“Jinri-ah, you remember Lee Taemin, right?” Minho said as soon as Krystal and Jinri appeared by the door that led to the dining room.

Of course, how could she forget? Jinri was rooted on the spot where she stood, her heart beating wildly as she watched Taemin turn and fix his gaze on her.

“Jinri? That’s Jinri?” Taemin said, a mixture of shock and happiness crossing his gentle features.

“Yah, Jinri-ah,” Minho called out. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Minho turned to Taemin. “I guess she remembers you,” he said.

But Taemin barely heard Minho. Jinri held all his attention. That sweet, little girl he comforts whenever she cries has grown to be a lovely lady and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

Jinri stared back at Taemin as he continued to look at her. How could she forget her Taemin oppa? He had always been there for her when she was little. In her young heart and mind, she had developed an infatuation for him, unbeknownst to everyone, including her brother.

Taemin had been the boy next door, and Minho’s best buddy, before his family moved to Japan when he was eight years old. Jinri was only seven by then, and Minho was ten. Her family didn’t know that she was devastated, probably more than her Minho oppa was, when Taemin’s family made the move. She cried that day, telling her mother she lost her favorite doll, when in truth she just hid it and was actually crying because Taemin left. She had been afraid that her family would make fun of her if they knew the real reason for her tears.

Over time, she forgot her infatuation with Taemin, although once in a while she would remember him and wonder how he was. But now that he’s back, her heart’s reaction was proof enough that she hadn’t really lost her crush on Taemin. It was just there. Maybe that’s why she never liked any of her admirers. Subconsciously, she might be comparing them to Taemin and none ever measured up to him. Jinri was shocked as realization after realization hit her!

“Wow,” Taemin said, getting up from his seat and walking toward Jinri. “You’re already grown, Jinri-ah! And you’ve grown to be a beautiful lady.”

Jinri blushed and looked down as she saw Taemin’s intense gaze on her.

“I missed you, Jinri-ah,” he said softly and Jinri melted.

…………………………………………

Krystal stood by beside Jinri and watched the exchange, hanging open. Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding so hard against her ribcage. The way this Taemin, this boy she swears she fell in love with at first sight…how could he look at Jinri like that? And Jinri…Krystal suddenly felt betrayed. She knew that look. Jinri likes Taemin, too.

“Close your mouth. You look like a retard,” someone suddenly hissed in her ear. She whipped her head around and looked up at Minho’s smirking face.

She recovered from her bafflement at the Taemin-Jinri scene, snapped shut and narrowed her eyes at Minho.

“What did you just say?” she hissed back.

“You just don’t look like a retard. You’re deaf, too,” he answered.

Krystal raised her foot and stomped it hard on Minho’s foot.

Minho’s eyes widened and he would have shouted as his mouth formed an ‘O’ but he was able to hold it in time. He wouldn’t give this little brat some satisfaction that she had successfully inflicted pain on him.

Krystal smirked upon seeing Minho’s expression.

But Minho recovered, and despite the pain he grinned at Krystal. He looked at her mischievously, and looked down at his foot. He raised it, threatening to stomp it on hers.

She followed his gaze, looked down at his foot and realized what he was planning to do. She looked back up at him. “Oh, no, you wouldn’t dare. You can’t do that.”

“Of course, I can, Soojung,” he answered, still grinning evilly.

“You can’t. I’ll tell your umma you’re physically abusing me.”

“Physically abusing you? Who would believe that? Everyone knows I’m the perfect gentleman and you’re a scheming little liar,” he retorted.

“Perfect gentleman? Then how come you treat me like this? If you’re a gentleman you won’t be threatening me with that huge, smelly foot of yours,” she lashed back, her voice growing louder.

“Why, do you think of yourself as a girl? You’re not a girl, Soojung, you’re a snobbish, sneaky cat!” he was almost yelling now.

“What’s wrong with cats? They’re cute. At least I’m not some slimy gay frog who fights girls. Real men don’t fight girls, even the ones who look like cats,” she smirked.

His already big eyes grew bigger and he inched his face closer to hers. “What. Did. You. Just say?!”

