A little, lighthearted one-shot for Valentine's.

“Valentine’s day !” Hyoyeon declared as she let her forehead hit the shiny, laminated surface of the tacky table she and her friends had stake claim on. The small dinner was unusually packed with college students from the nearby polytech. And what was worse than the ever present scent of bacon and the sticky feeling of the table's surface was that most of the people in the dinner had coupled up. It was a horrible sight for someone as woefully single as herself. It had felt like everyone just wanted to show off to her and rub salt into her wounds of being alone. In the relationship sense, that is.

“It’s not that bad a day, unnie. You didn’t get into an accident, so that’s something nice.” Seohyun quipped up, sliding closer to bring Hyoyeon’s face up from the unsanitary table. Hyoyeon made a disgruntled grunt, letting her head loll over to Seohyun’s side.

“You have a very morbid sense of humor Hyunnie.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny, unnie.” Seohyun responded equally, blinking innocently up at her unnie.

Yoona, over at the other side of Hyoyeon, choked on her fry. It didn’t stop her from slapping Hyoyeon’s arm (clearly finding amusement at her unnie’s expense) as she teared up, coughing to dislodge the chunk from . Emitting a low growl, Hyoyeon was tempted to leave the younger girl to choke, but then Seohyun would intervene with her sharp elbows flying everywhere. It was already bad enough that she was still single on Valentine’s day, getting hit by Seohyun’s deadly elbows would just be adding insult to injury.

Turning the girl around by the shoulders, she reached as high as she could and let the palm of her hand strike the poor girl in the middle of her back. The sting on her hand was nothing compared to satisfaction she felt from the whimpering Yoona. Seohyun, the angel, reached over the table to offer Yoona her untouched iced tea.

“Thanks, Hyunnie.” Yoona rasped, smiling sweetly at the younger girl. She happily took a swing of the sweet drink, regretting it the next second when Hyoyeon used a finger to tilt the glass higher than necessary. She shot a pout at Hyoyeon, making it funnier with a bit of the drink dribbling down her chin. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something missing. Something like the sound of a raucous laugh that would have made heads turn.

She looked over to the other side of the table where an unusually quiet Sooyoung sat, staring longingly at a distance. Hyoyeon followed the giant’s line of sight, snorting when her eyes found a certain petite waitress breezing through the packed dinner like it was a skating rink.

“Take a picture. It’ll last longer.” Hyoyeon said, giving a light kick to her shin to bring her friend back to reality.

Sooyoung broke her love-struck gaze, shooting her short companion an irritated look as she reaches down to rub at her shin.

“What do you want Hyo?”

“Nothing, just wanted to tell you that, with you staring like a love-sick puppy at that waitress’s voluptuous body, Yoong took the liberty to eat all your fries.”

“She what?! Yah! Im Yoona! You owe me a fresh batch of fries!” Sooyoung hissed, reaching over the table to try and grab the younger girl by the collar of her shirt.

Yoona managed to evade the long limbs by sinking into her seat, shooting a betrayed look at Hyoyeon, one that was ignored. “Your fries were getting soggy anyway. What was I to do? It wouldn’t do the chef justice to waste all that good golden potatoes.”

“I was going to eat them.”

“Eat them? You looked like you were ready to eat something else.” Yoona teasingly wiggled her eyebrows.

“Eat what? Sooyoung unnie, is there something else you want to eat? I hope it’s not another burger. All the bad stuff is going to accumulate in your body, you know? It’s not healthy for you.” Seohyun innocently interjected, oblivious to the reason for Yoona’s laughter, Hyoyeon’s sighing, and Sooyoung’s reddened face.

“She didn’t mean that Seo.. You know what, never mind that.” Hyoyeon waved her hand.

Seohyun’s eyes lit up in realization and her face contorted into a frown. “Was it another hint to a ual thing?”

“Now you’re getting it Hyunnie!” Yoona praised, throwing the disgruntled girl a thumb up over Hyoyeon’s head.

“Yoona, please.”

“Not cool, Yoona.”

“Unnie.”

“Wow, tough crowd.”

“Yoona!”

“Okay, okay. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Chill out guys.” Yoona said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. She then sprang up from her seat, snapping her fingers as a wide smile took residence on her face. “You know what, I have just the thing for that. Hyun, info on chocolates, please. The good kind.”

