“Are you sure Sooyoung unnie would keep our secret?” Krystal asked. She and Minho are now on their way home from the party.

                “Though my noona is loud and talkative, I think she keeps secrets very well. She would not tell Hyoyeon noona unless Hyoyeon noona would find out about it first. But I think Hyoyeon noona would find out about it since they are best friends and it’s hard to keep secrets from a person who knows you like a book.”

                “Not really. I think it’s not that hard.”

                “Really? So you have secrets that I, your one and only best friend, don’t know about?”

                “Maybe...” She . “And who says you’re my best friend?”

                “You did. Remember when we were kids...”

                “Fine. Fine. I did.” She cut him off from narrating their memories. It was then followed by a comfortable silence. Then a few meters from her house, he decided to break the silence “Oh. I haven’t told you. You look beautiful tonight.” He made a quick glance at her with a charming smile on his lips.

                She felt a little shy because of his comment. She too glanced at him and saw him smiling. “Thank you.” She softly uttered.

                “You’ve always been pretty.” He again made her shy and the atmosphere became a little awkward. “Oh. Is that Sulli?” He wanted to get rid of the awkwardness, fortunately he saw Sulli in front of Krystal’s house. He changed the subject quickly. “Why is she there?”

                “And who’s with her?” Krystal added as they both saw Sulli in front of her house with a familiar yet unrecognizable person beside her.

________________________

                “Jessi, I’m back!!!” A very familiar English speaking Korean woman announced loudly. She’s smiling widely showing her eye smile. You could tell that she’s very happy. Beside her is another woman slightly younger displaying a shy smile yet she has the same eye smile as the former one.

                “Miyoung-ie!!!” Jessica happily squealed as she hugged her late night guest tightly.

                “Jessi, people call me Tiffany, you know.” The guest replied as she hugged Jessica with equal strength. “I came straight from the airport. See.” She added as she pointed out her luggage. “I even dragged my sister here. Remember, Sulli.”

                “Of course. She’d grown so pretty and tall unlike her sister.” Jessica joked.

                “YAH!...” Tiffany was about to rant but Yoona brought it to a halt.

                “Fany unnie! You’re back!” Yoona hugged her too. Then she turned to Sulli. “Oh. Is this Sulli? She’d grown so pretty and tall unlike her sister.” Yoona laughed. “I guess height does run in the family but it skipped Fany unnie.” She continued. Jessica laughed at her comment and Sulli managed to hold back hers.

                “I guess being a bully runs in the family. I hope it skipped your maknae.” Tiffany retorted. “Where is she? I’ll introduce her to my sister.”

                “I already know her, unnie.” Sulli answered.

                “Really? How did...” Jessica then saw Krystal and Minho walking towards them. “There she is.”

                “Good Evening, noona.” Minho greeted them all and bowed. “I just accompanied Soo Jung home. I’ll go now.” He smiled and bowed again before he walked off.

                “Is he...” Tiffany started to question.

                “He’s Sooyoung unnie’s younger brother, Choi Minho.” Yoona answered as if she already knew what Tiffany would ask.

                “That’s not what I was going to ask.” Tiffany turned to Krystal. “Is he your boyfriend?”

                “No, unnie. We’re just friends.” Krystal replied immediately.

                “No? He looks like a nice guy though. If you’re not dating him then maybe my sister should.” She then looked at her sister. “I already found you a future boyfriend.”

                “Unnie!” Sulli protested.

                “Yah, Hwang Miyoung! Why do it seemed like you are giving your sister away? Tsk tsk. Let’s all go inside, it’s getting cold.” Jessica said.

________________________

                “You pretended to be close with her, didn’t you?” Minho asked from the other line. Krystal was now lying on her bed facing the talking speaker stuffed animal that Minho gave her on her birthday a year ago. It was placed on her bedside drawer. It is a stuffed animal –a frog to be exact—that moves its head and mouth when the person on the other line talks. Minho said that he gave it to her so that when they are talking through the phone it would seem like she is still talking to him in person. Krystal knew why it was a frog and not any other animal. Since they were kids, she had always said Minho looked like a frog because of his big eyes. She once called him frog prince.

