Chapter 8 – Baby Steps

Friday, 5th of January 2020, 5:15 PM, Seoul Central Hospital

AUTHOR POV

Tiffany right now is sitting down at the waiting room just waiting to hear the final assessment from the doctor in regards to Chanyeol’s current injury. His parents are already notified and right now they are accompanying him inside the diagnostic imaging room. Tiffany doesn’t want to make situation any worse by being there because she knows it really well that his parents might still hold a grudge against her after the humiliation that they suffered during the incident. Yuri is accompanying Kai and the others inside a treatment room. The doctor just treated him by fixing his broken nose and of course it is more painful that he imagined it would be. He is allowed to go back home a bit later after some more observation from the hospital.

Meanwhile back in the waiting room, Tiffany sees Chanyeol’s parents exiting the room and of course she tries to avoid eye contact with them but surprisingly they are walking toward her and approaching her. This causes her to be really nervous and not sure of what to do because she thought that they might scold her or maybe even slap her or something. His father stops walking, letting Chanyeol’s mother to be the only one facing Tiffany and much to her surprise she smiles at her,

Mother: “Tiffany is it? You’re prettier than the last time I saw you years ago.”

Tiffany: “Ah thank you auntie…..”

Mother: “Please….don’t be nervous…we know what really happened back then….it is our son that still not ready to forgive you…even though you might not have a hand about that at all…..we’re totally fine with you..”

Tiffany: “Really? I’m afraid that you will….”

Mother: “No…listen….our family has gone back to normal after that….there’s no reason to hold anything against anyone….so…can I ask you something?”

Tiffany: “Yes auntie?”

Mother: “We can’t stay here to accompany him…both of us got work to do and Chanyeol’s father need to go back to Busan tomorrow morning for his job. May I ask you to be the one monitoring his condition? I’m sorry about this, you can come and visit him after school hour ends. We don’t really have many relatives that we can ask for help….is it okay with you? I’ll give you my phone number if you’re okay with this.”

Tiffany: “Ah of course auntie! I’ll let you know about his condition!”

Mother: “Thank you….here’s my business card…please let me know if anything comes up okay? Thank you Tiffany.”

Tiffany: “Ah thank you!”

Chanyeol’s mother smiles at her and then both make their exit from the hospital, leaving Chanyeol in the care of Tiffany for the time being. Both are them are not really wealthy, they are both working in order to help Chanyeol’s pay his tuition fees. The school’s representative has contacted them that the medical expense of Chanyeol will be paid by the school so they feel slightly relieved but still they are bound with their respective jobs so they are unable to accompany Chanyeol during his treatment and recovery all the time. Tiffany then walks slowly toward the room that Chanyeol is in right now. He is awake and he is going to go through MRI Scan. She is about to exit the room when he spots her entering her room but he waves his hand toward her asking her to come inside the room and stand by his side,

Tiffany: “Ah….hi Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol: “Where are you going?”

Tiffany: “Ah no I thought that you are going to do some tests here so I want to wait outside.”

Chanyeol: “It’s okay you can wait for me here, the scan will be done in the other room.”

Tiffany: “Ah okay….did the doctor says anything about your injury?”

Chanyeol: “Look (he swipes away a part of his hospital gown to show her his injured knee), you can see that it is slightly deformed right? The doctor said I might suffer a dislocated kneecap injury, it should be treated instantly but they are just performing some test and scan to make sure there are no fractured bones there because then I might need to go undergo surgery.”

Tiffany: “Arghh…yes it’s kind of out of place…I didn’t really pay attention to it on the ambulance…”

Chanyeol: “Yeah, hopefully I don’t need to do surgery, it would takes me between 6 to 8 weeks of recovery and physiotherapy session before I can resume normal activities.”

Tiffany: “So you will miss out on the performance then? For the festival?”

Chanyeol: “Yeah it seems so, even though they delayed the festival I won’t have any time to practice and prepare for it….so yeah, it seems that I am going to sit it out….I don’t know what the others will do.”

Tiffany: “I see….it’s too bad….”

Chanyeol: “……. (He’s smiling at her)”

Tiffany: “Ah? (Blushing) Why are you smiling at me like that?”

Chanyeol: “Do you remember when the last time we have a peaceful conversation like this?”

Tiffany: “……………………………..”

Chanyeol: “It’s been a long time….and…..it’s not your fault…sorry Tiffany. I put you through a lot didn’t I? I should have forgiven you from a long time ago but I let my ego get the better of me and you are becoming someone that you are not because of my treatment toward you. I’m really sorry.”

Tiffany: “……………………..”

Chanyeol turns his head toward her and she is covering her face with her hands. He of course know that she is crying but she’s just trying to hide it from him. He can’t stand up right now because he is in a wheelchair so he can’t hug her so he lifts his left arm up and he places the palm of his hand on her right arm,

Chanyeol: “Don’t cry Tiffany…..cheer up okay? I don’t want this problem of ours ever mentioned again. I want to move on from it, I’m pretty sure you want the same thing as me right?”

Tiffany: “Ye….yes….”

Chanyeol: “You do realized I’m in need of moral support here right? You should be showing your smile instead your tears.”

Tiffany: “Ah yes… (wipe her tears), sorry Chanyeol…I’m just really happy that I can talk to you again like this.”

