Your POV:

After saying goodbye to Chen and closing the front door, I called my mom to ask where she was.  She told me that she was down at the market and that she needed my help, so I grabbed my apron and my backpack that I usually brought down to the market with me. 

When I got to the market, my mom was talking to a customer while my dad was restocking some items.  I put my backpack down in the back and slipped my apron on before going to help my dad. 

While I was helping around selling and restocking, an old neighbor stopped by.  She picked some things up and then came to give me a hug. 

"Oh my..." she said.  "It's been way too long since I've seen you!  Look how beautiful you've gotten!" 

"Thank you.  It's nice to see you again, Miss Jo," I told her and put her items in a bag. 

"I just remember how you and Baekhyun were attached at the hip back then.  Speaking of Baekhyun, I saw him on t.v. the other day.  He's still as handsome as ever as well." 

I nodded and agreed with her. 

"So, how have you two been?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Oh, don't give me that."  She laughed and lightly smacked my forearm.  "You and Baekhyun of course!  I've always known that there was something going on between the two of you.  I was just waiting for the day you guys would come out and say that you were going to get married or something!  You know, your mom and I and the other ladies in the market would chat about you and Baekhyun."  

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Jo, but you're mistaken.  There was nothing going on between Baekhyun and me.  We're friends and we have always been."  I bit the bottom of my lip. 

"Is that so?"  She looked a little disappointed now. 

"Yes...  I'm sorry." 

Miss Jo looked at me and laughed again.  "Why are you apologizing, dear?  It was my mistake.  I just thought that you two had been together since I saw how close you guys were."  She then squinted at me and had a small smirk on her face.  "You like him, don't you?" 

"Wh-what?  I-I... no- I mean..." 

"I can see it in your eyes dear.  And I saw it in his eyes, too, back then." 

I was speechless.  Miss Jo continued to keep talking, but I kind of zoned out by then.  I had liked Baekhyun from the beginning pretty much, but I wasn't sure if he felt the same.  We were friends, and it was always like that.  I never confessed and neither did he, but thinking back I kind of regret it.  I should have said something just so that I wouldn't have to wonder of what could have been. 

"I'm going to get going now.  I'll see you around, dear," Miss Jo said as she began walking away. 

I nodded and watched as she left.  I didn't have anymore time to think because another customer came and had begun asking questions about a certain item. 

When I got home, I finally got a chance to check my phone after it had buzzed quite a bit earlier while I was at the market.  I had a couple of notifications and eight texts in total, mostly from Chen, but some were from Baekhyun, too. 

Baekhyun had just asked if I had gotten home okay, and I replied to him  "yes".  Chen greeted me, telling me that this was his number, and then asked how I was doing and started making conversation.  I texted him back and within a moment he replied back.

Over the week, I had found out that Jongdae had quite the humor and often made me smile with his jokes and comments.  Also during the week, I helped my parents at the market and babysat Minkyung while Eunsun and Myungdae were at work. 

When Friday came around, Jongdae had called asking if I was busy.  I told him that I wasn't and he said that he'd come by and pick me up.  I had no idea where he was taking me, because he said it was a secret, but I didn't mind. 

By the time Jongdae came, it was already 6 pm.  He apologized for being late and that his schedule took longer than he had expected.  I told him that it was fine and I knew that he was busy.  Then we drove off. 

"So, where are we going?" I asked.  "And why do I need an extra pair of clothes?" 

"You'll see..." Jongdae replied.

I smiled and nodded.  It only took us a couple of minutes to get there and when Jongdae parked the car he said, "We're here."  We both got out and then all of a sudden Jongdae came around and took my hand.  I was shocked, but all he did was smile and lead us down a little path to a swimming hole. 

"My grandpa used to take me here all the time... but... now he can't..." Jongdae whispered.  "This place-- no one really knows about this swimming hole... few people come here..." he continued.

"It's pretty," I said.

"Yeah, it is... especially when the sun is setting."

After a while of silence and staring at the beautiful scenery, I glanced over to Jongdae.  He was still smiling. 

"So, what are the extra clothes for?" I asked curiously.

"This," he smirked. 

Suddenly, he lifted me up and walked down to the water.  I tried getting out of his arms, but he just held onto me tighter.  Then he dropped me in the water. 

"That's why you need extra clothes," Chen laughed.

"Hey!" I yelled.

I chased after him and finally pulled him down into the water with me.  We laughed and played and talked for what seemed like forever.  Then I remembered when I would go to the pool with Baekhyun and some other friends.  I enjoyed those times. 

"It's getting late and cold, so let's go dry up," Chen said.

I nodded my head and followed him.  We went back to the car and he threw me a towel.  I dried up and grabbed my other clothes from my bag. 

