It was recess. The kids were either eating at their tables while chatting with their friends or running down the hallway, acting like a crazy bull running free from its cage. It’s been a week since the summr holiday but they still seemed to be full of energy. Taecyeon had to jump to the side so that he wouldn’t bump into one of his juniors, but the younger students quickly bowed with respect to ask for apology. Taecyeon just shook his head and laughed it off before he continued walking.

He looked up at the signage hung above the door of each clasroom to make sure that he didn’t get the wrong class and stood by the doorframe. His neck slightly stratched out as he looked and scanned through the whole class. There, he saw a couple of girls sitting together, not chatting much as they eat but seemed very comfortable with each other. Taecyeon waved to them.

“Munhwa,” Minsun softly muttered, signaling Munhwa to look behind her with her eyes. Munhwa looked up from her lunch box and turned around.

“Oh,” Munhwa smiled. She was about to get up from her seat when a couple of girls rushed behind Minsun.

“Yah, what are you doing here looking oblivious? Taecyeon sunbae wants to see you! Come on! Get up!” They pulled on Minsun’s arms, forcing her to leave her seat as they giggled. Suddenly, everybody was cheering on her and wolf-whistles could even be heard in the noisy background.

They softly pushed on Minsun’s behind which made her took another couple of steps closer to Taecyeon, in fact , too close that Taecyeon had to take a step back. Munhwa looked a little confused and then looked at Taecyeon, and then Wooyoung who was at the other corner of his class with his friends, looking confused as well. Wooyoung just shrugged it off though.

“GO TAECSUN!” A boy shouted from the back, causing laughters to erupt from all corner of the class, even from the students from the class next to them who came to watch as soon as they heard that Taecyeon came to see Minsun. However, both Minsun and Taecyeon saved the embarassment for later and played it cool by simply pretended like they didn’t hear the noises.

“I thought you were looking for Munhwa?” Minsun whipered softly. She hugged herself with an arm while the other left limp by her side, showing her awkwardness. Taecyeon too couldn’t hide the feeling when he started rubbing the back of his nape. But those body languages just made the teasing louder and wilder.

“The problem is, I am.”

“Oh.” Minsun simply replied. Then, she didn’t know what else to say anymore. He wasn’t looking for her in the first place anyway.

“Well. I-I guess I better not talk to her now.”

“Do you want me to tell her anything?”

“It was the basketball team. I thought I was going to… um, nevermind. We’ll just talk about it this evening.”

“Okay.” Minsun nodded.

“See you this evening too,”

Minsun nodded again before he gave her a smile and left. More and more noises erupted, slowly painting Minsun’s cheeks pink. The girls were stuck to Minsun’s side like magnets, shooting questions  non-stop. What did he say? Did he ask you out? Was he worried about you? Minsun never wanted to be under the spotlight and all she wanted to do at the moment was to plug her ears. However, she didn’t want to appear rude or offend anyone, so she just politely aplogize from them and not said anything afterwards.




6.30 p.m.

The practice went well as always and it finally ended. A lot of students tried to have a peek into the gym since everybody knew that Minsun was there as well, even though usually nobody dared to try. They knew they wouldn’t stand a chance. Taecyeon totally changed into a different person when he put on his team uniform, and everybody was afraid of his strict, devilish persona who would do anything for the sake of their practice. Other than him, there was Coach Cho too. Even though he was rather clumsy and innocent to the boys, nobody outside the team acknowledge those facts and thought he was just as scary as Taecyeon.

“What’s with all those kids trying to get into the gym?” Coach Cho took a seat by Jaebum, who was busy packing up his stuffs. Gohee was there too, helping him. Taecyeon who was also nearby on the other hand chose to kept quiet and left it to Jaebum to make up another white lie for him.

“They wanted to see you, Coach.” Jaebum quickly came up with something.

“Me? For what?”

“They heard you lost a lot of weight over the summer holiday and look very handsome now, so they want to see it with their own eyes.”

Gohee widened her eyes at his ridiculous lie. Taecyeon choked on his saliva.

“Hah!” Coach Cho laughed out loud but soon after started to seriously considered whether what Jaebum told him was true. “Do you think so?”

Jaebum shrugged. “You did lost a few kilos.”

Coach Cho laughed again, this time looking a bit flattered. “I should have let them in then… But wait. They are only going to cause ruckus. No, no. Practice is number one. Tell those girls and boys that I am not going to let anybody in during practice!”

“Yes, sir!” Jaebum playfully saluted him. Coach Cho saluted as well and then headed for the exit.

“Becareful on your way home!” He shouted before he exited the hall. Taecyeon patiently waited until he thought Coach Cho was far enough from them before he retorted on Jaebum.

