I've never seen Hyerin so motivated to do anything, other than the Sweetheart Search. She tells me to wait at the fountain in the middle of the library-- which, I think, is ten times prettier than the bell tower. It has a shallow pool beneath it that's about ten feet long and five feet wide. It's supposed to be symbolic of life in university (what you pour in is what you get out,) but today I just appreciate its beauty. Pumpkins have been placed on all corners of the pool, and two rubber duckies float along, painted in a similar orange hue.
   "I've never understood the ducks," I hear a male voice behind me, and I know who it is. Unlike usual, though, he just sounds like a normal guy who wants to have a normal conversation.
   "I think they're a metaphor for how there's always a little kid in our hearts?" I suggest.
   "Ouch. That'd hurt. How do you get a child out of a person's heart? How big is it?" He jokes, and I genuinely smile up at him. A small giggle escapes my throat, and suddenly we're silent.
   There's nothing quite like silence in the presence of a cute boy.
   Do I think Sehun is cute?
   Maybe a little.
   But anyway, when you're standing beside a, err, young man with a nice face, and you aren't saying anything, you want to blabber about anything you can just to hear his handsome voice come out of his handsome face.
   I know, I know. I've heard Sehun's voice multiple times, and I shouldn't even consider starting up a random conversation just so I can listen to him speak.
   "Hyerin is giving me free pina colada smoothies for helping you guys," I blurt.
   Great job, Eunji. Tell Sehun more about how you sell out to pina coladas.
   "Is she too cheap to get you the real stuff?" He arrogantly asks,  but there's a lightheartedness behind his voice.
   "No, it's not that. I stay away from alcohol. Someone slipped me a hard lemonade last year at a graduation party, and I had no idea it had alocohol in it-- it was in a cup. And then--"
   "Was it in a red cup?"
   "Yes. So--"
   "Eunji, if anything is in a red cup, it's most likely alcohol."
   "I know that now," I pout, but I'm slightly touched that he would care to tell me that. "So yeah. Even though it was only 5% alcohol, I went crazy."
   "How so?"
   "I just started dancing up against these guys from other high schools. I didn't know any of them."
   "Dancing with a guy isn't so bad," he sassily snaps and I cross my arms.
   "I'll have you know it is, when you're drunk and you haven't even had you first kiss yet."
   Silence.
   Dear Diary,
   Oh hey there, Sehun. Apparently I've decided to tell you all about me, even one of my deepest secrets. From now on, you're my human diary.
   Good job, Eunji. Good job. Now all that's left is to tell him about the birthmark on your .
   "You haven't had your first kiss yet?!" He semi shouts. A few people look our way and I quickly place my hands on his mouth and furiously shake my head in embarrassment.
   "Don't say it so loudly!!!" I whisper-yell, blush flooding my face. That seems to be happening a lot, lately.
  He takes my hands off of his face and stares at me.
   "Is that why... you're doing the Sweetheart Search?" He softly asks,  and for a second I swear his eyes look clearer than usual, and his cheeks are pinker than usual. But he clenches his jaw and turns away.
   "Don't be silly," I laugh. "I'm in it for the money. I feel bad each time I make it through another round, because I don't think I'm going to be your 'Sweetheart,' or whatever. I do... I do want to be friends," I say, and it feels like I've just confessed to a priest.
   It's better this way. The softness that Sehun just showed me... I don't want to see it again. It'll break me. I'll have to stop receiving money for each episode. I'll struggle between him and Baekhyun.
   Why am I even thinking of that? It's obviously Baekhyun that I'll lose my first kiss to. We've been on dates, and he's so smooth. Baekhyun will be my boyfriend. I mean, I hope he will be.
   "I'd like to be friends, too," Sehun chirps and turns back around to face me. He's made a complete 180 from a couple seconds ago. "Now that I don't have to think about you possibly being my future girlfriend,  I can feel comfortable around you."
   I grin, he grins, and everything seems alright. His phone buzzes and he reaches out to check it.
   "Hyerin says: 'Can't come, I've decided to shop some more. Do well without me.'"
   "Of course, " I sigh. "I don't know if you know this, but she and Luhan ship us."
   "Ship?"
   "Yeah, it's when you want two people together, so badly. This is a part of their scheme-- getting us alone in the library."
   "Hmm," he hums. "Let's not give them what they want. Instead, let's tease them."
   "Tease them?"
   "Yeah. Let's go get an early dinner. It'll drive them crazy that we went off campus to eat together."
   "You're right," I laugh.
   Sehun is a nice boy, it turns out. He can be cocky and arrogant, but he's a nice guy after all.
   "I'll pay for your dinner, too. If Hyerin can pay you in pina colada smoothies, I can pay you in food."
   "That's not necessary; food is much more expensive. Plus, I'm okay with spending Hyerin's money because she's my roommate."
   "But I'm your friend now, and I'm going to pay in celebration of our friendship," he cheerily says.
   "You sound like a kid."
   "I do. Don't let me say stuff like that. Ladies won't like it," he jokes, and I laugh.
   But I like it.
   When we get to Sehun's vehicular transportation, I gulp. It's a motorcycle.
   "You didn't tell me we'd ride a motorcycle!" I panic. I'm only a little scared about going fast on the road and not being buckled in or sheltered. What I'm really fearing is hanging on to Sehun. What if I do it wrong?
