She stepped off the bus; someone chasing after her with a bag that she didn't realize was hers until she stared at it for a full second.

"Miss...?" A man, somewhat near her age, caught his breath as he straightened his back; his arm feeling heavier by the moment as Taeyeon just blankly stared at it.

The man raised a brow in confusion, shaking the bag in his hands to get Taeyeon's attention.

"Oh!" Taeyeon's eyes widened, scrambling to get her purse, clutching it to her chest as she bowed in apology. "I'm really sorry, thank you so much."

"No problem." The man laughed awkwardly, but he gave a polite smile and shook his head. "You seemed like you were staring into space so it kind of got me worried from the start that you might leave that behind." He gestured to the swinging purse, "I'm sorry if I confused you, people, girls tend to get flustered whenever I approach them."

Taeyeon looked up and for the first time she actually saw how handsome, or rather, unexplainably well placed all his features were. She immediately understood why some lucky females were so shocked to see him. She smiled apologetically and shook her head in strong denial.

"No, no! I wasn't confused. I just couldn't comprehend the situation. I guess I'm out of it today." Taeyeon laughed, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

The man seemed to brighten at Taeyeon's casual response and his smile grew even wider.

"Really? Wow!" He clapped his hands together, shoulders bouncing up. "You're like, the first girl who hasn't thought of me as a creep."

Taeyeon responded with a polite laugh and bowed her head slightly, signaling an end to the conversation.

"I'm sorry, but I should go. Thank you so much though. You really saved me." She smiled and she stepped left, the same time the man's did.

"No problem, I'm just glad you didn't run away at first sight." His chuckle died down as he took another step in Taeyeon's direction, both looking up at each other. "I swear I'm not following you, I live this way." He threw his hands up to his chest, shaking them in denial, his eyes wide in panic.

Taeyeon blinked and burst into laughter and stepped to the side of the pavement, making room for two people.

"I guess we're going the same way." Taeyeon motioned for the man to come along, "I'm Taeyeon by the way."

The man's lips went from an 'o' to a wide happy puppy smile that was contagious as he trotted next to Taeyeon, holding the clutch of his bag.

"I'm Taemin!"

"Oh, wow. Is it okay to tell me this? My treat." Taemin felt obliged to clap at the whole story Taeyeon had given him, handing her an energy drink from the vending machine that was right next to the park bench they were sitting at. "I mean, thank you for telling me."

"Oh thanks, but I usually don't drink energy drinks. They keep me up all night." Taeyeon apologized, holding the can tightly.

"Don't worry. You'll like this one." Taemin waved off Taeyeon's apology and motioned her to try it out.

Taeyeon hesitated, but then shrugged softly, sighing.

"I honestly have no idea why I just told you all that." Taeyeon held her hands to her forehead and reached out gladly, sighing with relief when the cold dew drops clinging onto the can touched her cheeks. "I think it may because you seem so trustworthy and kind." She shrugged.

"I get that a lot." Taemin grinned, plopping down next to her. He sat back into the hard bench, taking a big gulp out of his water bottle and sighed with satisfaction. "So, what are you going to do? Surely you won't actually help him?"

The boy looked over to Taeyeon, hands dropping to her lap, rolling her sleeves down slowly.

"I mean..." Taeyeon let out a short grumble, "It's not like I like him yet. I just thought he was, you know."

She twisted her wrist in front of her, searching her brain for the correct word.

"Attractive?"

A shake of a head.

"Handsome?"

A dragged out noise of dissatisfaction.

"Cute?"

Taeyeon stopped and tapped her fingers against the can, shrugging.

"Yeah." She smiled but stopped herself.

"Well then you shouldn't help him! Isn't it obvious noona?" Taemin said, crinkling his bottle in a sign of protest, "You said so yourself, he said he had a crush on a girl. It wasn't like he said he loved her, or felt like she was his true love."

Taemin leaned forward in excitement after a short pause of wonder, smiling with ecstasy.

"You know, the way I see it, he's trying to get your attention."

Taeyeon widened her eyes and let out a gasp. "Don't be stupid, I've seen the way he's looked at her. It's somewhat... Different."

"Are you sure you're just not deceiving yourself right now?" Taemin blinked, his lips curved subtly into a teasing smile.

"No." Taeyeon confirmed, her brows slanting downwards in stubborn and unconscious denial.

"Well alright then," Taemin shrugged, taking Taeyeon's drink and bringing it close to his chest, "I'm just saying."

He opened the can with a satisfying 'pop!' and a dissolving 'fizz', handing it back to Taeyeon who was patiently waiting for the younger man's continuation.

"Men can fall very easily in love. Sometimes, they won't realize that they've already met their true love. That makes it easy for them to go for the wrong person and fall out of it." He took a big gulp of water and swallowed, "When a man falls in love, you should catch him, chain him down and make sure he's yours. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as its true love, you'll get him." Taemin twisted the cap on his water bottle, finishing it.

"You'll be able to get him, even if you do it without knowing." He muttered, glancing at Taeyeon, looking at her curiously.

"What?" She smiled in uncertainty, cocking her head.

