They invited all of their coordinator and managers. The trainees? Sure, we could come. But we had to pay for ourselves. Apparently we weren't part of the 'family', yet. Great, just great.

 

"I never thought trainee would have such a pathetic life," Joongso whispered to me  while packing the make-up kit that had been used earlier. The managers just broke the news to us and as you can see, we weren't too happy about it. Really, they were that stingy to paid meals for another 10 trainees? We've been running around places for you guys, for heaven's sake.

 

But still, the other trainees agreed to join the dinner just for the sake of having some fun before we were admitted to the mental ward for having too much stress. Joongso and Minyoung unnie agreed to join them too. Me, on the other hand......

 

"I don't think I'm going guys," I told them as we put the costumes neatly. They were going to have the dinner at a BBQ reaturant. Do you know how much meat cost in Korea? ALOT.

 

Minyoung unnie sent me a disapproving look, "Ah, why, Nara-ah? Come on, it wouldn't be fun without you."

 

"If you're worried about going home, no worries. I'll walk you home," Joongso tried to convince me.

 

"Guys, it's not that. It's... um, how should I say this..." I rubbed the back of my neck as I tried to explain to them about my condition without sounding too... poor. Hey, I wasn't poor. I was just a girl who stayed in Seoul, far away from her parents with only a little amount of money left on her account. No thanks to the super junior members.

 

"You know, let me pay for you, let me pay for the three of us. I haven't got the chance to treat you guys anyway for my birthday." Seemed like Minyoung unnie understood what I was trying to say. She was being nice enough not to imply it directly.

 

My face turned red. I knew they didn't mean bad. It's just, I don't want them to feel sorry for me. Minyoung unnie came from a wealthy family, her father is the CEO in their family business. She's nice, pretty, and wealthy. I wonder why she's still single sometimes. Joongso on the other hand, was not as wealthy as Minyoung unnie. But his family lived in Seoul, so he wasn't struggling as much as I did.

 

"Um.. I'll think about it unnie. I need to put these make-up kit in the van first," then I quickly left the room and headed out to the parking lot. Huuuf.. What should I do now. Actually, it wasn't the only reason why I didn't wanna join the celebration dinner. It's Kyuhyun. I still didn't know how to face him since last week cursed event. And it seemed like he hated me to the bone. He never said nice thing to me since then. Not even once. I wonder who told him about my not-so-little crush on him. I swore I'd kick that person as hard as I could If I ever found out. I sighed out loud after I lock the bagage door.

 

"Seems like someone had a rough day." I smiled, knowing perfectly who it was. I turned my back to confirm my guess. I was right of course.

 

"I bet not as tiring as yours, oppa," I smiled at Eunhyuk who was now standing in front of me.

 

He chuckled, "I did had a tiring day. But I can't complain, I love doing this." He said as we walked back to the building.

 

It was a comfortable silence until he suddenly asked me,"You're coming to the dinner, right?"

 

For God's sake, why is everybody's asking me about it?! "I don't know, oppa. I'm thinking about skipping it.."

 

"Don't. Come, it' ll be fun. I promise you, the guys won't bother you anymore," he said with a cute tone.

 

"But I...."

 

"Pleaseeee," He cut me and said it while batting his eyelashes.

 

"Hahaha, what are you doing, oppa? Fine, fine. I'll come, happy?" I laughed at his cute antics. Why did he want me to come so bad?

 

He flashed me his famous gummy smile, "More than you know."

---

The super junior members, the managers, and the rest of the staffs went to the restaurant by vans. While we, the trainees, took the bus to save some money. I was so tired and I planned to sleep through the 30 minutes journey. Joongso sat with Minyoung unnie seeking advice about his latest dance routine. I put on my headset and ready to enter the dreamland when suddenly...

 

"It's rare to see you alone without your two bodyguards, Song Nara." Someone took the empty seat next to me and initiated a conversation.

 

I groaned, knowing fully who it was. I reluctantly opened my eyes just to see the face of someone whom I loathed the most. " Go away, Jinyoung-ssi, sit with some other trainees. I'm not in the mood to talk to you."

 

"You're never in the mood to talk to me." He said while looking at me longingly. There were hurt in his eyes.

 

I felt a 'pang' in my chest when I looked at him. But I shrugged it almost as soon as that feeling came, "You get my point then. Now if you feel excuse me, I want to get some rest." I turned my back at him and closed my eyes immediately, pretending to sleep.

