chapter ELEVEN.

I slide three truffles into the box, one each of peppermint, raspberry, and cinnamon. The order just said to box up anything red. I was tempted to add in some of the ancho chilli ones until Baekhyun tried one. His eyes started watering almost immediately and even after drinking about a gallon of water, he still can't talk above a whisper. "How many is that?" I ask Taeyeon, who is helping put the little boxes into bigger boxes to be delivered later to a fund-raiser.

"Seventy-eight," Taeyeon says, tucking in another box.

"And we need how many?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.

"Two hundred and fifty," Taeyeon says. Changmin was happy when Taeyeon's mom, who is also the president of the Umlaut Foundation, ordered boxes of truffles as favours for their fund-raiser, but Taeyeon's mom keeps calling every few hours and upping the total as the RSVPs roll in.

I hold up one of the Love Potion No. 9 truffles. "I guess these were a bust."

"Maybe they aren't strong enough," Taeyeon says. "Or maybe—"

"Maybe there's nothing strong enough to make someone love you," I say. I brace myself for another lecture about my cynicism, btu Taeyeon just shrugs.

"It was worth a shot," she says, smiling at me. I smile back. That is one of the best things about Taeyeon. Nothing fazes her. She's always positive.

I close one of the boxes and look at it before I hand it off to Taeyeon. An embossed silver seal with the name of the foundation is on the top. "Who is Umlaut?" I ask. "And why does he or she have a foundation?"

Taeyeon smirks at me. "An Umlaut is that pair of dots that they put over letters in some German words." I raise my eyebrows at her. "Seriously." She starts on a new box, unfolding it and taping the bottom closed. "It's actually not as lame as it sounds."

"That should be their motto. The Umlaut Foundation. We're not as lame as we sound."

Taeyeon laughs. "They actually do some cool stuff. Every year the Umlaut Foundation features a Need to know artist from Korea at their fund-raiser. Last year it was Kiki Bird."

"She's the one who does the thing with the shoes, isn't she?" I ask.

"See?" Taeyeon says. "It's a pretty big deal for an artist to be selected."

"Are you going?" I ask.

Taeyeon rolls her eyes. "I'm trying to get out of it."

"It might be fun," I say.

"Yeah," she says. She purses her lips and gestures toward the wall. "Excellent use of colour." She makes her voice lower. "Superb use of negative space." She rolls her eyes at me. "These things are excruciating."

"Maybe the art will be good," I say, trying to salvage something for her. "Who is it this year?"

Taeyeon shrugs. "Some painter. He does these huge land scapes with found objects."

I nod then look back over at her. "What's the artist's name?" I ask.

"Oh something. I don't remember."

"Is it Oh Shin woo?" I ask.

She nods. "How do you know?"

I smile. I am very familiar with the paintings she's talking about. "Oh Shin Woo is Sehun's dad," I say.

"Really?" Taeyeon says, drawing the word out so it sounds like it has eight syllables instead of two. I squint at her. She smiles at me like the Cheshire Cat.

I look around to make sure Baekhyun isn't listening. "What about the hottie who sits in front of you in chem?"

She just waves her fingers at me. "Soo Rin, do you realize that there are only nine more days until Valentine's Day?"

"Um yeah," I say, thinking of the big sign in Changmin's window where he's been counting down to V-Day since the beginning of the month.

"Then you can understand why I'm keeping more than one plate spinning." I nod, but something about her calling Sehun a plate that she's spinning makes me feel slightly protective of him. I start to tell her that Sehun isn't just some plate, but she already has her phone to her ear.

"Mom," she says. "I want to go." She pauses, listening. "I just changed my mind. That's all." She looks at me. "How many badges can I have?" She listens again. "I need five, including me." She smiles at me and nods, listening again. "Okay, I'll ask." She pulls the phone away from ear. "Can we do three hundred?" she asks.

"I don't know," I say. "I'll have to ask Changmin." I walk to the front of the store where Baekhyun is helping Changmin refill the bins of hard candy. "She wants three hundred," I tell Changmin.

He rolls his eyes then smiles. "Okay, but it's going to clean us out."