Chanyeol: “It’s fine….so….after my test finished, can you look for my friends? I’m pretty sure that they are in this hospital as well. I just want to let them know how I am doing.”

Tiffany: “I think Yuri is with them, I can try to call her to find out about it.”

Chanyeol: “Okay, but call her later, right now just accompany me here and talk to me…just in case my painkillers fading away and I will scream like a baby, haha….”

Tiffany: “Haha, I’m pretty sure the doctor already give you enough painkiller to last for a while.”

Chanyeol: “You never know right? Hehe….”

Tiffany: “Yeah I guess, hehe….”

Slowly the hate and the coldness is melting away as Chanyeol takes the first initiative to fix the broken relationship that she has with Tiffany. At the moment Tiffany is just really happy that she can talk normally again with him but this leaves a lot of questions too for other people. Tiffany now doesn’t need any help from Kyuhyun since Chanyeol already forgives her, will she still going to do what he asks of her regarding Taeyeon? Or she’s just going to abandon it entirely? As for Chanyeol himself, does he simply forgive her because he really forgives her? Or is it for the sake of fulfilling what Taeyeon asks of him? Even though they are not enemies right now both Chanyeol and Tiffany still have other things in their minds that can change things again between them in the future.

Meanwhile Taeyeon is in an entirely different situation with those people at the hospital. She is holding a report book with her picture inside it. This is the report book back from her school days in Japan and because of the note inside it, she suspects it is someone that she has been trying to avoid all this time. She keeps thinking about it during her bus ride home and she tries to not think too much about him at the moment. He is a part of her dark past that she wants to forget so she doesn’t want to think too much about him but for the sake of her curiosity, she ends up calling one of her friends from her school in Japan,

Taeyeon: “Hi Miko, how are you?”

Miko: “Ah Taeyeon!! It’s been a while! And your Japanese is still fluent too.”

Taeyeon: “Haha of course Miko, it’s not like I’ve been away for 10 years or something. So listen….I need to ask you something.”

Miko: “What is it Taeyeon?”

Taeyeon: “Do you know where ‘he’ is right now?”

Miko: “Uh no….I think I am probably as clueless as you are, why? Are you having nightmares again about what happened that day?”

Taeyeon: “Ah no, I’m just curious that’s all, I don’t want him to be around me for sure.”

Miko: “Yeah I know…If I meet the others from our school I’ll try to ask around and I’ll call you if I found anything about him, okay?”

Taeyeon: “Okay sure, thanks Miko.”

Miko: “Sure, bye Tae!”

Taeyeon: “Bye!”

That phone call doesn’t satisfy her curiosity at all so she decided to take another good look at the report book. The name of the owner of the report book is purposely erased but she still pays a good attention from one page to another to find out any clue about the person that left this report book earlier at the bus stop. She looks at all the pages in the report book but found nothing in particular that can gives her a confirmation of who the owner of this report book is so she puts it away, she lies down on her bed and she remembered the event that she tried hard to forget,

“It’s not nice….this memory….I want it to be erased forever….I don’t want any knowledge of this memory at all….I just want to live happily right now, enjoying my new school, bonding with my new friends. That is all I want….it is that hard honestly?”

She lets out a huge sigh and she is just lying down on her bed like that for a few moment when suddenly her phone is ringing. She doesn’t feel like answering it but because it keeps ringing she feels annoyed and end up picking up in a rather disgruntled manner,

Taeyeon: “Hi, who is this?”

Kyuhyun: “This is Kyuhyun.”

Taeyeon: “Hmm? Sunbae in our school?”

Kyuhyun: “Yes I need to have a meeting with you since I am the head of the student representatives. I am obliged to talk to you as a new student in our school.”

Taeyeon: “Okay….so you are obliged to talk to me….but do I really have to?”

Kyuhyun: “No actually….but I think it’s better if you do.”

Taeyeon: “Then I opt not to talk about whatever you want to talk about with me.”

Kyuhyun: “Just lend me 5 minutes of your time tomorrow after school.”

Taeyeon: “I have to finalize which club I am going to choose tomorrow, so I can’t attend this meeting with you, sorry sunbae.”

Kyuhyun: “I see, that’s fine then….”

Taeyeon: “Okay thanks for your understanding, bye….”

Kyuhyun: “But….!”

She cuts off the conversation before he manage to say another word to her. She doesn’t know what he wants but she is not in the mood to find out whatever it is that he wants to talk with her. The discovery of this report book has been bothering her no matter how hard she tries to ignore it. She’s just afraid that she can’t escape her past, something that she hopes isn’t true. She tries to put this away off her mind for a while and she wants to know how Chanyeol is doing. She decided to bring Tiffany’s bag and bring it to the hospital. She’ll ask Yuri which hospital they are in and she just wants to check in on his condition, she doesn’t want Tiffany to be upset if she thinks that she is bothering her.

40 Minutes Later....

Finally Taeyeon has reached the hospital and she opts to meet up with Yuri first before meeting up with Tiffany. She goes to the waiting room that Yuri is in and she can be seen talking with Chanyeol’s friends there. Yuri noticed Taeyeon’s presence and she immediately stands up and walk toward her,

Yuri: “Hey, you’re finally here.”