   "You're probably thinking, 'Oh! Holding onto a boy is so scary! What if he falls in love with me?' Don't worry, I won't," he says, as if it's a matter of fact. For the first time, I raise my hand and slap his arm.
   What a sure sign of friendship.
   "That's not what I'm scared of! It's the speed!" I argue.
   "Yeah right. I don't think you're scared of anything,  considering you let yourself be broadcasted on the internet as a tracksuit wearing, food stealing, crazy dancing, bitter girl."
   "If I'm bitter,  you're bitter," I mumble.
   "Didn't say I wasn't, " he points out, and the tension falls.
   He pulls helmets out of the small trunk on his motorcycle and hands me one. He puts his on smoothly and buckles it underneath his chin without any complications. I, on the other hand, am still fumbling with the straps that keep getting trapped under the helmet. He sighs, takes my helmet, untangles the straps with expertise, puts my helmet on, and buckles it for me.
   "Do you think you can tighten it by yourself?" He asks rudely, and I almost start to complain but he reaches over and tightens it for me. He pats the top of my head-- hard enough to make me wince, and gets on his bike. "Just do what they do in the movies. And pull the screen down on your helmet."
   I listen to him and pull the screen over my face, which seems like the first thing I've done right today. I grasp him with my arms and a little bit of my thighs, and I place my chin on his shoulder.
   "Let's go!" I cheer. All nervousness aside, I'm excited to ride a motorcycle for the first time. I just hope Sehun let's me ease into it before he goes fast.
   And he does.
   "Ready to fly?" He asks me, and I nod onto his shoulder. He twists the handle and we zoom and zip through traffic, probably illegally, but he just told me that we aren't far from where he wants to eat, so I trust him and relax.
  Quick recap: we were just on a badass motorcycle, acting arrogant and cool. When Sehun parks and I get off, I can't believe what I'm looking at.
   "This is a cat café, " I tell him.
   "Yeah. And?" He's taking off his helmet. He shakes his hair. 
   I'll admit it. He's attractive, okay? But he's Eunsang's.
   "You like cats?"
   "I do," he shrugs. "They make me laugh. Besides, the paninis here are really good."
   "If you say so," I say with a smile. I take my helmet off all by myself and follow him in.
   We sit down at a table in the back corner. 3 cats come over and prance all over our table, and I try to keep my distance. Cats are not my thing.
   "Are you afraid of cats?" He asks in disbelief. I take my index finger, point it at my neck, slide it across and make a clicking noise. 
   "When I was little, a cat scratched me from my forehead all the way to my chin. I'm lucky I'm not blind, and I'm lucky my dad put scar creame on me every night for years, or else I would look like a mess. I'm not really afraid of them,  I just don't like them."
   "You should, " he blurts. "I'm in the opposite situation, sort of. When I was little, I got sick a lot. The only friend I had and played with everyday was my cat, Anastasia."
   "Anastasia?"
   "She was a Russian Blue, purebred, " he explains.
   The afternoon continues smoothly, and we both learn things about each other that we both find icredible. Sehun can't drive cars because he has some mental block that messes with his depth perception. I don't have a car because I totaled mine-- I saw Super Junior getting in a van and I, uh, might have parked in the middle of traffic. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but I'm not allowed to drive until I graduate college.
   "Sehun, can I be selfish?" I ask. He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Eunsang... She really likes you. I know most of the girls do, but she's my best friend and I want to fight for her."
   "Are you going to ask me to choose her?" He's aggravated.
   "Not at all, I won't even ask you to consider her," I clarify. "Just... be nice to her, and respect her feelings. If you do that, and if you don't like her at the end of all this,  at least she can take the respect you gave her and assure herself that she didn't waste her time."
   Sehun pets the cat in front of him and smooths down the fur on its back.
   "You didn't have to ask, you know," he states with a smirk on his face. "I'm only mean to you."
   That relieves me, although I'm not sure why.

---

   "It's been fun, Eunji.  See you tomorrow at filming," Sehun says as he drops me off by the res hall. I wave, he waves, and our time together today ends. It was actually pretty fun.
   I practically fall over when I get back to my room; Luhan and Hyerin are staring at me, and the expressions on their faces make them look like they're going to eat me up with questions.
   I dismiss everything they say and go to Eunsang's room. She gets it. The Eunji and Baekhyun couple needs to be shipped, not the Eunji and Sehun.
   I don't,  however, tell her about how much time I spent with her crush today, or about how much time I'm going to spend with him outside of the Sweetheart Search for two weeks. She doesn't have to know.  It would worry her, and I know it'd be useless worrying because Sehun and I aren't going anywhere. Besides, we need to talk about my date with Baekhyun. We need to focus on Baekhyun. He likes me. I think.
   He hasn't texted me today, though. I wonder what's wrong. 

a/n: so how about i posted that chapter with Baekhyun talking about how much he loves SNSD and Taeyeon and BOOM an article comes out revealing their dating life.  i must be a fortune teller.  maybe the person eunji ends up with in this story will end up with her in real life muahaha