“I said,” she pushed her face closer to his, too, not backing down. “At least I’m not some slimy, gay, and now deaf frog who fights girls,” she smirked.

“I’m not gay,” his voice was lower but it held some menace in it.

“Oh, yes you are,” she smiled sweetly.

“Say that again, or else…”

“Or else, what?”

“Or else I’ll kiss you just to prove to you I’m not gay!”

She scoffed. “I bet you can’t. You’re gay. You can’t even kiss that girl whom you have a crush on back when Jinri and I were in fourth grade because you’re gay,” she said it again. She turned to Jinri, who was looking at them with shock and embarrassment. She chanced a glance at Taemin and he was gaping at her and Minho with a puzzled expression, too.

“What was the name of your oppa’s crush, Jinri-ah? Yu..Yuri?” she laughed. “Yeah, when Jonghyun oppa dared you to kiss Yuri you can’t even do it. Because you’re a cowardly gay. You’re gay, just admit it, you’re-”

Infuriated, Minho suddenly clamped his hands on both sides of Krystal’s face and pulled her head close to his but Krystal covered in time.

“Minho, what are you doing?”

He whirled around and saw his mother standing by the door, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Krystal found an opportunity in Minho’s momentary distraction.  She jumped and bumped her forehead hard against his.

“Aaargh!”

He yelled and she ran towards Mrs. Choi and hid behind her back. “Umma, Minho oppa’s become a ert. He wants to kiss me,” she peeked at Minho and stuck her tongue out at him.

Minho rubbed the spot where Krystal bumped her forehead. He widened his eyes threateningly at her when she mouthed the words ‘ugly frog’ at him.

Mrs. Choi smiled. “Oh, Minho wants to kiss you?” she turned to Krystal. “Then I shouldn’t have interrupted,” she appeared to be teasing, but it was apparent that she was happy with the possibility of her son getting together with the girl next door.

“Jinri-ah, Taemin-ssi,” Mrs. Choi called to the two other teenagers in the room. “Let’s leave the two of them to talk, shall we?” she winked.

“B-but…but,” Krystal sputtered as Minho turned to her and grinned, an evil glint in his eye.

“Come on,” Mrs. Choi prodded and Taemin and Jinri started to leave and trail behind Mrs. Choi but Krystal held on fast and tried to stop Jinri.

“You can’t leave me here!” she said to her best friend. “You well know what your frog of a brother would do to me!”

Jinri laughed. “You can very well handle Minho oppa as you always do, Soojung-ah. Besides, Taemin oppa and I have lots to catch up on and we can’t talk with you yelling at each other.”

“No!” Krystal protested but Minho clamped a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull her back.

She caught Minho’s hand and her teeth clamped down on it hard.

Minho yelled in pain and she let go and ran as fast as she could toward the door. “I’m going home! My own umma might already be looking for me. See you, tomorrow, Jinri-ah!” she yelled before getting out.

…………………………………………….

“What was that about?” Taemin asked Jinri as he watched Krystal ran out the door. Back in the dining room he had been about to in the moment Krystal and Minho began yelling at each other but Jinri had stopped him.

Jinri shrugged. “They’re always like that. They couldn’t get along,” she glanced at Minho who is now holding an ice bag over his forehead and wincing. “I really wish oppa would treat my best friend more gently and with more consideration.”

Taemin chuckled. “More consideration? Look at what your best friend did to him. Don’t you think your best friend should treat Minho with more respect since he’s older?”

Jinri pouted, not knowing how to defend Krystal because Taemin has a point. Minho, who had always been stiff and traditional and conservative, only got annoyed with Krystal who had treated him and talked to him as an equal rather than someone older ever since she met him.

“I can’t really blame her,” she said to Taemin after a while. “She had lived in the US where they don’t use honorifics and such until she was ten.”

Instead of arguing with her, Taemin smiled and pinched her cheek. “What a loyal best friend. You never change, Jinri-ah. You’re still the sweet girl I knew back then.”

Jinri blushed and her heart pounded hard against her chest again at Taemin’s intense gaze. Does he like her, too? She doesn’t want to hope and yet, she couldn’t help it.