“What the hell was that?!” Taecyeon half-whispered, since the rest of the boys were still there and he didn’t want them to get involved.

Jaebum smiled and shrugged. “Hey, it worked.”

“Ugh.” Taecyeon sigh and wiped the sweat on his face with the towel hanging on his neck. “I can’t live with this. What’s with the sudden hype?”

“Heh, admit it.”

“Admit what?” Taecyeon downed big gulps of water from his tumbler.

“That you’re enjoying it.”

All the water in his mouth spurted out.

“Aww, hyung! I’ve just mopped that spot!” Wooyoung whined.

“Fine, I’ll clean it up later,” Taecyeon said, making the boy shut up instantly and continued mopping towards the far end of the basketball court with the rest of the juniors.

Taecyeon continued, “Enjoying what? I’m not enjoying anything. You know I don’t like being followed around. Especially if they are girls.”

“Heh, not that. It’s the fact that everyone is supporting the TaecSun couple that you’re enjoying.” Jaebum still had that sleazy smile dangling on his thick lips.

“Don’t be mean,” Gohee gently slapped Jaebum’s arm, but he just grinned wider.

Taecyeon’s face reddened. That was partly true. He did kind of enjoyed that it was okay for him to be with Minsun. He didn’t have to worry about Minsun being hated, and most of all, it made the relationship felt real. He glanced towards Minsun who was still into her books and a small feeling of guilt settled at the bottom of his heart.

“But she might not…” Taecyeon said softly. He reminded himself over and over again not to be selfish and to think about Minsun more because whatever happens, she would be in a more disadvantageous position.

“Oh, come on. Be a man. Ask her out. Even if you get rejected, you can still continue playing her pretend boyfriend and just be her friend.”

“I’ll think about it.” Taecyeon got up and picked up his bagpack. He kept thinking back and forth whether he should ask her out or not. By now, he was clear of his feelings towards Minsun. He liked her. All he wanted to be sure was that nothing will happen to Minsun, and if she had any feelings towards him at all.

Coincidentally, Minsun was ready to go home too so they bumped to each other at the main entrance of the gym. They simply smiled to each other and began walking towards the main gate of the school, where the bus stop was nearby. As usual, Wooyoung was with Minsun too, but since Taecyeon was there, Wooyoung let himself stayed a few steps behind the ‘couple’. Even though it was late, there were still a few students left and they all kept their eyes on them.

“It was crazy huh?” Taecyeon asked her.

Minsun chuckled. It was. But definitely better that having bullies chasing her around.

“But I guess better than before,” Taecyeon continued and Minsun quickly nodded.

“So… what are you going to do after this?”

“Well, I would be studying.”

“Studying, yeah, of course,” Taecyeon laughed a bit, honestly at himself. Of course, what else would she do? He already knew but still asked. Their conversation died there, just like that. Wooyoung who was following from behind shook his head and facepalmed. These two needed a lot of help, like seriously, he thought.

It wasn’t long until a bus arived, and it was the bus Wooyoung and Minsun took. When Minsun settled on her favorite seat, she looked out the window at Taecyeon, and he smiled and waved at her. She waved back. The bus was about to take off,and Minsun could clearly see that Taecyeon was getting anxious. The wheels began turning, taking up speed as it moved forward. She leaned againts the backrest comfortably but straightened her back again when she saw Taecyeon started sprinting and banging on the body of the bus with his fists, and yelling and asking the bus to stop.

“Sunbae!” Minsun shouted. She looked to the front and shouted at the driver, “Ahjusshi, stop the bus please!”

She could her the driver ahjusshi grumbling in his sthroat but he stopped the bus anyway. Taecyeon rushed to the front door and climbed up. While still catching with his breath, Taecyeon took a seat right next to Minsun. Wooyoung who was sitting at the back watched them intently. He had a feeling that something was going to happen. He secretly moved a couple seat forward to eavesdrop on them to confirm his suspicion.

“Sunbae, you’re okay?” She asked worriedly.

Taecyeon showed her his palm, telling her he was okay. Until the bus moved again for a while, Taecyeon took one final deep breathe, and finally said something. Calmly, and clearly.

“Go out with me.”

Minsun stared at him with wide eyes. She didn’t said a word, she was too shocked because she totally didn’t see it coming. She really thought he wouldn’t ask her that. She couldn’t even think what to say at the moment.

“Will you?”

“I… I need to think…”

Taecyeon nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said softly, more like to himself. “Tell me after you’ve decided.”

Minsun nodded.