Taeyeon: “So how is Kai doing? Isn’t he supposed to be getting treatment?”

Yuri: “The doctor has fixed his broken nose, he just need to stay in the hospital for a while for observation, as you can see he looks like nothing happened to him, except if we accidentally touch his nose haha.”

Taeyeon: “Ah, haha...that’s good then.”

Yuri: “You are here to give Tiffany her bag right? And of course to see him as well.”

Taeyeon: “Yes...where are they?”

Yuri: “They are on the 2nd floor, the school paid for his treatment and upgraded him to the single bed, go find Ward 3B, bed number 8.”

Taeyeon: “The school is so kind to do that.”

Yuri: “Well the accident is happened in the middle of school activities that is arranged by the school so I think it is only right if they are the one paying for it....but are you sure that you want to see her right now?”

Taeyeon: “Why is that?”

Yuri: “Tiffany and Chanyeol....well...they already solve their problem...”

Taeyeon: “Okay so why I shouldn’t see her right now? You confuse me Kwon Yuri.”

Yuri: “Well I just thought that...you know...you might be upset to see them like that or something.”

Taeyeon: “Huh? I’m the one that asked him to patch things up with her why I would want to be upset?”

Yuri: “Dunno, maybe you like him?”

Taeyeon: “Hahaha...ha....ha....”

Yuri: “The way you laugh makes it even more suspicious.”

Taeyeon: “Of course not Yuri, don’t talk nonsense like that…”

Yuri: “Fine, suit yourself, go ahead then and go there, afterward let’s go back home together. We’ll grab something to eat with Kai and the others.”

Taeyeon: “Okay wait for me here please.”

Taeyeon then makes her way toward the 3^rd floor and when she arrives right in front of the door to the room. She can listen Tiffany speaking to someone and since there is no Chanyeol’s voice can be heard, it means that Tiffany is speaking to someone on the phone. She then knocks on the door and she opens the door slowly, looking at Tiffany who is sitting on the chair next to Chanyeol who is lying down on the bed. Both of them seem to be happy to see Taeyeon comes into the room, probably for different reasons. Tiffany ends the phone call and she walks toward Taeyeon straight away,

Tiffany: “Thank goodness you are here! Can I ask you a quick favor?”

Taeyeon: “Yes?”

Tiffany: “I need to go back home to take a quick shower and grab some clothes, do you mind accompanying him for a while here?”

Taeyeon: “But Yuri is waiting for me downstairs…”

Tiffany: “That’s fine, I’ll let her know on my way out and I won’t be long anyway, probably half an hour, my cousin is on her way to pick me up, I’ll be back as soon as I can, thanks Taeyeon…”

Taeyeon: “But….”

Even though it’s clear that Taeyeon doesn’t want to accompany him on her own, Tiffany says her goodbye and she goes out of the room immediately. Taeyeon lets out a small sigh and she looks at Chanyeol who seems to be quite happy to see her. She takes a seat where Tiffany was sitting and then she asks him,

Taeyeon: “So…what is the diagnosis?”

Chanyeol: “6 to 7 weeks full of physiotherapy and recovery session, I’ll probably spend 2 or 3 weeks walking with the help of crutch or wheelchair.”

Taeyeon: “I see…so….what happened back there? Why did he hit you so hard like that?”

Chanyeol: “I don’t know….I don’t even know who that guy is so I’m sure that I don’t have a previous problem with him, maybe there is someone who wants me to get hurt.”

Taeyeon: “Like who? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Chanyeol: “Well, I know some people who want to see us not enjoying our time in the school.”

Taeyeon: “Like who? And who is us? You and your close friends? Did you guys have problem with someone at school?”

Chanyeol: “Yeah sort of, but I can’t really tell you about it.”

Taeyeon: “Why not? Shouldn’t you report this to teacher BoA who is in charge of student discipline?”

Chanyeol: “I can’t….it’s no use.”

Taeyeon: “It’s one of our sunbae right? That’s why you don’t want to report that person?”

Chanyeol: “Yes.”

Taeyeon: “Who? And why?”

Chanyeol: “Sorry I can’t tell you since it involves my friends….but I think I have good idea why someone want to hurt me today.”

Taeyeon: “Why?”

Chanyeol: “Because of you…..I know one of our sunbae who really likes you….and he spotted us when we are with Yuri and Kai back then and I think he wants to hurt me ever since.”

Taeyeon: “……………………….”

Chanyeol: “Sorry, I know you have trauma about it, don’t worry….I won’t pursue anything with you, he won’t be after me again after this, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Taeyeon: “I see…..”

Chanyeol: “Hmm? You seem disappointed? I said not to worry about it because he won’t bother me anymore, your past trauma won’t be repeated I promise.”

Taeyeon: “Yeah it’s good I guess. So….you already spoke with Tiffany right? Everything is alright between you two now?”

Chanyeol: “Yup, I actually have forgiven her for a long time….but I am not ready to let her know about it….maybe previously I still wanted her to suffer from my treatment toward her but you helped me to realize that maybe I should move on from my problem with her and you are right, I am quite relieved right now that everything is in the past now.”

Taeyeon: “I see, that’s good….so she’s going to sleep here and accompany you?”