Seohyun sent a confused look over to Yoona but consented none the less. Chocolates were her secret, guilty pleasure after all. “Well, dark chocolates are actually good for the health.  They should be consumed in moderation, of course, as they are still packed with loads of sugar. A good quality of dark chocolate contains numerous minerals such as Magnesium-”

“Skip the table of elements, please.” Yoona cut in.

Seohyun shot her a frown but continued as asked. “It has antioxidant properties, can decrease blood pressure, and improves overall blood flow. So it’s basically good for the body, heart, and brain.”

“Tell them about the mind.”

“The what?”

“You know, the feel good chemicals it releases in the mind.”

“Well, chocolates increase the release of a chemical called serotonin, which is an anti-depressant, and endorphins, which reduces the perception of pain and triggers positive feelings. There’s a lot more, but I can only remember those and the phenylethylamine which is also called the love drug.”

“And that is why we give chocolates on Valentine’s day! What better day to give out the love drug than on the day of love. Nice job, Hyunnie. I knew I could count on you!” She gave Seohyun two thumbs up this time and one of her charming smiles. Seohyun nodded her head, turning away to hide the forming blush on her cheeks.

“You know what? I would have called bull on all this. Fortunately for you, Seohyun is always right, and I wouldn’t dream of making a fool out of myself and contradict her. But, I don’t see the connection between this fun trivia and our currently sad, single statuses.”

“Ah, leave the love problems to cupid. Hyunnie, come with me.” Yoona shoved one last fry in , reaching down to swing her bag over her shoulder.

“What? Where are we going?” Seohyun asked. She was midway from rising from her seat, suddenly feeling very unsure, yet excited.

“Going to spread some of the love on V-day!” Yoona said, rushing around the booth to pull Seohyun out of the booth before she could change her mind. Reaching for Seohyun’s bag she tucked it under one arm, using her free arm to interlock her arm with Seohyun’s, mostly to prevent her from going anywhere.

“You guys chill for a bit. I’m going to buy Seororo a bunch of dark chocolate and drown her with the love drug.” Yoona said, winking at the younger girl. Then, without another word she turned to leave with a blushing Seohyun in tow.

“I don’t know whether I should be scared for Seohyun or be envious.” Sooyoung said after a rather long awkward silence between the two.

“I’d say be envious… Why don’t I have someone to drown me in love-inducing chocolates? This valentine’s .” Hyoyeon moaned, once again slamming her forehead on the table.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m in the same boat.”

“That’s only because you’re a coward.”

“Hey, I’m trying to make you feel better.”

“I didn’t ask for it. And I’m telling you again if you like her so much then go talk to her.”

“And I’m telling you again, I don’t want to waste her time. Can’t you see she’s busy?”

“Ask her when her break is then!”

Sooyoung took a deep inhale, squeezing her eyes shut to try and pull down her temper. “When you get your love life sorted out come back to me. I just might listen to you then.” She ground out through her teeth.

Hyoyeon rolled her eyes. “How thick are you?” she muttered.

“You say something pu…”

Hyoyeon looked up to the frozen Sooyoung. was slightly open from where she cut her sentence off, her eyes widened to the point that overall she looked like a fish out of water.

“Are you Sooyoung?” A soft, quaint voice asked.

Hyoyeon turned to her side to see the short waitress standing by the couch. A small box of chocolate, complete with a red ribbon neatly tied around it, was in her hand. She had a slight pinkish tint across her cheeks, and a small, bashful smile playing at her full lips.

“That rascal.” Hyoyeon chuckled to herself. Looks like cupid’s intervention needs a little more push.

“She’s Sooyoung.” Hyoyeon introduced, sending a firm kick to the side of Sooyoung’s overly long legs. Sooyoung jerked from the impact, setting her mind straight as she hurriedly clamped shut and jerkily stood up to offer the girl her hand.

“Sooyoung. Me. Choi Sooyoung. Hi. Uh.. Happy Valentine’s day.” She said in a fluster. Her eyes were amusingly trained on her hand rather than the girl she had been boldly ogling at just a few minutes ago.

The petite waitress giggled, reaching over to touch her fingertips to Sooyoung’s offered hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sooyoung. Thank you for the chocolates. It really made my day. I’m Sunny, by the way.”

