She was only four years old then, but she remembers that Sooyeon dressed up as Sleeping Beauty for Halloween. Her older sister had donned a long, blonde wig, a tiara and a sparkly pink dress that just reached her ankles, and though Soojung had never watched any Disney princess movies before, she was enthralled. “Unni, you look so pretty.”

Sooyeon giggles and twirls around. “I’m Princess Aurora, Soojungie.” 

“What’s a princess?”

Sooyeon mulls this over. Most girls just sort of instinctively know what a princess is, but Soojung — “Um, princesses are pretty girls that are born into royal families and wear pretty dresses, Soojungie. Sometimes they know fairies! They’re friends with fairies and fairies use magic to give them special things.”

Soojung’s mouth forms an ‘o’ and she nods mutedly. She is dressed as a sheep that year, because she has developed a new love for lamb chops. Her mother could not see the flaw in her reasoning and searched high and low for a sheep costume before learning how to make one herself.

There was a knock on the door and when Sooyeon opens it, Soojung sees Taemin and his older brother, Jinki. Taemin is obviously dressed as banana milk but Jinki is wearing this odd shirt with puffy sleeves and a high collar, and a.. cape. “Jinki-oppa, are you Superman?”

“No, Soojung, Jinki is Prince Phillip!” Sooyeon grabs her friend’s arm and dragged him next to her. “See?”

“Is that like a princess?”

“A boy princess,” Sooyeon explains.

Jinki furrows his eyebrows. “Sooyeon-ah, you’re not making me sound very cool.” He shows Soojung the plastic sword and shield that he was dragging around. “The prince fights the dragon and saves the princess!”

“No, the princess saves herself,” Sooyeon tells him, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulders.

“Fine, but he fights the dragon!”

“You two are silly,” Soojung remarks and walks over to Taemin. “We’re the only sensible ones in this room.”

Jinki and Sooyeon look over at their banana-milk brother and sheep-sister and try hard not to laugh. “Yes, you are.”

Five years later, Sooyeon is wearing a sparkly pink dress for a different reason.

Soojung sprawls on her sister’s bed and watches her curl her hair. “Are you going to be blonde forever?” she says, voice muffled by the pillow she is holding to her face.

“No, this is temporary dye, Soojung-ah.”

“Unni, why are you going to the dance with Jinki-oppa? Do you like him? Is he your boyfriend?”

Sooyeon doesn’t answer straight away, eyes fixed on a lock of hair in the mirror. “When you grow a little older, Soojung-ah,” she says slowly, “you’ll understand that boys and girls can be just friends.”

Soojung rolls her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘when I grow a little older’. I’ve had boys for my best friends since I was two.”

“I mean, you’ll understand that you can go with someone to an event as their date without being their boyfriend or girlfriend or anything. Just their… friend. Date. It’s not always that big of a deal.”

Soojung rolls onto her back. “He’s your Prince Phillip,” she says out of the blue.

“Huh?” 

“You went as Sleeping Beauty for Halloween last time and you made him be the Prince. Remember?”

Sooyeon thinks, and then smiles. “Yes, that’s right. I always made him do what I want him to when we were kids.”

“So… did you make him go with you this time?”

Sooyeon’s eyes were lowered as she looks for her mascara in the drawer of her vanity. “No, he asked me, actually.”

“So this time he voluntarily became your prince.”

Sooyeon wasn’t sure what to make of her sister’s words. “Yes?”

“Unni, how can someone be your prince and not your boyfriend?”

Sooyeon takes a deep breath and turns to face her sister, not knowing how to answer. Finally, she says, “That’s a really good question, Soojung-ah.”

*

Homecoming was, as Soojung had predicted, no big wow. It was basically just standing around and observing how different your friends look with formal wear, chatting to some, taking pictures. Soojung didn’t exactly mind it; for an hour or so it was pretty fun just to socialize. Jinri was practically glowing, hanging off her Minho-oppa’s arm. Minho and Taemin were actually pretty close, as Minho is his brother’s close hoobae and friend, so the four of them spent a bit of time together. 