Chanyeol: “I actually don’t want her to do it but my parents met her earlier and since they are unable to accompany me all the time because of their work they insisted that there should be someone here to notify them about my condition and they asked her to accompany me.”

Taeyeon: “Ah I see….good for you then.”

Chanyeol: “So you’ll be visiting me here often right? Don’t forget your promise.”

Taeyeon: “What?”

Chanyeol: “You said that I get to know more about you if I have settled my problems with Tiffany….you told me that right?”

Taeyeon: “Ah….you still remembered that?”

Chanyeol: “Of course! What do you think I am?  A 100 years old senile grandpa? Haha…”

Taeyeon: “Ah, it’s just that I assume that once you settled your problems with Tiffany….you and her….”

Chanyeol: “What? Dating? Of course not! And also if it’s true why I can’t get close to you as well? Am I not allowed to have a close female friend when I’m dating?”

Taeyeon: “Of course not…..”

Chanyeol: “You are confusing me really, hehe….”

Taeyeon: “I guess….sorry….”

Chanyeol: “What are you apologizing for? You sure are weird, hehe.”

Taeyeon: “……………….”

Chanyeol: “So….may I ask you some question then? We can get to know each other more and you can help me kill this boredom because I am bound to this bed for quite some time.”

Taeyeon: “Yeah sure why not….so what do you want to know?”

So in the end both of them are chatting with each other until Tiffany arrives. Taeyeon is actually confused on whether Chanyeol’s feelings toward her. She knows that he spontaneously asked her out on a date before but she thinks he did that without putting too much thought into it plus she also not interested in dating anyone anytime soon. She is not ready to open her heart just yet, especially when she hears from Chanyeol that he is hurt today partly because of her. Even though he assured her that he won’t let anything happened to him anymore, she is still wary about it and she is curious at the same time about who is this sunbae that want to hurt Chanyeol and his friends. At this moment she just want to be close friends with him and hopefully nothing bad will come because of their friendship.

8:35 PM, Minho & Sulli’s House

Sulli just finished cooking dinner for her and Minho. Both of her parents aren’t home yet so she is in charge of cooking the food again tonight. She just finished her cooking, she takes off her apron and then washes her hand. She sent a message to Minho just know using her phone but he hasn’t come down yet since she sent it so she decides to check him on his bedroom. She knocks on the door several times but there is no answer from him. Because she doesn’t want her food to get cold, she opens the door to his bedroom and just when she is about to ask him to come down from dinner, she is shocked with the view in front of her.

Minho is wearing earphone, listening to music on his phone and the reason why she is shocked is because he doesn’t wear any shirt at the moment and he seems to be putting an ointment into his rib area. At first of course her attention is toward his topless body, he has a well-toned muscular body because of his football activity so it is no wonder that Sulli admires his body like that on top of course her feelings toward her own brother but then she noticed bruises on his ribs and arms. She immediately puts away her shyness and she barge into the room,

Sulli: “Oppa!”

Minho seems startled to see her because of course he is listening to music so he doesn’t know that she is coming inside the room but he doesn’t try to cover up his upper body with anything after seeing her come in to the room,

Minho: “Hey Sulli, why are you here?”

Sulli: “I messaged you that dinner is ready but you aren’t coming down so I come here to ask you to come down and have dinner with me.”

Minho: “Ah sorry I am listening to music so I probably didn’t notice the message.”

Sulli: “What happened oppa? Why you have bruises like that?”

Minho: “It’s fine….I’ve get this a lot during a match but some of our sunbae are playing rougher than usual…”

Sulli: “You want me to help you with that?”

Minho: “That would be great actually, I am not really comfortable in putting this ointment into my hand, plus the smell is awful.”

Sulli: “Sure let me help you out then.”

At first she is perfectly okay with doing this. She is really concerned and genuinely putting the ointment into the spots where he got bruises but after several minutes, the reality starts sinking in her brain. She remembered this is the upper body of her brother that of course she likes more than just a brother. When she starts realizing that, her hand is slightly shaking and the palm of her hand becoming more sensitive as it brushes against his skin. Without realizing it her face starts to slightly reddened and blushing. Her mind can’t really think anything at the moment and in the middle of this terrible state that she is in, suddenly Minho grabs her left and stare at her closely,

Minho: “Ya, are you sick or something? It seems you are having a fever or something.”

Sulli: “W…w…wh….why?”

Minho: “Go look in the mirror.”

She turns her face around and he is right, anyone who sees her would probably think that she is having a fever or something. She is embarrassed to be in this state in front of him and she doesn’t want him to know what is actually happening to her right now,

Sulli: “Ah…ah….okay oppa I think you’ll be fine….co….come down for the dinner okay?”

Minho: “Sulli…”

She immediately gets off his bed and she runs like a world class athlete straight to the 1^st floor and she enters the bathroom immediately. She looks at herself in the mirror and she puts both of her hand on his cheeks and she talks to herself,

Sulli: “What am I doing? Did I just get aroused because I touch his body like that? How stupid of me to show that side of me right in front of him like that! Urghh……I need to tone down my urge and think more normally right in front of him, I can’t risk him knowing what I think about him like this….don’t be stupid Jinri, you need to behave more appropriately when in front of him! Don’t mess up everything! He’s not ready yet for your love….be patient…..and tone down this stupidity!”

