“Ha-Ha-hey there, Jungsu-shi.”

Yah, this is crazy. This place is crazy. I’ve spent my whole life walking in and out of this mansion, my whole life, but I still can’t get used to the fact that it’s so annoyingly huge. And I have no trouble making this little fact known to its owners by simply expressing to them how I always wish the whole place would shrink at least ten fold, so it would be the size of my apartment – Alright, my dad’s. I don’t own anything – That way, I wouldn’t have to wear myself out running from the entrance to the main house and end up trying to desperately catch my breath like right now.

“Oh, Good Afternoon, Eunchan-yang.” Park Jungsu-shi, the middle aged butler of the mansion, turns to greet me politely before raising an eyebrow in question upon seeing a beautiful bouquet I’m holding but chooses to remain silent anyway.

I, for the millionth time, slump my shoulders in defeat as I stomp towards the owner of the house and whine in a manly fashion. Hey, before you say anything about ‘whining in a manly fashion’, I’m gonna defend myself that I can really make it look that way, so it up and move on.

“Eomeoniiiiii!!! Jungsu-shi wouldn’t stop this ‘Eunchan-yang’ . Aish, what do I do with him?” I drop myself onto the couch next to the beautiful lady I’m calling eomeoni who chuckled sweetly at my little tantrum.

See I really hate being addressed that way. One, despite being so close to such a high class family, I honestly can’t take the rich’s etiquettes and being treated in such a polite manner. And Jungsu-shi keeps saying that I deserve to be treated as such. What, me and my foul manner? Gosh, I don’t even speak lady-like. More like, I speak the way any ordinary guy my age does. So yes, two, if he really needs to address me in a polite way, he might as well use –goon instead of –yang. ‘Euncha-yang’ sounds so much like a weak girl. Aw, that hurts my pride and my tomboyish personality. Tsk.

“Umm, you can try bribing him?” Eomeoni suggests playfully, to which I shake my head hopelessly.

“Nah, you know I don’t have anything to offer. He can have pretty much everything that my whole extended family can afford with his monthly salary.” I may be exaggerating a little, but did I mention that this household is filthy rich?

“Then leave him be, sweetie.”

“Hmph.” Again, I sigh in defeat before looking up and ask about the very person for whom I came running here, with the bouquet and all. “Anyway, is my moron of a friend able to get his lazy off his bed yet?”

“He’s almost completely recovered now. He’ll be able to go back to school tomorrow.” And you may wonder why she doesn’t mind me calling her precious son a moron. Well, for one reason, she’s used to it, and for another, she loves me too much to deny me my way of doing things. I’m even made to call her eomeoni. Take the hint, people.

“About time, too. One more day of absence, and he’ll have one hell of a hard time catching up, what with his level of stupidity and all.”

“Speak for yourself, midget.” Yeah, right. I lied through gritted teeth. He’s nothing near stupid. Oh hey, the said moron is here. “And need I remind you that you’re the only person who dare to question my intelligence –”

“And live to tell the tale? Yeah, I’m flattered.” I just had to finish the sentence for him so that I can add my own mocking remark. But wait. Something doesn’t sound right. “Hey, did you just call me midget again? What’s so great about being just a little bit taller than me, huh? What, you want a fight? Bring it on, bastard.” I holler while following him up to his room before stopping in front of him and take a stance, getting ready for the fight. This is outrageous. He has no right to call me a midget.

Alright. I admit he’s not just a little bit taller than me, judging by the fact that I’m only 1.57 m while he’s 1.80 m plus 2 more cm of his arrogance. It’s such a shame I’m that short cuz if anyone knows my dad, the famous lawyer So Jisub, who’s still a major heartthrob for someone in his late forties, they will find it hard to believe he has a dwarf for a daughter. Well, I blame it on my mom’s gene, but my dad always says she used to be taller than me when she was my age. I’ve got a very mean dad, people.