Taecyeon immediately stood up and pushed the buzzer, ready to get off. After the bus stopped, he headed towards the front door and looked back before he stepped off, not at Minsun, but at Wooyoung who was ducking at the seat behind Minsun’s.

“And you, Jang Wooyoung. You better keep this a secret, or else.”s

“Y-Yes captain!” Wooyoung sprung to his feet and stood straight with both arms straight by his side. He didn’t sit again until Taecyeon really left the bus and waved to them both from the side walk.

“Yah,” Wooyoung whispered behind her.

There was no response from Minsun though. She didn’t even flinch. Wooyoung raised his from is seat so that he could look around to see her face. She seemed to be in deep thought.

“What are you going to do, Seo Minsun?” Wooyoung asked, tipped with a devilish smirk at the corner of his lips just because Minsun wasn’t looking at him.

“What do you think?” She suddenly asked, which caught Wooyoung in surprise. Her eyes stared blankly at the passing sceneries outside.

“What- What do you mean?”

“Should I… or should I not?”

“How should I know? It’s not like I am the one being asked out.”

Minsun supported her chin on her hand, and rested her elbow by the window pane. Taecyeon was a good guy to her, and of course, a good friend too. Whatever Nickhun told her before about him was the past. Her opinion on Taecyeon wasn’t slightly affected at all because she haven’t heard the story from his side. And besides, it wasn’t like she was waiting for Jaebum because she knew Gohee was the perfect match for him and he would only be the happiest with her. What worried her most was if she could return back Taecyeon’s feelings. She was sure that he knew she might take long to develop any feelings towards him, but she was afraid if she wouldn’t be able at all.

“If I was a girl though, I think I’ll say yes.” Wooyoung suddenly told her. Maybe he wanted to be some kind of help when he saw Minsun’s worried expression. Which was also something new to him. He finally realized that there were so many new side of Minsun that he haven’t seen, and they always amused him.

“You would?” Minsun finally turned to him.

“I mean, probably all girls would. He’s a nice guy I guess. Even with his fear with girls, he takes care of them pretty well.” Wooyoung shrugged.

“I see,” Minsun muttered as she continued staring outthe window.




8.00 p.m.

As usual, after dinner, Minsun would collect all the dishes and took in charge in the washing chore. In fact, she actually did most of the cleaning around the house since there wasn’t much to do anyway because there was only her and her halmeoni in the big house. Even though her grandmother always told her to leave the house chores to her, Minsun silently rebelled and took care of the house anyway so eventually halmeoni gave up and just smile and watch as the quiet little girl she took in when her parents left her grew into such a beautiful, graceful woman.

Minsun was washing the dishes when suddenly halmeoni appeared by her side and joined with the task.

“Halmeoni,” Minsun blurted, surprised at her grandmother’s sudden interference. It had been long since halmeoni did the dishes because Minsun stubbornly said it was her duty to do the dishes especially after dinner.

Halmeoni just smiled.

Minsun kept quiet about it and only wondered what her halmeoni was up to. She didn’t even ask because she knew halmeoni would start speaking up her mind soon.

“Is everything going well at school?” 

As expected, she had spoken. For some reason, Minsun was a little nervous, because she knew her grandmother wouldn’t stop until she knew the truth. But she wasn’t sure which truth she wanted to acquire so that made her more nervous.

You have too many secrets for your own good, Seo Minsun, Minsun secretly told herself.

“Yes, halmeoni. Of course.” She answered calmly.

“Really? How about your friends?”

“They’re all good, halmeoni.”

The dishes were almost done, so Minsun quickened her work and planned to say to her halmeoni that she would like to retreat to her room to study. That way, she could save herself from her halmeoni’s interrogation. As much as she loved her, Minsun couldn’t live with the interrogation. Even though her halmeoni knew about her best, there were still secrets she hid from her, for instance, her crush on Jaebum.

“What about the boys from the basketball team?”

“They’re-They’re all fine, halmeoni.” Minsun scretly winced. She couldn’t lie, for heaven’s sake and she hated herself for that. Halmeoni smiled when she found the spot that she should dug up. She knew her granddaughter didn’t like being peeled off layer by layer like that because she was too used of having these tall, thick walls she put around her heart which make it difficult for people to see the real, vulnerable Minsun. But as an elder, and her very own grandmother at that, halmeoni knew better that Minsun was just like any other young girls who were insecure and needed a little word of motivation for them to be fine.

“What about Taecyeon? That fine young man who picked you up last time?”

“…” Minsun couldn’t think of the right thing to say about Taecyeon when halmeoni asked about him directly like that. She wanted to say that he was fine and everything else was normal just like everyday and that was it but the words was stuck on .