She slaps her own cheeks and then she exits the bathroom and at the same time Minho is going down the stairs and he seems eager to have his dinner once he smells the food,

Minho: “Wow the smells is so good, you are getting better in cooking now.”

Sulli: “Ah yes, supposedly I got this talent from mom.”

Minho: “Your future husband must be lucky to have you, I’ll put on a good word for you if I meet him in the future, hehe.”

Sulli: “Hehe….okay I guess….”

Minho: “Come on let’s get the eating started! Can you grab a bottle of ice lemon tea from the fridge please?”

Sulli: “One ice lemon tea coming up sir!”

Minho: “Thanks, I’ll give you a bigger tip for a very excellent service! Hehe….”

For now Sulli needs to be careful to not show too much of her true feelings in front of Minho. Even though of course she is still conflicted with having this romantic feeling with her own brother, eventually she would want him to know about it but for now, she is not ready to let him know about it. So the brother and sister enjoy a good dinner together sharing a few laughs and jokes during their dinner time.

Meanwhile on the other part of the city, Yuri, Taeyeon, Baekhyun & Kai are walking toward the bus station, the others have gone back to their dorm earlier. The 4 of them are talking about the club that they are going to pick since tomorrow will be the final day to submit their option,

Baekhyun: “So Yuri, are you interested in joining the drama club? You know…you can fit in the football club as well.”

Yuri: “Haha, are you implying about my athletic background or are you just simply mocking me?”

Kai: “Maybe if you are playing today, you can protect me from this broken nose incident.”

Yuri: “Well I think I would avoid being in the incident in the first place if I was in your shoes.”

Kai: “I would like to see you try.”

Yuri: “Bring it on.”

Taeyeon: “Don’t you know that you guys are being silly right now?”

Yuri: “Haha yeah we know.”

Baekhyun: “So what about you Taeyeon? What club are you going to choose?”

Taeyeon: “Probably acting and something else. I want to join a club where I can practice my vocal skill but I heard that the only club that has focus in singing is Music club and I’ve heard that you will need to practice instrument too, which got me thinking twice about it.”

Baekhyun: “Not really, you can actually choose what you want to do in the club, so if you want to focus on your singing, you can do it easily.”

Taeyeon: “Are you in the singing club?”

Baekhyun: “No but I’m thinking of joining.”

Taeyeon: “I see….”

Yuri: “I need to stop by this store to buy some snacks, anyone one to come with me?”

Kai: “Yeah let’s go, I’ll be bored because tomorrow I must stay at home even though I’m perfectly fine.”

Yuri: “Really? (Touch his nose)”

Kai: “Ouch! What are you doing??”

Yuri: “Perfectly fine huh?”

Kai: “I mean my other body parts are perfectly fine! Sigh…you are one sly prankster, let’s go already.”

Yuri: “Hehe….come on.”

They left Taeyeon and Baekhyun right outside the store and they both take a seat on the nearby bench while waiting for them. Things are slightly awkward between the two of them even though they both talked with each other just now. Taeyeon is just staring at the crowd of people walking in front of her so he decides to talk with her to get rid of the awkwardness,

Baekhyun: “So….you like singing?”

Taeyeon: “Ah yes…back in Japan I sing a lot…”

Baekhyun: “I would like to hear your voice.”

Taeyeon: “Well you know I can’t just sing right here, people might think I’m weird.”

Baekhyun: “No I mean in the club….join the singing club so I can hear you sing.”

Taeyeon: “Haha, I’m still thinking about it.”

Baekhyun: “You know what? Why don’t we go and choose the club together. I need to confirm Chanyeol’s submission anyway.”

Taeyeon: “So what club is he going to pick?”

Baekhyun: “I think Football and Drama….”

Taeyeon: “I see….”

Baekhyun: “You want to join the drama club so you can be in the same club as him?”

Taeyeon: “Why is everyone assume that I want to be with him all the time or I might have some kind of feeling toward him? First Yuri and now you….”

Baekhyun: “Even though he might forgive Tiffany on his own initiative today, it was you who encouraged him to do that, am I right?”

Taeyeon: “Possibly, but what does it has to do with anything?”

Baekhyun: “Well it means that you are the first person to be able to move his stubborn rock headed way of thinking so for me, you have quite a presence in his eyes.”

Taeyeon: “Let’s say if that’s true, it is all about him and what he thinks of me, not about what I think of him.”

Baekhyun: “Well….Am I wrong about what you think about him?”

Taeyeon: “Well…..you are wrong.”

Baekhyun: “You didn’t answer me convincingly though.”

Taeyeon: “You know what? I don’t want to talk about this.”

Baekhyun: “Okay fine, sorry that I brought it up, but yeah let’s go together tomorrow okay?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah sure why not.”

Then Yuri and Kai both comes out of the store with shopping bags on their hand and the four of them continue walking toward the bus station. Taeyeon is all silent with Yuri on the bus trip back to their house but she doesn’t understand why she keeps thinking about Chanyeol & Tiffany. It’s not that she’s jealous of them or she wants to be the one sleeping over at the hospital but somehow she feels rather weird with the thought that the two of them will are together like that. She doesn’t know whether it is envy or she’s happy with Tiffany or maybe she’s just jealous but she doesn’t want to admit it. Because of this she is actually glad that he will be in hospital for a while since she won’t seeing him too often in school. Thinking about him makes her slightly unsure of the way she sees him in her eyes.