"You should start packing up the Love Potion Number Nine truffles," Baekhyun says.

Changmin smiles at him. "I knew there was a reason I pay you the big bucks."

"You don't pay me," Baekhyun says.

"Right," Changmin says. "I guess we should fix that." I shake my head and walk back into the kitchen, leaving Baekhyun and Changmin to negotiate. I nod at Taeyeon, who relays the  information to her mother, then hangs up the phone.

"We're in," she says, smiling at me. "You can bring Kim Jong In, and Sulli—well, we'll figure out something for Sulli."

"I don't know," I say. "I mean, I'm not sure I—"

"Soo Rin, look. Maybe the irony of all this is lost on you, but I think it's the least you can do for Sulli and me."

"The irony?" I ask.

Taeyeon rolls her eyes at me. "Don't you think it's a little ironic that the one person who couldn't care less about romance or anything vaguely love-related is the only one of us that has a solid prospect for Valentine's Day?"

I sigh and start folding another one of the truffle boxes and affixing the silver seal to the top. Why is it that the more I try to duck the whole Valentine's Day thing the more everyone around me seems to be conspiring against me? "Fine," I say. "I'm in."

Taeyeon smiles at me. "I'm going to call Sulli right now." She pokes at her phone. I decide that I need a little fresh air. I push open the back door and walk out to the alley. I lean against the wall and close my eyes. Taeyeon's wrong. It isn't that I don't care about love. I do. It's just not for me. I mean, I like the idea of love. I know it makes you feel warm and sort of floaty, but I know what's on the other side of that floaty feeling. I've seen it in my mother's eyes when Junsu left and when Yunho decided he'd rather have a girlfriend than a wife. I saw it in Sulli's eyes when Daehyun thought he needed someone new to hold his hands with. I saw it in Sehun's dad when Mrs Oh decided she needed to have a new life three thousand miles away from her husband and son. And even though I 've never had my heart broken by a guy, I've felt enough of that empty, hard feeling you get in your stomach when someone who you believed in and trusted and loved just disappears. So, no thank you. I'll just keep my heart where it is, where it's safe.

I take a deep breath. It's going to be a long night. There are hundreds of truffles to make. There are Consternation Hearts to box up. And apparently there are at least two people counting on me to pull it together enough to keep their Valentine's hopes alive. I push away from the wall, taking one more look out into the quickly darkening sky. It's too bright here under the lights to see the stars, but I say a wish anyway. "I wish..." I whisper, but I don't know how to finish.

I walk back into the kitchen, where Taeyeon is trying not to laugh at Baekhyun, who has donned a headband with flashing heart lights sticking up from it. Changmin has on an identical headband. Taeyeon is fiddling with hers. Only one of the hearts will stay lit.

"Hey, Soo Rin," Changmin says. "Where's your Valentine's Day spirit?" He hands me a headband and I turn on the lights, watching them blink. I slip my headband on my head, feeling the hearts bouncing on their springs.

"I think my heart's defective," Taeyeon says. I have to force myself to smile when Changmin looks at me. I get the joke, but for some reason it just isn't funny right now.

"I can fix that," Baekhyun says, taking Taeyon's heandband from her. He pulls out the battery and looks at the wires that run from it. He twists one of them a little with his fingers and reinserts the battery.

"You are so nerdy," Taeyeon says. I look over at her. It's not what she said, but how she said it. It almost sounded like a compliment. "Yay," Taeyeon says, when he flips the switch and both hearts stay lit. Taeyeon takes the headband from him and slips it on. She wobbles her head, making them clack together. "Baekhyun," she says, grinnng at him. "You fixed my broken heart." Both Baekhyun and Changmin laugh. All I can do is give that same half smile. Changmin looks at me for a long moment, but I just shake my head at him. I know I already have a reputation for cynicism in all matters of love. I don't need to state the obvious.

Sulli comes by after helping my mom close up the flower shop. She rolls us her sleeves, dons a pair of plastic gloves and starts helping stuff truffles into boxes. As she does, she tells us about all the weird orders that she's been taking at the shop.

"Some guy ordered twelve dozen roses for his wife. That's one hundred and forty-four roses," she explains, as if we can't do the math.