So anyway everyone, meet my best friend, Cho Kyuhyun, the ultimate bastard in the universe. He’s the second most handsome guy on campus (I’ll tell you who the first is later), and subject of all sorts of fantasy created by his so-called fan club – which he never gives a about, if I may add –which is composed of 90% of our university’s female populace. But don’t let his look fool you because I meant it when I said he’s the ultimate bastard in the universe. He’s also known as the fearsome Ice Prince who hates being associated with other human being of any kind. And if look can kill, he would just be able to reduce 30% of human population on earth by just using his trademarked Cho Glare. People just drop dead at the sight of it. And again, he doesn’t even give a what people say about him.

But oh well, he’s a genius, a scholar and an exemplary student (I dont even know what's exemplary about being an ), so he got forced into becoming the student council president ever since the second year of our college life. I have to laugh at that cuz he’s forced to deal with the very thing he hates the most. Socialization, that is. But tsk, he still does the job perfectly, and to top it all off, he manages to do just that with his cold demeanor remains intact.

“You’re annoying, .” Yes, I hate this guy, so much I want topunch him in the face every single time I see him. Well, all we ever do whenever we’re near each other is either fist fighting, sparring (you heard me right), competing or simply just spitting outright insults at each other’s faces. And just because the bastard’s much better than me in academic, he has this nasty habit of pointing out to me how dense I am, and treat me as someone, and I quote, whose intelligence is only rivaled by a rock. And boy, he can always do that with a perfectly poker face. Like right now. “What are you doing at my house again, anyway? Didn’t you just come here yesterday, or more like every day for the last whole week?”

Oh, let me just take 2 minutes to shine with pride, people. Did you not notice the Ice Prince Cho Kyuhyun just spoke in full, lengthy sentences? He barely speaks with three words phrases anywhere else or with anybody else – except for when he has to give speeches, which he really hates. Some strangers even thinks he’s mute sometimes when he just stay at one place for more than an hour without saying a word. But I, the great So Eunchan, is the only person he ever speaks that much to, although he does it with sarcasm most of the time.

“Last week I came here to take care of your sorry and boring as your best friend slash brother slash top rival.”

Yeah, I know this is the weirdest relationship you’ve ever seen. So we might just go back to 20 years ago when we were just born. No, actually, we should go back 3 decades ago when his dad and mine just met, and just like us, they’ve become best friends and rivals. Gosh, their rivalry is first class. I can’t blame random people for mistaking them as archenemies because I myself couldn’t completely understand their relationship when I was younger. Kyuhyun’s dad is just like the bastard himself. Well, a little better, to be honest. He always shows a cold attitude towards my dad and talks down to him all the time that I used to wonder if he really hated my dad that much.

But then when my dad got severely injured from a car accident when I was eight and the doctors moved just too slow to save his life, Kyuhyun’s dad, with uncontrollable rage, threatened to burn down the hospital. Yeah, his cool and prickly façade fell apart right then, and we saw right through him and how much he really cared for my dad.

Well, they’re still at each other’s throats these days, chastising each other on every possible thing they can come up with. And then my dad just had to go and add one more reason to be on his best friend’s bad sides by teaching me martial arts and sports and raising me up to be such a tomboy. And this time, Kyuhyun’s mom joined her husband’s parade. Don’t get me wrong. They actually dote on Kyuhyun, but they just hoped to have a girl after him. Well, she never came, so after 5 years of waiting, they both gave up and turned to me with sparkling eyes, but my dad ruined it all for them. Give the guy a round of applause!

The younger me, nevertheless, still deemed the friendship/rivalry to be really weird, and I always hoped I didn’t have to be involved with one personally. I just had to be either someone’s best friend, or their enemy. Can’t be both at the same time. But come on, it’s Cho Kyuhyun, the ultimate bastard, we’re talking about. Who on earth can play nice with him for 2 minutes without getting riled up? I distinctly remember that he once knocked me into the swimming pool with a poker face when we were four and then walked off without so much as an apology, just because I was in his way. Gosh, he was evil even that young. So there, I got my enemy.