 

Jinyoung sighed and I could feel him got up from his seat, "Sleep well, Nara-ah." He lightly touch my hair and left.

 

I tried hard to stop the tears that was threatening to fall. But I couldn't help it anymore when I heard him called my name with such tone.. And a single drop of tear slipped from the corner of my eyes..

---

We arrived at the restaurant 45 minutes later because of some stupid traffic jam. The super junior members had arrived earlier and booked a private room for the dinner. They were cooking some meat and joking among themselves when we entered the room. The smell of the meat instantly my appetite. God, have some mercy.

Sungmin and Ryeowook smiled and told us to order while the other members didn't really seem to notice us.

All the other trainees quickly sat at the end of the table, they were trying to sit as far away as possible from the super junior members. I wasn't in the mood to  hurry, so I just waited until all of them took a seat. I was going to sit at the only seat available in that room when I noticed the person who were sitting next to me.

God, why??? I mentally cursed myself for being the last one who entered the room. I sat across Donghae whom smiled at me once he noticed me sitting uncomfortably and kept glancing at Joongso, secretly asking him to changed seat with me.

"Hi, Nara-ssi. You seemed uncomfortable, is there something bothering you?" a frowned appeared on his handsome face.

I couldn't belive this guy. Was he that naive or was he trying to mock me? I sat next to Kyuhyun. Wasn't that an enough reason to be bothered??

"A, aniyo, sunbaenim. I'm fine," I forced a smile at him and quickly opened the menu to avoid more questions.

My eyes widened at the sight of the prices printed on the menu. Oh. My. God. I was seriously going to run out of money if I ordered any food from that menu. Eeergh, these annoying celebrities, why did they had to choose an expensive restaurant like this. I gulped and searched for the beverages section. I decided to just order Melon juice. At least it would keep my hunger down for another hour.

"Yah, are you okay?" Joongso suddenly asked me. He was seated two persons away from me.

I just shot him a deadly glare for not being able to rescue me. He shot a what-did-I-do-wrong look back at me. i turned my head away and tried to ignored him. But I immediately regretted my decision once my eyes met with Kyuhyun's. My face turned beet red and I quickly looked down. WORST DINNER EVER.

---

Melon juice? That's it? No meal? No wonder she was really small. Everybody else ordered meat or noodles, but she just ordered a juice. She suddenly turned her head and caught me looking at her. I could faintly saw her face turned red before she looked down, avoiding my gaze. I smirked at the thought she probably still had feelings for me.

I was about to ask Siwon to passed me the side dish when I caught Eunhyuk, who was sitting between Donghae and Siwon, starring intently at someone beside me. He was obviously starring at Nara. I wonder what was going on between them? I never saw him like this before. Suddenly I heard him asked, "Nara-ah, aren't you hungry? Don't you wanna order any food?"

"It's okay, oppa. I'm not that hungry." She smiled sweetly at him and continued sipping her melon juice. Wait, did I hear right? Nara-ah? Oppa?? Huh, since when did they become so close?

"Um, okay then. Do you wanna try my food?" Eunhyuk asked her while Donghae kept smiling watching the exchange between his bestfriend and Nara.

Hyukjae hyung wanted to share his food??? Oh well, I guessed Nostradamus got it wrong then. The world isn't going to end in 2012. It's going to end that moment when Hyukjae hyung wanted to share his food.

She laughed a little hearing Eunhyuk hyung's question, "Just finish your food, oppa. I'm perfectly fine." She never laugh nor smile when she talked to me. I felt a little bit irritated.

I tried to ignore her and we stayed at the restaurant for another hour before we decided to call it a night. I was waiting outside the restaurant with the other members, staffs, and the trainees while manager hyung took care of the payment. Siwon hyung suggested to the other members that we should walk back to our apartment since it wasn't that far away from the restaurant. He said it was a good exercise after we had a big supper. Finally all that weight-lifting has gotten into his mind. He was starting to lose it.

"Why on earth would we walk on a cold winter night when we have an amazingly warm and comfortable cars that we can ride in?" I asked Siwon hyung while giving him my infamous evil smirk.

"I agree with Kyuhyun," Leeteuk hyung said.

"Me too," Shindong hyung butted in.

"Me three!" Added Ryeowook while raising his hand. Siwon hyung sighed in defeat, he can never win against me. Haha.