………………………………………….

“Yah, Choi Jinri,” Minho said, watching his sister with Taemin for a while now. They were acting weird. Does Taemin like Jinri? Does Jinri like Taemin back? His best friend and his little sister (who is actually not so little, literally) together? Minho winced. He doesn’t like the idea. It’s awkward and weird.

Jinri turned around to look at him, her face flushed. Uh-oh.

Minho’s brows furrowed as he tried to take off his thoughts from the possibility of Jinri and Taemin liking each other. “Why do you keep being friends with that little monster?” he asked, referring to Krystal. “Look at what she did to me. Do you want her to kill me?”

Jinri rolled her eyes at Minho’s exaggeration. “Oppa, I think you should be nicer to Soojung.”

“I tried to, but she would do something that would piss me off. How can I be nice to her when she keeps on making it obvious that she hates me?” Minho said through gritted teeth.

Jinri laughed. “Oppa, Soojung doesn’t hate you!  She’s just like that…playful and stubborn and-”

“And a brat,” Minho finished for her.

“Minho-ah, leave Soojung alone,” their mom said from the kitchen. “Goodness, she’s just a kid, and you’re the older one. You should be the more patient and understanding one.”

“Am I really your son?” he asked.

Mrs. Choi smiled and lovingly caressed Minho’s cheek. “Of course, you are, dear.”

Then she turned to Taemin and Minho groaned in frustration. His mother never takes him seriously, especially when it comes to his issues with the brat Krystal.

“Taemin-ah, do you want to stay for dinner?” Mrs. Choi asked.

“I’d love to, but my parents are expecting me for dinner,” Taemin bowed politely at the older woman. “Maybe some other time, Ma’am.”

“Oh, sure, Taemin-ah,” Mrs. Choi said, patting Taemin’s shoulder. “You’re welcome here anytime.”

“I think I’d better go home now,” Taemin said, looking at Jinri and smiling fondly at her to Minho’s chagrin.

Jinri smiled back and nodded.

“I’ll walk you to the gate,” she said.

“Uh, no, Jinri, you stay here and help umma fixing dinner,” Minho abruptly said. “I’ll be the one to walk Taemin out to the gate.”

Jinri pouted but didn’t protest and Minho felt relieved.

He fell into step with Taemin and once they were outside Taemin kept on asking him about Jinri. But Minho would subtly maneuver the conversation to something else and Taemin didn’t seem to notice.

“See you, tomorrow, hyung,” Taemin waved at him before turning away and leaving.

Minho watched for a while as Taemin sauntered away. He was about to go back inside the house when he caught sight of someone familiar pushing a bike. And Taemin paused and talked to her.

Minho turned back around and stayed where he was to watch…

………………………..

Krystal dismounted her bike as she was nearing her home and decided to push it instead. Her mother had asked her to buy a bottle of mirin for the bulgogi the moment she got home. She didn’t want to go out, not after that embarrassing moment in front of the boy she had been crushing on, but contrary to what others believe her to be, she’s an obedient daughter.

“Aish!” she shook her head as she slowly pushed her bicycle down the sidewalk. It was so embarrassing. She had acted like a brat in front of Taemin. Taemin. She was somehow glad to know his name, but they weren’t even properly introduced to each other.

“All because of that big-eyed idiot Choi Minho,” she muttered, looking down at the pavement. She should have made a good impression to Taemin. She should have acted sweet and pretty and charming, but instead she acted like a violent girl in front of him.

“And again, because of that frog. It’s all his fault,” she hissed to herself, gripping the handles of her bike tighter.

“Hey, aren’t you Jinri’s best friend?”

Krystal looked up and was startled to see Taemin, smiling gently at her.

Her cheeks reddened and her heart rate began to accelerate.

“I don’t think we’re properly introduced back there. I’m Lee Taemin,” he bowed.

“Jung Soojung,” she bowed back.

Oh, what luck! Now she thought more than ever that fate is on her side. Maybe she had been imagining things back inside the Chois house. Jinri couldn’t be in love with Taemin. Because Krystal would definitely make him hers in no time.