Saturday, 6^th of January 2020, SM International High School Sports Hall, 10:15 AM

There is no lesson for today since it is Saturday but there are students who are submitting their final decision as to what club that they are going to join. After a long thought of consideration, Taeyeon has finally made up her mind of what clubs that she’s going to join. Tiffany is absent of course since she already settled on the clubs that she’s going to join. Around 10 minutes after the students finished with all the registration, the large projector on the sports hall is displaying the final list of the students and the clubs that they joined (I will only put the names of the characters that are related to this story)

Drama: Yuri, Minho, Sulli, Taeyeon, Chanyeol, Baekhyun

Football: Minho, Chanyeol & the rest of EXO members

Music: Taeyeon, Tiffany, Baekhyun, Krystal, Jessica

Athletic: Yuri

Cheerleading: Tiffany, Sulli, Krystal & the rest of SNSD members

When the names are displayed, the first person to be really surprised is Yuri and she immediately turns her attention toward Minho who is standing not too far away from her and she approaches him,

Yuri: “Really? You in drama club? The future captain of this school football team in a drama club?”

Minho: “Haha, why not right?”

Yuri: “Are you joining because your sister is in the club or are you really serious in joining the drama club?”

Minho: “Well a bit of both and to balance my activities right? Football is a really physical activity so I can balance it out with some acting and storytelling I suppose.”

Yuri: “Okay fine suit yourself I guess.”

Minho: “Haha, it will be a fun time in our drama club. So many interesting people.”

Yuri: “Yeah, there are people that don’t belong there, for example…you.”

Minho: “You just wait until you see me acting before judging.”

Yuri: “Haha, I bet you won’t be picked for a major role, don’t you know that there will be musical too in the drama club? Are you confident with your singing?”

Minho: “Well, let’s have a bet shall we? For the first project of the drama club, if I am not chosen for the major role, I will quit the club.”

Yuri: “Very interesting, but what if you are chosen?”

Minho: “You will go out on a date with me.”

Sulli who is standing not too far from them suddenly alerted by their conversation. At first of course she doesn’t really pay too much attention to it since they are talking normal stuffs but as soon as she hears the word ‘date’ inserted into the conversation, she slowly moving closer toward them to listen more intently toward their conversation, which cause Krystal to be really confused,

Krystal: “What on earth are you doing? Practicing to walk like a crab?”

Sulli: “Shush!”

Krystal: “Sometimes you can be so calm and lady-like and sometimes you are doing this weird unexplainable stuffs, you are one weird person.”

She’s ignoring Krystal and she is concentrating in hearing the conversation between Minho and Yuri,

Yuri: “Huh? Really? Why on earth do you want to date me?”

Minho: “Why on earth I don’t want to date you?”

Yuri: “Haha…you are funny I give you that much…but it’s just a date, I am not promising that it will develop into a relationship or anything like that so don’t get all clingy with me after the date.”

Minho: “Hahaha….of course I understand perfectly, so we have a deal then….Kwon Yuri?”

Yuri: “It is not in my nature to back down from a challenge so yeah, you’re on Choi Minho!”

They shake their hands and of course even though they are looking all tough and spirited on the outside both of them are hiding their true feelings about this deal. On one hand, Minho is of course very excited that he has the chance to date her but he doesn’t want to show that in front of her of course. While for Yuri, she might look like she accepted this deal because she can’t resist a challenge and she’s confident that he won’t succeed but there is a part inside her that is flattered that Minho has the intention to ask her out on a date. Then of course it is an entire different world for Sulli’s thoughts and feelings right now. She is trying hard to maintain her anger and jealousy about this deal and when Krystal approaches her and touch her shoulder, she brushes away Krystal’s hand and glare at her before walking in a very fast pace making her exit from the building,

Krystal: “For God sake what is going on with that girl? One moment you’re normal, then you’re doing weird stuffs and then the next second you’re angry. Is she on her period or something? You’re so weird Jinri.”

She follows her out of the building and then the head of disciplinary committee and the football coach can be seen going up in the make shift podium located near the projector. BoA is holding a microphone in her hand and she clears before testing the mic and then she goes on to ask for the attention of the students as she is about to make an announcement,

BoA: “Excuse me everyone, may I have your attention please?”

All the students’ eyes are immediately shifted to their presence in the podium. After making sure that everyone is paying attention to her, she begins the announcement,

BoA: “I know that all of the students are not presence here today but nevertheless I will make this announcement anyway. I will make this announcement again on Monday but I appreciate it if you can help us out by spreading the news to your friends. I already ask out staffs to send this announcement through e-mail that can be opened on your student portal but I understand that not all students will open the student portal on the weekend. As you all know, yesterday there has been an unwanted incident during the football match. I understand two of our students are getting treatment because of it and there are more who are hurt because of small brawl that erupted yesterday because of the incident. Now there is a festival that is supposed to be held next Saturday and the festival will still go on but I am changing the format of the festival. The festival is supposedly created as a tribute to our ongoing principal and which is why we as the school staffs only following what he wish to see on the festival. He is keen to avoid any unnecessary competition on the original idea of the festival so instead we are changing the name to SM International High School Night Market Festival.”