"Which university did you say you go to noona?" He smiled, getting up, kicking the dust off his shoes.

"Seoul University." Taeyeon replied, taking a small sip.

The drink tasted weird, but that was probably because she didn't really drink energy drinks most of the time. However, the after taste left her wanting more, so she kept taking small sips, eventually taking big gulps for relieving herself. She looked at the can and then at Taemin, who was now humming a small tune and throwing away his bottle.

"Hey Taemin?"

"Yeah noona?" Taemin turned around, a long shadow casting over Taeyeon's feet, the sun directly beaming into her eyes.

"How'd you know that I'd like this?" She held and shook the can lightly, giving Taemin a clear view of the logo and brand.

Taemin glanced at it and laughed, the sound bringing a warm feeling in complete contrast of the cool dark blue evening it had become. The wind that passed lifted Taeyeon's hair up into her face, momentarily bothering her, but it settled down like magic at Taemin's voice.

The way the air carried his voice made it seem like he was acting mysterious, wise maybe.

Maybe it was on purpose? Taeyeon thought.

But it matched so well that she was swept away, thinking less of the situation than it really was.

"I just guessed." he smiled, his eyes saying otherwise.

Taeyeon let a soft smile rest on her lips as she stared at the boy in doubt, but looked away at the sky. “I should go home now. Thanks for talking with me. It took a big load off my chest.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do though?” Taemin widened his eyes, his puppy demeanor returning.

To be honest, it made Taeyeon feel a lot more relaxed and less at danger. Which was strange, since Taemin was nothing but kind the whole time he was with her. Taeyeon shook the thought from her head and sighed in response.

“I guess… I’ll help him.”

“Help him?”

“Yeah. It’s not like I like him so, I guess I’ll help him.”

“You don’t sound very confident.” Taemin frowned, crossing his arms over his chest in disappointment.

“I’ll just steal him away if I find myself falling for him!” Taeyeon threw her hands up in the air, “I give up. I don’t want to think anymore.”

Taemin laughed, Taeyeon taking a big chug out the last of the energy drink, which Taemin walked over to get. He kindly took it from her hands and threw it away, both chuckling.

“Sounds like fun!” Taemin grinned, earning a grunt.

“Well it’s too bad you won’t be able to see it.” Taeyeon replied sarcastically, getting up and patting down her knees.

Taemin looked up, not replying.

Taeyeon raised a brow, a doubtful smile playing on her lips.

“Are… You?”

Taemin shrugged.

“We’ll see.” He laughed, and held out his hand in front of him before Taeyeon could say anything, “I live at that apartment. I assume you live in the other one?”

“Mhm.” Taeyeon nodded, “What a coincidence.”

Taemin laughed, agreeing. “I hope we see each other again soon, noona. Maybe during class?” Taemin winked, hinting a spoiler.

“Maybe.” Taeyeon rolled her eyes playfully, “Thanks so much Taemin by the way. I’ll thank you properly with a meal next time. You listened to me blabber, that’s the least I could do. What’s your phone number?”

Taemin shook his head, smiling cheerfully.

“No, no! Don’t! I like listening to people’s stories. It was my choice.” Taemin tilted his head, “As for the phone number…”

Taemine grinned, an underlying meaning hiding in his face, itching to show itself.

“I have a feeling we’ll meet soon enough again.” He turned around, again before Taeyeon’s response and waved, “Bye!”

Taeyeon reached out, confused, almost yelping out a ‘wait’. Her hand fell short, reaching out to nothing as Taemin’s bouncing figure disappeared as it turned across the trees and into a building, leaving Taeyeon alone. She smiled to herself in confusion but shrugged it off, her worries slithering back to how she would handle Jonghyun’s sudden love confession.

“If I’m going to do it…” Her hands balled into a determined fist, “I’ll do it with all I can do.”

Jonghyun frowned, suddenly pissed off, remembering the happy way his sunbae broke his heart and opened a messenger app in a hurry to report his feelings.

[ You ] : i am pissed

[ genius idiot ] : I don’t care.

[ You ] : u r making me more pissed

[ genius idiot ] : You should take this time not for self-brooding but for how you’ll seduce Taeyeon sunbae.

[ You ] : u know its always bothered me how u always say seduce. dont say seduce. makes me seem like some sort of creep.

[ genius idiot ] : Okay.

[ You ] : thx

[ genius idiot ] : Then think about how you’ll hypnotize Taeyeon sunbae to fall in love with you.

[ You ] : THATS THE SAME THING WTF IF NOT MORE CREEPY

[ genius idiot ] : I’m busy now. Talk to you later.

Jonghyun snickered, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

[ You ] : how about i flirt with u in front of taeyeon sunbae?

Jonghyun rolled onto his back, stared at the ‘Seen’ text, and then smiled at the three dots bouncing in response.

[ genius idiot ] : Okay.

Jonghyun yelped in pain as his phone slipped from his hands in shock, landing right onto his forehead. He stumbled to grab his phone, hurriedly typing a cancel message when he saw that Ji Eun had already gone offline.

He could already imagine the disaster and buried his face into the pillow, his phone shutting off into black.