“Okay. I think I better go.”

“Oh no, stay.” Sunny interjected, waving her free hand in front of her. “I just wanted to thank Sooyoung for the chocolates.”

Hyoyeon ignored Sooyoung’s soft, confused parroting. “It’s alright. I need to get going anyway.” Hyoyeon said, wriggling her way out of the booth. “By the way, miss Sunny, when are you taking your break?”

“Would you like to spend your break with me?!” Sooyoung loudly blurted, earning curious glances from the booths around them and shocked looks from Hyoyeon and Sunny. Even Sooyoung herself looked shocked at her outburst, her hands clasped tightly over with her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. Hyoyeon resisted laughing at her friend’s predicament, always the awkward loud mouth (right next to a certain loud American), and right in front of her crush.

Speaking of crush, Hyoyeon directed her gaze to the blushing Sunny-waitress. She grinned, having a pretty positive feeling as to how this was going to play out. She grabbed her bag, displacing a small rectangular box from on top of her bag. She picked it up, quickly reading the short Valentine’s greeting from her perky dongsaeng. She chuckled, not bothering to say her goodbye as she slipped past Sunny-waitress.

Hyoyeon overheard the last few bits.

“I would love too. But, unfortunately, I can only take a 10-minute break.”

Sooyoung took a few seconds in complete silence, Hyoyeon imagined the dumbfounded look on her pal and chuckled. “If it doesn’t make you feel weird, can I accompany you?”

A light giggling. “I’ll see you in a few then.”

“Well done, Soo.” Hyoyeon praised, pocketing the chocolates.

A light bump had her stepping back. She heard a sharp inhale on impact, and Hyoyeon instinctively clutched at the failing arm. Once stabilized Hyoyeon took a step back, grinning sheepishly at the slightly frazzled girl.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no. It’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The girl said, reaching up to fix her short hair. She whistled, straightening up and grinned. “That was a close one. Usually, I’d be on the floor by now. Thank you, oh and again, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s- it’s no worry at all… Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” Hyoyeon asked. She raked through her memory for a face in the crowd. She had a feeling this wasn’t the first they met. The girl was slightly taller than Hyoyeon, jet black hair cut short in a pageboy style, and there was something about her smile that seemed so familiar.

A name flashed in her mind. “Wait. Aren’t you Jessica Jung’s cousin? Er.. Nikky?”

The girl flashed her bright toothy smile. “Nicole, Cole. Don’t let Jessica-unnie hear you call me that. Only she calls me Nikky.” She offered her hand which Hyoyeon gladly shook.

“I’m-“

“Hyoyeon, right?” Nicole said at the same time, blushing when she realized that Hyoyeon was just about to introduce herself. She shyly retracted her hand. “Jessica-unnie talked about you and your friends. Well, complaining about you guys using her place to party.” She elaborated upon the knowing smirk Hyoyeon gave her.

“Is that right? Well, I know she likes us crashing her place. I remember the both of you dancing over the table at the last party.” She grinned wider at the blush that covered Nicole’s cheeks. “I didn’t recognize you for a second there, with the new hair style. Why’d you cut it?”

“Oh.. I just thought I’d change it up a little.” her hand subconsciously went to the shortened strands “I was hoping it would catch someone’s eye.” She added bashfully, twirling the short end with her index. She had looked so cute.

“Yeah?” Hyoyeon coughed. “So, what brought you all the way here?”

“Oh, just wanted to grab a coffee and relax a little.” She looked around, scratching the side of her arm. “Looks like I better find another place.”

“Valentine’s day.” Hyoyeon grinned and shook her head. “Oh, hey, would you.. like to hang out? I mean, if you’re up for it.”

Another bright smile graced Nicole’s pretty face. “I’d love to.”

“Well then,” Hyoyeon offered a hand for Nicole to take. “I know this great café down the block and I’ve got blackmail material over the barista there.”

“Hey, since it’s Valentine’s and all, does this mean you’re taking me on a date?” Nicole teased, reaching to clasp her hand over Hyoyeon’s.

Taken aback Hyoyeon stared at the beaming face. Soon she found herself returning the playful smile. “If you like to think of it that way.”

“It’s a date then.” Nicole chirped, making Hyoyeon chuckle.

Maybe this Valentine’s isn’t so bad after all.