~Chapter 025~

Slowly, she leaned towards Onew and took his face into her hands. She stared at him for a moment before they lips touched and Onew wrapped his arms around her.

Suddenly, a door opened and Onew broke away from Sunyoung, alarmed. Sunyoung froze, not knowing what had just happened.

"Hey, what's going on here? What are the birthday kids doing here?" Key asked, smiling. 

"Nothing. I was just tired and Onew had to go to the bathroom." Sunyoung covered quickly. She avoided Onew's eyes and went back inside the common room.

"I'll just go to the bathroom really quickly, okay?" Onew said to Key.

Key nodded and closed the door. Onew leaned against the wall again.

, , . What did I just do? Good thing no one saw us. Why did you do this, Onew? Did you find her attractive? Aiish. I hate this. Sunyoung, please don't misunderstand. I don't like you. It was an accident. Onew's mind was exploding with thoughts.

~~~

"Sunyoung unni, where did you go?" Krystal questioned. Everyone had cleaned up the mess they had made and were resting on the couch or on the hardwood floor. 

Sunyoung cautiously walked to Victoria, who was sitting on a single couch chair and rested against the armrest. 

"I was just tired, so I just went for some fresh air." Sunyoung managed to squeak out. Her mind ached from the kiss she shared with Onew. 

Onew-ah, you love me? Please let it be true. Why else would you kiss me? Sunyoung thought. 

"Noona!" Taemin raised his voice, calling out to the absent-minded Sunyoung. 

"Yes?" Sunyoung looked up, just as the door opened and Onew walked in. His eyes scanned the room and lingered on Sunyoung's for just a second before he faced the room.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make." Onew projected. 

The attention turned to him, as everyone curiously listened to Onew. 

"I want you to meet my very best friend and something a bit more. Come out, little friend!" 

Onew smiled. He moved aside from the door and an extremely gorgeous, tall girl walked into the room. Her body was a perfect S-line and was like a supermodel's. Both Taemin's and Key's eyes widened and Minho awkwardly looked away, as he already had Yuri. 

"Annyeong haseyo, I am Jung Ah. Its nice to meet you all. I'm from After School, in case you didn't know. I hope we become friends." The woman greeted brightly. 

No one moved. Time seemed to have frozen.

Finally, Victoria, the oldest of the group, stood up. She stepped forward to Jung Ah and smiled. "Hello, Jung Ah-sshi. I'm Victoria. It's nice to meet you too. So, I'm guessing you're dating? Onew never made it obvious when he made the short introduction for you." 

"Yes, we are dating." Jung Ah confirmed, linking her arm with Onew's. 

"So, how long has this been going on?" Jonghyun asked.

"We've been dating for a couple of months now. So, right before Sunyoung-sshi and Oppa did their subunit." Jung-ah answered.

"What? You've been dating for that long and you haven't told us?" Key accused Onew. 

"Sorry. I was just not sure if we were allowed to share our relationship. SHINee's manager and the company said that we can make our relationship public. So, we plan on doing it today. Right Jung Ah?" Onew explained.

"Yes. My manager said we can as well." Jung Ah said.

"Well, congratulations." Sulli said, halfheartedly. "I need to go." 

"Same here." Krystal slowly followed Sulli and one by one everyone left, congratulating the new couple. Onew and Jung Ah eventually left, as well, right after the third to last person, Victoria, had left. 

Only Jonghyun and Sunyoung remained. Sunyoung had fallen to the ground on the spot next to the single couch chair. Jonghyun knelt down next to her. 

Sunyoung's eyes were watery, but before any tears could slip away, she blinked and they disappeared. 

Jonghyun stayed silent, not wanting Sunyoung to break down. 

Finally, he spoke. "Sunyoung-ah, are you okay?"

"I received a wonderful birthday present, haven't I?" Sunyoung mumbled.

"What?" Jonghyun leaned in closer to Sunyoung.  

Sunyoung looked at him. "Jonghyun, you have really been a wonderful and loyal person to me. If I accepted your confession, would you stay with me? Please answer." 

~~~

Continuation of Sunyoung's fleeing the day before her birthday....

"I'm still childish, Onew? If I am childish, what are you? Your arrogance hasn't disappeared, has it? Five years and you still have not changed!!! I changed so much in those years. Haven't you noticed? I thought you might have realized I'm not a little girl anymore. I love music, did you know that? When you hurt my feelings five years ago, that's all I did. Listen to music. My inspiration of the lyrics of "Lovesick" came from you. Can't you see me as a woman? No, I guess not. One thing I will never be lazy about is music. That will be impossible for me. Do you know how much I love to sing? Do you know how much I strived to be where I am today? It wasn't easy, Onew-ssi. You told me to call you that, remember? When I came home from America in 2014. I went through so much training, my head still hurts from all the notes I heard. Singing all those high notes every single day is not easy. Ask Taeyeon unni or Soojung or Taemin. Haven't you sung them yourself? Is it just me that struggles? Are you a better singer than me? Maybe you are, like you are with everything. Do you know much it hurts when you can't  even appreciate an award that a person you knew for your entire life has received. It's called the "Nightingale" award and only a single person receives it every five years. I sounded hoarse and rough while singing? I had a cough and I still came to sing. I'm sorry my voice isn't appealing to you. I'll try to improve it. You're really cruel, you know that Lee Jinki?!" Sunyoung expressed, her eyes watery.

Onew looked at her, speechless.