But how did I come to be his best friend then? Well, easy. Because just like his dad, underneath the Ice Prince persona, there’s a warm-hearted Cho Kyuhyun who doesn’t like to express himself in a normal way. Take example of when I was ten. It’s when I lost my mom to cancer. Being a stubborn kid I was, I refused to shed even a single drop of tear because I needed to be strong for my dad, no matter how torn up inside I was. My dad was devastated having lost the love of his life, and I didn’t need to add any more pain into his heart. And do you know what the bastard did then? After three days he dragged me out to the neighborhood’s playground and literally pricked my finger with a needle till it bled.

“Ow, bastard, what’d you do that for?”

“Does it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts, you moron!”

“Just cry then.” And then that little pain was just like a trigger. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t hold anything in anymore, so I poured my eyes out right there and then. He had the courtesy to turn his back on my crying face, and I made him promise not to tell a soul about it. Well, still that was the last time I ever cried that hard. So see? This is one of his very own trademarked way of showing that he cares, and that is why he’s my best friend.

Back to the present, I see the idiot snickers at my previous declaration and turns to enter his room, but I step in to confront him once again and continue my speech.

“Today, however, I’m here in the name of messenger of love. Here, your girlfriend sent you this.” and then I cheekily shove the bouquet into his face with a gummy grin. He immediately turns away looking disgusted.

“One, midget, I didn’t ask you to come last week, and all you ever did was annoy the hell out of me. Thank you very much.” That’s not true. I was very much needed when he first came down with a stressed fever a week ago. Man, the bastard likes to push himself too hard until his body can’t take it anymore and he finally collapsed under the rainstorm in the middle of the road last week while trying to get to his car but couldn’t make it. Luckily, someone found him and was kind enough to take him to the hospital, but he insisted on being brought home. The moron hates public places. Imagine new mob of fan girls and you’ll understand why.

So see, he was already sick then, and collapsing under the rain for who knows how long only made it worse. Plus, the idiot didn’t know how to keep himself free even then, so not surprisingly, he worked himself until it’s way pass time to take medicine. Thrice. And that was why I, the almighty So Eunchan, had to take measures into my own hands and made sure he took his medication regularly by calling to nag him about it when I’m at school, and ran straight to his house after school so I could force the pills down his throat myself.

“Two, I don’t have a girlfriend. It’s high time you and your stupid idol, or whatever you’d like to call that airhead, got this simple bit of reality straight. Now get out of my face.”

“Tsk. One, you’re such an ungrateful bastard. I even brought your lesson and homework and –”

“I could manage without all those.” Will you listen to that! Because we’re in different majors, and we hardly have the same classes this semester, I had to run around asking for copies of lessons and such for him. And this is his thank you speech.

“And two, you’re being mean to Seohyun. You guys even went on dates –”

“DATE. As in ONE date. And it was two years ago. Because you were begging in desperation to put that stupid Get-Cho-Kyuhyun-A-Girlfriend plan of yours into action.”

And now we’re moving on to the major problem at hand. As his best friend – only friend, to be precise – I’m really worried about his future. Not his future job or anything as I’m perfectly aware of how capable he is. But it’s his love life we’re talking about. With his prickly attitude and murderous aura he’s always giving off, the bastard will never find himself a girlfriend. And I don’t wanna see him end up alone for the rest of his life. But boy, I never even see him look at anyone without implying things like ‘take a step closer and you’re dead meat’. I even considered the possibility that he may be interested in boys and tried to suggest some cool guys a few times before, only to get heavy knuckles up my head in response. But as loyal a friend as I am, I’m not giving up on the bastard that easily.

And then on our first year at college, I eventually found him the perfect match who’s no other than the campus’s angel Seohyun. She’s really, really beautiful, and sweet, and she’s from a high class family just like him. There’s no way anyone else can be a better fit for my moronic friend than she is. And before I even thought of seducing her for him, she came to me first and asked for help. So yeah, I gave myself a mission, and finally managed to get him to go on a date with Seohyun at the end of our first year – using all kinds of pathetic tricks, too, if I may add.

