Chapter 3 – Beautiful Stranger

Tuesday, 2^nd of January 2020, 12:15 PM, School’s Cafeteria

AUTHOR POV

Chanyeol is still not returning to the class after the first break but he is planning to return after the lunch break ends. Unlike usual, his friends are not together with him on the table. With the exception of Kai who is meeting up with Teacher Yunho along with other students who are joining the drama class, the others are just simply hanging out with friends from their respective classes. Chanyeol doesn’t care anyway; sometimes being alone suits him really well at times. Actually both Sehun and Baekhyun asked him to join hanging out with them but he refused them, not because he wants to eat alone in the cafeteria but there is another reason for it. While eating his food in the table that is seated by no one but him, someone approaches him holding a tray with food on it and she sits right across him,

Chanyeol: “Ah you’re here, I hope that I am not asking too much of you to talk with me like this.”

Yuri: “Not at all, I’m surprised though that you asked Kai to tell me that you want to meet up with me during the lunch break…seeing how you are…”

Chanyeol: “A loner that always hangs out with my band members? Yeah that must be surprising.”

Yuri: “So why did you want to talk with me? Is this has something to do with the incident this morning? I might be part of the group but I have no knowledge of what Tiffany was going to do in the morning.”

Chanyeol: “Yeah I’m sure that it is all her master plan, especially knowing that you are friends with the new student, I don’t think that Tiffany will talk about this with you.”

Yuri: “Yeah you’re right….ah I see….you are asking me to see you here not because of Tiffany…but because of Taeyeon…is that right?”

Chanyeol: “…………………………”

Yuri: “Come on Chanyeol, don’t be shy, even though we never really speak with each other like this we both know each other for three years in middle school…you can be more relaxed when talking to me, you don’t need to keep that serious look on your face.”

Chanyeol: “Sorry Yuri, it is not that I don’t like discussing this with you whenever I talk with this kind of facial expression, but your leader in your group is the sole reason why I never want to smile again in front of everyone but my close friends…”

Yuri: “Okay let’s not discuss about that or things might get awkward….so yeah you want to talk about Taeyeon right? Must be something that she said when she visited you before?”

Chanyeol: “Yeah….I wonder why she asked me not to help her again if something like that happen again. Did she….has a problem back when she was in Japan before? Did she get bullied a lot over there that she developed such strong attitude?”

Yuri: “Haha…no no Chanyeol, I assure you she never experienced any problems with bullying ever.”

Chanyeol: “Then what is the deal with her attitude? At least I have a good reason whenever people asked me about my attitude.”

Yuri: “Hmm…could it be that the lone wolf is interested in my friend?”

Chanyeol: “No I am just curious.”

Yuri: “Are you sure that you have no other intention than satisfying your curiosity? I can see a hint of attraction coming from you toward her….”

Chanyeol: “Forget it, this is a mistake.”

Chanyeol is about to stand up from his seat but then Yuri hold him in the wrist much to his surprise and then she says,

Yuri: “You stand up now and leave me here, you will never find out anything about Taeyeon and since she is new in this school, the only person that knows everything about her…is me….so I suggest you take your seat if you want to hear what I have to say about her.”

Chanyeol: “Sigh…you have such a pure and innocent face but you are quite a manipulating person in reality…fine (He is sitting down again), tell me about her….”

Yuri: “I don’t know what is your real intention about her, If you are not going to tell me then I won’t even bother to ask you too much about it because I know that it bothers you, but I am going to ask you something, a favor in exchange of the information that I am going to tell you.”

Chanyeol: “Are you trying to trick me now?”

Yuri: “No, and what I am going to ask of you is not something hard at all.”

Chanyeol: “Sigh…fine…”

Yuri: “Hehe…wow…it really amaze me just how much you are willing to open yourself up to me today…well…before that, may I ask you why you are being so curious about her? I know since that incident with Fany you are distancing yourself with any girls at our school….what makes you interested in Taeyeon now?”

Chanyeol: “Do I really have to tell you this?”

Yuri: “You don’t have to but it is better that keeping it bottled up inside of you anyway, sometimes letting it out by talking with someone else about it is quite a good thing to do.”

Chanyeol: “Let’s just say that I am interested because I think she is someone that can make this school interesting again, that’s all.”

Yuri: “I see…well….in that case, I am not going to ask you more about it, let’s leave it at that. Now…the favor that I am going to ask from you is actually really simple. I want you to be friend with her.”

Chanyeol: “Huh? You’re kidding? That is what you ask from me?”

Yuri: “You might be confused about it but I think once you really know her well, you will understand why I am asking you of this….it’s quite simple right? Mr. Lone Wolf?”