I suddenly heard this trainee named Joongso or something talked to Nara, "Nara-ah, I'm so so so sorry! I can't walk you home, my mom's suddenly asked me to come home soon. I'm so sorry.. Will you be okay walking home alone?"

"Sure, I'll be fine. My home's not that far away from here. It's not the first time I walk home alone, anyway." She smiled while punching at Joongso's arm playfully.

"But it's late.. I'm worried," He said while frowning at Nara.

"A girl shouldn't walk home alone. Especially not at night, at this late hour." Heechul hyung suddenly butted in, obviously he had been listening to their conversation.

"Yeah, it's late. It's not safe for a girl to walk alone at this hour," Yesung hyung added his opinion.

"Magnae, take her home." Heechul hyung suddenly turned to me.

"Huh? Hyung? You're kidding, right?" I was really shocked, I failed to notice the smiles that was plastered at the member's faces.

"Heechul's right, Kyuhyun-ah. Go walk her home." Oh no, not you too Leeteuk hyung.

Eunhyuk hyung looked uneasy, "You know what, I can walk her home. It'll be a good exercise just like Siwon said."

"But hyung, you have a recording in about an hour. Let Kyuhyun do it." Ryeowook, you're so dead. 

"Ah, thank you for your concerns sunbaenim. But I can just walk home by myself," Nara looked flustered and immediately tried to escape.

"No, it's not safe. Kyuhyun will walk you home. Be careful, guys!" Leeteuk hyung said while smiling and putting an end to the argument. I saw him and the other member got in the car one by one, leaving me and Nara alone in front of the restaurant.

"Hurry up," I told her as soon as the cars disappeared at the corner. Man.. It was going to be the most awkward walk I'd ever had with a girl.

---

Luckily, we arrived at my apartment not long after. It was only a 15 minutes walk from the restaurant. We walked side by side without uttering a single word to each other. God, I was freezing and starving to death. We just stood in front of my apartment building once we arrived, not knowing what to say. It was a really cold night and I saw him shivering from the cold. Finally I gathered up my courage and asked him, "Would you like to come in, sunbaenim? It's really cold,I can make you some tea."

He starred at me for a while and finally said, "Yeah, sure. Why not."

I couldn't believe what I just heard. Kyuhyun agreed to have a tea with me, woo-hoo! Well, not exactly with me. But you got my point. I tried hard to hold back a smile that was threatening to appear in my face. But the smile immediately disappear once we arrived in front of my apartment door. My apartment wasn't as luxurious as their apartment, it was just a small studio apartment which I tried to decorate like Kim Nana's apartment in city hunter to make it more comfortable.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sunbaenim." I told him as I opened the door and let him entered my apartment.

He didn't say a word and just took off his shoes. I immediatley took off my shoes and went to the kitchen to make some tea for us. Once I was done, I saw him already sitting on the couch and was switching on the tv. Wow..this guy is unbelieveable. Yeah, sure, make yourself at home.

"Here you go, sunbaenim." I put the tea in front of him and then I sat on the couch as far away as possible from him.

"Thank you," He muttered before sipping in the tea. Huh, he actually had a good vocabulary in his dictionary.

My stomach suddenly growled loudly as it hadn't been fed with anything but melon juice since morning. He choked on his tea and laughed hearing it, "Hahaha, what was that? Did dinosaur just came back to life? Hahaha," He kept laughing and didn't show any signs of stopping. I was so embarassed! Eeeergh, stupid stomach!

I couldn't hold my hunger any longer, so I went to the kitchen to make some ramen. I looked at him while waiting for the water to boil. He was smiling at some variety show that was showing on the tv. Hhh.. I couldn't deny it. He's really handsome. And that smile... God, the things I'd do to have him smiling at me like that. Suddenly I remembered, I was being rude by cooking ramen just for myself and not offering him. He was probably still full after having supper at the restaurant earlier. But still...

"Sunbaenim, do you want some ramen?"

He turned his head from the tv and said, "No, but thanks for offering." I just nodded and continued cooking. 

After I finished cooking the ramen, I brought it to the table in front of the couch. I didn't have a dining table, so I always ate in front of the tv. I sat on the floor and put the ramen on the table. I was about to start eating when suddenly Kyuhyun sat on the floor next to me and leaned his back on the couch. I starred at him for a moment. Wow, who would have thought that this guy actually had some manner? He didn't have to do that actually. I was always eating while sitting on the floor anyway. It wasn't a big deal.