“But, but it was the greatest date, too. And you loved it.”

“I most certainly did not. I actually regretted giving in to your sorry face and went along with it.”

“Whatever. You went on a date with her. She’s your girlfriend. That’s final.”

“Whoever set that dumb rule again?”

“I did. And it’s not a dumb rule. It’s my greatest logic.” Kyuhyun apparently sees no point arguing with me any longer, so he just drops the subject and sits down on his bed. I then move to put the back of my hand on his forehead to see if his body temperature is still high. “Good. Your temperature’s back to normal. Aish, I’m worn out.” At the sight of the bed, I finally let the built up fatigue take over and drop myself into the comfort of his bed, intending to get some sleep.

“What’s that?” Kyuhyun takes notice of a huge scratch near my elbow for the first time and raises an eyebrow in irritation as he took in the sight of the dried up blood. He hates it when I don’t take care of my wounds immediately.

“Oh, this? I tripped while showing off heroic moves on the field today. We won, anyway.” Thanks to my dad, I grow up to be such an athletic girl. Never mind my tiny figure; I have talents for many kinds of sport. That’s why I’m able to stunt our university’s football coach with my skills and earn myself a position in the team despite the fact that I’m a girl. It’s never happened anytime and anywhere else before. But really, who cares about rules and traditions when you get to have such a talented player like me on the team? I guess it does make up for my moderate academic performance, after all.“Don’t bother with it. Just let me sleep in peace.” Really, that’s all I need right now, so I yawn and slowly drift off to sleep.

…………………..

And so I really did have a deep sleep that I didn’t even realize my wound was being patched up while I was sleeping. I woke up three hours later to find it all cleaned and plastered. Looking around, Kyuhyun was working at his study desk on the other side of the room. I smiled, but knew better than to say anything. The bastard would just ignore me or say that he got one of his maids to take care of the wound for me, anyway. Like he’d bother talking to any of them.

“Kyaa, oppa is back. Oppa! Kyuhyun oppa, are you ok now?” Oh, here we go again. One of these days, I’m gonna get mobbed by Kyuhyun’s fan girls along with the moron himself. Aish, we just want to have lunch in peace.

“Ya, back off. My boyfriend needs some air to breathe.” Oh, there. My angel, my idol, my and Kyuhyun’s savior, Seohyun has come to our rescue. She waves at me, and sits down next to Kyuhyun. “Oppa, how are you feeling?”

What did I say about him hating to open his mouth? Though, I have to admit. He’s softened by a lot these last few years. Before, he didn’t have problems telling strangers to get lost. So just imagine how bastardly he would treat acquaintances. Now he just ignores all of them altogether. Feeling bad for Seohyun, I speak up in place for the idiot.

“Er, He’s feeling much better now. It’s cuz you sent those flowers, Seohyun-ah. The bastard really liked it.”

“Really, oppa? Aww, I wish I could bring it to you personally.” Again, no sign of acknowledgement of her existence, although she’s sitting barely inches away from him.

“Umm, he understands that you were busy, Seohyun-ah. It’s ok.”

“Oppa, how about we go for a movie after school today?” Oops. I guess his string of patience is wearing thin now. Without a word, he gets up and gathers his things, but Seohyun was quick to add before he can turn to walk away. “Eunchan can come, too. They’re showing Transformers today.” And my eyes widen at the mentioning of the movie title. I jumped up excitedly.

“What? Transformers? Oh, my gosh. I’ve waited for months. Oi, come on, bastard. Let’s go see this one, please?”

“No.” Ouch!

“Please?” I start to walk around him in circles like a puppy, trying to look as pitiful as possible. “Pretty? Pretty? Pretty please?”

“No.”

“I’ve been dying to see it for months, and now that it’s out, you’re going to heartlessly deny me the movie that I love so much?”