Chanyeol: “I hate that nickname.”

Yuri: “The more reason why you should do what I asked of you.”

Chanyeol: “I’ m just worried that this is one of Tiffany’s tricks to get me through you.”

Yuri: “As you can see this morning, Tiffany attacked my best friend on her first day at school, what makes you think that I am now doing this because she asked me to? You should use logic to think rather than your hatred toward her.”

Chanyeol: “Sigh….fine…I’ll try to be friend with her.”

Yuri: “Good….now what is it that you want to know about Taeyeon? I will only answer one question from you.”

Chanyeol: “It’s simple…why is she acting that way? No matter how cold a person is, she should at least be grateful that I saved her from that humiliation from the first day in school and also not forgetting the fact that she is the most talked person in our school today.”

Yuri: “Well…you might be surprised if I am going to tell you that she developed a shell around her that shielded her from those boys around her….pretty much like you.”

Chanyeol: “But why? You told me that she didn’t have any problem back in Japan.”

Yuri: “Yeah she didn’t have any problems when she went to school there, but there is one person that is quite significant in her and this boy plays a big part in why she decided to shell herself from being close with boys in her school and ultimately makes her doesn’t want to date at all…”

Chanyeol: “Is he…her ex-boyfriend?”

Yuri: “Not even close….”

Chanyeol: “What is his name? And what did he do to her?”

Yuri: “I feel uncomfortable giving out his identity so for the sake of privacy let’s just call him J. J is a not your regular student in school, he is quite a powerful person in the community thanks to the influence of his father in Tokyo.”

Chanyeol: “Well I am not interested in his background story; just tell me what this J did to her that makes her become the person that she is now?”

Yuri: “Well….he is madly in love with Taeyeon. It has been like that since the first day Taeyeon entered Nobu Middle School. He was usually a very relaxed and ignorant boy, but ever since Taeyeon entered the school, he changed so much that he is willing to do everything just to gain her attention in his hope to make her his girlfriend but unfortunately that doesn’t sit very well with Taeyeon.”

Chanyeol: “Why?”

Yuri: “Because this boy started to abuse the power of his parents to get do whatever he wants at school. He started to be an annoying person in Taeyeon’s eyes and that cause her to make some distance with J.”

Chanyeol: “And let me guess, the more that she tries to distance herself from him, the more this boy gets curious and the more things that he is trying to do just to gain her attention.”

Yuri: “Yes you are right…and it becomes worse and then it happens almost every single day. The first year finally pass and Taeyeon is still able to withstand and not until the last day of the 2^nd year of middle school. Their school is having a party to celebrate the end of the education year. The students are supposed to go as couples, no matter whether they are the same gender or not, they are to come in pairs because there are party games to be played during the event. Of course naturally J asked Taeyeon several times and she of course rejected him again and again and to makes it worse, she went to the party with one of the boy from the choir group that she is in, it enrages J a lot to see that.”

Chanyeol: “I assume there’s something happened during the party.”

Yuri: “Yes…on the day of the party the boy that Taeyeon asked to go with her suddenly not answering her phone call and he just goes missing without leaving any messages at all. Taeyeon finds it weird but she doesn’t think too much of it, she thought at that time that the boy maybe is forbidden to go to the party. So she left to the party with one of the girls from her choir group that hasn’t got anyone to go with to the party. So the event went well…everything is normal, up until before the games started, the principal just finished his speech and then suddenly some boys disrupt the party by going up the stage. Much to the horror to everyone attending the party, 4 boys are dragging one helpless boy which turns out to be the boy that supposed to be Taeyeon’s date for the party. J takes the microphone and then he is giving what supposed to be his victory speech against the boy of course he beat him up along with his three other friends just because that boy is going to the party with Taeyeon. He tried to make a statement so that no other boys dare to go near Taeyeon again but for the first time, Taeyeon is really mad at him that she can’t just ignore him anymore. She goes toward the stage and she confronts him and then she told him ‘Go away from my face you stupid ignorant boy! How dare you beat this boy up just to show to everyone that you are the boy that everyone needs to fear….you make me sick…people like you makes me sick to the stomach, if I ever see you again in front of my face…I will beat you up like what you did to this boy…go away…I hate you.’ That’s the exact words that she told that boy that day.”

