[CONTENTID1]Of Cupcakes and Corn-Syrup[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A Selection of Chocolate-Boys[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

By the time Friday arrived, Suzy had already bought lavish tablecloths for her father's restaurant. She decided to pay Kimchi another visit that weekend. She had yet to buy a few vases of flowers.  

Her father never seemed so tired before. Usually, he was full of alacrity and vivacious in any approach to life. He would crack a joke and shower her with compliments, which nurtured her inner buds to blossom into a flower of innocence and beauty.  

However, his eyes sank deep inside his skull. He refused to eat on time which resulted in hollowed cheeks and cracked lips. His hair was graying at the edges of his temple. His vivacious nature was replaced by a bickering, impatient demeanor. This sudden change rendered him to snap at Mrs Kang, and even at Suzy sometimes.

The thought forced tears to cloud her eyes. She had never seen him so stressed. Something dreadful was happening at the restaurant and Suzy cursed herself for enjoying the company of her friends while her parents suffered.

She believed that she could erase all their troubles, gather the dusty ends of their problems into the length of her wits and scatter them into the air, where the wind would blow them away forever.

Her parents needed her. She wouldn't let them suffer in silence any longer.

"Suzy." Jieun's quiet voice disrupted her train of thoughts.  

Suzy blinked and the silent ambiance of the library swarmed around her once again. She stared at Changmin's notes in front of her. His writing was not the neatest. She had to squint to understand the words. However, she succumbed to her reveries instead of rewriting his notes.

Paper rustled and pens scratched busily. There were anguished yawns escaping her colleagues. Their eyes shone with content that it was the end of the week. Suzy had only spent two weeks in university and already, her bones ached for respite.

"Suzy, are you okay?" Jieun whispered. She was unconvinced when Suzy nodded and piped in, "You sure don't look okay. Are you still worried about those Bok Choy mascots?"

Yifan and his cronies were back at it again while Suzy was back to square one. Chanyeol stopped helping with her mission after their awkward conversation on Wednesday. Heck, he pretended not to know her. Suzy was surprised at how it hurt. In the short amount of time that she knew Chanyeol, she grew accustomed to having him beside her.

It was bizarre not having him around. It was as if he left a void in her life.

"Not really," Suzy lied. Yifan and his goons were only half of the problem of course.

Jieun raised a brow but she resumed illustrating her notes. Suzy like that about her. She wasn't as prying as Nana and Krystal.

"What're you studying?" she asked her friend.

Jieun sniffed and tipped her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Anatomy. It ."

Suzy giggled. "You could always get grinds."

"Nah, it’s not hard," admitted Jieun. "There's just a lot to learn. I knew I should have done maths but you know my mom."

"But being a doctor isn't that bad either, right?"

"It’s just the title, Suzy. You're forgetting the blood, sweat and tears that accompany the years of training. With maths, I just need to use my brain. No learning involved."

"Awwh, my poor baby." Suzy reached out to pat Jieun on the head. The latter pouted.

"Yes, yes, indeed," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

They were unaware of an unfriendly presence lingering closer to them. Suzy glanced over her shoulder and she recognised Yixing, the library king, strutting closer to their quarter.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. She wasn't intimidated by Yixing, but this time round, he wore a green headband with sprouts of cabbage sticking inside it. He was leaving ruby pamphlets on everyone's desks, with bold letters screaming in gold: Bok Choy.

"Umh...is Yixing Chinese?" Suzy squeaked, her voice faltering.

Jieun shrugged, her nose still in her book. She didn't seem to notice that Suzy trembled in her chair.

"No, why?" the girl finally looked up and found her answer when she caught Yixing pass their table. "Oh."

"So...he's working for Bok Choy too?" Suzy continued. “This is so unfair. How many people work for them?"

Jieun watched her with sympathy. Her eyebrows knitted in contemplation. "Whoever runs that place has a lot of money. I can't believe how desperate they are."

Suzy chewed on her bottom lip until it was raw. "It's just not fair..." she repeated, "This is so not fair."

-

The stormy weather didn't alleviate her sour mood. Lightning flashed, illuminating the earth for a split second and thunder rolled from one end of the sky to the other. Rain fell in torrents and the wind blew vehemently. Her umbrella was bent now. She threw it away since it became useless.

Suzy shivered despite wearing a black, velvet coat. She regretted not picking a jacket with a hood. She held blind faith in her umbrella and look what happened now.

She stood under a shelter while other students ran to catch the bus. She hoped the terrible weather would convalesce soon. She wasn't in the mood of returning home drenched.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She eyed the number wearily. It was Nana.

"Suzy!" the girl hollered at the other end of the line and then coughed violently.

"Don't scream, Nana," said Suzy with concern. Her poor friend was out sick for the whole week. "How're you feeling?"

"Much better, hun. I'm ready to party next! Bring on that Pah-tay!"

Suzy refrained from smacking her palm against her forehead. There are some things in life one couldn't change, and Kim Nana was one of them.

"Why don't you recover first, hmm? And then you can party all you want," Suzy elucidated, albeit bitterly.

"Ah geez, Minnie, what's with you? I'm just going to pretend that the weather is getting to you. Anyways, are you still in college?" Nana coughed again, her voice now scratchy and sore.

"Just finished now."

"Good, good! I felt so horrible for making you take public transport all week, so Jaejoong said he'll collect you today."

Suzy's jaw dropped open and she was grateful that no one was around to see her. She was about to tell Nana that Heechul gave her a lift every morning that week, but Nana's revelation stunned her senses. She lost her words on the tip of her tongue.

Jaejoong was going to pick her up. Her crush was on his way, but how could she pull a straight face when she knew he was dating? Heck, his girlfriend was none other than Jessica Jung, Krystal's beautiful and stylish sister.

Jessica was stalked by boys from not only Korea but from all over the globe.