Of course most of the students are confused because they change the name of the festival that is way different than the original. BoA then explains it further so that the students can understand and prepare for the new festival,

BoA: “We will still have performance on the stage by our students but this time we are limiting the number of performers into 3 performers and only students that joined certain clubs that are able to submit their performance for me and the other staffs to review. Submission will start on Monday and will end on Thursday. We will accept any kind of performance as long as it doesn’t shows any suggestive or offensive remarks. We will invite media and one TV station to cover our festival so this 3 performers will get a slight exposure to the public outside the attendants of the festival. That is our incentive so that all of you will work hard in creating the performance that will amaze us during the submission period. For those who interested to perform, you can visit my office during school hours to register and every day from Monday until Thursday we will review your performance in closed door. Final decision on the 3 performers will be announced on Friday morning. In this festival we will also provide stands for students to either display or sell their handmade products. It can be hand crafted figures, or it can be food or it can be a display of a painting, the attendant and fellow students are able to purchase these during the night market festival. So I hope different teachers from different clubs will help the students to ensure that our festival will be an exciting and a creative one.”

This news cause a slight ruckus among students, most of them are still excited with the new format of the festival and most of them are immediately discussing about what should they do for the festival with their friends. BoA and Jong-kook then step down from the podium and BoA immediately makes her way toward Minho and she informally interrogates him about what happened yesterday,

BoA: “Minho.”

Minho: “Ah, what can I help you with Teacher BoA?”

BoA: “You know the two students that got hurt yesterday right?”

Minho: “Yes I do.”

BoA: “But do you know the person who injured them?”

Minho: “I am not familiar with the sunbae just yet…”

BoA: “Okay because after what happened yesterday, I decided to interrogate one of them and it is clear that they are intently injuring those two students with the thought that they will be free from my disciplinary action. Now this gives me a concern of who is this person that asks them to injure your friends, do you possibly know anyone that might hate or have any sort of grudge with those two students?”

Minho: “As far as I know…no….but maybe you can ask their close friends.”

BoA: “I already spoke to them earlier but they seem like they are hiding something from me.”

Minho: “I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about this, I am not that close with them.”

BoA: “Okay listen…can you do me a favor?”

Minho: “Yes of course!”

BoA: “Even though I am a strict and a very scary person, as I have heard from some people, I don’t like that there is someone promising anything that has to do with my department. I want to find this person and I am pretty sure he or she is someone with a very strategic position either in the club or student council or could be one of the staffs as well….if you find out anything about this person who have a problem with Chanyeol and Kai…will you report it to me immediately?”

Minho: “Yes I will! I will go straight to you if I find any information about this matter.”

BoA: “Okay good now I am a fair person so since you will do a favor for me, I shall do the same, but of course I won’t abuse my power or do anything that is considered against the rules and norm of this school.”

Minho: “Really? I am willing to do it even if you are not returning the favor.”

BoA: “As I said am a fair person and will soon be a very impatient person if you don’t tell me what help do you need.”

Minho: “Okay….thank you very much! So…I just need help with the teacher of the drama club….is it possible for you to arrange a meeting with her for me? I won’t ask for anything weird and you can ask her afterward about what I asked from her.”

BoA: “I can do that, come and see me in my office on Monday morning and I will let you have the meeting in my office with Teacher Ara, is that good enough for you?”

Minho: “Oh is more than excellent even…thank you!”

BoA: “Just don’t forget about what I asked of you okay? It’s important.”

Minho: “Yes of course!”

She shakes his hand and then other students are approaching her to ask about the new format of the festival. Even though she is known to be strict and scary, she’s still answering all the questions from the students with smile on her face. She knows how to differentiate her attitude in between different aspects of this school. Of course words travel fast and before the second announcement made on Monday, around 90% of students in the school already know about the change of format in the festival. Over the weekend, Chanyeol is discussing in great length with his friends and with the doctor that is in charge of him. Even though the format has changed Chanyeol is still insisting on performing even though his friends are against it. At first of course the doctor is advising against it due to the fact that his knee won’t be able to support his body weight just yet but of course Chanyeol is a really rock-headed person so the doctor finally gives in.

He is allowing him for a much reduced intensity compared to the performance that they already prepared before. He will wear a knee brace and before the performance he will need to take an injection of painkiller. He is not allowing him to practice at all however so if he is still insisting on doing this performance he only has time to learn the choreography through video. Of course Chanyeol is not really satisfied because of it but in the end he accepts it. Since the other EXO members are preparing for their own performance, Suho & Sehun will be in this performance with Chanyeol and Tiffany will ask her friends to perform with them. Tiffany actually wanted to do a performance with him but she already promised Taeyeon previously that she will perform together with her and of course she doesn’t want to back down from her words. Plus she heard that Jessica is preparing a performance with Krystal, so she is slightly trying to match up with her by performing a duet with Taeyeon.