Chanyeol: “Wow…she sure is scary….I think I can understand why she is acting like that now…”

Yuri: “Yes…so after that incident, J left the school without anyone knowing the reason why but I guess he must feel humiliated to be told off like that by the girl that he loves so much in front of everyone. From that moment on, Taeyeon is keeping her distance with the boys in her school, except for group activities or doing homework, she never meets any boys outside of school hours except if together in a large group with her girl friends as well. So yeah, the reason why she was saying those things to you because she thought that you were doing that just to seek her attention and she hates that sort of things. Now…do you understand why she acts like that?”

Chanyeol: “Yes I understand…but…I don’t want to be rude Yuri…I know you mean well…but why are you telling me the whole story about her? You can just tell me the important points to let me understand…but you explained everything about that incident to me….why?”

Yuri: “I don’t know…maybe there is something about you that makes me feel that you might be able to change her way of thinking…maybe…hehe.”

Chanyeol: “Really? You might be wrong…what if I go around and tell other people about this story?”

Yuri: “You won’t….I know what kind a person you are…if only Fany didn’t do that to you that day I’m sure you might be one of the popular boys in our school now….too bad Chanyeol…but I think in this high school you might find something interesting that will makes you change too…maybe it is Taeyeon or maybe it is something else…who knows?”

Chanyeol: “…………………….”

Yuri: “So will you do what I ask of you? Make her your friend?”

Chanyeol: “Of course…I won’t go back on my words…I’ll try my best to make her my friend.”

Yuri: “You sure? Because people will start questioning your change of attitude.”

Chanyeol: “You know what? It has been almost 3 years since that happened…maybe it is the right time for me to change that image of mine…but it doesn’t mean that I already forgive Tiffany for what she did. No matter what…I will never forgive her…never.”

Yuri: “Didn’t she explain to you why she did that? And didn’t she apologize to you?”

Chanyeol: “That explanation and apology shouldn’t even exist in the first place. It is wrong of her to do what she did no matter what her reason is…I don’t want to talk about this Yuri, it just makes me really angry.”

Yuri: “Yeah sorry Chanyeol…so…can I give you a suggestion?”

Chanyeol: “About what?”

Yuri: “Of course about getting closer with Taeyeon….what else?”

Chanyeol: “Well I actually feel really silly about this…asking someone else about how to get closer to a girl…but since you are her best friend, I don’t think there is any harm in hearing such thing from you.”

Yuri: “Okay…I suggest that at the event next week you can do something with her.”

Chanyeol: “I don’t think I can do that since I will be having a performance with my friends.”

Yuri: “Let’s say that you are allowed to participate twice….will you ask her? You can do anything you want…dancing…singing together…or even comedy skit I don’t know…hehe.”

Chanyeol: “Sigh….yeah alright….if only she agrees okay? If she doesn’t want to do it with me then I don’t want to force her….there is other ways to befriend her….”

Yuri: “Yeah I know…I’m just suggesting…by the way….do you want me to be honest with you?”

Chanyeol: “Yeah?”

Yuri: “You are actually fun to talk with…I do really hope that you will be able to put that incident with Tiffany behind you. I think you can be a cool friend for me…just saying hehe…okay then…thanks for listening to me…and I do hope that you can be her friend…and be my friend too! Hehe…see you back in class Chanyeol, don’t skip the class again!”

Chanyeol: “Ah yeah Yuri…I’ll go to the class…”

Yuri: “Bye Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol: “Bye…”

Yuri smiles at Chanyeol and then she gets up bringing her tray with her and she goes sitting down with some of her friends. Chanyeol lets out a huge sigh after she left and puts his head down on the table and as he closes his eyes, he starts wondering whether Yuri is right about him. Maybe it is time for him to let go of his past and maybe start rediscovering his true self within him. He doesn’t know whether Taeyeon’s appearance is one of the factors that push him to change but he realizes that her appearance in this school might just be something that is good for him. He doesn’t know quite yet whether making her his friend is going to be easy or not but for the first time in three years, he is interested in getting closer with a girl…and that is the first step that he needs to take in order to forget the pain that he felt in the past.

Later on that day

Class 1-A, 2:45 PM

The last subject is finished and the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Miss Ara comes into the class before the school ends to discuss the even that will take place next week as part of school’s appreciation toward the departing principal Lee Soo-man. Miss Ara will go through in details about what will take place on the event and what the class will do to help preparing the event. Chanyeol is back in class but there is no interaction just yet between him and Taeyeon meanwhile Tiffany and her Pink Generation members seem to just ignore Taeyeon for the time being until they know what to do with her. Chanyeol and Kai are discussing seriously about their plan for the performance on the event. All this time they have been practicing without really knowing when they will be able to showcase their performance and even though all the members are aware about Suho’s promise to Kyuhyun, they all want to be voted as the best performer in this event no matter what. They know that it will be the perfect platform for their future activities and also it is a nice way to let people know that they are changing their direction from a band into a boy group that specializes in singing and dancing.