"I'm going to go back and change there," I told him.

"Alright," Jongdae said. 

After I changed, I came back and found Chen in different clothes, too.  He smiled once he saw me and we climbed into the car and drove down to a fast food restaurant. 

"I hope you didn't mind me taking you there, even though we've only known each other for a week," Jongdae said.

"It's fine.  I liked it and it was fun.  We're friends right?" I turned and smiled to him after eating a fry. 

"Haha, yeah."

Once we were done eating dinner, he drove me home and walked me up to my porch.  We said our goodbyes and then he left.  I smiled to myself and then went to my room. 

Baekhyun's POV:

Right after our schedule, Jongdae bolted to the car and drove off. 

"Whoa, where's he going?" I asked no one in particular. 

"I heard that he's going to hang out with Areum," answered Minseok. 

"Areum??" 

"Yeah." 

I was surprised.  Were Jongdae and Areum really that close?  When did that happen?  I couldn't believe it.  Honestly, I didn't know how to feel.  It was nice and all that Areum was getting close with my members, who were like brothers to me, but at the same time I wanted to hang out with her myself. 

When we got to the dorm, Taeyeon was waiting outside for me.  We all went inside and while the guys went to their rooms, I took Taeyeon with me and sat down in the living room. 

"Did you wait long?" I asked. 

"No, I just got here," Taeyeon smiled at me.  "Oh, I got something for you." 

"Hmm?  What is it?  You didn't have to get me anything." 

"I wanted to.  I saw it in a shop and could not resist!" 

She then pulled out a small box from her purse and handed it to me.  Before opening it, I looked up at her and noticed how excited and happy she looked.  I smiled and pulled the top off.  Inside the box was a cute bracelet. 

"Ah, this is wonderful," I said.  "Thank you." 

"I have a matching one!"  She lifted her wrist and showed me her matching one.  "I also have charms to go with them.  Here you go."  Again she pulled out two tiny boxes from her purse and opened the two of them.  One charm had a "T" engraved in it, and the other had a "B" on it.  "I was thinking that you wear the one with the 'T' and I wear the one with a 'B'." 

"That sounds great," I told her.  "Could you help me put it on?" 

An hour passed without either one of us noticing and Taeyeon got a call from her manager. 

"Ah, Baekie, I have to go.  My manager wants me," Taeyeon said sadly.

"Awe... Okay then... if you really have to go..." I said.

"Yeah... I'm sorry Baek."

"It's fine.  I'll see you soon."

"Alright.  Love you."

We stood up together and walked over to the entrance.  I hugged her and she planted a kiss on my cheek before waving goodbye and leaving. 

I went back to sit with some of the guys that came out of their room and played games with them.  Then about an hour or so later Jongdae came back with different clothes on.  We watched as he came in.  He was holding some clothes that looked wet.  He then left to his room and then came back and sat down next to me. 

"Where did you go?" Kris asked.

"Hang out with Areum," Chen replied casually.

Kris nodded his head and then left to his room.  As it became nighttime, the members slowly started to make their ways to the bathroom and then to their rooms.  Finally it was just the beagle line left out in the living room.  We were still talking and joking around when our topic switched to ~you~ all of a sudden.

"She seems like a nice girl," Chanyeol said.

"She is a nice girl," Chen said.

"But very clumsy," I spoke up before laughing and thinking back to when she had hurt herself.

"How did you two meet?" Chanyeol asked.

"Well..." I started.

**Flashback**

"Have you heard?  That girl, Han Areum, is poor," a girl gossiped.

"Yeah...  for her," another girl agreed.

"Oh, look!  She bumped into the queenka!" a boy whispered.

Areum was trying to look for a table to sit at, until she accidentally back up and bumped into the most popular girl at the school.  She apologized and was about to walk away, when the queenka grabbed her.

"Watch where you're going," she yelled causing the students to look at them.

"S-sorry..." Areum muttered.

"I can't hear you!  Speak up would you?"

"I'm sorry."

"I still can't hear you.  Shout it if you have to."

Areum took a breath and then shouted, "I'm sorry."

"Ha!  That's better.  Now get out of my way."

Areum nodded and walked away.  Instead of looking for a table she just left the building and ran into the fields.  She sat out ther against a tree until the bell rang. 

--A Couple of Days Later--

"Okay, students.  Today we have a new classmate joining our class.  Please come in Baekhyun," the teacher announced.

In came a boy named Byun Baekhyun.  Every girl instantly fell in love while all of the boys were jealous of him.  Everyone was excited for Baekhyun... everyone, but Areum.  She wasn't even paying attention to what was happening.  She was just staring out of the window and hoping for the day to be over already.  Areum would always do this when ever she came to school.  That was probably why her grades were so low, she was passing all of her classes, but they definitely weren't the greatest. 

