[CONTENTID1]Candied Petals and Words[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Suzy left before Jaejoong woke up that morning. He was awfully cute when he slept, hugging a pillow close to his chest, and lids closed over his eyes. He surpassed Sleeping Beauty for sure. She thought her heart would cry for kissing him while he was out of his senses, but for a strange reason, she was glad that her first crush was her real first kiss.

She found some clothes that fit her from the guest room, praying that Jaejoong didn't wake while she got dressed for college. She wore a casual yellow t-shirt and a pair of light, blue denim jeans.

It was strange that her heart didn't jitter anymore when she thought of him and her mind didn't spin. There was no heavy feeling in her chest. Suzy didn't know why that was.

To her luck, Taekwoon phoned her and came to collect her from the Kim manor. The day was windy with a freezing chill hovering in the air. Her body shuddered when she entered Taekwoon's car.

She paused. Her bodyguard was staring intently at her. It was as if he could read her thoughts just from her eyes. Suzy chewed her bottom lip, unable to gaze at him anymore.

"Was Nana home?" His voice was soft and quiet.

She flinched, but there was certainly no way out of this. "No."

"Hnh," he grunted, but to her relief, he didn't ask her anything further than that.

-

Suzy found the rascal inside the lab. She left Krystal struggling to fix up her western blot apparatus, and strode to the other end of the teaching lab to stand before him. Chanyeol, who was partnered with Baekhyun (much to Suzy’s surprise) stopped laughing, and stared at her. His lips curled into a devious smile. His grin made her remember the day he kissed her lips, and her brain exploded with anxious fireworks.

“Suzy!” Baekhyun exclaimed excitedly, “How’re you today? Is Myungsoo annoying you?”

She sighed and greeted him, before turning to Chanyeol with a glare. “Where are my lecture notes?”

“Notes?” Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed. “What notes? I never asked you for any.”

“What?” Suzy jittered in her spot. She pursed her lips, then opened to berate him, but closed it again. She didn’t know what to say. “What’re you talking about? Don’t you remember?”

Baekhyun watched the two with apprehension. It wasn’t difficult to sense the tension in the air. Slowly, the short boy spun on his stool and pretended to be interested in a cell biology book.

“I seriously don’t know what you’re on about,” Chanyeol muttered deviously.

His eyes glinted with a malicious twinkle. It was obvious that he lied. Suzy was afraid, because she had an exam in biology after the ball, yet her newer notes were still with Chanyeol. She didn’t have any idea why he was playing with her head. Why did he kiss her? Did he truly like her or was Sungyeol right all this time? Was Chanyeol always a player?

Her fists clenched by her sides and her eyes were slits. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Wrong, you have short term memory.” Chanyeol’s grin stretched until it resembled the Chesire Cat. It broiled her senses, so she raised her hand and he flinched, jeering; “Don’t hit me! Or else, I’ll tell the supervisor.”

He slipped off his stool and stalked to the other end of the room. Suzy huffed in frustration. The back of her sockets burned with tears, and her lips trembled. She had never felt so humiliated, and worse, Baekhyun witnessed it all. Suzy was certain that he’d tell Sungyeol, who would then condemn her for not listening to him earlier.

“You okay?” Baekhyun watched her with eyes rimmed in kohl. He seemed strangely sympathetic. She thought he would be laughing at her.

“I’m fine.” She flicked away the tear that hung off her eyelash, and sniffed. “Just need some space to think.”

“I never thought Chanyeol could be such a moron,” Baekhyun said, shaking his head in dismay, “He’s a good guy. A bit blunt. Still, he’s nicer than this.”

She let out a derisive snort. “Sure. Nice. Whatever.”

Baekhyun held her wrist. She was about to pull it away but he watched her with an expectant look. He was always the idiot of the Sweety gang. She never expected him to hold room for compassion.

“Don’t let him get to you, Suzy. I’ve known Chanyeol since we were kids. He likes to...well…” he sighed, and scratched his neck, “He likes to hurt the people that he loves.”

“Love?” Suzy raised a brow. That was a strong word to use. She’d only known Chanyeol for a over a month.

“Well...yeah. He takes their kindness for granted, that rotten bloke.”

“I see…”

However, that didn’t mollify her annoyance. How was she supposed to pass the exam without Changmin’s precious notes on DNA and cell mitosis? Heck, she was too afraid to approach her tutor after the incident back in his penthouse.

Said tutor was roaming the teaching lab, helping the students set up their experiments. He glared at her fiercely when he caught her eye, so she hurriedly looked away and walked back to her desk.

To her dismay, she caught Chanyeol occupy the fumehood opposite her desk. He caught her eyes and sent her a sly smile. It was obvious. He did it on purpose to delay her and Krystal's experiment.

"We booked that," Krystal exclaimed, eyes livid with anger.

Chanyeol raised a brow. "Where's your name?"

"You blind? Here." Krystal pointed at her and Suzy's name on the roster sheet that was cellotaped at the top of the fumehood.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and scoffed. To the girls' horror, he tore the sheet aside, scrunched it into a ball and tossed into the bin.

"What name?" he added daringly.

Krystal's jaw clenched, and Suzy had to pull her back before she hounded on the immature boy.

"Let go of me! I won't let that p****k get away with it," her friend cried, thrashing her limbs about.

"Is something wrong?"

Suzy was approached by TOP, the second PhD assistant in the lab. The man had a handsome face that many undergraduates swooned over. His eyes were piercing, as if he could look into their very soul. It made her knees wobble.

"He took over the fumehood that we booked," Krystal claimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Chanyeol while Suzy nodded in affirmation.

TOP squinted at the broad back of the tall boy before searching for the roster sheet. There was a new empty one in it's place.

"You don't have your name there,"