Everyone is quiet when Miss Ara enters the class and after reading her notes for a while, she stars talking to the class about the event,

Ara: “Good afternoon everyone, I’m sure that most of you are raring to go home and there are some of you who want to still enroll on club activities so I will get to my point straight away so that you can focus on what I am about to say here. You all must have heard about the event that will be held next week right?”

Class: “Yes!”

Ara: “Okay good…now I have an announcement to make. The event will be held on Saturday the 13^th of January 2020. We choose Saturday so that it will not interrupt with the school’s schedule. Now the event itself will be divided into three parts. The first part will be the speech from the principal and also the staffs will be handing out an award as our appreciation toward him. Then after it is done, the second part, which will be the main attraction of this event, is the stage performance from the students. Initially students from 1^st to 3^rd grade are invited to perform on the stage, but due to time constraint and also for evaluating purposes, only 1^st grade students that are going to perform on the event. Now the event is not restricted to students from the same class only because our theme in this curriculum is to build teamwork, we encourage you all to plan a performance with students from other classes. Now after the school ends, you all free to mingle with other students to discuss this and the latest submission that the school will take is next Monday. Now…one student can only perform either with the same person or with other students twice in that event. If there anyone from this class who already planned a performance with other students with this class only, please raise your hand so that I will take note of your entry. Just to remind you that individual performance is not allowed.”

Everyone except for Taeyeon and Yuri are looking at each other and discussing whether they are going to do a performance together. Kai is talking to Chanyeol still about their performance plan but he isn’t listening to him at the moment because he is looking at Taeyeon and he wonders whether he should raise his hand or not and propose to do a performance with her. He is afraid that somehow it will upset her but he caught Yuri’s eyes and she is signaling to him to raise his hand and tell Miss Ara that he wants to perform with Taeyeon. He is hesitating but Yuri keep on pushing him to raise his hand and after a lot of consideration, he finally gathers his courage and he raise his hand and bizarre enough, he’s not the only one that raise his hand….someone else did raise her hand at the same time with him and this causes Miss Ara to be silent for a moment trying to figure out this weird and awkward situation. Because the other student that raised her hand just now is not Taeyeon or any other student in the class, but it just has to be Tiffany and both Tiffany and Chanyeol are looking at each other in disbelief when they know that the two of them raise their hands up at the same time. Miss Ara is confused of who to ask first because it might cause some friction if she chooses wrong but in the end because of what Tiffany stirred up this morning in the class, she decides to ask Chanyeol first,

Ara: “Okay Chanyeol, I am fully aware that you are going to perform with your band members, which means that you are available for one more performance, who are you going to do it with?”

Kai: “Hey Chanyeol…We never discussed this….what are you thinking?”

Chanyeol: “It’s okay Kai…this has nothing to do with you at all, we will still perform together with the others….this is something that I want to do on my own without your guys help.”

Ara: “So Chanyeol, what is it going to be? Are you going to perform with Kai?”

Chanyeol: “No Miss Ara.”

Ara: “Okay so who are you going to perform with?”

Chanyeol: “This is just an initiative and the person actually hasn’t known about it yet. What happened this morning is actually quite embarrassing and shameful for our class especially that we are welcoming a new student that is adapting with our environment, which is why I am going to ask the new student, Kim Taeyeon, to do a performance with me on the event as my way to welcome her into our class.”

Yuri is excited but Taeyeon is not showing and excited expression at all. She is actually opening and she looks at Chanyeol wondering what he is thinking by saying that to Miss Ara without even talking to her first about it. She is lost for words and doesn’t actually know what to say about this,

Ara: “Okay Chanyeol I think it is quite a good idea, so what do you say Taeyeon? Will you do a performance with him?”

Taeyeon is still unable to say anything as she is too surprised about it and Yuri knows that Taeyeon eventually will reject it if she doesn’t do anything about it so she speaks up,

Yuri: “Yeah I think it is a good idea from Chanyeol to do that…because she is my friend I want her to integrate into our school and especially to the students in our class as fast as possible…so I think this is a good idea from him too.”

Taeyeon this time turns her head to the other side and she watches Yuri in disbelief when she hears that she is supporting the idea. Yuri just smiles at Taeyeon and she keeps mouthing the words ‘please make friends’ several times toward her and at that moment Taeyeon realized Yuri is doing this so she can have some more friends, but even so it is uncomfortable for her to do it with a total stranger like Chanyeol so in the end she is requesting some time,

Taeyeon: “Since the deadline of performance submission is next Monday, I would like to discuss with Chanyeol first about what kind of performance that he has in mind before deciding whether I want to do it or not.”