"Now that is romantic," Taeyeon says.

"Seems desperate to me," I say. Everyone looks at me. "Oh,come on. Twelve dozen? That's a little over the top."

"I once bought six dozen roses for my wife," Changmin says.

"Why only six?" I ask. "Why not twelve?" I smirk at him, but he just looks at me for a moment before going back to stirring the bowl of chocolate he has melting on the stive. Suddenly the kitchen feels really small.

Baekhyun looks from me to Changmin then back at the truffles he's packaging. "I think sending some chick one hundred and forty-four roses is a bold move. As I always say: Go big or go home."

Taeyeon snorts. "Exactly when do you say that?"

"Well, now for one." Baekhyun answers. Taeyeon shakes her head, but she can't help smiling. "Oh," Baekhyun explains, making us all look at him. "Changmin, I have the best idea for next month." Changmin looks over at Baekhyun, but not before catching my eye and smiling a little. I let out the breath I was holding and resolve to keep negativity to myself.

"Tell me," Changmin says.

"Bacon."

"Bacon?" Changmin tilts his head to one side.

"Everyone likes bacon," Baekhyun says. He looks at all of us. Taeyeon and Sulli nod and I cast my vote too, nodding along with them. "And everyone likes chocolate."

"Hmmm," Changmin says. He keeps stirring the bowl of chocolate. "Bacon truffles." Changmin smiles over at us. "You guys are really earning you pay today." Taeyeon and Sulli both protest that he doesn't actually pay them anything, making Changmin laugh. He stops stirring and lifts the bowl from the stove. He pours the chocolate onto the marble slab set into the counter and begins folding it in on itself over and over with a long spatula.

Changmin instructs Baekhyun to order sandwiches for all of us. Baekhyun takes our orders and calls Jersey Mike's, the sub place next to my mom's shop. I start to tell Baekhyun not to order from them, remembering what a hard time they've been giving my mom about her expansion. But I can't think of anywhere else that will deliver and of the five of us, only Changmin can drive. And he refuses to leave us alone after last time.

"It's not that I don't trust you," he says. "It's me. I just worry too much."

"Oh, I wouldn't trust us," Taeyeon says, winking at him. This makes him smile and I feel a little jealous of how easy it is for Taeyeon. She seems to know the exact thing to say to make people happy. Even Baekhyun. Even though she is constantly deflecting any of his romantic overtures, he still keeps looking at her like she's pluperfect—more than perfect.

"Order extra bacon," Changmin tells Baekhyun before he hangs up the phone. "So I hear you girls are going to this fancy shimdig," Changmin says, nodding at the boxes we're filling.

"Only if I can find someone to go with me," Sulli says. "I don't want to be the fifth wheel." I start to mention that Taeyeon isn't exactly going with Sehun when Baekhyun pipes up.

"I'll go," he says. Taeyeon looks over to him. I'm expecting some snarky remark from her, but she doesn't say anything.

"You know you'd be going with me?" Sulli asks. Baekhyun nods. Taeyeon is watching them, opening and closing like a fish. Sulli looks at him for a moment. "Okay," she finally says. "Might as well." Might as well isn't exactly where I would hope for in response to an invitation, but Baekhyun seems fine with it. I look over at Taeyeon, who is shaking her head. She seems surprised by this turn of events and a tiny bit perturbed. I can't help but wonder if she's a little jealous.

My cell phone hoots from my jacket pocket. I walk over to where I hung it on the hook near the back door. "Hello?" I say, turning away from where Sulli and Taeyeon are having an intense discussion about what to wear to the Umlaut event. "Wait," I say, "I can't hear you." I step out the back door and into the alley, letting the door whoosh shut behind me.

"I asked if you need me to pick you up tomorrow," Sehun says. I pause, confused. "For the swim meet?" Sehun prompts.

"Are you it's okay to frantesize with the enemy?" I ask.

"Um, Soo Rin, it's a swim meet, not war." There is a big crash in the background and then a series of thuds.

"Sehun?" I ask.

"I'm here," he says.