                “It’s not like that. We really are friends now.” Krystal cleared out. Apparently, her Jessica unnie and Sulli’s unnie, Tiffany, are best friends and since Sulli is new in their school, her unnie asked her to be Sulli’s friend and guide. Her unnie even said that there’s no doubt that they’ll get along well. The thing that made her happy though is that Tiffany was really fascinated by Minho that she really wants Sulli to get to know him well. She can’t understand why her unnie, both of them, showed disapproval given that they really are fond of Minho. But she didn’t mind them and she said yes to Tiffany’s request to help Sulli to become close with Minho. “Actually, I really like her unnie. Our plan would progress now no thanks to you.” She continued.

                “What do you mean?” Minho asked.

                “Well, Tiffany unnie really likes you and I don’t even know why but that’s a good thing. We are now sure that when the time comes that you and Sulli would date, you will be welcomed with wide open arms.”

                “Woah! Wait! I told you I’m not in this plan.”

                “Minho, please. This is for both of us. Your my best friend remember? You’ll help me, yes?”

                “No. It’s already late, Soo Jung, go to sleep now. Good night.”

                “Say no all you want. I won’t accept it anyway. Bye.”

_________________________

                “Krystal, I’d like to ask something from you.” Taemin said as she walked towards Krystal. Krystal didn’t react. It’s not every day that Taemin would ask her something.

                “What is it?” She simply said trying to keep a nonchalant face.

                “We need another member of our dance group. Would you like to join? Ah...no...I would like you to join our group.”

                Sure. Of course. Definitely. ”I don’t think I’m suitable for your group. I’m not that great of a dancer.”

                “It’s okay. I’ll help you out. So, is it a yes?”

                “Uhmm..okay.”

                “Thanks. See you tomorrow after class then.” With that Taemin left. Krystal didn’t move even a bit. She can’t believe that she’ll have a chance to spend time with Taemin. She still happily daydreams when somebody tapped her shoulder. “Yah, Jung Krystal.” Luna said. She and Sulli are looking weirdly at her.

                “What?” She asked.

                “Nothing. You just have this weird expression.” Sulli explained.

                “Oh...Minho’s looking for you.” Luna added.

                Oh, yeah Minho. I have to tell him. “Okay. I’ll go to him. Thanks.”

________________________

                “Minho, would it be okay if I stop practicing high jump with you? It’s...well...Taemin asked me to join his group and I kind of said yes.” Krystal slowly said because it is quite hard for her to tell Minho that. She feels like she’s letting him down. She waited for them to finish their practice and then she decided to tell him while on their way home.

                “Oh...okay.”

                “Okay? That’s it?”

                Minho nodded. “It’s not like I’ll get angry at you just because of this. I know you’ve been waiting for this.”

                “This is my chance.” She smiled then she realized something. Why did Minho say that? Could it be that he knew my feelings towards Taemin? It’s my secret, how could he know.

                “I know what you’re thinking. To answer your question, yes I do know.” Minho uttered.

                “How did you...”

                “I told you. It’s hard to keep something from a person who knows you like a book. I’m your best friend. I’ve known you since we’re kids.” She remained silent. “I also know why you keep on trying to pair me up with Sulli.” Still she’s silent. “Don’t worry. Your secret is very safe with me. Don’t you trust me?...We’re here already. Go inside now. Good night.”

                “Thank you. Bye.”

_______________________

                “Where’s Luna?” Sulli asked. She and Krystal are on their way out of the school building. It’s one of their breaks. “I thought she’ll eat with us?”

                “I don’t know where she went. She just told me that she’ll meet someone.”

                They are now walking beside a small cafe near their school. “Oh...isn’t that Luna?” Sulli pointed inside the cafe. Luna and her familiar companion are unaware of their presence. Then Sulli recognize who Luna was with. “Is that Minho?” By that Krystal’s head turned in a snap.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

thank you for reading...=)

sorry for any mistakes....

***if anyone is curious about how the talking speaker stuffed animal works...here's a video though here it is connected to an mp3 player....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtmX04s_axo&feature=related