Ara: “Sure that’s fine….are you okay with this Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol: “Yeah, I’m totally fine, thank you Miss, thanks Taeyeon.”

He then puts his hand down and starts relaxing again while talking to Kai and he doesn’t even look at Taeyeon at all after suggesting the performance, this causes confusion for Taeyeon and in the end she decides that she is going to talk about this with him as soon as the class ends. But let’s not forget that there is one other person that raised her hand and now Miss Ara is asking her about what she has in mind,

Ara: “You better be suggesting something serious Tiffany, we don’t want any of your weird antics for the event.”

Tiffany: “No Miss….I actually have something in mind…but seeing how things go….I change my mind.”

Ara: “What do you mean?”

Initially Tiffany raised her hand because she wants to suggest doing a performance with Chanyeol of course but it totally took her by surprise that Chanyeol is actually want to do a performance with Taeyeon. She is thinking that if she is to say that she wants to perform with Chanyeol, it will be impossible now and Chanyeol might hate her even more, so she chooses to do something else that would probably raise a few eyebrows as well,

Tiffany: “Nothing Miss….so initially I want to perform with someone else but I just change my mind because I think of something better. As Chanyeol said earlier, what happened this morning is a disgrace and I am really sorry about it, I welcome the new students in a wrong way and I deserved to be blamed for it….which is why I am going to extend my apology beyond mere words….I want to do a performance too with our new student, Kim Taeyeon as a sign of apology and as Chanyeol said earlier, to welcome her into our class.”

Now this comes more shocking compared to Chanyeol’s suggestion just now. Not only that this morning Tiffany is still planning to prank her, everyone know that she isn’t the type that apologize to people as easy as that. They all know that Tiffany must be up to something and looking at Yoona and Seohyun who are really shocked as well, whatever she is thinking must be planned on her own without talking about it to the other Pink Generation girls. Chanyeol is really confused but he doesn’t want to make a big ruckus in the class so he decides to pretend like he is calm but in truth he is really nervous because he is afraid that Tiffany is going to do the same thing that she did toward him in the past. Yuri is also looking at Tiffany with a displeased look on her face and it seems that everyone is wondering what Tiffany is thinking right now by doing this,

Ara: “Sigh….you are not trying to do anything that we all don’t want to see right?”

Tiffany: “Of course not Miss….you can see during the performance day, I plan nothing of some sort.”

Ara: “Sigh…..fine fine….now Taeyeon….once again someone asked you to perform…do you accept this? Do you want to perform with Tiffany? If you refuse her because of what happened this morning we all can understand it.”

Taeyeon: “I’ll do it.”

Chanyeol & Yuri: “WHAT???”

Taeyeon: “I’ll perform with her….put our names down for the performance….as for that boy’s request, I still want some time to think about it…but I’ll accept Tiffany’s offer right now.”

Yuri: “Are you serious Taeyeon?”

Ara: “Please be quiet you all…if that is Taeyeon’s wish then I have nothing against it….and I hope that Tiffany is being true to her words and she is being apologetic for her previous action this morning. Well then if there aren’t any other students that want to perform together in this class, I will give you all information about the schedule of our school next week as you all need to practice without interfering with the club activities.”

She then continues with the announcement and of course at that time, both Yuri and Chanyeol are staring at Tiffany sharply but she is being cool about it and just ignores them. No one knows but Tiffany just what she is planning and it even becomes more interesting when Taeyeon just accepts that suggestion from Tiffany without thinking too much about it. When the class ends, Yuri quickly grabs Taeyeon arm and she led her out of the class quickly,

Yuri: “What are you doing Taeng? Don’t you realize that this might be another of her stupid plan to mess you up? Don’t you remember what she did to you this morning?”

Taeyeon: “Well Yuri, aren’t you in the same group with her?”

Yuri: “Yes I am….”

Taeyeon: “Then probably I’ll be safe then….she won’t do anything much because I am your friend….and winning her over can’t be done by ignoring and avoiding her…it is much better to talk with her and see what problem that she has with me.”

Yuri: “Are you sure about this? Let me join you in this performance…let’s do this performance, the three of us!”

Taeyeon: “No…can you just agree with me for this? Don’t tell me that I don’t know about your plan with that boy to makes me adapting to the people in this school. It must be your silly idea to ask him to perform with me…I’ll let it slide…but you have to let me do this with Tiffany….then we can call it even…”

Yuri: “Sigh…fine….but promise me that if you are getting bullied or harassed you talk about it straight away with me you hear?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah…oh by the way…it seems that boy has been waiting for us to finish our conversation….I think he wants to talk with you.”

