[CONTENTID1]I don’t need a man (I need chocolate)[/CONTENTID1]

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

[CONTENTID3]

The following Monday, Suzy was relieved to know that Nana had recovered from her flu. Her voice was still scratchy with a persistent cough, and a newfound nasal quality lacing its sweetness. Suzy was content that she didn't need Heechul dropping her to college anymore. The latter had somehow vanished after their encounter that Saturday morning. A pang of regret played with her heart. She didn't know why this cloud of worry established an intangible fog in her mind.

Heechul's absence was worrisome, not because he displayed a coldness that was unlike him but because there lingered a void somewhere inside her. She didn't know what made her come to realise that she thought of the ludicrous man in such an affectionate way. It was in no way romantic but his nature had grown on her in the same way that Nana, Jieun, and Krystal had.

Upon leaving her room, her head instinctively snapped to face the door that separated her from Heechul's felonious lair. She stood there watching, as if expecting some pretty man in pink to stroll out. No one did, and the anti-climactic revelation made her frown.

However, the brass door knob twisted and out came Tao, dressed in a fancy chequered duster, gucci branded sunglasses and a white blazer suit with lavish loafers. He waved at her. A sense of relief washed over Suzy. At least Heechul wasn't alone in the weekend.

"Morning Suzy. How are ya?" he greeted her.

"I'm fine. How's Heechul?" she said impatiently.  

Tao pointed at the elevator and she nodded. They entered the hollow space first and Tao spoke as he pressed the button for the ground floor, "He's fine. Just being a bit of a moan bag."

Suzy bit her bottom lip and stared at her ballerina flats. "Oh...is he mad at me?"

The fashionable boy raised a brow and smiled peculiarly at her. "What makes you think that?" he chuckled.

"Just cause..." She paused as she recalled Heechul the last time she saw him. "He's never really liked me."

Tao snorted. He waved a hand in the air to dismiss her question. "What makes you think that? I mean, like, sure Heechul can be blunt but that doesn't mean he hates people. He doesn't hate anyone. He's just misunderstood."

"Huh?" Suzy blinked at him as she digested this information.

"Never mind." Tao shrugged his shoulders and readjusted his sunglasses. "Heechul's fine now. He just had a whiny moment. Like a girl...like always."

Suzy giggled at his response. "I don't get it, Tao. How?"

"How what?"

"How did you and Heechul become friends?"

"Well, do you remember the day you were born?"

That was a queer question. Suzy shook her head to state the obvious. "No, of course not."

Tao smirked, a judicious smirk far beyond his ripe twenty years. "Well, like, there's your answer."

"Huh? That's odd."

"What I mean is this," said the boy, gesticulating his words with elegant flicks of his wrist. "I don't remember when our friendship started. It was born, and I only realised that it existed recently. It’s the same when a bloke first realises that he's a something, that he exists alongside many others."

Suzy nodded inanely at him, trying to make sense of his wise comment. This boy was a friend of Heechul, so his mesmerising comments were just as strange as the man he claimed a friend.

"What an odd way to explain," she elucidated, tapping a finger on her chin.

"I prefer being odd over even," he replied, with a heaving chuckle. "Being the same as everyone else is boring, like."

The elevator doors opened with a resonating bing. Their feet stepped out into the polished reception in synchrony, heels clicking against the marbled concrete.

"That's what I like about my pal, Heechul," Tao continued, wringing his wrists per usual. "He's a one in a million. Of course, so am I."

He reminded her of a mini-Heechul. Perhaps all the time he spent with the feline man has transformed his personality, tweaked it slightly, to resemble Heechul. He might as well breathe nothing but Heechul and utter words that were just Heechul.

They were greeted by a cool whiff of wind. The terrible stormy weather had subsided and the sun was back in the center of the sky. However, the light was nothing but treachery, for Seoul was wrapped inside an gelid cocoon.

Tao surveyed the area before finding his Toyota. He turned to her. "Ya need a lift?"

"No thanks. My friend is picking me up."

He nodded. "Okie-dokie. Then, I'll be off. Gotta get to university early today." He hopped into the driver seat. The engine started with a loud growl.

The wind whipped at Suzy's hair and clothes. The heavy weight in her chest had receded after talking with Tao. She needed to express her gratitude to him so she ran up to his car, and leaned down to view him through the window. The glass slid down.

"Change your mind?" he asked with a bemused smile.

"No, I just want to thank you." Suzy ran her fingers through her hair and kept them there to prevent her locks from falling into her eyes. The wind whistled through the dense atmosphere.

He raised a brow. "For what? I didn't help you, or anything, like."

"You didn't get mad at me so I appreciate that."

"Hey, I did it for my friend. I should be the one thanking you for telling me. Normally, I don't like giving favours, but you're an exception."

gaped open and she stammered, "I am? How come?"

"Because you're Heechul's friend."

His words stayed with her, even after he left, and they swirled in the incessant wind. They seeped deeper into her conscious as she tried to dissect them syllable by syllable, word by word. Kim Heechul considered her a friend. The feeling was bizarre yet mutual at the same time.

She didn't have many friends who were male, bar her father, Jaejoong, and to some extent, Jungkook. A warmth spread inside her. Perhaps it was her father's respected opinion about Heechul but Suzy accepted him as her friend.

-

The girl's rounded around the table during a short lunch break. Jieun was already sorting out her notes while Nana and Krystal stalked handsome men on social media. The buzzing liveliness of student gatherings spread throughout the atmosphere.

Suzy stared at her bento box that her mother prepared that morning. She started with the sweet, pickled aubergines with some fried, egg rice at the side. The taste was glorious for her senses. The tanginess of the aubergines was balanced with the bitter rice.

"How're your grinds going, Suzy?" Nana asked out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Suzy gulped down a mouthful of food, and stared at her friend.

She had met Changmin only once after their first session. She didn't fare too well. He was as strict as any old Joseon scholar. He still frightened her and his stagnant words did little to encourage her lack of enthusiasm for science. However, his notes were superb.