Chapter Eight: Worst Day Ever

Despite the fact that Jongdae said he’d keep her little secret to himself, Boyeon was still horrified. She didn’t know Kim Jongdae well at all; what if he were a compulsive liar or just plain mean? What if he told Baekhyun anyway? Baekhyun obviously wouldn’t have been amused to find out about her huge crush when he was dating someone else. He’d probably think she was annoying.

Or worse. Pathetic.

And when she had gone back to class and told Luhan the situation, all he had said was, “Well, you are pretty obvious with it.” Boyeon had just put her head down on her desk and fought the urge to cry. Jongdae even winked at her when he came into the classroom.

It was official. This was the worst day ever.

Luhan tried – rather unsuccessfully – to comfort Boyeon by rubbing circles onto her back. He didn’t know much about how to deal with problems because heaven didn’t really have problems, per se. All of this was new to him. But someone up there had once told him a story about comforting someone by rubbing circles on the other person’s back, so Luhan figured it was worth a shot. She still seemed miserable, though.

“Geez, you just got everything you’ve ever wanted and now you’re all sad,” Luhan hissed when he realized people were beginning to stare at them. “How are you supposed to be happy when you mope when you get what you want?”

“Shut up, Lulu,” she said, her voice muffled. Luhan bristled.

“You did not just call me that. I swear, Boyeon, I’ll go back up to heaven in a really cool flash of light and you’ll be left on your own. Even Taemin wasn’t trying to help you with this before I came along. Now, stop being difficult. And don’t cry. And don’t call me that accursed name ever again.”

Boyeon just whimpered. Luhan rolled his eyes.

Class passed by rather uneventfully. Boyeon, who usually at least made an effort to take notes in class, seemed to upset to do anything. Luhan didn’t want to worry about her, but it was hard when she was so upset right next to him. He was even distracted from world history, and that was the only subject he found truly interesting.

By the end of school, Luhan was at a loss for what to do. He imagined he would have to ask Sanghyuk or even Taemin how to cheer her up.

Not that he really cared if she were sad or not.

It was just annoying him. And anyway, her confidence had to be up if she were going to pursue Baekhyun. He tugged her out of her seat and set off for class 2-A, where Taemin would be. Boyeon was trudging behind Luhan when she heard him grunt. She looked up to see none other than Cha Hyojin, grabbing onto Luhan’s arm and saying something to him. For some reason, Boyeon was much more annoyed than she expected she would be, and a new sort of confidence welled up inside her. “Hey!” Boyeon yelled. The confidence didn’t last terribly long. She felt like running to a corner and curling up in a little ball when Hyojin’s posse turned to face her, but she did her best to not let it show. “Leave Luhan alone!”

Hyojin smirked. “You’re not his girlfriend, Han Boyeon-ssi, so you shouldn’t care if I spend a little alone time with Lulu, now, would you?” Luhan looked entirely disgusted as he yanked his arm away from her and opened his mouth, looking ready to let her have it.

“I would mind!” Boyeon said boldly, taking slow, shaky steps up to Hyojin. Luhan’s eyes went wide. What was she doing? “I mind because Luhan is my friend, and you’re clearly bothering him. Find someone else to be your trophy boyfriend, alright?”

For a few agonizing seconds, everyone was looking at Boyeon – Luhan, Hyojin, Hyojin’s clique, and all who were passing by in the hallway. And at the end of those seconds, Hyojin turned up her nose, let out a “hmph,” and stalked away, leaving the rest of her posse to scurry after her. Boyeon’s mouth hung open. Luhan’s did, too.

Did that just happen?

Boyeon and Luhan were so shocked that they just stood there, while the rest of the hallway descended into a flurry of whispers.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Luhan said quietly. Boyeon had always been very forward with him, but when it came to just about everyone else, except for Taemin and Sanghyuk, she was rather reserved. He recalled how scared she had been just to meet Baekhyun’s friends, even though she had been in class with them for ages. How much courage did it take her to stand up to someone like Hyojin?

As if his thoughts were being spoken aloud, a short girl came and ran up to Boyeon. “Wow! That was awesome!” Boyeon recognized the girl from Taemin’s class. “I can’t believe you stood up to Cha Hyojin! She’s been bullying me for years, but I could never do anything about it! It was so cool and–”

“Thank you,” Boyeon said shyly. “But I was just trying to help my friend.”

The girl stared at Boyeon for a second before nodding and sticking her hand out. “I think I like you. My name’s Park Sunyoung.”

Boyeon flushed a bit and shook Sunyoung’s hand. “Han Boyeon.”

-

“Good,” Taemin said when Luhan and Boyeon finished telling him the story of what had happened with Cha Hyojin and Park Sunyoung. “Boyeon needs more female friends. She always tells me about all her girly stuff, and I get enough of that from Naeun anyway. I mean, she knows not to do that to me because I’m her boyfriend, but because I’m Boyeon’s best friend, she treats me like a girl!”

“I do not!” Boyeon protested. “You just… Okay, maybe I do, but only a little bit.”

“I told you.”

“Shut up, Lee Taemin!”

As the two continued to bicker, Luhan kept his eyes on Boyeon. He had been staring at her on and off ever since the Hyojin incident. When she stood up to the class bully, there was almost a glow about her. She seemed to shine as she defended him, and for the first time, Luhan realized something.

Han Boyeon was actually really pretty.

It was more that she was awkward than that she was unattractive. The only people she could completely relax around were Taemin and Sanghyuk, and she wasn’t trying to impress either of them. Even when it came to Baekhyun, whom she was trying to impress, she was so afraid that it distracted from the fact that she was pretty.

Once they made their way back to Taemin’s place, Boyeon busied herself with preparing snacks for the group, knowing Taemin was completely and utterly useless in the kitchen, and Luhan pulled Taemin aside.

“I think we need to give Boyeon a makeover.”

Taemin made a face. “That’s a horrible idea. Baekhyun has to like her for her, right?”

“No, no, no,” Luhan said, shaking his head. “Not like that. We just need to makeover her just a little bit. She needs to be more confident, or she’ll never get Baekhyun to like her.” Luhan cast a look at Boyeon, who was happily humming a tune in the kitchen. “She’s actually really pretty.”

Taemin raised his eyebrows. Did Luhan, who was standoffish and rude to just about everyone else, have a soft spot for Boyeon? Taemin was so tempted to say something, just to get a rise out of Luhan, but he restrained himself and decided to keep his little observation a secret.

It would make things fun later.

-

Naeun gave Boyeon a quick once-over, and then nodded. “I can do it, definitely.”

“Yay!” Taemin cheered, giving his girlfriend a bear hug, causing her to blush bright red. Once the two boys had presented their makeover idea to Boyeon, Taemin had called Naeun over to help. It was no secret that she was gorgeous, and she knew much more about appearance than Boyeon did.

“Boyeon-ssi, you really are pretty. If you like this guy so much, why didn’t you decide to dress nicely before? All you have to do is make sure your hair looks nice, straighten your uniform a bit, and not hide yourself. I’m sure the guy will like you in no time.”

“Thanks,” Boyeon said sheepishly. Naeun led Boyeon off to Taemin’s bathroom so they could get started, while the two guys stayed behind.

“Byun Baekhyun is a lucky guy, don’t you think?” Luhan asked quietly.

Taemin chuckled. “He’d better take care of my best friend.”

I'M BAAAACK! This story is too much for for me to just leave it. Plus, the plot will get more interesting pretty soon (or at least I hope it will).

Plus, who's pumped for EXO's comeback? ME! And SHINee's planning on putting out a new Korean album soon! VIXX came back, too! *sigh* Life is wonderful, isn't it?