"Where are you?" I ask, surprised that he's out somewhere. He has this four point ritual that he performs before each meet. The first is sleep—at least eight hours. Two of the steps are food-related. Another invloves injesting as much conffee as humanly possible the morning of the meet.

"Listen, Soo Rin. I gotta go." There 's more thudding, then a ripping sound.

"Sehun, is eveything—"

"I'll be infront of your house at seven," Sehun says. The phone is dead before I can answer. I try to call him back, but it clicks immediately over to voice mail. I stare at my phone, not sure what to do. Part of me wants to find him—just to make sure he's okay. If I knew Sehun was or what he was doing, I'd figure out a way to get there, but his phone is off and I have no idea where to even begin looking for him. I try his home phone, hoping to get Mr Oh, but it just rings and rings. Right as I'm about to hang up and call my mom to ask her to go over there, Sehun's dad picks up.

"Hey, Mr Oh," I say. "It's Soo Rin." He doesn't say anything. "From next door? I mean, I'm not next door right now..." I know I'm blabbling, but I'm not sure exactly what to say.

"What can I do for you, Soo Rin?" Sehun's dad asks. His voice sounds thick and I wonder if I woke him up. Instantly, I feel guilty for calling. Mr Oh tends to sleep weird hours. Sehun is forever telling me to keep it down when I'm over there.

"Listen, I'm sorry to wake you, but I just talked to Sehun and—"

"Sehun is sleeping," he says, cutting me off.

"Oh," I say. "It was just that he got off the phone so quickly and I..." I trail off, unsure of what else to say. I start to congratulate him on the Umlaut thing, but he cuts me off again.

"If that's it—" he says.

"Yeah," I reply. "Um, thanks and I'm sorry again—" But the phone is dead before I can finish. I look at the screen on my phone. Sehun Home—Call ended.

"Soo Rin?" Changmin pushes the back door open and looks at me. I slip my phone into my pocket and smile at him. "You okay?" he asks. I nod, but don't look at him. "You seem a little sad tonight."

"No," I say, "I'm good." I know Changmin doesn't believe me. In addition to my cheeks turning bright red and my tic thingy in my left eye, it's the words that give me away. Whenever I say I'm good, it means I'm anything but good. Thankfully Changmin doesn't say anything else. He just touches my shoulder briefly as I walk past him into the kitchen.

Baekhyun is laughing so hard at something that he's having trouble breathing. Sulli and Taeyeon are both staring at him with their arms folded. He finally calms down enough to speak. "Let me get this straight," he says. "You thought that by adding a bunch of herbs and spices and junk to some truffles, you could make people fall in love?" Taeyeon glares at him as he starts laughing again.

"You told him?" I ask. Sulli nods toward Taeyeon, who managed to look slightly sheepish.

"It wasn't one of our best ideas," she admits.

Baekhyun stares at the ceiling for a moment. "I think it's brilliant. There's just one major flaw," he says.

"Oh and what's that?" Taeyeon asks, her arms still folded.

"You were trying to make people fall in love, right?" Taeyeon nods impatiently. "I think that's where you went wrong. Your goal should have been to make people think they'd fallen in love."

"What's the difference?" Taeyeon asks.

It's Baekhyun's turn to be impatient. "Symptoms of love are easy to measure and manipulate. Dilated pupils. Elevated heart rate. Flushed cheeks. If you can find the ingredients that manufacture enough of those indications, I think you could convince someone that he's in love."

"You mean trick someone," I say. Baekhyun shrugs.

"But we wanted to make people really fall in love," Sulli says.

"That's scientifically impossible," Baekhyun says. "Even if you overlook the obvious confounding factors, there's no way to empirically prove the presence of something as nebulous love." I look over at Taeyeon expecting her to say something, but she's just looking at Baekhyun with this half smile on her face.

"What?" Baekhyun asks, looking at her. She shrugs and starts folding more boxes. I am pretty sure this is the very first time I've ever seen Taeyeon at a loss for words.

author's note. 

I'm counting down the last few days till EXO's comeback and SBS's Roommate. 

Yes, I'm ready with my extra chair, pillow and a tissue box. I probably need to put a mat on the floor too just in case I need it anywhere during that performance and show. Good luck to me, and good luck to you too.