Yuri: “Huh?”

In the hallway, Minho has been waiting quietly on the side for them to finish their conversation and as soon as Yuri switches her attention toward Minho, Taeyeon waves goodbye to Yuri and also to Minho as she is going over to the school’s sports hall which are being used for students that want to choose their club activities. Yuri doesn’t know why Minho is waiting for them like that but she is about to find out about what he wants,

Yuri: “Hey Minho…”

Minho: “Yuri….”

Yuri: “What are you doing? Do you want to talk with me?”

Minho: “Yeah…have your homeroom teacher talked about the event?”

Yuri: “Yes….why?”

Minho: “Then do you have any plan in performing?”

Yuri: “For the time being I am not really interested yet in doing any performance…no one has asked me yet too anyway….so I don’t know, I might end up just watching the event.”

Minho: “I see…it’s good then….”

Yuri: “What is good?”

Minho: “Uhh…you see….as I am enrolled in the drama club, I thought that I might learn to dance and sing so that I am not embarrassing myself…because I just had a meeting with the drama teacher that there will be a bit of singing and slight dancing too for the first drama that we are going to do this term. So I figure….maybe I can practice while training for the real thing…..which of course I am talking about performing in this event…seeing how you haven’t being asked yet by anyone….maybe perhaps….you want to perform with me?”

Yuri: “What? Are you serious?”

Minho: “Yeah…I think you are good in dancing and singing right? Maybe we can perform a duet or something….only if you want to.”

Yuri: “I am certainly not that good in dancing and singing…all I can do well is in running competition you know.”

Minho: “Same with me…I can play football well but I at dancing and singing…which makes us the same right?”

Yuri: “Uhh…..”

Minho: “I don’t mean to mock you; I’m sure if you practice enough you will be a great dancer and singer…who know? I’m just saying that if both of us are not really good at dancing and singing maybe we can learn it together and it makes it more exciting right? I’m sure as an athlete you love challenges right? Want to try this challenge out with me?”

Yuri: “Well….isn’t it going to be awkward? I mean…even though we both know each other…but performing each other and with possible skinship….”

Minho: “It’s all just for the performance right? I mean we can avoid skinship if we want to….it can be arranged…”

Yuri: “Umm….would you give me time to think about it? I have to ask my friends first whether they have plan or not to include me for the performance….”

Minho: “Ah sure it’s okay….just let me know before Monday.”

Yuri: “You aren’t doing anything with Sulli? A brother-sister twin performance might be interesting.”

Minho: “I still prefer a performance with you than her…I don’t think I can practice seriously with her, hehe.”

Yuri: “Haha…I see….okay then Minho…I haven’t ask Taeyeon yet about the gym membership…maybe later on I talk to her back at home…”

Minho: “Yeah sure just call me….wait…do you have my phone number?”

Yuri: “No…do you have mine?”

Minho: “Nope…is it okay if I get your phone number?”

Yuri: “Yeah sure, what’s your number? I’ll send you a text message….”

Minho: “It’s xxx-xxxx-xxxx….”

Yuri: “Hold on a second (taking her phone out and sending a message), there you go…just save my number…I already saved yours so I will call you regarding the gym membership…and also about the performance.”

Minho: “Ah cool…thanks Yuri…I hope that you want to do it with me….”

Yuri: “Yeah sure…I’m sure doing it with a friend other than the girls in my group might not sound too bad at all. I have to catch up with Taeyeon, see you tomorrow at school, bye Minho.”

Minho: “Bye Yuri, take care.”

Yuri: “You too.”

Yuri leaving Minho on his own in the hallway and he seems that he is really satisfied that he got Yuri’s phone number even though he hasn’t got the confirmation yet from Yuri to perform together with him in that event. It seems that his courage is paying off really well and he is getting a good chance to get closer with Yuri now. Meanwhile, Sulli who just got out of the class spots Minho in the hallway on his own and she quickly rushes toward him and tap him in the shoulder,

Sulli: “Hi oppa! What are you doing here?”

Minho: “Ah Sulli….just talked with Yuri just now…and guess what?”

Sulli: “What?”

Minho: “I got her phone number!”

Sulli: “Ahh…I see….”

Minho: “Why you don’t seem to be happy? This is great! I can contact her easily now.”

Sulli: “That’s good oppa…hehe…”

Minho: “I also asked her to do a performance with in the event…but she hasn’t said yes to me yet.”

Sulli: “You asked her to perform with you? Why you didn’t ask me first?”