“He’s… fine too, of course.”

“Oh, he does? What does he think after your date last time? Does he want to get serious with you?”

Minsun’s cheeks instantly reddened, halmeoni swore she could feel the heat coming out of her granddaughter’s reddened face. Minsun was too flustered at halmeoni’s spot-on guess and wasn’t ready for people to know one of her deepest secrets so soon to the point she could no longer finish her dishes. Halmeoni smiled and finished the remaining few dishes and then quickly turned off the tap. She took one of Minsun’s frozen hand in her fingers and patted on it gently.

“Come with me, dear. Come,” 

Halmeoni left and then headed to the backyard. She pulled open the sliding paper door and sat cross-legged on the wooden platform. Minsun eyed her grandmother’s every movement before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and followed her grandmother. Quietly, she took a seat by her grandmother.

“Here,” halmeoni gently placed her hand by the side of Minsun’s head and pushed it down, letting it rest on her lap. It had been a while since Minsun had rested her head on her grandmother’s lap like that, but she felt so comfortable doing it. Besides, her halmeoni didn’t have to see how embarrased she was at the moment. 

Halmeoni softly caressed Minsun’s long hair which she let free when she wasn’t studying and smiled softly at her. She knew that her grandmother was nervous, embarrased, and even scared a bit, but she also knew what can make her relaxed again. 

“You know, during those days when I was younger…” hameoni slowly started.

“When you were still dancing and peforming all over the country?” Minsun continued for her halmeoni. Her love for traditional dancing was inherited from her grandmother herself. Halmeoni was the one who hands-on teach her on the traditional dancing ever since Minsun was still a toddler. It was only later when she began elementary school Minsun started attending classes on it.

“Yes, yes. You know how I was the most popular one from all the girls?”

Minsun nodded, and halmeoni could feel it on her thigh. Then, she continued.

“There were always handsome, young or old, rich guys sending me love letters and asking me out.”

“But you only love harabeoji, didn’t you?” Minsun naively assumed, which made halmeoni cracked into laughter.

“Oh, what made you think that?”

“You didn’t?!” Minsun immediately got up to look at her grandmother, but the smile on halmeoni’s face was still there. Halmeoni pushed her head back on her lap.

“I can still remember when I took a stroll along the beach with handsome Mr. Kim, and that’s when he gave me the sapphire necklace. And then the next day, when I met Mr. Park, he gave me the finest silk from China,”

Halmeoni could hear Minsun softly gasped at her story.

“W-what about harabeoji? Did he gave you presents too?”

“Your harabeoji was the best. He was the most handsome, the richest, and the youngest. We met when I was 24, but he was barely 19 at the time.”

Minsun nodded again.

“And what made me fall hard in love with him was when we took a walk at the park, I accidentally stepped on a dog’s poop, and he wiped my shoe clean for me. There was no other guy who would do that for me. Usually, they all bought me a new pair right away.”

The two girls laughed together, and then when their throats dried, they just enjoyed the silence and the summer air blewing softly through the backyard.

“I think he’s good looking,”

“I think harabeoji was good looking too.”

“I was talking about Taecyeon.”

Slowly, the pink that has left Minsun’s cheeks just now returned. When the talk came about her, Minsun couldn’t utter another word. She just found it so hard to talk about the matters of the heart, because, her heart was so fragile it could break over little things, and halmeoni knew that.

“And he seemed like gentleman. There aren’t many boys his age who act the way he does, you know?”

“I know but…” Minsun sighed.

“You don’t like him?”

“Well, sometimes, just sometimes, my heart beats so fast when I’m with him. Like when he asked me out… But…” or when their lips almost touched on that windy summer night at the basketball court nearby her summer villa last time.  

“But?”

“But I don’t think that means I like him, because most of the time, I think he’s just a good friend. I don’t know if I like him the way he does, to me,”

“So you’re not sure about your feelings?”

Minsun nodded.

“That’s why you have to give it a try. Young people like you should go out and meet as many people as possible. You might not know now, but if you try to get to know him first, eventually you will know who’s the one for you. Falling in and out of love is all just a process of growing up, so you don’t have to worry about that. Besides,” halmeoni stopped caresing her head, so Minsun got up, and looked straight into her grandmother’s kind, smiling, warm eyes.

“Besides, girls like us, we know who we are and what we want, so even if you want to have a little fun, I believe you can keep yourself behind the line.” She added.

Silence.

“Really?” Minsun asked timidly.

“Ofcourse, dear. Of course.”




4.00 p.m.