Monday, 8^th of January 2020, 3:30 PM, Festival Submission Review at Sports Hall

Taeyeon and Tiffany are not going to submit their performance today but Tiffany is here just to watch the others performance and also grabs the registration form. Even though this is a school festival, the school is really professional in preparing everything including a registration form that must be filled correctly and the performer must also submit a video of their performance and if the teachers agree with their submission, then that performer must perform in front of the teachers to gain the final approval as one of the 3 performers for the festival. In the middle of watching the performers she got a phone call from Kyuhyun and as much as she tries to ignore it, he shows up in the window of the sports hall of course with a stare that is trying to tell her to come outside because he wants to talk to her. She lets out a sigh and then silently making her way out of the sports hall through the rear entrance.

He is already waiting and even though she doesn’t feel like talking to him, it seems that she doesn’t have much choice at the moment,

Tiffany: “What do you want oppa?”

Kyuhyun: “Why are you not returning my calls or replying my messages?”

Tiffany: “Because I don’t want to talk to you, isn’t that quite clear?”

Kyuhyun: “I’ve heard what happened with you and that boy….so you’re abandoning me just because you already got what you wish huh?”

Tiffany: “Well…what else that makes me want to be involved with you anyway?”

Kyuhyun: “You know I can get you into a disciplinary book faster than you think you will.”

Tiffany: “I honestly don’t care anymore oppa, I’m sure teacher BoA won’t be that hasty with her decision to just putting strikes into her sacred book….”

Kyuhyun: “You are so cocky now….you are not afraid huh?”

Tiffany: “No I don’t….and frankly dealing with you is not healthy for my image in this school….because you keep abusing your power for your own good.”

Kyuhyun: “Oh, you’re the one to speak huh? After you tarnished your own image by your so called “scary sunbae” attitude since middle school….you need to look at the mirror before you speak about someone else.”

Tiffany: “Yeah that was me….but I am not going to be like that anymore, I’ll behave….this is a new school so it’s time for a new start too for me.”

Kyuhyun: “You should know that if you aren’t on my side….you are against me….there is no neutral position that you can take in this school. Not as long as I am still the president of the student’s council.”

Tiffany: “As I said previously, I simply don’t care about the mumbo jumbo that you are going to say about your power and how it related to my life in this school.”

Kyuhyun: “Okay, fine if that is your wish then I will not stand in your way. I will get Taeyeon to be mine with or without your help. Just don’t stand in my way if you aren’t helping me out.”

Tiffany: “If you are not playing fair, of course I will stand in your way. I already think of her as my friend now and I don’t want anyone to hurt my friend.”

Kyuhyun: “Suit yourself….and you don’t need to be afraid of me anyway since you will only feel my influence just for another year…no problem. Just remember that he might suffer something worse next.”

Tiffany: “He? Who?”

Kyuhyun: “Who else am I talking about? He is the only one that suffered something recently?”

Tiffany: “Suffer? Chanyeol? Don’t tell me that you’re the one that told those sunbae to hurt him?”

Kyuhyun: “Oh, telling them is quite a very soft word here….ordering them is more like it.”

Tiffany: “But why? He did nothing to you.”

Kyuhyun: “He is quite a feisty boy and he is too close to Taeyeon and I couldn’t afford any men to be anywhere near her….beside I tried to help him and his friends but he keep talking back to me instead of obeying me like a very good obedient dog.”

Tiffany: “You are really horrible……….you will pay for this.”

Kyuhyun: “Yeah try and hurt me if you can….unfortunately you can’t. You are nothing in here. You and your friends mean nothing in this school. I rule this school, I own the student council and they will do as I say. I am full of resources and connection, you will never even reach a tiny bit of me no matter how much you try to hurt me.”

Tiffany: “I regret to ever try to help you now….you are disgusting….I will protect him…..the next time you try to hurt me, you will deal with me and I am going to warn you that is not going to be pleasant!!”

She slaps him hard on his right cheek and angrily walking away from him. Kyuhyun clearly feels the stinging sensation on his cheek but he is all smile even after that,

Kyuhyun: “You think I am a fool huh? I’m already prepared to do this even if you are not going to help me. Please don’t think that I am only going to use my resources here inside the scope of this school. I am much more than that. You will see that I will give your beloved friend a surprise at the festival. She will be fragile after that and I will use it to grab my chance to make me a hero in her eyes. It’s the oldest trick in the book but if you play your cards right, it will work. She will be mine with or without your help.”

He then takes his phone out and start making some phone calls. He seems to be really confident even though Tiffany is now standing against him. It doesn’t even bother him slightly despite all his effort of trying to contact her over the weekend.  Is he just pretending to be tough in front of her so that she’s scared and re-thinking her decision to not be involved with him anymore? Or he really has something else up his sleeve no matter whether Tiffany is helping him or not? Only one thing for sure right now, he prepared something at the festival and someone will get a pleasant surprise at the festival.

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Hi everyone, I'm back in updating this fic. In case you aren't aware of why I have been on hiatus and what I plan for the future updates, please check the notes at the end of these 2 updates of my other fics, here and here

This is one of the fic that I will attempt to regularly update so please look forward to more updates in the near future.

Even though I was on hiatus, I decided not to change much in terms of storyline with this fic when I'm started writing again. The male OC will makes his appearance soon and just a slight hint, I usually make my OC as sort of the main character / good guy kind of thing but this one will be different :)

I realized also that the images on the characters & school info and the first 6 chapters are not appearing. This is because the host is kind of screwed up but I'll make sure to get the images re-up as soon as possible. Thanks everyone and enjoy the chapter!