"I'll be right back." Sunyoung mumbled. She sped walk to the door, wiping her cheeks.

Jonghyun and Amber rushed after her without a word. Sunyoung was fast for a short woman and eventually Jonghyun and Amber had lost her. 

"Aigoo...where could she have gone?" Amber wondered, breathing hard. 

"I think I'll search this way and you can go that way." Jonghyun pointed towards the central hallway of SM. Amber nodded and started jogging down the hallway.

Jonghyun mentally scrutinized the areas Sunyoung could be. Finally after a minute of thinking, he decided to go to her practice room.  

He knocked on the door three times before entering. Sunyoung was leaning against the wall mirror, her eyes closed. 

"Sunyoung?" Jonghyun said, taking small steps towards her. 

"Jonghyun." Sunyoung sat up straight and wiped her eyes. 

"It's okay. It's just me. You don't need to look presentable. If you need to let out any of your tears, do so now. Just don't cry too much. It might flood your practice room." Sunyoung let out a quiet laugh at Jonghyun's lame attempt at a joke. 

Jonghyun grinned and sat down next to her. 

"You know, Sunyoung? Forget what Onew hyung said. We are only ten months apart, did you know that? So, I'm also ten months younger than you, as well. Anyway, you are the most talented, sweet, and kind woman I have met. I'm being sincere here. You never hurt anyone and give all your effort in everything you do, whether it be singing or manual labor. I think you are my role model, Sunyoung. I vow to be someone as great as you are. Sunyoung, please listen to what I am saying because it is true. I like you. I do. Will you accept my confession?" Jonghyun said quietly.

Sunyoung looked at him and then turned away. "Jonghyun-"

"It's okay. If you like Onew hyung, as I suspected, then you can like him." Jonghyun interjected.

"No, no, no. I just want some time. Can I tell you in a few days? Please. Don't think that you're being friendzoned or anything. You've been one of the kindest people I have met since I came to Korea. And, I think I may return to the States soon. My promotional period in Korea is going to be over soon. In two weeks to be exact. I haven't told any of our friends except Victoria unni and now, you." 

Jonghyun remained silent. "Okay, Sunyoung. I'll give you a few days. Please tell me though, yes or no. If you say no, I am glad that you will leave Korea, so I don't see the pain of rejection whenever I see you. If you say yes, I'll give you the happiest moments to cherish, so that when you leave, you'll remember me and we can still keep contact through email or phone."

"Thank you, Jonghyun. I'll remember that." Sunyoung stood up and waved to him before closing the door behind her.

"You will say no, Park Sunyoung. I know." Jonghyun smirked to himself. He sighed and his fists scrunched up.

~~~

Present

Sunyoung looked at him. "Jonghyun, you have really been a wonderful and loyal person to me. If I accepted your confession, would you stay with me? Please answer." 

"Yes, Sunyoung. I will stay with you. I told you can take a few days, but you took even less. Thank you. But, I have a question before we start our relationship. We have already been pretty close, but you never showed any interest in me. Why does this feel so sudden? Do you truly like me? Are you sure you want to start this relationship with me?" Jonghyun smiled.

"Yes, I am sure. I don't know why I never showed any interest in you, but now that I think about it, you seem like a perfect man for any woman. You fit me well and we like the same things and I feel like we can connect well. But, I want to take things slow. Is that alright?" Sunyoung said hesitantly. 

"I see. We can take things slow for now. I'm not rushing you. I need to go though. I have a schedule to attend to. Bye bye, Sunyoung-ah!" Jonghyun ruffled her hair, showing an even happier aura around him than previously. 

"Bye, Jonghyun-ah." Sunyoung said, watching him leave.  

Jonghyun likes me a lot. I can tell. Onew does not. I know for sure now. So, why do I have to like him? I can move on as well. Goodbye for the last time Lee Jinki. Sunyoung thought. 

She was not ready to see her friends at the dorm, so she looked for any news articles of Onew's announcement of his relationship on her phone. Unsurprisingly, there were already several articles. Sunyoung clicked on the first article and scrolled to the comments. What were SHINee's Onew's fans thinking about this sudden revelation?

[+420, -600] Onew oppa, how could you leave us for that After School member?!?!?! I can't believe it. 

[+734, -413] I never imagined SHINee's Onew would date. He seems like the shy type. Nevertheless, congratulations! On-ah has my full support!

[+600, -453] :( OnYoung is not real? That's really sad because they seemed so close and lovey-dovey with each other! Aiish. 

[+502, -213] The OnYoung shippers are making me laugh. How did they think that OnYoung was actually real? It was obviously just fanservice. But On-ah gets my congratulations!

[+945, -324] Yes! Onew oppa! Jung Ah unni! You're dating each other! My two biases are dating! Congratulations!

Sunyoung was shocked to see that there were so many supportive comments. Onew's fans were extremely nice and loyal. 

"Well, it won't trouble Onew, I guess." Sunyoung said to herself. She left the room and decided to return to the dorm to reveal her relationship with Jonghyun to Victoria, Amber, Krystal, and Sulli. 

~~~ 

Author's Note:

So, that was suprising wasn't it?

It's a drastic twist, but that's what makes a story interesting, right? So, there may be some parts you are confused on or need clarification. Those parts will be explained later on in the story or by me if you ask me. 

Anyway, I updated sooner because I found some free time today and decided to take a break from studying for my huge exam on Tuesday.  

Okay, I'll let this chapter sink in for everyone, so good bye^^ 

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