During lunch, Areum tries to be extra careful, because she didn't want to go through something like what had happened before when she bumped into the queenka.  But sometimes, being extra careful only leads to bigger messes-- and that's what exactly happened.  Everything just happened to have happen on the same day that Baekhyun arrived to the school.  She was about to head out to her favorite spot, out in the field, with her drink that she just bought, but as she was walking, the queenka was making her way into the cafeteria.  Areum bumped into the queenka at the corner and spilled a little bit on her shirt. 

"You little !" she screamed.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry!" Areum panicked.

" 'Sorry' my !"

"R-really I'm... I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to."

"Whatever."  The queenka pushed her, making Areum stumble backwards.

Tears began to fill Areum's eyes.  She held her head low and was about to walk away, but the queenka grabbed onto her wrist before she could leave.  

"This is my favorite shirt!  And do you know how much it costs?  You're gonna have to pay for a new one!"  she yelled.

"She can't pay!  She's poor as " one of the queenka's friend said and laughed.

"Oh yeah!  You're right!  I forgot," she laughed, too.

"I'm sorry..." Areum mumbled.

"Don't be rude!  Look me in the eyes and say it!"

Areum lifted her head slowly and repeated her apology.  Her eyes were glossy and tears threatened to fall.

"Awe!  Is this little girl crying?!?!  Now, wipe you're tears and apologize louder."

When Areum didn't move, the queenka got angry and repeated her command.  Then she slapped her  this time.  And that's when Areum let her tears fall.  It stung, worse than she thought it would sting. 

The whole time Baekhyun was watching the scene, he wondering why it was happening and why no one was helping the innocent girl.  He finally had enough of it once he saw the hard slap.  He stood up and slammed his hands on the table and glared at the queenka.

"What's wrong with you?  All of you... Why are you people so mean?" Baekhyun raged. 

Areum looked at him in shock.  No one's ever stood up for her before and then all of a sudden this boy was getting up and yelling in her defense. 

"O-oppa... it's just that she-"

"Spilled a little juice on your shirt?  Is that all?"

"Oppa, you don't understand-"

"I do understand.  I was watching this whole time.  I can't believe you people.  Especially you!  Slapping someone for no reason."

Then Baekhyun walked over to them.  He saw that Areum's cheek was still red and that the queenka was still gripping onto her wrist.  He removed Areum's wrist from her grasp.

He gave her a small smile and asked, "Are you okay?"

Areum just nodded and then took off.  Leaving Baekhyun there, surprised.  Then he glared at the queenka. 

"Why'd you protect her?" she asked.

"Because..." was all Baekhyun could say.  In all truth he really didn't know why himself.

Then he ran after Areum.  He exited the building and saw her running towards a tree in the field.  He kept running after her wanting to talk to her.  She ran around the tree and sat down under it not wanting to face the school.  Once he got under the tree, he snuck around it so that he could sit next to her. 

"W-what are you doing here?" Areum asked while wiping her tears away quickly.

"I wanted to see if you were okay," Baekhyun said softly.

"I'm fine...  You could go back now."

"You don't look fine to me."  He turned and helped to wipe her tears away.

"T-thanks.  Y-you know you didn't have to step up like that."

"I couldn't just sit there and do nothing."

"It's okay...  I'm used to it."

"What?!?!  They bully you that often??"

"It's no problem."

"It is a problem.  They're abusing you."

Areum looked down to the ground because she didn't know what else to say.  Then Baekhyun lifted her chin.  He smiled at her and comforted her throughout the whole time.  Then once the bell rang they stood up and went in together. 

"By the way, I'm Baekhyun," he smiled.

"I'm Areum," Areum said.

"From now on we'll be best friends, okay?  And I'll always be there for you, promise."

"Okay," she replied, finally smiling. 

The rest of the school year went smoothly for Areum because she had Baekhyun by her side.  And as they grew up, it just kept getting better.  New friends were made and the two were always there for each other just as Baekhyun had promised. 

**Flashback End**

"That's terrible," Jongdae muttered.

"Yeah...  I didn't know she had it that rough," Chanyeol added.

I nodded my head and thought about back then.  If I didn't help her, where would we be right now?  Would I even be a singer?  Where would she be right now? 

Annyeong!  another update!  hope you guys like it! :D

Thanks

~Angelflyer

(7/13/17)

Hello all!  Here's an update just as I had promised!  I hope you guys like it!  This chapter was changed a lot from the original, but I didn't want to change the flashback, so that was the same except that I spiffied it up a little so it wouldn't be all too cringy haha :D  I won't be able to update over the weekend but hopefully I can work on editing the next chapter or updating my other story (which you guys should go check out as well!  XD)