Minho: “Why not? I mean you know obviously I am having a hard time approaching her right? So I gather my courage and use the excuse of that event to be closer with her, isn’t that great Sulli?”

Sulli: “Yeah…it’s great….”

Minho: “Come on Sulli, be a little more excited! Now I think you need to give me some lesson in dancing and singing like you promised me! I’ll treat you to a nice meal afterward okay?”

Sulli: “Yeah sure oppa.”

Minho: “Good good….I’m going to meet with my friends first and then we’ll go back home together later okay?”

Sulli: “Okay.”

Minho is really excited with this opportunity that is presented in front of him and he is just happy that he got Yuri’s phone number but the same can’t be said with Sulli who though that Minho will never have the courage to talk to Yuri and ask her something like that. She is getting worried now that if Minho is getting bolder in his action, then there is a chance that Yuri might like him too and the two of them might end up dating each other,

Sulli: “Oppa…I don’t want to be a bad sister by not being happy for you when I heard that you are getting closer to the girl that you like….but I just can’t stand you thinking about Yuri all the time….I always right here beside you oppa to support you and cheer you up every time you have problem….someday you will realize that my love to you is not just a normal siblings love…I love you more than that and even though society might not see my kind of love to you is normal, I don’t care. You will always be my big brother and the boy that I love so much.”

Krystal and Luna are coming up behind her and they are wondering why she is talking to herself in the hallway,

Krystal: “Ya Sulli, what are you doing talking to yourself?”

Luna: “Are you starting to go insane?”

Sulli: “Yeah right, it’s not funny Luna…”

Krystal: “Then what are you doing out here on your own?”

Sulli: “Just met Minho oppa just now…”

Luna: “Then I still don’t’ understand why you are talking to yourself like that.”

Sulli: “Never mind girls, don’t ever talk about it again.”

Krystal: “Sigh, are we still going to the sports hall? I want to see what kind of clubs that is interesting in this high school.”

Luna: “I prefer the one that has cute young male teacher to teach the club, hehe.”

Sulli: “Yeah even if you enter such club, the cute young male teacher won’t even notice you anyway, except when you keep skipping on the club’s activities then he will start noticing you.”

Luna: “Humph! How awful of you Sulli….you just wait and see, I won’t be slacking off like I did back in middle school.”

Sulli: “Yeah yeah we’ll see…..anyway let’s go to the sports hall now, Minho oppa will be going back home together with me so we better head to the sports hall now.”

Krystal: “Yeah sure let’s go.”

Luna: “Go go go!”

SM International High School Sports Hall, 3:10 PM

The school’s sports hall is now being used as the place for students to check out the club activities and ask the representatives from each clubs about their program for this year. Even though students can just enroll to the extracurricular activities through the school’s online portal, the workshop that is held today at the sports hall is the time for the new students to ask the club representatives about what kind of activities that they are going to do at the club in details. The sports hall is filled with students but as usual Chanyeol is going somewhere on his own as he is approaching the vending machine just outside the building as he is about purchase a cold drink from the machine. He is going to swipe his student card which contains credit to purchase drinks through vending machines and also to purchase food and drinks at the cafeteria. He is about to takes out his student card but it slipped off his hand and fall into the ground. Before he manages to grab it, a girl’s arm can be seen reaching toward the card and someone grabs the student ID before him. He looks up and it turns out to be the new student, Taeyeon and she hands over the student card back to him,

Chanyeol: “Ahh!”

Taeyeon: “What? Don’t tell me that you were scared?”

Chanyeol: “No but you surprised me….oh God…It’s so embarrassing of me to scream like that in front of you….damn.”

Taeyeon: “Don’t be….it’s normal for someone to get surprised and scream like that be it boys or girls….”

Chanyeol: “Yeah okay….what are you doing here Taeyeon?”

Taeyeon: “I’m looking for the right club to enter, I will probably enter the drama club just because Yuri is there but I am not sure about entering another one, how about you?”

Chanyeol: “Ah, I am in the football club and I am not sure whether I am going to enter another club for this term.”

Taeyeon: “I see….so….what’s up with that idea of yours?”

 Chanyeol: “Idea of mine?  What?”

Taeyeon: “Performing with me in that event without discussing about it with me first….I know that Yuri must put you up for it….is that girl asking you to perform with me in that event?”

Chanyeol: “Uhh….well…..”

Taeyeon: “If you really are considering to be performing with me, the first thing that you need to do is not to lie with me.”

Chanyeol: “Yeah okay….Yuri asked me to perform with you in the event….she asked me to be friends with you….”