Everyone else brought dates too, but that didn’t come as a surprise or anything. It was just amusing to see Sehun with a younger girl for once, and Soojung does understand why Sehun likes her when she meets the freshman. Hayoung is really quite lovely with her long hair, willowy figure, pale skin and shy smile. The two of them are almost painfully shy around each other which can either amuse or frustrate their spectators. 

Kyungsoo’s date, however, was not just a date. Soojung was with Taemin, Jongin and Jongin’s date (Hayoung’s classmate Sooyoung, who was adorable with chubby cheeks and a bright smile) when Kyungsoo came up to them with a petite senior that Soojung recognizes as Park Sunyoung. She greets both of them, having known Sunyoung through vocal classes a few years back. Then Kyungsoo turns to all of them and says, “Hey, everyone, this is Sunyoung… my girlfriend.”

A beat of silence, then Soojung couldn’t help blurt out, “Oppa, how can you do this to Jongin?”

All pairs of eyes turn to her, and Jongin slaps her arm with his tie. “Yah, Soojung!”

“Do what?” Sunyoung asks, turning to Kyungsoo.

“Don’t mind her, noona,” Jongin says. “She’s a weirdo.”

All jokes aside, they all congratulate Kyungsoo, and Taemin playfully asks him how he could have time for a girlfriend with all the studying that he does, which led to them shyly admitting that they became close through after-school study sessions. Truth be told, Soojung was a little surprised too, because Kyungsoo had always been entirely focused on his schoolwork throughout the time she knew him and he never seemed that interested in dating. It was just a little funny to her that he’d decided to date the year all his final exams were coming up.

Anyway, after greeting everyone and chatting with her friends, Soojung got a little bored. She couldn’t annoy any of her friends when they were trying to act cool in front of their dates. Finally she looked for Taemin and asked him, “Do we have to stay for the whole thing?”

Taemin gives her a knowing look. “You wanna go, don’t you.”

Soojung grins. “I’m craving Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks.”

Taemin checks his watch. “Actually, I’m pretty hungry, too. Wanna get drive-thru?”

And just like that, Taemin and Soojung spend the last hours of Homecoming night sitting in the rented Mercedes-Benz with fried chicken and waffle fries, drinking frappuccinos, windows down just a bit to avoid the car from smelling like grease.

“You’re the only girl who would ever suggest this, Soojung,” Taemin says as he dips his chicken in ketchup. 

Soojung smiles. “You love me for it, though.” She pauses, before saying, “You really don’t mind, do you?”

“Mind what?”

“That I’m tearing you away from Homecoming to eat takeout.”

“Of course not.” He leans over and gives her a little punch. “You know that I prefer this to the dance just as much as you do.”

They continue eating in silence until Taemin says, “Soojung, I’ve been considering going to uni in New York.”

Soojung’s heart skips a beat. “Really? New York City?”

“Well, there’s Juilliard, which is in the city. And there’s Skidmore, which is like a four-hour drive away, and it’s still in New York State. And then Rutgers, y’know, in New Jersey, has a dance program too — ”

“Taemin,” Soojung interrupts because she could see where this conversation is going. “You don’t have to force yourself to stay on the East Coast.”

“It would be nice if I did, though, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but…” Soojung hugs her knees to her chest. “It would. It would be really nice, but… Taemin, you’ve wanted to go to UC Berkeley since the university fair you went to your freshman year.”

“Yeah, but I — ”

“You said you weren’t that interested in Juilliard because they train modern dance and classical ballet equally, and you don’t want to do ballet. Jongin was the one who wanted to go to Juilliard.”

Taemin stares at her. “I’m impressed. You actually listen to us when we talk.”

Soojung shrugs. “I’m just saying. You shouldn’t make your decision based on which school is closest to home. You should really choose based on the school.”

“Okay, so I wasn’t really into Juilliard. I’m just keeping it an option.” Taemin taps his fingers on the window. “Skidmore and Rutgers are pretty good too, though, Soojung-ah. The programs, I mean. I just… I want to try to compromise the distance.” He looks at her. “Will you miss me if I go to LA?”

Soojung feels a lump in . She knows that she has to be honest and not put up her usual nonchalant attitude. “I’ll miss you a lot.”

“I’ll miss you too, that’s why I’m… looking for schools near here, y’know.”

