Waning: Has not been beta'd or edited.

Donghae has always been, and possibly always will be, a total and entire pretty boy. Back in school, Siwon often thought that Donghae and Song Qian looked rather nice standing beside each other; they both had that type of look—the pretty type of look.

It didn’t help that Song Qian always openly admired and complimented the pretty boys the most.

He, on the other hand, was bigger in frame and manlier in stature. When Siwon stands beside Song Qian, she ends up looking tiny and petite, instead of radiant and glamorous.

That’s probably why it sort of bothered him when he saw Donghae and Song Qian interacting closely in school; it blinded the eyes of every passerby, even his.

“I knew it!” Donghae exclaims, his lips stretched into a grin all the way from one ear to the other. “I knew you still liked her! I can’t believe it took you this long to actually confess!”

Siwon opts to ignore his outburst and continues drinking his can of beer.

“Well? What did she say?” Donghae asks, shoving Siwon’s shoulder.

Being the old time buddies that they were, Donghae recalls the time back in school, just before Song Qian moved again; he recalls that Siwon and Song Qian were so close to taking that last closing step, but then things took a sudden turn and everything spiraled out a different way.

Donghae remembers when Song Qian had told Siwon to sit beside her in class, disregarding the seating chart organized by the teacher, and Siwon—the good student, class president—had said, “Okay,” startling all of their classmates.

He sighs. “She asked me to give her some time to think about it.”

Donghae laughs. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone could tell the two of you were pretty much dating in school already; she’s probably just surprised by your sudden confession.”

“Hopefully,” Siwon nods.

His friend raises an eyebrow. “What? You guys not getting along so great lately?”

“No, that’s not it,” Siwon denies.

“Potential love rival?” Donghae inquires.

Siwon glances over at him but doesn’t speak a word.

“Have some confidence,” Donghae encourages, patting him on the back. “You’re good looking, rich, and you’re a doctor. Girls would die to be with you.”

“She’s different,” Siwon argues. Does everyone in the world live on the same mindset? He wonders, because he remembers Song Qian mentioning something along similar lines with Donghae’s logic.

Donghae nods. “You’ve got a point. Song Qian is pretty… unique.”

“…” Siwon sighs.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” Donghae comforts him again. “I suggest you think more about how to break the news to your parents. Didn’t you say they were really anxious about you being in a relationship? You’d better let them know soon, before they start setting you up on blind dates and such.”

“I didn’t even really think about that…” Siwon bites down on his lip.

The pretty boy laughs heartily. “Well, time to start thinking then.”

Wu Yifan stares at Song Qian oddly as she hands a bowl of steamy seafood stir fried noodles to him, pursing his lips when she takes a seat beside him in the living room.

“What’s wrong with you these last few days? So weird…” he mutters, poking his chopsticks through the noodles and scooping in a mouthful.

Her eyes are hazy and she often looks as though she’s lost in thought, or confused, barely speaking and hardly arguing with him when he intentionally picks fights with her.

Basically, she’s acting extremely out of ordinary.

“Huh? Me?”

He rolls his eyes. “Who else, genius?”

“I…” she slurs, hesitating for a second before she sighs and decides to be honest. “I was confessed to.”

Wu Yifan raises his eyebrows, eyes slightly watery from how hot the noodles are. “So?” He asks, his voice muffled from the food in his mouth. “Doesn’t that happen pretty often?”

“How often is it that the person I like confesses to me?” She retorts.

He chokes on his food. “You like someone?”

“…Can’t I?” She frowns.

The boy chugs down half of his cup of water before he collects himself together. “Wait; is it the guy you told me about forever ago? The guy that you went to school with, who you claim never realized you liked him?”

“Maybe…”

“You serious?” Wu Yifan coughs. “What gave the idiot the epiphany?”

Song Qian pouts. “I don’t know.”

“Hah, of course you don’t,” he shakes his head in defeat. “Is he the one you were seen with in Japan?”

“He was with me for a few days in Japan,” she admits. “How did you know?”

Wu Yifan smirks. “How else? The media has been on our tail ever since the first time we collaborated and they saw you treating me to dinner after the photoshoot.”

She suddenly feels guilty. “Have they been giving you a hard time?”

“Don’t give me that look,” Wu Yifan rolls his eyes again. “It’s not your fault, okay?”

She nods. “True. You’re the one that keeps encouraging their speculations all this time by acting ambiguously with me in public, despite denying their accusations when faced with them.”

“It’s better that they think we’re in a relationship than for them to know our true relation,” Wu Yifan claims. “At least, for me right now it is, but if you decide to start a relationship with your high school sweetheart then I guess it’s not so convenient for you anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Song Qian asks, playing dumb.

Wu Yifan pokes at his bowl of noodles again, the strong taste spreading over his tongue—a little bitter, a little sweet. “Are you going to say yes to him?”

“What’s it to you?” She says.

He stares her dead in the eyes. “So the next time the media asks I know how to respond to the questions about you.”

“Just keep giving them the same answers,” Song Qian tells him, “I don’t want your career to be affected by anything that I do.”

“What about your man?” Wu Yifan wonders aloud.

Song Qian shrugs, a red hue seeping through her skin at his reference towards Siwon. “Don’t know. We’ll just have to see, I guess.”

There are a few days in which Siwon and Song Qian have not kept in touch, but all of a sudden Siwon receives a text message from her.

A smile breaks out after a wash of relief and he quickly opens the text, reading the content. [I’ll be in town on Wednesday,] it first reads.

He wonders what it could mean.

[It looks like I’ll be staying for a while this time around.]

Siwon musters up a little bit of courage before replying, [What time? I’ll pick you up?]

Moments later, she answers. [Okay.]

Although they mention nothing about his request for her to consider being in a relationship with him, Siwon feels like he already knows her answer. She wouldn’t randomly ask him to come pick her up from the airport if she simply saw him as an old buddy, after all. [I’ll treat you to food.]

Song Qian smiles, [Have you been busy?]

[So-so. I’ve been missing you more than I’ve been busy.] He says.

She can’t help but feel a slight shiver at his cheesiness, but it makes her speechlessly happy nonetheless. [Take me grocery shopping. It’s not healthy eating out all the time.]

That message alone tells Siwon everything he needs to hear.

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A/N: I honestly don't know whether I should or shouldn't write a Tao/Victoria... they have had way too many collaborations lately and there are so many accumulated feels for them, yet, I (and don't hate me for saying this, cause I'm sure Tao's a great kid) don't really like Tao all that much... And for those of you waiting on Breathe Easy: once I complete this Siwon/Victoria, I'll start posting it closely after ^___^ Thank you, as always~ ♥Xue