it.

She got up from the floor and patted her dress to remove any creases and she took in a few short breaths. Taeyeon adjusted her hair and as calmly as her body would let her she placed a hand on the handle and opened the door.

Hyoyeon was still there standing where she left him after she had slammed the door in his face. This was the first time she could actually take in Kim Hyoyeon. She wasn’t surprised by what stood in front of her. Even at eighteen-years-old he was unbelievably good looking, fast forward five years and he had the power to make her melt.

Five years had passed between them. Five years had done a number on him.

Hyoyeon’s physical appearance could make her breathless. His shoulders were broader, his muscles were now defined, his face chiseled, his blond hair was cut short and those brown  eyes … mesmerising.

Damn!

His arrogance sure let his incredible looks down. Taeyeon couldn’t help her wondering eyes as she observed him. She mentally cursed his attractiveness.

I wonder what he would look like with his shirt off?

Taeyeon mentally slapped herself. Why was she thinking about him in such a ual way? This was not normal, was it? She couldn’t think about her brother’s best friend in that way. He was Kim Hyoyeon, the boy who never thought of her.

Damn it, hormones! Pull yourself together!

All looks aside, Hyoyeon was at her door and she knew he was going to unleash hell. She steeled herself for a moment before asking the question she feared most.

"Is Sooyoung … okay?" she asked softly as she stared down at the floorboards instead. She noticed that he was wearing skinny jeans and a pair of converse.

She imagined him suits rather than his casual attire. He didn't reply to her immediately, so Taeyeon stood there, hand on her front door and continued to focus on the natural patterns of her floorboards. She heard Hyoyeon clear his throat and she started to lift her head so that her eyes rested on his.

"Uhh, listen Taeyeon, that's why I'm here. You