I saw him stole glances at me from time to time. I tried to ignore him cause my face starting to get red.

"Why are you eating ramen at this hour?" He finally let out his curiousity.

I turned to him and smiled at his curious expression. He wasn't trying to mock me after all. "I don't have anything else in the kitchen for the rest of the month, sunbaenim."

"What, seriously? Aren't you afraid of getting fat?" You could tell from his tone that he was really shocked by my answer.

I laughed and shrugged my shoulder a little, "Hahaha, don't sound too surprised, sunbaenim. It's really hard for me to gain weight, so it's fine."

He looked at me with a frown on his handsome face. "Why didn't you order anything at the restaurant then? It was a perfect opportunity for you to get some varieties on you dinner menu."

I thought for a while before giving him my answer, "It was... beyond what I can afford right now. I live far away from my parents, and the money they give each month doesn't really cover for an expensive restaurant like that. So, yeah.." I answered him carefully, not wanting him to pity on me. I told you, I wasn't actually that poor.

He looked at me for a moment and turned his head back to the screen.  We didn't say anything to each other until I finish my ramen and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. When I came back from the kitchen, he was still sitting on the floor, his eyes were glued to the screen. Although I had a feeling he wasn't paying attention to the show. I sat again on the floor next to him, not knowing what to do.

Then suddenly Kyuhyun once again turned his head to me and looked at me right in the eyes. He opened his mouth, but he closed it again. It looked like he was hesitant about something. But then he took a breath and asked me, "Did you... Did you use the money from your parents to pay for our foods yesterday?"

My mind went blank, I was so shocked. I didn't know what to say. I just starred back at him with my mouth slightly opened.

"You did, didn't you?" My silence confirmed his question and he got it right away.

"God, I.. I didn't know. If I knew, I wouldn't....."

"It's late. I think you should go home now, sunbaenim." I cut him as I stood up from the floor and walked to the door. I was really embarassed and mad at him at the same time. How could he asked that? My pride is my weakness. I hate it when somebody worried about my condition or had a pity on me. 

There was silence for a while. Then I could hear him turned off the tv and got up from the floor. He put on his shoes and stood in front of me. Once again, he looked right into my eyes. I tried to avoid his gaze, but then he suddenly said, "Look at me." I never heard him spoke so softly before.

I looked right back at his eyes with my teary eyes. I was so mad that I almost cried.

"I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean it that way," he stopped for a while and continued, "I'm also sorry for being such a jerk to you all this time. I... I would like us to start over."

I just looked at him and didn't say a single word. But strangely, I could feel that he understood why I was mad at him. And for that, I couldn't stay mad any longer.

He suddenly pulled out his hand and smiled. He said, "Hello, I'm Super Junior Kyuhyun. What's your name?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. I shook his hand and said, "Hi, my name is Song Nara. I'm your hoobae at our agency. I hope I can be as successful as you are, sunbaenim."

"I have a feeling that you're going to do great, Nara-ssi." He said while laughing a little at my introduction.

After that, we just stood there for a while. Smiling in silence. It wasn't an awkward one though, it was a comfortable silence.

"Ehem, I gotta go. I have an early schedule tomorrow morning." Kyuhyun finally said and broke our gaze. He looked slightly embarassed. I chuckled at the sight of him.

"I gotta practice the whole day too at SM tomorrow. Here, don't forget your coat, sunbaenim." His hand lightly brushed against mine as he took his coat from my hand. My face immediately turned red after that. And I turned even redder remembering that we shook hand for a while just then. I was too amused at our situation back then that I didn't even realize I was actually shaking hands with him. 

He took his coat from my hand and I could see that his face was also getting red. I smiled to myself realizing the situation.

"Good night, Nara." He said as he opened the door and stood facing me.

Good night, sunbaenim." I said as I slowly closed the door and bid him goodnight.

As soon as I closed the door, I turned my back against it, rested my head, and smiled at nothing.

---

After she bid me goodnight, she slowly closed the door to her apartment. As soon as she closed the door, I turned my back against it, rested my head, and smiled at nothing.

 

---

Hiiii, I know it took me long enough to update this story. I had major exams and didn't had the time to update. I'm so sorry, I promise next time I'll update sooner :) So what do you think 'bout this chapter? We're finally getting to the good part, woo-hoo! :D