Taeyeon: “I know it that girl…sheesh….always do something like this without thinking too much about it first….so….did she tell any funny story about me?”

Chanyeol: “Funny story?”

Taeyeon: “Well I don’t know whether it is funny story, scary story or sad story….just any story…did she tell anything to you?”

Chanyeol: “………..nope……she just asked me to be friends with you because…..she is afraid that you are not adapting well……and there is something about me too….I am famous for the nickname ‘Lone Wolf’ because I always do everything alone except times when my band members are around me. I think Yuri wants us to be friends not only so that you can adapt to the school well….but also to break that image of me too….”

Taeyeon: “And you are telling me about your story….because of?”

Chanyeol: “Well…I am not sure myself….hahaha….weird huh?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah….terribly weird and creepy….but you’re not like any other guy that comes approaching me in this school. They all have the intention of dating with me under the pretense of welcoming me to the school. I hate those kinds of hypocrites….I prefer someone that has weird and creepy and slightly crazy personality but he is being true to himself….”

Chanyeol: “I don’t know whether I should be flattered or not but I can positively say that I am not weird…I am not creepy and certainly I am not crazy or insane…haha….”

Taeyeon: “Haha….sorry Chanyeol, I don’t mean to say it to you like that…but you know what I am trying to say right? So yeah…I am sorry for being cold to you earlier today….I know you mean well to save me this morning….and I was being a jerk by being cold toward you.”

Chanyeol: “Ah that’s okay….I think I should just warn you by shouting instead of acting heroic like that….I might look really stupid….”

Taeyeon: “Stupid but cool….not too bad I guess.”

Chanyeol: “Haha….thanks….”

Taeyeon: “I think it’s the first time I see you laughing like that…you were having this kind of serious expression all the time, even when you were playing against Yuri in that game center.”

Chanyeol: “You remembered me?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah of course, I am not the type of person that able to forget someone’s face once I saw them….don’t you remember me coming with Yuri that day?”

Chanyeol: “I remember.”

Taeyeon: “See? You also remember also right? It doesn’t mean that I possess very strong memory ability or some sort you know…hehe.”

Chanyeol: “Yeah okay, sorry about that.”

Taeyeon: “So…..about the performance….are you serious? I know that Yuri put you up for this….so it is okay for you to back out….”

Chanyeol: “No….I’m serious….I don’t know why but you have this interesting aura about you….I think planning for the performance with you will be fun.”

Taeyeon: “Okay…but I do have a bad memory with someone of the opposite gender in the past so maybe I am a bit hard to work with…I’m sure that you have no idea what happened to me and I don’t feel like telling it either.”

Chanyeol: “I don’t mind….but the thing is that you haven’t accepted my offer yet you know?”

Taeyeon: “Do you mind telling me what you have in mind? I don’t mind that you want to be friends with me…and even if I end up rejecting doing this performance with you we can still be friends….but for the sake of my curiosity can you explain what you have in mind for our performance?”

Chanyeol: “Really? You want to hear it out? Don’t you have to choose your club now?”

Taeyeon: “Extracurricular activities registration is still opened until next week so I can take my time…let’s find a place to sit and then we can talk…I think that is a good way to start our friendship don’t you think?”

Chanyeol: “Ye…yeah….I guess so…..”

Taeyeon: “Maybe you can treat me something to drink too from this machine before we find a place to sit…”

Chanyeol: “Okay sure what do you want?”

Taeyeon: “Just get me a cold green tea please….”

Chanyeol: “Cold green tea coming right up!”

Taeyeon: “Hehe….thanks…”

Yuri who is walking toward the sports hall is about to join in their conversation because she is afraid that the two of them won’t get along but seeing their interaction and the way they are laughing with each other, Yuri just smile and she go straight toward the sports hall to find her friends,

Yuri: “Taeyeon….I don’t know whether this boy Chanyeol will end up being your friend or your boyfriend….but I think you two can help each other to forget the incident of your past….especially now that J isn’t around anymore….right?”

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Sorry for those of you who are waiting for the update, because I was busy with my job and also working to update my other fics, it causes a long delay in the update. I literally losing sleep when trying to update this so that you all are not waiting too long for it, so I hope this chapter is an interesting one for you to read. I caught a slight cold so maybe some of my other stories updates might be delayed too :(

Anyway...I hope that you enjoy this chapter as it still covers the same day as the last chapter...the next few chapters will be covering the preparation for the event and also both Yuri and Taeyeon's decision of whether they are going to accept offers from Minho and Chanyeol or not. There will be TaeNy moments too....so I hope that you will anticipate the next chapter :)