“…Wait, because of me? Because you wanna stick around me? Aw.” She tries to make it sound light, but her voice catches in and she can’t hide how touched she feels.

“I’m serious, Soojung. Well, not just you, of course, but… You’re a pretty big…” He purses his lips as he tries to find the words. “In case you don’t know it already, you’re pretty special to me, Jung Soojung.”

“I know that already,” Soojung says without thinking. Taemin punches her lightly. “But I… Not that special. Not to the point where I affect your college decisions.”

“Well, you are,” Taemin says in a quiet voice. “You’re special in a way no one is.”

Soojung blinks. “Not even Jongin?”

Taemin smiles. “Well, no, Jongin is a different kind of special… he’s an , but he’s… a special . And you… you’re not an at all.”

Soojung’s cheeks color slightly. “Uhm, Tae, you’re talking about the girl who…” Her voice trails off as she recollects all the times in their lives where she’s embarrassed him, done something embarrassing in front of him, physically hurt him…

“You pushed me in a fish pond when I was seven and I couldn’t swim for years after that, you got your first period in my room and bled on my carpet, you dropped your ice cream on my pants in front of Yoona-noona and you kind of ruined my first kiss,” Taemin finishes for her and she sighs and shuts her eyes. “But no. You’re not an .”

“Wow, I…” Soojung clears . “Taemin. I’ve always thought you saw me the same way you saw Jongin.”

Taemin smiles again and nudges her gently. “No. I mean, you’re both my best friends, but you’re two different people, so I… I don’t see you two the same way.”

Soojung was wondering what he meant by all that when he straightens up and says, “Do you wanna go home? It’s pretty late.”

Soojung nods, and Taemin steps on the gas.

Taemin walks her to the front door, and Soojung turns to face him when they reach it. “Thanks for everything,” she says. “I’m really glad you asked me to go with you.” Then, before she loses her nerve, she steps forward and wraps him in a warm, extended hug. 

Taemin hugs her back, and they stay that way for a long time, basking in each other’s warmth in the brisk weather. They pull away slightly and he drops a quick, gentle kiss on her forehead. Surprised, Soojung draws back, and he grins and makes his escape. “See you on Monday, Soojung.”

*

For the first time, Soojung waits up for her sister to return. She parks in front of the window that faces the doorstep, and was practically falling asleep when she hears voices. Sooyeon and Jinki are back.

Sooyeon had Jinki’s suit on her shoulders, and she was giving it back to him. They were both smiling, and talking, and when they stopped they looked at their feet awkwardly. Then Jinki suddenly leans forward to peck her on the cheek, and Soojung almost explodes.

The second Sooyeon steps into the house, Soojung jumps on her. “Unni! How was it? What happened? Are you getting married?”

Sooyeon gives her a weird look and shakes her off, but she couldn’t help but smile. “Go to bed, Soojung-ah.”

“But, unni!”

Sooyeon starts pushing her in the direction of their bedrooms. “We had a nice night, Soojung.”

“That’s it?”

“I’ll tell you the rest tomorrow, I promise.”

Right before Soojung walks into her room, Sooyeon stops her. “One more thing…”

“What, unni?”

Sooyen smiles dreamily. “He was a real prince tonight, Soojung. And I felt like a princess.”

//

a/n. Title taken from Owl City’s song, “Hot Air Balloon”.

‘Chick-Fil-A’ is this American fast-food joint that sells fried chicken and other stuff. 

In case anyone was wondering, the dates are APink’s Hayoung (Sehun’s), Red Velvet’s Joy (Jongin’s) and f(x)’s Luna (Kyungsoo’s). 

Hmm… Apologies for the fairytale cliches. I hope it’s still fun to read, after all they’re overplayed for a reason ^^ and I hope nobody's too disappointed that Soojung didn't make such a big deal out of Homecoming. This chapter is really more about the development in Taemin and Soojung's relationship.

Also, is anyone else really sad about what's going on between Jessica and SNSD? :( I've been trying not to think about it but Sooyeon came up a couple of times in this chapter so yeah.

And thank you for the subs & comments, I don’t answer because I’m afraid of spoiling anything XD