“Go watch it by yourself, midget.” He sighs, still looking as bored as ever.

“Fine, idiot. I don’t need you. I have other friends, too. I’ll just give Siwon hyung a call and see if he’s free.”

Don’t you point fingers at me! I know what I’m doing. Of course it’d be in my nature to prefer calling older guys hyung instead of oppa. Deal with it.

I know I push the right button when Kyuhyun’s brows arch up irritatingly. I don’t know why, but the moron can’t stand the existence of Siwon hyung, who is one year our senior and also my team’s captain. Oh, not to mention he’s that most handsome guy on campus I mentioned about. Well, it’s true there’s no one the bastard doesn’t hate, but he just hates my captain much more than anyone else for some unknown reasons.

“Er, but I don’t think he’s free tonight.” Again, Seohyun was quick to alter the situation, or else she won’t be able to get the bastard to go with us. How she finds out Siwon hyung isn’t free, I wouldn’t know, but I trust that to be true.

“Eh? Really? Awwwww. Kyuhyun-ah…..” One more push, and the victory is mine.

“Hmm. Fine. Only because you need a baby-sitter.” He sighs in defeat before agreeing, with some sarcasm, too, but I don’t have the feeling to mind now that I get to watch Transformers tonight. I just show a goofy grin.

“Whatever you say, moron.”

…………………..

“Umm, I’m sorry, Seohyun-ah. But he’s not coming.”

It’s nearing the end of July, so guess what, it’s my birthday today. But man, I’m stuck comforting a certain girlfriend because a certain bastard is not showing up.

“But it’s your birthday, and you guys are best friends.”

“Heh he. At times. Not when there are so many people around. You know how he gets with the crowd. Plus, He really is busy tonight.”

A few times, some people wonder how I end up being the one doing the comforting when I am actually the birthday girl whose best friend won’t show up at the party. Well, to put it frankly, I never expected him to come to begin with. I told Seohyun time and again that it was useless when she started preparing for the party and gathering people in the hopes that he would join since it was MY birthday and all.

But hey, he’s my best friend and I know him best. When he says he’s not coming, then he’s not coming. My birthday or not. He hates being anywhere near the crowd and that’s enough reason to keep him away. Not that we never celebrate birthdays together or anything, but we always like to do it when there are just us or with our families. And we don’t like anything too fancy, either. Sometimes there isn’t even a birthday cake. We just eat out or hang around somewhere fun. Well, I have to drag him to hang around somewhere fun.

So I practically sigh in relief now that the party is finally over, and I get released to go get some sleep.

I climb up to my bedroom, sit down and drape my arms across my study desk. There’s something gleaming back at me when I turn my face to the side. My eyes widen in astonishment when my brain takes in what it really is. There, hung on my pen holder is the necklace my mom gave me when I was 7. The only thing I have left of her. The necklace I thought I’d never get to see again when I accidentally dropped it into the lake nearby our university about almost a month ago. I don’t need to doubt who found it for me as I jump up and down in excitement, holding the necklace close to my heart. I just know it’s the bastard. He’s the only one who knows where to find it. We were hanging around the lake together then.

But how he managed to find it is the real question here. Wait a minute. I lost my necklace, and Kyuhyun fell sick after that and finally collapsed three days later? No way. Then realization strikes me like a lightening, I suddenly feel my blood running up my head. I snatch my phone from the desk and dial number 2 on my speed dial. I shout at him the second he answers the phone.

“Oi, bastard. What’s the meaning of this?”

“Whatever you think it is midget.” Apparently, he knows I’m talking about the necklace. It’s either he’s too smart or we share some kinda of telepathy.

“Don’t get smart on me, jackass. I asked you where you got this necklace.”

“From the last place I saw it was.”

“Wha – You DIVED into the lake to find it? And there were rain storms the whole week then. God knows how many times you went back there. Don’t tell me you got sick and collapsed in the middle of the road because of that?