The boys were having a 10 minutes break from their practice. Munhwa went out just now to buy some snacks and haven’t return. If it wasn’t because Taecyeon’s deadly glare to Wooyoung, the boy would have tagged along and had fun teasing her all the way until she got back. However, he still had Minsun.

It was one of those days when Junsu, Gohee and a couple 1st year students came along for their Mathemathic Club weekly meeting. For Wooyoung, the more the merrier. He skipped happily towards the ‘geek’ club as he called them, now with respect and a little admiration after their help for his reseat exam. Even from afar, he could see Minsun’s bun sticking out from the group when everyone was looking down focusing on their books. He found a small space between Gohee and Junsu and squished there and sat down, face to face with Minsun and grinned happily like a little boy.

“Hi, sunbae,” the two younger girls greeted him and he smiled back and returned his attention at Minsun.

But of course, Minsun didn’t even look up to acknowledge his presence.

The happy smile was wiped away from his chubby face. Gohee and Junsu who saw that little scene smiled quietly.

“Yah, yah.” Wooyoung tapped his fingers on Minsun’s opened text book. She slapped his fingers away and continued her work.

“Yah, Seo Minsun! Look at me!”

“If it’s not about Math, go away.”

Sheesh, this Math maniac. “Fine. Fine. I’ll just not talk to you.” Wooyoung looked at the two giggling girls, clearly fans of the famous Miryung basketball team.

“Hey, girls.”

The girls giggled when Wooyoung winked at them.

“Is Minsun always boring like this?” He asked the girls, even though he obviously knew what the answer was.

The girl looked at Minsun before they looked at Wooyoung again and one of them spoke up, “Minsun sunbae is not boring. She’s smart and kind, but…”

“But?” Woyoung’s eyebrow raised. Minsun even stopped her studying and started to listen to the girls.

The girls looked at each other and smiled shyly. They both looked at Minsun.

“She’s a little it too serious and formal. Actually, whenever we come here, we wish to see a little TaecSun action,”

Junsu choked on his saliva and quickly adjusted his glasses. “TaecSun acti… What does that mean?! You girls!”

Minsun just kept quiet. It was a little embarrassing, her cheeks even pinked a bit, but she didn’t blame the girls for getting influenced from all the hype about her and Taecyeon.

“Aw, Junsu sunbae! What are you thinking? We just want to see how they are when they are around each other-”

“I bet it would be so cute!” One of the girls slipped in, and then the other continued.

“We never see Minsun sunbae around Taecyeon sunbae even though they are in the same room.”

“Ah. That’s easy.” Wooyoung clicked his fingers. He slightly leaned back from the group and scanned around the area for Taecyeon. Minsun could guess what he was about to do, but for some reason, she couldn’t stop him. Maybe this was the best time.

“Hyung! Come here!” Wooyoung waved.

Taecyeon nodded and signaled him that he will be there in a moment. Munhwa had just came back and he took a few popsicles along with him before he jogged a bit towards the group.

“Guys, Munhwa brought extras for you guys, so have some.” He told the Math Club members, smiling lightly at them. 

“Yay, thank you, sunbae!” the previous two girls shouted happily.

Wooyoung smirked and planned to make Taecyeon and Minsun to do something, but before he could even open his mouth to speak, Minsun suddenly stood up straight, her eyes directly looking at Taecyeon. Everybody else, even Taecyeon was shocked at her sudden behavior. Even though her cheeks were flushed, she kept a straight face, as if she had some kind of important business to do.

“Sunbae,” she spoke. The two girls from before exchanged a curious, yet anticipating look.

“Yes, Minsun?” Taecyeon replied.

“I will.”

“What?”

“I said, yes, I will.”

Silence. People were trying to figure out what was she talking about but those who knew excluding Minsun, which only comprised of Taecyeon and Wooyoung

“Go out with me.”

Minsun stared at him with wide eyes. She didn’t said a word, she was too shocked because she totally didn’t see it coming. She really thought he wouldn’t ask her that. She couldn’t even think what to say at the moment.

“Will you?”

“Are you… talking about that?” Taecyeon pointed his finger to the air, as if he could show her the scene of him asking her out in a flashback bubble.

Minsun nodded stiffly. “Yes.” She said, cold and firm. Taecyeon wanted to laugh at her rigid and bold way of accepting his offer, but yet his inside was bubbling with happiness and relief that he didn’t get rejected. On the other hand, Woyoung hadn’t recovered from his shock that Minsun actually said yes. He really thought that she was going to reject him becusae she said before that she never had any feelings towards Taecyeon.

“What was going on?” The girls, Gohee, Junsu, and even the whole team exchanged confused look.

“You just saw it.” Wooyoung said.

“Saw what?” the junior asked again.

“The TaecSun action.”